"Alright, any further and we'll be in Schicksal's restricted zone. Given our special circumstances, it's not appropriate for us to be seen by Schicksal. We'll leave you here."
It was dusk. The sun burned its last embers, painting the entire sky golden. Against this backdrop, the holy spire of the nearby church, caught in the interplay of light and shadow, cast an unsettling black silhouette.
Otto stared blankly at the familiar tower, Kallen beside him doing the same. Only young Vera, still unaware of what had transpired, or perhaps still groggy from the earlier phase shift, was fast asleep, her head resting on Otto's shoulder.
He turned to look at the man completely shrouded in a black robe. He still had so many questions waiting for answers, so many theories waiting for confirmation. He had assumed the journey would take months, giving him ample time to probe for some information...
But he hadn't expected that such a distance could be covered in an instant in Michael's hands.
And so, his time for questions ran out.
Michael met his gaze subtly and said in a low voice, "The time issue might be a bit tricky. Although you two hold high status, you'll likely face considerable questioning. You'll need to come up with an excuse yourselves, coordinate beforehand, and please don't drag me into your story... Of course, if explaining proves too difficult, feel free to reveal my existence. It's not a huge problem, just potentially troublesome later on."
After saying this, Michael shook his head lightly. "Let's go, Pardo."
The girl beside him, also clad in a large black robe, seemed oblivious to the complex emotions Michael directed towards the pair. She waved goodbye cheerfully, but her movement was too large, or perhaps a certain part of her body simply refused to obey, causing her tail to flick the robe and reveal itself briefly. Fortunately, this was an alley near Schicksal's restricted zone, and few people wandered around here.
Before Otto could say any parting words, the two turned crisply and walked into the bustling streets of Kolosten.
The paving stones underfoot weren't large blocks like on Mount Taixuan, but palm-sized bricks fitted together. Two distinct grooves ran down the road, obvious tracks left by carriage wheels. Pardofelis tiptoed, making sure each step landed within these ruts.
"Make way! Make way!"
Clamorous shouts erupted from a nearby street corner, accompanied by the crisp, light sound of horse hooves on stone, like dense raindrops. Michael took Pardofelis's hand, and they silently retreated to the side of the street.
A moment later, a young coachman wildly cracked his whip. A small horse, thin as a donkey, trotted rapidly, pulling a wide carriage that appeared before them.
Pardofelis frowned, focusing intently on the carriage wheels. They fit perfectly into the grooves in the stone road, almost seamlessly. Perhaps it's because the street itself is only wide enough for one carriage, Pardofelis thought.
Beside her, Michael also lowered his head, but his eyes rolled upwards eerily, peeking at the passenger inside the carriage.
Just then, an evening breeze swept through the narrow street. Along with an unbearable stench, it naturally lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.
Michael's gaze pierced through the gap into the carriage, then quickly retracted. The next second, he gripped Pardofelis's hand tightly and ducked into the adjacent alley.
Inside the carriage, Su kept his eyes tightly shut as usual. Perhaps feeling the recent warmth turning stuffy, he elegantly tugged at his wheel-like ruff collar. Suddenly, a foul odor assailed him. He opened his eyes instinctively, but the carriage curtain gently fell back into place. He saw nothing.
Su's eyelids drooped. He turned his gaze to the long wooden box in front of him.
He gently caressed it, a trace of nostalgia appearing in those eyes that rarely opened.
For the past five thousand years, he had spent most of his time executing Projectֶֶֶֶֶ: VALUKA using Sumeru. However, due to changing circumstances, his focus during execution had varied.
According to the original plan, he was supposed to use countless parallel Bubble Universes to seek the minuscule possibility of the prime world defeating the Honkai. But that plan was formulated before the Battle of the Moon; circumstances change. In recent years, Su's observations had consistently focused on Michael.
He attempted to deduce Michael's current schemes by observing Michael's choices in parallel Bubble Universes. But perplexingly, while he could find countless Bubble Universes where Michael existed, he couldn't conduct proper observations. He could also find many Bubble Universes with both Michael and Elysia, but none possessed the potential to reach Finality, nor did they hold any reference value for Project: VALUKA.
Yet, he wasn't discouraged. The answer to a question often doesn't require a direct approach. Just as the true, original owner of the weapon he now caressed—in another sense—could also guide him towards the answer regarding Michael.
Correct, it was Seele, traveling through the Bubble Universes. Su had spent about a thousand years tracking her traces through the Bubble Universes before finally re-establishing contact not long ago.
But she too knew nothing about what had happened previously. She only knew her connection to Michael's Stigmata had abruptly severed fifty thousand years ago. What exactly occurred, she truly didn't know.
However, it wasn't entirely fruitless. As the consciousness born within that Stigmata, even though her connection to the Stigmata itself was broken, she could at least perceive whether the Stigmata itself still existed, whether its holder still existed.
"Michael, you really are alive..."
Although Hua had already answered this question with silence earlier, hearing the definitive answer from Seele still left Su feeling... unsure how to describe his emotions.
He hadn't told Kevin about this; there seemed little need to. Early this morning, an abnormal Honkai energy fluctuation appeared in Australia. Judging by the reaction level, it was at most a Judgment-class Honkai Beast, not difficult to handle.
But Kevin still chose to go personally. Su didn't stop him; conveniently, he had things of his own to do.
The carriage trundled along the stone road at a moderate pace. The wheels rolling over the uneven bricks made the ride no more comfortable than riding a horse directly, but Su didn't mind. If there had been a second person in the carriage, they would have seen his current state—
He appeared to be sitting on the carriage's only seat, but his bottom maintained a constant distance from it. It was less like riding in a carriage and more like he was vertically suspended at a fixed height, merely moving horizontally along with the carriage.
He wasn't using any spatial powers. True, he could achieve this effect using the Second Divine Key, but there was no need. This was simply another ability he possessed as a psychic MANTIS—psychokinesis.
The carriage gradually slowed and came to a stop.
"Su, we've arrived at the Schariac Orphanage."
"Understood."
The coachman opened the door for Su. He stepped out, eyes closed, yet navigating the steps flawlessly. Then, he reached into the carriage, and the wooden box containing the Abyss Flower floated out slowly but steadily, hovering quietly beside him.
Witnessing this scene, practically miraculous to ordinary people, the coachman showed no excitement. Instead, he looked resigned and pleaded, "Come on, Su, even though this place is remote, it's still Schicksal territory. Do you have to be so flashy... How about I carry it?"
"It doesn't really matter. This is the territory of the Three Great Families; they have some understanding of the Honkai. They might be surprised, but not overly so. However, if I did let you carry it, you'd go back and tell Fuxi and Nuwa, 'You know what? Last time Su asked me to go with him to the Schariac house to return the Abyss Flower, he made me carry the lance the whole way and didn't even give me overtime pay!' Right?"
"Uh... cough cough cough!" Elvin instinctively wanted to argue, but after thinking for a moment, he sighed helplessly. "Can't help it, you know I'm a blabbermouth... Not being able to keep my mouth shut isn't just about having something to say. At my level, it's more like finding things to say even when there's nothing. But honestly, finally getting out for a bit, not doing much, what can I tell them back home? Those old stories, repeated for thousands of years... Forget me, they probably know them by heart...
"Su, you're an Ascetic. Tell me, for MANTISes like you, and people like us 'blessed' by Michael with the Abyss Flower, is this longevity a reward we deserve as Flame-Chasers, or an absolute punishment for defying heaven?"
"Elvin, have you heard of Sisyphus, who pushed the stone? To others, pushing a boulder to the summit only to watch it roll down, then returning to the foot to push it up again, endlessly repeating this cycle—Sisyphus's life, confined to such meaningless labor, must be unfortunate, right?"
"But for Sisyphus himself, he might well be happy. Because everything he does is inherently futile, the only rebellion he can offer against this futility is to consider himself happy. We are the same. As long as you believe you are happy, then long life is a reward for you. Moreover, what we have to do is far more meaningful than endlessly pushing a boulder up a hill."
Su shook his head. His words were as cryptic as ever, but for Elvin, with his millennia of experience, they weren't difficult to understand.
Yet Elvin still had doubts: "Su, I'm sorry. I know what we do is meaningful, but I still don't understand the full picture of Dr. MEI's plan. And... our era is gone. Defeating the Honkai, that's for this era. Does it really hold any meaning for us anymore?"
"If you think it has no meaning, then it has no meaning."
"Alright..." Elvin scratched his head, asking again with some frustration, "Then Su, let me put it another way. How long must we continue this futile effort? I don't expect to know MEI's full plan, but at least describe it for me. Using Sisyphus as an example, what kind of work are we actually doing?"
"As fodder for your chats back home?"
"Uh, cough cough cough!" Elvin coughed violently. He wasn't entirely without options. This era didn't require many Fire Moth members. Of the thirty thousand left in the base back then, most entered the Elysian Realm, immersed in an indestructible past.
But for Elvin, he was someone who needed novelty to survive. Immersing in the past, while beautiful, offered no new conversational material. For him, that meant a loss of value, a death of sorts.
Still, after thousands of years, he was really getting tired...
"Then I'll tell you, Elvin." Su spoke softly, eyes still closed, stepping towards the slowly opening gates bearing the "Schariac" sign.
"What we do, the first half is no different from Sisyphus. We too push a great boulder to the summit, only to watch it roll down. But when we descend, we clench a handful of earth, dig away a piece of stone. Thus, one day, the mountain will be leveled, and we will successfully push the boulder across."
As the last syllable left his lips, ignoring Elvin who stood pondering, Su raised his head and strode into the rather lifeless orphanage.
The heavy iron gate closed slowly behind him. Su turned around but didn't open his eyes.
"Tsk, what a weirdo. Why do you keep your eyes closed everywhere? Are you blind? No, you don't even have a cane, and no servants attending you. Clearly, you can see the way."
"Miss Eleanor, you don't seem surprised by my arrival." Su chuckled softly. He had heard this question countless times in the previous era and couldn't be bothered to explain. Only those who closed their eyes knew how comfortable it was to go through a day with closed eyes... although he truly couldn't see anything when his eyes were shut.
"Why should I be surprised?" Eleanor bolted the gate and approached step by step. "Last time on the Kipchak Steppe, I recognized the weapon in the hands of that man who obviously had ties to the Kaslanas. Back when Kallen's father used the Judgment of Shamash to perish together with the Honkai Beast, the Divine Key itself was damaged and sent somewhere unknown for repairs. It hasn't been returned to the Kaslana family after all these years... Heh, of course, that woman probably wouldn't dare use that weapon anyway. She's the first Kaslana I've seen who uses Judah instead of Shamash..."
Even though this wasn't the time for such talk, she still spent considerable effort mocking Kallen, revealing Kallen's peculiar place in her heart—consistent with Su's observations in other worlds.
But this made him question whether coming here today... was truly the right thing to do. Among the countless outcomes observed through Project: VALUKA, he had once seen one, only one, relatively good ending. He came today for that ending.
His hesitation stemmed from the fact that "relatively good" also meant "not truly good." Compared to Kevin directly executing Project Stigma, this ending was much better, but it wasn't perfect either. It still demanded the tragic fate of countless individuals as its price, just significantly less than Project Stigma, and it offered humanity a genuine chance to overcome Finality, unlike what Project Stigma provided.
Regardless, Su had no choice. The parallel world he observed lacked Michael's presence, leading inevitably to too many "errors."
Fortunately, world lines tend to converge on their own; there was still a possibility of guiding everything towards that ending. He came today precisely to make some corrections.
Because according to that ending, everything about to happen now could truly be considered the "beginning of the tragedy."
So, could he hope to observe a perfect ending in the next five hundred years? Certainly possible. But abandoning the effort today to steer things towards that "not-so-good" ending would mean factually giving up on this outcome, which was better than Project Stigma.
He didn't want Kevin to implement Project Stigma, partly because that outcome was too cruel for humanity itself, and partly because... shouldering the Authority of Finality, enduring the heart-wrenching damage caused by its power across endless time, only to heal through immense self-regeneration... This Prometheus-like fate was simply too cruel for Kevin himself. Cruel, unlike an ending MEI would choose for Kevin, yet rational, like an ending MEI would choose for humanity.
Therefore, he had to offer his own choice. If perfection was unattainable, then settle for the next best thing, as long as it was better than the worst-case scenario—he wasn't an idealist, nor a perfectionist. He possessed a physician's compassion, but also an Ascetic's rationality.
Besides, better than the worst case... Heh, perhaps such an ending was the most realistic outcome Project: Fire Moth could achieve...
Of course, even setting aside all these ambiguous plans, he had a compelling reason to visit the Schariac home—based on his deduced personality model of Michael, Michael wouldn't completely disregard the Schariac lineage, the culmination of his and Elysia's bloodline, even if he didn't excessively cherish it. Perhaps he could find some clues about Michael here? Even if things didn't go as hoped, there was no loss.
Unlike his internal brainstorming, Eleanor continued talking to herself: "Anyway, I don't know your connection to the people who repair Divine Keys, but I suppose my Abyss Flower likely passed through your hands... But, to be honest, I am a little surprised—only that you'd deliver it personally, don't get any ideas!"
"Your Abyss Flower?" Su pursed his thin lips, feeling somewhat speechless, then suddenly felt like laughing. He had to admit, this generation's Schariac, Kaslana, and Apocalypse were all rather unusual.
This Schariac girl possessed the characteristic arrogance of the Apocalypse family. That Apocalypse boy had the gloominess of a certain Schariac ancestor. And the Kaslana...
Alright...
Su sighed inwardly.
You win, Kevin. On this point, you truly win. Every one of your descendants is just as foolish, just as stubborn as you.
And just like MEI... terrible cooks.