At night, Mei stood alone on the balcony, calmly looking at Nagazora City under the starry sky. This was her home, her memories, her everything...
She gently touched the tattoo on her waist, something that appeared after that experiment, what Ryn called a Stigmata.
Mei spoke softly to the empty space before her:
"Are you there..."
A voice that only Mei could hear responded gently.
"I'm here..."
"I'm sorry... Although I don't know who you are, I want to talk to you... I feel like you can hear me...
They say I will become a Herrscher... that over 3 million people in Nagazora City will die because of me... I... I'm so scared. Just a few days ago, I didn't know what the Honkai was, what a Herrscher was, but now they're telling me I will become an apostle of the Honkai, that I will become a Herrscher. I'm so scared... I'm so scared that Kiana and Ryn will get hurt..."
"..."
Mei poured out her heart to her, but the voice did not reply. In the end, Mei fell silent too.
"Thank you... thank you for being willing to listen to my ramblings."
"It's alright, it's what I should do."
Mei nodded at the air in front of her and turned to enter the bedroom. She felt much better after talking, although she was still afraid...
And in the Stigmata on Mei's waist, Mei's Stigmata Consciousness, after listening to Mei's confession, made a decision. She... would fight the Gem of Conquest for control, for Mei's sake... and for her own. If Mei was afraid of becoming the Herrscher of Thunder, afraid of harming those around her... then she would do it. Let her become the Herrscher of Thunder, let her bear all the sins...
The girl's life was an unfortunate one. She lost her mother at a young age, and her father was too busy with work to care for her. But thankfully, the girl's mother taught her to treat the world with gentleness... but the world didn't seem to treat her gently. Due to power struggles within Anti-Entropy, Mei was kidnapped multiple times as a child. The most severe incident left Mei with deep psychological trauma, and it was at that time... that she was born...
She wanted to tear apart those who bullied Mei... but she couldn't even make a sound. She had watched Mei being rescued, only to be locked up by Raiden Ryoma for safety reasons...
She had watched helplessly as Mei cried out in pain, begging him to stop, but Raiden Ryoma didn't hesitate in the slightest, directly implanting the Gem of Conquest into Mei's body...
She had watched as those people got close to Mei, coveting her family's wealth, and she had exhausted her power multiple times to warn Mei to stay away from them.
She watched all of Mei's suffering after Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned... Mei was very grateful to Kiana and Ryn, and so was she.
The Stigmata Consciousness had no face, but it had a figure identical to Mei's. She slowly approached the Gem of Conquest, gripping it with all her might. The Gem of Conquest's Honkai energy usually wouldn't leak, but when it sensed danger, it would erupt with powerful Honkai energy to corrode its surroundings.
The powerful Honkai energy did not affect the sleeping Mei outside, because the Stigmata Consciousness blocked it all. But the impact of the extremely high concentration of Honkai energy was also very damaging to the Stigmata. The Stigmata Consciousness's appearance was covered with marks of Honkai corrosion... but for Mei's sake... she could not lose. She submerged her consciousness into the Gem of Conquest and began to fight with it for authority, for the connection to the Imaginary Space.
At night, the sleeping Mei was startled awake. She felt something crawl into her bed. Looking down, she saw a white-haired furball rubbing against her incessantly.
"Kiana! What are you doing!" Mei cried out, her face paling, but she didn't push Kiana away. Instead, she reached out and hugged her.
"Hehe, I was just worried that Mei couldn't accept it... so I quietly came over to comfort you. But I saw you were sleeping so soundly, so..." Kiana, realizing she had been discovered, stopped pretending and directly grabbed Mei's two mounds of flesh, giving them a gentle squeeze, and said with a grin to Mei, "Come on, Mei, give me a smile. You look so sad with that long face."
"Ah—" Mei let out a shy moan, then patted Kiana's shoulder and said angrily, "You idiot, Kiana! Is this how you comfort people!"
Kiana pressed her head between the two mountains, enjoying the bliss of the world, and kneaded for a while before saying to Mei, "See, isn't all your attention on me now? So you're not sad anymore, right! Comforting people is about making them not sad, isn't it? My method is very effective..."
"You really are a master of logic..."
"Of course, I'm very smart!"
Mei hugged Kiana, and Kiana hugged Mei, both feeling each other's warmth. This was probably the warmest moment for Mei. If only Kiana hadn't mentioned Ryn.
Unfortunately, that was impossible. Kiana seemed to have suddenly remembered something and looked up at Mei, saying:
"By the way, Mei, Ryn said he will disappear for a while when the Great Honkai descends. He's going to be responsible for transferring the Honkai energy of the Great Honkai. He told us to struggle to survive for a few days until he comes back. At that time, let this young lady protect you! I'm very strong."
"Transfer the Honkai energy of the Great Honkai? So the people of Nagazora City won't die?" Mei's eyes lit up. She felt a glimmer of hope.
Kiana buried her head again, shaking it, which tickled Mei.
"The casualties will be much lower, but there's nothing we can do about those who were corroded before the Great Honkai descended or killed by Honkai Beasts and Honkai Zombies... But first things first, Mei, you're not allowed to commit suicide! Running away won't solve the problem... and it's not your fault."
"But..."
Mei had indeed thought about suicide... She was afraid that she would no longer be herself after becoming a Herrscher, afraid that she would hurt Kiana and the others...
Kiana grabbed Mei's hand, placed it on her chest, and said to Mei with a determined look in her eyes, "There are no buts. I can't accept the people of Nagazora City dying, but I can't accept Mei dying even more. If you try to run away or commit suicide, I will knock you out and keep you by my side. If you become a Herrscher and are no longer you, then I will defeat the Herrscher and bring Mei back!"
"Kiana..."
————————
On the ordinary warship that Otto had equipped for Mushoku Kika, Ryn and Kika stood together, looking at the huge Honkai reactor before them. This was the device that would power Kika's Nexus System.
"Are you sure you can successfully transfer the Honkai energy of the Great Honkai?"
"Yes, I'm confident. I'm counting on you to take care of Kiana and Mei until I get back."
"Don't die. Come back alive."
"Mhm, you too."