Rain... fell from the sky, pounding into the desert and creating small sand pits.
The canopy of the City of Sighs opened, and the sinful city now bloomed like a lotus in the desert, receiving this gift from the heavens.
But everyone in the city just stared blankly, looking at the canopy that had disappeared because it was receiving the rainwater.
From the beginning to the arrival of this storm, the people in the city didn't have much time to react. Various characters appeared and disappeared in front of them like a river of crucian carp, and each one of them could burst out with their own highlight moment.
It wasn't until this moment that Azhar's cry resounded through the heavens and the earth that everyone realized that this was not a movie.
Everyone in the picture was fighting for them with their lives on the line. Whether it was the Fire Moths or the Snow Wolf Squad, even the high-ranking officials they had complaints about had already delayed the monster called the Herrscher for a long time with their lives.
This was not a drama that could be accompanied by popcorn, but a decisive battle where a group of people bet their lives!
And it wasn't until Azhar's proverb fell on everyone's heads that everyone suddenly felt that something had been taken away from them.
Looking around in a daze, they were surprised to find that the faces around them that should have been familiar had become unfamiliar. Although they could still recall the other party's name in their minds, they still wondered if the name and the person corresponded.
But now, after looking around, someone found something wrong.
"Wait... where did the city defense team go?"
Not long ago, shouldn't the city defense team still be in the city helping the tyrant, going door to door to collect everyone's supplies? Everyone had heard that commotion, but now no one could be seen...
"That's a recording device!" Someone suddenly shouted, holding a speaker above his head. Everyone followed the voice and saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
"So we were tricked?" someone finally reacted.
"Yes, we were all tricked..." someone murmured, suddenly feeling a blockage in his heart.
Until someone, braving the heavy rain, climbed onto a high platform.
Everyone couldn't see whether the rain on her face was rain or tears. They only heard her say—
"Dear citizens of the City of Sighs, I am Susanna..." The rain screen well concealed the sadness on Susanna's face. And when everyone looked against the rain screen, they saw the shadow of Tafira in Susanna's figure.
"I'm sorry for involving you all in such a scam..."
After Azhar uttered the proverb, the Herrscher's face also changed.
She didn't expect Azhar to dare to take over her core directly, let alone that antibody condensed from so many people.
Neither of these two points was of any use. Even if that Honkai energy antibody was injected into her own body, it would have no effect. And if Azhar touched her core, she would only end up being eroded to ashes.
But what about when the two were combined? She had suffered a big loss.
The effect of that dose of medicine was over. Azhar fell to the ground with a smile on her face. The corrosive patterns had already climbed up her forehead.
The golden core rolled out of her hand, emitting a faint golden light.
The Herrscher reached out, not knowing whether she was reaching for the core or for Azhar.
But she ultimately failed to touch anything, because a hand that exuded a cold aura had shackled her in place.
"Herrscher..." the person who exuded a cold aura stared at the Herrscher. And in the Herrscher's eyes, the person was incomparably pure, without a trace of sin. "I'm back."
...
Azhar's proverb of amnesty floated into the snowfield in Bianka's heart.
Together with the white figure, it shattered Pavanti's illusion.
"You were never wrong," in the shattered fragments of the illusion, Bianka heard the white girl speak. "No one is born wrong. Perhaps mistakes can't be made up for, and perhaps we will really do some wrong things."
She turned her head and looked at Bianka with eyes that were almost identical to hers. "But this doesn't mean that we have to make one mistake after another. It doesn't mean that we have to escape them."
"Dad told me... if I eat something delicious, then I should be happy for my luck. If I eat something not so delicious... then I should be happy for the people who didn't eat this!
"Our lives are already very bad because of mistakes, so we can't let more people become as bad as us!"
Just like... the "self" in another world that Shu had shown her, who had become a "monster" like this girl, and had once wanted to give up on herself, abandon herself to protect others.
If she could decide everything, this might be the best choice. But when Kiana watched the past of "herself" from a third person's perspective, she realized that the world was actually not just her own.
At that time, she had closed herself off from everything. Not only did she not actively interact with the world, but more importantly, she turned a deaf ear to all the information from the outside world.
At that time, her world really only had "herself," and all decisions were made by her, so there would be her paranoid "taking things for granted."
At that time, she was actually what the Herrscher of Binding wanted everyone to be. But in fact, Kiana saw how painful "herself" was at that time.
Perhaps most people would not understand their pain ten years later. They would even wonder why their thinking was like that the second before.
But Kiana could understand. She could clearly know the source of most people's sorrow, not to mention that it was the "self" of another world?
Fortunately... that world still had the class monitor to accompany her. Mei and the everyone from the academy were looking for her. It was they who told that "self" that there were still them in the world.
And unfortunately... no one could always be by Bianka's side to tell her this.
So this time...
"Let me help you," Kiana extended her hand to Bianka, showing the same smile she had shown to Azhar in front of the Ferris wheel.
"Come back to civilization with us. We will accept everything about you. No matter who you are, I will promise you—
"When you wake up every day, you will see the person you want to see the most greet you."
The ice and snow began to melt around them. Before she could think of a reason to refuse, Bianka's body had already hesitantly reached out.
She was still hesitating. She still thought in her mind that she should not go back. Reason was telling her that doing so would only bring more trouble to others.
But Kiana refused her hesitation, and took the initiative to pull back Bianka's heart that was about to drown in reason.
"Let's face the enemy together!" Kiana smiled at Bianka, whom she had pulled up.
The next moment, a violent snowstorm swept over, but the two of them stood still in the cold wind, just standing side by side, looking at the Emperor-class Honkai beast, Pavanti, that was emerging from the snowfield.
And in the outside world, the evolution core embedded on the Key of Genesis flashed with a faint red light. The next moment, a thin figure appeared from the snowstorm.
Both of them were stunned for a moment. Bianka looked at the figure with a strange expression, while Kiana only felt a chill down her spine.
The thin figure was just an illusory projection. He just glanced at the two of them indifferently, and then his gaze fell on Pavanti.
"A genius idea. Using Honkai energy as a buffer to modify the body, forcibly embedding the Honkai energy core as the drive... then using the Honkai energy core to feed back the modified body, using the filled Honkai energy as a power source to supply the genes contained in the core to assimilate the body...
"Essentially, it's to promote the Honkai beast genes in the body, making them grow stronger and gradually devour and replace human tissue?"
He paced in the snowfield, his brows slightly furrowed, and his voice gradually cooled from appreciation.
"The replaced tissue and the original tissue are not compatible, and will even produce strong rejection. It is relying on the strong life force of the body to forcibly support it until the replaced tissue takes over the life needs... Failure."
With a casual wave of his hand, the next moment, Pavanti let out a miserable scream. In the surprised eyes of Bianka and Kiana, Pavanti's huge body instantly shattered by more than half.
"The Honkai energy will first erode the original tissue, causing the template for the replaced tissue to be a pile of mud. It is still relying on the toughness of the original tissue to hold on... Failure."
With another wave of his hand, the entire snowfield was lifted up by him, revealing the yellow grass that had been sealed for a long time.
"The heart is still the main power supply system of the individual, but the core has no interaction with the heart. The Honkai energy is still free in the body, and the red blood cells have not taken up the responsibility of energy transportation... Failure."
"The competition between the replaced tissue and the original tissue relies on proliferation and decay, and energy consumption... heh, your lifespan is only three months... Failure."
"Information collection system... Failure."
"Force-producing tissue merger... Failure."
"Energy absorption... Failure."
"..."
Every time he said a word, the world would undergo a drastic change. The withered grassland began to come to life, the cold world began to warm up, and the thick clouds in the sky were dispersed, revealing a blue sky.
The world on the verge of destruction was transformed into a vibrant world step by step under the watchful eyes of Bianka and Kiana.
Until the end, he raised his hand and aimed at Pavanti, who could only shiver.
"Two souls in one body..." when he said this, his tone was a bit playful, but also a bit resigned.
"Failure."
As he clenched his hand, Pavanti's remains shattered on the spot like a fragile bubble. And he turned his head, looked at Bianka, and showed a satisfied expression.
"Isn't this perfect?"
His figure began to gradually dissipate, and before he left, a sincere praise floated out.
"MANTIS... what a genius idea... it's just that the operator is too rough..."
In reality, Bianka and Kiana suddenly came to their senses. Bianka immediately lowered her head and looked at her hand. It was fair and clean, slender and long, not the ferocious black bone claws that had appeared countless times in her dreams.
She raised her hand to touch her face. It was also soft, not hard bone armor.
She seemed to have returned to her original appearance. Only the power in her body had not disappeared, and even the feeling of blockage when using that power had disappeared.
She felt better than ever!
And Kiana's ears heard a somewhat cold electronic sound effect.
[Key of Genesis has recorded: MANTIS.
Current power usage: Zero rated power—120%]
She felt a surge of power in her body. In this state, Kiana even felt that she could eat a cow in one bite!
And Kiana also had a feeling that as long as she was willing, she could turn into a particularly powerful monster. In that state, the power in her body would be better utilized.
A momentary eagerness to try was quickly suppressed by her.
She had a strange premonition that as long as she dared to use it, a guy who made a sharp explosion would soon fly down from the sky and confiscate her Key of Genesis, and then lock her in a small dark room for half a day without giving her any food.
But it should be okay to maintain this state, right? With such power, she had to do something!
The two of them looked at the Herrscher who was reaching for Azhar and the core at the same time. The next moment, the two of them rushed out without any order.
And it was only at this moment that the Herrscher finally understood what Azhar had done with the Herrscher's power.
As she had said herself, Azhar had absolved everyone of all their crimes so far. And as far as she could see, everyone present was so pure. At least at this moment, everyone was as pure as a Kaslana when facing her.
This scene made her uncomfortable and frightened, but from the bottom of her heart, she felt that this was the world she wanted. There was no evil, and everyone was united against a common enemy...
An alarm suddenly sounded in the Herrscher's mind. The next moment, her whole body was thrown out and landed heavily in the distance.
But she had instantly changed her actions before being sent flying. The falling golden core turned into a golden light and returned to her body.
A series of golden chains flew out from behind her, temporarily blocking the pursuing Bianka.
But Bianka was no longer the same as before. Even with all her strength, the Herrscher was still losing ground in front of Bianka.
Kiana, on the other hand, retrieved Azhar. After seeing the hand that was already rotten to the bone, Kiana gritted her teeth in unwillingness and then placed her hand on Azhar's broken arm.
"Evolution, I know you can do it... help me."
Evolution: "?"
Did he misunderstand something? Was it because he had just made a move in that semi-finished MANTIS body? He only did it because he couldn't stand the existence of that kind of thing, okay?
"Get lost," a light scolding sounded. Kiana looked at Azhar's arm and saw new flesh growing rapidly, and she was relieved.
"Thank you."
"I said get lost!"