"..."
???
No way? No way?
Elysia held her breath, her finger felt as heavy as a thousand tons, trembling as she tapped once more with extreme difficulty.
"..."
"...Tsk, annoying. I'm fine."
[That ten seconds almost sent me off, sob sob, please don't knife Seele again!]
[I almost thought Black Seele really died. Well written, but never do that again!]
[MiHoYo! Stop playing with our hearts!!]
[mhy, you've done too many bad deeds!!]
The live chat exploded for a while.
Then they noticed the scene had frozen at Black Seele's appearance.
[What's wrong with Miss Elf? Did she get too scared?]
"I... I'm fine."
Elysia's voice was slow. "It's just that... seeing Black Seele safe made me relax too much, and suddenly I lost all my strength."
She paused after saying this.
When she spoke again, her tone was back to normal.
"My analysis was correct after all." She straightened up and declared, "I've completely seen through the scriptwriter!"
After saying that, she continued advancing the main story.
Hearing Black Seele's voice again, Seele sighed in relief. "Ah... scared me to death..."
"I also feel inexplicably exhausted." Black Seele looked unusually tired.
"This Black Abyss White Flower's consumption—should I call it 'vitality'? Anyway, that cost was different from what I imagined."
She paused, then mischievously added, "By the way, were you pretty anxious just now~?"
She deliberately asked, hoping to see Seele's shy reaction.
But Black Seele clearly underestimated Seele—when it comes to this, Seele has never 'lost.'
Seele answered without hesitation: "Of course! You must never scare me like that again!"
Black Seele was dumbfounded.
Wait, Seele just admitted it so directly? How was she supposed to reply?
Instead, she ended up being flustered by Seele.
This must be what they call a straight ball defeating a tsundere.
"You hear that, Seele?"
Black Seele: "..."
"Alright, alright, I hear you. I'm your obedient Seele~~"
At this point, the chat became lively again.
Elysia and the players all felt thoroughly sweetened, their faces blooming with auntie-like smiles.
[Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet.]
[Good job, mhy, a slap followed by a candy.]
[I'm conflicted now. Seele and Black Seele are so sweet, but Seele hugging Bronya is sweet too. So who should I ship?]
[What are you thinking? Just ship them all. The more CPs I ship, the higher chance one will survive to the finale.]
Just when everyone thought things had settled down.
In the story, in the sky above the church rooftop, strange golden gears were forming.
Kiana and the others were all startled by this sudden appearance.
On Hyperion, Tesla immediately recognized it as the binding [Oath of Judah Barrier]. If Kiana and the others were touched by it, they'd be done for.
Tesla hurriedly told Kiana to retreat.
However, by this time, the girls were all too exhausted to escape.
The situation instantly became dire.
Players' hearts jumped again.
At this critical moment, a thunderous roar echoed from the sky.
It was Theresa, piloting an assault ship alone, crashing into the battlefield.
But seeing this didn't calm the players. Instead, they grew even more anxious.
No way? Is Theresa going to...
No, no, don't panic. Maybe it's just a feint.
Yes, that must be it.
They comforted themselves, emotions barely soothed.
But then... the plot took a sharp turn.
Theresa decided to use the Oath of Judah to activate the [Oath of Judah Barrier] in reverse against the binding effect. Then, she charged into the sky alone.
At this point, players were still barely holding on.
Then Honkai Impact 3rd hit them with a flashback.
In it, Theresa and Cecilia chatted about mundane family matters, about young Kiana...
They even made a promise to build an academy where people would truly understand the meaning of "fighting for all that is beautiful in the world."
"Just like you said, Cecilia..."
The scene shifted.
A CG showed Theresa turning back to look at Kiana and the others, a gentle smile on her face.
The BGM switched to Amazing Grace.
Last time this BGM played, it was for Himeko.
[This BGM must not be played!]
[Someone! Cut off MiHoYo's speakers! We're running out of time!]
[Stop it, Theresa! No!!]
Players were instantly alarmed, no longer able to calm themselves.
MiHoYo! Are you insane? You're going to knife Teacher again? Now Academy Head too?
The scriptwriter must have some psychological trauma!
There's no After-Honkai in this world, no such thing as a post-Honkai immunity badge.
So players were genuinely scared now.
Elysia remembered the encrypted call between Hokuto and the current Theresa—an ominous feeling surged violently in her heart.
Theresa kept speaking:
"St. Freya's students have grown to a degree we never imagined."
"They can now decide their own fates, choose what they want to protect. Even if separated by the ends of the earth, they will never stop moving toward tomorrow!"
"Although... St. Freya's students do cause all sorts of problems... but you were right, Cecilia."
"This is the 'future' that is different from ours."
"This is... the 'future' we should protect."
If Bronya and Black Seele's scene felt like it still had room for negotiation, then with Theresa here, the atmosphere was fully in place.
The audience was already going mad, the live chat filled with howls of desperation.
Things like "It's over, they're playing the BGM," "Theresa fans dying on the spot," "Why are you knifing me"... covered every corner of the chat.
The game entered a cutscene.
Whoosh—
Theresa raised her head, her gaze as resolute as Himeko's back then, taking a deep breath.
"Oath of Judah, my old friend, you've always been omnipotent. So... please help me once more."
She faced the ever-expanding golden gears.
With all her students protected behind her, she placed the golden cross beside her.
"Oath of Judah's Vow, Zero-Rated Output."
Theresa placed her hand on Judah, with no hesitation in her heart, even if this blow would cost her life.
"Oath of Judah Barrier! Directed Deployment!!"
Golden light spread, countless golden chains appeared from thin air, and a massive Oath of Judah Barrier unfolded from beneath Theresa's feet, quickly covering the entire sky.
It collided head-on with the binding [Oath of Judah Barrier] above.
The two forces clashed, dissolved, collapsed...
Like two titans gnawing at each other's bodies.
And in between them, Theresa... looked as small as a lone boat in a vast ocean, ready to capsize at any moment.
But!
Even as her body lost sensation, her vision blurred.
Even as her consciousness betrayed her will, slipping into drowsiness.
Theresa knew she had something she must do.
Once, Himeko did so. Once, her friends did so.
Now, it was her turn to protect her students!
"Their future! I will protect it!!"
Theresa straightened her petite frame with difficulty.
The chains crashed into the gears once more.
The upper barrier was finally torn open, revealing the Imaginary Seed hidden within.
"Now's the time."
No hesitation, no delay.
Almost instantly!
The God Key's chains struck the Imaginary Seed accurately.
A chain reaction caused all the gears across the sky to lose their power.
Theresa Apocalypse, achieved her expected victory—at the cost she had foreseen.
"Did I succeed?"
A thought flashed through Theresa's mind. Her spirit loosened, and she fell uncontrollably from the sky.
"Kiana... Bronya..."
At the last moment, she only thought of this.
"As long as everyone is safe..."
"..."
Seeing this, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.
Theresa, who had accompanied them from the very start of the game, sometimes funny, sometimes unserious, yet always the world's cutest Academy Head.
Was she really going to die?
Enough! Such an ending! They couldn't accept it!
They were going crazy inside, but since the animation wasn't over yet, they hadn't started spamming the chat.
They still held onto a sliver of hope.
Maybe, just maybe, Theresa could survive.
In-game.
"What is that..."
As Theresa fell, she vaguely saw a divine white light shooting down from the sky. It posed no threat, even... brought peace of mind.
In Theresa's memory, such a pure light had only ever appeared on one person.
"Cecilia..."
After uttering that name in her mind, Theresa could no longer muster any strength.
She closed her eyes, letting herself fall unconsciously...
Falling...
The scene cut off abruptly here.
Truly abruptly.
Elysia, back in Kolosten, found that the main story ended right here.
[What's going on? That's it? What happened to Theresa!]
[MiHoYo is getting better at cliffhangers! (faints)]
[Blades in hand, follow me, let's rid the world of cliffhangers!]
[Cliffhanging at this point? How am I supposed to sleep tonight!]
...
"'Otto'-san, how can you cut off here!!" Even Elysia panicked.
Hokuto tried to calm her: "Don't worry, just wait a few days."
"I'm very anxious~~ Very anxious~! Update it now!!"
"..."
"Update it immediately~~ Or else... I'll take everyone to your house and eat all your rice."
"I'm telling you~~ I can... Eden might eat three bowls in one sitting."
Eden: ???