Xin Yu suddenly felt the gravity around him distort, seemingly trying to pull him backward while simultaneously attempting to crush him.
Combined with the earlier shout from this alternate world's Mr. Welt—"What thing are you?"—Xin Yu figured the man had likely discerned his condition. This was normal, however. Having visited the Void two or three times, and his body now shouldering a power born from the fusion of multiple Path energies and Honkai energy, the degree of his physical alteration was undoubtedly extraordinary. For the other party to perceive this alteration likely meant he was already questioning whether Xin Yu was even human.
Xin Yu had no intention of trying to stop him through explanations; after all, many problems in this world couldn't be solved with words.
Just as Welt used his gravity manipulation to try and pull Xin Yu away and then crush him with a gravitational collapse, he discovered that Xin Yu's gravitational index had instantaneously returned to normal.
It wasn't forcibly suppressed by energy; rather, the index itself had simply reverted to normal in an instant.
No matter how much he tried to use his gravity manipulation, he couldn't rewrite the surrounding gravitational constants.
"No need to try. I've forcibly fixed all the various physical laws in this vicinity. You cannot rewrite them. Unless your power level breaks through to a certain tier, or you reach the conceptual level like I have, you should stop this futile attempt."
Xin Yu gently lifted the sleeping little Kiana from the embrace of Siegfried's corpse. He had wanted to learn about this world's situation from this Mr. Welt of an alternate world, but the moment the man realized he couldn't inflict any harm, he bolted. That decisiveness and speed were truly astonishing.
Meanwhile, Welt, rapidly distancing himself, muttered curses under his breath. Where did this monster even come from? It did indeed possess Honkai energy, but it also housed many more inexplicable things distinct from Honkai energy.
Just by briefly trying to sense the other's inner workings, he had almost been dragged into a hollow void. If he hadn't immediately severed the connection, his mind would have definitely suffered severe trauma, possibly even undergoing an alteration that would make him no longer himself.
Where did he come from? He clearly didn't exist in the previous cycle... Was he a visitor from another planet? That seemed to be the only explanation for the existence of energies so different from Honkai.
...
Meanwhile, far away in another universe, the Herrscher of the End, Kiana, was currently quite anxious. She could no longer sense Xin Yu's presence at all.
Just before, when Xin Yu was about to leave the Xianzhou for another spacetime, Kiana had thought the thing she left in his body would provide her with vision and perception, allowing her to continue watching Xin Yu's adventures. She hadn't expected to lose contact completely this time.
"...Xin Yu, Xin Yu! Damn it! I'm already the Herrscher of the End, yet I can't even help the person I want to help!"
Something unexpected must have happened on Xin Yu's end, preventing her from contacting him. Yet, Kiana was completely helpless, able to do nothing but wait anxiously.
She could only wait.
"If I had left more contingencies, would I know what happened to Xin Yu? If I could have given more blessings, would I have been able to help him? If... if Xin Yu hadn't left me, would I not have to worry about him getting hurt..."
Kiana murmured to herself, unable to stop recalling her previous conversations with Xin Yu.
Love is a bond for two people.
"Xin Yu..."
Suddenly, Kiana no longer wanted to share. She didn't want to share Xin Yu with anyone else.
Yes, love is a bond for two people. Since she had bound him, since she had indeed become a chain that fettered him, then she too should be bound by him.
Love should be one person's willingness to give everything for another.
Love is the willingness to uphold a vague, ethereal promise for a lifetime.
A peculiar gravity settled upon Kiana's heart.
Alas, you connected your senses and contact to Xin Yu through a medium, able to see what happens to him, able to feel his presence. But have you ever considered the abnormality of the target you connected with?
Xin Yu... he is too abnormal. So abnormal that he has even attracted the gaze of that Aeon who governs the universe's Equilibrium.
...
Xin Yu patted down the last shovelful of earth, then placed a stone tablet he had just fashioned before the grave. After carving "Tomb of Siegfried," he sighed and rose from the ground.
"Although I don't know what kind of accident befell this world, regardless, in the other world, Kiana... and I have a good relationship, and Uncle Siegfried could be considered a friend. I will take care of this world's Kiana."
Carrying the still soundly asleep—or rather, unconscious—little Kiana on his back, Xin Yu prepared to leave the area. However, he hadn't walked for long when he saw a white-haired woman, exuding a heroic and valiant aura, standing ahead, waiting for him.
Xin Yu remembered her. In his original world, he had helped Uncle Siegfried go back in time to glimpse his younger self and his young wife.
And the woman standing before him now, though her features were slightly different from her youth, hadn't changed as drastically as the two Mr. Welts from different worlds.
Cecilia Schariac, wife of Siegfried Kaslana, mother of Kiana.
"Hello, Ms. Cecilia."
Xin Yu looked at her, relieved. At least this world's Kiana still had a relative. Otherwise, he might have truly ended up raising a child.
"Hello. Sir, could you return my daughter to me?"
Cecilia had previously encountered that fleeing leader of Anti-Entropy, the man calling himself Welt. He had informed her of Siegfried's death and the sudden appearance of a man who was fundamentally a monster, not human at all, on the inside.
Given Kiana's condition, if she fell into that man's hands, the energy and core within her body would likely be devoured, becoming nourishment for his growth.
Moreover, that man's abilities were exceedingly bizarre. For safety reasons, Welt had advised Cecilia to retreat immediately.
Of course, her love for both her husband and her daughter drove this young mother, making it impossible for her to leave.
Cecilia had come nearby, found Kiana wasn't in danger, and had personally witnessed the young man burying her husband.
"Of course. But could you tell me what the current situation is? To be honest, I was dragged here by an accident and currently have no understanding of what's happened."
Xin Yu could directly perceive that the Cecilia before him was not an imposter and truly bore no ill will.
Though, speaking of which, when exactly did he learn, or rather, develop the ability to discern the good or evil in others' hearts? Why couldn't he remember?
Xin Yu handed the Kiana on his back to Cecilia. Upon receiving Kiana, Cecilia discovered that the Herrscher core within Kiana's body, which had been extremely unstable, was now remarkably stable.
According to her original plan, Cecilia was prepared to use her Saintly Power to extract the Herrscher core. But now, it seemed unnecessary. If it could remain this stable, her daughter would be able to master the power of the Second Herrscher.
"May I ask, what exactly are you? Although this question is presumptuous, honestly, just a slight probe into your essence reveals that you and humans are fundamentally two different types of existence. Your aura and various aspects are clearly different. In fact, apart from your appearance, you bear no similarities to humans whatsoever."
"As long as I consider myself human, that is enough."
"...Could I ask a favor of you?"
"What is it?"
"...Kiana, she's lost her father... She's still so young..."
"Eh... Ah?"