"Mother-in-law, it's time to go."
Following the feather's signal, C.C. stepped out from a newly opened Imaginary Gate, appearing right where Cecilia stood.
"Nagami, Otto has launched a Honkai Fission Bomb!" Cecilia's steps quickened despite herself, her voice soft yet trembling with barely suppressed anxiety. "Siegfried… he…"
The moment Siegfried summoned Shamash, Otto had sealed all battlefield communications.
Not even the Valkyries fighting at the front could send or receive voice reports.
His intent was obvious—Siegfried had to die.
Cecilia had only learned of the bomb's launch from Anti-Entropy's Dr. Einstein.
After all, aside from Otto himself, no one else even had the authority to fire such a weapon.
"Don't worry. How could I ever forget what I promised you?" C.C. smiled faintly, her tone light and confident, every gesture carrying a kind of effortless elegance. "I'll save everyone. And yes—that includes Siegfried."
In truth, even if Otto hadn't ordered the launch, C.C. had planned to set off a "firework" of her own before leaving this era.
Not for celebration, but to leave behind necessary traces.
After all, memories could be rewritten—but without matching "facts" in reality, even ordinary people might notice the discrepancies.
And someone like Otto? He would undoubtedly sniff out the truth from the smallest clue.
"So, leave this to me."
C.C. pressed one slender hand over her chest and extended the other toward Cecilia.
Closing her eyes, Cecilia took several deep breaths, burying the tangled storm of emotions deep within her heart.
When she finally raised her gaze, her eyes shone with gentleness—and just a hint of pride.
"Then I'll trust you with this."
Their hands met.
In the next moment, Cecilia's tall and graceful figure dissolved into countless crystalline azure particles.
Guided by C.C., her essence flowed like a stream of light into the Void's core.
This was one of the Void Genome Core's unique properties, inherited from Nagami: the ability to store and even nurture damaged souls.
In terms of numbers, there was no real limit.
Only the total soul weight mattered.
But normally, it would take millions—even tens of millions of souls to reach saturation.
The chance of ever needing to move such a scale of souls was close to zero.
C.C. glanced once more toward the direction where the fission bomb was about to fall—then vanished on the spot.
On the battlefield, Otto's information lockdown meant that the ordinary Valkyries didn't even realize what was coming.
They continued to fight desperately against swarms of Honkai beasts.
Some were the usual creatures spawned by the Honkai.
"At this point, these beasts serve no further purpose."
With a crisp snap of her fingers, C.C. smirked. "Alright, extras—time to collect your lunchboxes."
A subtle ripple spread unseen through the Imaginary Space.
Every Honkai beast froze instantly.
A second later, their bodies split apart, bursting into streams of violet radiance before scattering into nothing.
Dead soldiers collapsed silently across the shattered battlefield.
"Huh? What happened here?!"
"The Honkai beasts… they just vanished?!"
"Control, come in! Control, do you read—?!"
Their confused voices rang out, but as a slender green-haired figure approached, the words died in their throats.
One by one, the Valkyries' bodies stiffened, their eyes going blank like dolls.
Then, a shimmering Imaginary Gate appeared before each of them, whisking them away to safety—far from the blast zone.
Sweat beaded on her pale forehead as Dr. Einstein's brows furrowed deeply.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, desperately searching for a way to stop the bomb's detonation.
But it was hopeless. Nothing worked.
"Hello there! SF Express delivery—your package has arrived. Please sign here, Dr. Einstein~"
"Yes, just leave it ove—"
Still absorbed in her work, Einstein responded automatically.
But then, breaking from her train of thought, her eyes flew wide open in shock.
Wait—this was inside Arhat!
What the hell was this about a delivery package?!
She whirled around. But there was no one behind her.
Only a single blue gemstone, floating silently in the air, pulsing with a mysterious, dazzling glow.
"This is…?!"
...
"This Judas Launcher really needs more training…"
Nagami shook his head helplessly as he watched Theresa collapse weakly onto the ground.
Just using Zero Rated Power once, and she's already this exhausted? Truly the shame of all launchers.
"Y-You… who are you?"
Forcing her heavy eyelids open, Theresa's voice came out ragged, like she had to squeeze every word from her throat, as she looked at the unfamiliar boy who suddenly appeared.
"I'm just a passing captain."
With that, Nagami casually grabbed her by the back of her collar like someone picking up a stray animal, and—ignoring her startled and confused expression—tossed her straight into a portal of Imaginary Space.
She tumbled out at the edge of the Siberian plains, landing hard on her backside.
Unhurriedly, Nagami walked over to where Siegfried lay slumped against broken rubble.
In his eyes, the six-pointed star spun slowly.
"Almost every muscle fiber is torn, countless bones are shattered… silicon-based parts from the Honkai beastification are lodged into his muscles and organs…"
He tilted his head slightly.
"Not bad. At least you've got half an hour left in you."
Nagami's tone carried no concern for Siegfried's grave injuries, only a detached evaluation.
"Still… this determination and will to stand against Honkai is just barely acceptable."
He placed a hand on Siegfried's corrupted, beast-like side.
Using his Alpha Stigma Eyes, he parsed Siegfried's original genetic sequence.
A burst of white light bloomed from Nagami's hand.
The Herrscher of Death's Authority—Creation.
With the genetic blueprint decoded, he manipulated the molecules, restoring the mutated, silicon-based genes back into their original human form.
Not all of them, of course—just enough to drag Siegfried back from the brink of death.
His severe injuries remained, because they had to.
That was a fact history could not erase.
Once the treatment was complete, Nagami grabbed Siegfried by the collar and, much like Theresa, tossed him through a portal to the edges of the battlefield.
"Okay, that's done."
He dusted off his hands lightly, then raised his gaze skyward.
A searing brilliance tore through the endless dark sky like a falling star, leaving a blazing trail of fire in its wake.
So dazzling. So beautiful.
But it was the beauty of destruction.
A crimson mushroom cloud bloomed in the heavens, blood-red against the night, as a radiant pillar of annihilation pierced the darkness.
The scene was as grand as it was terrifying.
And so, the Second Eruption came to an end.
The damage caused by the Second Herrscher and the hordes of Honkai beasts was immeasurable, and the economic toll astronomical.
Yet the death toll… was not even a thousandth of what history once recorded.
In fact, many of the casualties came from trampling during mass evacuations.
The number of people who actually died at the claws of the Honkai beasts Nagami had created was negligible in comparison.
Unlucky victims, perhaps—but even without Honkai, similar numbers of people would die daily from traffic accidents and random disasters.
Nagami sighed.
In a global-scale catastrophe, sparing every single life was simply impossible.
To reduce the casualties to this degree was already nothing short of a miracle.
At the blast's center, Nagami casually conjured a false corpse of Cecilia, leaving it behind as history's marker.
Then, with one step, he entered Imaginary Space, standing side by side with C.C. as they gazed out over the ravaged wastelands of Siberia.
"Now… for the final step."
His words were soft, like a whisper.
A radiant feather appeared in his palm, glowing with the light of countless stars.
As his hand lifted, the vast Honkai energy within Imaginary Space roared to life, surging outward in a wave of power.
At that moment, everyone who had awareness of the Second Eruption—
From the frontline Valkyries to the supporting logistic teams, from Tesla, Einstein, Welt, and Fu Hua… even Otto himself—
—all of them witnessed a brilliant starfall flash across their vision.
As a Herrscher with dominion over Imaginary Space, Nagami's power extended far beyond simple spatial warping or conjuring weapons like the Spear of Subspace.
He could invert reality itself, bending scale and perspective at will.
Feathers drifted from the skies, each glowing fragment carrying memories that should have been real.
And for those countless survivors who shouldn't have existed in the original timeline?
The feathers assigned them roles—war refugees, orphans, strangers swept away by the chaos of war.
In mere minutes, memories across the world were rewritten, reality adjusted to fit.
The glowing feathers faded, their light dimming…
One final feather descended, merging into the empty Herrscher Core Nagami had placed within Sirin's body.
There, it sealed away her memories—until the day in the future when his feathers would awaken them once more.
————————————————————————
Schicksal Headquarters, Kaslana Estate.
Nagami gently stroked the head of the sleeping little Kiana, a soft smile curving his lips.
"We'll… meet again in the future."
And as his words fell, the boy's figure faded away.
———————————————————————
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