"If Onee-sama dies, if she dies..." Seele muttered, the deep blue scythe frozen in mid-air, unable to fall.
"Without Onee-sama, what would I do?!" Seele suddenly retracted the scythe and clutched her head with one hand, shouting, "No! No! But I have to kill Onee-sama! Otherwise, I'll never be able to be with her forever!"
"No! If I kill Onee-sama, then why should I even live... No! No!!" Seele's eyes began to glaze over, her thoughts trapped in a quagmire, like the chicken-and-egg paradox.
"Onee-sama!! Tell me! What should I do! Why can't I be with the Onee-sama I love so much?!" Seele suddenly remembered the Sister Bronya who had seemed to know everything since they were children. As if seeing a ray of light in the darkness, she lowered her head, looked at Bronya, and asked her question, her already cold tears streaming down her cheeks... and dripping onto Bronya's face...
"..." Bronya was silent. This was an unsolvable problem... Even with terabytes of data and knowledge, she couldn't come up with an answer.
"...Sigh." Li Xuan silently lowered his Xuanyuan Sword... The Xuanyuan Sword was a bit heavy, and holding it for a long time was tiring... But, Bronya and Seele's situation was indeed a conundrum. For one to live... the other had to be sacrificed... Reality was just that cruel.
"If I can't be with Onee-sama, what's the point of my existence..." Seele's eyes dimmed when she didn't get an answer from the all-knowing Onee-sama she remembered.
Then, as if going mad in the face of destruction.
"Oh hoho... hohohahahaha~~~ So that's how it is! It was such a simple solution, I finally understand!" A crazed look appeared in Seele's eyes again, and she let out a piercing laugh as if she had figured something out.
".....Hmm?!" Li Xuan looked at the somewhat frantic Seele in surprise. Had she really found a way?! That's impossible...
"If I do this, I won't be in pain anymore. If I do this, I'll live by Onee-sama's side forever~" Seele said excitedly, looking at Bronya, her eyes filled with a crazed light.
"Onee-sama..."
"Please die with me..." Seele said with a light laugh, raising her scythe. "Onee-sama, please die with me~ That way, we can be together forever!" *If we die together, can't we be together forever?! How did I only just think of such a simple solution~*
"Seele..." Bronya closed her eyes as if accepting her fate, muttering. Maybe dying together wasn't a bad idea?
"..." Li Xuan was completely stunned... He thought Seele had actually come up with a solution... So... *this* was your fucking solution?!... To die together?!
"That child is acting weird! Mei-senpai! We have to stop her!" Even Kiana, whose intelligence often went offline, could see the 'broken' expression on Seele's face.
"Bronya! Get away from that child!" Mei said anxiously. The girl had raised her scythe again... but they didn't dare get too close... After all, Bronya was still in Seele's hands.
"Onee-sama! Ahahahahaha!!" Seele laughed shrilly like a broken doll. The deep blue scythe in her hand swung down heavily... The deep blue blade cut through the air with a 'hiss~'.
"Wait..." The Honkai energy in Li Xuan's body began to circulate rapidly. The five-star emblem 'Gale Arts (High Tier)' on the shirt under his jacket flashed with a faint light. The stray particles around them began to follow the call of Honkai energy, turning into 'wind' that increased speed...
But before Li Xuan could act, someone else reacted even faster....
"Bang! Clang!" The sound of metal colliding reached everyone's ears. The falling scythe was instantly knocked back by the impact of a bullet, ultimately failing to land as intended... to end Bronya's life.
"Long time no see, Bronya, Seele..." A pleasant female voice came softly from behind them, as calm as a normal, everyday greeting...
"Mother..." Seele looked at the familiar figure, her voice trembling as she subconsciously whispered the name of that figure...
..................................
Before this... on the Anti-Entropy warship hovering thousands of meters in the air...
"Mother... I brought the thing back..." Xing. Ma'er said cheerfully, trying to claim credit. Like a sheepdog, only at times like this would she retract her claws and speak obediently like a child.
"Mhm, well done... Xing is such a good girl," the woman with curly, pale-golden hair said with a slight smile, sitting in the command chair. She reached out and gently patted Xing. Ma'er's head encouragingly.
"Did Schicksal really think we didn't know they hid some of the fragments back then? It's about time they were returned to their rightful owner," Cocolia said mockingly. She took the small black box from Xing, opened it, and glanced at the blue, gem-like object inside.
It was one of the fragments of the Second Herrscher's Core. It was both the most precious of things and something akin to a demon.
"Is the Space Gate ready?" Cocolia asked calmly, taking a small pistol from a drawer and tucking it into the leather holster on her thigh.
"It was prepared just now, Lady Cocolia..." the middle-aged man said with a fawning smile.
"Mhm... Then I'll go see my long-lost 'daughters'... And while I'm at it, I'll verify some of my ideas." Cocolia stood up expressionlessly and walked towards the research lab, her voice devoid of emotion...
She quickly arrived at the research lab. Under the respectful gazes of the researchers, she stepped into a gate-shaped passage, and her figure slowly disappeared...
She knew exactly where she was going... to the Illusory Sea.
(End of Chapter)