On the girls' side.
Before Elysia returned, Pardo was still trying to comfort Dystopia, who had buried herself under the blanket.
"Big Sis Dys, Brother Silas must have his own reasons for doing this," Pardo said softly. "Sometimes… things really can't be helped."
Dystopia's muffled voice came from under the covers. "Brother Silas, Brother Silas… you only ever care about your Brother Silas. But do you know how much the families of those people he 'dealt with' needed them? Just because they were infected with Honkai, they're abandoned… Why? On what grounds?"
Pardo fell silent.
A long while passed before Dystopia finally spoke again. "I'm sorry, little Pardo… I… lost control of my emotions. Forgive me."
Pardo sat by her bed, her voice calm but gentle. "It's fine, Sis Dys. I know you're hurting inside. And I know every one of those people cast aside had their own families, their own lives… But some things aren't the kind of problems people like us can solve just by wishing."
Dystopia said nothing.
Pardo continued quietly, "Maybe you think I care for nothing but Brother Silas. But that's not true—I'm hurting too. Still… I can also feel the weight of his helplessness. You wouldn't know, Sis Dys, but I grew up in a place called Sundown Alley. There, things even more cruel and senseless than this happened every single day. From as far back as I can remember, I've seen it over and over again…"
Dystopia pulled the blanket down a little, showing only her eyes as she looked at Pardo. But after just a moment, she turned away and hid under the covers again.
"…Maybe you've gotten used to it, because you truly had no choice," she murmured. "But Silas… He knows Mobius, he knows Vill-V. Kevin's girlfriend Mei is a genius among geniuses. With people like them, why would they ever make the same choice? They obviously had the ability to change everything…"
Sakura, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "And do you realize how much trouble it would bring Silas if he did?"
Dystopia flinched, ready to argue, but Sakura pressed on:
"Disobeying orders, colluding with other researchers to interfere with directives… Don't forget, right now he's still just a soldier. You might think he's Fire Moth's rising star, the one everyone admires, but Fire Moth does not need a rising star who acts on pity. To many, Silas isn't irreplaceable."
But to her, he was irreplaceable. She could not bear to see him shackled, diminished—humiliated—because of something like this.
"But Fire Moth can tolerate the first offense," Elysia's voice cut in as she walked into the room. "Silas might get away with bending the rules once. But if there's a second time, people will start questioning his ability. After all… from the day humanity discovered Honkai until now, research into curing the infection has made virtually no progress."
Dystopia fell silent.
"It's not that no one wants to beat Honkai. It's not that no one wants to save them," Elysia explained. "Fire Moth was founded to fight Honkai. But over the years, they've poured endless resources into this line of research, with nothing to show for it. That's why, to save resources for other projects, this decision became unavoidable."
Dystopia finally pulled down the blanket fully, looking at Elysia. "Elysia… you joined Fire Moth earlier than Silas. Tell me—did you ever fight for them?"
Elysia gave a helpless smile. "Of course. And then Eden took the scolding on my behalf… If not for Silas being my deputy this time, I might never have had the chance to be assigned to missions like this again."
She had tried, many times. Even more often in the previous life. So many times that, in that life, unless a mission required multiple teams acting together, she wasn't entrusted with them anymore.
She was strong, yes. But once Kevin appeared, there was no longer any reason to put all the weight on her.
Later, after the Seventh Herrscher incident, Kevin fell into severe depression. The council's focus then shifted entirely to Silas. Even when Kevin later became the symbol of countless soldiers, in truth, the Fire Moth council always placed more trust in Silas.
That was why, when the Thirteen Fallen Angels were founded, the council broke precedent to grant them privileges above ordinary soldiers. Eventually, the Fallen Angels could even attend high-level meetings themselves.
What the council needed were warriors against Honkai, yes—but warriors who were soft-hearted were not needed.
During the Sixth Herrscher incident, Kevin's moment of hesitation had allowed the Herrscher one last counterattack. At first, the council did not consider it a problem, because the Sixth Herrscher had shown signs of possible humanity. If another friend could be made—why not?
It was precisely because of the Sixth Herrscher's counterattack that Fire Moth's upper council completely lost patience with Herrschers. That moment also laid the groundwork for why, later on, they would abandon Kevin and instead place their hopes on Silas.
The proposal for the Fourteen Flame-Chasers… At first, because Silas refused to take on the position of leader, the council nearly struck it down entirely. But in the end, Silas went to the council himself, making it clear that he simply did not wish to lead any squad outside the Thirteen Fallen Angels. For the sake of inspiring the remaining survivors of humanity, he eventually agreed, and the proposal was approved.
Dystopia was silent for a very long time before finally whispering, "Everything you've said makes sense… In fact, you're probably right. Maybe… I've only been fighting with myself."
Perhaps, all along, what she cared about most was Kosma's stance. She had grown up with him since childhood—she could even be called his senior. She understood Kosma too well. And precisely because of that, she could not accept that he had made the same choice as Silas and the others.
Because this was not a choice the Kosma she knew should ever have made.
If Kosma had resisted as fiercely as she did, she would have been the one comforting him instead—because she cared about his state of mind even more than her own.
That was also the reason why, in her previous life, Dystopia had fallen into the Eighth Herrscher's dreamscape. She had helped ease Kosma's inner conflict, but she never overcame her own. Beneath her bright, cheerful exterior was a knot that no one else could see—something she could never let go of. She had dragged Kosma out of the whirlpool, only to drown in it herself.
"If you're worried about Kosma," Elysia spoke gently, "he's not doing well either. The reason he made that choice… it might be because he's spent too much time with Kevin. People influence one another, after all. Look at Kevin's stoic, stone-faced act—maybe Kosma's the same. Outwardly he seems rational, but inside, he's probably just as conflicted."
Elysia wasn't wrong. Kosma had mastered his expressions well. After all, this was the same Kosma who, in the previous life, bore the Sigil of Daybreak. His transformation only truly came after the Ninth Herrscher incident. For Dystopia not to notice it now was perfectly natural.
And so, with a little smirk, Elysia tossed the blame Kevin's way.
Recently Kevin and Silas had been inseparable, always seen standing together wherever they went. Tonight, Elysia had gone through considerable effort just to find a chance to be alone with Silas for a while.
She didn't even want to think about Kevin's motives anymore. On one hand, Kevin and Silas had indeed been close friends in the previous life. On the other, Elysia was sure—one hundred percent—that Kevin was deliberately keeping an eye on her, buying time for Lilith.
Hmph. Even Lilith had only kissed Silas once. She had kissed him twice. She was way ahead!
Dystopia thought about it for a moment, and strangely enough, it seemed to make sense. So all of this… must be Kevin's fault, right? Her beloved Kosma had been led astray by Kevin!
Meanwhile, in the boys' quarters—
The three of them watched as Kevin suddenly sneezed for no apparent reason.
"Kevin, I thought you didn't sneeze," Silas remarked with amusement.
"I don't know why either… It just feels like… something changed," Kevin muttered in confusion.
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