"This is where the End is?"
Having successfully taken over all the Herrscher authorities, the snow-haired girl was drawn by a force to a mysterious place.
A giant purple eyeball had smashed a crater into this world, embedding itself in this location.
Upon her arrival, this surprisingly large fellow emitted a low, joyous sound, even seeming somewhat cute.
It's just...
"How did you follow me here?"
Her eyebrows shot up. The uninvited man beside her made Kiana feel that her moment in the spotlight was being disturbed.
She had become the legendary Herrscher of the End as planned, gaining the strength to rival that Old Fogey Kevin. But then, the fiend who had designs on her entire family had actually followed her.
For some reason, Kiana had a feeling that her bright future of turning the tables, of going from Kiana to *Kiana-the-rider*, was waving at her.
Not getting closer, but bidding her farewell.
This was the chance she had worked so hard for, the chance to finally turn this scoundrel and his entire harem into her own harem!
Life had rolled a critical failure.
a kneeling/prostrating pose emoticon
"Kiana, you seem to be thinking of something that wrongs me, don't you?" He didn't use mind-reading on her, but just watching her go from high spirits to utter dejection, he knew this white-haired fluffball must be considering something unrealistic again.
"That's right! I'm constantly thinking about beating you to your knees!" The snow-haired girl bounced up from the ground, full of righteous indignation, showing no embarrassment at her evil plot being discovered.
The future of overcoming the Honkai was at hand. Was she, the great hero, not allowed to fantasize a little about the good life to come?
┓(´∀`)┏
"Whatever you say." After a couple of perfunctory remarks, Brian turned his head back to look towards the Cocoon of Finality.
The giant purple eyeball had a cross-shaped star that resembled a pupil, making the big fellow look just like an eye.
Its constant movement made it seem even more like a living creature.
"The Cocoon of Finality, an embrace from the Honkai."
[%!￥@*...]
A voice that could not be interpreted by human language sounded in both Kiana's and Brian's ears, yet both could understand what the big eyeball wanted to say.
It was a method of communication that was extremely rich in information and also exceptionally accurate, with no room for error.
"You're saying... both this guy and I have the qualifications to become the Herrscher of the End?"
[￥@*%!￥@*...]
"..." A past speculation had come true, leaving even Kiana a bit stunned.
She could become the Herrscher of the End because of her former self, Sirin.
That purple-haired girl who had once brought pain to the world had been able to obtain five Herrscher authorities at once, and at her peak, could even control six Herrscher Cores.
And the guy next to her...
Kiana poked Brian's shoulder. "You, you're not an Aberrant like Sirin, are you?"
Incomprehensible abilities, the Inner World Protagonist's powerful kidney function, plus the ability to constantly adapt and evolve...
"Kiana, if you think I'm an alien, just say so."
"Um..." Kiana rubbed her head, her face full of embarrassment.
If this guy was an alien, then hadn't she completed a legendary third-kind encounter with her own body, and might even have a child with this alien?
Thinking about it, it was actually quite exciting.
"It doesn't matter if you're an alien. After all, we're good bros who share a bed." Her nonchalant gestures and goofy smile were her truest thoughts.
"Yeah, you, my good bro, better remember to give me a good time later." Brian pinched Kiana's butt, a wanton expression on his face.
The Finality-bug, she must have a special flavor.
Just like Mei, whom he had developed from an innocent young girl to the mature state she was in today.
Simply thrilling!
"Hmph! Pervert!" Kiana kicked him, then belatedly realized, "You just gave up the chance to become the Herrscher of the End to me like that?"
To become the Herrscher of the End, to become the god of Earth.
Kiana believed that if anyone else were standing here, they would absolutely not give up this opportunity.
Power and fists are equivalent. This represented a power even more supreme than that of the Schicksal Overseer. Almost no one in the world could refuse it.
However...
He gave it up, and gave it to her.
A sweet feeling made Kiana feel that she hadn't misplaced her trust back then. Apart from being a bit of a lecher, this guy was truly a man worthy of being entrusted with the fate of the world.
"Of course." Brian wrapped his arm around the girl's slender waist, his face showing no sign of loss after giving up such great power.
"What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine. Although I can't take half of your power if we get a divorce, I think we can be together forever."
"What!? We're not even married and you're already thinking about divorcing me!"
She stomped hard on his foot. Kiana turned her head away in a huff, two words written all over her face—*Coax me!*
"My lovely Miss Kiana, it was my mistake. Please forgive me."
Hugs, kisses, caresses...
"So gross." Despite her words, Kiana didn't refuse his intimacy.
The disgusted girl tried to push his head away, but it was futile against his strong embrace. In fact, it made her a little excited.
But remembering that this wasn't a private world for two suitable for intimacy, she had to rein in her amorous thoughts.
When men get flirty, there's nothing left for women to do. Similarly, when women get horny, there's nothing left for men to do.
After becoming the Herrscher of the End, she was definitely going to squeeze this guy dry!
Even her beloved Mei could only kneel on the ground, weak, pitiful, and helpless, watching as she devoured her man whole.
"Let go already, we have business to attend to."
"Mm."
Leaving the Inner World Protagonist's embrace, the snow-haired girl faced the constantly wriggling giant purple eyeball.
She opened her arms, embracing the origin of the Honkai with her heart and spirit.
"Come, let us bring an end to everything."
[*＆%@￥@...]
The power that had been entrenched in the Earth-Moon system for over a hundred million years had finally found the master it had long awaited.
This power was unimaginably immense, yet it became very gentle as it approached the girl's body.
The thirteen Herrscher authorities within Kiana's body transformed at this moment, allowing the Herrscher of the End in a brand-new form to descend upon this remote corner of the galaxy.
"Now, it's my time to shine!" The new power injected the snow-haired girl with new vitality. Kiana felt as if she had boundless energy waiting to be unleashed.
Instead of seeking a life-and-death duel with the Kaslana family's Old Fogey, she felt that dragging her man to some corner of the Earth-Moon system and thoroughly squeezing him dry for a night would be a very suitable post-dinner exercise.
However...
Kiana, the pink light on her lower abdomen flickering, turned her head to see something that had almost given her psychological trauma.
"Otto?"
"No, wait, when did you get the same power as Otto!?"
She thought she was the only one with a new outfit, that she could pin this guy to the ground and brutally rape him. But it turned out the Inner World Protagonist had also unlocked a new form. This was truly a great Kaslana failure.
"What, you still want to lord it over me and Mei?"
A mysterious jet-black substance behind him pulsed with Brian's breath, full of life like a living being.
Power of a false god!
This was the primordial form of Imaginary authority, the original power of the Imaginary that had not been converted by the Cocoon of Finality.
Having obtained all of Otto's research data, and with Otto's personal demonstration, Brian, who understood all the key nodes and risks involved, had avoided all options unfavorable to himself and taken this powerful false god power into his own hands, only revealing it now.
Mysterious, majestic, powerful...
[￥@*%!￥@*...]
A message came from the Cocoon of Finality, which Kiana spectacularly rejected.
"Don't worry. Even if this guy wants to be my enemy, I can still successfully beat him to his knees in bed."
Clenching her fists, the ultimate, invincible, super-duper cute Kiana was full of confidence.
[＆*%...￥%...]
"Whether you can beat me to my knees or not is another matter. We should go meet that guy Kevin."
Intermission was over. The Kaslana family's Old Fogey had been waiting for a long time.
Her lively smile faded slightly, and Kiana put away all her frivolous thoughts.
"Yeah, it's time to end all of this."
Heroes are to be admired, but in a conflict of ideologies, there is no choice but to stand one's ground.
The distance between Earth and Moon was crossed in the blink of an eye. Now possessing the complete power of the End, Kiana unleashed the full power of the Herrscher of the Void, capable of teleporting to other planets in the solar system in an instant.
Even destroying a massive rock like the Moon, which had no internal core activity, would be effortless.
Planet-destroying power was a trivial matter.
The vast space between the Earth and Moon had, under the influence of the Stigma Project, become not much different from Imaginary Space. Numerous Imaginary Godsbane filled this space, becoming the first barrier to block the two of them.
But to the truly powerful, these terrifying beings, at least comparable to Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, were only valuable as gardeners; they served no other purpose.
"Kevin, we're here."
On his lonely throne, the man with horns like a demon's rose indifferently.
The crimson Flames of Tribulation ignited. The over-limit Divine Key was but an ordinary weapon in this man's hands.
The second form of 『Deliverance』—Karma Demon.
*Boom—!*
The Flames of Tribulation fell from the heavens. The man who was the prototype for this world's God was ruthless, unleashing the destructive heavenly fire from above.
This... was the first trial he gave to the invaders.
If these people couldn't even overcome the mere power of the Karma Demon, then there was no talk of surpassing the 'Honkai' and walking into a new world.
Rather than let these people drag the entire world down with them, it was better for him to end their beautiful dreams here.
"I am Kevin, born for the sake of 『Deliverance』."
Wielding thermodynamics as a weapon, commanding the body of a Chimera, the man who stole the power of 『Finality』 arrived as promised.
There was no clear emotion in his eyes as he faced his opponents—joy, anger, sadness... all of it was gone.
Compared to describing this man as a 'human' or a 'warrior', using the word 'god' might be more fitting to describe Kevin Kaslana at this moment.
"Kevin..."
Kiana sighed, not knowing what to say in this situation.
She somewhat understood why Elysia wasn't here, and she felt a sincere sadness for the current Kevin.
Kevin... the sacrifices he had made for the Stigma Project were simply too great.
Her heartfelt emotion, however, did not cause the slightest ripple in Kevin Kaslana, this man who was like a god devoid of joy or sorrow.
His heart had already hardened like iron. Even if he still held feelings for his old friends, it was impossible for him to show any mercy in this situation.
The deep starry sky became an insignificant backdrop. The duo who had effortlessly erased his previous attack now occupied almost his entire field of vision.
"If you want to reclaim your world from the hands of the Stigma Project, you must first overcome the trial of the Karma Demon."
"I can accept the failure of the Stigma Project, but you must give your own answer."
The horned man's face was stern and cold. He was the world's strictest and most unforgiving examiner, and also the world's most desperate examinee.
Kevin Kaslana, who had experienced despair once, did not want to experience it again fifty-five thousand years later, so he chose to pay the greatest price for the smallest success.
He locked all of humanity in a dream, using the power of the subconscious to create the guardians of this dream prison—the 'Spiritual Adam'. The Imaginary Renormalization and the power of the Stigma Project merged into one, rewriting the Earth in the real world and allowing it to be quantized.
Finally, he took the power of the Herrscher of the End upon himself, ensuring that the Herrscher of the End would never again appear in a form that humanity could not control.
All of this came at the cost of sacrificing all of humanity, handing over the new world to the Constructs and the chosen people.
He had locked the 'Honkai' in a cage, and as the one who usurped the power of the Herrscher of the End, he served as its jailer. Kevin Kaslana extended the existence of this cage indefinitely, merging it with the lifespan of the planet.
This... was his answer.
If they could not present an answer that could defeat him, that could allow the 'Honkai' to be overcome in a better way.
Then...
"I am your 'Honkai'."
"We understand, Kevin." The black-haired youth's eyes held sincere admiration.
For this man, and for the era that was buried behind him.
The genius scientists had designed the power of the Chimera and the Imaginary Renormalization, so that the power of the Herrscher of the End would be no different from its manifestation in the Previous Era, making it convenient for Kevin to steal.
The Cocoon of Finality was like a carefree simpleton. If you wanted power, you just had to take it. Whether you could bear it all depended on your aptitude.
The power of the Chimera gave Kevin the qualification to bear the power of the End, but the power of the End was also constantly destroying his body, only to be repaired by the power of the Chimera.
This cycle would repeat until the end of his life.
And all of this would end today.
"We will defeat you, end your life and the Stigma Project centered around you, and lead this world into a new era."
The man, equal to a god, made his declaration, laying out the blueprint for another path before the white-haired man who had stolen the power of a god.
The cold-faced man's heart was like iron. Even with the long-awaited new future right before him, his expression did not waver.
The man named Kevin Kaslana was long dead. What stood here now was merely the Executor of the Stigma Project, the gatekeeper to the future.
"Very well. You have passed the trial of the 『Karma Demon』 and earned the right to face the 『End』 directly."
The enemy had grown stronger due to his momentary tolerance, strong enough to compete on the same stage as his stronger self.
In the heart of the man named Kevin Kaslana, there was no anger or regret, only the joy and anticipation of seeing the dawn.
The Stigma Project was the safety net they had prepared for this era. It could guarantee the continuation of 'Civilization', but it doomed 'Humanity' to extinction.
The power of the Stigma Project activated the Stigma factors in everyone, connecting these fragmented Stigma Spaces and constructing a dream world that contained the entirety of human civilization through the subconscious of billions of humans.
Beautiful, satisfying, dreamlike, yet incapable of progress. It could only drown these humans one by one in a sweet illusion, leading 'Humanity' to a predetermined end.
Humanity coexisted with the 'Honkai', but at the cost of losing all future, including their own.
This price was extremely heavy, but compared to entering the cycle again before the 『Herrscher of the End』... it was barely acceptable.
But only barely.
If there were a better choice, Kevin Kaslana would absolutely not hesitate to make a change.
Just as he had changed the original bloody sacrifice of the Stigma Project to the gentle dream utopia it was today after learning of Hare's existence.
And now, a better possibility had appeared before him, just like Hare in the past.
A Honkai that belonged to humanity.
A false god that belonged to humanity.
A better future.
Kevin's heart was filled with excitement and anticipation, yet it was bound by the ice that had not thawed on his face for fifty thousand years. Only the Flames of Tribulation in his palm burned with an even more intense heat. "This should not be our battlefield."
"Come with me. Let us fight to the death on the final stage, and let the outcome of our battle decide the future of human civilization."
The Flames of Tribulation tore through the sky. Karma Demon Kevin threw himself into it, stepping onto the final battlefield, pushing everything towards the critical moment that would decide the future and fate.
The blueprint left behind fifty-five thousand years ago would reach its end today. The gaze that had arrived hundreds of millions of years ago would leave an embrace today...
Everything would be decided today.
Whether it was the presumptuous decision of their predecessors, or being led into a new future by the miracle of this era.
Everything will be decided today.
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