Kiana wanted to explain that she had always resisted the Honkai—that even though she had regained her memories at the time, all she could think about was finding Mei, and her loss of control had left her in turmoil.
But none of that was an excuse.
"Sorry."
She lowered her head even further.
She truly should have told Ruan Mei earlier. As Ruan Mei said, this was important.
"Because of Izumo?"
Hearing their conversation, Acheron immediately understood why Kiana had forcibly triggered her Herrscher transformation.
"Did that incident leave some lasting effect?"
"No... um... sigh..."
Kiana's expression shifted several times before she finally gave up resisting their gazes.
"I'll just tell you the truth."
Taking a deep breath, she didn't continue speaking immediately but instead turned to Mei. "Do you remember when we first met?"
"At Narukami Shrine."
That day had been uneventful, but Acheron remembered it vividly—because that was when they first met.
She had never told Kiana this, but from that first encounter, she had already been drawn to her. Yet the chains of her duty as shrine maiden had kept her from approaching or even speaking to her.
Fortunately, Kiana had felt the same way.
After that, she often came to see her.
"At that time, I had only just arrived in Izumo. I came to that world from beyond. Remember? That's what I always told you."
"Mm."
Acheron frowned slightly. It was obvious that Kiana didn't belong to Izumo—so why bring it up again now, and in such a tone?
Kiana had never fit in with Izumo. There were no traces of her past anywhere in that world. She could only have come from beyond it.
"I really don't belong to Izumo—but neither do I belong to any world in this universe."
"Just as I once told Ruan, my body exists because of the Honkai. From the moment I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Izumo."
"At the same time, I knew that if I accepted the Honkai and bound myself to Izumo, I could bring the Honkai into that world."
"I feared its power, and I didn't want anyone to die because of it. Its strength was terrifying. So I ignored it, choosing instead to live as an ordinary person—until I met you, Mei."
"That was when I learned that the world was already within Nihility's reach—that it was about to be consumed and erased from existence."
"It was a doomed world. The only way out was the Honkai. So I made my choice—to bind myself to that world and accept the Honkai."
"My Herrscher transformation increases the world's Honkai energy as a whole. When I complete my transformation, the Honkai will rewrite Izumo's laws entirely."
"It's a gradual process. But time was running out—and the Honkai began affecting the Kami. We had to slay them, one by one, while preparing for the final moment."
"Izumo's fall to Nihility was inevitable. All I could do was gamble."
Kiana's voice grew complicated. "I gambled that once the Honkai covered the entire world, it could drive out Nihility's influence—and save what little remained of that broken land."
"So I forced the Herrscher transformation, spreading the Honkai energy across the world, trying to rewrite its very laws. My reasoning wasn't entirely wrong, but I hadn't expected that Nihility could also assimilate the power of what it eroded. And Izumo... was already too close to Nihility's domain."
"Needless to say, it failed. Nihility's power was endless, and the Honkai energy trying to engulf the world became trapped in an eternal stalemate."
"The constant assimilation of Nihility's power only made the world's Honkai energy denser and heavier, turning Izumo into what it is now."
After finishing her account of Izumo, Kiana added for Ruan Mei's benefit, "That's why my progress is completely stuck."
Ruan Mei closed her eyes in thought.
"So that's why you fell under Nihility's influence—why you lost consciousness and your memories..."
"...Yes."
"You should have told me all this sooner."
Ruan Mei opened her eyes and looked straight at her. "There's no need to go back. We're heading to Euphorion instead."
"No. Izumo doesn't matter anymore."
Kiana's expression grew complicated. "Unless Izumo is completely severed from Nihility, going there would be meaningless."
"To stop all of this, the only option might be for me to reach one hundred percent Herrscher completion."
But Izumo now only had Jyahnar left.
The last time she visited, there had been no system notification indicating any progress. With the world frozen in stasis, Izumo could no longer provide her with any form of assistance.
She would have to find another way.
"If that place doesn't work, then what about choosing a world far from the Aeons? You could bind a new world and start over."
Izumo was a place they would have to revisit eventually.
But Kiana wasn't wrong—the transformation process there had reached its final, immovable step. Without resolving that issue, there would be no progress at all.
"I... have thought about that."
If she wanted to solve Izumo's problem—and the problem of the Honkai—the only way forward was to complete her Herrscher transformation.
"That's simple enough. We'll go back and try it."
"No, that won't work."
Kiana shook her head. "I've traveled through many worlds, but I never received any prompt that could let me bind to another one."
Impossible?
Then there must be a hidden condition.
Ruan Mei lowered her head in thought. "Is it because the previous objective wasn't completed? Or is there some hidden requirement involved?"
Kiana's arrival in Izumo might not have been a coincidence. Perhaps the Honkai had deliberately chosen it—because it was suitable.
It might be a sequence of stages.
But Ruan Mei doubted that. It was more likely that some hidden condition hadn't been met.
"...I'm not sure which it is, but..."
Kiana glanced briefly at the silent Acheron, her voice softening. "It's probably the second one."
Because of a message she had once heard—'the compatibility between this world and the Honkai'—Kiana suspected that was the hidden requirement.
"Compatibility?"
"When I selected Izumo, I heard the Honkai notify me that the compatibility between Izumo and the Honkai was 87.9 percent."
"Compatibility?"
Ruan Mei frowned. She had studied the Honkai within Kiana's body for quite some time but had never encountered such a concept.
The Honkai energy within Kiana could assimilate and erode any other energy. How could such a thing even be measured?
If Kiana herself had known, she wouldn't have looked so conflicted. "I'm not exactly sure how it works either," she admitted. "But I have a destination in mind."
"If Mei hadn't seen my message and come looking for me, and if you hadn't suddenly called me back, Ruan, I probably would've gone there to try it out."
"You already have a target in mind?"
Ruan Mei raised an eyebrow, her curiosity fully piqued. She regretted missing out on witnessing the changes Kiana had triggered in Izumo.
If they could recreate that phenomenon elsewhere, it would be ideal.
As for potential risks—so what if an entire planet was used as an experimental site?
That was hardly an issue.
In Ruan Mei's view, it was worth it.
Ruan Mei was never an ordinary person.
She only did what interested her. As for how others viewed it—or what consequences it might bring—she didn't care.
Once she was done, she simply cleaned up the aftermath.
After all, she was the kind of person who dared to study even Propagation, something most others wouldn't dare approach.
Acheron frowned slightly, clearly disapproving.
"Where are you planning to conduct the experiment?"
Kiana hesitated for a moment, her expression conflicted, before finally speaking a name unfamiliar to the others—but one she remembered clearly.
"Jarilo-VI."
What exactly was the compatibility between Izumo and the Honkai?
Kiana believed it stemmed from shared traits—similar people, similar experiences.
After realizing that crucial clue, one world's name appeared instantly in her mind.
Jarilo-VI.
Compared to Izumo, that world had no connection to the Honkai—aside from Cocolia, Bronya, and Seele, the mother and daughter. There was no real link.
Nothing like Izumo.
Even if Kiana was right, Jarilo-VI's compatibility would surely be low—perhaps not even reaching fifty percent.
But she wanted to see it for herself.
To confirm her theory. As long as the system responded, she could be certain.
Compatibility referred to the alignment between worlds and the Honkai.
That was important.
With Izumo's progress frozen, she had no choice but to find another path.
"Jarilo-VI?"
It was a world neither of them had heard of.
Ruan Mei immediately looked it up.
"So our next stop is there?"
Acheron hadn't heard of it either, nor did she understand what Kiana meant by "compatibility."
Ordinary worlds wouldn't work. It had to meet certain criteria.
But compatibility—what did it actually mean?
"This world, like the IPC, follows the Path of Preservation. According to records, it was invaded by the Antimatter Legion centuries ago and lost contact long ago."
Ruan Mei quickly found the data on Jarilo-VI, though all of it was several hundred years old.
The information came from the IPC archives.
The world had long been declared dead.
After an invasion from the Legion and centuries of silence, that planet was almost certainly extinguished.
"Some people still survived. The planet hasn't completely gone dark."
"Hasn't gone dark yet? Then it must be the power of Preservation protecting it."
If that world's people had the strength to defend themselves, they wouldn't still be isolated.
Kiana's claim that a few survivors remained likely meant they were clinging to life under the protection of Preservation's power.
What was special about such a world?
Did Kiana require a place on the brink of collapse, a dying world teetering on extinction?
Did the Honkai need such near-death worlds as incubation grounds?
Ruan Mei boldly entertained the thought.
Kiana didn't comment on the Aeon of Preservation. She only said, "If nothing goes wrong, my next destination will be Jarilo-VI."
"I can't be certain yet, but once I get there, I should be able to confirm my theory."
"I'm coming with you."
Ruan Mei looked up, breaking from her thoughts. "Let's head back and make preparations. We'll set a travel route. I want to see that world with my own eyes."
"But I can't be sure yet."
Kiana was taken aback by Ruan Mei's immediate decision to accompany her. "What if I'm wrong?"
If that were the case, the trip would've been for nothing.
Kiana herself didn't mind, but dragging Ruan Mei along for something uncertain felt like wasting her time.
"So what?"
"Trial and error is a necessary part of any experiment," Ruan Mei replied calmly.
Acheron stopped Kiana, who was about to protest again. "Whether it's true or not, we won't know unless we see it ourselves. Waiting until everything's confirmed will only waste more time."
In truth, she wasn't keen on Ruan Mei joining them. Even though it was their first meeting, having Ruan Mei around made her feel uneasy.
Especially after hearing everything earlier.
It wasn't hostility—not exactly—but there was a complex, uncomfortable feeling she couldn't shake.
"Alright."
With both Ruan Mei and Mei saying the same thing, Kiana had no room left to refuse. She nodded in agreement.
Jarilo-VI wasn't particularly dangerous.
At worst, it would only delay them by a couple of days.
That thought allowed Kiana to relax.
The spacecraft took several days to return. During that time, everything remained peaceful—aside from the first day, when there was a faint sense of tension between Acheron and Ruan Mei. After that, the two barely interacted.
Mainly because they almost never spoke.
Acheron wasn't the same as before—these days, she rarely wasted words on anything unnecessary.
Ruan Mei, absorbed in her own world, had never been fond of socializing to begin with. She certainly wouldn't waste her time on idle conversation.
"Rest for a day. We'll depart tomorrow."
Upon their return, Ruan Mei left only that brief instruction before vanishing into her lab.
Since Acheron was with her, Kiana decided not to follow. Instead, she gave up on the idea of observing Ruan Mei's work and took Acheron on a walk around the facility.
She began introducing the place to her.
"All the flora and fauna here have had their genes modified by Ruan. We can't bring them to other worlds."
Kiana explained as she showed her around, ending with that important note.
Acheron nodded quietly.
The strange plants didn't hold much appeal for her.
After several days of traveling together, though her interactions with Ruan Mei had been minimal, Acheron had observed enough to understand the dynamic between Ruan Mei and Kiana.
They simply hadn't had much time alone.
Now that Ruan Mei was gone, the opportunity was perfect.
With three people together, there were always words that couldn't be said in front of another.
"Kiana."
"What is it?"
"If Ruan asked you to stay by her side forever... what would you do?"
Acheron still couldn't let the matter go.
Kiana had said something to Ruan Mei that she couldn't forget.
What about her?
That question had been weighing on Acheron's mind for days.
"That's impossible."
Kiana shook her head firmly. "Mei, don't overthink it. Ruan's interest in me comes from the Honkai. Once she unravels its mysteries, she'll lose interest in me entirely."
"I've always understood that."
Kiana wasn't saddened by it. She had long known what kind of person Ruan Mei was—and she also knew she held a small but special place in Ruan's heart.
That was enough for her to believe that even after Ruan lost interest, they would still remain friends.
Lose interest in Kiana, huh?
Acheron quietly recalled Ruan Mei's attitude toward her.
Kiana might have a point.
But Ruan Mei—a genius, a scientific eccentric—
Was she truly interested only in the Honkai?