"Boom!"
Einstein's hands were covered in bloody blisters as she exerted all her strength to flip the switch off. The moment the Star Gate closed, she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath.
Did it work?
"Bang!"
A thunderous explosion echoed from afar, shaking the very building she was in. She could only pray that the makeshift Star Gate, powered by the abundant Honkai energy in the environment, would be effective, even if only for a split second...
After the intense tremors, everything fell silent.
...
"Have you heard the story of the Brave?"
"The Brave, trapped in a cycle of endless reincarnation and loss, bears the mission to defeat the Demon King. Along the way, he loses all his companions, yet he becomes a true hero. He defeats the Demon King, but he also becomes utterly alone."
"It sounds like a moving and great story. A hero who carries the burden of his comrades, willing to fight on alone."
The man lowered his head; Lin lowered his head.
They looked at each other, like the reflection on the surface of a puddle.
"But rather than a story like that, I believe there's another kind of story that would be more interesting—what we commonly call an 'IF' line."
"For example, if the Brave chose to give up and retire to the mountains, his companions wouldn't die. A few years later, another hero would go to slay the Demon King."
"Or perhaps, when the Brave was capable of killing the Demon King, he chose instead to exist forever within the cycle with his companions."
"Or even... the one who slays the Demon King years later is actually the Brave from one of the cycles who chose to continue. They are the same person."
"Even the Demon King himself could be the Brave who chose the cycle, becoming the new Demon King after the old one died just so the reincarnation could continue."
The man's eyes were full of mockery. The scene shifted; Lin and the man were no longer facing each other as equals—instead, the man looked down upon Lin from above.
"The direction of a story ultimately depends on the creator—what we call Destiny. The Brave and the Demon King are both puppets on the strings of fate."
"When I want you to live, you will live. Even now, when you yourself feel that you are thoroughly dead, I will not let you die."
Lin remained silent for a long while before finally speaking: "Who... are you?"
"Sigh, still so boring. But this time, I can answer with a bit of patience." The man's tone was light and cheerful. "I am the Savior, and I am the Destroyer. I come from the future, and I come from the past. If you must call me something, you can call me... 'Zero.'"
Zero's smile remained eerie as he spoke unhurriedly: "There is much more... that you cannot know for now. But I must congratulate you; you've successfully made me feel that you can be entrusted with a heavy responsibility."
"Entrusted with a heavy responsibility..."
Lin remained silent.
"Relax. Look, didn't I save you? I even helped you get the Herrscher Core back. Otherwise, even if I healed your body, you wouldn't survive."
Lin spoke coldly, his voice sounding as if it were composed of frozen blocks of ice: "Are you the Brave, or the Demon King?"
Zero pressed two fingers to the corners of his mouth and pushed outward.
The corners of Lin mouth were pulled into an arc.
Zero laughed loudly; Lin laughed loudly.
"I am not the Brave, nor am I the Demon King. I am..."
"Destiny."
...
"Lord Durandal, are you awake?"
"Ugh..."
Golden sunlight spilled over long hair of the same color as the girl. Her azure eyes were dazed as a familiar voice and a smiling face appeared before her.
Come to think of it, it had been a long time since she heard Rita call her "Lord Durandal"...
Wait.
Bianka suddenly snapped awake. She flipped out of the hospital bed, scanning her surroundings in disbelief.
This is... Schicksal?
A ripple of emotion stirred in her heart, but she quickly checked her body. Schicksal's medical technology could save someone as long as they had a single breath left—or even if they didn't—so she wasn't surprised by the lack of wounds.
The connection with the Holy Blade Durandal and the Seed of Sumeru within her... they were all back.
Why? Bianka memory stopped just before she pinned the Herrscher of Void to the ground. Why was she back at Schicksal?
"Rita... are you the Rita I know?" Bianka asked the maid beside her uncertainly. Unlike the more mysterious maid in the bubble universe, this Rita had refreshing short hair.
Rita did not answer her directly but began explaining the situation: "Lord Durandal, you accepted a mission from the Overseer to investigate an unknown quantum disturbance in a bubble universe. However, exactly three minutes and four seconds after entering, you returned to the Real World, heavily injured due to unknown reasons."
"Three minutes and four seconds..."
Bianka had stayed in that bubble universe for so long, yet to the Real World, only three minutes and four seconds had passed?
Bianka held her head as she reminisced. Her memories were clear; she didn't believe there was a possibility they had been altered. Then...
"Was I... the only one?" The usually strong and decisive girl asked hesitantly, her voice trembling.
"Yes, only you."
"..."
A certain person's face flashed through her memory. She gritted her teeth but calmed down at that moment, taking a deep breath.
No, nothing is certain yet. She believed in Lin. Even if that man returned to his own time, he would definitely...
"The Overseer discovered an encrypted file in the database recording data with a frequency similar to that emitted by the abnormal bubble universe. He wishes for you to look it over and asks if you know anything about it."
Rita words caused Bianka breathing to hitch for a few seconds. Her heart suddenly tightened.
She couldn't catch her breath.
It was as if someone were squeezing her heart.
On the screen handed to her was an encrypted file. After Bianka clicked it, she was prompted for a password.
She stared blankly, and then, as if possessed, she entered a nickname.
"Scumbag-Mushroom" .
A completely self-invented word that no one besides a few people would know the meaning of.
The file unlocked.
There was only one sentence inside.
"I'm sorry, Goose."
The light was like scattered feathers; the moment it touched the ground, it was already blown away by the wind.
...
"So, do you plan to stay here for the time being?"
Einstein watched from a distance as the ELF dolls began to rebuild. Rita stood beside her, looking into the distance with equal calm.
In the battle against the Herrscher of Void, 80% of the ELF were lost. Einstein chose to remain in this bubble universe with the remaining ELF, including Number Three.
Lin and Bianka had vanished, along with a Pseudo-Herrscher Core, the Core of the Oath of Judah, and a Herrscher of Void Core.
She didn't know where they had gone and had no way to search. The remaining Herrscher of Void core had returned to Rita hands, and she had placed it back onto her battleship, the Hyperion.
Surprisingly, Rita decided to stay in this bubble universe as well. According to her, it was temporary—to wait for someone.
"Waiting for whom?"
The long-haired maid faced the wind. After a long silence, a mysterious smile played on her lips.
"He will definitely come back."