After confirming multiple times with the detection instruments she carried that there were no malfunctions, Mei had to admit with a look of absurdity:
The chubby, big cat rolling around in her arms, exposing its belly and acting coquettishly, was indeed a Grand Sequence, an existence surpassing S-rank.
A Sequence. The anomaly among anomalies, the ace among aces, the embodiment of worldly truth in a suit, a mobile despair-spreading mechanism.
Of the two Grand Sequence mentioned so far, the Sage of Mount Taixuan manifested her divinity on the Kipchak Steppe five hundred years ago, utterly destroying the strongest Schicksal force in history—which included multiple S-rank Valkyries, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, several Critical-Grade combatants, and a large number of base-level troops—in three strikes and five moves!
The other, the Son of God, transformed into a Faith Nexus Conversion Device, becoming the absolute core of monotheism. In coordination with Schicksal and the expansion of the faith in God over the past two thousand years, he decimated the vast majority of divine pantheons in West Asia and Europe, nearly wiping them out!
And now, the third Grand Sequence was revealed just like this.
Not only did she lack any of the dignity expected of the strongest sequence below Finality, but she spent all day engaging in petty theft. Not to mention, upon their first meeting, Fuli had grabbed her by the scruff of her neck like it was destiny.
"That's just Pardo's instinct," Su said with an awkward expression.
Over thousands of years, the man had tried to discipline Pardo. However, leaving aside the fact that his current self was running on fumes from observing infinite parallel spaces, even at his peak, the Seventh Flame-Chaser was no match for a Grand Sequence.
According to the statistical methods of the Current Era, among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, only the first, [Deliverance], and the second, [Ego], could consistently be ranked as Grand Sequence.
As for the others: [Decimation] had fatal mental and personality flaws; [Setsuna] had excessive technique but insufficient raw power; [Daybreak] had infinite potential but lacked the mindset; and [Discipline] was physically too fragile.
Of the remaining ones, excluding [Vicissitude] who was still in her growth phase, and [Stars] who was basically just a little girl, [Gold], [Helix], and [Infinity] were all non-combatants who only stepped onto the battlefield out of necessity.
This was normal.
As everyone knew, the selection of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers was never based on combat power, but rather on the fact that these people were lucky enough to survive the [Tragedy of Binding].
Therefore, even Su at his peak couldn't stop Pardo from stealing things everywhere.
Considering that the lucky victims stolen from by the cat would instead experience extreme good fortune similar to a divine blessing in the following days, the man simply gave up on correcting her and let her run wild outside.
Little Kallen, flying in mid-air, raised her question again: "Is this little guy Pardo also a Pioneer who survived from the Previous Era like you, Mr. Su?"
Su sighed with emotion. "In Pardo's case, you could say only half of her survived."
In the final battle of the Previous Era, the Fire Moth used [Reverie] Pardofelis's strong luck to open the door to imaginary space. Prometheus No. 17 took the opportunity to break in, triggering a multi-dimensional resonance phenomenon called the Imaginary Renormalization Group. This imposed a shackle called "thought" on the Honkai, fixing the types of Herrschers from random births to be identical to those of the Previous Era.
What? The cost of doing so?
The surging power of Finality instantly obliterated Pardofelis, who had forcibly opened the door, leaving only half a silver coin lying lonely on the lunar surface, recounting an unknown past.
"But no one expected that, despite being washed by the power of Finality into units smaller than quarks, Pardo still didn't die completely!"
Su's tone was full of relief.
He shifted his gaze to Mei's right wrist.
The girls followed his line of sight. Kurikara, coiled like a bracelet, was dozing there as usual.
Mei's thoughts spun, and she suddenly realized the truth. "Wait, that works too?!"
If her guess was correct, Pardo's luck was truly heaven-defying, wasn't it?
"Yes, just as you surmised," Su's answer confirmed the girl's guess.
Sequence Herrschers have companion Honkai Beasts.
Schrödinger for the Herrscher of Reason (crossed out), Benares for the Herrscher of the Void, and Shesha for the Herrscher of Thunder—these were all loyal servants who came to the Herrschers at the beginning of their birth.
Then, as the sum of all Herrschers, did the Herrscher of Finality have a companion Honkai Beast?
Originally, no.
After all, the purpose of a companion is to protect the master through their fragile infancy. But Finality was invincible across the galaxy from the moment she appeared, so there was naturally no need to create a toy far weaker than herself.
But not needing a companion didn't mean the slot didn't exist.
As luck would have it, Pardofelis was the first to open the door to the interior of the Cocoon of Finality and come into contact with the power of the Herrscher of Finality.
As a Fusion Warrior, she had instinctively entered her Active Honkai Reaction state when opening the door.
The first Honkai Beast the awakening Herrscher came into contact with.
Even though she was obliterated in the blink of an eye, the slot for Finality's companion was locked in at that moment!
Most critically, precisely because she was washed into elementary particles smaller than quarks and scattered in cosmic space, coupled with the continuous bombardment from the Selene and the twelve-hour downtime of the unsheathed Judgment of Shamash, the Finality, who should have killed Pardo—this accident—never discovered her existence until she dissipated!
Countless coincidences finally led to Pardo's survival!
After that, she spent fifty thousand years reconstructing her body.
Wandering on the vibrant Earth, feeling lonely, she dug into the ground and 'luckily' dug out the Fire Moth's dormant pod.
"At that time, Kevin and I hadn't woken up yet. While sleeping, we suddenly heard someone knocking on the glass of the dormant pod."
Su sighed emotionally. "As soon as we opened our eyes, we saw a cat-type Honkai Beast wrapped in extremely powerful Honkai energy lying outside the glass. Kevin raised the Key of Destruction without thinking and fired a Judgment of Shamash."
"And then? And then?" Little Kallen listened with great gusto.
"And then we lost to her."
Su looked at her amusingly. "Fifty thousand years of thirst... even with the Key of Stasis helping to preserve our bodies, our condition was extremely poor."
The bearer of the Signet of Deliverance encountered a nameless cat demon and couldn't win even with all his might.
"Pfft!"
Mei covered her lips with a clenched fist to hide her impolite laughter.
The thought of the strongest warrior of the Previous Era losing to a cat was just too funny.
Su didn't mind Mei's rudeness, or rather, he was used to seeing such behavior from the beautiful girl with that face.
"After checking afterwards, we found that the traces left by the power of Finality on Pardo were too heavy. Not only did she forget many things, but she was also forced to remain in her Active Honkai Reaction state and couldn't turn back into human form... Even so, Kevin and I were still happy beyond words."
Kevin was so excited that he ran three laps around the island. Since his clothes had long disintegrated during the fifty-thousand-year slumber, the wild sight of his father streaking in the streets left a considerable psychological shadow on the infant Adam.
Wiping away the tear in the corner of his eye, Su chuckled softly. "This was the first gift the Current Era gave us."
"It is indeed a wonderful gift."
Mei nodded. "I just want to know, if one day in the future we face the Herrscher of Finality, will Pardo fulfill her duty as a companion Honkai Beast?"
Even if she was the most harmless Grand Sequence as long as she wasn't provoked, she was still a Grand Sequence.
On the battlefield of the final battle against Finality, if such an existence turned traitor and launched a sneak attack, the negative impact would be immeasurable.
"I cannot be certain of that."
The man made a promise. "Therefore, before I die, I will activate the Rated Power of the Cosmic Juggernaut and banish Pardo to an interdimensional space far away from the Proper World."
The originally harmonious atmosphere instantly froze, finally turning into a touch of melancholy.
Neither Mei nor Kallen were indecisive types; they naturally knew that fighting the Honkai required sacrifice.
But looking at the cute cat yawning in her arms, thinking that this little pitiful thing who had survived with such difficulty would have to be separated from everything she knew, anyone would feel unbearable compassion.
After discussing some matters related to parallel worlds, seeing the first light of dawn on the horizon, Mei and Kallen stood up to bid farewell under Su's dim gaze.
"Meow~"
Pardo nuzzled the girl's hand and hopped back onto the man's head to lie down.
"Hiss—!"
Kurikara hissed back, unwilling to be outdone, clearly jealous that her master was doting on a pet other than herself.
Then she was poked on her little head by Mei. Benares appeared to become docile on the surface, but her resentment towards the cat deepened in her heart.
"By the way, there is one thing I want to clarify."
Walking to the edge of the Seed of Sumeru, Mei didn't know her little dragon was furiously jealous. She turned her head, the shadow of the Bodhi tree reflected in her peripheral vision. "I don't know whose shadow you see in me, but the current me is just the Hyperion's Raiden Mei."
"That's right, that's right!"
Little Kallen also put her hands on her hips. She also felt that the gaze Su cast from time to time wasn't quite right, as if he was looking through her figure to see another hot-blooded idiot with white hair and blue eyes!
—I wish to buy osmanthus flowers to carry with wine, but it is not like the time of youth.
Savoring this ancient line of Shenzhou poetry again, Su closed his eyes. "I understand."
He had really enjoyed the chat, as if the hot-blooded idiot Kevin and the cool, wise MEI had reappeared before him.
But the man also knew that neither he nor they could ever go back.
"Before you leave, please remember my advice."
To prevent the young people of this era from repeating the mistakes of the past, and to truly defeat the Honkai that had turned the three of them into this, Su opened his eyes and spoke solemnly:
"Before I investigate the truth behind the demise of the parallel worlds, unless you encounter a situation of certain death, Miss Mei, please do not take the initiative to become a Herrscher!"
The surface of the Thames was still wrapped in the last veil of the night, and the street lamps blurred into frosted glass orbs in the mist.
Plastic bottles drifting from upstream spun in the eddies, their necks stuck with half a wilted rose petal—the wreckage of last night's battle bobbing on the edge of the tide line.
Mei stepped on the wet cobblestone embankment, her elegant silhouette blurring in the morning fog.
Facing the morning sun, she whispered, "Don't tell Fuli and the others about what the Lady of the Lake mentioned when we get back."
"Roger!"
Little Kallen flew up and down, making an OK gesture, clearly understanding the girl's intention.
Humans were creatures that shouldn't be put under too much pressure.
They had just destroyed a subversive plot by an evil organization, and now they were about to get involved in a massive case of countless worlds being destroyed. If they started overthinking it, who knew if they would spiral into obsession?
Moreover, the Hyperion wasn't even a medium-sized organization yet. Their main goal right now was to develop properly. Leave the rest to those towering giants to consider.
Mei twirled the handle of her umbrella and asked, "By the way, the battle with the enemy should be over?"
"Uh-huh!"
Little Kallen nodded vigorously. "The Times and The Daily Telegraph both highlighted that under the great leadership of His Highness Argenti, he and his little friends foiled a major conspiracy involving countless citizens!"
"Heh, typical."
The girl, having experienced the charm of journalism many times, sneered.
"It also says a celebration banquet will be held at Buckingham Palace at 6 PM, and the parties involved can bring their families."
Kallen said, "Are we going too?"
"No need. Fuli feels uncomfortable staying even a second at such utilitarian banquets."
Mei shook her head, her figure disappearing into the morning fog. "If he's not going, we naturally have no need to look for trouble."
And that was indeed the case. At 6 PM, in the outer courtyard of the Rossweisse mansion, at a makeshift open-air barbecue stall.
"Pwah! Refreshing!"
Boothill put down the empty draft beer mug, snatched a lamb skewer from the grill, and devoured it in a few bites.
He laughed heartily. "To hell with gentlemanly nobles! This is how a man should eat to feel refreshed!"
"Being unpretentious from the heart... isn't this also a form of Beauty?"
Argenti elegantly took a bite of a chicken gizzard skewer. After chewing, he looked concernedly at the third person in the seat. "Brother Fuli, do you need my help? In your current state, you really don't look like you can eat conveniently."
"I just got smaller, I didn't really turn into a little boy."
With his collar pulled up to the limit to cover his neck, Little Fuli held his fruit juice in annoyance.
"Come, don't move, be a good boy."
Rita's mother—the gentle to the point of being somewhat weak Emily—acted uncharacteristically assertive. Overflowing with maternal love, she sat the boy on her lap, wiped the grease from the corners of his mouth and his small hands with a napkin, and then brought a prepared piece of grilled beef kidney to his mouth. "Ahh—"
Having gone through the heart-stopping kidnapping incident, the mother-in-law's favorability was clearly maxed out, and she completely accepted Fuli's status as her prospective son-in-law.
"Anyway, I, old Alexander, thank all the heroes for your help. Tonight, let's not go home until we're drunk!"
Alexander, having survived a brush with death, also raised his glass full of whiskey, laughing boldly.
These high-end liquors, whose names he couldn't pronounce, were gifts from high officials and dignitaries during usual social visits. Alexander had kept them hidden in the underground wine cellar, and now they finally saw the light of day.
"Hehe~"
Rita, standing in front of the barbecue grill, smiled as she watched this scene, especially seeing Little Fuli looking reluctant but obediently letting her mother handle him. The happiness in her eyes was practically dripping.
Due to having too much work, after confirming Rita was safe, Bianka left reluctantly without staying long.
Even so, the maid didn't truly devour the defenseless Little Fuli.
After all, she liked children, she wasn't a pedophile. The former was just human intimacy, while the latter was pure perversion.
Of course, as the price for sparing his life temporarily, she collected a tiny bit of interest from the boy.
"If possible, please give me some more grilled squid."
A gentle and refined request interrupted Rita's thoughts. She responded with a smile:
"Please wait a moment, Your Highness Argenti."
As the other half of the century-old British-French CP, many French people would even use hellish jokes like "Did the British roast Joan of Arc because they can't cook?" to mock the poverty of English cuisine.
To this, Rita had to refute. Actually, apart from some dark cuisine, British food wasn't that bad. At least it was passable for daily meals.
Whether it was baked beans in tomato sauce or the ubiquitous fish and chips, they were decent.
The saying that British people weren't good at cooking was mostly because British cuisine wasn't presentable on the big stage, and some eye-popping dark dishes like Stargazy Pie kept popping up.
As a maid who implemented perfection in every aspect, even though she was from England, Rita was equally impeccable in her culinary skills.
Creatures like men could quickly close the distance after a session of drinking.
With good wine and good food, the three grown men besides Fuli (whose prospective mother-in-law wouldn't let him drink) quickly became tipsy.
Alexander stepped on the table and cursed the bastards in the House of Lords for being two-faced, swearing that one day he would drive a dump truck into their homes and gun down those vermin who brought calamity to the country and the people one by one.
Boothill, firing his gun into the sky, angrily denounced the bastards of Schicksal for taking advantage of the situation. After cursing for a while, he hugged the wine barrel and wailed about missing his cute daughter who had passed away early.
Argenti's behavior was a billion times better. He merely lamented that while assisting the police force in investigating the deceased's phone history earlier, he was hit hard from behind by the deceased who had come back to life.
After a round of complaining, they gathered together to play poker with business cards. Operations like "one plane trumps two buildings" and "California wildfire trumps the governor" truly opened Fuli's eyes.
Unfortunately, Emily refused to let him participate. As soon as the boy took a step, those wine-red eyes similar to Rita's immediately became teary, making it hard to tell who was the mother between her and Rita.
Thanks to the ranger and the knight getting drunk fast and sobering up fast, after sending Alexander back to his room to rest, Boothill patted Fuli on the shoulder and asked if he wanted to go take a manly bath together?
The mother-in-law thought this was a great idea and clapped her hands in agreement immediately.
But she didn't see Rita covering her lips and chuckling behind her, nor Little Fuli's panicked expression.
Why did he wear a high-collared shirt to cover his neck? Wasn't it because a certain nympho had left hickeys all over his body last night!
Yes, this was the small interest Rita had collected.
If I agree to go for a bath, won't the fact that I, Old Li, am no longer clean be known to the whole world?!!
No! That cannot happen!
Li-baby was super panicked!