The world is a living flame, one part burning, one part dying...
Golden light flowed through the theater, while nameless fires burned confusion in the shadows.
People scattered and fled, not understanding what was happening.
No one knew where this change had begun to unfold.
The two girls sprinted, how could they know that the person who had been closest to them for so long could, in the blink of an eye, become the cinder that scorched their very lives.
The great fire ignited everything around, burning the night sky a searing red.
Sorrow? Despair?
Such are the weaknesses of humanity, and such are its dark aspects.
...
"Mei, even with only a thirty percent success rate, there is no doubt you are a true genius among geniuses."
Mobius's lips curved into a peculiar smile, her serpent-like vertical pupils fixed intently on Mei's reaction.
She knew very well that even if the success rate were only three percent, or even non-existent, they would still be here right now.
Preparing for the upcoming experiment.
"I don't consider this a good thing."
Mei replied coldly.
"Who says it is? After all, we're about to become the creators of monsters."
Mobius suddenly laughed, her voice hoarse. "But regardless, you've done something truly remarkable."
"If more people undergo the experiment, perhaps in the future, the Honkai won't be such a troublesome matter anymore, right?"
"Perhaps..."
Mei offered a faint smile.
Though that was clearly impossible. Not to mention the extreme difficulty of synthesizing the 'Harmony Factor', plus the surgical complexity... only Mobius could perform this operation.
...
"That boy is willing to die for you. I retract what I said before; he's not bad."
"..."
Mobius paused. "Look, here he comes."
Kevin walked in, his expression placid. When had he become like this? Perhaps he always had been.
"Mei, are you still hesitating? You're prepared. Your little boyfriend is prepared. Shouldn't we begin?"
"The Herrscher won't wait for you, you know."
Mei took a deep breath and looked at Kevin.
"Yes, let's begin..."
She announced.
The preparatory phase of the surgery...
"So it's one of our own who became the Herrscher this time. I actually had a decent impression of her before."
Right, after all, Himeko and Mobius shared drinks that one time.
"Yes, the probability is indeed low..."
Mei pondered.
"What does a low probability matter? Perhaps one day I'll suddenly turn into a Herrscher too?"
Mobius pointed at herself, laughing.
"Maybe by then we'll have a Herrscher as a comrade?"
Mei also smiled.
"Hah, some things need to be planned for early. At least before those accidents come knocking."
"Well, whatever we have to say, let's save it for later..."
...
Kevin lay flat on the operating table, his face still calm.
"As the first subject, Kevin, you'll become a hero."
Mobius said with a smile.
"Hmm. Or perhaps an enemy. Or a dead man."
Kevin was indifferent to this. A hero... he had once dreamed of becoming one...
An enemy...
Is death a release? Perhaps. But he didn't want to die. At least, not now.
"Even if you have no confidence in yourself, you should have confidence in Mei, shouldn't you?"
Mobius had already injected some unidentified fluid into Kevin's body.
An eerie blue liquid slowly entered his veins.
Kevin felt a bone-piercing chill spread from the injection site. "Those numbers weren't worth making me lie here."
"True. So I'll make your death a bit easier."
"Thank you..."
What should one say in a situation like this... he thought vaguely.
"Heh, best to talk less from now on."
Silence. Stillness.
His body gradually lost sensation, but the surgery hadn't even begun.
Kevin's consciousness grew hazy, as if he were sinking endlessly into the depths of the sea.
Fragments of memory flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
He seemed to return to that afternoon again.
"I always felt I would become a hero..."
"Your personal hero."
The young man sat with her on the rooftop, making that vow.
...
He held the baseball bat in his hand, charging without hesitation toward the monster several times his size...
Not because he wasn't afraid, but because there was someone behind him he wanted to protect.
...
Countless nights, he cleaned his pistol... pondering the meaning of his fight.
When facing the Sixth Herrscher again, he still hadn't pulled the trigger in time. Perhaps it really was because of that lingering shred of humanity.
But this time, no miracle appeared.
Countless people were swallowed by the black mist; that place became a land of death...
...
Cold.
"..."
"Is it time?"
Kevin's consciousness grew sharper. The cold invaded his very marrow, his skeletal muscles began to tremble.
He found himself standing on an icy plain, his exhaled breath freezing into white mist instantly.
A monstrous beast with massive tusks loomed like a small mountain, its body covered in layers of ice.
Kevin seemed even more insignificant before it.
Kill it, or die himself. Kevin knew this.
Even though he was empty-handed now, without even a decent baseball bat to wield.
But so what?
Kevin charged forward. Not out of fearlessness, but simply to move ahead.
Victory, and then to keep walking forward. That was what he had to do.
...
Battle.
...
In a nearly distorted perception of time, he didn't know how long it took...
An hour? A day? A year?
Who knew?
The vast disparity in power rendered skill nearly useless.
The only thing that could exert force was the instinct for survival.
The man burst forth from the ice, the blood flowing from his body already frozen, his wounds numb...
A nameless white force surged into his wounds, vitality flooding his entire being.
He simply tore the ferocious beast apart with his bare hands, stuffing piece after piece into his mouth.
To claim that inhuman power for his own.
In the most savage way possible!
...
That was all.
…
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