By the time Bronya and Seele had finished cooking and Bronya came to call everyone for dinner, she found Theresa passed out on the sofa again, and in Penglaiji Ryn's hand was the same 'Tianqi Brand Limited Edition Baseball Bat' that Ryn had before.
Glancing at the two overlapping little bumps on Theresa's head, Bronya looked at Penglaiji Ryn with a hint of approval.
It seems Seele taught her well; Penglaiji Ryn already knew to strike hard at someone's wound.
"So... Principal still chooses to stop us from fighting Kiana even now?"
Ryn awkwardly stroked Theresa's head, then looked at the even more awkward Penglaiji Ryn and gave her a 'you know' look.
Penglaiji Ryn didn't know whether to put down the baseball bat in her hand or hide it behind her back.
"I made a mistake... Big Brother Ryn was joking with Theresa earlier, and then I saw Theresa suddenly lash out, raising Judah to hit big brother, so I just tapped Theresa lightly... and then this happened."
Mmm... a light tap. Bronya looked at the bumps on Theresa's head. It didn't look like they were from a light tap at all.
"Forget it. Although I don't know why a single baseball bat can take down Theresa, she's tough. A small injury like this is nothing...
The supplies in the Principal's little house are quite plentiful. Seele and I made a very lavish meal. Come and eat."
Ryn checked on Theresa's condition. She probably wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. She definitely wasn't seriously injured, but whether it would affect Theresa's already small brain, that was unknown.
But that wasn't important. Eating was.
"Yay." Penglaiji Ryn tossed the baseball bat aside and cheerfully ran into the kitchen.
With good food, who cares about past unpleasantness~ Anyway, Ryn had hit Theresa with the bat several times before, so it wasn't a big deal if she did it too.
"I've been fed all sorts of Honkai Beasts by Ryn lately, so I can finally have a proper good meal. This is... amazing!"
Penglaiji Ryn devoured the delicious food on the table. Enjoying such a delicacy, the young girl cried tears of joy as she ate.
"If it's delicious, eat more." Seele brought a bowl of meat soup and placed it in front of Penglaiji Ryn, then clapped her hands with a smile and said to her:
"What's that saying again? Oh right, of course, the last meal of one's life has to be a good one. This is what you'd call a last meal~"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Ryn, Penglaiji Ryn, and Bronya, who were eating, almost choked to death on Seele's words.
Bronya, annoyed, reached out and pinched Seele's nose, pulling her down to sit beside her.
"Idiot Seele, don't make that kind of joke..."
Seele made a face, stuck out her tongue, and said with a smile, "Hehe, I'm just trying to liven up the atmosphere~"
"You're doing a great job livening things up. Next time, don't. On such a fine day, your words make me feel a little chilly..." Penglaiji Ryn shrugged and draped her shawl properly.
Ryn shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice and, as if remembering something, said to them.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you...
You don't need to have a death-or-glory mindset... Although my abilities are limited, I definitely won't let you die before I do.
Although we look like a suicide squad, fearlessly going to our deaths, it's actually quite safe... Kiana has no intention of attacking us, and we're not really going to hunt Kiana..."
"We've come all this way prepared to die. And now you're telling us we're not going to fight Kiana to the death?" Bronya slammed the table and stood up, shouting at Ryn.
"Fight? What fight... To put it bluntly, besides me and Penglaiji Ryn, all of you combined aren't enough for Kiana to take out with a single slap.
Besides, the current Penglaiji Ryn..."
Ryn looked in Penglaiji Ryn's direction.
Startled by Bronya slamming the table just now, she had accidentally spilled the soup in her bowl and almost dropped the bowl itself.
Seeing Ryn mention her and look over, Penglaiji Ryn smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
Say she can fight the Herrscher of Finality, Kiana? Don't be ridiculous, she can't even beat Mei right now... She didn't know why Big Brother Ryn always held her in such high regard...
But what her brother meant was...
"You mean I'll be the key to defeating Kiana?"
"I don't know, but if this world was really created by you... then theoretically, by borrowing the power of this world, you should be able to contend with Kiana."
"Uh... but I can't feel anything, and I even feel like a stranger to this world..."
Penglaiji Ryn looked at her hands. This was probably the genuine reaction of everyone who has been told they have a hidden power within them.
Ryn: "Mmm... because this world is woven from many powers. So to find out what's really going on, we can only go to Kiana, or wait for you to regain your memories."
"Wait, wait... What are you guys talking about? I suddenly don't understand..."
Seele waved her hand, signaling for Ryn and Penglaiji Ryn to look at her and stop speaking in riddles.
She carefully looked Penglaiji Ryn up and down again, and then both Seele and Bronya fell into deep thought.
Because no matter how they looked at her, Penglaiji Ryn's dazed appearance didn't seem like that of a powerful person... Could it be that she was incredibly strong before she lost her memories?
"Wait... so Ryn, you tricked us into coming here by constantly talking about fighting Kiana to the death, but it turns out you just wanted to get answers from Kiana!" Bronya grabbed Ryn by the collar and shouted at him angrily.
Ryn had changed the will to survive of everyone in Fire Moth. Although they now understood they couldn't defeat the Herrscher and didn't want to come here to die, they all thought that even in death, they would take some Honkai Creatures with them.
"How could it be that simple... After the battle at ME Corp, I was fired up and originally wanted to press our advantage and fight Kiana again, to shake her will and snap her out of it.
But when I calmed down and thought about Kiana's situation, I realized that Kiana has been clear-headed all along...
You were all there when Kiana appeared last time. Didn't you see her state?
Kiana stopped the fight between us, transferring all the damage to herself, and even did her best to restrain her own Honkai energy to minimize the Honkai's effect on everyone.
Bronya, you should have actually understood this long ago, right?
Kiana has long been no different from a god. If an ordinary person were to even fantasize about Kiana's name in their mind, they would be instantly corroded and assimilated by the Honkai, degenerating into a Honkai Creature. Not to mention you all say Kiana's name out loud every day..."
Ryn: "Such a gentle Kiana... if she could, how could she possibly let the death spots hang high in the sky, continuously destroying the life of this land...
I surmise that even if we kill Kiana, the Honkai will not end, the death spots will not disappear, and the world will still be on the brink of destruction."