One day, 1:16 PM, Trân, a central city on the Mu Continent, residential area.
"Recently, regions affected by the cold snap have experienced a drop in temperature…" The television was broadcasting the weather forecast. A student with messy hair walked out of his room, yawning with half-closed eyes.
He greeted his roommate, who was watching TV, weakly: "Ha… Good morning."
The roommate looked expressionlessly at the time in the upper right corner of the TV and said to him: "It's one in the afternoon. What 'good morning'? Did you stay up all night playing games again yesterday?"
"I don't have class today, so of course I played games." The student flung himself onto the sofa and took a deep breath of cold air with his head upside down. "Hiss… Why is it so cold? We have the air conditioning on, and it's still this cold?"
"Didn't you watch the news? The temperature dropped. Winter came especially early this year, and they predict the lowest temperature will break historical records. It's terrifying. I wonder if the school will close."
"There have been so many weird things in the past few years. That typhoon a few months ago was scary, too, then it just disappeared mysteriously. And I heard something happened in the Far East the year before last." The student waved his hand. "At this point, I'd believe anyone who told me the world was ending."
"Haha, the end of the world. It's possible, oh~ What would you do if the world really ended?" The roommate laughed it off, picking up the remote control to change the channel.
"What else could I do? Lie flat, I guess~ Wait for someone to solve it~ There are so many people in the world. I don't think the disaster would happen to us specifically, right?"
"True…"
"BOOM——————"
Before either of them could react, the wall collapsed like a stack of building blocks that had been hit. The two, frozen with joking smiles on their faces, were instantly crushed.
"Honk—"
A car horn blared. Blood flowed out from under the wheels.
A severed arm, gripping the remote control, rested silently in the pool of blood.
"Sizzle."
The television was smashed on the floor. Sparks flew from the nearly severed wires. On the news that the roommate hadn't managed to change, the anchor spoke solemnly: "Please try to stay home and avoid going out. This cold snap has already caused quite serious accidents, including car crashes caused by drivers' fingers being frozen…"
…
"The Divine Key Project?"
Lín frowned the moment he heard the name.
Clearly, after the Moth of the Flame decided to utilize a combination of Honkai and technology to fight the Honkai, many plans had been devised. The feasibility of these plans entirely depended on whether their expected effect could be achieved.
Vil-V, wearing finger cots, was pondering her small gadgets, casually saying: "Didn't you always complain that no one was developing weapons for you anymore? Maybe a Divine Key will be allocated to you, oh."
"…I didn't say that." Lín didn't remember complaining about a lack of weapons.
"Oh, then it must have been Prometheus who said it." Vil-V picked up tweezers for adjustment, speaking without turning her head. "Anyway, this project is still just a prototype, and it hasn't been decided whether to implement it, but it just happened to land on my plate."
"You?"
"Yes. If nothing unexpected happens, I'm supposed to create the first Divine Key. Oh right, you probably don't know what a Divine Key is exactly. Let me explain."
Vil-V put down the mechanical doll in her hand and snapped her fingers. A screen descended in front of them, and the lights dimmed. A projection was cast onto the screen, showing several gem-like substances.
"The Divine Key Project, simply put, is using the power of a Herrscher to fight a Herrscher. That is, using a Herrscher Core that has never been utilized to create a weapon that achieves the effect of using the Herrscher's power."
"…"
"The Herrscher dies, but the Herrscher Core still exists, and the power contained within never disappears. Storing a Herrscher Core is inherently a very risky endeavor, so being able to utilize it is a good thing. However, we are currently facing two difficulties."
"One: The nature of Honkai energy causes almost any material to break down under prolonged corrosion. Therefore, we must find or create a material that can adapt to Honkai energy and not be corrupted before further development can proceed."
"Two: The user. Even though the Divine Key Project hasn't begun yet, we can already anticipate how difficult it will be to control the Herrscher's power once a Divine Key is born. It is foreseeable that it will cause harm to the user, and not everyone can activate a Divine Key's abilities."
"Simply put, the technology is insufficient, the personnel are undetermined, and there is no plan yet."
After listening, Lín shook his head. Based on this situation, even if a Divine Key were created, it would be impossible for him to use one.
"Don't be discouraged~ If there really is a plan to create a Divine Key for you, it would probably use the core of the Second Herrscher, which currently has the strongest destructive power, as the material. By the way, your combat style is very versatile. Should I add a form-changing system to the Divine Key? I think making it look like a lipstick would be cool…"
"No need."
"Such a spoilsport~" Vil-V rubbed her knuckles, having no recourse against Lín's unyielding attitude. "However, judging from your combat records, your weapons, aside from that now-obsolete pistol, rarely last long. They're either broken or lost. Frequent weapon changes are what suit you."
"Is the helmet adjusted?"
"Almost. Do you need to use it?"
"I have a mission."
"Alright, it's over there. Once Prometheus returns, I'll transmit her into the helmet, and you can use it directly. I've improved the helmet's recognition device. The rest basically remains unchanged."
Lín nodded, preparing to leave.
He needed to find Himeko to ask about Seele. After the last incident, he had kept a close eye on Seele, who frequently sought him out. But no matter how he looked, Seele seemed pretty much the same as before, or perhaps even stronger and more mature—a completely qualified warrior.
But an unsettling shadow still lingered in Lín's heart. He hadn't paid much attention to Seele before, so he wasn't clear about what had happened to her. He had assumed she grew stronger through hardship, but now it seemed it wasn't that simple.
The disintegration within humanity seemed to have only been given a push from the Honkai.
"Wait a moment." Vil-V called out to Lín. "Although it's just a plan, and only a vague concept of Dr. Méi's personal vision, when she mentioned it, I felt that this plan should revolve around you."
"A special Divine Key that can directly use Herrscher Cores. It is not powered by a Herrscher Core itself, but it can embed a Herrscher Core to achieve the effect of using the corresponding Authority. We are temporarily naming it the Key of Blankness."
"Of course, the Key of Blankness might not even be manufactured. We don't even know where to begin right now, so I'm just mentioning it to you."
"I won't live to see that time." Lín responded simply.
"That's not necessarily true. In life, there's a matter of first come, first served. You're still young, aren't you?"
"…"