Watching the footage, seeing Otto repeatedly mention Kallen, again and again invoking the Saint—
Kallen couldn't help but think of those five hundred years.
Five centuries in which Otto had likely lived exactly like this,
her death lingering over his entire existence like an unending shadow.
Kallen's eyes slowly reddened.
A wave of guilt surged up in her heart.
"Otto… I'm sorry…"
On the screen, as the story continued—
Welt and his companions uncovered the secret of the Path of Freedom and obtained the Ninth Divine Key — Star of Eden.
But at that very moment!
Due to a massive electromagnetic pulse mixed with Honkai interference erupting from the Edison Laboratory in Manhattan, New York,
Welt—whose physical condition was already unstable—collapsed into unconsciousness!
In his dreams, he returned to the site of the Berlin Incident from years ago.
When he awoke, he learned the truth.
This meant only one thing—
What had once happened in Berlin…
was about to be reenacted in New York!
Without hesitation, the group immediately rushed toward Manhattan.
Along the way, they encountered Rihanna, Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie at the time, and together they eliminated a Honkai beast.
Soon, everyone arrived at the epicenter of the Honkai eruption.
But what no one expected was this—
Schrödinger, infected by Honkai, used a clone to lure Rihanna away.
Her true body appeared before Welt and the others.
She openly declared a duel to the death with Welt!
And it was at this very moment that Welt Joyce finally awakened his Herrscher powers, becoming the Herrscher of Reason!
He accepted Schrödinger's challenge.
However, just as the two clashed—
[Holy Lance: Counterflow!]
Rihanna arrived on the battlefield.
As Schicksal's current top Valkyrie, she defeated Schrödinger with a single strike, sealing the Honkai energy within her body!
But—
The crisis was far from over.
Elsewhere!
The explosion that should have occurred… didn't.
Instead—
Nancy Thomas Edison, by sheer force of will, was holding aloft a Honkai energy cluster
with an explosive yield exceeding 20,000 tons of TNT!
With no chance of external support, she made her decision.
Carrying that Honkai energy mass—enough to annihilate New York—
she resolutely flew toward the open sea!
In her final communication with Tesla, Edison said calmly:
"I'm currently holding a Honkai energy cluster with an explosive yield of over twenty thousand tons of TNT. With my bare hands."
"All I can do now is push it as far out to sea as possible, to reduce the scale of the tsunami."
"Only by destroying it far away from populated areas can civilians be protected to the greatest extent."
"This is my choice. I must resolve this problem in the most reliable way."
"I created this disaster myself. I must take responsibility for it."
Then—
Amid the crackling of static,
amid Tesla's choked sobs—
The only sound left was Nancy softly humming
the tune of "Scarborough Fair."
Stepping through the sky,
holding that terrifying sphere of Honkai energy,
She walked toward the endless line where sea met sky—
far away from all humanity.
And then—
The screen was flooded with blinding white light!
Overwhelming.
All-consuming.
Nancy Thomas Edison
vanished forever at that distant horizon.
At that moment—
Even those watching from behind the screen were deeply shaken.
At the brink of catastrophe, Nancy had not hesitated for even a second.
She chose to sacrifice herself,
to face that terrifying Honkai energy alone,
and to die in an unknown corner of the sea and sky—
So that countless others could live.
[Jean: The world should remember Miss Nancy's name.]
[Kiana: Wuu… she didn't hesitate at all!!]
[Kamisato Ayaka: …]
[Einstein: This was Nancy's own choice. I respect it—and I admire her.]
[Tesla: Farewell, you stingy old woman…]
[Silver Wolf: At least in another world, millions witnessed Nancy's feat and truly honored her.]
[March 7th: Miss Nancy! Rest in peace!!]
[Raiden Mei: Miss Nancy! Rest in peace!!]
[Bronya (Honkai): Miss Nancy! Rest in peace!!]
Inside the secret base.
Tesla wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
But within her sorrow, there was also relief—and remembrance.
At the very least, at this moment—
It wasn't just the worlds of Genshin, Honkai, and Star Rail that had witnessed this scene.
But also the world behind this rating system—
with millions, perhaps tens of millions of people watching.
Nancy would be remembered.
She was Nancy Thomas Edison—
a warrior on the front lines against Honkai,
a hero of humanity!
On the screen—
Tesla and the others arrived at the coastline.
There, they encountered the Finn, who had rushed over as well—
his appearance haggard, his spirit clearly unstable.
"The Finn?! Why are you here?!"
"I also received Edison's signal… using equipment scavenged from the shelter."
His face was gaunt, his expression shattered, as if he had suffered a devastating blow.
"No—wait!"
Suddenly, he shouted.
"That's not what I want to say!"
"I… I—"
He shook his head violently, struggling to speak, his face twisted in pain and fear.
"This is all because of me!! I was threatened—by that man!"
"He used my child to threaten me!"
"I didn't mean to do it! I never imagined the experiment would have such horrific consequences!"
"The Overseer only told me… that he had altered the later data in the ancient texts, that Edison's work would end up being wasted!"
"He said it so lightly—he just didn't want Edison to monopolize a breakthrough that would change the era!!"
"I… I never thought it would turn out like this!"
"How could I have known the consequences of failure would be this severe?!"
In an instant!
Everyone was struck with shock.
No one had imagined that the hand behind this disaster—
was Otto Apocalypse?!
Did that mean—
Nancy was indirectly killed by Otto?!
But suddenly—
Before the Finn could finish speaking—
A metallic blur flashed past!
A spear thrust forward without warning,
piercing straight through the Finn's chest!!
A cold, emotionless voice rang out:
"You've said far too much, you foolish man."
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