Seele turned her head and spotted Bronya, who had rushed over.
She was wearing a dark blue dress, and Project Bunny behind her shone with brilliant colors.
"Seele, thank goodness you're alright."
Bronya sighed, silently thinking, "Mr. Welt, is that man the Serpent?"
"This is the first time I've seen his true appearance."
"But his aura is undoubtedly that of the Serpent I sensed in the Sea of Quanta."
Welt said from inside the core.
Seeing Bronya intrude into the World Bubble, Kevin wasn't angry, merely stating calmly, "We meet again, Herrscher of Reason... and his successor."
Welt was startled: "He's talking to me? He can sense my presence?"
Kevin crossed his arms, his gaze seemingly piercing through the Herrscher of Reason's Core, meeting Welt's eyes: "I originally thought you were an Apostle of Honkai, but in that labyrinth, I saw your past."
"Your will is not a disguise. As a Herrscher, you truly fight for humanity."
"That's why I helped that girl, hoping she could bring you before me."
"Fighting Honkai is our shared mission. I have no intention of being your enemy."
Bronya's eyes hardened upon hearing this, and she refused, "Empty words. We won't let you leave this place."
Unexpectedly, Kevin scoffed, "Can you stop me?"
As he spoke, a black tide surged out from the cracks, obscuring the man's figure.
They spread and writhed in the air, like an invisible monster.
In contrast, the energy in space continuously converged, rushing toward Kevin's palm, turning into an emerald green gem.
Seeing this, Bronya exclaimed, "Is that... the gem of desire?"
Kevin gripped the gem, and the obsession suppressed for a thousand years erupted at this moment!
"I have slept in this ocean for 1,500 years!"
"During these 1,500 years, Honkai continuously rampaged, and I could only sink into past memories, powerless."
"But now, the time for the Serpent's return has arrived."
"Whether you accept it or not, I will fulfill the duty I was supposed to complete!"
His voice was utterly stubborn; he would stop at nothing to eliminate Honkai, even if it meant fighting the whole world!
Bronya did not want him to succeed in his goal.
She saw azure cannon fire bombarding the space, tearing the surging Quantum Shadows into shreds!
Bronya rode her vehicle, leaping over the frenzied tide of shadows, and charged straight toward the white-haired man.
—However, things did not go as planned.
The people outside the screen watched the heartbreaking scene that followed.
They saw the Herrscher of Reason's Core eject from Bronya's chest, as she could no longer withstand the power of the erosion.
She had lost her strength, her body weakened by erosion, and at such a dangerous moment.
"Bang!"
Like a discarded rag doll, Bronya's body fell heavily to the ground.
Her face was paper-white, and her weak body told her that she had no strength left.
At this moment, Kevin's voice rang out, as if he had long anticipated this: "Bronya Zaychik, you traveled through countless World Bubbles, carrying an immense burden to get here. Your body can no longer keep up with your will."
In his hand, the gem of desire emitted a scorching radiance.
Bronya in the scene lay collapsed on the ground, struggling to breathe, staring at the unattainable gem... Outside.
Kiana sighed, "Just shy of success. It had to be at this moment that Bronya's body couldn't handle it. The Herrscher of Reason Core is a huge burden on her body."
"Exactly, Bronya... if you get the Core later, you still need to reduce its use. Try not to use it in regular combat, or your body definitely won't be able to handle it quickly." Mei looked worriedly at Bronya beside her and gently advised.
"Bronya... it's fine. As long as it helps everyone, this little bit of harm is nothing," Bronya shook her head.
"Did the Herrscher really take control of the silos and destroy the only three remaining cities of humanity?"
At this moment, Theresa couldn't help but ask Fu Hua.
Such an ending was too tragic for Yae Sakura.
Even her last wish, to bring her sister Rin back to their hometown and bury her under the cherry blossom tree.
This small wish had become an extravagant hope.
"It should be true. Kevin wouldn't lie about such things."
Fu Hua nodded heavily, her mood slightly downcast.
She remembered what those Remembrance were; it turned out to be Yae Sakura's death.
As fellow members of the Flame-Chasers, no one wanted to see such a tragedy.
But there was no choice; the Honkai's invasion was pressing in step by step, reaching the point where even the last MANTIS of humanity were gradually dying.
This was also the battle that changed Kevin's philosophy!
To eliminate the Honkai, his philosophy had gradually evolved into an obsession, for which he was willing to pay any price!
"But why was Kevin imprisoned in the Sea of Quanta, and why didn't Bronya let him out?"
Kiana suddenly asked.
With the Remembrance flickering in Fu Hua's mind combined with the scenes she had just seen, she had pieced everything together and deduced what had happened.
Listening to the puzzled Kiana, she explained: "In the final moments of the Previous Era's destruction, the warriors of the Flame-Chasers launched the Human Heritage Projects. There were five: Project Ark, Project Ember, Project Valuka, Project Stigma, and Project Overseer."
"Project Ark was a spacecraft leaving the solar system to find a new home, carrying Earth's gene bank. However, the Pioneer executing Project Ark lost contact. Project Ember, which I executed, also failed because the Honkai would arrive faster as civilization accelerated its development."
"The Project Valuka involves observing parallel worlds, but Su observed for fifty thousand years within the Second Divine Key without any results."
"So Kevin decided to launch Project Stigma. To execute this plan, Kevin founded an organization called 'World Serpent.' Through artificial intervention, he aimed to activate and recombine the Honkai resistance genome that Mei had once inoculated into the embryos of a few descendants, which had dispersed through human hereditary lineage."
"Kevin's behavior using the British Isles as an experimental ground likely convinced Su that he had gone astray. Thus, Su lured Kevin into the Key of Emptiness and imprisoned him in a World Bubble, sinking the World Bubble they were in to the bottom of the Sea of Quanta. So Kevin sank to the bottom of the Sea of Quanta along with the World Bubble and spent fifteen hundred years there."
"After Kevin disappeared, World Serpent hid in the shadows, patiently waiting for his return."
After Fu Hua finished speaking, everyone fell into deep shock and contemplation.
Meanwhile, the image before them began to shift.
Welt wanted to stop Kevin from leaving, but he didn't have that kind of power!
The Serpent successfully left the Sea of Quanta where he had been imprisoned for fifteen hundred years.
At this moment, only Bronya and Seele remained in the image.
"Sister Bronya, Sister Bronya!" Seele's face was full of panic, not knowing what to do.
Bronya struggled on the ground in pain.
She tried hard to stand up, but blood overflowed from the corner of her mouth instead.
It wasn't just the trauma left from the battle; her body was sustaining fatal damage!
Damage left behind by the erosion of the Herrscher of Reason core.
The massive rocks floating in the air shattered, separating Welt, who wanted to help the two, from them.
The giant stones tumbled, broke, dissolved, and dissipated in the chaos, merging with the bottomless dark tide.
She had to take Bronya away from here.
In Seele's churning heart, there was only this one thought!
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