The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"That's right, Alicia...is Xi'er."

The curtain was gently opened, but when Alicia turned her head to look, she didn't see anyone.

The curtain seemed to be blown by the wind, but judging from its shape, it did look like a pair of hands were holding it...

"Dear Apponia, it's not a good idea to use telekinesis to scare people!"

The curtains were hung low, and no one could clearly see how Aponya came into the tent.

"Xie'er... why is this related to Xi'er again? She's not..."

Kevin ruffled his hair and it was clear that the situation was beyond his comprehension.

"Yes, Xi'er is indeed dead, but who stipulated to you that people only have one life?"

"I know that the Sixth Herrscher is difficult to kill from the perspective of power, but she is undoubtedly dead! Even the core has been made into the Key of God..."

"Okay Mei, why don't you take care of your little follower? It's a waste of time for him to keep asking questions like this."

Inexplicably, the question about Seele seemed to have touched Mebius's taboo, so that she suddenly had a strong rejection reaction.

"Oh? Really? But we still have enough time. Velvet still needs to install restraints on her ankles and crotch. This time is enough for you to explain."

For Mei, Kevin's question is also her doubt. She believes in the result Mebius said, and because of this, she wants to know the process of achieving this result. This is not just out of a scientist’s [curiosity], but also out of a [sensitivity].

The result that Mebius said and her attempt to hide it all showed that the process of getting this result was quite important. But the strange thing is that Mebius never mentioned it to her.

Is it because the process was too cruel? No, Mei thinks that she is not Mikael, and Mebius agrees with her and does not need to care about this.

The only thing she could think of to explain this phenomenon was that Mebius himself was not sure about it before. She and Velvet always liked to cut it off first and then tell it later, and then used it as a blackmail to apply for funding after achieving certain results...

Mei's idea was pretty much the same, but there was still a certain deviation from reality. If Mebius could see her brainstorming, he would have snorted with disdain - why do you always have to imagine her to be so complicated? Why can't it be because this matter involves Xi'er, for such a simple reason?

Without telling Mikael, she secretly used Seele as a sample and did an experiment with a success rate of almost zero percent. At that time, it was as if she had charged two 648s and paid off. The gambler who cheated on her small guarantee had already given up everything for the victory of an experiment. It was only after the initial success of the experiment that she felt so scared.

And when the sixth collapse ended, she couldn't tell clearly whether the reason why Xi'er was able to return to the original world from the world bubble was simply due to the fluctuations of the quantum sea, or whether it was the power given by the [Stigmata]. If it's the latter...

She didn't regret it, nor was she afraid, she just didn't know how to explain it clearly.

"Mei, I will explain the details to you later. In short, I used Xi'er's body as a sample to develop something called [Stigma]..."

She originally wanted to say genetic technology, which was indeed the external expression of the stigmata, but from a certain perspective, it was more than that. She didn't know how to describe it for a while, but in the end, she could only use "gene technology" to explain it away.

"Is it the time when I went to you to have the super-transformation surgery and you refused? Xi'er is in the cabinet behind you, right?"

"Uh... uh..."

Ellie's quick question caught Mebius off guard. Fortunately, she was the most stubborn. As long as she refused to admit it, others would not be able to find evidence.

Mei lowered her head thoughtfully - if she remembered correctly, after the Fire Chaser's base went underground, Lezlen once used Lichtenstein to continue his experiments. Because of her family's power, she tried to transport two batches of living samples to the underground city. At that time, she wanted to take these living samples to force the coalition government to make greater concessions, but two consecutive batches of samples disappeared mysteriously, and she failed. After seizing the evidence, Lezlen did not get the materials. Could it be...

She gave Mebius a long look.

"Ahem!" Mebius coughed continuously to cover up her embarrassment. She even covered her chest and made a look of pain, as if she wanted to divert other people's attention with this injury. , but this is ultimately in vain.

However, in order to be able to carry out the task again, Alicia wisely did not ask further questions.

"In short, as a Herrscher, Mikael is quite adaptable to anything related to Honkai. Therefore, for some reason, when he was seriously injured by the Imaginary Divine Skeleton, I The body bears the stigmata of Xi’er.”

"Stigmata? Is this considered a way of human existence?"

"In my opinion, it counts."

"...Then what about another kind? Didn't you say: [a human being exists in two ways], if one way of existence is the stigmata, then what is the other one? The core of the Herrscher? No, except for Mikael Besides, the core of the Herrscher is dead, otherwise it wouldn’t be made into the Key of God.”

Mebius twitched the corners of his mouth and finally looked at Apponia, "Actually, I stayed up all night just worrying about this. At that time, I didn't know that Xi'er had a second way of existence. And if we don’t rely on the cross-positioning of the two methods, we still can’t accurately grasp the existence of Mikael’s consciousness, are you right, Aponia?”

Alicia nodded first. The cross-positioning mentioned by Mebius reminded her of the third collapse, when Mikael and her used the intersection of the two Herrschers and the imaginary number channel to push out the [Tree 】 is located in the space, I think this is what Mebius meant by cross-positioning.

But when she heard Mebius's final rhetorical question, her eyes became shocked - "Aponia, how could you..."

She didn't need Aponya's answer, she figured everything out in an instant - as a person who can see destiny in advance, Aponya might have even anticipated the current situation a year or two ago, so it would be natural to make some preparations. Down.

"Ellie, do you still remember the necklace of Seele tied around Mikael's right wrist?"

"Well, wasn't it the one you asked him to construct before and then gave it to Xi'er? It seems that you also specially used soul steel as the material?"

Since that day, Mikael had tied the necklace to her right wrist, and she had seen it with her own eyes when he delivered his core to her.

"Wait a minute, you mean-"

"That's right, Mikael probably never uploaded the sixth Honkai battle report. If he uploaded it, you should know that I copied Xi'er's personality on the night she finally left.

"It's just that he probably only knows that I copied a personality, which is hidden in Xi'er's subconscious, hoping that she can reproduce Mikael's miracle when the Herrscher comes. But in fact, I copied two personalities. ——This is considered an unintentional move on my part, because the two copied personalities are not two separate individuals, but Xier's own split consciousness, and I just introduced one part of it into the container. "

Aponya's godless eyes blinked slightly. Without any special explanation, he could guess that the so-called container was the necklace made of soul steel.

"After scanning, there is a small amount of soul steel fused into the flesh of Mikael's right wrist. It should be the remnants of the necklace."

This necklace, due to the enlargement of Mikael's body, was embedded in the flesh. Due to the characteristics of soul steel, it was mixed with human flesh and blood before it could be swallowed by the Vishnu factor. Therefore, it was rounded and copied. Xi'er's consciousness also drifted away from this giant's body.

"You are really... each joke is bigger than the last..."

Ellie gave a wry smile.

"Hey, hey, hey, have you finished chatting? The restrainers have all been inserted. It's your turn to do something! After you're done, don't forget to send the core of the Seventh Herrscher to me. I'll go get some sleep first. --owe!"

…………

In the bloody space, Mikael was sitting on the ground, meditating with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, his eyelashes trembled slightly and he opened his mouth and said, "It's crossed the line."

As he finished speaking, dozens of Honkaiju-like monsters appeared in the circular space ten steps in front of him.

But before they had time to scream and pounce on Mikael, as he hummed, flames rose from the bottom up, and all the Honkai beasts were burned up in an instant.

The advantage was so obvious, but he still didn't dare to take it lightly. He knew that he could easily destroy these eroding objects not because his own strength really had the advantage, but because the opponent was too deep. Those who are interested in profiting will pout the general, that's all.

If it were his own power to get close to that purely beast-like [instinct] existence, the end would not be much better.

This is also the reason why both sides can maintain a balance. Since neither can do anything about the other, they can only maintain a dynamic balance...well...it feels like a bipolar world.

This is also caused by the special nature of power in the world of consciousness. For both of them who do not master spiritual power... Wait a minute, Mebius could not have calculated this, so there is no corpse in the body given to him. Midora?

That she could calculate so much in such a critical situation was something Mikael never expected.

The so-called struggle of consciousness is not about pure material power. If we really want to compare the material power of the outside world, Mikael, whose core has been reduced to debris and cannot control the power of the Seventh Herrscher, is naturally no match for the monster he personally devoured - yes, that flame just now , is nothing more than a derivative of consciousness.

In the struggle of consciousness, the competition is nothing more than the completeness of consciousness and the firmness of consciousness. Although the core has become a pile of dust and the power within it is temporarily unusable, it has indeed completed Mikael's consciousness. As for the degree of firmness...

For Mikael, this is actually a very... very contradictory question.

How can a person who thinks he is mentally weak be strong-willed?

But the funny thing is, that's exactly what happened.

It was so bizarre that Mikael himself felt dumbfounded, unreasonable, messy, and a weird thing...

Well...but it's not that I can't understand it.

What exactly does vulnerability mean? Is it the slump that follows a setback?

"Now, let's imagine a knife. The blade is made of S7 alloy steel. Mikael, you have read books on materials science a long time ago. You should know the characteristics of this steel, right?"

"Hmm..." Mikael nodded and reported the data without thinking, "A modern sword made of this kind of steel has been oil-quenched and tempered. The edge hardness is about HRC57 and the impact toughness is 165J. This is A typical sword is not hard enough, and its edge is prone to collapse no matter how it is sharpened. However, its advantage lies in its unparalleled impact toughness. No matter how damaged it is when cut, it will rarely collapse completely. Stop...wait! Who are you!"

Mikael knelt down and looked at "Xie'er" in front of him with squinted eyes.

"Let me guess...are you the Seventh Herrscher? Or...another me in the core? Or...no, you don't have its aura in you."

"Tch, why do we need to make the distinction so clear? You don't feel any hostility from me, do you?"

Xier waved her hand, and a gorgeous chair appeared out of thin air. She sat on it carelessly and crossed her legs to show her sincerity.

Mikael's butt slowly pressed back onto his heels.

"How about it, do you want to continue the previous topic?"

She spread her hands, but Mikael did not give up so easily:

"Compared to the boring topics before, I think it is obvious that [who you are] is more attractive to me."

"Tsk!"

"Xie'er" twitched the corners of her lips. Mikael's persistence made her somewhat irritated, but she laughed in an instant:

"Tsk, look, you can be said to be strong-willed, right?"

This time it was Mikael's turn to have his mouth twitching.

"Do you have to change the subject in such a blunt way? But let me tell you something, your way of speaking... really reminds me of a person... a person who is closely related to the real Xi'er... "

"Xie'er" shrugged, which probably meant: I've never said that before!

"Tsk, let's go back to the inappropriate metaphor before. I'm not teasing you. To be honest, I may not be able to say that you are strong-willed, but in terms of stubbornness, a hundred cows really can't compete with you. "

"Very good. Not to mention that your behavior is as stubborn as mine, but your attitude makes me feel... you are the person I think of."

Mikael seemed to say something, but it seemed like he didn't say anything at all, but it was just a trick to lure the snake out of its hole.

Naturally, the being opposite would not step into such a simple trap. She shook her head with a smile, spread out a hand, "Tch, just think about it as much as you want!"

It's the same nonsense and doesn't reveal a single bit of information.

Mikael shook his head and did not want to pay attention to him. Although this existence did not exude any hostility from beginning to end, in the conscious space, especially when he was in a wrestling state, it was better not to have too many reveries.

The more you think and the more you make mistakes, the easier it will be for [it] to find flaws.

But when he wanted to be quiet, the being opposite started chattering:

"Tsk! You said... What kind of behavior did you lock yourself in the room before? Why do you feel like a child having a tantrum? Uh... Impossible, not quite right... After all, you are almost twenty At this age, you can’t do things that only adolescents can do, right?”

Mikael's nose wrinkled, and veins gradually formed on his forehead.

This is not just gossiping. It is clear that one pot is not opened and which pot is lifted. After jumping repeatedly on the tip of the knife, he still slaps his unscathed feet in your face...

Mikael took a deep breath, and for the sake of balancing the struggle of consciousness in this body, he endured it!

I don’t know if it was his forbearing attitude that caused the other party to misunderstand. The existence in front of him began to jump repeatedly with high intensity: "Tsk! Then again! Later, after the Seventh Herrscher was born, why did you still do it? Why haven't you been willing to fight for such a long time? Hahaha, is it because you are afraid? "

"..."

Mikael held his head and ignored her.

But his mind began to recall the situation uncontrollably.

As an ordinary person, as an ordinary person with a normal mind.

Of course he didn't know what was going through his mind before he made that move.

It's not because I can't remember clearly, but that kind of behavior and actions were not the result of careful consideration from the beginning.

For most people, short-term decisions are based on impulse and are made naturally, ranging from whether to have bread or steamed buns for breakfast to whether to lock oneself in the room or go out. In fact, at the moment when I made the decision, I didn't have a convincing reason in my mind.

Let alone explaining it to others.

Therefore, memoirs are often the most unreliable things. Many decisions were clearly just impulsive responses at the time, but with a series of subsequent developments, those unintentional decisions became the beginning/turning point of a wonderful story, and then When I recall this period of history, I will put gold on my face and give myself various legitimate reasons for the decision I made at that time. But this is actually no different from hindsight.

However... if you don't force a reason to tell others, but give yourself an explanation, ask yourself carefully what impulses flashed through your mind when you made that decision, and what are the causes and consequences of this decision? What, it is not to whitewash oneself, but to understand oneself more comprehensively, but to straighten out what has happened, and to engrave the past in one's mind like a historian. Only in this way, Only man can gain the real treasure from the past—the possibility of not repeating the same mistakes again.

However, this process is undoubtedly very painful - to replay the despair that I have experienced in my mind is tantamount to tearing open the newly scabbed wound.

But Mikael's face was calm. Perhaps he had completed this job before he even noticed it.

Or maybe, after being dragged out of the room by Mebius for the first time, what made him unwilling to face reality... was no longer sadness.

“If not sadness, what could it be?”

Mikael looked up in shock and looked at "Xie'er" with a somewhat gloomy face. Only then did he realize that in the space of consciousness, his thoughts were probably transparent and could be easily captured by the other party.

Mikael slowly lowered his head, scratched his cheek, and said with some embarrassment: "Maybe there is indeed a part of the reason for being emotional, but there is actually another important factor - maybe in my opinion at that time, Is this also a way to resist fate?”

"Are you kidding me? What's the difference between your statement and your previous thought of whitewashing yourself!"

"maybe."

Mikael shook his head. When people make decisions, they naturally do not rely on a single emotion. It must be a mixture of multiple factors that ultimately drives the decision.

As for fate, that is the only line that Mikael can accurately grasp——

"Aponia once told me the true meaning of destiny. In a world without destiny, being able to know the future is undoubtedly very lucky, but in a fatalistic world it is just the opposite, because that means - what you The future you know will definitely happen.”

"Xie'er" turned away her eyes and rarely uttered any sarcasm.

"She also used this to encourage me, thinking that I am someone who has the ability to change my destiny, but Xi'er... In fact, I still can't explain clearly. Her ability to return to her original world was caused by the battle with Vishnu. The quantum sea fluctuated, or it was because I didn't bring the medicine. Her emotional fluctuations triggered the power of the stigmata planted by Mebius, allowing her to come back...

"I dare not say it is the former, because that will make people, even myself, feel that I am shirking responsibility. And if it is the latter, this is the reason why I... Incompetent and meaningless revenge is both harmful and harmful. It hurt Mebius and also hurt Alicia.”

His words paused, and his eyes gradually raised to look at the person in front of him.

The latter turned back and glared at him fiercely.

"Ahem!" Mikael scratched his head, "So, when the seventh Honkai Impact broke out, I had this idea in my mind - I might as well just stop doing anything, as long as I don't do it Whatever happens, things will return to their original destiny. The captain will become the Herrscher and be easily killed by Kevin. Humanity may pay a heavy price, but they will definitely make it to the end..."

"But the ending is so ironic. When you try your best to make changes, fate will dramatically lead everything to its original track. But when you try to leave everything behind and ignore it, you let fate take its original path. When you were on the road, your destiny was actually changed? It's really... Tsk! What happened to you later? It was obvious that Himihu was not a Herrscher, but you were still in trouble for a long time until Mebius pushed you in? elevator……"

"Ah ha ha ha... that..." Mikael wanted to scratch his scalp in embarrassment, "It's actually quite embarrassing to say... At that time, I was totally confused and had no idea what I should do. Until I was slapped awake by Mebius..."

"anything else?"

"Xie'er" stared at him reluctantly.

"Well... I was really scared at the time, because the power I had always relied on, my core, betrayed me... and Vishnu's growth takes time, and I have no idea how to stop the Seventh Herrscher... …Well……"

Having said this, "Xier" suddenly stood up.

Mikael looked at her doubtfully, and then she curled her lips and disappeared as suddenly and quietly as she came.

Only one sentence is left, echoing in the increasingly real bloody space:

"It's okay. You're not as bad as I thought before."