The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

As the time approached midnight, the streets became lively.

The fat reindeer pulled the fat Santa Claus, and his curvy and knotted beard like instant noodles trembled with laughter. He turned around and took out woolen socks filled with small gifts one after another from the sack and threw them to both sides of the street.

"Hey!"

Kevin waved his hand and easily snatched the gift thrown at him from a little boy who was standing on tiptoes to catch his socks.

The little boy was stunned for two seconds, and then cried "Wow".

Kevin laughed wildly, holding Mei's hand and running away quickly.

Both were adults and soon left several children behind. During the strenuous exercise, Mei probably lost her breath, and Mei began to cough violently.

And Kevin just supported her, stood under the street light, and gently patted her back.

"Really, how old you are, and you still compete with children for gifts."

Mei's tone was a little helpless, and she couldn't help but want to laugh.

"A man is a boy until he dies!"

Kevin smiled, turned the woolen sock upside down, and dropped out a packet of brown sugar gingerbread cookies.

"Well, just right, one piece for you and one piece for me."

Kevin unwrapped the gingerbread paper, took out one piece first, and placed it in front of Mei.

Under the dim street light, Mei's cheeks were flushed red by the cold wind. She shrank her neck without reaching out and opened her mouth to take the biscuit from Kevin.

The cookie was probably made by the cosplayer Santa Claus, and was only about the size of two coins. Whether Kevin’s thumb and index finger pinched it intentionally or not, it was quite far forward, so no matter how careful Mei was, it was hard not to touch her lips. Touched Kevin's fingers.

However, compared to this plain and beautiful world, this little ambiguity is just an addition.

Kevin felt that he should have laughed loudly, but for some reason, the corners of his mouth were grinning, but his vocal cords seemed to be clamped and he couldn't make a sound.

One or two dots of white suddenly appeared in his eyes, which were snowflakes floating in the night sky.

Three or two snowflakes fell on Mei's head, and he gently dusted them away.

But suddenly, his movements froze.

Mei followed his gaze and looked around, only to see that there was a nun behind her.

She looked at the two of them with pity. Even in such a cold winter night, the clothes she wore were still thin.

She didn't say anything more, turned her dull eyes to Kevin, then chuckled twice, turned around, and her back gradually merged into the darkness.

"Aponia..."

Kevin whispered the nun's name.

He couldn't tell, was this Aponya... the one he knew? What does she mean? Suggesting that he let her go?

Leave here with her?

how can that be possible……

"You know her?"

Mei asked softly.

Kevin nodded, then shook his head.

"Let's go, we'll be home soon."

…………

Mikael slumped on a chair, crossed his legs, rubbed the stubble on his chin with his hand, and quietly looked at Sakura and Kevin in the ward behind him through a layer of glass.

There was no damage to their bodies, but they still had hanging bottles, but they only contained nutrient solution.

After a while, he noticed that Aponya beside him opened his eyes. Mikael also turned his head and asked worriedly:

"Failed?"

"how to say……"

Aponya pursed her lips, "Both of them...actually more or less realized that they were in a dream."

"Can't wake up?"

Mikael raised an eyebrow.

"I'm afraid...I don't want to wake up."

Mikael stood up silently without making a sound and walked into the ward.

He first came to Sakura's bedside. To be honest, after Sakura's anti-entropy merged into the Fire Chaser, the workload of the only person who has not decreased but increased (the other one is Velvet), Mikael has not been there for a long time. Paying so much attention to her.

It seemed that ever since she took over the so-called "dirty work", the lines of the two people's fates began to break away from each other. Although they had always been parallel, although they occasionally turned around, as if they were about to intersect again, it was not until afterwards that they realized that they were just the same. It's just getting closer, and suddenly it's far away again.

Mikael couldn't help but think of the last time this happened, which was many years ago in Luluye...

It turns out that so many years have passed. Mikael looked at Sakura and smiled, clenching his right hand unconsciously.

Sakura's face was extremely relaxed, and there was even a smile blooming at the corner of her mouth. This made Mikael suddenly have a strange idea - it seemed that just letting them rest for a while would not be bad...

Even if that happiness only comes from illusory dreams.

He walked up to Kevin again.

Compared to Sakura, his expression didn't seem so relaxed.

Aponya watched all this quietly in the corner, as if he knew Mikael's question in advance, and answered softly:

"Compared to Sakura, Kevin realized earlier... and was more awake."

"..."

Mikael sighed softly, the meaning of which was obvious—even you don’t want to wake up?

Regarding the memory of the eighth collapse in the original timeline, he couldn't remember whether Sakura was addicted to this kind of dream, but obviously Kevin was not.

He remembered what Ellie said: "I have always felt that you are actually the one among us...who is most likely to be trapped in dreams?"

But my brother Kevin...why can't you wake up now...

Mikael's fists clenched violently.

"Actually, this is normal."

Aponia said with relief.

"That's what dreams are like, they always obey the deepest desires of human beings. When these things that cannot be obtained in reality are easily obtained in dreams, even if you realize that this is a dream, it is difficult to give up... …”

"..."

Indeed, whether you will indulge in a dream may have nothing to do with maturity or vulnerability. The key point is whether you have obsessions and whether the obsessions are deep.

And Sakura and Kevin, in a sense... no, which warrior doesn't have deep obsessions.

If we didn't have that obsession, why would we fight?

Mikael was silent for a moment, and suddenly asked curiously: "Aponia, maybe it's not a good thing to explore other people's privacy, but I still want to ask - Kevin and Sakura, what are their wishes?"

"Well... it's not a good thing to spread other people's privacy, so I won't tell you the specific dream. What's more... their wishes are exactly the same, so simple that it makes people feel incredible..."

"What?"

"A world without collapse."

"...Can you force them to wake up?"

This time it was Aponya who sighed, "Mikael, you should know very well that I can do it, but you also have to think clearly, do you need me to do this now?"

Mikael turned around and faced the door of the ward without making a sound.

After all, the spirit is something that human civilization has not yet been able to study thoroughly... No, it cannot even be said that research has been carried out. If humans can still use the original scientific system to explain other aspects involving the collapse, then when it comes to the spirit and soul Regarding the issue, although human beings have some authority, they still know nothing about themselves.

Even Aponia is the same.

Therefore, she can indeed drag Kevin and Sakura directly out of the dream, but how to describe that kind of behavior...

It's like a person's car flipped into a ditch. In order to save him, you rushed to open the door and pulled him out. His legs were stuck in the car, but you kept pulling to save him and finally pulled him out. But half of the leg remained in the car.

This was different from Mikael's time. Mikael's own consciousness had already awakened, and the others only played a supporting role.

But at this moment...Aponya herself was not sure whether forced awakening would cause such trauma. Forget about ordinary people, for fusion warriors like Kevin and Sakura, their spirits are inherently tougher than ordinary people, and they are more likely to struggle and cause damage.

And due to the dangers of the fusion warrior itself, once the spirit is damaged, it is likely that the gain will outweigh the loss. This has been confirmed by Mikael.

"It doesn't matter, I just need to know that you can do this."

After leaving these words behind, Mikael began to walk out of the ward. The moment he turned the door handle, he suddenly looked back at Aponya:

"Apponia, do you...know the original fate of the two of them?"

Aponya shook his head, "When I saw them, their fate had already experienced your interference, so naturally I can't say that the earliest version of their fate I saw was their original appearance."

When she finished saying this, she realized that Mikael had already left.

…

Mikael touched his head and felt that things were a bit ironic.

What Kevin could do in history, he can't do now, and the culprit for this phenomenon is, to some extent, Mikael himself.

Because originally Kevin's growth can be roughly divided into four nodes. The first two times were the third Honkai, when he joined the Fire Chaser as a soldier, and then the sixth and seventh Honkai, when he implicated an entire commercial street of humans because of his hesitation, and in order to fight against This hesitation led to him killing his comrades without hesitation.

No one can become an adult overnight. The so-called growth is all based on unforgettable pain. For Kevin now, half of the biggest blow he should have suffered so far was borne by Mikael. , the other half was changed and didn't happen.

So what Kevin can do, he cannot do now.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing...Mikael thought silently.

"Let's think of it as a good thing. Growth is not a forced thing... If I can do no worse than him, wouldn't it be good to let him always be a sunny boy like this?"

"Click——"

The mechanical door slid open to both sides. Mikael went out and turned left, leaning his back against the wall.

"Mei hasn't come yet?"

He tried to speak in a gentle tone.

"Hey... who knows what she was thinking. Kevin is already like this. She just sent a message. She heard that Kevin is just falling asleep now, so she is not too worried."

Ellie tilted her head and spread her hands.

"Maybe she has more important things to do."

This is not just something Mikael said casually. Mei is currently busy with more and more things. One plan after another, one edition after another. In order to cope with the large amount of work, she even formulated Prometheus. Upgrade plan... which will obviously make her busier in a short time. Therefore, she did not have much involvement in De Moana Chino's actions this time, and Mikael was entirely responsible.

Perhaps...this is Mei's absolute rationality.

Now Mikael feels it.

If I had to say it, I felt a little guilty, after all, her boyfriend became like this during the operation he directed.

But Mikael didn't show it. Since the incident two years ago, he rarely showed his emotions - maybe Mei would think that this was Mikael's rationality.

Wearing a mask is indeed tiring. The only thing to be thankful for is that at least in front of some people, he can lift a corner of the mask and take a breath.

But when he turned his head to look at Alicia, he found that she was a little too silent today.

He just stared at Alicia's profile until she embarrassedly lifted her hair and covered her expression with her hand.

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Aili, you..."

After taking a deep breath, Alicia interrupted him:

"Maybe... I should say sorry to you."

"Huh?"

Mikael was stunned for a moment, then he took out the words he had already thought of, and excused her:

"You killed Mo Yuli, that's enough. Facing a Herrscher and an Emperor-level Honkai Beast, whose abilities are all aimed at the mental aspect, it's not easy to kill one and injure one."

"I know all this... I just want to say sorry to you..."

She suddenly boldly took Mikael's arm - although the two had reconciled in some way a long time ago, Mikael still couldn't get rid of the guilt when facing her, let alone getting close to her, and later as Mikael put on the mask himself, this kind of intimate action was really the first time in two years.

Mikael's body was a little stiff, but more puzzled -

"Sorry? You don't need to say this to me..."

He really couldn't think of what Ai Li had to apologize to him for.

Ellie was silent for a while, and then she mustered up the courage to confess:

"The Eighth Herrscher... maybe she is not... I can't tell, whether I was really attacked by her spirit and missed the chance to kill her, or... it was just because of my own hesitation..."

"No, I don't think it can be counted that way."

Mikael thought she was blaming herself for not being able to kill the Eighth Herrscher. Although this was a bit unexpected, it was also reasonable.

Although in Mikael's memory, the Eighth Herrscher was a scumbag who was good for nothing but making people dream... After Su found her hiding place, Su, as a spiritual perception fusion warrior who was not suitable for frontal combat, could easily kill her... Of course, the worst thing was that she was the only Herrscher who was captured alive.

But since Mikael's existence has changed so much, even the seventh collapse has been completely changed, it is not a surprising thing that the Eighth Herrscher's close combat ability has been strengthened.

But... obviously, Alicia didn't mean that.

"No... Mikael, don't talk yet."

Aili pressed her whole body weight over, and finally tilted her head and rested it on Mikael's shoulder. Mikael also bent his knees at the right time to let her rest more comfortably.

"If I don't hold back at all, the Eighth Herrscher will never escape from my sight. But I can't tell whether my hesitation at that moment was really my own hesitation or the mental attack of the Eighth Herrscher... Of course, from a third party's point of view, the latter is more like an excuse for me to shirk responsibility."

At this point, how could Mikael not understand what she meant?

But before he could speak, Ai Li got ahead again:

"Mikael, do you still remember the conversation between you and me before the second collapse?"

In the past twelve years, the two have talked countless words, but Mikael quickly found the part that Alicia wanted to express in the complicated memory——

"If...if this is the second collapse, don't you have anything to say?

"Hey! What's the matter with your eager expression?"

"Hmm? Can't you guess this? Of course, I want to wake up this guy this time! Just like I woke you up that year! "

Mikael sighed, he knew it was like this.

"I want to apologize to you because... before I really faced it, I never imagined that killing a Herrscher with human consciousness would be so painful for the mind - after all, they look like humans, just like us... Then, I would keep reminding myself in my heart that there might be a way to save them... I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to face these before... Especially when you faced Xi'er..."

"It's really a headache..."

Ellie's hands were held tighter, and Michael could feel his elbows sinking into a soft place. He didn't know if Ellie noticed it, but at least For him, the beautiful thought was extinguished just as it arose.

He then realized that due to the so-called information gap, he, Ellie, and other people had completely different mindsets when facing the Herrscher.

For him, because he had long known that the Herrschers of the previous civilization could not have human nature, he would not have much psychological burden when he killed them unless the Herrscher was someone he knew.

But for others...

A hunter may be able to kill prey easily, and a butcher may be able to kill livestock easily, but if they were asked to turn their violence against humans, at least half of them would not be able to do it without any hesitation.

For Alicia, it means more - she is also a Herrscher...

Instead of being forgotten as one Herrscher was defeated one after another, this reality became increasingly clear.

Whether it is the original Ai Li or the current Ai Li, they have always had an obsession with the fantasy of "the Herrscher regaining his humanity" that ordinary people cannot understand.

It's just that there are huge differences due to different growth experiences.

For the original Ellie, she had neither a core nor power. She didn't know whether she was a Herrscher, a human, or a Honkaimon. For a long time, she only knew that she was different, but she didn't know the specific reason. .

What's more, reality won't give her a reason to think. She must have been filled with fear as she watched beings similar to herself being killed by humans one after another, even by herself. And fear is not negative to her, it even promotes her growth.

When she later found out that Kevin had suffered from mental illness because of killing Himihu, she chose to quietly perform super-transformation surgery alone (although it was not confirmed whether she actually performed super-transformation surgery), not out of "competitiveness", but because of her relationship with him. Later, Mei's choices were similar - she wanted to have more power so that other humans she cared about wouldn't have to face that choice.

As for awakening the Herrscher's humanity, although she never gave up hope, because there was no precedent, the final outcome only brought her disappointment.

Ellie, who was nestling next to Mikael, was just the opposite. The first "same kind" she came into contact with successfully regained her humanity, so that she felt from the beginning that it might not be easy for the Herrscher to also fight for humanity, but it was not impossible. .

Because he had too high expectations at the beginning, he was more likely to be hit, especially when facing a Herrscher who seemed to have human consciousness.

Now it's just because of someone's interference that her hesitation that should have erupted and overcome during the sixth collapse has been delayed until now.

"..."

Mikael lowered his head and remained silent. In fact, from a short-term perspective, it was very simple to make her think more clearly. Mikael only needed to tell her some truths. For example, the Herrschers in this world did not find her under normal circumstances. A chance to return to humanity...

Since this possibility did not exist from the beginning, I should feel better...

Yes, the so-called sadness is just caused by the huge gap between reality and illusion.

It's like buying a lottery ticket. On the day of the lottery, none of the numbers match up. All the previous numbers match up except for the last one. The feeling of disparity is completely different.

"Ellie, actually I haven't told you one thing..."

Mikael naturally put his hand through her back and put it on her waist.

He was thinking about how to say all that, because if he wanted to explain that "the Herrschers in the modern era cannot regain their humanity", they had to explain how Mikael learned about it.

Should he blame everything on Apponia again, or should he tell the whole truth with the same determination as the night that was interrupted two years ago?

If you calculate carefully, time is running out...

Mikael made a decision.

"actually, I……"

"Good evening! Ellie, Mikael."

The sudden greeting interrupted what Mikael was about to blurt out, and the two couldn't help but distance themselves slightly... After all, they are no longer at that age where they think about showing affection in front of others all day long, and there is no need for it anymore.

But Mikael still held her hand, just like he did in childhood games, and gently wrote something on her palm with his index finger.

"Oh my good Eden, you really know how to choose the right time to come!"

Ellie stretched out her right hand to hold Eden, and also pulled her to her side, completely hugging her from one side to the other.

Mikael glanced at Eden, who seemed to look a little haggard. It seemed that since her last concert two years ago, she had only been in two states: drunk Eden, and Eden who is not drunk.

Eden rarely answered Ellie's words. She shook her head:

"Ellie, I'm just here to change your shift."

"Shift change? What do you mean?"

Before Ellie could be surprised, Mikael's communication sounded first, and Mei's profile picture lit up on the projection screen.

"Gather right now? The second laboratory, that's not from the Fifth Science Department...Aponya is going too? Okay, we'll be there soon."