The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"Wow - wow -"

In a world where the sea and sky are the same color, I can see the wind blowing from a piece of blue and blowing to the blue on the other side.

The waves surged one after another, and the white foam weaved a huge network on the sea. The splashing looked like snow dust in winter.

Even on a cruise ship with a displacement of more than a thousand tons, you can still feel the clear ups and downs.

According to Eden, the weather has been rare and calm these past few days.

"Calm and calm... ugh!"

Su gracefully put down the fishing rod in his hand, stood up, held on to the deck railing, and retched while facing the blue sea.

Mikael on his left was also holding a fishing rod. The corners of his lips raised and he mocked mercilessly:

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Su, you scared my fish away!"

Su's face turned pale and she lay back on the chair silently without saying a word.

Kevin on his right was also not idle. He looked away from the motionless fishing line and said, "Don't bury people like this, Michael. Su is at least better than Qianjie, right? I didn't expect him to look so powerful. The man was so seasick that he couldn’t get out of bed for three days, hahaha—yikes!”

Mikael opened his eyebrows and shook his head with a long sigh - there was no one who could hit him!

Speaking of which, it's worth chuckling...ah, no, I'm glad.

He had been tired of the pain of being dizzy and vomiting bile water many years ago when he was exploring the power of the Second Herrscher.

Now it's just a little storm on the sea, nothing to do with me - Mikael swallowed hard several times to suppress the discomfort in his stomach.

Well, he had to admit that the turbulence and dizziness caused by the wind and waves on the sea were indeed far less severe than during the phase shuttle, but nevertheless it was endless and endlessly memorable!

No matter how strong the dizziness of phase travel is, it is only temporary, and during the seventh collapse, in order to take Herrscher outside the base through the elevator, Mikael was able to withstand the overload with a peak value of more than twenty times the gravity acceleration... …

Can……

But...but they have been floating at sea for three days!

Mikael rubbed his belly. Fortunately, he hadn't eaten anything. If he ate a little, his end would not be much better than the two men next to him...

But one very strange thing is...

The male creatures among them were exhausted physically and mentally from seasickness, but looking at the other side of the deck, the sea breeze blew the noisy voices of the girls over, making people's heads even more dizzy.

I don’t know if the Creator is biased, or if girls can do some magic: Ellie jumping up and down, Eden and Aponia tasting wine at a high place, Pado fishing loudly, and still fishing on the deck. Hua, who never forgets to practice boxing, and Mebius, who is standing not far away with Klein, half of his face is disdainful, and the other half is fascinated... In short... all the girls on this ship don't seem to be very good. …

seasick!

On the other hand, the male compatriots can still stand on the deck... no, they are lying on the deck. Only Mikael, Su, and Kevin are left.

Qianjie, who has always been at the top of the Fire Chasing Moth's "mystery list", has been unconscious for three days. Kosmo is not seasick at all, so it is natural that he is assigned the task of taking care of Qianjie.

This is not a vacation... This is obviously to suffer!

"Oh oh oh! Bite, bite, bite! Sister Ai Li! Ah Hua! Don't be stunned, come and help us! Ahhh! We are going to fall! This is a big fish!"

The fishing rod bent almost ninety degrees under the huge pressure. Fortunately, Mikael used special materials in its construction and could not break it for a while.

With the help of Alicia and Hua, Pado retreated continuously. As a snow-white wave bloomed on the sea, a big marlin almost the size of a human jumped out. Its dorsal fin was like a knife, and there was a mouth in front of it. A huge spear, the whole fish fell straight from the sky like a spear.

Several girls present, even Pado, who has no fighting ability in the eyes of other fusion warriors, can theoretically handle this big marlin easily, but I don't know if they are really afraid or just pretending to be so...

A woman who could tear apart a Judgment-level Honkaiju with her hands, a woman who could tear apart an Emperor-level Honkaiju with her hands, and a woman who could tear apart this big marlin with her hands just screamed and dispersed, leaving only The poor big marlin hit the cruise ship deck with its head, twitched several times, and finally rolled in a half circle and fainted.

Mikael's breathing was a little heavy. He turned his head, only to find that Kevin and Su were also staring at the big marlin.

The eyes of the three men met in mid-air, and then they all looked at the results of their victory——

Three empty fish buckets...

The water quality seemed a little turbid. That was because even the sea water originally prepared for the fish caught had evaporated a lot, so that impurities were precipitated.

"Gu-Gululu..."

The three of them covered their stomachs at the same time. After a long time, Su hesitated and said:

"Mikael, how about we admit defeat?"

Kevin covered his forehead and said as if he didn't want to see anyone:

"Although I don't want to admit defeat, but Mikael... this is already the fifty-third fish that Pado has caught, and we still have zero... no chance of winning at all..."

Su quickly took over and said:

"According to the bet you made with Alicia, you can only cook the fish you catch during the game, and you can't eat other food until one side admits defeat... Although fusion warriors don't rely much on eating, it's been almost two days. Uh, my stomach is really not used to it. I vomited all the food in my stomach because of seasickness..." Before he finished speaking, he consciously covered his nose, but even so, the aroma of grilled fish still seeped through his fingers and floated into his nose.

The long-term fasting and the weakness after seasickness made him, who was always calm and elegant, want to suck the fingers that the fragrance touched.

"It's a heart-breaking murder..."

Mikael threw away the fishing rod, half lying on the recliner, and complained in a low voice.

"But who grilled the fish? It smells so good. Sakura and Vivi are not here. No one among them can cook a 'normal meal', right? Is it Eden or... Mikael? Qianjie and Kosmo have rebelled!" Kevin dragged his weak body and jumped up from the recliner and stomped his feet. His movements were so violent that the only button on his shirt was broken. Of course, there was anger in that, but more of it was regret. He secretly gave Su a look. Although the other party had closed his eyes, as a fusion warrior of spiritual perception, he should be able to see it. What he meant was - "Should we rebel too?" "Uh..." Su hesitated for a moment. A real man should not bow down for five baskets of fish, but if he was on the verge of starvation, that would be another matter. What's more, although it was a bit unfair to his friends to do so, the people he went to after the rebellion... weren't they also friends? The muscles on Mikael's cheeks twitched twice. He didn't even need to use the power of the Eighth Herrscher secretly. He could guess what the two were thinking... After all, there are no friends among men, only bad friends. If they don't betray each other, they are still bad friends? But this is not the time to think too much. The situation is already extremely critical. If it goes on like this, he will become a lonely man! "Kevin, Su, fix your posture." "What?" The double imaginary barrier enveloped the small space around the three people. Under the special light and shadow reflection, from the outside world, the world inside the barrier seemed to be frozen. Of course, considering that the three were fishing, it was understandable that they were motionless. Despite this, Mikael still looked around with a guilty conscience, and then quickly opened the space crack, took out two compressed biscuits from it, and threw them into Kevin and Su's hands. "..."

"...Mikael, you..."

"If you can't win, you can only cheat... Ah! What cheating! This is called all is fair in war, eat quickly!"

The air was filled with not only the charred aroma of grilled fish, but also the mixed smell of chili and cumin powder. Kevin and Su stared at the compressed biscuits in their hands, not knowing what to say for a while.

"Mikael... What kind of bet did you make with Alicia? Is it necessary to do this?"

Kevin peeled off the film outside the compressed biscuits, but couldn't eat it.

"Don't talk nonsense, I specially made it with meat floss flavor, do you want to eat it!"

"..."

"Eat! Why don't you eat it!"

"...I want to eat grilled fish."

The space barrier quietly dissipated, and Kevin and Su's cheeks were a little swollen. Because they were afraid of being seen, they didn't even dare to chew it in big mouthfuls. They could only let the biscuits softened by saliva, and grind them bit by bit with their cheeks and back teeth...

Mikael rubbed his hands and slapped the crumbs of the biscuits into the space cracks to destroy the body... and eliminate the stolen goods.

He also reminded:

"Wipe the biscuit crumbs on your mouth, it's too obvious."

"This wave of stone is exposed in the sun (didn't you put it in)?"

Mikael couldn't help but smile proudly when he heard it.

No one knows how to force feed better than me!

After doing all this, he didn't forget to glance at the other end of the deck, but unexpectedly saw Ellie coming over with a plate of grilled fish in each hand.

The sea breeze slapped horizontally, lifting the corners of her plain white skirt, which was still the one Mikael had bought before, but he himself had no mind to appreciate this scenery at this time.

"Swallow it quickly, he's coming!"

Mikael reminded softly with ventriloquism without moving his lips.

"I can't swallow it..."

Kevin and Su were about to cry. A compressed biscuit was indeed not big, but it was long enough. After being stuffed by Mikael, it just hit the inside of both cheeks horizontally. They couldn't swallow it...

Seeing this, Alicia smiled proudly:

"Okay! I saw you eating! Mikael, what does the rule say? [Those who steal food are automatically eliminated] Oh!"

Mikael glanced at the two people who were no longer hiding and chewing the biscuits in big mouthfuls, and pretended to be calm and retorted:

"Oh? But they were the ones who stole the food, it has nothing to do with me."

"Ugh! Wuuwuwuwuwu!"

Hearing this, Kevin pointed at Mikael angrily and laughed and cried.

He was still wondering why Mikael only gave them two biscuits and didn't eat them himself...

It turns out that he even thought of this!

Alicia chuckled again, and that smile seemed somewhat meaningful--

"Hey Mikael, if someone secretly uses the power of the Fourth Herrscher to control the ocean currents, is that considered cheating?"

Mikael took a deep breath, put down the fishing rod, stood up, and raised his hands above his head.

"Okay, okay, I admit defeat, okay."

Alice was directly amused by his expression of indifference on the surface, but in fact he was very unconvinced in his heart.

Kevin glanced at Su, and the two quietly left the scene. Before leaving, they didn't forget to take the grilled fish from Ellie's hand - who would choose to eat dog food when there was such a thing to eat?

Ellie walked half a circle around Mikael, and finally lay lazily on the recliner where he had been sitting.

"Hey! Mikael! It was agreed at the beginning that in this competition, the loser will agree to any request of the winner - he can do anything!"

"ah--"

This long sound was not a surprise, but a symbol of response.

Although I am still not convinced, I want to say: "The fish are all caught by Padu, what does it have to do with you!"

But that is an operation allowed by the rules after all. If you want to blame it, Mikael found two teammates... who can't fish like him...

"Tell me, what do you want me to do? Although anything is possible in theory, don't say stupid things like asking me to pick off the moon for you."

Even if you lose, you lose. Mikael still won't do such a thing as defaulting on a debt. Although every time he encountered this kind of thing in the past, Alicia's request would be... very shameful...

The sun was obscured by clouds, and the sea surface was naturally not sparkling. On the contrary, the sea and sky gradually separated in Mikael's eyes. The sea water was no longer blue under the dim light and shadow, but revealed a strong black color.

Like paint or ink, sometimes it gathers and sometimes it falls.

Mikael stared at the sea for ten full minutes without hearing Alicia's answer.

"What's wrong?"

He turned his head in surprise. He didn't know what the reason was. He didn't look at Ai Li's expression, but cast his eyes on the pair of skirts that were stirred by the sea breeze, sometimes appearing and sometimes hiding. calf.

"Mikael..."

"Um?"

"Remember the first time we played a similar game, it should have been in Sapporo. What was my last request?"

A numbness started from Mikael's heart and spread throughout his body. He said in a low voice:

"You asked me to pick off the moon for you."

After saying this, Mikael himself laughed.

He didn't deliberately remember it, but the moments the two had spent together had never left his mind. For example, when he said that sentence before, he didn't actually remember it deliberately at all. The words seemed to appear naturally. In his throat, he spat it out smoothly.

Since the sky darkened, the sea breeze has become rougher, making Aili's skirt rustle and almost tip over.

"It's going to be gone!"

Mikael sighed softly, took hold of Ellie's skirt and dragged it to the side of the lounge chair, then he gently sat down and held her down.

From the beginning to the end, Ellie made no moves or words, as if she knew he would do this.

Until everything came to an end, she still did not express her request, and Mikael did not rush her.

Even though it looked like a storm had descended, even though Kevin was shouting from not far away for them to evacuate indoors to take shelter from the rain, the two of them still remained still, as if they had escaped from the world around them.

Others didn't force themselves upon seeing this. Anyway, the storm on the sea was nothing for these two people, it was enough to cope with it, and they didn't even have to worry about the possibility of catching a cold.

The rain soon intertwined into a curtain of rain, and mist gradually rose from the sea. For a while, only a gray patch could be seen front, back, left and right.

This time, it really seemed like I was isolated from the world.

Mikael has already passed that crazy age where he wants to drag his sweetheart into the rain together. The imaginary number barrier appeared one step earlier than the rain. The first layer covered the small space around him and Ally, and the second layer covered the small space around him and Ellie. The entire cruise ship is wrapped in it, so there is no fear that this "little thing" with a displacement of 1,000 tons will capsize under the waves. Even the feeling of ups and downs has faded a lot. I guess they won't get seasick again, right?

In the hazy rain, in a world with only two people, Ellie finally spoke.

"Mikael, I still remember someone said: Freedom does not mean doing what you want, but not doing what you don't want to do. But that's not what I want to say... How should I put it, you feel it too Do you get it? Compared with what 'I want', no, to be precise, almost no one can really clarify what 'I want'. On the contrary, people can always clarify it easily. I don't want anything."

Mikael couldn't help but think of the dream constructed by the Eighth Herrscher.

For Kevin, he once thought he wanted to be a hero and drive Honkai out of the world, but it wasn’t until the moment he fell into a dream that he truly knew what he wanted——

It's just a peaceful life. From the campus days when passion was released everywhere, to becoming ordinary when he grows up, what he wants is just an ordinary life for ordinary people, a life that will not come into contact with any supernatural phenomena.

Perhaps it is unknown, perhaps it is so ordinary that as a third party, Mikael's first reaction after hearing his description of the dream was - impossible, right?

Is that all you want?

The only one who was not surprised was Mei.

But rather than saying that Mei's existence in the dream was what he "wanted", it would be better to say that it was "something he was unwilling to give up no matter what".

For Mikael, the dream constructed for him by the Eighth Herrscher is almost a replica of Kevin——

The same ordinary life, getting up in the middle of the night to write in order to earn royalties to support the family, arguing with Ellie about when to get her daughter up... Like most fathers, he would sit idly at the dining table after washing up, waiting for his wife to bring him a hot breakfast.

Mikael felt at the time that this was not what he really wanted, so he was so clearly aware that this was just a dream, so he could make a quick decision - unlike Kevin's self-reconciliation and self-persuasion, he broke the dream in the most brutal, ruthless and cruel way.

But in the next two nights, he tossed and turned, and his mind was filled with the unfinished dream.

He even had an impulse to use the power of the Eighth Lawrence to put himself back into the dream and then see the sequel.

Perhaps, the dream was not at all unpleasant to his heart, but... it was exactly what he wanted. But it was precisely because it was too perfect that Mikael was particularly aware of the nature of his dream.

But these are just guesses, and he dare not say categorically that is what he really wants.

What does a person really want? This is a question worth thinking about for a lifetime, because it determines what kind of things a person should do in what way and with what attitude.

But... what a person does not want is something that can be answered immediately to some extent.

Because that must be something that everyone is afraid of losing when they survive.

What is Mikael most afraid of losing?

There is no doubt that just like Kevin does not want to lose May, he...

He moved his hand on the edge of the recliner and raised it quietly, but still did not dare to hold her hand.

Maybe he was much more determined and brave in other things, but on that historical legacy...

He still remembered Kevin's words-a person's character is his destiny.

But the so-called character is not a static thing. In the experience of continuous growth, people will wear away some unwanted things, and even almost "completely" kill their former selves, but there is always a background color buried in the heart, which can never be washed or wiped out.

For Mikael, passive acceptance of emotions is undoubtedly a part of the background.

Moreover, he was wrong in the first place.

He almost never actively expressed his emotions. He and Ellie had a sense of natural development before that, but even such a smooth relationship, when encountering some small "blockages", it was often Ellie's initiative, or pushing or guiding the relationship between the two to go further.

As for other people, he didn't know how to deal with it.

For example, Mobius, he naturally discovered that her "interest" in him was a bit too much, but he kept deceiving himself - that was just her interest in the Herrscher himself.

Unexpectedly, the only time he took the initiative was a king bomb, which turned the originally clear lines into a mess.

After that initiative, he became a coward again - maybe he could face up to and make up for other mistakes, but this one...

She couldn't respond to Mobius's growing dependence, nor did she dare to respond to Alicia's nonchalant attitude... He actually knew that from the perspective of pure [responsibility], he should make some sacrifices, but this idea has been echoing in his mind for two years, but he never did...

The hand he stretched out felt warm, which he didn't expect... No, maybe this is what he expected - Alicia took the initiative to hold his hand that was in the air.

Her voice was unusually calm, which had only happened a few times before.

"Speaking of which, I can't tell what I really want! At least I can't say it for a while, but, Mikael..."

"..."

"I know very well what I don't want - I don't want to continue this abnormal relationship with you."

Mikael suddenly held her hand, and before he could hold it tightly, his five fingers began to tremble violently.

He turned his back to her and did not use the power of the Eighth Herrscher, but the feelings of many years of getting along made him guess - she was now raising her empty right hand, and then gently covering his trembling hand.

Sure enough, the next moment, Mikael's trembling five fingers were clasped in her palms.

In the warmth, the trembling gradually subsided.

It was not until this moment that he realized the hot sweat in the other's palm.

"So, this time, my request is - Mikael, can we return to the past? Back to before that happened."

I also want to - Mikael thought so.

But he...

"Mikael, you have grown a lot, you should understand that you can't stand still because of past mistakes - but you can make up for other mistakes, why do you choose to avoid this one mistake, not correct it, not make up for it, and let the harm caused by that mistake continue to hurt the hearts of three people?"

"Ah!"

Mikael narrowed his eyes, Ellie reminded him - he has been avoiding this problem, thinking that he can stop hurting any of the three people by not dealing with it, but he ignored that letting the problem go is also letting the problem continue to hurt everyone.

And.

If he continues to escape, what is the difference between him and the self he once hated? If he doesn't overcome this hurdle, he will still avoid similar problems in the future, and one day he will go back to his old ways.

But he didn't think he should do what Ellie said.

"Even if I want to make up for this mistake, I don't approve of this method - you are the biggest victim. This solution is still that you use your own concessions to forgive my mistake. You will always suffer the most. That. And Mebius..."

"Oh? Then what is your plan?"

Mikael took a deep breath. He already had his own thoughts on this. From a "responsible" perspective, that method was obviously better, but... in short, it was time to make a decision, but he hadn't yet When he opened his mouth, he received a heavy blow on the back of his head, and then a few more punches on his back, with the force getting weaker and weaker——

"Idiot Mikael! Don't you just want me to abandon you, and you will be [responsible] to Mebius for this? But do you think this ending is perfect? ​​I said - I don't want to lose you , I can't accept losing you. I believe you are the same, otherwise you wouldn't have had an idea in your heart but never said it, right? But the way you think will only make the two of us more hurt! "

"..."

Mikael originally thought that Ally's tone would be serious, but he didn't expect that she grabbed his ears and her tone became lighter and lighter:

"No matter what, I have made my request, and you are not allowed to break your promise! Of course, if you really feel sorry for yourself... Well, I didn't want to use this wording, but it seems that if you say it like this, you will feel better. Something--if you really feel you owe something, you might as well do something to make up for it! Well, just use this: one day in the future, unconditionally agree to Alicia's request!"

"...Alicia, this is what you once said to me after the seventh collapse."

"Oops! I didn't want to use the word [owe] at that time, but who made you want to do this? Then I have no choice but to say this! Just tell me whether you accept it or not!"

Mikael was silent for a moment. He originally wanted to talk about Mebius's question, but he understood that Alicia would not pretend to be deaf and dumb to this, and what she wanted now was just someone who would not care about the king. Say his reply.

"Well, even if you want me to help you take off the moon."

"Pfft hahaha!"

Ellie lay on her shoulder and laughed. The laughter and the sound of rain were intertwined and echoed continuously, so that it was no longer clear which sound was laughter and which was rain.

She hugged Mikael from behind, held his cheeks with her hands from behind, then poked his index finger, pulled him apart, and helped Mikael smile.

"As for poor Grandma Mebius... Hey! If you think about it from another angle - think of Mebius as my lover, no, she is my lover in the first place... Oh! That's not the case. It’s just me hugging her! No, no, I’m going to Mebius’s bedroom to visit her tonight!”

Mikael suppressed his excitement and wanted to maintain his new cold persona, but unexpectedly, he was knocked back to his original shape by Ally's words——

First his shoulders began to shake, and the facial muscles squeezed to both sides by Ellie began to accumulate toward the cheekbones. His laughter quickly blended into the sound of the rain, until he burst into tears.

Ellie's hand slid to his shoulder, and with a little pressure, he turned around obediently and knelt on one knee in front of her.

The two held each other's cheeks. The imaginary barrier could block the sea breeze, but not the cold. However, both of them felt that the other's cheeks went from cold to warm, and then quickly became hot.

Finally, Mikael finally took the initiative to stick it on his face...

This kiss was like geese flying in the snow and ice of Vostok. It appeared a little unexpected, but it was not completely impossible. Another example is the sunset after the vernal equinox. It seems to have been delayed for a long time, but it finally comes.

Then, the majestic heavy rain completely drenched the two lovers - Mikael proved with facts that he was still at the age where being in the rain with his beloved was regarded as romantic.