The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"Eh?"

Ellie's nose twitched slightly, her eyes turned from excitement to wisdom, and finally her brows knitted together——

"It's done! It's my food!"

She held the spatula high and ran back to the kitchen.

"..."

"Don't worry! Mikael, it's just a little bit mushy. There are other dishes. You can go sit on the sofa for a while. When I finish everything, we can eat together."

Mikael shook his head. Just smelling the smell made him not have much confidence in tonight's meal.

But after all, it’s Aili’s cooking, so no matter how unpalatable it is, you can’t refuse it, right?

There is an indescribable feeling of fatigue under the whole body, no, to be precise, it is a feeling of weakness.

This feeling left him with no motivation to even speak. He just wanted to collapse on the sofa and sit there for a few hours.

"Um?"

There is a pink backpack on the sofa. Just by looking at the color, it is not difficult to guess who it belongs to.

Mikael turned sideways and listened to the noisy noises in the kitchen. After all, he couldn't suppress his curiosity. He gently sat down next to the backpack, and then took advantage of the moment when the spatula collided with the iron pot to pull the zipper.

"Wow——"

"This is……"

Mikael blushed, zipped up the zipper silently, and then headed towards the kitchen, shouting in a medium voice:

"Ellie, why did you bring... a change of clothes?"

"Huh? What? I can't hear what you said?"

"never mind……"

Mikael thought of Kosmo inexplicably. Sometimes, it is better to remain silent.

"..."

Yes, this apartment is somewhat different from the one owned by Kevin and Mei. The biggest difference lies in the number of people living there.

Just like in previous years, Mikael did not live with Ellie. If it is placed on someone else, this situation is mostly because the man is begging for it but the woman is not willing.

But among the two of them, the one who was unwilling was Mikael.

Naturally, other people could not understand the occurrence of this situation. For example, Pado defended "Sister Ai Li" several times openly or secretly.

But Ellie herself knew the real reason very well, so she never put pressure on Mikael in this regard.

The so-called reason is naturally not the ridiculous self-blame of the past, but as far as "ridiculous" is concerned, it seems that there is no change.

On the one hand, for him, the meaning of [Alicia] has gone beyond the definition of "lover" itself. Of course he loves her, but it is no longer the equal love between normal lovers. But when it comes to the fanaticism of a believer, there is also a lot more peace and closeness.

In other words, even if two people really live under the same roof, most likely nothing will happen.

On the other hand, it’s because of choice.

A person's life is a trajectory spun by countless choices. And before the final doom descends...

Ha...he himself once said this to Ellie:

"I am a person who hates seeing others treat me well."

Because from his perspective, every time he accepts a piece of "beauty" from others, it means that he is burdened with something more besides her.

After all, beauty is indeed the driving force that can make people move forward, but the driving force itself is also heavy.

And if this beauty is given by the original beauty itself...

Ellie must have felt it too. Although he had never mentioned a single punctuation mark to her, she could still feel that Mikael had formulated and was executing a plan that was hidden from her and everyone.

At the end of this plan, he may face a dilemma.

And every good thing about others, every good thing Alicia gave him, will be placed on the tray of the scale and become the criterion for his final decision.

Therefore, rejecting Aili at this point was naturally not his original intention, but a sacrifice he had to make.

But what about Ellie herself?

Mikael didn't know that in the kitchen a dozen steps away, Alicia was gently pushing the spatula, but she was thinking about the same thing.

Just as Mikael had her own plan, she also had a choice she thought she had to make, and it was also a dilemma.

She was also afraid if she got close to Mikael. She was afraid that every bit of attachment between being close to Mikael would shift the balance in her heart towards the option she didn't want.

So for a long time, she acquiesced in this close yet distant relationship.

but……

She finally came here, because compared to "making a choice she didn't want," she was more afraid of the regret of not being together until the end.

No matter what, she hoped, she longed for this love to be complete until the end.

Or……

If we must separate in the end, let yourself and Mikael leave some unforgettable and unprecedented sweet memories.

Although, although!

If it is true that [Return to the End], even the personality may not be preserved, and the so-called [memory] will naturally become worthless and meaningless.

She also knew that once she really did this, the sweetness in these memories would be "meaningless" not only to her. In fact, for Mikael, it will become even more unbearable pain.

But people are all selfish...

She didn't want to be alone in her last moments.

She also thought, if possible... please let me die in the arms of the person I love most. Even though it will become a nightmare in his life and a burden that he cannot get rid of, just let me die once, just this time!

Maybe, Mikael would think so too, right? Compared to hesitating when faced with a choice, he is actually more afraid of the sweet regret of not being able to taste the sweetness before the end comes, right?

It's just that he has always been a boring gourd. No matter what he thinks in his heart, he rarely puts it into words, right?

Her vision only blurred for a moment. Ellie quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand, then opened the salt shaker on the side and poured two tablespoons of salt into the scrambled eggs with tomatoes without looking.

How many times will there be such an opportunity in the future? several times? A dozen times? Dozens of times? Hundreds of times? Or is it just this once?

She didn't know when the Twelfth Herrscher would appear, let alone when the End would come, and she believed Mikael didn't know either.

But she also felt that Mikael and herself, whether as Herrschers or as more special beings in a certain sense, should be able to feel that there was not much time left for them to make a choice.

Adjusting the heat, covering the lid, and collecting the juice, the techniques are impeccable. If Mikael saw it, he would be surprised, right?

However, not everything in this world is like cooking. Except for a very small number of people, as long as they keep repeating, they can definitely make dishes that are not unpalatable.

Or, for Ellie, and for most people, cooking is something [that can be done].

For a very small number of people like Mei, cooking is something [impossible].

What you can't do cannot be done just because you want to do it, you can't do it just because you keep doing it over and over again, and you can't do it just because you say "I can do it".

But the world is like this. What people can do is often not what they really want to do, and what people really want to do, they can't do anyway.

With this thought, Ellie carefully wiped away every teardrop on the edge of her eyes and eyelashes with a tissue, then quietly blew her nose, patted her cheeks, and then hummed the tune of Eden, combining the two portions. After the dishes were plated, he brought them to the table with a smile on his face.

"The food is ready, come here and have a taste!"

Mikael curled his lips and sat silently at the dining table.

Ai Li enthusiastically handed over the tableware and said with some anticipation:

"The beef stew is indeed a bit mushy. The scrambled eggs with tomatoes should be fine. Give it a try!"

Mikael blinked. He wanted to ask, "Have you tasted it yourself?" But he felt that it was not a good idea to say so.

So, he narrowed his eyes and with determination to move forward, he first picked up a large piece of beef with a black surface and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it gently.

To be honest, it's not as unpalatable as expected, especially the heat. After it's a little burnt, it just suits Mikael's taste. Although it can't be called burnt on the outside and tender on the inside, it's by no means old.

It just tastes very bland for some reason, as if there is no salt or any seasoning.

He glanced at the black pepper juice on the head of the chopsticks. Well... there was no need to add salt after putting so much black pepper juice.

But when Mikael sucked his chopsticks, the black pepper juice also had no taste. Only a warm but sticky feeling gradually spread in his mouth.

It's really strange. It would make sense if no salt was added, but how could the black pepper juice be tasteless?

Mikael spent a lot of effort to swallow the piece of beef, and then raised his head. He wanted to ask Ellie what she had done to completely remove the salty taste of the black pepper juice, but when faced with her Looking expectantly and nervously, Mikael decided to taste the next dish together.

This time he learned the lesson wisely. He only took half a spoonful of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and put it into his mouth. After chewing for a short time, he gently covered his mouth with one hand. His Adam's apple rolled up to the top. After a while, it gradually fell back. This meant that The food in his mouth was somewhat swallowed.

"Alicia, how much salt did you...put in these two dishes?"

"Eh?"

Ai Li tilted her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly held her cheek hard:

"Oops, it's not good. The beef is okay. I think, maybe, maybe... I put twice as much salt in the tomato scrambled eggs just now!"

She took a large spoonful and put it into her mouth in front of Mikael. Her facial features instantly became tangled together. After swallowing it with difficulty, she let out a long sigh of relief:

"Huh... It's so dangerous, at least it's not so salty that it's bitter. So, I'll add more water to the pot... Uh, no, it will turn into tomato and egg soup..."

"Please bring more rice."

Mikael said with a smile.

"Uh...okay!"

Ellie walked back to the kitchen with a blushing face, leaving Mikael alone in front of the two dishes.

"Did you add twice as much salt?"

Mikael looked at the fiery red color and couldn't help but stuff another spoonful into his mouth.

But as expected, there was still no taste, only the slippery tomatoes, thick soup, scalding eggs, and the sensation of the tomato skins that had been forgotten stirring in the mouth.

"……snort……"

What followed was a long and heavy sniff, followed by confusion.

"Why is this happening? It shouldn't be..."

It really shouldn't be. There may be many reasons for losing the sense of taste. For ordinary humans, it may be a neurological disorder or other diseases. For the Herrscher, there are memories buried in the brain. "Have seen" similar situations.

But Mikael carefully observed his hands, the backs of his hands, his palms, and his arms. He even opened his collar, lowered his head and looked at his chest and abdomen, then rolled up his trouser legs and looked...

No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find a trace of purple.

Perhaps this idea was wrong from the beginning. Kiana was like this because her body could not withstand the erosion of Honkai energy caused by the four cores in her unfeathered state.

But these two problems do not exist for Mikael.

He has experienced feathering, twice.

He also only has one core, and the rest of his structure is just to project this Herrscher core into other dimensions to reproduce the corresponding power. Although the Honkai energy endured by his body is unprecedentedly huge, the total amount It's not superimposed, and he never felt "too much".

But it all happened in the end, in some way that was beyond Mikael's control.

He sniffed. His sense of smell didn't seem to be a big problem, and he could still smell the aroma of some food, but his sense of taste was undoubtedly lost.

Why is this?

Alicia's humming sound kept coming from the crack in the kitchen door, and she seemed to spend an extraordinarily long time serving the rice.

Just when Mikael felt like this, he suddenly burst into laughter. Or maybe it wasn't that Ally took too long, but that his consciousness was completely disconnected from the outside world when he was thinking. Maybe at this moment, Ally had just finished washing. I took out the bowl and turned on the rice cooker, but the second hand only traveled a dozen seconds on the dial.

"Don't think too much about it."

Mikael was so relieved.

Just because you don’t think too much about it doesn’t mean that this phenomenon is normal and can be ignored. No matter which angle you look at it, it should be exactly the opposite.

But since it’s impossible to come up with an answer to this kind of question no matter how hard you think about it, what’s there to think about? It would be better to drop by Mebius for a physical examination tomorrow.

"Or, this may just be an illusion caused by the recent fatigue of using the brain... Oh, no, no!"

The more I emphasize the words "Don't think about it" in my mind, the more my consciousness goes in the opposite direction and becomes irrevocably trapped in the whirlpool.

"Why?"

He slowly typed these three words in his mind.

"Is it because I am a Herrscher, and Herrschers are essentially different from humans, so there will be physiological rejection. It is not obvious at the beginning, but will it intensify as time goes by? No, I'm afraid not. , Alicia is also a Herrscher. As the original Herrscher, she has experienced it for longer than me. The same is true for the two Walters. I have never heard of them losing their sense of taste. "

The essence of the elimination method is to select characteristics that may lead to this result. If the corresponding characteristics have appeared in other individuals but did not cause the same result, then they can be eliminated.

And the option left to the end, no matter how outrageous, must be the correct answer.

So there are only two possibilities left. One, it may be the impact of his constant body changes. The restructured body is a "new" body after all, and it is normal for rejection reactions to occur.

From a certain point of view, especially the correlation of time, this possibility is extremely high. The loss of taste is a symptom that has just appeared. To be precise, it is a symptom that appears five days after changing the body. It can be easily detected. The correlation between the two.

but……

Mikael suddenly unearthed a passage from his memory. The memory related to this passage had never appeared before. It was as if someone had arranged to bring this passage to him when he fell into the doubts he now had. in front of:

"When it comes to writing an essay, after reviewing the topic, the first inspiration, or theme, that pops into your mind must be eliminated."

Because the initial inspiration is often superficial, and the conclusion reached without deep thought, as long as you calm down and re-examine, you will inevitably find countless flaws - the same is true for this possibility.

Not to mention Walter Young's many body changes, didn't Otto also change his soul steel body frequently? He has so many bodies that they can fill a warehouse, but he drinks red wine and eats steaks, and there is no such rejection reaction.

As for the differential impact brought about by the different physiological conditions of each person, it is a small probability event that can explain almost everything, and Mikael does not want to identify it so early.

Then there is only one possibility left... Although it is an incredible way, he has undoubtedly mastered all the powers of the Herrscher so far.

Mikael first lamented in his heart. He might not be sure in the past, but now, this fact itself is the cornerstone of his plan.

As for the current...about what the phenomenon of losing the sense of taste actually means, he can't put it into words yet, but he can feel the "weight" of the so-called truth——

That meant there was no way out for what he wanted to do. He must personally reach the deepest part of the world, and then seize the only opportunity to give everything he cares about and everything he wants. Although that means to him...

He suddenly laughed to himself.

So what?

He suddenly felt that he really liked this meaningless turn——

"I never had a retreat."

Such a thing as a way out has never existed from the moment he was born into this world.

So what did he lose?

He has nothing to lose.

"Boom!"

There was a loud sound from the bottom of his heart that hit his brain.

It was indeed a serious heart beating sound, but the sound was just too loud. Mikael seemed to have captured a...

The name means "reverberation".

It was as if the sound did not come from one heart, but from two identical hearts that came from the same source and completed the exact same expansion and contraction at the same time.

"..."

He closed his eyes silently, and Alicia's humming, the sound of the rice cooker closing, and her footsteps, everything "real" almost disappeared.

He opened his eyes in the darkness, and there was neither crimson yellow sand nor giant golden trees in front of him.

Ultimately, it is just an abstract and concrete scene of imaginary numbers that humans cannot understand.

There is nothing here from beginning to end, and everything is included.

Then, as expected, he felt the familiar sense of peeping.

But this time he did not escape, but looked back without hesitation.

"not enough."

A voice sounded in his ear.

Mikael was not sure whether it was a real sound, or whether there was no such thing in the imaginary number space.

Then more and more cold and dry things poured into his brain——

"It's not enough, it's not complete, it's not the time yet..."

Sure enough, losing the sense of taste is actually nothing more than a reminder, or in other words, a call.

"Well!"

He opened his eyes again, squinting tightly because he could not adapt to the sudden light, but this stimulation also made him realize that he was back in the "real world".

The dining table was empty, and Ellie sat opposite him with her head propped up, but if you looked closely, you could see that her eyes were closed, her breathing was long and slow, and she was obviously in a deep sleep.

The frogs outside the window chirp tirelessly, which makes people feel bored but not bored at the same time.

All the hands on the clock have reached the upper left corner, and a few hours have passed in the blink of an eye...

Mikael walked into the kitchen and opened the lid of the pot following the smell. Then, a plate of red, yellow and black dishes appeared in front of him.

As expected of Ellie, in order to dilute the saltiness of one dish, she ruined another normal dish.

But for Mikael, who has no sense of taste, it is not considered dark cuisine.

Of course, he could also choose not to eat, but then she would probably be sad tomorrow morning.

…………

"vomit!"

The door to the kitchen was closed tightly, and Mikael gently turned on the faucet, letting the water flow out in the slightest way.

As soon as the food was in the stomach, it was all vomited out, and the intestines and stomach were violently resisting everything that entered.

"Is this also part of the calling..."

Mikael filled the pot with water, but it was too late and he was in no hurry to clean it.

He turned around and walked into the restaurant. Ellie still maintained her previous posture, motionless.

Mikael picked her up gently, took her to the bed in the bedroom, took off his coat and pants, and wrapped her in a quilt.

The bed was very big, and Mikael lay directly next to her without taking off his clothes or covering himself with a quilt.

He slowly closed his eyes and made sure not to think about anything in his mind - this was the hardest thing to do when he was suffering from insomnia, but with the power of consciousness, this was no longer a problem.

However, even though my mind was blank and I didn't think about anything, the lazy and heavy sleep never came.

"Is this also...part of it?"

Everything reminds him that you are no longer human, you no longer have a way out, you must reach the deepest part of the world, and at the same time, you are the existence at the end of the world.

But at the same time, you are not enough, you are not complete enough, and it is not time yet.

Mikael turned over to face Ellie, wanting to give her a hug, but was afraid that such an action would wake her up, even though the small action of hugging was so insignificant compared to before.

He turned over again, and silver-white light poured in from the gaps in the curtains like gravel on the moon's surface, and then accumulated on the wooden floor.

Mikael simply rolled out of bed and gently opened the curtains.

Floating in the sky of the underground city is a full moon that never seems to change. Not to mention its size, even the smallest traces of craters on the moon are visible.

Unfortunately, the number of craters here will never increase.

Because that's not the real moon.

Despite this, Mikael couldn't help but murmured to Him:

"Well, it's not the time yet, but the wait won't be too long."