The Fire-Chasing Herrscher Who Destroyed the World

"Tap, tap, tap--"

Mikael clenched his five fingers into a fist, and his knuckles gently clicked on the table, making a series of sounds.

This abrupt action and sound undoubtedly caught the attention of the other three people in the meeting room.

"Let me say it."

Although Mei pulled the trigger of the starting gun that symbolized "start", the final executor was still Mikael.

After all, Mei got the "script" of the second song, and only he could lay out this matter clearly.

He first looked past Sakura and fell on Ling:

"Ling, although you are not a member of the Fire Moth, you know more about Honkai and Herrscher than most people in this world, right?"

Ling rarely made a sound, but lowered her head and pursed her lips. Mikael didn't know where her eyes were focused, perhaps the hand across her thigh, or perhaps just a meaningless blank in the air, but people's eyes must have a place to stay, just like some words must be said by someone.

"Let me tell you the conclusion first, Ling, you are the qualified body of the twelfth Herrscher."

No need for any embellishment or metaphor, Mikael still maintained a straightforward style.

"Heh..."

Ling opened her mouth slightly, took a breath with all her strength, and then held her breath tightly.

Ying stretched out her hand, but stopped in mid-air, perhaps considering whether to hold Ling's shoulder, hold her hand tightly, or pat her back to let her exhale so that she could breathe normally.

And Mikael's eyes were also lowered. He did not look at the reactions of Ying and Ling, but temporarily placed his eyes on the empty table with wild gray and metal reflections.

As long as you don't get close to the fire, your blood will still be cold and the ice will not melt. That's probably it.

"As you can see, the reason why you and the other two were sent to the World Bubble, including sending Xi'er to the World Bubble before, is just for one reason - you are the Herrschers who will appear next. Only in the place where the tip of the imaginary tree cannot be connected, can you escape the thread spun by fate."

As if he was sure that Ling would accept all this quickly, Mikael continued to talk to himself:

"Unlike them, they only need to [escape], while you, Ling, need to [control]. We need you to return to the Eigenworld and take the initiative to become the twelfth Herrscher."

"Boom!"

Although it was silent at this moment, Mikael still added two explosions that sounded at the same time in his mind.

"Why?"

As expected, Ying was the first to speak.

Her voice was still clear, and there was no cold hostility, and naturally no happiness. What hovered in her heart was lingering doubts.

"Why do they only need to escape, but Ling needs to become a Herrscher?"

After Mikael finished her words, he slowly explained:

"It's very simple. Whether it's the Sixth Herrscher corresponding to Seele, the Tenth Herrscher group corresponding to Imer and Klein, or the Eleventh Herrscher who didn't know the Qualified Body in advance, I know the powers of these Herrschers in advance, and I have a way to defeat them on the basis of minimizing casualties.

"As for the Twelfth Herrscher, I still know its power, but even so, or because of this, if it is randomly born, I have no way to guarantee that it can be easily defeated. "

"Just because of this?"

"Just because of this. Although the so-called Paradise Plan also requires the power of the Twelfth Herrscher, that is something that the Key of God can also do, but it is a little more troublesome. The fundamental reason is still this. "

"Just because..."

"Brother Mikael!"

Sakura was about to ask again, but was interrupted by Ling.

"Well. "

Mikael just said "hmm" softly, he didn't even shift his gaze, his eyes didn't even blink, but his meaning was very clear - I heard it, you can start talking.

Ling didn't seem to understand this subtext, she let out a long breath, and then put her hands together and held her sister's outstretched hand tightly.

How long did the silence last?

No one kept time.

Since the starting gun was fired, Mei, who was sitting opposite everyone, had not made any moves. She just watched everything that was happening through the cold lens, across a table, and felt a little bit like watching the fire from the other side of the river, although she didn't mean to do that.

In this situation, even if she wanted to speak, she didn't know how to start.

The silence began with Ling's long breath and ended with her long breath.

Between the breaths, she seemed to have made up her mind, and then resolutely let go of her sister's hand:

"Brother Mikael, you...actually, like Aunt Abonya, you can see "destiny" or "future", right? "

Although Mikael did not hide this, he was able to quickly extract information from his words and judge that Mikael's so-called advance knowledge of the power of the Qualified Body and the corresponding Herrscher was not second-hand information obtained from Aponia, but was actually derived from the future he saw...

It must be said that Ling has the same talent as her sister in this regard.

"I said... If it was Aunt Aponia, she would definitely try to change such a fate first, instead of like this... Telling everything to us first... Thank you, Brother Mikael!"

"Um?"

Mikael turned his head in surprise, only to find Suzu looking at him with a smile.

Compared to her sister who rarely smiles, and even if she is happy, she only slightly raises the corner of her mouth, Ling's smile has the unique vitality of a girl. She is not as carefree as Padu of the same age. , even the melancholy that could not be erased remained between his eyebrows, and he did not let out a naive laugh. He just bent his eyes into the same arc as his eyebrows, then grinned, facing forward.

It was as if someone had first neatly drawn two pairs of arcs as eyebrows on her face that was a bit less cold and a bit more playful and gentle than Sakura's, and then drew an arc upside down for her lips. Wire.

Simple, clear and to the point.

For a moment, even Mikael was stunned.

But he was not shaken by this. He just closed his eyes and sighed in his heart, unwilling to look at the girl's smile again.

"bell……"

Sakura bit her lower lip and held her sister's hand again.

Ling smiled at this again:

"Sister, why are you so sad? If you make me a Herrscher, you don't mean that I will die!"

"Um?"

Sakura didn't understand where Suzu's confidence came from. Of all the Herrschers who had appeared so far, only Mikael and Ellie had escaped Honkai's control.

To be precise, there is only one Mikael, because Ellie is very different from other Herrschers. She does not even have a core, at least not a gem-like core in the general sense, nor does she show any special powers, but in In some aspects, she does meet the definition of a Herrscher, such as being able to sense a strong connection with the Tree of Imaginary Numbers when she uses all her strength...

In short, according to Mikael's explanation, she is a special Herrscher who escaped from the control of Honkai and stood on the side of mankind from the beginning.

Therefore, the only one who truly escaped the control of Honkai was Mikael.

Once the rest of them become Herrschers, if they don't want to cause more damage, they have no choice but to kill this path as soon as possible.

And she felt that Mikael's meaning was very clear. Although he did not say what the power of the Twelfth Herrscher was, it must be a very difficult ability to handle.

According to him, once the Herrscher is randomly born, even he cannot "defeat it easily."

Naturally, this needs to be expanded upon to explain. The so-called ease may not mean that it cannot be killed in a short time.

It should also include that it is difficult to find, difficult to locate, and even if it can be found, it is difficult to deal with. Or, no matter what, if it cannot be solved the moment it is born, it will inevitably cause unbearable sacrifices for mankind.

What sacrifice can be made? There are still nearly 2 billion people on the earth. They can't be wiped out by such a collapse, right?

According to Sakura's speculation about Mikael's intention, it is obvious that Ling, who has a suitable body, can return to her original world, and then use the power of knowledge at the moment when the twelfth Herrscher follows fate and descends on Ling. Or some other way to kill with one hit.

But Ling can't come back after all, and all this is at the expense of Ling.

If this plan was indeed proposed by Mei, she would still be able to accept it. Mikael himself predicted so. He said:

"Maybe Mei will tell you a lot of great truths about saving the world. That's why I want to remind you."

But now, all these cold calculations were made by Mikael himself.

Sakura couldn't imagine that this was completely different from the gentle and fragile Mikael she remembered. No, I should say, quite the opposite.

But she couldn't blame Mikael. Because it was not Mikael who was cold-blooded, but the words themselves.

However, in their original plan, these words might have been spoken by May, who was always known for her rationality, rather than by Mikael.

Moreover, their starting point is correct. To the rest of the people, Ling is just an ordinary girl. Her life is no more noble than anyone else. If she is sacrificed alone, two people can be saved. From a purely rational point of view It's a "good deal".

Not to mention saving thousands of people?

"Since Ling is the sister of all of us, your hesitation actually represents the hesitation of all of us. Which choice do our emotions tend to prefer? If this is a matter that can be voted on democratically, what choice will we make? , you should understand.”

Mikael's originally comforting words kept echoing in her mind like a nightmare.

She is not questioning the authenticity of this sentence - on the contrary, she knows that this sentence is completely sincere, at least for people who are very close to Ling, such as Mikael, Aili, Pado, and Aponya. He does regard Ling as his sister, at least half a sister.

But precisely because of this, precisely because of this...

Precisely because she knew this, she could not feel a trace of hatred towards Mikael who said these words, and towards the others who proposed this plan...

She and Ling were admittedly the most painful people to make this decision, but others were also deeply hurt by this decision, and she could not spread her negative emotions and hatred on everyone.

In this way, there is no outlet for emotions to be vented.

Your decision to sacrifice Ling was right, and my determination to protect Ling was not wrong either. What was wrong was just this world.

But the mistakes made by people can be corrected by humans, but the mistakes of the world can only be passively accepted. If you don't accept it, you have to accept it.

She has a sword that almost no one can stop. If the wrong person is a specific person, she can naturally cut him into two pieces with one sword.

But she can't cut off this world. She can't destroy this world that she hates so much now, let alone save the world where she and Ling exist together.

There was mist in front of her eyes, and at the moment when she felt almost unbearable, a familiar voice came from her mind:

"Ling is your sister, and the sister of all of us. The next decision may be a bit cruel, but you must remember - be selfish!"

Decide!

right!

Decide!

What Mikael said before was not an [order], but a [decision] handed over to her!

This time she is no longer a machine to execute orders, but a person who can control the direction of the entire plan!

And Mikael said:

"Be selfish!"

Be selfish!

He has made it very clear! Is not it?

If he didn't also reject this approach in his heart, why would he say this!

The choice is in my hands, the choice is in my hands!

Sakura's eyes suddenly became clear. She turned her head and looked at Mikael stubbornly, about to say the word "no" that might also be his expectation.

But...but the lips kept moving, and the muscles in the neck and vocal cords kept trembling, as if they had just undergone strenuous activities, and were so dry that they could only make a "pop" sound.

I just couldn't get the word "no" out of my mouth.

Her eyes were hazy again, like mist on her lenses in winter.

She thought she was only fighting to protect Ling from beginning to end.

She thought the bell was her only reason to fight.

But if that was really the case, why couldn't she say the word "no" lightly at this moment?

"elder sister!"

Ling's coquettish voice sounded behind her head, and she suddenly thought it was an illusion.

Until Ling broke free from the shackles of her hands, moved her entire body towards him, and then held her hands forcefully.

She gently wiped the tears from the corners of Sakura's eyes, so Sakura could see her bright smile.

"Ling, what time has it been, and you are still laughing!"

Sakura wanted to say this, but just like the word "no" that could never be uttered, she realized just now that perhaps it was not that she was unable to express her denial, but that her entire ability to speak and express had been temporarily lost due to grief.

"Sister! You are too anxious! Didn't Brother Mikael say that?"

Ling still smiled heartlessly. She imitated Mikael's accent and repeated:

"[Although the so-called Past World Plan also requires the power of the Twelfth Herrscher, it is something that the God Key can also do. It is just a little more troublesome. The fundamental reason is still this.]

"Hehe! Sister, look! [But that is something that the God Key can also do]. Sister, you know better than me. Only the dead Herrscher can make the core into the God Key, right? Just like your third sister, sister. It’s the same as the God’s Key! But Brother Mikael obviously wants a Herrscher who can control his own power!”

"Ah-ah?"

Sakura hummed two syllables in a row before finally regaining the ability to speak:

"Is...is that so?"

With a hint of hope, she turned to look at Mikael again.

But she vaguely felt that something was wrong. If it was as Ling said, this was the perfect solution to get the best of both worlds, then why did Mikael and Mei make the atmosphere so heavy, and why did they suggest that she make a more selfish choice? ?

Suzu didn't care so much. She stood up, knelt on the armchair, turned the chair with her toes, and put her head on Sakura's shoulder. She asked Mikael with a smile:

"How about it, Brother Mikael, am I right?"

Mikael met the eyes of the sisters and fell silent again.

"Dong-dong-dong-dong!"

Mikael seemed to be experiencing auditory hallucinations, as if someone was hammering nails into the wall next door.

But that must be an auditory hallucination. The walls are armor made of special alloys and cannot be hammered into nails. Besides, if someone really does this, who is it? Ellie?

If this all happened for real, why didn't the others react?

It seemed like it took a while before Mikael realized that it was not the sound of a hammer, but the sound of his heart - the heart was stimulated by adrenaline, sending a surge of blood to all parts of the body. , making a harsh sound.

A slight dizziness enveloped him. He suddenly raised his hand and quickly put it down.

No one knew the meaning of this incredible action - in fact, he just wanted to give himself a slap in the face.

Stop pretending to be strong and rational! There was a voice shouting in my head!

Now! immediately! immediately! Abandon this plan!

So what if the other two billion people on earth die?

Does it have anything to do with you?

They might still hate you now! I think you have demoted them into slaves in the name of Honkai!

They probably don't know you are a Herrscher yet, but if they knew you were a Herrscher...hahahaha!

Why do you want Ling to sacrifice for these people who have nothing to do with you or her!

In fact, the silence may have only lasted a moment. His heart was still beating dry and hard, but the dizziness slowly disappeared.

"Because what I want to save is not the two billion people, but this world and its civilization."

ha?

What kind of nonsense?

The voice was still chattering endlessly, still asking questions like an ant attached to a corpse.

"As Mebius said - would you call a person who has no limbs and torso and only a brain a human being? Even Mebius can't define such a person as a human being, so I can't Naturally, it is impossible to call a civilization that has lost everything else except a fire-chasing moth a civilization.

"And what I want to change, what I want to save, is this kind of thing. The same is true for her and them."

Then why don't you hide the truth? Anyway, according to this plan, as long as you don't say anything, Aponya doesn't say anything, Mei doesn't say anything, Sakura, and even Ling's consciousness copy will not feel any problem! They can obviously continue to enjoy happiness in a daze!

"Maybe. But I don't want to deceive my family anymore, and I don't want to hide the truth from them anymore, just like Xier did at that time. Even if it is a sad ending, I hope they can understand the sadness instead of being confused. And false happiness.”

This time, the sound completely disappeared, and even the heartbeat gradually became silent.

Mikael looked at Sakura and Ling, and silently leaned down. At first glance, it looked like he was bowing - but he didn't stand up, which showed that this was not the case.

He just leaned over, spread his legs, rested his elbows on his thighs, then crossed his hands and held them in front of his lips, and replied in a muffled voice:

"it's not true."

A chill began to spread from Sakura's body, and Ling's smile froze at that moment.

Before the two of them could ask questions, Mikael planned to reveal all the truth in one go.

No more hesitation, no more hiding, just get straight to the point.

“We really intend for Suzu to become a [Human Herrscher] like Ellie and I, that is, a being who possesses the power of an Herrscher without losing the true nature of a human being.

"We are very confident about the process. First, Aponya will copy Ling's consciousness. She has copied Xi'er's consciousness before, and also copied the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness at a deep level, so she is very familiar with it.

"Then, Aponya and I will always pay attention to the status of the bell. When the Herrscher's consciousness comes to the bell along the imaginary veins, the consciousness in the bell will be erased, and then we will kill the Herrscher's consciousness. , and then the clone of Houling’s consciousness can regain control of the body that has become the Herrscher.”

Ling's eyes began to lose focus. Perhaps she didn't know the difference between her own consciousness and the copy of her consciousness, and she had never thought about the difference between "A" and the "A" obtained after copying.

But Sakura understood without a doubt. And she thought about more - why Mei had deliberately mentioned herself and herself in the original world before:

"From the very definition of Mei, she and I are different individuals."

From the definition of bell itself, the original bell and the copy of bell consciousness are different individuals.

"Like a T-Rex and a chicken."

Ling used this metaphor awkwardly.

Like a T-Rex and a chicken.

"Consciousness copy..."

Sakura muttered this word, seeming to capture some distant memory.

Mikael thought she didn't understand yet, or maybe he simply wanted to say something, so he explained:

"The copy of consciousness is exactly the same as Ling's current consciousness. There is no difference in terms of content. She still has all the memories of being with you and us."

Of course Sakura understood this, but the memory she held onto was not this.

She sniffed and asked in an extremely depressed, cold, dry and slow tone:

"I remember that during the sixth collapse, Aponya also copied Seele's consciousness, right?"

"Um."

"There were two clones at that time, one was in Xi'er's body, and the other was transferred to her necklace, right?"

As soon as she said this, both Mikael and Mei understood what she meant.

Even though she was calm, incredibly calm, it was the last straw she could hold onto as she drowned.

But someone has to cut the straw, because if it doesn't work, it won't work.

But this time, maybe he felt that Mikael had said enough, or maybe he felt that it was better for him to explain the technical part. Anyway, before Mikael could say anything, Mei spoke before him:

"Do you want Ling's true consciousness to be transferred to an object, or the body constructed by Mikael, and then hidden back in the world bubble? With all due respect, this won't work."

"Why, it was obviously successful then!"

The cold air on Sakura's body was completely out of control, and the frost-colored cold air instantly raged in the conference room. Mikael shook her shoulders while using the power of fire to exude heat.

"Sakura, calm down!"

The cold air disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"..."

"The technology of consciousness transfer has not been completely successful so far. The reason why Aponnia dared to use similar means to transfer Xi'er's consciousness clone that time was precisely because it was a copy, and because Xi'er herself suffered from She has schizophrenia, and this consciousness is a copy of the dark and violent side, so she dares to do this.

"And whether she was completely successful? It can't be confirmed. We only know that this consciousness finally merged with the stigmata in Mikael's body. As for whether it suffered irreversible mental damage during the transfer process, no one can say clear.

“If you are willing to endure a direct mortality rate of 37%, a vegetative rate of 49% and a consciousness impairment rate of 14%, it is not impossible for us to do so.

"But with such a nearly zero success rate, Bi Ling returned to the original world, but Honkai did not choose her to become the twelfth Herrscher, or the Herrscher did not have time to erase Suzu's original consciousness immediately when she was born. It’s much lower than being solved by Mikael.”

"That's it..."

The corners of Sakura's lips curled up, but she couldn't even smile. Mei was obviously taking this to tell her that the outcome Mikael said was the worst outcome. What if a miracle really happens, such as Honkai not choosing Suzu, or Suzu's self-awareness persisting until Herrscher's consciousness is killed.

But what are the chances of such a miracle happening? No one can tell, except that it is greater than zero.

"Okay sister! Stop talking, I accept it!"

The bell rang again with a smile mixed with it.

"Oh sister! As long as you are a human being, you will always die! I read a book here, which said: 'We can't choose how to be born, but we can choose how to die.' Since we are always going to die, why? Why not choose a more meaningful way to die for yourself?”

Mikael turned around, closed his eyes, and raised his head. Although he moved quickly, there were still a few tears shining on his eyelashes.

Mei also lowered her head silently and made a fist with her right hand, covering the lower half of her face.

Sakura stared blankly at her sister, her sincere yet frightened smile, and listened to her voice that gradually started to tremble and started to cry:

"We are all going to die anyway. Although we are still children, we are no longer strangers to death! We are all going to die anyway. I think this is a good way to die! It has saved countless people, and for Human beings have the fighting power of a Herrscher, so it won’t make my sister too sad - there is also an identical version of me who can accompany you, sister, right?”

Sakura had obviously bit her lower lip hard, but her lower lip still moved up uncontrollably and tremblingly.

Gradually, she couldn't even see Ling's smile clearly.

No, I have to imprint this moment deeply in my mind!

She thought so, desperately wiping her tears with both hands, but her vision never became clear again.

"Don't show that expression, sister! The other me is also me, you must treat her as well as you treat me! As for me, I am really satisfied with this way of death! You see, we have no choice I was born in a world without collapse, but I chose the way I wanted to die. This is also a manifestation of my free will, right? You should be happy for me!

"Besides...what if there really is a miracle? What if I can survive? Right? Then sister, you will cry happily again..."

Sakura turned and fell on the cold table, her shoulders hunched, and tears quickly flowed into a waterfall from the edge of the table that she couldn't wrap her arms around.

"It's just...ho...sister...ho ho..."

Ling finally couldn't keep her smile on her face, and while wiping away the tears that she couldn't wipe away, she got into Sakura's arms like she did when she was a child.

"If...oh...if it's possible...sister, Ling Ming may not be able to accompany you any longer."

What cannot be saved cannot be saved, and what cannot be done cannot be done.

Mikael silently covered his ears, then walked to the wall alone and slammed his forehead against the armored wall.

Once, twice, three times...

The armor wall quickly deformed and cracked, but Mikael's head was disgustingly intact, not even feeling the slightest pain.

No one came to dissuade him, and no one paid attention to Mei who wiped her glasses with tears and the corners of her shirt. No one came to comfort the sisters who were hugging each other and crying.

Just like no one can save this world that is doomed to destruction.