"Wh-what?"
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
Michael's voice held no inflection. It was clearly a rhetorical question, yet spoken by him, it sounded like a statement of fact.
It was precisely this indifferent attitude that made the event seem so unbelievable, and yet, it was precisely this indifferent attitude that made it more believable.
"Then I'll say it again. Elysia is dead."
Then, for the first time, he raised his head fully, revealing his eyes to everyone without reservation.
His gaze was utterly hollow, forever fixed on a meaningless point in the air, completely unfocused. More importantly, his pink, oval pupils, already looking somewhat jarring within his silver-grey irises, inevitably reminded everyone of Elysia's eyes…
"Michael…"
Kevin stood before him again, a sword's length between them:
"Sorry, perhaps we were a bit agitated just now. But if you really are Michael, I believe there must have been some misunderstanding between us. As comrades, friends, even… family, for so long, I hope we can sit down and talk—if you can still control your own body."
"Kevin, your concerns are unfounded."
Michael shook his head. Hearing his words, Kevin's face brightened, but he quickly realized his understanding was mistaken—
"I am Michael, the genuine Michael, the Michael you are all familiar with. My body is completely under my control, and I haven't been influenced by anyone. You can rest assured on this point."
"Tsk…" Kevin twitched the corner of his mouth. "But the hostile stance you're showing now doesn't seem like something Michael would do."
"Hostile stance."
Michael took a step forward. The others unconsciously took a step back.
Kevin felt his words should have carried the same rhetorical tone as before, but unfortunately, the voice sounded purely declarative, or perhaps, merely soullessly repeating Kevin's words.
This dazed state strongly reminded everyone of the early Herrschers, which was why they still preferred to believe the Michael before them was controlled by Finality's consciousness.
But just then, Aponia's voice echoed in everyone's minds:
"The person before us is indeed Michael. There is absolutely no mistake."
The reason she hadn't participated in the probing attack against Michael earlier was partly because her role in such a battle was indeed limited, and partly because she had a more important task—
Using the strongest psychic power present besides Finality, to probe the truth of Finality's consciousness, to distinguish between the following possibilities:
Was the Michael before them purely Finality's consciousness? Or was Finality's consciousness suppressing Michael's, controlling the body? Or was it… simply Michael?
Evidently, she brought back the third option, the worst, the most unacceptable answer.
And so, all illusions shattered.
Michael, as if coordinating with Aponia, took another step forward at this moment and said:
"Perhaps Kevin is right. After all, we have been comrades, friends, and… family who promised to walk into the future together for so many years."
Michael gently closed his eyes, then slowly opened them.
"Therefore, I must ask you here: Are you willing to sacrifice one family member to save the world, or are you willing to sacrifice the world to save one family member?"
Before the Flame-Chasers could answer, he quickly shook his head again:
"There is no perfect solution in this world. This era is already destroyed. Whether Finality descends or not might differ in essence, but the outcome remains the same. Your attempts to stop me here are meaningless; they will only hinder the plan's progress…
"Of course, you have other choices. For human civilization, the result is identical, but for her, it is not the same. You can stand from humanity's perspective, as my enemies, making one last struggle. Or you can stand from the perspective of her family, her friends, join me in reversing everything, giving her the only truth. So…"
Michael closed his eyes, fingers forming a claw, pointing towards the emptiness beside him. The cross lying on the ground suddenly began to contract inwards, finally transforming into a blood-red, twin-pronged spear, grasped in Michael's hand.
He pointed the forked spearhead towards the Flame-Chasers he had fought alongside for so long—
"Friends or Foe… Choose."
When he opened his eyes again, blood-red, cross-shaped pupils manifested, freezing the forms of everyone before him in his mind, freezing them in this moment.
Of course, among the Flame-Chasers before him, Vill-V and Pardo were absent.
...
"V-Vill-V sis, can you turn on a light… It's so dark here!"
"Eh? But Pardo, your genetic changes should mean your vision isn't affected by darkness, right?"
"N-no, no, no, I'm just purely afraid of the dark…"
Click!
Vill-V reluctantly switched on the large headlamp attached to her top hat, like a miner's lamp. A dazzling white line pierced the ink-like, thick, dense darkness ahead. But instead of making the surroundings clearer, it only served to emphasize the profoundness of the dark.
Pardo wasn't afraid of the dark; Vill-V knew that well—could someone afraid of the dark sneak into others' rooms every night to pilfer things?
And what Pardo truly feared, she also knew very well—nothing more than death.
The two of them hadn't moved with the other Flame-Chasers from the start. While everyone else rushed towards Finality's location, they had secretly slipped down to the bottom of the Finality Crater.
"Stop!" Vill-V reached out, stopping Pardo who was still walking forward. "This is about right. The place where spacetime is most active."
She looked at the readings on the instrument in her hand and nodded with satisfaction. Then she pulled something indistinguishable from a dark metal chunk from her pocket and turned, pressing it into Pardo's hand.
"This is Prometheus's terminal, Pardo… I…"
Vill-V wanted to offer some words of encouragement, but she also understood that all words were meaningless to the girl before her.
For her, the only words that could change her fate were not absent—an order to retreat.
But that was impossible. At least, it wasn't within Vill-V's authority.
Besides, as a research personnel with combat capabilities, she didn't have much time to waste here.
"Pardo, I'm leaving this to you. I need to get to the battlefield now. Goodbye!"
Vill-V took off her top hat, waved it, and then bowed.
"G-goodbye… Vill-V sis!"
Pardo clutched the small instrument tightly. She looked down at her feet, her response to Vill-V's voice trembling. By the time she looked up, she was alone at the bottom of the vast Finality Crater.
The temperature on the lunar surface was already low, let alone at the bottom of the crater filled with howling winds. After Vill-V left, the last vestiges of light, sound, and warmth departed with her. After six years, she was once again utterly alone.
Her whole body trembled violently. She actually hadn't lied to Vill-V; she really was afraid of the dark—what girl isn't?
It was just that, long ago in Twilight Street, for a wanderer like her, especially a young girl, the night had become the best camouflage. She had to gather enough supplies in the darkness she feared most to sustain her through a single day. Otherwise, she could only drag her starving body out again the next night to continue searching.
But after joining Anti-Entropy, then Fire Moth, with Boss Michael, Sis Elysia, with everyone around, what was there to fear even in the dark?
Not to mention, both Twilight Street and the base were places she had spent years getting familiar with… She wasn't familiar with this place at all…
And… and!
Before… back at the base, with Boss Michael, Sis Elysia, everyone around, she never had to worry about fighting, never had to worry about death… Of course, she wasn't good at fighting either.
And back in Twilight Street, although she also faced the risk of death, she had her cats for company… Plus, if danger arose, she had the right to flee. But now…
Pardo closed her eyes in pain. Mei's instructions replayed in her mind like a cursed mantra—
"Pardo, I know the following words might be cruel to you, but time is short, so I'll be direct."
"Within this crater beneath the command center, there are many spacetime turbulences. We've already missed the optimal window for Finality's descent, but when he attacks, it's still possible his power could affect these turbulences, subsequently creating rifts connecting the real world to Finality's location."
"And Pardo, the task I'm giving you is this: the moment a spacetime rift opens, throw No. 17's terminal into it. If everything goes smoothly, this will increase our chances of defeating the Honkai in the next era by at least ten percent."
Spacetime rifts. Pardo wasn't unfamiliar. Strictly speaking, removing the "time" part, she wasn't unfamiliar with simple spatial rifts… because that was the ability her Boss Michael used most often.
So she also knew how terrifying an uncontrolled spatial rift, one not stabilized by Boss Michael's authority, could be. Not to mention, she was about to face a spacetime rift掺杂ed with another power, "time."
"No way! No way! My luck has always been super good! I'm a cat, I have nine lives! There's absolutely no way I'll die here!"
She desperately wanted to console herself this way, but deep down, she knew clearly—to ensure she could throw No. 17's terminal in the instant the spacetime rift opened, she had to stand perfectly still in her current position, the very center of the spacetime turbulence.
In this position, once the spacetime rift tore open, escape was impossible. And once swept into an uncontrolled spacetime rift, survival was also impossible.
Because this was no longer a problem luck could solve—she would be torn apart into atoms in an instant!
When the probability of something is 0%, no matter how good one's luck is, one can only say…
Even nine lives can't change fate.
Pardo's center of gravity slowly lowered until she sat slumped on the cold lunar regolith, curling herself into a ball.
She shouldn't be making this gesture. Her "battle-hardened" self knew well that this posture was the stiffest, the least conducive to suddenly springing up and escaping danger.
But so what? Even if she wanted to escape, could she?
No! She could escape!
Just turn back now, with her luck, she could definitely find a way back up!
She didn't even need to go up! Just hide off to the side, somewhere unaffected by the spacetime turbulence, wouldn't that work?
As for this terminal in her hand, as for Mei's mission, just toss it casually later! Anyway, her luck was so good, maybe the terminal would get sucked into the rift anyway?
That way, she wouldn't have to sacrifice her life, and could still complete the mission. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?
Even… even if the mission couldn't be completed, even if the terminal wasn't thrown into the spacetime rift… so what?
So what?
"Boss Michael, Sis Elysia, Big Bro Kevin… everyone… they're heroes, but I… but I'm different! My surgery was basically useless, I'm just a mortal! Being brave enough to get involved in this mess is already something. Why should I sacrifice myself?
"And… what's the use of such a sacrifice? What's the use, right? Dr. Mei herself said it only increases the success rate by ten percent, it's not guaranteed success, right?
"Besides… besides… whether it succeeds or not, that's all for the next era! I won't live to see the next era anyway, what does it have to do with me? Why should I go…"
Why should she be the one to sacrifice?
If she retreated right now, in the next era, she could still have endless sunshine to bask in, endless snacks to eat. And no one would blame her, right?
Her mission was special, she wasn't wearing a combat recorder. When she went back, she could just say no spacetime rift appeared. Anyway, her luck was so good, everyone wouldn't doubt her, right?
Anyway, no one saw what happened here firsthand, no one could call her a deserter, right?
"Heroes have things heroes must do… Mortals also have things mortals should do! Fighting is for heroes, staying alive is for mortals! As a mortal, shouldn't I just live selfishly like this? Back in Twilight Street, could I have survived without being selfish? I'm the most afraid of dying!"
Pardo continuously tried to convince herself internally. But no matter how many justifications she gave herself for deserting, she only managed to straighten her upper body slightly, looking like she might stand up, but ultimately made no further move.
"Move, Felis! Move!"
She was so anxious tears streamed out. Yet on the minus 180-degree Celsius lunar farside, the teardrops froze into round ice beads the moment they left her tear ducts, then floated down feather-light onto the lunar regolith.
She suddenly started desperately slapping her thighs, but her lower limbs remained unresponsive, unable to stand.
Then she understood—she just didn't want to leave.
If she truly feared sacrifice, why come to the Moon at all?
Mei never forced anyone to come to the Moon, right?
If she wanted, she could have stayed on Earth with the others, right? So what if she was a MANTIS? Didn't Sis Blanka stay on Earth? Weren't there so many mass-produced MANTISes stronger than her who stayed on Earth?
But she was still here. This was her own will. She wanted to be here. This was all her own decision.
"After all… I'm also… I'm also a 'Flame-Chaser'…"
That was the honorary title bestowed upon her by Big Bro Michael and Sis Elysia themselves. Pardo knew what that name meant.
"Only heroes who dare to face calamity head-on can be called Flame-Chasers."
She had always been clear about her place. She was just an ordinary mortal. The only time she had ever been brave was when she signed up for the super-transformation surgery.
The surgery was successful; she didn't die on the operating table like thousands of other test subjects.
The surgery was also a failure; besides making her look less human, besides making some humans dislike her and all cats hate her, it didn't seem to bring her any "gains."
She remained as combat-ineffective as ever. Every time the Honkai arrived, she could only hide and tremble, watching everyone else fight.
After so many years, she hadn't been able to do anything.
Watching everyone in Anti-Entropy grow stronger, more mature—setting others aside, Hua, who was slightly younger than her, already wielded her own Divine Key and could kill a Herrscher single-handedly.
But she still couldn't do anything.
But… but…
Whether one can do something is a matter of ability. Whether one is willing to do something is a matter of attitude.
Humans can't do everything, but humans always have things they want to do.
Basking in the sun, eating snacks, fishing—those were days she had longed for since childhood. Living like that was indeed happy, but she always felt something was missing.
The loot she pilfered late at night grew larger, her business expanded. Now she no longer needed to invent a "boss" to inflate her status, nor did she need to smile fawningly and call others boss. But she always felt something was missing.
More and more people surrounded her: Big Bro Michael, Sis Elysia, everyone from Anti-Entropy… and various others smiling ingratiatingly at her with ulterior motives… She never had to worry about loneliness again, but she always felt something was missing.
She didn't understand. Everything she possessed now was what her past self dreamed of. But savoring it, it felt so illusory, as if everything were just an empty dream [Reverie] of a cold and hungry little girl.
And now she understood. Basking, snacking, fishing, pilfering—those were just living driven by desire. Such a way of life might be happy, but it truly lacked something—it lacked meaning, lacked something she wanted to do no matter what, a meaning she wanted to pursue.
She also understood. She was indeed surrounded by many people, chattering and bustling with them all day long. She wasn't lonely anymore, but something was indeed missing—everyone in Anti-Entropy became heroes, leaving her behind. As for those who approached her with ulterior motives, she never cared for them. So, she had actually become even more lonely.
So… so she wanted to become a hero too.
She didn't know how the meaning of her life should be realized, but at least at this moment, she wanted to become a hero.
And she had to become a hero. Only then would she be worthy of the title "Flame-Chaser." Only then could she catch up to everyone, escape loneliness once more.
And…
The wind within the crater suddenly picked up. Silver-grey dust swirled. Fine grains of sand scraped across her face, making her inexplicably recall that night in Twilight Street.
The same darkness, the same cold, the same loneliness…
The same howling wind, the same swirling sand…
But it was on that night that two figures, one silver, one pink, abruptly entered her life.
Hunger, loneliness, cold… these things meant nothing to her, accustomed to wandering.
But ever since meeting them, she could no longer bear these things.
So… even for Big Bro Michael and Sis Elysia, she had to stand here until the end, had to complete her mission, so as not to disappoint their expectations.
Also, although she still hadn't figured out Big Bro Michael and Sis Elysia's current situation… if possible, she also wanted to do something to save them.
Unfortunately, she was too clumsy. But Dr. Mei was smart! Just doing as she said would surely work, right?
Even if… she would be torn into atoms the moment the mission was complete…
But so what?
Life in this world is but an [Reverie]. Death is an inescapable end, no matter what.
So, rather than dying muddle-headedly when one's lifespan ends, it's better to choose a more meaningful, active sacrifice.
At least they would all remember her. And…
If she could really save Big Bro Michael and Sis Elysia… they would surely be both proud and sad knowing her sacrifice, right? When they came to visit her grave, they would definitely bring her favorite canned food and cookies, right?
But… the waiting right now was still so lonely…
Pardo really wanted to chat with someone, distract herself, so she wouldn't spend too much energy thinking, hesitating, and developing the urge to flee.
"Doctor… are you still there?"
She switched on the comms and asked softly.
Echoes quickly bounced back from all directions—her own voice.
But the comms remained silent.
Pardo's tears flowed out again. She feared death the most, and loneliness the most.
But she feared dying alone even more.
Tears flowed uncontrollably, conveniently masking the already soft footsteps. Only after a long time, when Pardo wiped her tears dry, did she notice a pair of feet in front of her.
She looked up incredulously. A cat's night vision is excellent; she easily made out the person's appearance.
Of course, a cat's sense of smell is also keen. She had already identified the person by scent before looking up. It was precisely because of this that she needed to visually confirm—
"B-Big Bro Michael?"
She asked tentatively, then without further hesitation, threw herself at Michael.
She certainly didn't consider high-level questions like why Michael was here, whether the Michael before her was really Michael, or whether this was all an illusion.
She just needed some time to vent all the fear that had accumulated during the long, dead silence.
Michael stood silently, motionless, letting her cry in his arms for an unknown amount of time. Until the girl's sobs gradually subsided, he lifted her by the scruff of her neck, just as he had done countless times before, like lifting a small kitten.
"Wuwuwu Big Bro Michael, you finally showed up again! I knew you wouldn't abandon me!"
"…"
Long, long ago, they had left once without saying goodbye. Pardo was genuinely afraid that Michael and Elysia's disappearance was just like that previous departure… that they had simply abandoned her.
"It's alright, Pardo. You've already done very well."
"Everything will be alright."
"We, all of us, will never be separated. Ever."
"And this is what I want to do."