June 2017. Deep in the Pacific Ocean, at the Enoxia residence.
“Ahh—”
Sirin stretched lazily on the sofa, then shifted position to rest her head on Bella’s lap, wearing a slightly irritated expression:
“It’s been two months and no new Herrschers have appeared. This feeling of wanting to fight but having no one to fight, wanting to rest but not being able to fully relax, having to stay at least minimally vigilant at all times—it’s just unbearable.”
“Only Herrschers like us would even think that way. Whether it’s Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, or the governments of various nations, they’re all using this time before the next Herrscher appears to patch up the wounds of the past and discuss countermeasures.”
“Being able to lie around as long as you want each day, do whatever you please, and only maintain a certain level of caution—in a world where Honkai has descended, that’s undoubtedly a luxury.”
“You, of all people, shouldn’t be complaining about being too blessed.”
Enoxia gave a meaningful look. Sirin sat up from the sofa, and Bella immediately rose and headed toward the kitchen. Enoxia then sat down beside Sirin, hooked her right arm around Sirin’s shoulder, and applied a gentle pressure, letting Sirin lean diagonally against her.
“Ugh, I know all that logically, it’s just… just, you know, in this current situation, I can’t help feeling uneasy… Ah, right, you just mentioned Schicksal and Anti-Entropy—what about World Serpent?”
Bella returned to the living room carrying half a watermelon.
“World Serpent certainly hasn’t been idle either. Mistelin and Kevin are setting up the Stigmata Project. Jackal is acting as a decoy to draw Schicksal and Anti-Entropy’s attention, while Raven and Mei worked together to rescue Reina.”
Bella picked up a spoon, scooped out the seedless center portion of the watermelon, holding the spoon in her right hand with her left hand cupped beneath it, and brought the watermelon to Sirin’s mouth.
Sirin opened her mouth and ate the watermelon. Because she was distracted, after a few chews, a little bit of red juice trickled from the corner of her mouth. Before it could drip onto her clothes, Bella grabbed a tissue and wiped away all the watermelon juice outside Sirin’s mouth.
“So that means Reina was locked up by Otto for nearly three months? What on earth was Anti-Entropy doing?”
The second piece of watermelon was brought to Sirin’s mouth. This time, Bella made sure to check for seeds inside. Based on Sirin’s previous chewing speed, she predicted how long it would take her to finish this piece.
Though as a Herrscher, swallowing watermelon seeds would be no problem at all, Sirin still kept to normal human habits. When she wanted to spit out seeds, the tissue in Bella’s hand appeared right at her lips at just the right moment.
“Pfft—don’t tell me the intelligence Raiden Ryoma got before was fake.”
Enoxia stuck a straw into her drink and took a big sip. The sweet-and-sour but not overpowering taste stimulated her taste buds and perked her up.
“Mm, you guessed right. When Welt tried to go rescue her in April, he fell into a trap Otto had woven.”
“He disguised a little girl who resembled Reina’s human form in appearance and build as Reina, brought her to a laboratory with a high concentration of Honkai energy, and deliberately let the information leak.”
“Because the lab’s surveillance footage was terribly low quality, and a Honkai energy reading on the level of a Judgment-class Honkai Beast was detected, Raiden Ryoma reported this uncertain information to Sea Abyss City.”
Hearing this, Sirin immediately sat up straight. She had just been about to bring the watermelon to her mouth, but Bella quickly pulled the spoon back.
“Relax, I know what you want to ask… That little girl is still alive and well. Because she’s just an ordinary person, injecting Honkai energy on the level of a Judgment-class Honkai Beast would kill her on the spot before she could even become a zombie. To make sure Anti-Entropy would take the bait, they didn’t actually do anything to her.”
Sirin let out a breath of relief. Once she relaxed, she collapsed back onto Enoxia, then slightly turned her head and swallowed the watermelon Bella offered in one bite.
“To draw Welt’s attention, Otto—even without the Void Archives—still handled things personally. When facing Welt, he grinned and joked about his father, and prepared to have Merideth launch a sneak attack.”
“Fortunately, Welt is the former Herrscher of Reason. No matter how great his anger, he ultimately calmed down. In the end, he turned his head and dodged the sneak attack aimed at a Herrscher’s weapon, and successfully rescued that little girl.”
Sirin waved her hand, signaling Bella to eat the rest of the watermelon herself. Bella nodded slightly, placed the watermelon on the other side of the coffee table, and plopped down on the floor to eat.
“Merideth still hasn’t used the Herrscher of Binding’s authority? Could it be…”
Enoxia shook her head slightly:
“The answer to both questions is no. If she had deployed a binding barrier there, I would have immediately taken control of all non-Honkai weapons worldwide and bombarded the area. It’s just that Anti-Entropy’s leader would probably have to do the whole ‘sit up in bed’ routine again.”
“As for the latter question… Although Schicksal’s instruments show everything is normal, my authority still has no effect on her. Even the smallest amount of Honkai energy, once it enters her brain, seems to just vanish. If she’s not the Herrscher of Binding, then she’s something even more terrifying—because it means I know nothing about her abilities.”
“That’s true… Although she really hasn’t directly killed anyone with Herrscher authority, she’s been cooperating with Otto all along. What is she after?”
Enoxia reached out both hands and helped Sirin adjust into a more comfortable position.
“Indeed. My original goal was to have her, while helping Otto, also come along with the Thousand Realms One Vehicle into imaginary space.”
“That way, even if she sensed something was wrong and deployed a 100-kilometer binding barrier in imaginary space, there’d be no need to worry about innocent casualties… But now it seems things have gone too smoothly. She should know that I’ve discovered her uniqueness and have been keeping an eye on her all along…”
Sirin’s mind wandered for a bit before she couldn’t be bothered to think anymore. She soon became absorbed in Enoxia’s gentle caresses and slowly closed her eyes.
“The tip of the Imaginary Tree… she might be the last of them… Could it be that she’s trying to…”
Enoxia furrowed her brow.
“What, is the worst-case scenario really that bad?”
“…Assuming all my hypotheses hold true, if it’s just me alone, it might be rather troublesome. But if the Herrscher of Sentience can act together with me, then even in the worst-case scenario, there’s a way to remedy things before consequences materialize.”
“Oh, that’s good then.”
Sirin knew she wouldn’t understand even if she asked, so she simply didn’t bother. When the time came, she’d just follow Enoxia’s commands.
Just then, Enoxia received a communication from her clone, from the place she had been watching all along:
[A student named John Doe died in his dormitory at a university in New Jersey, USA]
“Sigh… peaceful life… broken again after all.”
