A little earlier, aboard the Hyperion, Einstein wiped the sweat from her forehead, her mood sinking to rock bottom.
If the device for reverse-entering the Domination Theater could be thought of as forging a key capable of opening a door, then the shape of the keyhole on the Domination Theater’s door had just suddenly changed. That meant Einstein and the others’ efforts could basically be declared a total loss.
At that moment, an alarm sounded aboard the Hyperion. The relevant personnel were just about to report that an unidentified target had suddenly appeared and was rapidly approaching when the unknown target had already entered visual range.
“That’s… Sirin and Bella?! All personnel, hold your fire!”
These two could, in a sense, be considered old acquaintances of Anti-Entropy and Theresa’s group. Although their intentions were unclear, Welt and the others all understood that before the other side had made any obvious hostile moves, it was best not to create opportunities for conflict to escalate.
Because once they were provoked, even if Enoxia remained neutral, these two alone would be enough to give them a serious headache.
Seeing the Hyperion proactively withdraw its defenses, Sirin and Bella landed on the bow.
“Good. You didn’t do anything stupid. Seems there’s still room to talk.”
Sirin looked around and saw quite a few old acquaintances as well. When her gaze fell on Welt Yang, she couldn’t help but sniff and furrow her brow.
In the end, it was Theresa who spoke up first:
“Sirin, what are you…”
Compared to Welt Yang, thanks to Cecilia having shared many things about Theresa over the past decade or so, and Enoxia having shared quite a few stories from her time at St. Freya Academy, Sirin’s impression of her had actually improved considerably, and her expression softened a little.
“I’ll get straight to the point. It’s for Kiana’s sake. Some time ago, Eno already entered the Domination Theater. Right now, the space around the Domination Theater is in an extremely chaotic state, which means she’s already engaged the Herrscher of the Thousand.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then their expressions immediately relaxed. Einstein especially—the doctor who almost never let her emotions show on her face—wore a long-awaited smile of relief.
“What do you need us to do to coordinate with you?”
Since Sirin had said that much, everyone naturally understood that they had definitely come to seek cooperation.
“Wait. Eno said that once the space around the Domination Theater becomes extremely unstable, it means she’s in the thick of battle with the Herrscher of the Thousand.”
“She carries the Void Archives on her. During battle, she’ll find the right moment and use a mimicry of the Thousand Realms One Ride to blast the outer wall of the Domination Theater. What you need to do is work with me to catch the signal at that moment. That way, I can send you all inside.”
“Oh, right—Eno also said that to prevent the worst-case scenario from happening to Kiana, you’d better bring the Core of the Herrscher of Flame…”
Theresa watched Sirin as she conversed with everyone, and couldn’t help but feel a little emotional. She had expected a tense confrontation, but the result had been so smooth. Sirin had… really grown up.
In a daze, Theresa even thought she could faintly see the shadow of another person in her. She shook her head vigorously, constantly telling herself that it was impossible…
In the depths of the Domination Theater, Kiana’s vision was a chaos. Like a drowning person sinking into the deep sea, her limbs kept thrashing as she instinctively tried to save herself.
Finally, amid the chaos, Kiana saw… a flash of ice-blue light.
Although she had no idea what it was, she charged toward it with all her strength, like someone who had spotted a piece of driftwood floating on the water.
The ice-blue point of light grew larger and larger, until it completely filled Kiana’s field of vision…
“This place is…”
Before Kiana’s eyes appeared a desolate land, the entire sky a murky gray—no sun, no moon, not a single star to be seen.
“This is outside the solar system. My homeland.”
A strange yet familiar voice sounded by Kiana’s ear. She turned toward it and found a creature with an ice-blue body, a serpent’s head, and a human form standing not far from her.
“So, this is your true form, Herrscher of Ice.”
It shook its head.
“Strictly speaking, not exactly. By your understanding, my true size is about as tall as the skyscrapers of Arc City. But this isn’t reality, after all. I’m nothing more than a wisp of a remnant soul now. Being able to maintain this size is already quite good.”
Kiana kept her stern gaze.
“So… what are you planning to do?!”
“Don’t be in such a hurry. Let me tell you a story first… Kiana, don’t you think that this planet called Earth, constantly ravaged by the Honkai—where a friend who was smiling and talking with you yesterday might become a zombie today; where a hometown that was lively yesterday might become a dead city today because of a Honkai Beast attack—seems like a tragedy on the scale of the universe?”
“Beyond the solar system lies a vast universe. I won’t deny that, under the protection of a powerful force, whether organic or inorganic life, ordinary people could certainly live far better than the people of Earth, who face the threat of Honkai at any moment.”
“But… without such protection, for ordinary people, simply being alive might be a luxury. Because the planet you live on could very well be reduced to ashes the very next moment.”
“The Swarm, the Abundance folk, and it seems a Legion of Anti-Matter has been added recently… plus the Pathstriders who walk the paths in unorthodox ways. Whether it’s Abundance, Destruction, The Hunt, Propagation, or Voracity, Erudition, Elation, Preservation—destroying a planet, a civilization, might take but an instant.”
Kiana blinked. On her face appeared a beauty untouched by knowledge.
“…Ah, sorry. I treated all that as common sense that everyone should know. In this world that Akivili has never reached, that has never been tainted by any Path, the common sense in my eyes has become sheer fantasy in yours.”
“Anyway, this universe is vast. Beyond the solar system is the stage of the Aeons. Their every move can affect the entire cosmos. Every attack means countless stars fall and turn to dust…”
“And my homeland, the Hui Li Galaxy—a galaxy even larger than the solar system. Before the Light Arrows of The Hunt, it was reduced to ashes in an instant.”
“What you see now is, theoretically, the scene of the Hui Li Galaxy a thousand years after its destruction, after countless dust particles have reaggregated. Destruction is always far easier than rebirth. Thinking back, the entire Hui Li Galaxy once held planets even larger than Earth, and in great numbers. And now… a thousand years later, at most only a few dozen dwarf planets have reaggregated…”
