Seele sat on the ground in fear, constantly retreating backward.
"How could this be... Why can you defeat them...?"
"It shouldn't be possible... The people in this world clearly have no way to resist them..."
"...?!!"
Suddenly.
As if realizing something, her eyes widened.
Bronya had already walked step by step to her front and said seriously: "From the start of the mission, Bronya has had a strange feeling. Whenever everyone hit a bottleneck, you seemed to already know what would happen next."
"When you summoned the quantum shadows, Bronya was certain. Seele, just like Bronya, you do not belong to this world..."
Seele could no longer hold back. She rushed forward and hugged Bronya, tears surging uncontrollably.
"...Is it you, big sister Bronya?"
"Yes."
"Is it really... you...?"
"Seele... Bronya is right here. After so long... Bronya has finally found you..."
"Big sister... Bronya."
Bronya hugged her even tighter, letting the warm tears fall on her back.
Bronya could no longer remember—she could no longer remember many things. But some things she still remembered: the sobbing of that girl, the temperature of her tears, the sensation of holding her in her arms.
—She still remembered the promise she made with her. Bronya had never forgotten it.
After the tender moment.
Bronya also came to her senses: "But... why are you here? What exactly... happened?"
Seele said with tears: "I don't know either... I only remember being locked in a room with nothing in it—dark and cold, the door tightly shut... I stayed there for so long that I couldn't even keep track of time."
"But one day suddenly, the door opened, and light came in."
"I thought I could escape, that I could go find big sister Bronya, so I ran toward the light."
"...I don't remember what happened after that. When I became aware again, I was already in this world."
Bronya comforted her: "It's okay. I'll take you out together."
Seele shook her head: "But... I can't find a way out... This world is constantly looping. By the time I met you, sister, I had already experienced today's events several times."
Then, she recounted what had happened to her in this loop.
Bronya decided to follow Seele's words and not hand over the child they found (Joachim).
And it was precisely this decision that unraveled the illusory world.
Bronya returned once more to her original position. Joachim appeared before her: "Welcome back. Congratulations on unraveling the first world."
"Let me reintroduce myself. I am a clone of the First Herrscher, Welt Yang—a fragment he left behind, tasked with guarding this place."
Joachim's tone was calm, but Bronya still detected a trace of sadness in his words.
She asked: "One year ago, after Welt entered the Sea of Quanta, he never returned. What exactly happened after that?"
Joachim answered: "If you want to know the answer, keep moving forward."
Bronya said: "Bronya has one more question."
Joachim said: "You're asking about that girl, Seele, right? I don't know who she is, nor can I detect her traces. Perhaps her main body is still drifting in the Sea of Quanta, only accidentally overlapping with this labyrinth."
"She possesses a special power that allows her to traverse the Sea of Quanta. But it seems she cannot yet freely control this power."
"In the worlds ahead, you may see her again. But if you truly want to find her, you must enter the Sea of Quanta."
Bronya nodded and delved deeper into the new world.
In this second world, she resolved the conflict between Joachim and the priest, making him face his inner self.
Then came the third world, where she witnessed Welt Yang and truly understood her own heart, finding the real answer.
All the labyrinths vanished, and the Core of the Herrscher of Reason appeared before the two.
Bronya held Seele's hand, feeling her presence, and relaxed: "That's great. You're okay, Seele."
Seele's eyes suddenly turned red, and even her tone of voice became completely different: "Finally met you, big sister~ So that's the Core of the Herrscher of Reason? I didn't expect it to appear this way...~~"
"...With it, Seele can be with big sister forever in the outside world."
Bronya immediately reacted: "You're not Seele! Who are you? What did you do to Seele?"
Seele—or rather, dark Seele—pretended to be aggrieved: "It really hurts. Big sister, you don't even recognize me? Though that's true—this should be our first meeting."
"Then let me introduce myself— I am the other her, dwelling within Seele's body."
The other her?
Bronya frowned tightly: "Bronya cannot understand what you're saying. Return Seele to Bronya."
Dark Seele laughed: "Hehe, I understand big sister's desire to protect Seele. Rest assured—we were born as one. I won't harm her. On the contrary, I know a way to save her."
"Please hand the Core of the Herrscher of Reason to me. That way, both Seele and I can return to reality."
Bronya refused immediately: "Bronya will use the Eye of the Abyss to bring Seele back!"
Dark Seele shook her head: "It's useless. Unlike big sister, Seele's body has been completely assimilated by the Sea of Quanta. The X-10 experiment gave her the power to traverse this dimension, but the power exceeded control and ultimately backfired on her own body."
"This is a story we both know. Ordinary methods cannot save her."
"...But luckily, I have good news~ Isn't big sister curious why Seele appeared here?"
"..." Bronya fell silent, recalling what Seele had said earlier about being locked in a black box and suddenly coming out.
Dark Seele continued: "The answer is—someone saved us. Of course... at a price. After the experiment failed, we drifted in empty space, searching for an exit day after day, year after year."
"Until one day, in the endless darkness, a voice found us first."
"I don't know who he is—Seele doesn't either—but he helped us leave that place."
"He also promised to let us escape the Sea of Quanta and return to the familiar reality. The only condition was to find the Core of the Herrscher of Reason for him and lift the barrier isolating reality from the Sea of Quanta."
Bronya was shocked: "What did you say?!!"
Her expression changed drastically: "The only person Bronya can think of with that power and who wants to lift the barrier—stop! You're helping the serpent break the seal!"
Dark Seele said: "Stop? Why? I don't understand. He saved us. The fact that I can stand before big sister now is also thanks to his power."
"He even promised me he would create a world where Seele can live."
"A world without the threat of Honkai, where Seele and big sister can live happily."
Bronya grew anxious: "He's just trying to escape the Sea of Quanta himself. He's only using you."
Dark Seele said in a frightened tone, pleading: "Big sister Bronya, that place is really too dark, too cold. We've been there too long. If there was another way, I wouldn't want to help him either."
"I... want to leave here!"
"I won't let anyone stop me—not even big sister!" She drew her weapon and, taking advantage of Bronya's distraction, instantly attacked and knocked her out: "Sleep, big sister Bronya. When you wake up... everything will be over..."
In her unconscious state, Bronya met Joachim again.
Knowing everything before was a trial he had given her, she strengthened her resolve and understood what she wanted to do.
This allowed her to wake once more, gaining a new power.
It was this power that blocked Seele from seizing the Core of the Herrscher of Reason.
This enraged dark Seele: "Why are you stopping me, big sister Bronya? If I fail, Seele will return to that void again..."
Bronya instantly appeared before her, blocking her path: "As long as it wishes, it can make you disappear into the Sea of Quanta at any time. This is not salvation at all."
"Bronya promised Seele she would definitely bring her back to reality. Precisely because of that, Bronya cannot place your lives in the serpent's hands."
"Bronya will use her own method to safely bring Seele out."
"Bronya must fulfill her promise to Seele."
Dark Seele slowly lowered her scythe: "I don't want to go back there for even a second, but... Seele said she's willing to wait for you. Really, I can't win against her..."
Seele weakly knelt on the ground, the red light in her eyes gradually fading.
However, at that moment.
The entire space began to shake. A monstrous giant hand rose from the abyss, black tides surged forth, swallowing Seele within.
Bronya tried to save her but could only watch as the black tide mercilessly engulfed her.
Only that voice remained: "Seele... believes in big sister Bronya..."
Seele's body gradually dissipated, turning into countless blue light points, finally merging into a blue butterfly.
The blue butterfly fluttered gently and landed on Bronya's fingertip.
It allowed her to support her battered body, step by step, struggling toward the Herrscher core. To save Seele—this was her only hope.
The images of the world bubbles flickered in the Sea of Quanta. Bronya suddenly felt as if she had walked a very long journey.
Everything was like a dream.
Everything was reality.
She walked very slowly, very slowly.
But she would keep walking.
"The Core of the Herrscher of Reason is here. Seele, I will definitely save you."
Bronya supported her right hand and reached forward. All the surrounding world bubbles shattered, and a Herrscher core appeared before her.
She exerted all her strength to grasp the core, holding it in her hand.
In that instant, terrifying Honkai energy enveloped her, madly eroding her body, countless images assaulting her mind.
The previous monster appeared again. It seemed to have been waiting for this moment, controlling Bronya, frantically crushing her body, making her lose strength and release the core.
Bronya gradually lost consciousness, her entire being falling into endless darkness.
At that moment.
The butterfly that Seele had become illuminated the darkness, landing on Bronya's fingertip.
"Seele..."
In this moment, Bronya's will overcame the core's will. Her Honkai-eroded body gradually recovered. The core's power reconstructed her clothes, and even Project Bunny was rebuilt and strengthened.
This made the monster unable to sit still any longer. It drilled out from the black abyss, roaring and bellowing, wanting to kill this thief who had stolen the core's power.
Countless attacks rained down from all directions.
But Bronya, now possessing the core's power, had become the Herrscher of Reason. She dodged and danced amid the attacks like raindrops—an elf in the black abyss. Her once inconvenient legs were fitted with wheels constructed by the core's power, making her more agile than ever before.
BMG blared. Bronya's Project Bunny combined into a motorcycle, constructing a track in this Sea of Quanta, racing freely. The monster's attacks couldn't catch up to its speed at all.
A perfect, free battle was fully embodied—this fighting style was exactly what Bronya, who had always been somewhat restricted, had fantasized about.
After evading all attacks, she aimed the motorcycle at the monster, accelerated to the maximum along the extended track, and in the most violent way, rammed and exploded the monster. Countless pre-constructed energy cannons fired in unison, completely shattering it.
This scene left all the viewers stunned.
"No way, you can fight like this? This is way too cool!"
"How did the director even think of this? Filming such an epic scene—straight-up ramming with a motorcycle?"
"Rampaging girl brutally kills ancient monster? My Bronya is just too awesome."
"Watching this kind of fight, I finally understand what freedom means. Normal people couldn't even imagine this style."
"Insane, this is so satisfying. Director, I love you to death—film more of this!"
"You got a screw loose? Didn't notice Bronya became a Herrscher? One Kiana was already hard to deal with—now with Bronya as a Herrscher, won't it be total chaos later?"
"You didn't watch the streams, huh? The streams already revealed that the Herrscher of Reason is the only one with human consciousness standing on humanity's side—so Bronya just got stronger, nothing wrong."
"Damn cool—watching this almost made me climax. Director, film more please, let me feel this good every day."
"..."
While the viewers were excited and thrilled.
Inside the Golden Courtyard, the group was also extremely excited.
SAKURA said in shock: "You can do that? How was it filmed back then? Did I not participate?"
Eden explained: "There's definitely a gap between filming conditions and the final cut, but... to come up with this scene, Hessian, you're truly a genius."
Elysia said proudly: "Of course! My husband is the best."
Hessian smiled: "Naturally—otherwise, how could I become your husband?"
Eden said helplessly: "We're watching TV— you two, tone down the PDA."
This sparked another round of laughter from everyone.
And at the same time.
A boy named Kosma was completely mesmerized by the scenes on TV, repeatedly saying "cool" while imitating riding a motorcycle to ram the monster in front of the television.
Though... what he was "riding" was just a small stool with coasters.
But this feeling already made him extremely thrilled—he was even considering buying a real motorcycle to try.
Of course!
Viewers like him were not few.
And the plot continued.
Bronya clearly felt the barrier Welt had created was slowly disappearing. She had now entered the Sea of Quanta and had to hurry—find Seele and the Desire Gem before the serpent.
Welt's voice suddenly rang out: "Well done. The Core of the Herrscher of Reason has accepted you."
Bronya said in surprise: "Mr. Welt! Great—you're okay."
Welt said: "Can't exactly say okay. Maintaining this state is my limit. Being able to speak with you is only because you've fused with the core."
Bronya said: "Hold on. Dr. Einstein will definitely find a way to save you."
Welt said urgently: "The situation in the Sea of Quanta is not good. I can sense the barrier growing increasingly fragile—it's the Desire Gem. The gem's power is constantly pressing against the barrier."
"The serpent must also covet its power. If the gem falls into its hands, we'll have no way to stop it anymore. We must act quickly."
"Go, Bronya. My power is scattered across various world bubbles. Recovering them will make the core stronger."
"This is an extremely risky gamble, but we have no other choice."
Bronya understood as well.
The serpent also wanted the gem—so in the upcoming struggle, she would surely encounter Seele imprisoned by it.
Among these countless world bubbles...
Bronya made up her mind and twisted the motorcycle throttle: "Bronya will definitely save Seele!"