Kiana did not respond.
She would not waver because of anything the puppet said.
Yet the puppet let out a burst of laughter: "But the malice in human hearts will never disappear… Kiana… you'll understand very soon… No… you've always understood…"
"The trials waiting for you… there are still so many…"
"…"
"Ah… ah… he's coming…"
"The golden threads… they've already wrapped around me…"
The puppet lowered its head, fell silent, and quietly awaited its end.
Toward the final puppet, toward the theater that had already taken its final bow—
Kiana swung her sword down.
With that.
The battle against the Herrscher of Domination finally came to a close.
But this episode of the drama was not yet over.
Time skipped ahead a few weeks.
A few faint clouds drifted motionless in the sky, as though solemnly paying their respects from above.
A gentle breeze passed over the grass, carrying a soft rustling like whispered prayers beside their ears.
"Today we gather here to commemorate a shared friend — a hero forever."
Theresa stood at the front, solemnly regarding everyone present. Behind her, on a marble platform, rested a broken greatsword.
"I will not recount her life story, nor list her contributions."
"Because everyone here has already witnessed them."
"I only wish to share with you all a fragment of time I spent together with her."
"When I first met her, she was just an ordinary member of a Valkyrie strike team."
"Back then her eyes were full of youthful innocence, just like we once were."
"But after one particular mission, that look in her eyes changed."
"At that time, she had many paths she could have taken."
"I merely offered her one more—"
"I sent her an invitation letter to St. Freya Academy."
"But not long after, I started to regret it a little."
"As a teacher, she was sometimes late to class, sometimes didn't return at night, sometimes showed up hungover."
"I confiscated piles of things from her — enough to fill an entire storage room."
"Even though the students all loved her, I could only sigh quietly. No one was less like a proper teacher than she was."
"…"
Theresa closed her eyes. Those days still flashed vividly before her.
"But it was precisely such a teacher who saved her own student."
"It was precisely such a teacher who taught us the meaning of comrades, the meaning of battle, the meaning of ideals."
"And also the meaning of beauty."
"There has never been a better teacher than her."
Theresa turned to face the marble platform.
"Himeko, this is a bottle of fine wine. When I confiscated it back then, you were sad for a very long time."
"Now, it's time to return it to its rightful owner."
She placed the bottle of red wine on the marble platform and stepped aside.
The soft wind continued its murmured confession, causing even the young blades of grass to bow their heads in silence.
Kiana slowly walked forward and gazed at the shattered sword for a long while.
That sword had once brushed past her. She could still faintly hear the sound of it breaking.
"…"
She tightly gripped the container of serum in her hand.
"I once lost my way and made mistakes. I once lost myself in fear…"
"In the darkness, it was you who lit up the sky for me, illuminating the path forward on the quietest of nights."
"You taught me how to move forward."
"Teacher Himeko."
"The sky you left behind is still clear. We will continue walking along the road you opened for us."
"..."
The wind had ceased its prayers. The surroundings fell into complete silence.
One by one, people stepped forward and placed their own memories on the marble platform.
Everyone was immersed in the past that had passed away, speaking very little until the very end.
At some point the few clouds had vanished. The sky remained clear and azure until the stars filled the night.
That night, Kiana slept without dreams.
…
Mei raised her head to look at the night sky.
Tonight the stars shone more brilliantly than ever, turning the sky into a shimmering field of stardust.
After confirming no one was around, she walked toward the broken sword.
The marble platform was surrounded by clusters of flowers and intertwined memories from everyone.
Mei gave a slight bow and approached the front.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Himeko."
"I'm sorry for coming to see you alone at a time like this."
Mei stood quietly for a while, seemingly weighing the words in her mouth.
She had many things she wanted to say, yet felt that once some words were spoken, they would lose their original meaning.
"I have always kept your teachings in my heart, and that is what made my choices even firmer."
"You told me how to protect someone, how to live true to my own life."
"And I did exactly that."
Mei took a deep breath.
There were some words she still did not want to say at this moment.
"Rather than words, perhaps proving it to you through actions would be better?"
She offered a bouquet of fresh flowers to the stone platform.
"Thank you, Teacher Himeko."
"Being your student is my greatest honor."
She bowed once more. With those words, she gently stirred the night air and the marble platform.
Then she disappeared into the starry night.
The ending theme of Honkai Impact 3rd began to play.
This episode officially concluded.
But the viewers in front of their screens were unwilling to leave for a long time.
In the official chat group:
"Teacher Himeko, rest in peace!"
"Wuwuwuwu, Teacher Himeko, your students have all grown up. Rest in peace."
"It hurts… it really hurts so much. You were the best teacher!"
"You really were the most perfect, the very best teacher. Teacher Himeko, rest in peace."
"Teacher Himeko, don't worry — I'm going to send that damn Otto and the damn director to accompany you right now. One of them is dying today!"
"No matter what happens this time, I will absolutely not let the damn director get away."
"Fuck, he really stabbed me to death. I'm heading to Fire Moth Interstellar Entertainment Company right now!!"
"I'm already near the company. I've blocked the main gate. That damn director is definitely not escaping."
"Charge!!! Kill the director! Avenge Teacher Himeko!!"
"KILL!!!"
"…"
At the same time.
Inside the company, Kalpas silently watched the scene of Himeko's funeral to the end.
He could no longer suppress the rage inside him: "Director!! Where's that damn director!? I'm killing him today!!"
With that, he broke through SAKURA's blockade and charged straight out of the break room.
Mobius immediately turned to Elysia: "Ellie, aren't you going to stop him? He's about to kill your husband!"
Elysia replied: "Don't worry. My husband has a way. I believe in him."
Mobius was about to say something else.
When suddenly the sound of slogans came from outside the company:
"Kill Otto! Kill the damn director!"
"Kill Otto! Kill the damn director!"
"Kill Otto! Kill the damn director!"
"…"
The slogans grew louder and closer, the voices multiplying — clearly more and more people were joining as the crowd approached the company.
Mobius's face paled: "Ellie!! This isn't about trust anymore! All the viewers want to kill your husband!!"
Elysia remained calm: "Don't worry~ My husband has a plan. This isn't the first time he's dealt with something like this."
SAKURA asked: "You're not… still mad at Director Hessian, are you?"
Elysia shook her head seriously: "Of course not. When I'm mad at him, it's just our little couple's thing. I would never ignore his safety over that. I trust him because he's my husband. He definitely has a way to handle this. Everyone, don't worry."
Pardofelis peeked out the window and immediately shrank back trembling: "Ellie-nee… there are so many people. It's pitch black outside — everyone's holding weapons…"
Hearing that,
Himeko also glanced outside.
She said in surprise: "My goodness, so many people. The audience really loves me that much? I almost feel like… dying might not be so bad after all?"
BAM!
Theresa jumped up and smacked her on the head: "Don't talk nonsense! This is disrespectful to the character. Everyone gathered here because they love her and don't want her to really die. How can you say something like that?"
"Sorry, sorry… I just didn't realize I meant so much to the audience." Himeko realized she had spoken carelessly, but she was genuinely moved and happy.
As an actress, to have the character she portrayed affect the audience to this extent — no matter the cost, it was all worth it.
Seeing this scene, Kiana felt the same way. During filming she had cried, grieved, even nearly fallen into depression. But now… she felt everything had been worth it.
"Seeing this, I'm going to put even more heart into acting the next episode. I definitely won't disappoint the audience."
Mei nodded as well: "Yeah. We really have to thank Director Hessian. He let us witness this moment and turned us into characters loved by countless people."
Bronya spoke up: "Although… what you're saying makes sense, but these people are here to kill the director. Is it really okay to just stand here feeling moved? Shouldn't we go help the director?"
Kiana waved her hand: "Don't worry. These are our cute audience members who love us — they won't really kill the director. Besides, after knifing us for so long, it's fine to let them scare him a little!"
Her words instantly received agreement from all the actors present.
Almost everyone who had appeared in the show had been knifed at some point. Even those who hadn't been directly knifed had been stabbed to death emotionally while watching together.
They had just cried until their tears ran dry.
Now it was just letting the damn director face a little threat and scare — no big deal.
And moreover… in their eyes, these audience members were really quite adorable…
Meanwhile.
On the rooftop.
Hessian looked down at the pitch-black sea of people below and was genuinely frightened.
Holy shit!
The audience in this world is way too terrifying! They just grab machetes and come for real violence at the drop of a hat.
And the way they're cursing him is insanely vicious.
He could already imagine — if he fell down there in front of this mob, a single spit from each person could drown him.
If everyone wanted to vent and each landed one punch, he'd be beaten into hand-chopped human meatballs.
How can there be such terrifying viewers!
BANG BANG BANG!!
The door to the rooftop suddenly shook with heavy pounding.
Kalpas's voice came through: "Damn director, I know you're out there! Open the door — I'm going to knife you!"
Uh…
Hessian hadn't expected to be found even while hiding here.
Was he really not going to escape this time?
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The pounding turned into full-body slams — each one scarier than the last…
Fortunately, Hessian had prepared in advance. Not only were there three locks on the door, he had also barricaded it with heavy objects. This bought him enough time to think of a countermeasure.
At that moment.
A drone suddenly flew up.
It belonged to Li Suchang, the clip creator for the Honkai Impact 3rd drama. She loved editing Honkai videos the most. After watching the previous episode, she had cried her eyes out and joined the main group to come cause trouble for Hessian.
She was currently livestreaming, letting distant viewers participate in this campaign to hunt down the damn director.
While the drone was capturing an overhead shot, it accidentally panned over someone on the rooftop. People in the live chat immediately started shouting that the damn director was on the roof.
She redirected the drone back to the rooftop.
It hovered directly two meters in front of Hessian.
"He's on the roof!"
She shouted.
Countless viewers looked up toward the rooftop.
Though the company building was only four stories tall, the first and second floors were filming studios, so the actual height was nearly 20 meters.
The crowd below stared upward for a long while but couldn't see anyone. However, some viewers in Li Suchang's livestream roughly figured out his position and started throwing whatever they held in their hands toward the roof.
"Damn director! Get out here!"
"Fuck! Damn director, come out! If you've got the guts, don't hide!"
"You had the guts to kill Teacher Himeko, but now you don't dare face us?!"
"Come out! Get the hell out here!"
"Fuck your mom! I just wanted to watch some TV, and every week you make me cry multiple times."
"Give me back Teacher Himeko!! Give Teacher Himeko back!!"
"…"
Countless objects flew toward the rooftop.
Kalpas, seeing that he couldn't break the door, had already grabbed a chainsaw from the prop room and charged up.
In the break room.
The actors were watching Kalpas and Li Suchang's livestream.
Mobius said: "This is what you call cute audience members? They're trying to smash him to death on one side, and there's a chainsaw breaking down the door on the other. Is he really going to survive today?"
Eden said worriedly: "Ellie, I think you should call and get a divorce right now. Otherwise you're about to become a widow."
Kosma sighed: "I haven't even gotten to appear yet, haven't become a hero… Is this drama really going to end like this?"
Aponia couldn't watch anymore: "SAKURA, let's go stop Kalpas together. Kevin, you come too!"
SAKURA thought about her bodyguard duties and followed Aponia and Kevin toward the rooftop.
Kiana was starting to worry too: "Director Hessian isn't… really going to die, right?"
Mei said: "Probably not?"
Bronya said: "Only now you're worried? But it's fine — SAKURA and Aponia went to stop him, right? As long as they hold Kalpas back…"
Before she could finish.
Kalpas had already sawed through the rooftop door and charged inside.
"It's over!"
That was everyone's instinctive first thought.
But Elysia still showed no worry — because she saw that confident smile on her husband's face.
Sure enough!
The moment Kalpas rushed out.
Hessian suddenly stepped onto the railing, facing the audience below and the drone in front of him.
He declared: "Right here, right now, I want to announce something!"
The entire crowd fell silent.
Everyone was extremely curious — what announcement could the director possibly have at a time like this?
With a confident smile, he said: "In light of the audience's passionate requests, and the actors' sincere demands, I, Hessian, hereby announce — the next episode will be Otto's finale. He will meet his ultimate end."
Upon hearing this.
Everyone exploded with excitement.
"Otto's gonna die? That damn Otto is finally going to die?!"
"Good good good good!! I've waited so long for this day. I'm definitely watching the next episode no matter what!"
"Damn director, if you'd been this sensible earlier, none of this would've happened! Did you really have to force us to threaten you?"
"That's more like it! Damn Otto should've died ages ago. Only when he's dead can we forgive you."
"This trip was worth it! Otto's finally dying, hahahaha."
"Damn director, make sure Otto dies horribly."
"…"
Countless people cheered below.
On the rooftop, Kalpas was completely stunned by those words.
Aponia and SAKURA, who had caught up, temporarily restrained him.
Hessian spoke again: "Die? No! Death is far too light to atone for the evil he's committed. What he will face is annihilation — erasure — obliteration from the entire Imaginary Tree, wiped from countless world bubbles!"
"YES!!!"
"That's how it should be!!"
"Director, I love you!"
"This is our good director!"
"Support! It should be exactly like this — Otto deserves exactly this kind of ending!"
In an instant, the furious crowd turned into a cheering, celebrating mob.
Both livestream rooms erupted in joy.
In the break room.
Mobius frowned slightly. She prided herself on understanding Hessian — he was not the type of man who would compromise. And if he had planned to run from the beginning… why go to the rooftop…
Could it be… this entire scene was his plan all along?