As the Moonlight Throne deployed, the Hyperion also resounded with the sound of energy converging, like ten thousand turbines spinning simultaneously.
Einstein: "System control, ready!"
Tesla: "Output control, ready!"
Einstein: "Orbital control, ready~!"
Einstein: "Target, locked!"
Einstein: "Distance error, adjustment complete."
Tesla: "Moonlight Throne—fire!!"
A beam of white light shot toward the light curtain like lightning. With a deafening roar, an obvious breach appeared there.
Tesla said excitedly: "…Excellent, test shot successful!"
Theresa immediately asked over comms: "Kiana, how's it looking on your side?"
Kiana said: "No problem, we can directly see the breach on the light curtain!"
Tesla immediately said: "Then no time to waste, we'll prepare a higher power output right away—"
"Wait, Dr. Tesla. Something's wrong!" Bronya hurriedly interrupted her.
Tesla asked: "What is it?"
Kiana said in a shocked tone: "The light curtain… it's repairing itself at an astonishing speed!"
Theresa was also shocked: "It repaired itself?"
Tesla clicked her tongue: "Tch, damn it, it really isn't that simple, huh? Looks like that guy didn't just prepare this damn barrier—he even thought of ways to repair it! Or rather… is even this part of his authority?"
"Bird nest head, and that Nagamitsu over there—based on the test shot just now, have you calculated the light curtain's threshold?"
Einstein said: "Of course, Dr. Tesla. Now there's good news and bad news."
Tesla was getting impatient: "Ah? At a time like this you're still playing this game? Just say it already!"
Einstein said: "The good news is that the Moonlight Throne's attack was indeed effective, and we've obtained the exact energy threshold. But the bad news is that the energy threshold is extremely high—even if we use up the remaining 80% of the Hyperion's energy, it still won't be enough to completely destroy that light curtain."
Nagamitsu added: "And if the entire light curtain cannot be completely destroyed, it will regenerate on its own, just as Miss Kiana saw."
Tesla said in disbelief: "What? Didn't we create a breach with just 20% energy?"
Einstein said: "But even if we pour in four times the energy, we would only create a larger breach—it still wouldn't outpace its self-repair speed."
"—Let alone thoroughly destroy it."
Nagamitsu also said: "To completely destroy the light curtain, we would need at least five times the total Honkai energy stored on the entire Hyperion, all at once."
Einstein said: "Leaving aside how we would even concentrate that much energy onto the Hyperion for simultaneous use…"
"The power level required by that theoretical value already exceeds the maximum output the Moonlight Throne is capable of firing."
Kiana said: "In other words… the plan to use the Moonlight Throne is actually not feasible?"
Einstein said: "Unfortunately, I have to admi—"
Before she could finish.
Bronya directly interrupted: "Wait! Dr. Einstein! Perhaps both of the things you mentioned are good news."
Tesla was puzzled: "Ha? Huh? How do you turn bad news into good news? Are you going to magically conjure up a few more Moonlight Thrones out of thin air?"
Bronya nodded: "Yes! Exactly that."
"What? You're serious…" Tesla trailed off halfway, then a crazy possibility appeared in her mind: "Wait, are you saying…"
"Mm." Bronya admitted: "Use the authority of the Herrscher of Reason to construct a Moonlight Throne array with sufficient power."
The moment these words were spoken.
Every combatant present was stunned.
The idea was far too insane.
And far too unbelievable!
Kiana quickly asked: "Is something like that… even possible?"
Bronya said: "Of course it's very difficult. After all, this is something even Mr. Welt has never accomplished. But… this is also the method most worth trying right now."
"…Bronya, have confidence in yourself."
Theresa thought for a moment and still tried to persuade her: "Bronya, perhaps we should first consider other feasible plans…"
Bronya said: "Don't worry, Principal. Bronya knows what she's doing."
Kiana also asked somewhat worriedly: "Is it really going to be okay?"
Bronya said: "Idiot, haven't you done this kind of thing plenty of times before? You can do it, but others can't?"
Hearing this, Kiana could only say: "Alright, I believe in you, Bronya."
Einstein also said: "We understand over here. Bronya, the scene is yours to command."
Tesla said: "We'll perform a second—and final—charge for the Moonlight Throne on the Hyperion, and coordinate the attack with your command."
"After all, since we're doing this—"
Einstein continued: "—every single person in Anti-Entropy must live up to the faith of the Herrscher of Reason."
"Understood!"
Bronya looked at the people beside her: "Kiana, Seele, and Rozaliya and Liliya, I'm counting on you to cover Bronya—"
"This construction involves an extremely massive scope. Bronya does not wish to be—and cannot be—interrupted by any circumstances."
Everyone agreed one after another.
They each took up a position to guard Bronya, preventing any Honkai beasts or other anomalies from approaching her.
As the Herrscher of Reason's core was gradually filled with external energy, Bronya also began to feel her consciousness slowly merging deeper into the core.
She knew that as long as she maintained this state, she would sense that place…
The very place where three hundred thousand stone statues were buried—the deepest part of the core.
There, she received acknowledgment.
In an instant, countless soul fragments surged into Bronya's consciousness like a tidal wave.
These souls had walked different paths from Bronya, experienced different hesitations and uncertainties.
But in the end, they made the same decision as Bronya: to protect this world that belongs to humanity.
And it was precisely this decision that tightly intertwined their fates with Bronya's in this moment.
"Mmm…"
The thoughts of three hundred thousand people, along with their temperaments, flooded in together.
Some were resolute, some brave, some cautious, some immature—
And Bronya also sensed that among them were the powers her companions had given her before.
Lively and mischievous like ocean waves—that was Rozaliya and Liliya's power.
Still young, yet reliable.
Blue and clear like the sky, yet full of tolerance and vastness.
Needless to say, that was Seele's power.
Warm and gentle like the sun, illuminating the path ahead like the moon.
That was Kiana's power—she had always been guiding everyone.
Beyond that, there were thousands upon thousands of thoughts, thousands upon thousands of wills, filling Bronya's mind, tearing at her soul.
"Ughhh…"
A stream of nouns flashed through her mind at high speed.
Humanity, Herrscher, Honkai, civilization.
Peace, war, violence, tenderness.
The mental anguish did not last as long as she had imagined.
She gradually grasped the waves of those thoughts, learning to stand atop them like a master of the tides.
She understood that it was precisely the accumulation of these millions of beliefs, the sedimentation of millions of moments, that could converge into one blazing yet pure conviction—
Humanity will change the world with its own will.
The authority of the Herrscher of Reason unfolded at an unimaginable speed on the other side of the singularity.
Even a weapon she had only observed a few times.
Even a device whose principles she had not fully comprehended.
—The complete authority of a Herrscher did not care about such things.
As long as the creation that served as the target could ultimately be reached by mortal hands.
Any miracle that civilization could achieve, any shore that civilization could reach…
The Herrscher of Reason could recreate it in an instant.
"One person's power may not be strong enough."
"The thoughts of three hundred thousand people may not be rich enough."
"But at this moment, Bronya is the true Herrscher of Reason—"
"Bronya will, on behalf of human civilization, challenge Honkai!"
"Moonlight Throne, sixfold power… construction begins!"
Before her, six Moonlight Thrones manifested, all aimed at the light curtain.
"Fire!"
A colossal roar shook the very earth.
Under the combined impact of the two energy streams from the Herrscher of Reason and the Hyperion, the light curtain shattered completely in an instant, leaving not even a trace capable of recovery.
Kiana said excitedly: "…It worked!"
Thud~
In midair, Bronya powerlessly fell to the ground.
"Bronya-neesama!" Seele hurriedly rushed over and held Bronya in her arms: "Bronya-neesama!!"
Bronya had lost consciousness.
Creating Moonlight Thrones out of thin air… after challenging something no previous Herrscher of Reason had ever accomplished, her body and mind were now completely exhausted.
Seele felt that Bronya's breathing in her arms was faint, as if her soul could dissipate at any moment.
"Neesama, Bronya-neesama!"
She kept calling out.
Kiana also came to her side: "Bronya, hang in there!"
Rozaliya was so worried she was nearly in tears: "What do we do—Is Bronya-neesama going to die?!"
Liliya said: "Don't talk nonsense, Rozaliya!"
Seele said worriedly: "How could this be… Isn't there anything we can do…"
Dark Seele was also anxious: "Tch—Seele, switch with me! Isn't there something right next to you that can save Bronya?!"
Seele was confused: "Eh?"
She looked to the side: "That's… Abyss Flower?"
"But… putting other problems aside… we don't even know how to use it?"
Dark Seele said: "…It's fine, Seele. Trust me."
Seele asked: "You… can really control it?"
Dark Seele said: "I feel an indescribable familiarity with this weapon. It seems like my power has formed some kind of resonance with it."
"I think… perhaps I originally knew how to use it."
Seele nodded: "I understand. But please, let me come along too."
Dark Seele said: "—Is now really the time to argue about this?!"
Seele quickly said: "No… I mean, I can feel it… you seem to be pushing yourself too hard."
"...Ah?!" Dark Seele was puzzled.
Seele continued: "You may indeed know how to use its power, but when it comes to the price that using this power demands, you don't have much confidence…"
"…You actually don't know whether your own power alone will be enough to save Bronya-neesama."
"So please, let me help you too. Let's save Bronya-neesama together."
Dark Seele said helplessly: "Sigh, I'm really helpless against you."
"Listen carefully. I'm going to try drawing out the unique power of this weapon in a moment—you'd better follow my steps, sense that power, and help guide it toward Bronya."
Seele said: "No problem, I'll do my best."
Dark Seele said: "Then, I'm starting."
The girl closed her eyes, following the guidance of the other self within her heart…
She sensed Bronya's life force in her arms, and also perceived the wondrous yet familiar power not far away.
She wove the power into threads, connecting the two.
"The rest is up to you, my other self." At the very end… Dark Seele left those words.
"Did it work?"
Seele felt Bronya's breathing begin to stabilize, her heartbeat growing stronger.
"Bronya… neesama!"
Bronya opened her eyes weakly: "See…le…?"
"…"
Bronya lost consciousness once more.
However, Seele could sense—this was merely a deep sleep caused by extreme exhaustion.
"That's great… Bronya-neesama, you're okay… Thank you, Seele…"
"…?"
The voice of Dark Seele that she remembered did not come.
"Seele?"
She waited a long time but received no reply from within.
?!
"My other self? Are you okay?! My other self!"
"…"
"..."
"…Tch." Dark Seele's weak voice finally came: "So noisy. I'm fine."
Seele was relieved: "You're okay, that's great."
Dark Seele said: "…I suddenly got tired for some reason."
"The cost consumed by this Abyss Flower—should we call it life force? Anyway, that price really was different from what I imagined."
"But…"
"By the way, weren't you pretty worried just now~?"
Seele said: "Of course! You can't scare me like that again next time!"
Dark Seele was dumbfounded.
She completely didn't understand—how did Seele just admit it straight up?
How was she supposed to respond to that now?
Seele was still pressing: "—Did you hear me, Seele?"
Dark Seele said: "…Fine, fine, yes, yes, yes. I'm the most obedient Seele. From now on I'll listen to everything—"
Seeing this.
The audience also finally relaxed.
The reason was simple.
They had been genuinely terrified by Honkai Impact 3rd's plot twists, afraid that Dark Seele would get killed off here. After all, everyone had been pressuring the dog director to kill off Otto—if he wanted revenge, casually killing off someone else would be perfectly normal.
Now that everyone was fine, the chat group immediately became lively again.
"Damn, this plot scared the hell out of me. At first I thought Bronya was gonna die, then I thought Dark Seele was gonna die. Thank god neither died."
"Same here, I've really been traumatized by the knives. This dogshit plot!"
"Good thing the director didn't dare go wild with the knives this time. Everyone's alive and well."
"Speaking of which… this Abyss Flower, it couldn't have been deliberately left here by Otto, right?"
"Now that you mention it, it really might be. Otto wouldn't just casually take out Abyss Flower and leave it lying around for no reason, would he?"
"Holy crap!! Now that you say it, yeah—that guy came out of the church just to plant Abyss Flower. Otherwise there was no reason for him to come out at all."
"Yeah, yeah, at the time he didn't even want to fight Kiana. He just planted Abyss Flower and went back in."
"Holy shit, this scheming dog Otto is terrifying. Everything really is within his calculations?"
"Think about it—Bronya and Otto have never had any conflict. He has no reason to target her. He must have deliberately left it outside for them to use."
"6666666! This is the first time I've truly felt how terrifying Otto is. It feels like everything is within his calculations."
"Otto even calculated this step and deliberately left Abyss Flower. I have to bow down—this is already invincible."
"I'm seriously starting to doubt what Otto said earlier was fake. If he even left Abyss Flower to save people, how could he possibly kill everyone in the world?"
"Yeah, now I'm really curious about what kind of person Otto actually is. I thought I already understood him, but now I feel like I don't understand him at all."
"…"
At this moment.
Countless viewers felt even more confused about Otto.
They had thought that, standing from a god's-eye view and seeing so many of his memories, they already understood him.
But at this moment… they found him even more unfamiliar.
Otto… what kind of person is he exactly?
This question lingered persistently in the minds of the audience.
But the plot on the screen didn't give them much time to think.
Kiana's startled cry immediately drew all the viewers' attention back to the television screen.
"?!!"
"Wait… what is that? A Barrier!"