On the Eve of Enigmata
Before Yuanqiao's Jade Gate stood three figures beneath the massive, tightly sealed doors.
Yuanqiao's Jade Gate was not especially different from those on the other Xianzhou ships of the Alliance.
Its enormous frame had been forged from some unknown metal, its surface etched with densely packed talismans that glimmered faintly with golden light against the dark of space.
The difference was that this gate had remained shut for five hundred and ninety-three years.
For five hundred and ninety-three years, no one had entered from outside, and no one had gone out from within.
Until today.
Fu Hua stood at the front, still dressed in plain white, her eyes hidden behind bandages, her expression unreadable.
Theresa stood beside her, her outward appearance that of a girl barely twelve or thirteen, dressed in dark-blue clothing that looked strangely out of place upon this ancient Xianzhou.
And then there was Mobius.
The three-year-old child stood behind Fu Hua, clutching tightly at the hem of her master's clothing, her eyes opened wide as she stared at the… thing moored before the Jade Gate.
It was a spaceship unlike anything Mobius had ever seen.
Its shape was completely different from the starskiffs of Yuanqiao.
She had seen Yuanqiao's starskiffs before. Even though she was only three, she had seen their illustrations in her master's study.
A starskiff, she knew, was supposed to be long and sleek, like the boats on the lake—something that could drift freely through the sea of stars beyond.
But the vessel before her now…
Mobius tilted her head and studied it seriously.
Honestly, it looked like a giant metal box.
"Master," Mobius finally blurted out.
Fu Hua turned her head slightly. "What is it?"
"Um…" Mobius raised a hand and pointed at the silver-white ship. "What is that? Is it one of the starskiffs the elders talked about?"
Fu Hua fell silent for a moment.
Then she nodded. "Yes."
Mobius frowned, her little face full of confusion.
"But the starskiffs in the picture books weren't this big. And they weren't this… this…"
She paused, searching for the proper word.
"…this ugly."
The corner of Fu Hua's mouth lifted slightly, a faint smile appearing on that half-hidden face beneath the bandages.
"That's Miss Theresa's special starskiff. It isn't one of Yuanqiao's."
Mobius blinked and shifted her gaze from the ship to the person standing beside her master.
Yes—a big sister.
In Mobius's understanding, women older than her were either aunties or big sisters.
And although this person's clothes and manner did not look childish, that face absolutely did not look old enough to be called an auntie.
"Master," Mobius asked again.
"Yes?"
"Who is this big sister?"
Fu Hua paused very slightly.
Theresa, of course, had heard the question as well. She turned, lowered her head, and looked at the tiny figure clutching Fu Hua's sleeve.
Their eyes met.
Mobius looked up at Theresa with pure curiosity in her gaze.
"...Big sister?" Theresa repeated, her tone tinged with amusement.
"General Red Kite, your little disciple certainly has a sweet tongue."
Mobius blinked, not quite understanding why this big sister suddenly looked so delighted.
Theresa reached out and lightly pinched Mobius's cheek.
"But I'm not anyone's big sister. I'm your master's friend. By seniority, you ought to call me Auntie."
Mobius looked even more puzzled.
Her gaze traveled across Theresa's face once, carefully and suspiciously. No matter how she looked at it, that face—barely twelve or thirteen—did not resemble an auntie at all.
At first, Mobius had thought her master had brought her here to meet a new friend to play with.
After all, in the General's residence, it was usually only her master or those elders who always spoke in formal, old-fashioned language. No one ever really played with her.
So Mobius lifted her head and looked to Fu Hua, clearly seeking confirmation from her master.
Fu Hua gave the faintest nod, her chin dipping slightly in silent affirmation of Theresa's words.
At that, Mobius obediently nodded too and looked back at Theresa.
"...Um, hello, Auntie."
That seemed to satisfy Theresa.
Then her gaze moved away from Mobius and back to Fu Hua.
"General Red Kite."
"Yes."
"Are you ready?" Theresa's voice suddenly turned serious.
"If there's anything you still want to say goodbye to, there's still time."
There was unmistakable meaning behind those words.
After all, this might well be the final stretch of time left to this ancient Xianzhou.
Fu Hua, too, fell silent for a moment.
Say goodbye.
The word fell from Theresa's mouth as lightly as a leaf on water.
But Fu Hua knew perfectly well what that farewell truly meant.
Yuanqiao.
After what had happened all those years ago, she had protected Yuanqiao for five hundred and ninety-three years. She had watched it pass from prosperity into decline, from blazing lights into darkness.
Those Cloud Knights. Those Vidyadhara elders. Those ordinary citizens.
The people whose names she knew, and the people whose names she did not.
When Theresa invoked Enigmata's power, they would all become history.
Not death.
Something more absolute than death.
They would be forgotten.
Erased from everyone's memory, stripped from the rings of history, turned into a kind of void that had never existed at all.
Fu Hua drew in a breath and slowly let it out.
"I'm ready."
Her voice was calm—so calm there was no hint of emotion in it, as if she were answering nothing more significant than an ordinary question.
Theresa watched her, and a trace of complexity passed through her eyes.
"General Red Kite, you really don't intend to…"
"No." Fu Hua cut her off before she could finish, her voice still level.
"In five hundred and ninety-three years, anything that needed saying was said long ago."
Theresa said nothing more. She only nodded.
Then she turned toward the silver-white ship waiting before the Jade Gate and raised her right hand. At her fingertip glimmered a faint layer of light.
That was Erudition wrapped in Enigmata.
It was also the guarantee by which she could preserve one memory beneath Enigmata's reach.
The glow was faint—so faint it was almost imperceptible. But Mobius saw it clearly.
As a Dragon Sovereign, despite being only three years old, her senses surpassed ordinary people—and even most Emanators.
She stared at the pale light on Theresa's fingertip, then glanced at her own master. Today's atmosphere, she had decided, was definitely strange.
"Master," Mobius finally said, a touch of caution in her voice.
Fu Hua lowered her head and looked at the child tugging at her sleeve.
"What is it?"
"Why… why did we come here today?"
Mobius's gaze moved from Fu Hua's face to the tightly shut Jade Gate, then to Theresa's ship, then back again.
Her small face was full of bewilderment.
"Aren't the elders always saying no one's allowed near the Jade Gate? They said the ship was sealed—that no one can leave and no one can enter."
"So why did Master bring me here today?"
Fu Hua was silent for a moment.
Then she crouched down so they were face-to-face.
"Mobius."
"Yes."
"Today, Master has a very important task to entrust to you."
Mobius blinked. "What task?"
Fu Hua did not answer right away.
Instead, she placed a hand gently on top of Mobius's head, her palm resting against the child's soft hair.
"This task is very important. And very dangerous. It may be hard. It may frighten you. It may leave you to face many things alone—things you've never faced before."
Her voice was light, as if she were speaking of something utterly commonplace.
"But Master believes in you."
"I believe you can accomplish this task. I believe you can do what Master cannot."
Mobius listened in silence, her green-blue eyes reflecting Fu Hua's face.
She did not speak. She simply waited for her master to continue.
Fu Hua inhaled once more, then slowly exhaled.
"Dragon Sovereign of Yuanqiao, Mobius… can you bear this responsibility?"
Beneath the Jade Gate, a gust of wind swept through again.
Mobius's hair fluttered in it, wisps of it sticking briefly to her cheeks.
She did not answer at once. Instead, she looked down at the little hand gripping Fu Hua's sleeve.
A small hand. Pale, delicate, the knuckles neat, the fingernails trimmed carefully.
Her master had cut them.
Fu Hua did not urge her. She simply remained crouched there, waiting for Mobius's answer.
After a while, Mobius finally lifted her head again.
Her gaze left Fu Hua's face and landed on the silver-white ship.
Its hull gleamed coldly beneath the starlight—a light utterly unlike anything in Yuanqiao, and therefore unquestionably a light from the outside world.
Then she turned and looked at the tightly closed Jade Gate.
And suddenly, her eyes lit up.
"Master! You… are you sending me outside?"
Her voice brimmed with unmistakable delight, bubbling over with barely restrained excitement.
"Are you letting me go into the outside world? On that giant metal thing?"
Fu Hua froze for a heartbeat.
She had not expected Mobius to leap to that conclusion, much less to see such transparent joy and anticipation in the child's eyes—as though she had been waiting for this day for a very, very long time.
Fu Hua was quiet for a moment.
Then she nodded slowly.
"Yes."
That single word landed in Mobius's ears like a spark falling into dry tinder.
Mobius immediately lit up.
"Really?!"
Her voice jumped another pitch higher. Her hand, which had only been gripping Fu Hua's sleeve, now seized it outright.
"Master, really? You're really letting me go out? Into the outside world?"
"Really," Fu Hua repeated.
Mobius looked ready to cheer aloud—but Fu Hua's next sentence followed without pause.
"But only you will go."
For a moment, even the wind under the Jade Gate seemed to stop.
Mobius blinked, as though struggling to process the meaning of those words.
"Just me? Master… you're not coming?"
Fu Hua shook her head. "I'm not."
"Why?" Mobius's brows drew together.
"Didn't you say this mission is important? If it's important, shouldn't Master come with me too? I can help Master—"
"Mobius." Fu Hua cut her off, her voice still even, but now weighted with seriousness.
"Master has another task to carry out."
"And this one—only Master can do. Your task is one that only you can do."
"After you go out, Master will come find you."
"Really?" Mobius's eyes brightened again.
"Really." Fu Hua nodded. "Master promises you: I will come find you."
"Then… when?"
Fu Hua was silent a moment.
"Soon."
Mobius did not ask again.
She looked once more at the silver-white ship, then at the shut Jade Gate, then back to Fu Hua's face.
After a pause, Fu Hua asked first,
"Mobius. Are you nervous?"
Mobius froze.
Then she was quiet for a while before lifting her chin, straightening slightly, and pressing her lips together.
"Master, did you forget?"
"I'm the Dragon Sovereign of Yuanqiao's Vidyadhara."
Beneath the Jade Gate, the silver-white ship had long since become a tiny point of light, swallowed into the vast sea of stars.
Fu Hua still stood there, unmoving.
"What? Still worried about your little disciple?" Theresa finally said at her side.
Truthfully, even she found all this regretful—but what had to happen would happen. There was no point lingering forever.
She continued,
"General Red Kite, don't worry."
"I built that ship myself. Let me put it this way—even if an Emanator came, destroying it would still take considerable effort."
Fu Hua said nothing.
Theresa went on anyway.
"And besides, you know your little disciple's strength better than I do."
"To be honest, I think the ones you should be worried about are all the fools out there in the galaxy. If they end up provoking your disciple…"
She trailed off and only shrugged.
"Well. If you're really that worried, then I promise you this: after Enigmata rewrites history, I'll make sure Mobius reaches the Xianzhou Alliance safely."
Fu Hua's body trembled slightly.
"She'll meet new companions. She'll find a new place to belong. She'll live well… in that future where the Alliance was never swallowed by Nihility."
Theresa's voice was steady and assured, as though she were merely stating an already settled fact.
"This is my promise to you, as Theresa Apocalypse."
Fu Hua was quiet for a long time.
Then she slowly turned around to face Theresa.
"Thank you."
Again, those same two words.
"You're welcome," Theresa replied just as flatly.
"All right. Enough sentiment."
She lifted her head, meeting Fu Hua's gaze.
"It's time for us to act."
Fu Hua paused, as though only now snapping free of some emotion she had been trapped in.
"What must I do?"
Theresa did not answer immediately.
She simply stood there.
And then—her presence changed.
It was as if the one before Fu Hua was no longer a girl of twelve or thirteen, but something older, deeper, more ancient than appearances allowed.
Theresa opened her eyes.
The pale irises that had once seemed ordinary were now a bottomless silver-white.
A vast aura of Enigmata unfurled from her.
Fu Hua's body shivered.
Theresa did not need to explain any further. Fu Hua's body reacted before her mind caught up.
She summoned the Hunt's true bow-manifestation.
In that instant, the causality of Hunt and the essence of Enigmata fused completely.
Theresa raised her right hand. The faint light at her fingertips had become a sheet of silver-white radiance.
She stepped forward and gently pressed her palm against Fu Hua's forehead.
"Leave the rest to me."
Fu Hua tried to speak, but before any words could escape her lips, some unseen power cut them off.
It was not suppression.Not restraint.
It was…
forgetting.
Those memories.Those images.Everything she had protected for five hundred and ninety-three years—
It began to peel away from her consciousness.
It was hidden.Buried somewhere deeper still.
Buried in a place beyond the reach of Enigmata itself.
The scene spun once more.
Endless images flooded the viewers' eyes.
Herta appeared once again in a study, her fingers running over mountains of documents as her gaze skimmed line after line of text.
Then, in her calm voice, she said:
"This is everything I have discovered—every truth concerning the Enigmata."
"Let me state this clearly one more time: Kallen Kaslana is indeed an extraordinarily dangerous woman."
"And as for that General Red Kite… I have little I can say except that she was unquestionably a commander worthy of admiration."
"Enigmata erased only Yuanqiao. It erased only that one Xianzhou ship."
"But what about Theresa?"
"In the current history, in every record I can find, her name does not exist."
"And yet… after uncovering the truth behind the Enigmata, one question still remains."
"The final part of the story—Theresa Apocalypse…"
Herta lifted her head and looked out toward the stars beyond the window.
"Where did she go?"
"It is almost as if…"
"She never existed at all."
"Herta spoke again, softly:"
"Theresa Apocalypse—where did you go?"
"In that rewritten past… what exactly did you do?"
She paused, then added in a matter-of-fact tone:
"…Well. I suppose I'll leave that question for the next research report."
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