"Because beneath the vast firmament, I have never considered myself humble." Shun spoke with righteous conviction, but right after saying it, he felt a twinge of regret.
This kind of line might bluff a child or someone who didn't know him well, but the key point was that Misteln knew he had been a complete noob just one month ago. Saying something so pretentious in front of her didn't it feel a bit shameless?
After finishing, Shun scratched his head, not daring to turn back and look at Misteln's expression. As a transmigrator, he unconsciously brought in his understanding of characters from playing the game's story, but Misteln was precisely someone he had never seen in the plot. His understanding of Misteln came purely from the month they had spent together.
The atmosphere became a little awkward. After a long while, Shun finally heard Misteln clapping and saying, "What an incredible way of thinking. Perhaps this is the biggest difference between me and humanity… As an Archetype, I cannot understand the innate romance and emotions humans are born with. Everything about me comes from transcription and imitation. Thank you."
"You've also shown me humanity's optimism, positivity, and unyielding resilience. Perhaps one day, I really can witness humanity defeating Honkai without needing to activate the Stigmata Project. I look forward to that day."
Misteln suddenly understood this must be what belief feels like. Just like back then, when Alexandra knew that even if she gave up her Stigmata, the chance of her unborn Bronya surviving was extremely slim, as a mother she still resolutely chose to abandon near-eternal life so Bronya could have a chance to be born.
Perhaps the voice in Alexandra's heart back then was the same as the one Shun had when he spoke those words. Not everything in this world can be summarized by cold mathematical probabilities.
Maybe I shouldn't give up either. Perhaps I can try asking Gray Serpent to search Siberia again for news of Bronya. With Alexandra's blessing, she might not die so easily.
Just as the possibility of humanity defeating Honkai was near zero, the wise and rational Dr. Mei still placed her hopes on the Project Stigma and Project MANTIS before settling on the Stigmata Project as the worst-case plan.
"Only because beneath the vast firmament, I have never considered myself humble? Shun, perhaps you really can create miracles. You, who possess an Archetype (Stigmata) that even I cannot see through, might truly have as you said the qualification to treat the stars in the sky (Honkai) as your enemy."
Shun hadn't expected his empty words to stir such waves in Misteln's heart. He had thought such talk would seem laughable to someone as rational as Misteln.
"No, Shun. What's laughable is anyone who would mock you for having such a mindset." Misteln spoke as if she had read his thoughts. Then she continued: "Speaking of which, as your teacher this month, I've been somewhat negligent. As a natural Archetype, I've only taught you combat knowledge. Come here."
Shun obediently did as told, but the next moment he was firmly pulled into Misteln's embrace. The faint fragrance of mountain lilies entered his nose, and the wonderfully soft sensation that seemed to pull him in made Shun's body stiffen, frozen in place.
Coach, I want to report her she's charging with the ball!
Misteln felt Shun's rigid, robot-like state and softly said, "Relax. Let me see how we can develop your Stigmata…" If Misteln had to evaluate Shun's Stigmata, it would be "miraculous." She had never encountered anything so close to the origin of the Imaginary.
She couldn't do it probably not even the Herrscher Cores could. Shun's Stigmata seemed to link directly to the most primitive authority of the Imaginary. All Misteln could do was guide Shun to sense its mysteries himself, using the Honkai energy in her body energy even Herrschers would envy to forcibly half-activate the still-dormant Stigmata. The rest would be up to Shun.
"Do you feel it, Shun? Your Stigmata is awakening. But I've only used a shortcut to forcibly half-activate it. Whether you can truly fully activate it in the end depends on you."
Shun nodded. True full activation was probably like the innate Stigmata awakeners such as the silly goose's Tianyuan or Li Sushang. In a way, Seele seemed to be a natural Stigmata awakener too, but… unlike the silly goose, Seele was a Stand user.
At that moment, something unexpected happened. With Shun at the center, golden Imaginary energy surged outward continuously. A phenomenon of Imaginary overflow which should not exist in this world briefly appeared.
"Huh? What is this?" Shun was a bit dazed. No one had told him that awakening a Stigmata would cause something like this. Misteln, Misteln, save me Shun could already feel his body constantly imaginarizing, detaching from the four-dimensional space of the real world.
"Damn it, what's going on? Why is a human body continuously imaginarizing? This is impossible!" For the first time, a panicked expression appeared on Misteln's usually calm, still-water-like face. The scene before her undoubtedly triggered her own PTSD. Back in Siberia, she too had suddenly entered the Stigmata space, never to see Alexandra one last time.
"Shun!" Misteln tried to grab Shun in her arms, but real numbers and imaginary numbers cannot interfere with each other. She could only watch helplessly as Shun turned into Imaginary and vanished before her eyes.
Without hesitation, Misteln "committed suicide." As an immortal being, death would only return her to the Stigmata space and the Stigmata space happened to lie within the Imaginary. Perhaps this way she could find him…
After a farce like this, the two who had just opened their hearts to each other completely vanished from the real world. As the saying goes, you never know whether tomorrow or an accident will come first.
"What the hell is this? Is this still in the country?" Unlike Misteln's panic, Shun's emotions were relatively stable after imaginarization. Because not long before this happened, he had just been thinking about Seele and his current situation was strikingly similar to hers. The only difference was that he didn't come with a built-in Dark Seele armor.
Misteln had no idea where she went. He had suddenly disappeared surely she would be very worried. But Shun probably never imagined that Misteln would commit suicide on the spot to come find him.
"This doesn't seem like the Imaginary space either." Shun looked left and right; this place didn't feel like the Imaginary space as shown in the game. It even felt a bit like the Sea of Quanta?
At that moment, a soft, timid, weak voice came from behind him. "E-excuse me… Um, sir, do you know how to get out of here?"