Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

"...No, it should have worked, but not on that brat Herrscher."

Melutina understood immediately. She looked at the data on the screen, her expression turning somewhat grim.

"But we had at least two opportunities to take her down. What happened?"

"It is speculated that..."

Dr. Einstein smiled wryly.

"Otto did it."

"...Attempting to seize power from the gods? Or to gain knowledge? What a miscalculation."

Melutina's expression was unpleasant from the very beginning.

“Hua’s memory is malfunctioning, no, Hua doesn’t know much about that will either… Is this inevitable? Or…”

"It's like we're all wooden ogres performing on a stage following a pendulum, which is really unpleasant."

Dr. Einstein's expression wasn't much better.

"...How about a sacrifice?"

"The civilian casualties were huge. On the Anti-Entropy side, because they mostly used mechs and Yang fought bravely, apart from Yang who suffered fatal wounds multiple times, there were no major casualties. But on the Destiny side..."

Dr. Einstein hesitated for a moment and said,

"The Snow Wolf Squad, the ace Valkyrie unit of Destiny, has been completely wiped out."

"...All wiped out? What about Cheng Lixue?"

Melutina's expression turned even uglier.

"It seems he was killed while covering for Ms. Fu Hua."

Dr. Einstein sighed.

“What about Patrick? I remember he was Yang’s spy planted in Destiny.”

"She was the first to sacrifice herself. Apart from that, Salome is confirmed dead, and Nicholas and Shigure Kira are missing, presumably having met with misfortune as well."

Dr. Tesla decided to deliver the bad news all at once.

"And even Cecilia... died from the Honkai Fission Bomb launched by Schicksal headquarters."

"That bastard Otto..."

Melutina bit her thumb, and blood trickled down the back of her hand.

"How many innocent people will he have to sacrifice for Karen alone?"

"Siegfried survived and has kept in touch with us, it seems..."

Dr. Einstein delivered some news that was barely considered good.

"He seems to have given up on destiny and Otto."

"No matter what..."

Melutina placed her hand on the transparent core, and her gloomy expression eased somewhat.

"Yang being alive is better than anything else... at least for me."

"Yes."

Dr. Tesla lowered his head and spoke softly, his voice trembling with barely suppressed emotion.

"After all, we never want to see... a man with the name Walter sacrifice himself again."

Dr. Einstein turned his head.

"This Honkai has left a huge scar on the world, but your return gives us a new deterrent."

"No organization can stay true to its original mission forever. We must try our best to keep the anti-entropy the same as it was originally."

Melutina, however, remained noncommittal.

"Perhaps this is more important than the struggle against fate."

"Crisis will exacerbate the darkness, just like the pre-civilization you experienced."

Dr. Einstein nodded.

"But as far as Anti-Entropy is concerned, as long as the person leading this organization is still named Walter, then at least I firmly believe that all darkness can be overcome."

.........

quantum sea

"...Darkness is inevitable, and sacrifice is etched in the hearts of the survivors."

Kevin stood beneath the linden tree, the spot where he had fallen, and also the man's favorite view.

“Su, you and they all believe that darkness will be overcome, and that goodwill will ultimately triumph over reason. I cannot be like you, but…”

Kevin slowly sat down, leaning against the Bodhi tree, just like the enlightened one he once was.

"Behind countless roads, is there the one and only one you hope for?"

Time will tell. If that day ever comes, the errors will belong only to the times, and to me.

I am willing to bear all the sins to atone for my evil deeds. And you, I beg you, to inherit their will. Melutina, you and I... are the last light and shadow of the old era.

.........

Are you busy?

"……kindness."

Fu Hua kneaded the dough, her expression revealing a hint of sadness.

"I distanced myself from her because I didn't want her to get hurt. Did I do something wrong?"

"You've always been clumsy, so one more time won't make a difference."

Melutina sat down at the table behind her, looking at the familiar room layout, but...

"I haven't seen Cheng Lixue much."

She flipped through some calligraphy works; the handwriting was rather childish, clearly not the work of Fu Hua.

"But I think he was a very good kid."

"But I'm not a good mentor."

Fu Hua's hand paused.

"I heard you're stuck in the Sea of ​​Quanta? What happened?"

"Su is dead."

"..."

A brief silence fell between the two of them; neither uttered a sound for several minutes.

"Yeah."

Finally, Hua lowered her head, pulled her hand out of the dough, walked to the door, and looked at the scenery outside the window.

"This world is neither gentle nor reasonable."

Melutina leaned back in her chair. In the painting in the room were two girls, one in red and one in blue.

"I'm sorry, Melutina."

Hua looked at the setting sun.

"I may... be unable to comfort you."

"We're all the same."

Kiana's Chapter

With her back to the shadows, Kiana huddled up in an abandoned building in Canghai City, hugging her knees.

The Honkai energy had already seeped into her body, but she just stared blankly at the puddle in front of her, lost in thought.

Perhaps, just thinking about this matter is painful enough.

Only in secluded places like this, with only a coat draped over her shoulders, would Kiana reveal such a timid and helpless expression.

That wasn't an abandoned cat... but a deer wandering in the wilderness, because it had nowhere to retreat and could only become food for others.

"We're still a long way from giving up on ourselves."

A sandwich was placed in front of Kiana, along with a can of hot coffee.

"...Why are you helping me? Are all the people in this city so kind-hearted?"

Kiana looked up at the woman who had been bringing her food for the past few days.

"Kind-hearted? Hmm, I think humans are far from being kind-hearted."

Melutina put her hands behind her back.

"Yes, one of the anti-entropy executors... Melutina Carl von Linnaeus, if you have studied biology properly, you should know me."

"...Are you here to kill me too?"

"No, that's not true. I haven't left here for a long time."

Melutina shrugged, then pointed to her white lab coat.

"As you can see, I'm a researcher with no physical strength. Meeting you was by chance, and I didn't even tell my old friends. But it was only a matter of time before they found out."

"Why not? You should think so too..."

Kiana lowered her head.

"Should I just die?"

"Language is a cheap thing; it can't really make people empathize."

Melutina reached out and stroked the Honkai-corrupted patterns on the girl's body, then took out some medicine from her pocket.

"If you trust me, you can take some of this medication; it will make you feel a little better."