After clearing Type Moon, start fighting for a better world

Placing a cup of black tea and freshly baked cookies on the coffee table, Aponya sat opposite Xiachuanhu and Cocolia: "Although I have received the news before, I am sorry that I did not know the specific time, so I can only take out these to entertain you. I hope my cooking skills will suit your taste."

"It's already very sumptuous. By the way, you should know that I don't care much about the standard of this kind of reception, right?"

Xia Chuanhu picked up the black tea and took a sip: "Hmm, it tastes very good. It's a taste that the Jeanne d'Arc I know can't make."

"After all, so many years have passed, and I have practiced these skills little by little." Aponya said with a smile, "Well, Miss Cocolia, regarding the discussion with you, if possible, please wait a moment. I would like to talk about the tiger's affairs first..."

"It's okay, I'm here anytime."

Cocolia waved her hand, indicating that she could totally accept it.

Aponya also breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you so much."

Honestly speaking, if you compare Abonya with the Abonya in Xiachuan Hu's memory, the current Abonya is actually a little strange. Although the voice is not much different in impression, the tone is not the tone that the holy virgin-like woman would use. There are some things that she is unlikely to possess... cheerful, proactive and innocent?

However, considering the other party's other identity, such a change is natural.

After receiving Cocolia's acceptance, Aponia formally looked at Xiachuanhu: "Although it has been a long time since we last met, this is the first time I meet you. I have heard about your deeds from Meili and Jeanne many times before. I am honored to witness your glory here, Mr. Xiachuan."

"I am the third seat of Yingjie, [Discipline] Aponia, and also the vessel of [Joan of Arc]."

"There's no need to be so serious with me, Ms. Aponya." Xia Chuanhu said with a smile, "I am no different from you. I am not a high and mighty god. If possible, just treat me as an ordinary human being. This may sound strange for me to say, but I look younger than you."

Natsukawa Tiger looks to be at most 20 years old, while Abonya looks to be around 25 or 26, so it seems that Natsukawa Tiger is indeed younger.

"If that's what you need..."

"Uh...okay."

(It seems like she won’t change her words so easily. By the way, the person who has been talking to me now should be [Aponia], right? Then Jeanne…)

Xia Chuanhu turned his gaze back to Aponia, and his evil eyes flickered slightly.

And Aponia continued: "Mr. Xiachuan, you must be here for the [Saint], right?"

"Well, I learned some information from Meili a few days ago. I learned that I had a companion who was accidentally stranded in the pre-civilization period, so I came to take a look. But before I came here, I didn't know she was Jeanne d'Arc, and I didn't know that Jeanne d'Arc was actually related to you."

Joan of Arc.

France... no, perhaps the most famous and classic saint in the world. Xiachuan Hu has known her for a long, long time.

Although she was a servant summoned by Chaldea through the connection between holy relics and fixed objects after the Burning of Humanity was completed, she had a body early on due to the endless supply of Holy Grails in Natsukawa Tora's house. If Natsukawa Tora remembered correctly, before he left, Joan of Arc was a staff member of the Cathedral Church in a church in France and was a well-known saint in France.

Hmm? Why did Chaldea summon her?

The main reason is that a certain Dragon Witch lady who is very easy to deal with was summoned out inexplicably because of some historical issues left over from the first singularity period, and Meli's character of watching the fun and not minding any trouble.

By the way, the catalyst is Miss Dragon Witch herself.

"Come to think of it, you mentioned earlier that you are Jeanne's [Container]? What's going on? Could it be that you and Jeanne share the same body?"

"I will explain this myself."

Abonya didn't open her mouth, but a voice similar to hers suddenly rang out in the room. Then Xiachuanhu and Cocolia saw a light golden iris pattern appear on Abonya's chest, and then, as if projected, a beam of light was projected from the pattern onto the coffee table.

A little girl, only as big as a palm, appeared in the light.

"It's been a long time, Tora. It must have been more than 50,000 years, right?"

"... Jeanne d'Arc?"

Looking at the cute little Jeanne in front of him, Xia Chuanhu put down his teacup and poked her with his hand: "Illusionary body? Is this the work of Meili?"

"Well, you did recognize it."

"After all, I just saw you two days ago. Fortunately, Gilles de Ray wasn't here, otherwise he would have gone berserk and lost control when he saw you like this." Xia Chuanhu laughed, "So, what's going on between you and Ms. Aponia? Are you really two spirits sharing one body? It's different from Orange and Merry's situation."

Jeanne nodded slightly: "What you said is almost right. When I came to this world, some accidents occurred due to the turbulence of time and space..."

A few years ago, from Aozaki Touko, Natsukawa Tora learned the truth about the [gift] prepared by Meili.

In short, Meli used Aozaki Touko's technology and someone else's magic to create clones of his family members, and packaged these clones as [seeds] and had Chaos send them to this collapsed world.

Generally speaking, seeds will grow naturally and become mature individuals in a short period of time, possessing all the knowledge, memories, and skills of the originals. They can be completely regarded as the [avatars] of their original bodies in this world, just like the relationship between the [Heroic Spirit] and the [Servant].

This is obviously the case for Aozaki Touko and Meili.

But not Joan of Arc.

More than 50,000 years ago, due to the turbulence of time and space, Joan of Arc's seed and Merry's seed were drifted to the previous civilization together. But unlike Merry who grew up naturally, Joan of Arc's seed received some damage under the influence of the turbulence of time and space, so that she could not grow into a separate individual and had to rely on other people.

The place where she landed was a street called Dusk Street, and soon after her arrival, she met someone she could depend on.

That's Aponia.

5. Please be our hero

In terms of time, when Jeanne possessed Aponia, the Third Collapse had not yet occurred, and Aponia at that time did not have the mature and plump body she has now.

Because the seed itself was damaged and could not grow on its own, Jeanne explained the whole situation to Aponia and, after obtaining her consent, continued to live with her. Specifically, it was exactly what Natsukawa Tora had thought.

Usually, Aponia is in charge and Joan of Arc sleeps in Aponia's body. Joan of Arc can only take over her body when her power is needed or when she gets Aponia's permission.

It can be said to be a fairly common symbiotic relationship.

"After that, I lived with Aponia for several years, and we experienced several collapses during that time. It was after the fifth collapse that I was found by Meili. As for what happened later—"

"We'll talk about that part some other time."

Interrupting Jeanne's narration, Xia Chuanhu said: "I can roughly guess the general situation. Compared to this--"

Halfway through his speech, Xia Chuanhu suddenly stood up, bowed deeply to Aponiya, and made a 90-degree bow.

This sudden gift surprised and puzzled Cocolia and Abonya.

"Mr. Xiachuan? What are you doing..."

"This is a thank you, Ms. Aponya."

Xia Chuanhu sat back on the sofa: "No matter what you thought at the time, you helped my family and have been with her day and night since then, accompanying her for more than 50,000 years. This is an unshakable fact. So I want to thank you. Thank you for helping Jeanne at that time."

"As her family member and lover, I am really grateful to you. If it weren't for you, I might not be able to see her now."

Even though the current Jeanne is just a Servant-like existence, the real Jeanne is still living well in the Type-Moon World, but this does not constitute a reason for Xiachuan Hu to not care about the safety of Jeanne in front of him. As long as she is still Jeanne, still his family, then he must thank Aponia here.

"I know that a mere bow cannot be regarded as a real return gift. I will do my best to help you in every way later."

"Whether it's repairing this nursing home or helping to establish several stable material supply routes here, these are not a problem."

Anyway, it’s just a matter of telling Otto.

Although this would certainly give Otto the opportunity to owe him some favors, and she would definitely be ordered around by him once or twice in the future, compared with the care and kindness that Aponia showed to Joan of Arc, it was nothing at all.

Hearing Xia Chuanhu's words, Aponya slowly shook his head and said softly, "I appreciate your kindness, but as you can see, there are no major problems here right now. The facilities were just renovated two years ago, and supplies can be purchased regularly."

"You really don't need to worry too much about this place. You should use your thoughts and energy on places where you are more needed. If I want you to return the favor, then please allow me to say so."

Aponya's words made Xiachuanhu frown.

Does this mean that he should help others?

But he has always been doing this, right?

"In fact, I have heard of your deeds many times, Mr. Xiachuan."

Aponia put her hands together in a gesture of prayer.

"Jeanne told me that you are a brave warrior who has slain many evil beasts and a saint who has saved countless lives."

"Meli told me that you are the guardian who has protected mankind since ancient times, and a hero who always stands ahead of everyone."

"I have also witnessed your heroic figure many times in Jeanne's memories and in the dreams woven by Merry. Although today is only our first meeting, for me, I have watched your past countless times and read through your destiny."

Aponya can see destiny.

Of course, this is what she claimed. No one knows whether one can actually see destiny. In the dream woven by Meili, Abonya, who watched Xiachuanhu's past, witnessed Xiachuanhu's destiny and past many times.

At the beginning, at the age of 18, he was as ignorant and naive as a baby and accidentally joined a terrible ritual. Under the protection of the strongest swordsman, he faced the terrible beast and [sacrificed] himself, sealing the disaster that could destroy the entire world in his body.

At the age of 19, he had already learned to walk and speak, and inherited the will and strength of his old friend. He confronted the saint who was trying to save all mankind, and implemented his own ideas until the last moment, shattering the other party's long-cherished wish while saving the lives of all mankind.

At the age of 20, he encountered the greatest crisis after living a stable life. He almost lost all his power and was forced to face another self and the goddess who wanted to destroy the old world and create a new world. For the first time, he got help from several friends, overcame despair and stood up again, making the new world an unattainable fantasy.

......

Once, twice, three times, four times...Since there is no concept of time in the dreams woven by Mary, even if a thousand years pass in the dream, it is only a moment in reality. Therefore, Aponia witnessed the fate of Xiachuan Hu countless times.

Witness how he will do his utmost to delay the advance of the Mother of All, and witness him conquer the soul of the Beast of Mercy.

Witness him sinking the sinful fairy island into the sea, witness him going back ten thousand years just for a promise.

Witness him wandering alone on the planet, wielding the holy sword countless times to protect mankind and save the world.

[Is that the real, last hope? ]

Aponia had asked Mellie this after she woke up from her dream.

[At least, that is the most outstanding hero I have trained, the hope in my heart]

This is what Meili answered her.

It was after that that Aponia became the first member to join the suspicious religious group founded by Meli (called the Fire Moths).

Until now——

"If you really want me to make a request to you in return for taking care of Jeanne, then please allow me to make such a request."

She looked like a saint worshipping God, or like a nun praying to God.

Aponia, with a pious look, clasped his hands together and pleaded sincerely to Xiachuanhu:

“——【Please】You stand before everyone and lead us who are in deep suffering to overcome despair——”

"——【Please】 lend us a helping hand and bring us victory after being defeated by the great enemy——"

"——【Please】be our hero, our hope——"

That's all Abonya needs from Natsukawa Tiger.

It has been like this since she woke up from the dream woven by Merry more than 50,000 years ago.

6. Please watch carefully

Aponya's words caused the room to fall into silence for a while.

Xia Chuanhu did not give an answer immediately, and Cocolia had not yet fully recovered from hearing something too surprising.

And a few seconds later——

"Why do you want to pray to me?"

Xia Chuanhu asked back.

"You are Ying Jie, the last of the thirteen fused warriors of the Fire Moth, and one of the strongest fighting forces in the human race. You should be the last person who should give up your own destiny, but now you are here to beg an outsider like me... Objectively speaking, I am confused and dissatisfied."

"But... I know your past, I know what you've been through, so now I just ask - why?"

In Xia Chuanhu's memory, none of the Thirteen Heroes gave up fighting against Honkai. All of them persisted in fighting against Honkai until the very last moment, and the same was true for Aponia.

But why does she now look like she has been crushed by the despair brought about by the failure of the previous civilization and can only pray for God's grace?

"Let me explain this, Tiger."

Jeanne said with a gloomy face, "This can be said to be my mistake, or it can be said to be the influence that Merry brought to Aponia, or it can be said to be the influence of the Fire Moth. At least, at the end of the pre-civilization, especially after the [Tragedy of Constraint], even though the internal structure of the Fire Moth had not yet been fully revealed, many people had already been defeated."

Tragedy of restraint.

A general term for the extremely large-scale casualties caused by the 11th Ruler, the Ruler of Constraint.

Since the seventh collapse, due to the emergence of the Fusion Warriors and the successive victories against the Herrscher, the atmosphere within the Fire Moth can actually be said to be full of positivity. Everyone believes that the time has come for humans to launch a counterattack against the collapse.

But with the collapse again and again, one Herrscher after another appeared, and the increasing casualties made people have to feel a little shadowed in their hearts - and the appearance of the Herrscher almost brought a devastating blow to the Fire Moth.

Almost all the fusion warriors were wiped out, a large number of bases fell, and countless casualties... Even if the Herrscher was finally eliminated, the miserable situation she left behind conveyed an unshakable fact to mankind.

[In the face of collapse, humans are still as fragile and powerless as children]