"Then... Then..." Elysia opened her mouth, seeming hesitant, but finally blurted out the question nagging at her: "Then Evangeline... she's a Psyche-Sensitive MANTIS. Didn't she... didn't she realize?"
"As long as someone is a normal person, they wouldn't constantly... hmm, no, I should say, unless they have some strange quirks, even Psyche-Sensitive MANTISes wouldn't casually pry into the thoughts of others, right? Especially not those closest to them. Wouldn't you agree, Su?" Michael tilted his head, deferring to the only proper Psyche-Sensitive MANTIS present.
"That is correct." Su spread his hands, his eyes closed, his voice carrying an indescribable sense of compassion. "Unlike some who misuse their abilities, refraining from doing so is a fundamental principle for MANTISes, especially Psyche-Sensitive. It's a necessary self-restraint. Even if Aponia hadn't implanted this discipline, we would consciously adhere to it. This is a consensus among all Psyche-Sensitive MANTISes. After all, compared to combat abilities like Kevin's, the misuse of mental powers like ours can cause far greater harm to humanity itself."
"..." Michael couldn't quite tell if Su was stating facts or subtly admonishing someone. Besides, his testimony didn't end the discussion, as Elysia found more contradictions:
"But I still feel something's wrong. As a girl, if her partner's consciousness ceased to exist, replaced by a Herrscher's, even if the subconscious and memories remain, wouldn't it be impossible not to reveal any flaws? Take the goggles issue, for example. If you could notice it, Michael, I don't believe Evangeline couldn't."
Michael pursed his lips. He couldn't quite decipher Elysia's underlying meaning. Was she simply unwilling to accept another friend of many years becoming a Herrscher, or was she hinting that Evangeline might also be a Herrscher?
He had actually suspected this for a while, but using Sentience powers on Evangeline was different from using them on Aldemir. Aldemir was an ordinary person, but Evangeline, as a MANTIS, was inherently sensitive to Honkai Energy fluctuations. Hadn't Mobius caught him peeking into her thoughts earlier?
Furthermore, Evangeline was also a Psyche-Sensitive MANTIS. If she wasn't a Herrscher, being caught probing her mind would just require an explanation later. But if she was a Herrscher, doing so would undoubtedly alert the enemy.
Moreover, she possessed Psyche-Sensitive abilities herself.
Given that the Herrscher of Dominance had displayed partial powers of other Herrschers, Michael wouldn't be surprised if she possessed Sentience powers too. In that case, even if Michael managed to probe her mind undetected using his superior authority, could he even detect any anomalies? She could easily use her mental powers to mask her own consciousness!
The most direct way to verify if she was a Herrscher was undoubtedly the 'rip out the core' method, but that... wouldn't that be even more likely to alert the enemy?
Alright... after all this internal debate, Michael's own gut feeling had already reached a conclusion...
"Well... it's not impossible that she didn't notice!" Kevin, feeling uncomfortable and restless in the tense atmosphere, interjected. For some reason, even though Aldemir was also his comrade of many years, he couldn't quite muster the same... sadness as the others. So, he decided to break the mood.
"They say a woman's IQ drops when she's in love..." Seeing the disapproving looks from the others, Kevin quickly changed his phrasing: "Discovering an anomaly doesn't necessarily mean raising suspicion... If you didn't already know about the Tenth Herrscher beforehand, when faced with sudden abnormal behavior from your partner, wouldn't most people just automatically rationalize it?
"For example, if Mei suddenly became very emotional one day, I wouldn't immediately find it strange and assume she became a Herrscher. My first thought would definitely be—she's on her period!"
As Kevin spoke, he gradually felt something was amiss. But when Mei's sharp gaze swept towards him, his survival instinct kicked in, making him ignore the feeling. He waved his hands appeasingly, turned his head away with a forced smile, and leaned his back against the cold wall to relax.
Despite his own body temperature being abnormally low, he still felt a chill, a coldness emanating from the depths of his heart. It spread through his entire body with every arterial pulse, then returned to his heart even colder with each venous contraction... Then, an uncontrollable numbness radiated rapidly from his chest and back.
Even though he didn't have a cold, couldn't even get a cold anymore, Kevin sniffled. His jaw suddenly trembled twice, then clamped shut tightly, the clack-clack sound vibrating through muscle and bone to his own ears—
He thought he wasn't sad, even felt a twinge of guilt about it, but... perhaps his brain triggered some keyword, or maybe he was just slow, the feeling taking longer to arrive. In any case, fragments of memories with Aldemir suddenly flashed through his mind.
Their first meeting was at R'lyeh, during the celebration banquet after defeating the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Yaksha.
Both attended as "concerned citizens," but their paths diverged there: Aldemir was directly recommended by Michael to join Fire Moth, while Kevin followed Mei, who had received an invitation but was still hesitating, back to St. Freya High School.
If the Third Eruption hadn't happened... perhaps it would have just been a brief, ordinary encounter.
They met again after the Third Eruption. At that time, Kevin, relying on his inexplicable super-strength, temporarily served as the acting leader of the Fifth Squad.
Afterward, they spent over half a year disliking each other. Not out of jealousy for his rapid advancement; Aldemir's hostility stemmed from Kevin following Mei's instructions (who knew part of the truth) and remaining neutral, not helping Elysia after Michael's first "death."
Aldemir found his indifference despicable... until just before the Fourth Eruption, when Kevin saved his life. Later, learning part of the truth from Michael, their relationship completely reversed.
He remembered later, when Mei and Michael devised the counter-plan against SEELE's scheme, Aldemir, strolling by the lake, witnessed Kevin being shot, seemingly "on the brink of death." So, Aldemir's dramatic reaction at Mei's lab door wasn't an act, just genuine emotion.
Meanwhile, Kevin inside the room quickly had his wound bandaged by Mei, then sat on a small stool, playing Landlord (a card game) with Mei and Evangeline...
Thinking about this absurd contrast, Kevin pressed his lips together tightly, but his shoulders still shook uncontrollably, muffled "kuh-chi, kuh-chi" sounds escaping him. Soon, he felt a cold, salty wetness on his tightly pressed lips; tears streamed down his face without him realizing.
"So embarrassing... Mei, Su, Sakura, and Michael and Elysia are all here... Luckily, I turned away, they probably can't see now... Stop it already..."
But the more he tried to suppress it, the stronger the grief surged within him, his eyes stinging more intensely. So, he sighed softly, letting his body temperature drop below freezing. The tears stopped flowing because his eyelids froze shut along with them.
"I shouldn't be like this. Don't I only care about Mei... Aren't I very selfish... Am I not..."
As many manga say, he once thought the hardest thing between people was mutual understanding. But only now did he realize, the hardest person to truly see is not others, but oneself.
He thought he understood himself, thought he was a very selfish person. He never cared about grand ideals like saving the world, never thought he would cry over the death of anyone outside his family. But the salty, cold tears denied all that. Or perhaps, in his world, the definition of "family" had long since changed completely.
Mei felt a wave of coldness. Sensing something, she looked towards Kevin, only to see him facing away, one hand braced against the wall, silently walking out of the lab. She opened her mouth, then hesitated, caught in an indecision she hadn't felt for a long time—Should she follow Kevin now, or stay here and prioritize dealing with the Tenth Herrscher?
Sensing her inner struggle, Michael spread his hands and said, "Mei, go."
"No. We should formulate the battle plan first. The sooner we devise and implement a plan, the less damage the Tenth Herrscher will cause." Mei kept her head down, answering distractedly, arms crossed.
"But... Mei, don't we already have a battle plan?"
"Hm?" Mei snapped her head up.
"Sure enough, a woman in love's IQ drops without limit," Michael silently吐槽ed. Though unnecessary, he habitually lowered his voice and asked pointedly, "Mei, your Blank Key, it should be completed by now, right?"
"Mm..." Mei let out a soft sound, pushing up her glasses. Her rationality arrived belatedly, but she finally understood Michael's underlying message—
"Correct. We proceed according to... 'luring the enemy into a trap.' After all, it's a battle plan whose feasibility has already been proven. We just need to refine the details, remove the elements that carry inherent risks."
In the eyes of Elysia, Su, and Sakura, this exchange seemed somewhat bizarre—they understood each individual word, but combined, it sounded like nonsense. However, they weren't fools; they knew this discrepancy stemmed from an information gap. Aside from Elysia puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, Sakura and Su had no objections.
After all, they were long accustomed to their roles as executors.
"Is that so..." Mei certainly understood the "risk" Michael referred to – the irreversible damage using the Blank Key would inflict on her body. Although Mei herself didn't care much about this "risk," Michael clearly didn't want it to happen, and Kevin would absolutely never want to see such an outcome.
The corresponding solution was actually quite simple—just rely on Michael's spatial powers to quickly reach the battlefield. Then she wouldn't need to use the Blank Key, making it merely a final insurance policy.
But that was precisely Mei's concern—Michael could use his spatial powers to instantly reach any battlefield; she didn't think the Herrscher was unaware of this. Given that premise, wasn't the 'luring the enemy into a trap' plan too obvious?
Mei rested her chin on her hand, pondering. She quickly realized there was still room for manipulation. After all, Michael's ability to quickly reach the battlefield depended on receiving her distress signal. So, what if they gave the Tenth Herrscher the ability to jam communications?
Mei considered giving Evangeline an opportunity to access the Third Divine Key—yes, like Michael, she strongly believed Evangeline was a Tenth Herrscher individual. How else could Aldemir, an ordinary person, have had the chance to access the Seventh and Eighth Divine Keys? MANTIS training included using others' weapons, especially Divine Keys.
While not every Key suited everyone, every MANTIS had to learn how to use them; any situation could arise on the battlefield. Perhaps an unremarkable MANTIS might need to pick up a Divine Key and deliver a critical blow? And it wasn't hard to verify; Mei figured she could check Anti-Entropy's training records later.
"Wait, the previous plan still has issues. Michael also wields the power of Sentience; he has more than just electromagnetic communication... But the Tenth Herrscher also possesses partial Sentience power. Could that small part be enough to block..." Mei's mind continued refining the "lure them in" plan, but before she reached a complete conclusion, Michael and Elysia combined forces to push her out of the lab.
"Oh my! Mei! If you don't chase after him now, be careful Kevin runs away!" Elysia glanced meaningfully at Michael.
"Him? He definitely wouldn't," Mei stated confidently. She didn't refuse their good intentions, quickly waving goodbye over her shoulder before running towards Kevin's retreating figure in the distance.
"So envious..." Elysia sighed, sucking on her finger. Michael beside her turned his face away, tilting his head up at a 45-degree angle towards the ceiling. He pursed his lips, his mind not on Elysia's earlier insinuation.
He suddenly felt different today. If Kevin's sadness was delayed... then the sadness in his own heart, rather than arriving later or not at all, felt like it had always been there. Because it was always present, it only manifested as silence... Making him seem... indifferent. Perhaps this was the numbness Himeko spoke of.
So, for a moment, Michael actually envied the sudden, explosive grief shown by Kevin and... Hua. As the saying ironically goes—regardless, humans are hopelessly nostalgic for, hopelessly envious of, their former, fragile selves.
But nostalgia and envy didn't mean lack of hatred or disgust, nor did it mean he wanted to repeat past mistakes. Just some feelings.
"If there are no further instructions, we'll head out first. We need to monitor potential damage caused by the Tenth Herrscher in real-time." Sakura caught up to them, walked alongside for a couple of steps, then fell back half a pace before requesting permission.
"Ah, oh? Everything proceeds as normal," Michael said vaguely. No, rather than vague, his words were based on an information gap, making their meaning incomprehensible to Sakura. Michael realized this and elaborated, "The so-called 'luring the enemy into a trap' is quite similar to feigning defeat to draw the enemy deeper. To execute this plan, we first need to act as if we were caught off guard by the Tenth Herrscher's attacks. This will make them arrogant, causing them to easily take the bait we set out."
Sakura understood now, although... actually... given the Tenth Herrscher's attack methods, Fire Moth didn't seem to have many effective countermeasures for a direct confrontation.
No wonder... with Fire Moth's current strength, capable of easily annihilating any Herrscher before the Tenth, why resort to strategy if a direct fight wasn't problematic?
Thinking this way, did the Honkai realize this and intentionally shape the Tenth Herrscher this way? Sakura quickly shook her head.
She suddenly realized she had engaged in her longest train of thought in years, only to reach a ridiculous conclusion—Could the Honkai consciously, selectively deploy each Herrscher, designing their powers? Like a so-called god?
How could that be!
But remembering how Michael and Mei also casually mentioned "gods"... Sakura felt confused for a moment.
By the time Su stood beside her, asking where she planned to go next, she snapped back to reality, looked ahead – Michael and Elysia's figures were already distant black dots. She stomped her foot lightly, momentarily unsure what to say.
"I'll head to the situation room and await orders," she replied coldly, suppressing all emotion.
"Oh? Are you on duty again today? Then I'll go find Hua. Carole's death must have hit her hard."
"Are you serious?" Sakura's icy demeanor instantly cracked. She raised an eyebrow, shaking her head at Su. "Perhaps... you don't need to, no, I mean..." Sakura searched for words, trying to find a tactful way to phrase it. "Maybe... Hua doesn't need you to comfort her?" She finally opted for directness.
"Hm?"
"...Alright, Su. Although you moonlight as a psychologist and are a Psyche-Sensitive MANTIS... in certain matters, you really are... no different from Kevin..."
"Kevin?" Su tilted his head, eyes closed. The morning breeze felt a bit cool. He waited for a long time without an answer, then peeked open one eye... Sakura was gone.
He scratched his head, baffled, feeling strangely lonely standing alone in the dim tunnel...