Deep within a Bubble Universe at the bottom of the Sea of Quanta.
A white-haired young man in a trench coat sat cross-legged beneath a colossal cherry blossom tree, eyes closed in meditation. For thousands of years, day after day, he remained. Even his posture had never once changed.
"Time... is running out."
"Su, are you still going to stop me?" There wasn't much anger or frustration in Kevin's detached, glacier-like words. He simply posed the question to his dear friend.
No matter how much they might reject this worst-case scenario, as executors left behind by the Previous Era, they bore the hopes of many. Precisely because of this, however cruel the plan, they had to carry it out. Otherwise, the people of this era would have no future.
—Just like their own past.
Choose the lesser of two evils... An old acquaintance had once said that, and as survivors who had lived through it, they understood the weight behind those words better than anyone.
"..."
Su, sitting silently beneath the Bodhi tree, rested a hand on his knee and remained quiet for a long time. As best friends, they understood each other profoundly. In this respect, perhaps not even Dr. MEI, Kevin's lover, understood Kevin better than Su did.
—Ultimately, the original 'Project Stigma' was supposed to have been executed by him. But Kevin, knowing Su's nature all too well, took his place to spare him from making such a painful and difficult choice.
Yet, why had everything turned out like this in the end?
They say the enlightened possess heavenly wisdom, but looking back on everything, Su felt nothing but confusion.
"It's not time yet..." Su murmured, then smiled, a hint of bitterness underlying the expression.
Executing Project VALUKA had allowed him to glimpse... something. Unlike Aponia's prophecies, Su's 'foresight' was merely a 'possibility' derived from countless similar scenarios. He had intended to gamble, to try a different path.
But all that had clearly become meaningless not long ago. Not only had that strange entity appeared, but she had even reappeared in the world.
Just as Dr. MEI had said. The probability of a girl named Elysia appearing was less than one in ten thousand. Her birth into the world, her companionship—these were inherently 'miracles'.
While this was certainly good news... it also meant she was a complete 'random variable'.
One could say that 'Elysia's' appearance had kicked Su's fifty thousand years of work right out the window. After all, someone who had been dead for tens of thousands of years suddenly kicked open her coffin lid and rose again.
Having stared into the Sea of Quanta for fifty thousand years, what haven't I seen? — Well, I definitely haven't seen this!
Su felt a headache coming on. Especially since this person's name was Elysia.
—Did Kevin even understand the sheer destructive potential of that name?
Fifty thousand years ago, that pink troublemaker kicked the Cocoon of Finality right off course—Damn it, Elysia, I'll blow up with you! With one move, she rendered Aponia's prophecies useless.
For her to pull something similar in the Current Era felt like a direct punch to Su's wide-open eyes.
Though incredibly vexed, Su still had to bring her up, trying to calm his friend's restless heart: "With her around, perhaps things will be different."
"..."
Kevin didn't speak, but Su could feel the 'disdain' in his gaze.
True—if it was Elysia, she could indeed bring about miracles. But expecting her to 'save the world'? Elysia herself would probably point at herself, stunned and terrified: Me? Don't joke! I'm just Elysia! Saving the world? I absolutely can't do that, okay!
She couldn't do it fifty thousand years ago, let alone now. Or rather, even if she could, Kevin would find it hard to accept again.
Knowing his best friend's temperament, Su looked at Kevin's calm facade and understood one thing clearly—if his supposed plan simply relied on pinning all hopes on 'Miracle Elysia', Kevin probably wouldn't hesitate to kick him to the ground, charge out of the Sea of Quanta, and initiate Project Stigma immediately.
Damn it, fifty thousand years ago, we had no other choice. Now that there might be another way, you still want to rely on 'Amazing Elysia, creating miracles?' If this idea were presented in the Elysian Realm, aside from Elysia herself, Pardofelis, Griseo, and probably others would line up to kick him.
But if you asked about another method... Su's eyebrows twitched, etched with helplessness. Even a genius like Dr. MEI ultimately only provided Project Stigma as the sole guaranteed viable plan. And while Su himself was a genius acknowledged even by Mobius, various constraints prevented him from fully utilizing his intellect.
"I am disappointed, Su..." Kevin sighed.
The next moment—
With a crack, some kind of restriction seemed to shatter. And there he stood before Su, wielding a replica of the Cleaver of Shamash—within this small world, this pocket dimension.
Unlike his usual trench coat attire, Kevin now sported horns, his clothes ragged, yet emanating an inexplicable, oppressive aura.
"Chimera...!" Su frowned, his mind slightly flustered.
Of course, he recognized his old friend's current state. In the past, Su had fought alongside him, witnessing the immense power of this form firsthand. And thousands of years ago, Kevin, even without using this form—just his normal state—had defeated Su wielding several Divine Keys, purely with the power of Parvati. While Su hadn't fully unleashed the power of those keys, it was undeniably linked to Kevin's strength.
"You can use this already?" Su sounded surprised, yet not entirely shocked.
Logically, Kevin's Honkai Energy should have been nearly depleted. But Su didn't believe his friend was truly out of options. After all, the Sea of Quanta wasn't entirely devoid of Honkai Energy. Many fallen Bubble Universes contained substantial amounts.
"Not much, but... it's enough."
"You should understand. You can't stop me, Su." Kevin raised a hand, his fearsome claws slightly curled, stating a simple fact. Even with limited Honkai Energy, the power he could unleash in his Chimera state was incomparable to his normal form.
Right now, his physical strength alone was enough to easily crush Su—such was the confidence of the strongest MANTIS.
"...Mm."
"But I cannot simply let you leave either."
"In that case, allow me to use this long-dormant power as well."
Hands clasped behind his back, Su stood solemnly erect—the next instant, a magnificent, multicolored peacock replaced him.
'Artificial Cascade'—the MANTIS's final trump card. Trading sanity for immense power, even an enlightened One like Su could hardly escape this drawback.
Fortunately, fifty thousand years of refinement allowed Su to barely control this power—of course, he wasn't using this with the intention of 'defeating' Kevin. Su knew very well that even in the same Berserk State, he was no match for Kevin.
However—the Honkai Beast he fused with was exceptionally special. Mahāmāyūrī, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast companion of the Previous Era's Eighth Herrscher, possessed the unique ability to 'dissolve others' minds'.
This special power allowed Su to avoid being instantly crushed, even against Kevin, who had acquired formidable mental resistance through certain means.
Just...
Before Kevin could slowly raise the imitation Cleaver of Shamash in his hand... a third party intruded upon the pocket dimension.
Or perhaps, a third and fourth party?
"Uh? Did I arrive at a bit of a bad time?" Blinking her bright, pink-accented blue eyes, the girl with flower-like pink hair noticed the tense, confrontational atmosphere and asked uncertainly.
The incredibly ornate peacock froze, its fanned tail feathers stock-still. Correspondingly, Kevin, sword in hand, also fell... silent.
He stared at the incredibly familiar face, struggling to speak: "Ely...sia."
Elysia's existence wasn't surprising to him; he had heard much about it already. Kevin thought he could view this objectively, calmly. But seeing her standing right before him, Kevin found himself completely unable to remain calm.
Sensing this emotion, the girl smiled.
"Though it might not be appropriate for me to say this..."
"But..." '[Elysia]' gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, rested a hand on her slender waist, and chuckled with her sweet voice:
"Long time no see, Su, Kevin."
Like greeting old friends after a long separation, her tone was light, almost indistinct across the distance between them. Yet, both Su and Kevin heard it with perfect clarity.
The familiar smile, the familiar voice, the familiar demeanor... Everything was so nostalgic, as if they had returned to the time they fought side-by-side fifty thousand years ago.
"Clang~"
The imitation Judgment of Shamash fell to the ground. The man named Kevin stood unchanged, yet the slight tremble in his brow and the distant look in his eyes revealed that his current state was far from the calmness his exterior suggested.
"Mhmm~ Are you surprised to see me?"
"Let's try that again."
"Hi~ Did you miss me?" The girl's smile bloomed like a flower.
"But it really is surprising, you actually got out? Hmm, well, that's good too, saves me quite a bit of trouble... Of course, let's not talk about that now."
"Come, let me take a good look~"
Like a fairy, the girl drifted closer to Kevin. Amidst his silence, she smilingly reached out and touched his cheek.
"Oh my, you haven't changed at all, have you?"
"Fifty thousand years have passed, you know, Kevin. You seem exactly the same as before."
"Time doesn't leave many marks on a MANTIS," Kevin subconsciously took a step back—not out of aversion, but simply because his extremely low body temperature could cause frostbite to anyone getting too close. He instinctively wanted to avoid that. [Elysia] didn't mind, simply lowering her hand and sighing wistfully:
"Indeed~ Just like after the Meta-Morph surgery, no matter how much you eat, you don't gain weight, no worries about weight or skin at all—of course, boys probably don't care about that, but... you know, Kevin, that's not what I meant."
"It must have been really hard, all this long time, hasn't it?"
"...No, it hasn't," Kevin denied flatly.
This only drew a chuckle from her: "See? Doesn't that make you seem even more like your old self? If MEI saw you now, her heart would surely ache, wouldn't it?"
"..."
"They... are all gone." Kevin said after a moment of silence.
There wasn't much sadness in his voice, as if merely stating a fact. But within that fact lay immeasurable pain.
At this moment, the strongest MANTIS of the Previous Era seemed like a child who had endured countless hardships, finally returning to someone close to pour out his grievances. It was hard to imagine that Kevin showing such vulnerability. If the World Serpent executives saw this, their image of their idol might shatter.
But just as MEI had said—Kevin was actually just an ordinary boy. Though exceptionally talented in certain areas, if fate hadn't forced him down that path, being a burnt-out office worker, a programmer slaving away 996 (9 AM, 9 PM, 6 day a week), would probably have been Kevin's ideal destiny.
Not like now, a 'hero' burdened by the expectations of others, held hostage by them.
"I'm sorry, Kevin, for making you bear so many unreasonable expectations."
A hint of apology laced her sweet voice, making Kevin's nose sting. But he was no longer the youth he once was; he wouldn't break down and cry.
At most—at most, a few inexplicable small ice chunks appeared on the ground.
They were still warm.