strictlysupreme Chapter 188 Walter and Kevin
Chapter 188 Walter and Kevin
With the predetermined events of this world bubble completed, the three were able to escape from it.
After returning to the Sea of Quanta, Kevin received the Judgment of Heavenly Fire from the captain. He closed his eyes and felt the familiar touch of the Judgment of Heavenly Fire. At the same time, inside the Judgment of Heavenly Fire, Kevin sensed the remnants of his consciousness from another world, which made Kevin realize that this sword was not suitable for him.
However, he had already obtained the information he wanted inside, so Kevin, who had opened his eyes, returned the Heavenly Fire Judgment to the captain.
"Take this. I sensed Kevin's will from your side through this sword, and I understand what this weapon represents."
"So how do we get back? Searching through each world bubble one by one is too slow."
"Don't worry, I've already obtained some of the coordinates from your Judgment of Heavenly Fire, and together with the labyrinth that the Herrscher that kept stopping me, that's enough."
After saying that, Kevin headed toward the maze created by Welt. The captain and Seele exchanged a glance and then followed.
Before long, Kevin and the others arrived in front of Welt. Without Seele's interference, Bronya inherited the Herrscher Core effortlessly and became the next Herrscher of Reason.
"Let's go, let's go meet 'Snake'! We'll stop him from returning to his original world!"
Welt was very pleased to see that Bronya had passed his test. As expected, he had not misjudged her. Bronya's compatibility with the Herrscher core was much higher than his own, and she was not swayed by the Honkai consciousness and was willing to fight for humanity.
The labyrinth he created with his own body is now collapsing, and it is believed that the "snake" trapped deep inside will soon reveal its true form. Recalling how he frequently opened the Eye of the Abyss to study the Sea of Quanta, he never expected that it would lead to such a big problem.
At that moment, Walter sensed the terrifying Honkai energy fluctuations emanating from the "snake" and decisively chose to cover the rear, urging Einstein, who had come in with him, to quickly go out and shut down the Eye of the Abyss.
After several rounds of fierce fighting with the "snake," Walter realized that he could not defeat or even force the "snake" back. Without hesitation, he sacrificed his physical body, changed the surrounding rules, and created a labyrinth composed of three world bubbles.
At the same time, these three world bubbles were also a trial he used to select his successor. Walter had to admit that there was an element of gambling in his actions. He did not expect that "Snake" would not force its way out after seeing that he would rather sacrifice himself than let it out. Instead, it chose to continue to lie dormant.
It was at this moment that Welt realized that perhaps the "snake" was not the mindless Honkai beast he had imagined, but a being with intelligence and even self-awareness!
This led Welt to consider trying to understand Him through communication. Unfortunately, he had already lost his body and his consciousness could only be maintained by the Herrscher Core. All he could do was project a portion of his consciousness near the three world bubbles to guide the trial participants.
Now that the successor to the Herrscher of Reason has appeared, our side finally possesses Herrscher-level combat power again. Even the familiars of that "snake" were easily defeated by Bronya. Even if the final communication fails, our side still has a chance to escape the "snake's" pursuit. However, this would allow the "snake" to follow their tracks to the Intrinsic World.
This was the last thing Walter wanted to see, so he silently prayed that everything would go smoothly according to his plan.
The two groups then met at the end of the maze.
“Mr. Walter, are those two the ‘snakes’?” Bronya asked.
“Bronya, be careful. I sensed Honkai energy similar to ‘Snake’ from the white-haired man in the middle. There’s no doubt that he is ‘Snake’. I just don’t know about the other two.”
Upon hearing this, Bronya looked in the direction Walter pointed, and there she saw the person she had been longing for.
"That's... Seele! Seele, what are you doing here?!"
"Sister Bronya!"
It was only after hearing Bronya's voice that Seele noticed that the person next to Welt was her sister, Bronya.
"Seele, get away from those two men!"
Bronya had clearly seen through the other person's identity. She trusted the information she saw with her own eyes even more than the captain, whom she knew nothing about. If the white-haired man in the middle was the "snake" that Welt mentioned, then he was undoubtedly the leader of the World Serpent, and the captain was sent by the World Serpent to rescue him!
This explains why the captain and the gray snake infiltrated Abyss City, as it was the coordinates where their leader last appeared in the Sea of Quanta, and was subsequently shielded by Welt using the labyrinth.
The simplest way for them to rescue him was to start with the Eye of the Abyss, and this method proved to be effective. The fact that Kevin has now come to Bronya and the others with the captain is the most straightforward evidence.
"Why? Sister Bronya and Captain are very nice people. Seele is only here because of Captain. There must be some misunderstanding."
"Seele, you must believe me. They are our enemies. We cannot let them return to the original world like this!"
"But this Mr. Kevin is just a pitiful person who has lost his comrades. More importantly, he is also fighting against the Honkai. How could he be an enemy of you, Bronya?"
Looking at Seele's puzzled expression, Bronya was speechless for a moment.
As Seele said, the World Serpent is also an organization fighting against the Honkai, but their ideology is incompatible with Anti-Entropy and their Stigmata Project is a terrible plan that destroys humanity. In any case, at this stage, we absolutely cannot let the World Serpent easily carry out their plan.
Otherwise, it's uncertain whether there will even be a civilization called humanity on Earth by then, let alone how to fight against the Honkai. However, these things can't be explained in a short time, and the current situation is urgent, so it's difficult to give a specific explanation.
The scene froze for a moment, and Kevin, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.
"During this time with the Second Lawrence, your will and determination are admirable, but now that the time is ripe, I hope you will not stop me."
"This is impossible!" Walter projected his consciousness before everyone. "Kevin Kaslana, I've heard of your name and know of your contributions to the current civilization, but that doesn't give you the right to represent humanity in implementing the Stigmata Project. You have no right to make this decision on our behalf!"
“I have given you far too much time. For thousands of years, you have been fighting the Honkai like it’s a game, and you have even had disagreements due to differing ideologies. Now that the end is drawing ever closer, you have still not produced any results that satisfy me. What reason do I have to believe that you can create miracles?”
Walter choked because, as Kevin had said, in the past century, apart from the separation of Anti-Entropy from Schicksal due to differences in their ideologies in fighting the Honkai, the rest of the time, apart from the internal strife between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, had not yielded any substantial results.
Even the Herrschers born during the Second Honkai Impact 2000 nearly destroyed the entire Siberia, and this outcome was due to human error.
No matter how much Walter denied it, he couldn't refute it, because what Kevin said was true.
"Even so, your plan is still too inhumane. Even if it succeeds, humanity will pay a heavy price."
The pale words made Welt seem so small and powerless at this moment, but for Kevin, as long as he could defeat the Honkai, the price he paid was completely acceptable. Moreover, as the executor of the Stigmata Project, how could he not know the price that would have to be paid?
These are all necessary sacrifices for humanity to successfully defeat the Honkai. Kevin, who has frozen his heart, is no longer the sunny and passionate young man he once was, but a martyr on the long road to saving the world.
"I am already aware of the costs you mentioned, but I will continue down this path until you find a better solution. Now, I order you to get out of my way!"
"Then we will absolutely not let you succeed!"
Bronya said this, while her aura continued to rise and the Honkai energy fluctuations within her body had vaguely exceeded the limits that ordinary Herrschers could reach, but this power did not last long.
Just as Bronya's aura reached its peak, the Herrscher Core left her body, and to Bronya's incredulous gaze, she once again returned to her normal state.
“Successor of the Herrscher of Reason, I acknowledge your will,” Kevin said as he stepped forward. “But your body is exhausted from repeated crises. Your body, which has been overworking its core, can no longer keep up with your unwavering will.”
As Kevin spoke, he picked up the Herrscher of Reason core that had fallen to the ground. Before he could collect the core, Nevart's consciousness had already completed the reconstruction of his body and snatched the Herrscher core back from Kevin's hands.
"Stay away from that child!"
"I must admit, Walter, you are one of the most determined humans I have ever met," Kevin praised. "With your talent, you are far too underutilized in Anti-Entropy. Would you be interested in joining World Serpent?"
"Unfortunately, Kevin, that's impossible! I'm even going to stay here and stop you from leaving!"
"That's a real shame. It's just a pity that you can't stop me with your current strength."
As he spoke, Kevin released a wisp of Honkai energy, but even this wisp of Honkai energy was far too much for the others.
Even the surrounding air began to freeze. Seeing this, Walter quickly led Bronya back to a relatively safe place, and then summoned various Titans to attack Kevin.
But as Kevin said, Walter was not powerful enough to stop him. Kevin simply raised his hand and froze all the Titan mechs present.
"Thum! Thug! Thumb!"
That was the sound of shoes striking the ground, but those sounds alone were enough to disrupt the fragile balance of the Titan armor.
As the ice shattered, all the Titan mechs turned into fragments and crashed heavily to the ground. This single blow not only destroyed all the Titan mechs but also severely injured Welt, causing him to lose consciousness.
Kevin strolled toward Walter, when Seele appeared in front of him and blocked his way.
After all, Seele is kind, not stupid. Having watched from the sidelines for so long, Seele already understands the situation. In addition, Kevin clearly intends to harm Bronya. No matter how much Seele sides with the Captain and Kevin, she cannot let them harm Bronya now.
"Seele...no!"
Bronya struggled to her feet. She was still very weak, but for Seele, whom she had finally managed to see, she struggled to get up from the ground and came to Seele.
"If you dare to harm a single hair on Seele's head, I'll risk my life to bite a piece of flesh off you!"
However, Kevin only glanced at them and then ignored them before leaving, only extending a casual invitation as he passed by.
"I have no interest in you, but of course you are welcome to join World Serpent anytime if you wish."
Seeing this, the captain quickly followed. It wasn't that he didn't want to help Bronya and the others, but his current status and strength did not allow him to lend a hand, even with the help of the Heavenly Fire Judgment.
The reason why the Judgment of Heavenly Fire became Kevin's weapon was entirely because Kevin had the power to break it.
However, when passing by Bronya, the captain subconsciously wanted to help her up, but his outstretched hand was slapped away by Bronya in the next second.
Seeing Bronya's somewhat hostile gaze, the captain could only smile helplessly. He handed Seele the emergency medicine he carried with him and told Seele to take the two away quickly. Then, the captain turned around and left this place of trouble with Kevin.
The captain's words were not unfounded; Kevin's release of Honkai energy was so immense that it triggered a rejection reaction from the Sea of Quanta. Numerous quantum shadows appeared around them, and after quickly treating Welt's injuries, Seele and Bronya fled the Sea of Quanta with Welt.
However, an accident occurred during the process. Because Bronya's body had not fully recovered and she also had to take care of Welt, the group was caught up by the Quantum Shadows who had arrived. In order to ensure that Seele and Welt could return to the original world safely, Bronya chose to sacrifice herself to cover their retreat.
However, they were saved by Seele, who had fully awakened the power of the Stigmata, at the critical moment, and the three of them returned to the original world without any danger.
After taking Walter to the infirmary for treatment, Bronya and Seele went to the beach above Abyss City, where the New Cocolia Orphanage is located.
Rosalia and Lilia, whom I haven't seen for many years, have changed a lot, but this does not affect their relationship with Seele.
As the sun sets, the four of them play happily on the beach, forgetting the time and their troubles. But how long can such days last?