The light that erupted from Flamescion was like a waterfall flowing against the current, transcending the dimensions of the spacetime rift and piercing through the thick clouds above Coral Island, forming a pillar of light that reached straight into the cosmos.
This dazzling light was clearly visible even in Shenzhou, thousands of kilometers away from Coral Island.
Under the warmth provided by the Flamescion light pillar, the snow and ice crystals covering the island gradually melted into gurgling streams, flowing into the sea. The island, which had been pulled upwards by the Herrscher's gravity, slowly descended and returned to the supporting structure of sea level, regaining its former stability.
As the afterglow of the Flamescion light faded, the space frozen within the gray domain formed by the Time Crystal began to flow again.
The nebula frost formed by the Herrscher of Ice was melted by the flames, and the cold blizzard was heated into a vast expanse of steam, which then condensed into warm raindrops, falling on this ravaged island.
Bathed in the rain, the piercing cold that had invaded the survivors, gradually receded, preventing a potential epidemic of severe illness.
"So, this is the real Stairway to the Stars." Only after the light dissipated did people recover from this scene that could be called a miracle.
The colossal project that the United Nations had prepared for years, costing trillions of funds, now only left behind a broken foundation. In the face of absolute power, humanity's struggles seemed so insignificant.
Construction workers of the Stairway to the Stars tremblingly took out cigarettes from their pockets and lit them. Weary mothers hugged their children tightly in their arms. Wandering office workers took out their phones to report safety to their families. Security guards maintaining order patted their companions on the shoulders…
Only by truly experiencing the brink of death can one feel the beauty of life. The dissipated light pillar transformed into countless motes of light, and the starlight-like radiance illuminated people's faces, allowing them to see the purest joy on each other's faces. The fear brought about by surviving the disaster dissipated, and the hope of life was passed on in people's hearts.
Regardless of whether they knew each other or not, people embraced those around them and wept tears of joy in unison.
…
More than 50,000 meters above Coral Island, the continuous clouds were washed away, leaving only a clear and empty expanse.
Pale blue and light brown starlight fell from the high sky, intertwining and streaking out two gorgeous ribbons of light, drawing closer and closer in a spiral posture.
The starlight finally converged, transforming into two Herrscher cores, obediently resting in the boy's palm.
In the distance, the twilight of sunset descended. Along with the conclusion of the Coral Island incident, the bright sun also diffused into a curling crimson orb, casting golden afterglow on the side profiles of the boy and girl.
In this world-removed, ten-thousand-meter-high sky, in the vast and boundless emptiness, the entire world left only Ren and Kiana. There was no bustling clamor here, nor noisy trivialities, only the trickling stream left behind by the exhausted river of time.
"These are Herrscher cores?" Kiana leaned closer to Ren, curiously looking at the Herrscher cores in his hand.
The gloomy clouds had been shattered into cotton candy-like wisps by Flamescion, and then gathered again into soft cotton clumps by the airflow. The two stood in the stratosphere, with cloud layers undulating beneath their feet, looking as if they were strolling in the clouds.
"Herrscher of Ice and Herrscher of Star." Ren sighed softly. Although the ending of these two Herrschers was within his expectations, their demise in this way still couldn't help but make people feel a sense of melancholy and sigh.
Anna, as a Valkyrie, would at least be recorded in Schicksal's archives, while Chen Tianwu had no attachments, and from now on, no one would remember his name.
Fortunately, although the endings of these two were not perfect, with Ren's help, they at least resolved their inner knots at the last moment, and did not die in pain and despair like in the original timeline.
"You know their identities?"
"Sort of. If you want to hear, I can slowly tell you about them."
"But don't you have a lot of things to do? And the Coral Island disaster hasn't been resolved yet."
"Don't worry, Schicksal's troops have already arrived. Just leave the rest to them. We have a very long time left."
"Yeah." Kiana tucked the scattered strands of hair behind her ear, looking at Ren in front of her and couldn't help but reveal a smile.
"What's wrong? Am I acting strange?"
"No, I just suddenly feel that this kind of peaceful time is really hard-won. After all, from the first day I met you, we've been like children chasing after light in the dark night, only able to keep running forward, always forward, otherwise we would fall into darkness."
The girl reached out her hand towards the setting sun, as if wanting to grasp the afterglow of the setting sun in her hand and make time stand still at this moment.
She couldn't grasp the setting sunlight, but she could grasp Ren's hand.
"You have many secrets I don't know. I want to hear you tell them, can I?"
Kiana raised her head, gazing at the boy beside her. Her lake-blue eyes were tinged with golden light, reflecting Ren's appearance. Her eyes revealed the expectation of a kitten, yet also hid the unease of a fawn.
"Of course, if you want to hear." Because Kiana had subconsciously moved closer, the distance between the two became very close. Facing these sapphire-like gazes, it was difficult for Ren to say no. "I said, we have a very, very long time left."
Receiving an affirmative answer, Kiana reached out and directly constructed two Void Lances from the Imaginary Space, using them as supports. The two sat on the chairs formed by the Void Lances, the clouds beneath them undulating, like a swing swaying in the wind.
In the gradually setting sun, Ren softly narrated the stories of Anna and Chen Tianwu. And Kiana sat quietly beside him, listening to these unknown past events.
The mournful blue heart-shaped pendant was buried in the soil of Coral Island, while the pair of star bracelets on Kiana's hand sparkled with dazzling light in the sunlight.
…
During the eruption of the light pillar from Coral Island, countless people had obviously noticed the Honkai anomaly. And those who truly knew the inside story could clearly identify the familiar Herrscher aura mixed in that Flamescion light.
"Kiana…?" On the sea surface further away, a huge black shadow streaked past. Airflow swept by, and seawater was lifted into waves several meters high.
Such a massive aircraft, yet the surrounding radar buoy stations responsible for observation did not detect any information. Instead, a fishing boat sailing on the sea inadvertently observed this unknown scene.
"Captain, just now, it looked like a dragon flew past?"
"Dragon? I think you're hoping for a dragon service [1]."
The crew member, subjected to merciless ridicule, flushed red and desperately explained, "No, I mean it literally, a dragon, the kind with wings."
"Stop talking nonsense. I think this voyage has been too long, you lads are starting to hallucinate. Remember to get psychological counseling when you get off the ship. I can reimburse the counseling fees for you."
"But, it really looked like…"
Facing the crew member's explanation, the captain had lost patience. He raised his hand and made a gesture to shut up.
"Idiot, even if it does look like one, it might be a new type of aircraft in top-secret testing by the higher-ups. Even if you accidentally saw it, is it something you can talk about? No sense of discretion. I don't want to be arrested because of you."
"Sorry, Captain." Only then did the crew member belatedly cover his mouth, too frightened to say another word.
Whether it was some secret aircraft or not naturally had nothing to do with these people. Mei Raiden, sitting on the Kurikara, retracted her gaze from looking at the sky. Just now, at that instant, she had indeed sensed Kiana's aura from the light pillar.
Even at such a distant distance, the light pillar still brought a strong sense of threat to her. If it was really caused by Kiana, it at least showed that the other party's current strength had already far surpassed her own.
For Mei Raiden, this was actually good news. After all, her initial choice to leave and join the Obsidian Concord was to help Kiana in her own way.
Of course, now that she truly understood the Obsidian Concord, came into contact with more people, and learned more about the unknown side of this world, Mei's life already had a clearer goal.
The current her was not just fighting purely for Kiana, but truly and sincerely wanting to use her own power to change this world, at least to prevent the tragedies of people like Kalpas and Pardofelis from happening again, and to let Kiana return to her original free self.
The girl had walked out of the shadow of Nagazora City, left Kiana's protection, saw a more distant sky, and also found the meaning of her own life.
"World Serpent, hopefully I can find answers from this organization."
Mei Raiden sighed softly. The howling sea breeze swept past her hair, stirring up a cloud of dark purple cirrus clouds.
The high-speed rushing Kurikara accelerated again, leaving a white line on the sea surface, speeding towards the direction of Coral Island.