To create Honkai Impact 3rd in a world where Kallen exists.

“This time, I have the opposite opinion, Ellie… You represent the image of truth and beauty, and what you do is spread beautiful music. What’s the difference between joining the church and being a fan at my concert?”

She refuted Alicia with a single word.

This made Alicia sulk. After thinking it over, she realized that things were quite different no matter how she looked at it.

She didn't want to argue about it anymore. Anyway, that person never listened and even fueled the flames, creating a huge uproar online. The flags of the Love Gate had been planted in every corner...

I really have no idea what he's up to!

"In the end, is this how it turned out? I regret not being able to hold on until the end. I also hope... that I can become Alicia's memory."

Aponia said with a broad smile.

However, she also understood that Eden did the best job, and she had more memories of Alicia... and moreover, the everyday moments that Mei lacked.

"Hey, don't say that. It's not some glorious thing, there's no need to fight over it like that!"

"If I knew that you, Eden, came to sacrifice yourself for me, I would be very sad."

Alicia covered her head and shook it irritably.

"……snort."

Mebius snorted but said nothing.

She understood that Aponia was just teasing Alicia, not that she was upset that Alicia hadn't defeated the Herrscher of Corruption and that Aponia had sacrificed herself in vain... but she couldn't help thinking that way.

Besides... she didn't want to become Alicia, otherwise she wouldn't be able to get rid of her completely, right?

"Möbius is inexplicably angry again. Sigh, Klein, go and comfort your Doctor!"

Alicia called out, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Hmm..." Klein was speechless. What did she have that made her worthy of coaxing the Doctor?

However, when it comes to Alicia, she knows to keep quiet, after all, she has too much experience.

"Alicia! Hmph, I hope you can win in the end, otherwise... you'll have wasted their expectations."

She stomped her foot, and could only manage to utter this one sentence.

She turned her head away, not wanting to see him.

"...Yes, I understand. Mebius must have trusted me to go and save Klein without any regard for the consequences. She's so smart, she must have known about Velvet's plan."

Alicia readily agreed, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons, adding that teasing Mebius would be quite amusing.

"That's impossible. It's just that Klein is more useful than you."

Mebius paused for a moment, then reflexively retorted.

That's not why she's doing it.

...

As the singer neared her end, Mei posed a question that had long been buried in her heart—

As the Flame Moths crumbled and she herself faced doubt and annihilation, Alicia volunteered to become the Thirteenth Herrscher, standing against humanity, in order to unite the remaining people...

In the end, she sacrificed herself to put the world back on track...

"But……"

"But is that really the case?"

"Regardless of how she became a Herrscher, and how she used sacrifice to make people realize the truth... then why is the story of the Thirteenth Herrscher... a history that has been erased?"

There are too many things that cannot be explained logically.

Because she is a Herrscher, Mei understands that becoming a Herrscher is not something that can be done simply by saying it...

Moreover, since so many heroes have recognized her as the Lawyer, why cover up that part of history?

“Miss Mei…you are really smart.”

Eden looked at the other person with a smile in her eyes. The other person's reasoning was completely correct. Oblivious to the radiance emanating from her, she said softly, "Because that's just one way of putting it."

"To explain to others and future generations why she left."

"The truth you've been seeking is the ability to transform all the irrational into the rational."

But the truth is harder to accept than words, which is why it was told to the world that way, and it was the best way at the time.

She certainly didn't need to elaborate on this point separately.

"is that so?"

Mei breathed a sigh of relief.

Past events resurfaced in my mind; those casual conversations had already revealed the answer.

"That's true, maybe. I really did tell a huge lie, the only lie of my life."

lie……

"After all... I can be scared too."

Fear……

"Hmm... I wonder how I did? Judging from everyone's reactions, the result should be alright, right? Otherwise, there wouldn't be Alicia in the Paradise of the Past..."

hesitate……

"Thank you, Mei... I'm so lucky to have met you this way. You gave me... a gift I've always longed for but never dared to ask for."

joy……

Those fragmented words, when pieced together, led everything toward the single answer.

"So... Alicia... she was never the Thirteenth Herrscher, right?"

She kept her head down, feeling dejected for not having noticed such an obvious flaw.

"Ah."

"Thirteen is a false number."

"She told the world a lie, just so that she could tell the truth to her loved ones on her deathbed."

"She was born a herald."

Mei's eyes widened in surprise. Even though she had some suspicions, she was still astonished by the undeniable facts.

That's why Kevin was in so much pain, that's why Mebius called her a traitor, that's why... her existence brought her such joy...

All of this is simply because she has always been a Herrscher.

If all of this is true, then what lies beneath her smile...?

How lonely... how sad he must have been...

Eden recounted the story in a soft, a cappella tone, as the past unfolded in her gentle eyes—the life of that pink-haired girl, from their first meeting to their admiration after getting to know her, and even to her being regarded as the only one for her.

Admittedly, no one listens to her songs anymore in this new era.

Similarly, there is no Herrscher named Alicia in the new era.

So she chose to stay at the end of that era.

"She loved humans so much, and so... wanted to be human."

"This is the cross that Ellie carried throughout her life, and it is also the end point that she reached after transcending fate."

"Ellie will be waiting for you behind that door, and your journey will eventually blossom at the end of all memories."

She offered her heartfelt blessings with high hopes.

So she sipped her wine, her eyes filled with affection.

"How I miss her. It's a pity that this time... I have to say goodbye to her early again."

"Then, please allow me to sing one more song as a farewell gift to you, Miss Mei..."

"Use her favorite song."

Eden's figure was almost ethereal, but the expectant smile on her lips remained unchanged.

“Alicia, my friend…”

"May we never be apart, may time... stand still...?"

The magnificent and melodious singing echoed, and the singer's last song was sung.

The song is over.

Returning to the previous page, the remaining Eden card shattered, turning into a blank image.

The once somewhat crowded group of thirteen people is now completely empty.

Thus, all thirteen heroes perished, with none escaping their fate.

[From the very beginning, you were a Herrscher? Ah—]

Is this... the biggest lie she's ever told? It's always been the Herrschers interacting with humans, so what happened to her...?

Where did the promised sunshine, happiness, and positivity go? It's all knives...

[What kind of person could inspire so many heroes to sacrifice themselves for him? I think he must be a very good person. From this moment on, I enter the gates of love!]

Chapter 99 Arranging the Hands of the Stars (3/20)

"A fake number... thirteen?"

Kiana frowned subconsciously, then looked at Alicia over there.

Since the other party was a Herrscher from the beginning, how did they manage to conceal their identity step by step and reach the upper echelons of the Flame Chaser, and even their actions have always been about resisting the Honkai, including their deaths?

How did the other party do it?

"It was a Herrscher from the very beginning, although that possibility is obvious, but there's no vacancy for the Herrscher..."

"And she appeared even before the Herrscher of Reason..."

Bronya analyzed, but she fell into a misconception.

—The law enforcers of modern civilization should not be exactly the same as those of previous civilizations.