Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

……

……

"Click—?"

"Click-click-click-click-click-click—!"

The fleeting petals of the past suddenly exploded, causing the girl, who was pouring all her energy into it, to momentarily freeze. Her figure, which had begun to become ethereal and was about to disappear from the world, became solid and fixed again.

Correspondingly...

The already touched soul fell again, unwilling to accept its fate.

A complete and utter fall.

There was no hope left, no light left; even the soul's desperate struggle in that instant could only lead to a futile fall.

Ultimately, it fell into the abyss, and that beauty vanished silently like bubbles under the sunlight, leaving only the shimmering water reflecting light.

"Eh……"

"Eh."

"Eh!!!"

Her pink pupils contracted sharply in an instant, and the blessings they contained vanished as well. Her realization seemed to have been blown away by a sudden gust of wind.

The girl instinctively reached out, but couldn't grasp the remnants of the soul. The fragments that had just been there had vanished without a trace.

impossible.

Even though no one was sacrificed in a one-for-one exchange, a part of their soul should have been pieced back together.

Unless one has lost even the slightest bit of resentment and will to live, as long as there is even a trace of resentment and obsession, one will fight back under the guidance of strength.

How could all the souls have vanished in the blink of an eye?

Surely Vilvi wouldn't just accept this willingly?

unless……

—This is another mistake on her part.

what……

Another failure.

It was just like countless times before.

"Why……"

"Why!"

"Why can't I even do this?!"

That lively and cheerful voice suddenly disappeared, revealing a somewhat manic tone, full of emotion and loss of composure.

Alicia gently bit her rosy lower lip, a few glistening tears welling in her eyes, as she relentlessly tried to salvage fragments of the girl's soul, disregarding the loss of her power.

Useless.

Useless!

We couldn't get any at all!

Not a single trace can be found!

Unable to grasp or hold onto it, the soul that brushed past her fingertips seemed to mock the girl's helplessness.

unwilling.

anger!

After jealousy and greed, anger also arose in the heart of the innocent girl, as pure as a flower.

That is anger towards oneself.

Anger at being unable to do even the smallest thing, at the last act of atonement; anger at one's own incompetence, one's own uselessness, and one's own ridiculousness.

"Ahem, is that Alicia?"

……

despair.

collapse.

But a sudden sound appeared behind Alicia, like a wave rising from the depths of the sea, bringing hope for life.

The aura that belonged only to that girl. Because of Jiang Cheng, that aura, so familiar, reappeared in this world.

The girl's fingers froze in mid-air, completely losing their luster, and a tiny glimmer of hope rose in her misty eyes.

—It's Vilvi's voice!

Did she successfully come back to life?

why?

Even though his own life wasn't over yet...

There was no room for further thought, nor did she consider how slim the possibility of the girl's true resurrection was; Alicia simply looked back with longing.

"Vilvi..."

"Did you successfully revive?"

……

"--No."

The perfect response made it clear that the girl already existed in this world, yet she was saying the exact opposite.

It's as ridiculous as asking someone if they're asleep at night and them saying they're not.

This clearly means that the other party has been resurrected.

only……

There was not a trace of Velvi in ​​those pink eyes, not even a slightly larger fragment of her soul.

The broken crystal flower, the sunlight shining on the earth, the sound originating from the drifting petals of past lives floating in the air...

"you……"

"Did it possess the weapon?"

The harsh reality dealt a heavy blow to the fairies of the paradise.

Alicia was already saying foolish things that even she herself didn't believe.

The diamond-shaped pupils were trembling.

It reveals a sorrow deeper than sorrow itself.

don't want……

don't want……

Don't even fail to do this.

"The answer is still no."

That was a tone of playfulness and flippancy I'd never heard from Vilvi before.

Perhaps it was his last words after his death.

A somewhat shy and withdrawn girl rarely reveals a previously unknown aspect of her personality, a side closer to that of the "magician."

"If I answer your question clearly, it only means that my guess about your personality is accurate. If I answer it wrong, it means that there is no difference. I am already dead, truly dead."

"I left this audio clip behind Jiang Cheng's back because I guessed that you would come to retrieve the weapon one day. The fact that it can be triggered now proves that my guess was correct. You no longer need to wonder if I am still alive or anything like that."

"The only two conditions that this audio triggers are my death and its destined owner coming to its side and displaying their power, a power that I suspect does not belong to humans."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter if you guess wrong. The weapon you have will automatically activate soon. But I still hope you do have the power."

"After all, that Herrscher was just the first step in the Honkai. In my research, there will be many more Herrschers in the future."

"With human capabilities, it is impossible to overcome the current gap in abilities between Herrschers and the growth of Honkai; the only outcome is death."

"Am i right?"

"..."

Alicia lowered her head, her long hair obscuring her face, making it impossible to discern her expression.

"Okay."

"To stop rambling, I have one request for leaving this audio clip: I hope you can stay with Jiangcheng after I die."

"..."

"Eh?"

"why?"

Alicia was so shocked by the girl's astonishing words that she even raised her head, her pink starry eyes flashing with utter incomprehension.

Velvi...

That girl who loved Jiangcheng the most, and hated herself the most.

He was the person who was so angry at his past neglect and the harm he had caused to the boy that he almost wanted to beat himself up.

It seems to be saying...

I'll go and keep Jiangcheng company.

—Did I hear that right?

The first thing that came to the girl's mind was a question, and this deep question even briefly suppressed her self-destructive urges that were so intense with grief.

Before she could even finish uttering her doubts, before she could fully express her questions, a deep sense of repression and intense inferiority replaced the words stuck in her throat, making it difficult for the girl to open her lips.