Behind-the-scenes video of the beginning of Honkai.

"Some people are born for their faith, and some die for their faith! But there are always people who are born for money and die for money! These things that determine life and death, whether it is 'faith' or 'money'... are all the support or desires of human beings themselves."

Prometheus 17 continued, “Compared to those people, Dr. May’s existence is insignificant; compared to the fact that ‘Herrschers fight for humanity,’ the specific Herrscher is also unimportant.”

As they continued following Prometheus 17, they listened to her recount details about the [Stigmata Project].

"Congratulations, Bronya. You have discovered 'her' original secret."

"……she?"

"You can guess who I'm referring to without me saying it!" Prometheus didn't reveal the person's name. "For you, the real problem lies in using the Stigmata Project to restore the core of your heart, which has been unable to use the full power of a Herrscher because of the thoughts of 30 people."

"However, there is no need to panic. If you do the opposite, you will have a chance to regain the initiative and stand up to her."

As soon as she finished speaking, Bronya found herself in the icy wilderness of Siberia, where she also witnessed the past of the Feathered Rabbit.

Feather Rabbit is a 'crystallization' born from Cecilia's Stigmata combined with the consciousness of a dead human at the moment of her death. She hates her own existence, but she cannot kill herself.

They also saw the gray snake talking to Yuto, but Yuto declined his invitation during their first conversation.

Theresa: "Cecilia!"

Theresa called out urgently, even though she knew it was all in the past and an unchangeable fact.

But when she witnessed this scene with her own eyes, she couldn't help but want to stop her, even though she knew Cecilia was dead.

Siegfried: "Damn it!"

Seeing this, Siegfried was devastated. Cecilia's death was something he could never forget, and now he had to witness her slowly dying. But there was nothing he could do. He hated his powerlessness during the Second Honkai Impact, hated himself for not being able to protect his loved ones.

Kiana: "Mom!"

Rowling also stepped forward and gently hugged Kiana. Kiana buried her head in Rowling's arms, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Seeing Kiana's heartbroken state, Rowling thought for a moment and decided to give her a surprise later.

"...Lady Durandal."

In the Destiny Training Room, Rita watched Durandal's eyes welling up with tears with worry. She stepped forward but hesitated to speak, ultimately choosing to say nothing. Meanwhile, on the other side...

When Durandal witnessed Cecilia's death, her brain and heart began to ache, many blurry images began to clear, and her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.

"……Mother!"

Yuto: "It is far too cruel for these young girls to witness the moment of their mother's death. But... I am very sorry, as you have guessed, I am indeed related to your mother, because the moment your mother Cecilia Schariac died was also the moment I, Misterlin Schariac, was born."

Just as Bronya was trying to get more information, more new information appeared around her, indicating that she had been discovered.

Although the situation was similar, this was clearly not an ordinary game of chess. In the time it took Bronya to make one move, her opponent had already placed more than ten pieces.

After a long silence, Bronya crossed her arms, her expression one of understanding: "I see, someone was cheating from the very beginning!"

However, Bronya had no choice but to continue playing with Yuuto, the cheater, which made her situation increasingly precarious, and her chances of winning became almost zero.

But she did not give up. Instead, she continued to search for a way to break through the barrier and entered the next segment of memory.

Here she discovered a record named "7125 Gray Serpent Legend" by Feather Rabbit's consciousness. Feather Rabbit was not only the key to the Stigmata Project, but even its origin.

However, this intelligence was of no use to the current situation, and Bronya was still racking her brains to devise a way to turn the tide.

The current situation, to a certain extent, represents the operational essence of the Stigmata Project, which can be considered as having another Herrscher of Reason on a larger scale.

This includes not only 300,000 people, but also all of humanity.

"...That's right!"

Bronya seemed to suddenly realize something, her pupils widened slightly, and she raised her hand, conjuring up various types of weapons out of thin air around her.

"...In this space, Bronya is indeed no match for you with the support of the Stigmata Project, but it might be a different story on a different chessboard!"

Under Bronya's control, these constructed weapons abruptly turned the cannons that were unleashing dangerous lasers toward her own direction, toward the location of her body containing the Herrscher core.

"Bronya, you surrender!"

The next second, a laser beam shot out and pierced Bronya's chest.

……

"So you failed again? I thought you could be like her!"

Over here, Yuto looked at the Herrscher of Reason core in her hand with great disappointment. Now that she had completely mastered the Herrscher of Reason's powers, she no longer needed this Herrscher of Reason core that had lost its power.

"Am I lacking in planning? It seems we need to think of other methods; you can't stop her like this..."

Meanwhile, the scene in the live stream changed again as Yu Tu recalled it, and what appeared before everyone's eyes was still that snow-covered plain.

However, unlike before, in that desolate snowfield, there was a house with firelight inside, as if someone lived there.

Here, everyone witnessed Feathered Rabbit's past. Feathered Rabbit met Alexandra, Bronya's mother, who had given her guidance and made her life meaningful. Feathered Rabbit quickly became Alexandra's good friend, but in the end, Alexandra chose to sacrifice herself to ensure Bronya's birth.

When Hato finally returned to the real world, in order to find Alexandra, he agreed to cooperate with Grey Serpent. However, even so, all Hato found in the end was Alexandra's grave.

Chapter 266 Bronya was also one of those 300,000 people.

Bronya: "So until the very end... Hare, no, Mistelin, you still didn't get to hear what your mother wanted to say at the end, did you?"

Bronya's eyes reflected the tombstone of her biological mother in the live stream, and a rare look of sadness appeared in her eyes. However, due to the damage to her emotional center, her expression remained unchanged.

Yu Tu: "Yes, this is probably the most regrettable thing in my short life."

Kiana: "Wow, Bronya's mother is amazing! But doesn't that mean Mistelin is Bronya's aunt?!"

Bronya: "..."

Yuto: "According to human generations, I am indeed Bronya's aunt."

Mei: "But it seems that Misterin from the parallel world wants to help Bronya grow up to fight the Ice Queen! Logically speaking, shouldn't Misterin, as Bronya's aunt, help the Ice Queen? Why does it seem like she's betraying her and helping Bronya fight the Ice Queen? That way, the two can be considered as counterparts, but shouldn't the Ice Queen be closer to her?"

Yu Tu: "I don't know either. After all, I can't guess why I would do this in a parallel world."

Mebius (Memory): "Grey Serpent!"

When Mebius saw that Gray Serpent had abandoned her painstakingly developed plan for over a dozen generations of Stigmata after finding Feathered Rabbit, she was instantly devastated.

You know, she revised the Stigmata Project more than a dozen times and spent countless hours on it, only to give up so easily. People who don't know the situation might think that my Stigmata Project was terrible.

Mebius was furious. He spat out a mouthful of blood, wiped it from his mouth, and his eyes turned icy. Just wait and see. Once I get out of here, I'll tear Gray Serpent apart.

At this moment, Mistelin's memories were interrupted, and Yuto's mind was forced back to reality. She looked at the Herrscher of Reason core in her hand in surprise, only to see a dark red light flash past her eyes.

She looked up, and at the point where her gaze fell, the cracks in the imaginary space gradually spread out until they shattered completely, and a familiar figure reappeared before her.

Yu Tu smiled, not at all shocked by the sudden change, but rather seemed somewhat delighted.

“Welcome back, Bronya Zaychek.” Yutu was genuinely happy. “At least you haven’t disappointed me now.”

"So, what are you planning to do next?" Yu Tu looked at Bronya with a leisurely expression. "Although you have successfully returned to reality, which is certainly commendable, at the same time, you have also lost the only power that could fight against me."

When Yuto said these words, a hint of cunning flashed in Bronya's eyes as she slowly said, "Before considering that, since you have completely taken away the Herrscher's powers, can you return the remaining parts to Bronya?"

"...The rest?" Yu Tu pondered for a moment and understood Bronya's meaning. She focused her gaze on the dim core floating between the two of them. "Oh, you mean this crystal? It's alright, take it... After all, it is a 'relic' left by the same great hero, and it should indeed be properly preserved."

Yu Tu didn't care about the useless crystal, even though it was true that the crystal was of no use to him now.

"As you can see, the 300,000 thoughts that constitute the Law of Reason have been integrated into the Stigmata Project and become the Seeds of Ideals. They no longer exist, so it is even more impossible for them to regroup in this core."

Yu Tu's words were like a death sentence for the crystal, even though the crystal was now just a "dead object".

However, Bronya wasn't surprised by what the other person said; she knew about that kind of thing herself.

“Bronya understands, but... that doesn’t matter! The thoughts of 30 people are just a symbol of the Herrscher of Reason’s spirit to Bronya.”

"In terms of power, the Stigmata Project is clearly superior to the Herrscher of Reason, but don't forget, Bronya is also one of those 300,000 people!"

As soon as Bronya finished speaking, a familiar power erupted from her body the instant she touched the core of the Herrscher of Reason.

Bronya's outfit has also been transformed back into her Herrscher of Reason form!

“Excellent, your approach deserves my praise, but… even if you say that, you haven’t made any significant progress in terms of power. What do you think you can do with just this meager power?”

Yuto said this to Bronya. Bronya had indeed regained the power of the Herrscher of Reason, but even with Bronya's strength, she was still no match for Yuto.

“Indeed, if it’s just about confronting you, doing this much might not be enough.” Bronya smiled slightly. “But in terms of practical application, it seems you’ve made another wrong judgment!”

"Since you've been so polite to Bronya, I hope you'll extend the same welcome to them—"

As Bronya finished speaking, the spatial cracks around them, unnoticed by Rabbit, spread out again.

"Crunch~ Crunch~"

With her small but familiar powers, Bronya had just completed the deconstruction of this space, and she had also completely torn apart the space that had trapped her companions.

With a loud "bang!"

The space, like fragile glass, shattered, and at that moment, a familiar voice reached Bronya's ears.

"Thank you so much, Bronya!"

A familiar figure in red and white appeared beside Bronya; it was Kiana. Mei and Jiuxiao also appeared there.

"So this is your strategy? To bring your allies back to deal with me?"

If that's all there is to it, it will disappoint Yu Tu again. After all, such power is far from enough to deal with that person, let alone someone who is about to ascend to godhood.

"No, bringing them back is just something I need to do; I don't need to fight you." Bronya looked at Mei, Kiana, and Jiuxiao. "Kiana, Mei, Jiuxiao, could you please watch over things from the sidelines? Bronya can handle this battle all by herself!"

“…Bronya?” Mei looked at Bronya with a puzzled expression. “Now is not the time to act rashly!”

“Don’t worry, just now, Bronya has already devised a 'sure-win' strategy,” Bronya said, turning to Yutu who had been watching from the sidelines, her expression stern. “And the prerequisite is that Bronya must fight alone.”

As friends, Raiden Mei, Kiana, and Jiuxiao also have some understanding of Bronya's personality.

Since she said that, she must have some confidence in herself.

Without much thought, the three of them indeed retreated to the rear.

"Are you going to give up your advantages to challenge me?" Yu Tu reminded Bronya. "Then I must remind you that although that curse no longer exists, in this new body, with this power that can easily connect the Stigmata with reality, I will not be at a disadvantage when fighting a Herrscher one-on-one."

"...It seems you still don't understand." Bronya stared directly at Yuto, her silver-gray eyes radiating a chilling aura. "The one challenging you at this moment is not the 'Herrscher of Reason,' but—Bronya Zaychek!"

Chapter 267 The Birth of the Lawgiver of Truth

"Perhaps you are not convinced now, but whether it is 'power' or 'will'... to me, a Herrscher like you is not worth mentioning."

A light emanated from Yu Tu, and when the light faded, Yu Tu's posture also changed, and her purple and white dress became even more gorgeous and complex.