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

Chapter 288 It is precisely because of this kind of world that I love it!

"Kiana Kaslana, I know your past, and I have no way of knowing your future. You are from another world from Chaldea. Although you are not the Kiana of this world, you share the same belief in sacrificing yourself for the sake of others. Even though you are separated by two worlds and two different times, you share some beliefs."

"But unfortunately, these alone are far from enough. In this collapsing world, having only faith without power is nothing but self-deception, like the pathetic clown in the dance troupe, or the puppet in the theater where a thousand people are controlled."

"There is no such thing as a perfect world. If you want to save some things, you have to give up others. This is the eternal law of cause and effect in the world. You can save the people around you, but you can't save this cruel world. So Kiana Kaslana, I advise you to give up your naive idea!"

Kiana took a deep breath, regulated her disordered breathing, and after realizing that she wasn't actually seriously injured, she said defiantly, "Hmph, if you think you can sway me with just sweet words, then you underestimate me. Naive or cruel, I just want to do what I believe is right. Maybe I can't save everyone, but I will do my best to save everything I see right now!"

Kiana's answer was met with a firm denial from the Stigmata Will: "In the end, everything depends on strength. Without strength, it's all just empty dreams. Just like how you were powerless against the Ice Queen before, you are powerless against me now. If you think you can save everything with just these things, then it's too ridiculous. I don't want to waste my breath on overly stubborn people. It's just a waste of time. So Kiana, you should just surrender!"

As soon as the words of the Holy Mark's Will fell, an even more intense power emerged from his body.

Terrifying celestial fire illuminated the starry sky, like a holy sword guarding Eden, slaying all heretics it encountered. With a swing of the celestial fire in the Stigmata's will, the terrifying flames slashed towards Kiana like meteors. Under this powerful attack, Kiana vanished instantly into a sea of ​​fire within the Stigmata's space.

Kiana: "No way, I was just taken down like that!"

Kiana was stunned by what she saw. Wasn't she here to receive the inheritance? How come Alicia gave Mei the power of the Origin so easily, but it was so difficult for her? And the inheritor even killed her.

Alicia (Memory): "Kevin, how could you be so rude to a girl and hurt Kiana? That's wrong!"

Kevin: "That's not me."

Kevin was also somewhat surprised that the Stigmata's will in the parallel world was attacked so ruthlessly. However, the Stigmata space is a space of will, and as long as Kiana's will remains, she can be restored to her original state even if she is scattered in the Stigmata space.

Mei: "Kiana was actually killed!"

Theresa: "Damn the will of the Holy Mark, how dare it touch my niece! If I ever run into it, I'll make sure I taste the power of Judah."

Himeko: "Theresa, you can't even beat Kiana in the live stream, do you really think you can beat that Stigmata Will?"

Xingqiu: "I didn't expect the will of the Holy Mark could actually turn against us. I guess even Kevin doesn't know that."

Zhongli: "From a general rational point of view, the will of the Holy Mark is not without reason. Of course, how to choose is up to humanity itself."

Hu Tao: "You're talking like Zhong Li isn't human."

Zhongli: "...What the hall master says is true."

Tinari: "These are indeed questions that the Council of the Church can explore; there is much research to be done on the issues of human nature."

Elhesen: "I'm quite curious, how was that Alaya Consciousness Ice Queen formed?"

Sino: "We'll have to wait and see what happens later."

"I'm not dead!?"

Seeing her body completely unharmed, Kiana looked visibly shaken. After all, she had clearly sensed the approach of death earlier, but now she was perfectly fine. How could this be?

"Can you feel it too? From the moment you entered this Sacred Mark space from the Paradise of the Past, you have been in a state between reality and illusion. You could say that in this space, your body is real, or your body can be fake. In layman's terms, as long as your will is strong enough, you can be resurrected even if you have died once."

"So, should I thank you for explaining this to me now?!"

"...You can thank me."

"I'm already being lenient by not tearing you to pieces, and you expect me to thank you!"

Kiana, who had died once, calmed down after hearing the words of the Stigmata's will. After coming down from the moon, Kiana became somewhat impatient, after all, Kevin was prepared to give his life there to buy them time.

Kiana hated her own powerlessness, and could only watch helplessly as Kevin stayed behind to die. As the Herrscher of Fire, she once again felt the taste of being unable to do anything, a feeling that reminded Kiana of her past.

Kiana was so eager to become stronger and return to the moon to save Kevin that she was practically a powder keg. The Stigmata's will, which supported the Ice Queen, ignited her, causing the already emotionally unstable Kiana to explode.

However, after dying once, Kiana seemed to have been doused with cold water and calmed down.

Kiana could understand what the Will of the Stigmata was saying, but that way of escaping reality was undoubtedly disrespectful to herself, her companions, and all those who had sacrificed everything to fight against the Honkai in both the present and past civilizations.

"Perhaps you are right, the Ice Queen has her reasons for doing what she is doing now!"

"So Kiana, you finally realized reality and gave up!"

"No! You're dreaming if you think I'll give up!" Kiana's eyes gleamed with defiance, and her words were even more resolute than before. "Perhaps what you're doing is right, but it's inherently unfair to constantly impose your will on all of humanity."

"Reality may be cruel, or it may not be beautiful. Many people drift through each day in a daze. Everyone is just a speck of dust in history. Just as you said, humanity is full of mistakes and often falls into depravity. Although it can create beauty and miracles, it often destroys itself because of arrogance. This is why they are always dominated by failure."

"But this is also a prerequisite for success. Failure is the mother of success. Reality may not be beautiful, but it has people and things we love. Everyone is a speck of dust in history, but there are always people who leave their own mark on history. Human beings may have many shortcomings, but everyone has their shining points, so love and hope exist in such a world!"

With those firm words, Kiana's body gradually emitted a crimson flame, which burned brighter and brighter.

"And I am now being saved by this very world, so I have come to tell you that the will of humanity is not so easily defeated!"

The battle between Kiana and the will of the Stigmata has fully erupted. Within this space of will, they were on the same starting line from the very beginning, and the competition was about whose will was stronger. Kiana, unintentionally, has achieved that.

Under this intense pressure, Kiana, who was initially beaten up, has become able to launch a counterattack.

The Stigmata's will suddenly distanced itself, its gaze seemingly sweeping over Kiana.

The Stigmata's Will said, "Kiana Kaslana, I have sensed your will. I will now unleash my full power. If you cannot even withstand this, then your so-called will is nothing but meaningless groans. After all, in a true duel, will is only one part."

"Humans are not creatures to be manipulated; the eternal flame burning in their hearts is enough to pierce through the stars!"

Kiana's power erupted once again with her conviction, and this conviction allowed her power to grow even further.

"Even gods can be brought down from their pedestals by humankind!"

Chapter 289 Dr. Mei the Riddler

[While Kiana was dealing with the will of the Stigmata, Bronya was on her side.]

"here it is?"

After being sucked into the golden box, Bronya slowly opened her eyes, and what came into view was a laboratory.

"Welcome to my laboratory, Miss Bronya, no, I should say the Herrscher of Truth from another world."

To Bronya's surprise, Dr. May appeared before her.

"Dr. Mei, what are you doing here!?"

“Bronya, the Herrscher of Truth, don’t be surprised. I am not the Dr. Mei from The World Bubble that you know. I am just a memory created by Dr. Mei in reality according to her own model. The purpose of creating it is to guide future generations to obtain this power. After guiding you to complete the test, I will disappear just like Dr. The World Bubble that you saw.”

When Bronya appeared here, Dr. May already knew all of her memories, and therefore also knew her identity.

"What kind of assessment do I need to complete?" Bronya was well-prepared for the trial. "And Dr. Mei, according to what Dr. Mei once said, what was your purpose in preparing to create a Stigmata Terminal?"

"So, Herrscher of Reason, you care about this issue? Then let me tell you, the Stigmata Terminal is essentially the same as what the Ice Queen did; it's a backup plan I prepared for humanity."

"The Stigma Terminal can store the soul of a dead era in the form of Stigmata. Whenever an era is destroyed, the Stigma Terminal can absorb enough energy and restart the era every 50,000 years. Through continuous restarts, it can find a way to defeat the Honkai. It is a super calculator that I prepared to calculate the future of humanity and plan the Stigmata."

"Dr. Mei, I heard from Wilwy that your project seems to have failed?"

Bronya also remembered what Velvi had said; Velvi had also participated in the design, but it seemed she had failed.

"Because the materials don't allow it, although this Herrscher Core of the Herrscher of Reason is formed from the thoughts of 300,000 people, unfortunately, it is still far from being able to absorb the souls of a century in the form of a Stigmata. After all, we are not surprised by this. Whether it is the Herrscher of Reason or other Herrschers, they are just projections of the End. It is estimated that only the core of the true End can complete something like this."

Dr. Mei said with some disappointment, after all, she had been designing this invention for a long time, but it still failed.

"Of course, although the Stigmata Terminal did not meet my expectations, I still made use of it and turned it into a plan, and this plan needs your help, Herrscher of Truth."

"We need Bronya's help!?"

Bronya was somewhat surprised to hear Dr. May's words. After all, she knew her own limitations. Although she had become the Herrscher of Truth, when it came to intelligence, Bronya didn't believe that she could do what even Dr. May couldn't.

“That’s right, because only you, as the Herrscher of Truth, can do this. As far as we know, the Herrscher of Truth’s power has the greatest growth potential among all powers except for Origin and End. Although you have already ascended, this is far from enough.”

"What does Bronya need to do?"

Bronya also wanted to become stronger, thinking that if she became the Herrscher of Truth, she could help her companions, but reality slapped her in the face.

Every time she gets stronger, someone even stronger appears and revokes her driver's license, so she has to become even stronger.

"Very good, the Void Treasury is also in your hands, summon it."

Upon hearing Dr. May's words, Bronya also took out the Void Archives that Otto had given her. The Void Archives truly lived up to its reputation as a Divine Key created from the core of the Herrscher of Reason.

On the way here, Bronya had already tried it out. With Bronya's current strength as the Herrscher of Truth, even if she constructs a Divine Key, as long as she doesn't use the zeroth power level, the power she uses will be exactly the same as the original.

However, with the Void Archives, Bronya with the Zero Power can create the same power as the original, which is a significant boost to Bronya's strength.

"Dr. Mei, hello..."

When Bronya saw Dr. May, the Void Archives in her hand immediately cowered. She knew about Dr. May, after all, Dr. May had contributed to its creation.

Compared to anyone in modern civilization, even Otto who was released from his seal as a child, Void Archives could unhesitatingly despise him as a country bumpkin with little knowledge.

After all, the technology of the previous civilization was indeed more advanced than that of the current civilization, but Void Archives was completely intimidated by Dr. Mei, one of the monsters of the previous civilization.

"I need you to open the Void Treasury and make all the knowledge of the previous civilization available to Bronya for her to learn!"

"Okay, no problem, I'll open it now!"

Without asking why, Void Treasury simply opened up its entire library.

In an instant, after a distortion, the surroundings transformed into a spiral tower!

The endless tower was surrounded by books, which contained all the knowledge of the previous civilization.

“Dr. Mei, I probably won’t need this knowledge.”

After all, I am no longer the Lawholder of Reason, but the Lawholder of Truth, and I no longer need to understand and recreate knowledge as before.

“I know that, after all, knowledge is also part of civilization, but Bronya, the power you have now actually comes from Herrscher powers. When you can no longer use Herrscher powers, this knowledge will be very useful.”

"What's yours will always be yours, and what's not yours will never be yours."

"Dr. Mei, what do you mean by that? Does it mean Bronya will lose her Herrscher powers in the future?"

Bronya was also shocked to hear this, after all, all her combat power was in the Herrscher powers. If she couldn't use them, wouldn't she be unable to do anything?

"Bronya, you don't need to figure this out yourself. Your task now is to learn more knowledge..."

Dr. May ultimately did not tell Bronya the meaning behind her words and left the Void Archives Library directly.

Seeing Dr. May leave, Bronya wanted to get the answer from Dr. May, but she knew that Dr. May wouldn't tell her.

So all Bronya can do now is study. She picked up a book at random, which contained the knowledge and ideas of various world-renowned scholars from the previous civilization, as well as her own thoughts and lifelong research on the Honkai.

The previous civilization had more than just Mei, a genius and top scientist.

It would be impossible to defeat the Herrscher by relying on just one person. Correspondingly, there are also scientists from other fields who are responsible for researching the Honkai in different directions.

"Well, the knowledge above was written by a famous scholar from a previous civilization. Ah, I really miss that era!"

At this time, Void Archives also came out to assert its presence, as it was engraved with the mission of destroying the Honkai when it was created.

This caused the Void Treasury to suffer for tens of thousands of years; as long as it remains in ruins, it cannot find liberation.