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

The question is whether she can persevere in the end. After all, even Kiana, who has made up her mind, is ashamed of her own willpower.

Not only her, but everyone in the live stream was moved by this, and sobs could be heard from time to time.

Kevin: "She's a true hero!"

Even he might not have been able to last through such a battle. Kiana truly fulfilled her wish to save the world and accomplished the impossible.

In the midst of a battle involving nearly billions of people, even though the girl had long forgotten how to fight and why she was fighting, she continued to fight without ever retreating—until the very moment of her death.

Theresa: "That silly Kiana!"

Siegfried: "Well done, Kiana! Your parents will be so proud of you!"

Otto: "What a pure soul."

After all, she had managed to persevere despite having her soul split so many times, and Otto truly admired Kiana.

"Why are there so many souls..."

"The birth of a new civilization after its destruction, and the countless calculations, interventions, and even rewriting of reality that followed."

"Mei, do you think these miracles come at a price?"

"But Janna is supplying power to the Stigmata Terminal..."

"It's just running. The Stigmata Project was a rushed project, and that machine was naturally a rushed product as well. Its principle is simpler and more brutal than we imagined: the new wishes and responses of the soul."

This wasn't the first time Mei had heard this concept... It sounded like magic.

But in essence, it is a 'replacement' of Honkai energy, with its direction determined by the prayers and responses of the soul.

"The former is the order of the Stigmata Terminal, and the latter... is the 'price' for completing this order—the souls of all those who were sacrificed before the Stigmata Terminal was activated, and the souls of all those who died after the Stigmata Terminal was activated."

"This has nothing to do with whether a person possessed a stigmata before death, because stigmata are merely the souls of the imprisoned dead—exiles—used by the terminal to intervene in the real world. They do not dissipate after a person's death."

"They lacked agency and perhaps could not be considered 'human,' but Kiana at that time was no longer capable of thinking about this issue."

"Kiana wants to save everyone, through battles, fights, protection, and even death experiences equal to the number of 'soul fragments' she has created."

"This is Kiana's daily life in this world after you left."

"She, I, and all exiles can see the sacrifices of people in the real world, especially you."

“We have seen your sacrifices, and the sacrifices of everyone in reality.”

"This further exacerbated her overdraft of her soul."

It's been countless battles, and Kiana's soul is shattered beyond repair.

Like every tiny water droplet in a fog, they could evaporate at any moment.

"In a sense, Kiana has become one with the entire soul world," the writer said. "I can't express my gratitude to her; the more she tries to save us, the less I can say it."

"This kind of rescue is not the outcome we wanted at all."

"The so-called cycle of suffering and salvation is nothing more than exhaustion."

"Because the suffering is too great, the suffering of fighting the Honkai is too great."

She is the sun, with boundless light and heat, giving without expecting anything in return.

No, she isn't. Nobody is.

"If she is, if a savior exists, why are people still dying?"

"Perhaps only God can repay all the suffering that has existed since the beginning of time?"

"But does 'God' exist?"

"God does not exist."

"To alleviate the pain, to be free from it, isn't the only option to die?"

"Whether it's suicide or sacrificing oneself for some 'sacred mission'."

"The only option left is to die."

After Mei left behind her memories, she seemed lost and dejected.

Kiana... I can't even imagine how much you've suffered in this world... I dare not even imagine... That's why... the Stigmata Space is like this now, but it's too cruel.

Just as Mei was feeling sad, the writer also told her.

"Little Kiana doesn't have the golden aura of an exile, which is proof that she's still alive."

"But wasn't she devoured by the Will Dominator?"

"It's just that the power of the Herrscher of the End was devoured. You can call it the power of the Saintess, or something else."

"She's probably dying, just like you..."

"Don't worry, this can all be salvaged."

"So Kiana did it, she did it alone... to defeat the Honkai Will in this world...?"

Mei's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Of course, it's impossible for one person to do it alone; she is not the Messiah who saves everything. But the ruler of wills is not an omnipotent, absolutely powerful, invincible enemy either."

"Remember? The 'battle of reality' and the 'battle of the soul.' What helped her turn the tide and achieve victory was actually all of humanity."

"All human struggles in reality, including yours, are indeed a weakening of the ruler of the will."

“You are the most crucial ones, especially you, Jiuxiao, who inflicted severe damage on the Will Ruler, as well as Xier and Xing.”

"So back then... Jiuxiao and I really almost..."

"Yes, we almost defeated the Will Ruler."

“But you are in a hallucination, and Jiuxiao perceives it more clearly than you do.”

No wonder Jiuxiao looked so energetic on the beach.

"When you have dealt a heavy blow to the Will Dominator, and Kiana has completely broken the shackles on the soul world, the moment these two things are accomplished will be the moment when the Will Dominator prepares to destroy the Earth."

"Before this, the things we could do were very limited."

"There are still irreparable regrets. We were completely unable to interfere with the matter between Ningdi and the Doctor, and we could not prevent the sacrifices of Xier and Xing."

"This makes us feel very upset and resentful."

"But... in the end, everything you sacrificed was truly worth it."

"The One Who Rules the Will is preparing to attack Earth..."

"It's just a death throes; this attack can be blocked."

"Because our victory, the victory over the ruler of the will, is a foregone conclusion, a predetermined future."

"So Otto's proposed method of victory is valid...?"

Mei couldn't help but think of Otto's plan.

“Yes, that’s true. But so what?” the author said noncommittally. “The ‘battle of reality’ and the ‘battle of the soul’ are ultimately borne by others.”

"He built a so-called chessboard, thinking himself a master player, but he disdained to recognize anyone's efforts except his own; he disdained to empathize with anyone's suffering except his own."

"It is because of the existence of the Stigmata Terminal, and because of Otto's reckless actions, that humanity has no chance to choose any other path."

"It is a small group of people who have forcibly taken control of the fate of countless people. It is their subjective will...whether intentional or unintentional, that has created countless tragedies."

"What I find most intolerable is that some people don't even have the idea of ​​imagining a world without Otto, without Mei, without Merlin, without Walter, without Cocolia... or imagining a world where they can defeat the Collapse Ring better and more smoothly without these people."

"Even if it was a destined victory, the whole process was far too convoluted..."

"I'm beginning to understand. It wasn't the miracle of the Holy Mark that created the world, nor was it the decision of a small group of people that created the world..."

"It is the miracle of each individual's soul that makes up the world."

"And such miracles are actually happening all the time."

"Whether before or after the Stigmata Project."

"It's just... too ordinary."

Upon hearing Mei's words, the writer couldn't help but shed tears. In this world of Stigmata, the time they had experienced was enough to cause the universe to go into heat death several times over.

Finally, the liberation of all exiles, the liberation of the soul...

Finally, they could fulfill their promise, and she... could finally be free.

"But it will all come to an end eventually. Everything has a beginning and an end. Nothing is 'eternal'. Even the most terrible darkness will disappear."

"Go quickly, Mei, Kiana is waiting for you on the train."

"—Let's put an end to all of this together."

After bidding farewell to the writer and the exiles who were protecting Kiana, Mei returned to the train and began her final journey with Kiana.

Chapter 398 The Twin Birds Linked by Soul Stars

As Mei finished recounting her memories, the train finally arrived at its last stop and slowly came to a halt.

Mei and Kiana stepped off the train together.

A white light enveloped the screen like a tide, and when the light faded, what came into view was Kiana standing in a sea of ​​flowers, holding a bouquet of blossoms.

The white dress shone with a pure and flawless luster under the afterglow of the setting sun, and the breeze rippled like waves.

"The twilight of time..."

An endless sea of ​​daisies stretches to the horizon.

"This is the flower field I cultivated, and it's also the place where I first gained my memories. I call this place paradise because I want to reach such a place."

"I say that heaven can grant wishes because I want this place to be a place where wishes can be granted."

"That wish is to see you—the most important person in my life."

For a fleeting moment, something in the soul world began to move... those once scattered 'soul fragments,' countless petals, flew into the air.

It turned into light—

"Actually, I have no basis whatsoever... except for a hastily drawn picture."

"But I want to believe that the most important person to me, after searching for countless years, has reappeared before me—"