Lin brought the cup to his lips, pausing for a hesitant second. He glanced to the side before cautiously taking a sip of the coffee.
He didn't do anything, did he?
The girl, her tall frame huddled into a small ball, sat beside him staring unblinkingly. Except for a blink when her eyes got dry, Lin hadn't left her sight. He wasn't going to vanish in the next second—why was she so nervous?
"Want a drink?"
"..."
"Hungry?"
"..."
"Want to go home?"
"..."
"..."
Asking seemed to yield nothing. Lin decided to ignore Bianka for now; it was her right if she didn't want to tell him what was on her mind. He continued trying to manipulate the Honkai energy.
Watching Lin close his eyes and focus entirely on controlling the energy, Bianka sighed, sweeping away the confusion deep in her eyes. If this World Bubble was truly a temporal distortion, then Lin would return to his own time after the event ended.
He would die, and he would be slaughtered by the humans he protected.
Bianka would not let that happen. She didn't care if this was a so-called quantum distortion or something someone did on purpose; she simply didn't want to see someone die so miserably. Thus, she would take action.
"Scumbag-Mushroom, if I told you that you would die, would you still return to your time?"
Lin slowly suppressed the crude sensation of the energy. He opened his eyes to look at the stern Bianka, thought for a moment, and replied, "Everyone dies eventually."
"But what if you were killed by human?"
Lin looked at her calmly. The flickering firelight cast a shadow across his face that even the bright moonlight couldn't dispel.
"There's a record of me in the Blank Key. Was I killed by people?"
It wasn't hard to guess. The only thing Bianka mentioned related to him was the Blank Key. Her massive shift in attitude was definitely related to it; a little thought gave the answer.
"Yes."
"Oh."
Lin gave a toneless, single-word reply and then closed his eyes again to feel the flow of energy in his body. He seemed to be getting the hang of it.
Bianka said solemnly, "You don't believe me?"
"I do," Lin replied casually. "Someone already told me."
Aponia had informed him of his end, so Lin wasn't surprised.
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Of what?"
"Even if you don't fear death, do you have no attachments? What about your family?"
"Dead."
"Your friends, your best friend, your seniors and juniors?"
"They're all dead."
"..."
"So, what is there to fear?"
...
Is death such a terrifying thing?
They say people don't fear death, but the unknown after it. Perhaps Lin had already stepped into that unknown once, which was why he didn't fear it. Death is simply having nothing; it is a void, a vacuum.
If Lin were to die one day in the future, it meant he lost. If he went to his death, it meant he believed dying was the correct thing to do. Lin hadn't prepared for death; death never allows for preparation. He simply accepted the fact.
So he simply didn't...
"You lost to me before. You have to grant me one request."
Bianka stood before Lin with a cold expression. She pointed at him and said syllable by syllable, "My request is that you promise not to return to the time fifty thousand years ago."
Lin shook his head without hesitation. "I refuse."
As long as it was a promise to someone else, he would keep it. Thus, he could never agree to this request.
"You cannot refuse." Bianka moved in front of Lin in a flash, her gaze condescending, her tone unquestionable. "And I don't actually need your promise."
This was her favorite and most skillful way of solving problems. Bianka firmly believed that the results in this world were everything; all effort and combat were for the sake of a desired result. Thus, she would use force to make the world submit.
To put in so much effort for a ridiculous ending was meaningless. The Previous Era was destroyed. This man—everything he protected and cherished crumbled to dust in time, and even his own significance was erased by the humans he protected.
To go back and offer everything for a destined tragedy? What was the point? She didn't see any meaning in it.
"...Didn't you also say that if it were you, you would go back to change everything?"
In the night wind and firelight, Lin rose gracefully, his silver hair fluttering slowly.
"But you have no intention of changing anything!" Bianka shouted sharply, her expression stern and indignant. "You're just going back to accept your death! The moment you heard that people inherited your will fifty thousand years later, you planned to give up!"
"That is just your misconception." Lin cold gaze was fully revealed at this moment. "The one who believes things cannot be changed is you."
He tore away his mask in an instant. All the playfulness he showed before Bianka vanished like an illusion, replaced by a gaze as sharp as a blade meeting hers.
Seeing this, Bianka clenched her fists tighter. She knew she was only truly meeting this man for the first time now.
"People say I'm straight-headed." Bianka clenched her fist. "But I see you're the one. Straight-headed to the bitter end."
Lin reached out. The distant Oath of Judah deployed automatically, chains circling him. "Is a junior fifty thousand years younger than me going to judge me with your perspective?"
"To be precise, I'm only about ten years younger than you right now," Bianka huffed. "I'll drag you back even if I have to tie you up. You want to practice your philosophy of going to your death, but you don't have the power to back it up."
"And you? What philosophy are you practicing?"
Bianka raised her head, staring resolutely at the man with the cross. "For the people I like, and for the even more people those people like—I am willing to offer everything to protect them. I will never stand by and watch them step into the abyss. Not even a single step."
"..."
Lin watched Bianka in silence. Her long golden hair was like a rising, brilliant light in the night. He suddenly realized that he could see colors now.
He let out a slow breath. The chains retracted into the Oath of Judah. He stood alone in the dark, his deep black eyes watching her.
"So, why?"
"Hmph." Seeing him put away his weapon, Bianka relaxed her combat stance and offered a proud smile. "I've taken a liking to you and plan to kidnap you back. How about it?"
"..."
"You wouldn't refuse the request of someone who likes you, would you?"
Lin gave her a cold glance and turned away without a word.
"If you can do it, then try your best."
She was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed him, hopping along with her hands behind her back. "Are you blushing? Was it all an act before?"
"..." Lin kept a cold face, not even glancing at her, remaining silent.