Time seemed to stand still. Fu Li looked up at Ashara, who remained standing on the ground. His heart was a mess of complicated feelings, but after waiting for a long time, the giant spider still made no move.
Just as he was feeling a little surprised, the spider moved.
But its movement wasn't an attack. Instead...
The giant spider retracted the red glow from its eyes, lowered its head, and raised its abdomen. Its eight mechanical legs slowly contracted, finally settling into the harmless posture of a resting spider.
"I'm sorry... Boss. I scared you, didn't I?"
Ashara forced a smile, then waved her hand slightly. The giant spider let out a 'hissing' sound and dragged a white, spherical object out from beneath its body.
The sphere was woven from silk threads, gently enveloping several hundred humans. Some were wearing suits, others wore the same white lab coats as Ashara.
Their eyes were all shut tightly, their faces contorted with fear or terror, as if they were trapped in a horrifying nightmare. But in reality, they were only asleep.
"They... are all my colleagues. My benefactors..."
Ashara gave a miserable smile, looking at them with an apologetic expression. "This is all thanks to the other, not-so-normal personality in my head. Even though she killed so many people, she didn't take their lives."
"She only injected the people I once wanted to protect with a venom that causes a coma, letting them fall into a deep sleep... although it looks like they're having nightmares..."
"But even so... when I woke up and saw they were still alive... I was so happy."
As she spoke, the guilt in her eyes deepened, even taking on a hint of alienated loneliness, yet she seemed to believe this was the misfortune she deserved.
"..."
Fu Li fell into deep thought as he watched this scene.
What... is this situation?
With no one to help her, no one to guide her, she actually managed to suppress the other personality created by the Honkai with her own willpower?
What the hell...
After a moment of thought, Fu Li temporarily set aside this question and instead asked for confirmation, "So, what do you want to do now?"
"I want to atone for my sins, and give you all a gift."
A smile touched the corners of Ashara's lips as she gently patted the giant spider behind her. "This child, I've named her Rose. I've already given her her final order: to pledge her loyalty to you and, in my place, repay the kindness of the Alan Institute."
"As for me..."
Ashara shook her head and walked up to Fu Li. "I know that the sins I have committed cannot be washed away. So, please kill me, Boss."
"This is the last thing I can do."
Ending the First Honkai Eruption with her own death?
Fu Li was slightly moved. Before coming here, he had imagined many possibilities. Perhaps he would fight a Herrscher who had lost their mind, or perhaps he would be besieged by a Judgment-class Honkai Beast and a Herrscher. But the one thing he had never considered was a Herrscher actively seeking death.
And a Herrscher actively seeking death... it made him think of Elysia. It was just that the former had committed a monstrous crime, while the latter had carved out a new future for the later era.
"Are you... sure?" Fu Li glanced at the unconscious people nearby.
"I'm sure." Ashara nodded firmly.
"...Alright." Fu Li raised his hand and pressed his earpiece, temporarily turning off the video link. He then raised his longsword and rested it gently on Ashara's neck.
"Any last words?"
"...Yes."
Ashara knelt on the ground, placing her hands over her chest in a common North American prayer gesture.
"Thank you... thank you so much. Thank you, Alan Institute. You were the ones who gave hope to my dark life and allowed me to enjoy enough happiness in my later years."
"I remember the candy from my childhood."
"I remember the books Nurse Aisha gave me."
"I remember the seniors who took care of me when I first arrived at the Alan Institute."
She murmured to herself, recounting every small kindness she had ever received in her life, as if listing priceless family treasures.
Finally, she looked up, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you, Boss, for founding the Alan Institute. And... for being willing to see me off on my final journey."
After speaking, she closed her eyes.
Fu Li sighed softly and slowly raised the longsword in his hand.
In a way, Ashara, too, is a descendant of Elysia...
Six hours later.
The Honkai energy in downtown San Francisco had subsided. Several helicopters had quietly arrived, and from them descended teams of people in special hazmat suits.
Carrying professional equipment, they methodically rescued their colleagues who were trapped in the spider silk.
As for the spider Honkai Beast, 'Rose,' it was currently being lifted into the air by several transport helicopters, flying in the direction of the Pacific Ocean.
Watching the bustling crowd, Fu Li let out a soft breath. He looked down at the body covered by a white sheet at his feet, then at the blue, gem-like Herrscher Core in his hand.
Just then, a special fighter jet landed vertically. A green-haired woman with the air of a mature beauty descended the ramp. After glancing at the surroundings, she strode with her long legs directly toward Fu Li.
From a distance, a warm smile appeared on Fu Li's face. He raised a hand in greeting. "Dr. Mobius, you're here."
The smile was so familiar and close that the surrounding staff who knew them both exchanged glances, involuntarily taking a few steps back with looks of utter shock on their faces.
In this world, their own boss was likely the only person who could see Mobius and still wear such a smile.
"You..."
Seeing that familiar smile, the corner of Mobius's mouth twitched. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but her heart warmed slightly.
No matter how many times the cycle repeats, he is always so close to me.
The time for the reveal is coming soon. Just be patient.
Mobius comforted herself internally, then looked at the body under the white sheet, and then at the Herrscher Core in Fu Li's hand. She raised an eyebrow. "Is this the body and core of the First Herrscher?"
Fu Li: "That's right. They're yours now."
"Well then..." Mobius's gaze swept over a certain empty aircraft, then she lifted the white sheet to look at Ashara's body.
It looks quite real.
If she hadn't experienced the cycles, been a MANTIS, and even personally hacked into the Herrscher of the End's system, she probably would have been fooled too.
My little brother has learned how to lie. What to do now?
Of course...
"I will study her 'corpse' very thoroughly," Mobius said, playing along with the charade.
---o---