As some players empathized with Sakura's words and felt a twinge of sorrow in their hearts…
The story continued.
After confiding in Elysia, Sakura began to explain further.
She hadn't asked Vill-V to repair Seven Thunders of Retribution for the sake of revenge, but rather to unlock the sealed memories within it. She hoped to retrieve her memories of fighting against the Herrscher of Corruption in the Previous Era.
To find release.
Unfortunately, to her deep regret…
What was sealed by her Commandments was only the memory of raising her blade against her comrades.
However.
Even though Sakura did not retrieve the memory she sought,
By a twist of fate—and with the help of the Elysian Realm's typewriter—she still learned many things from fifty thousand years ago.
"Through this wondrous typewriter, I saw memories that do not belong to 'myself'—"
"Among them… the moment I parted with you that night."
At the mention of that time,
Elysia couldn't help but sigh.
"It's a shame… We should have departed earlier."
Sakura fell silent for a moment before she said earnestly, "Elysia, what if I told you… the one hiding something back then was actually me?"
After a brief pause, she revealed something shocking.
"Before Rin was taken by MOTH, I had a chance to take her away. But… Rin refused."
Huh?
What did that mean?
Players were genuinely stunned.
"Although in my eyes she was still a child, the truth was… she had already grown past that."
As a child who grew up in the era of Honkai, Rin understood the horrors of the collapse, and knew that MOTH's containment would deal with her Herrscher nature better than being taken away by her sister.
So, she chose to go.
To avoid endangering others for her sake.
A soul born from a time of chaos—Rin, even with so few lines, was shown to possess such purity.
But as the saying goes: the more you care, the more you err.
Unlike Rin, who had calmly accepted it all, it was Sakura—the sister who had always protected her—who could not understand her choice.
And so came the incidents seen in Kevin's World Bubble and Fu Hua's memories.
From the beginning to the end, the one who could not move on, who came to resent the world and Honkai, and wept in the darkness…
Was not Rin.
But Sakura.
All the storylines were now intertwined.
The truth behind the Previous Era's corruption event, and the choices made by those caught in its storm, were now laid bare before the players.
They couldn't help but fall silent…
At this point in the game, a sorrowful BGM began to play at just the right time.
It was Starfall—the classic one.
At this moment, the players had no strength to throw out comments like: [Talk it out, don't play the BGM].
They simply watched quietly…
Watching Sakura, despite trying to conceal it, still helplessly scatter her resignation across the ground.
"I always thought I was protecting Rin, but I didn't realize… the moment I went against her wishes and chose to 'rescue' her, our roles had already reversed."
"So the one being protected… the one who couldn't let go… was me."
By disobeying her sister's will, she had instead defiled Rin's choice—and lost the pride of being her elder sister.
That was why…
She could not allow herself to pursue 'revenge.'
She had already let her sister down once. She could not do so again.
"I can't… let her down a second time."
"I am… her sister, after all… I should at least set a good example, right?"
Hearing Sakura's words, steeped in so many emotions—
No one could imagine how painful her past must have been.
During the fifty thousand years she spent in Elysian Realm, what kind of long, sorrowful battles had she endured in her heart? No one else could truly know.
"So… Elysia, I just want to confirm one thing with you."
"At the end of my life, did I… 'finally' make the right choice?"
[Yes!! You did!!]
[This time, you truly did something… Why are they all like this, one after another?]
[I didn't understand before why Sakura insisted on fighting the Herrscher of Corruption, but now I do. She just wanted… to protect her pride as a big sister, at the very end.]
[I remember… back then, in the end, Kevin looked at Sakura as she stopped breathing and told her she had done it.]
[No matter the cost—humanity will defeat Honkai.]
The livestream viewers poured their emotions into the chat barrage.
Elysia's finger hovering over the screen paused slightly.
Here…
Did "Mr. Otto" let Elysia give Sakura a hug, just like she asked?
He probably did, right?
He had promised, after all.
It was one of the conditions she asked for to help dub the Herrscher of Corruption.
Yes…
That dubbing process was a complicated "battle."
If the whole thing were written out, it'd be at least a hundred thousand words.
...
Back in the story.
Elysia looked at Sakura.
Remembering how she had defended her pride as a sister with her life.
And how that girl, so tragically chosen by Honkai, had used a single miraculous moment at the end to prove her resolve.
It truly was a miracle…
That in the Previous Era, there had been a Herrscher who could regain consciousness—even if only for a fleeting instant.
"So then, Sakura… do you still believe in me? Just like… you used to?"
The screen shifted.
Unlike the darkness of the Previous Era, Hokuto had inserted a dynamic CG here.
Thanks to Hokuto's habitual additions, players of this world rarely commented things like [This scene is missing a CG] anymore.
Back on track.
In-game, a cloud slowly drifted across the sky, about to pass in front of the bright moon—plunging the surroundings into shadow.
Elysia took two steps forward and gently embraced Sakura.
Sakura said nothing. She simply let her body relax and collapse into Elysia's shoulder…
"You all did your best, and that was enough."
Elysia spoke with extraordinary gentleness. Just one short sentence.
But she knew—for Sakura, that was more than enough.
Because what Sakura pursued was not an eternal life.
But the dazzling, fleeting brilliance within it.
The splendor of transience—meant more to Sakura than eternal emptiness.
In the next moment—
Soft sobs echoed through the archive room.
No one knew who it came from. And after that, silence.
The players' feelings were just as indescribably complex.
This time…
It wasn't the characters in the game who cried.
It was them.
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