"BOOM!!"
The meteor that was Kevin streaked across the sky.
He didn't launch an immediate attack. Instead, after a sudden stop, he rushed to stand before Dr. Mei... no, it would be more accurate to say, he stood before all the Fusion Warriors.
"Mei!"
"She's fine."
Mobius answered Kevin's concerned call on Dr. Mei's behalf.
Although Dr. Mei had taken some precautions beforehand, she was still fundamentally human. Without using the Key of Blankness (which had been sealed away due to its life-draining consumption), her recovery speed was far slower than that of a Fusion Warrior.
"To be precise," Mobius continued, her serpentine eyes, identical to Shesha's but for their color, looking towards the Monarch in the distance.
"Thanks to Him, we are all fine..."
"At least, we were fine before being brought here."
"..."
Kevin did not loosen his grip on his weapon, but neither did he attack on sight as he usually would upon seeing a Honkai Beast. Even someone who didn't use their brain much could see the reality of the current situation.
"Now that everyone is here."
The Monarch's finger tapped, producing a dull, clanging sound.
"Hmm..."
"One point."
"Although it was only by one point, you have indeed passed this exam."
Lu Xing spoke words that, aside from Elysia, required everyone else a moment to comprehend. This was also the first time all the members of the Flame-Chasers had heard the Black Emperor engage in a face-to-face conversation with them... and he was even doing so by vibrating the air, communicating in human language.
"As a reward," he continued.
"I can answer some of your questions. Kevin, don't even try to attack me. Even if you and a human-state Elysia were to attack together, you would have no chance of harming me. And if you are pinning your hopes on that thing in orbit..."
The Monarch pointed to the sky above him.
"Divine Machine · Avalon?"
"A nice name. The weapon, [Weapon God], especially. The name has a certain inexplicable familiarity to it."
Kevin and the weakened Dr. Mei had only exchanged a simple glance, but this silent understanding between them was effortlessly seen through by the Monarch.
"If you were to fire it at full power," the Monarch elaborated, "assuming I didn't defend myself, it would probably deplete... about thirty percent of my energy reserves."
The Monarch's next words caused the already uneasy hearts of the Flame-Chasers to sink to the bottom. Their ultimate trump card, their pride and joy, had already been discovered by the Black Emperor long ago.
Dr. Mei's heart sank even further than her comrades': the connection between her and Prometheus had been forcibly severed by some special power just a moment ago.
"I am sorry."
"That Divine Machine you have placed so much hope in."
"The extent of what it can do... is merely this."
That's right.
The power of the Divine Machine was merely this.
Under the effect of the [Authority of Erosion], Prometheus, an artificial intelligence, and the Divine Machine Avalon he controlled were no more than toys.
Forget severing the connection between Mei and Prometheus; if the Monarch wished it, he could completely take over the Divine Machine and even brainwash Prometheus to the Honkai side. By the same logic, Sakura, whose consciousness was integrated into an Armed Automaton, could also become the Monarch's marionette at any time.
"I am telling you this,"
"Only to prevent a meaningless sacrifice."
Lu Xing glanced at Kalpas, who was still pinned to the ground by the gravity net generated by the singularity, struggling frantically but unable to get up.
"After all..."
"Kalpas's impulsiveness just now has already caused the loss of many lives—"
"Lives?"
Kosma, who had just awoken from his stupor, interrupted the Monarch.
"You dare speak to us of life!?"
"The humans who have died at 'your' hands, the entire continent of Mu that vanished... what right do you have—"
"BOOM!!"
Kosma was slammed down again, pinned to the ground by gravity just like Kalpas. But this time, it was not Lu Xing who had acted, but Xiao Zi, who had once again picked up her "book."
"Mr. Kosma."
"Please watch your words."
Xiao Zi's tone was countless times more severe than before.
"Xiao Bai is... saving this civilization."
"BOOM!!!"
The ground was instantly pulverized!
The powerful gravitational field intensified even further, but no one could rush in to save him. At the same time Xiao Zi made her move, the Monarch's killing intent pressed down on all the Fusion Warriors without reservation.
It was... the gaze of a giant looking upon ants.
"SPLASH!"
Seawater flowed into the deep crater in a torrent.
Realizing she had gone a bit too far and had nearly crushed Kosma to death, Xiao Zi slowly retracted the gravitational field.
"Cough, cough cough!"
Forcibly coughing up sand and stones, Kosma struggled to his feet.
"If..." Xiao Zi said, "you do not wish to end up like 'Him' from the past."
Xiao Zi did not explain who "Him" was.
The Flame-Chasers were equally clueless. But since the Black Emperor did not retract his earlier words, that meant...
Elysia and Dr. Mei exchanged a brief glance.
"Black Emperor."
The right to ask a question was given to Mei, the only one without any combat capabilities.
"You... Your Excellency... the reward you mentioned earlier... how many questions can it be?"
Humanity had not yet been utterly defeated, but it was only a matter of time. Their current situation was absolutely a dead end. If the other party's words were not false... as the designer of the Divine Machine · Avalon, Mei knew very well the power of a single strike from the [Weapon God].
At the very least, Kevin and Elysia combined could not stop it.
If such an attack could only deplete thirty percent of the opponent's Honkai energy... now that they had lost the Divine Machine · Avalon, they were completely powerless against the Black Emperor.
"As long as I know the answer."
"Since I said it was a reward... there are naturally no limits."
"..."
Dr. Mei took a deep breath.
The Black Emperor before her very likely represented the hypothetical "Will of Honkai." The answers to so many questions that could save their civilization might be obtainable from him.
"You mentioned an exam earlier..."
Dr. Mei very directly posed her first question. It was a hypothesis that no one could believe, but after Dr. Mei had eliminated all other errors, it was the only possible true answer—
"Is the Honkai... a test from a 'God'?"
As the most famous scientist of the current era, Mei had directly asked the most philosophical question: Does God exist?
And the Monarch's answer to her...
"Yes."
"..."
Everyone fell into a long silence because of this simple, single word.
The disaster that had nearly wiped out humanity was actually just a test from a god. This answer, whether true or false, was simply too difficult to accept.
"Are the Herrschers the examiners?"
The shock Mei felt was no less than her companions', but having already had some inkling of this, she pressed on with her questioning.