11 hours remain until the arrival of Finality.
"Hatred?"
"Compared to that which must be protected, hatred is of no consequence… Young human, was it not based on this same idea that you chose to stand behind the Monarch?"
"…"
"No, I just trust Brother Kevin."
In front of the Gemini constellation fissure.
A colossal white whale swam through the sea of stars. The Plague Temple, Kosma, and Griseo all stood upon its impossibly broad back.
"Is that so."
There should not have been much to discuss between the two parties.
But Griseo was clearly very interested in the White Whale—the combination of a knight and a whale had sparked her desire to capture the scene on paper.
And thus, a conversation was born.
As for the White Whale's earlier words, they were in response to a question from Kosma: With so many Honkai Beasts having died at the hands of humanity, why was the White Whale still willing to join forces with "humans"? Kosma had expected an answer along the lines of "because of the Monarch," but the actual reply went far beyond his imagination.
Immediately after, the White Whale changed the subject.
"Human, do you know how Honkai Beasts are born?"
"…"
While Kosma was no illiterate, this was clearly not a question that a "hero" dedicated to chivalry could answer—he was more brawn than brains.
"I awakened over a century ago."
"I no longer remember how many 'hundreds' of years it has been… After all, as the Monarch once said, there are distinctions between different forms of wisdom."
In a way, the White Whale's statement was quite a flex.
"In the old century, when Honkai energy was nowhere near its current levels, Honkai Beasts were not born in Imaginary Space to then arrive in 'this world' through fissures."
"The very first Honkai Beasts were ordinary creatures infected by Honkai energy."
"I am one such case."
"…"
The White Whale's voice paused for a moment, then continued with a touch of emotion.
"A whale that survived the whaling era."
"Perhaps it was due to my rage towards humanity, or perhaps because my body was more robust than my kin… Corroded by Honkai energy, I gradually adapted to this power."
"And in the process of seeking revenge for my species, I awakened into what you now call a 'Special Species'."
"…"
The White Whale's words were clearly beyond Kosma's scope of knowledge. Griseo, however, asked with a hint of puzzlement:
"I think I've seen that in a picture book."
"Was it during the time before electricity, when humans boiled whale oil for 'light,' causing the whale population to decrease by ninety percent?"
"…"
"Picture book."
"Please forgive me, I have not heard of this word."
"But you are correct, little miss human. I truly did not expect that humanity would go so far as to record its own sins."
The White Whale spoke with a trace of sentiment.
"You said you sought revenge on humanity?" Kosma interjected, returning to the previous topic.
"That's right."
"I raised tsunamis to drown cities."
"I shattered ships and devoured humans."
The White Whale's voice was several shades deeper than before.
"I, leading my kin, attempted every method of revenge I could conceive."
"But…"
"It was futile."
"We were too few. Our sudden retribution did indeed reduce the intensity of humanity's hunting of our kin in 'one patch of sea' for a short time."
"But there was more than just one such patch of sea in the world."
"And the whaling ships we destroyed… only made the oil of our kin more valuable. More humans joined in the hunt."
"There were even many who sought to kill me."
"…"
"There is always a limit to strength."
"When my kin's numbers had dwindled to less than five percent of their peak, I led them to flee from human territories… Continuing our revenge would have only led to our race becoming white bones, swallowed by the earth and sea."
"As for what you call 'Cruise-class' Honkai Beasts…"
The intensity of the White Whale's psychic fluctuations nearly doubled compared to before… a sign of an impending emotional outburst.
Fortunately, this emotion was suppressed by the Plague Temple, who stood listening quietly on the White Whale's head. The feeling of a sharp blade at its back, a spike of Honkai energy, instantly sobered it up.
"My thanks, Lord Temple."
"…"
A gentle psychic wave swept over Kosma and Griseo.
"Cruise-class Honkai Beasts are exceedingly rare."
"This is because they seldom emerge directly from Honkai energy fissures. Instead, they are—"
"Born from the whale bones that sink into the sea, those that fail to decompose due to Honkai energy corrosion, using them as a foundation."
"…"
"Now…"
---o---
"Now."
"The Monarch is here to protect it all."
The Plague Temple finished the sentence the White Whale had left hanging.
Her stature, which was even shorter than Griseo's, could not conceal the sheer force of will and spirit in her voice as she spoke.
"We served in the Legion and awakened under the Monarch. In human terms, we would be considered his 'Personal Guard'."
"Even in our time of ignorance, we could faintly remember the will of the 'Frost Monarch'. Our Monarch, who inherited that will, is our true protector."
The Plague Temple's voice was as resolute as chopping nails and slicing iron.
"Now."
"We are not only of the same kin, but we also face a disaster right at our doorstep."
"You should—no, you must—trust the Monarch's stance. As Lord Shesha once said, at times like these, the Monarch will always stand before us."
"The power we bear…"
"We" did not refer only to the White Whale and the Plague Temple, but also to the faint glimmer of Authority on Kosma and Griseo.
"Is the best proof."
---o---
10 hours remain until the arrival of Finality.
"I have heard that you represent this era."
Near the Taurus fissure, Eden, the edges of her form drifting gently like a jellyfish, was conversing softly with the Rock Tortoise.
"Are you referring to the past or the present?"
"…Both."
"…"
"Yes."
Whether as a superstar of the era of peace or a Fusion Warrior of the era of war, Eden's identity was just as the Rock Tortoise described—she represented her era; she was the era itself (in microcosm).
"Oh."
"Such candor reminds me of some of my 'old friends'."
"Your old friends… are you perhaps referring to that distant age when you walked among mortals under the name of the sea god 'Pontos'?"
Eden's voice was as ethereal as the starry sky itself.
"Oh?"
"After the identities of so-called 'gods' and high-level Honkai Beasts overlapped, I had assumed all such information was sealed away or deleted."
Eden replied with a smile in her voice:
"How could that be?"
"Although humanity rarely learns from the lessons of history, our interest in myths and legends has never waned, from ancient times to the present day."
"…"
"True enough."
"Then, O current era—"
Resonating within their minds, the Rock Tortoise's voice was slow and heavy.
"In the little time we have left, would you care to hear a story from the lingering 'old era'?"
"…"
"I would be delighted."