A crumbling street under a rust-colored sky;
trash skittered along cracked pavement. Broken vehicles rotted where they stalled.
Not a soul walked the broken-down street except two.
A glint of steel flashed at her neck, but the real threat was in her eyes.
Hayes VI Arcadia narrowed her gaze. Silver hair framed a face carved in irritation.
The purple-haired girl, who had a sword pointed at her, gripped her katana at her waist and didn't waver as she stared down the silver-haired girl.
"What the hell do you want?"
The wind rustled debris around them, and the silence that followed was heavier than the smog-choked sky.
Saeko hesitated. Her lips parted, then closed again. She weighed her next words as if she were walking a minefield.
After all, the girl in front of her gave that feeling. That person in front of her was a minefield in itself.
But Hayes had no patience for delay. Unless you were Laurel, silence was a bad move, and it simply wasted much of her time.
Saeko exhaled. "I want to ask... who is he, Laurel? And what is the All-World Alliance guild?"
Hayes blinked once. Her expression didn't flatten, it hollowed, like her soul had stepped out for a smoke.
"So that's what you want."
Her tone was quiet, not calm nor cold. Not because of the question, but because of who asked it.
"If you want to know about my lord, ask him yourself. I don't speak behind his back."
Saying that, Hayes paused.
If she remembered correctly, wasn't that the purple-haired girl Laurel was talking about?
"You have the system, don't you? Then stop wasting time with questions; it's already answered."
Her voice was ice over a crackling fire.
Saeko didn't flinch. "I know. I've read the data. That's not what I wanted."
Hayes tilted her head, just slightly. A storm gathered behind her eyes.
"I wanted your opinion."
And just like that-Hayes moved.
In a blink, she was in front of her. Her sword device was half-drawn, its blade gleaming.
The edge hovered an inch from Saeko's neck, too close to breathe.
Saeko hadn't even seen her move, but her eyes followed, just barely.
Hayes' voice dropped into a snarl.
"You testing me now, bitch?"
Saeko's hands stayed at her sides, close to her katana, but her eyes didn't drop.
"Is it wrong to ask what you think of him?"
The blade didn't move.
But Hayes' jaw clenched. Her knuckles whitened. And then, without warning, she stepped back, sheathing her sword with a metallic hiss.
"He saved me. That's all you need to know."
This wasn't just fanaticism. This was something she saw herself. No matter what timeline-she always died.
Either at the hands of Lux, or that bastard Fugil, or she just disappeared from the world entirely.
It was in Cocytus, where she was being punished. Whenever she died, she saw a timeline of her death in her world.
She should've been terrified. Maybe she was.
But he changed that.
Maybe because he saw all that, he let her live. Maybe that was mercy, or maybe it was something else. She didn't care anymore.
Compared to nonexistence, anything he put her through was worth it.
"If I'm not wrong," she said, her tone shifting, "this world was fucked before he stepped in. He and the others-"
She gestured vaguely to the ruined skyline.
"-They saved it. So, yeah. I gave him everything. And I'd do it again."
She glanced at Saeko with something between contempt and curiosity.
"Tell me-what's wrong with that? Giving yourself to the one person who pulled you out of hell?"
The wind howled through the ruins. Neither moved. Then Hayes spoke again with a flat tone.
"Apart from my lord... there's his relative of that bastard."
Her lips curled in distaste.
"That bastard Lux. Don't think I've forgiven him nor that bastard of his brother. Even if I work under him now."
She spat on the ground.
"But the remaining two? They're different. You'll show them respect. Though, even I haven't met them yet."
Of course, Hayes had only heard of them from Lux himself, who said he had respect for both of them.
Luminous, for obvious reasons, and the same can be said for Mei.
"They're strong."
Saeko could imagine it; she'd seen the footage.
The goddess in the sky, raining fire like judgment.
The thunder on the ground, leveling entire cities with one swing.
People like that... if those were the ones circling him, then what were they?
Just background characters in someone else's story.
He gave us a chance in this wonderful story. I don't know about you, but I'll do my part, serving him.
Hayes said that, and then...
She turned her gaze toward a distant, crumbling building, silent for a beat.
Then, with a flick of her finger through the air-
TSUN-! TSUN-!
Two sharp streaks of red light ripped from nowhere, slicing through the sky with a shrill whip, then hit the building like hammer from the heavens.
BOOM-!
The whole structure buckled and collapsed in a spray of dust and concrete.
"Stop listening in, wench," Hayes snapped.
A voice floated out of the settling smoke, light and laced with mockery.
"Haaah... stuck with an adult who has the brain of a child."
From the wreckage walked a woman, unhurried, unbothered.
Her silhouette took shape, long strides parting the smoke like curtains. She dusted ash off her shoulder with grace.
Aisrehdar.
Hayes didn't flinch, but the way her hand crept toward her sword device spoke louder than words.
"Say that again," Hayes growled.
"I said," Aisrehdar replied, eyes calm, "fights like this are pointless."
She dismissed Hayes without another glance and turned her full attention to Saeko.
"I don't have much to say yet, I'm newer to all this than you are, but you'd be shocked by what's out there."
Not that she intended to listen in, but circumstances led her to. For her, her world could only be saved from uncertainty by him.
Thus, she had no problem sacrificing herself for that goal. But now, what she thought of him was different than she originally thought.
But,
Hayes on the other hand was still scowling, blade halfway unsheathed.
Then Aisrehdar looked back to her with that ever-smug calm.
"Oh. Right. He's calling for you."
There was a moment of silence. Saeko blinked. She looked at Hayes-
-and for the first time, didn't recognize the woman. Gone was the menace, the snarl, the blade.
Hayes blinked once, confusion flashing across her face. Her mouth parted slightly.
"...Eh?"
A moment later, her cheeks drained of color. A ladylike expression crossed her face, bewildered, anxious, almost cute in its utter lack of character.
Even Saeko didn't believe what she was seeing.
Meanwhile,
Earth, Salt Lake City, America.
Raiden Mei. For her, it's been about a month and counting since she became an Executor for Anti-Entropy.
Naturally, at first, some were skeptical about it.
However, with Welt and Ryoma supporting her-and demonstrating her power-she eventually silenced the complaints.
Since then, she'd gone on several missions alone to combat the Honkai, and ever since, she had always come back with outstanding results.
Regardless, unlike Schicksal, Anti-Entropy was far more rigorous with their understanding of the new Herrscher of Thunder.
One who could coexist with the consciousness of a Herrscher, even capable of assisting its host.
It's unlike anything they'd ever seen.
Soon enough, members of Anti-Entropy began to call her "Durandal's Equal," a very daring nickname, despite Mei not even being close to her in accomplishments.
Yet,
It wasn't only Raiden Mei.
While there was the woman whose power was otherworldly alongside the Honkai, there was also Bronya Zaychik.
Although not as overly impressive in the sense that she could coexist with her Herrscher's power like Mei...
She, however, was also found to be a perfect vessel for the Core of Reason.
With that, Welt had begun training this ideal successor of his.
"In addition, our progress on the dimensional traversal unit designed for movement to the Sea of Quanta is still in early development.."
Further inside their base.
Inside a conference room, dimly lit, the only light came from the projector.
Several Executors sat around a rectangular table.
Lieserl Albert Einstein - A founding member and leading scientist. Einstein was deeply involved in Anti-Entropy's research and strategic planning.
Frederica Nikola Tesla - Also a founder. Tesla worked closely with Einstein, contributing to the organization's technological advancements.
Raiden Ryoma - CEO of Massive Electric. Played a pivotal role in Anti-Entropy's tech development.
Raiden Mei - Anti-Entropy's only Valkyrie. Had undergone a few retrieval missions involving technologies from the Previous Era.
Bronya Zaychik - The designated successor to Anti-Entropy's leadership. A perfect vessel for the Herrscher of Reason's core.
And lastly, Welt Yang.
"I see. Thank you for the information."
Welt Yang raised a hand, bringing the female agent's debrief to a halt.
A soft click echoed as the projector cycled to a dark screen.
The room went still. Then, Bronya's fingers twitched once on the table.
Her expression didn't change, but something in her eyes had. Welt noticed. But said nothing.
"Alright, then. Since the admin stuff is done, I've got something actually interesting."
She stepped forward, twin red pigtails bobbing behind her as she tapped on her datapad. The holographic display flickered, then bloomed with data graphs and statistics.
Red spirals. Blue pulses. A strange twin-helix system of opposing forces.
"Now," she continued, "this concerns that concept of Negentropy. Or more specifically-what Mei has running through her veins."
"Initial analysis gave us squat," Tesla admitted. "The structure of the energy refused to follow any conventional thermodynamic law."
Just before Tesla could continue, another joined the conversation: a blue-haired woman named Einstein.
Though, Tesla really wasn't happy by her cutting in.
"It's like a nuclear fusion-type energy. And from it, we could identify two different sources of energy-though it was hard."
"The first one is similar to Honkai in a sense, while the other gave the same results as a nuclear-powered energy."
"Yet, what is odd is that the source, despite incorporating these two sources, Negentropy is very stable."
Then Ryoma leaned forward, eyebrow raised. "You're saying... it's a neutral energy. But capable of polarity?"
Einstein answered. "It Integrates. Think of it like a battery with a perfect zero charge-until it decides what kind of energy it wants to be."
"Or," Tesla said, grinning, "what you tell it to be."
The corruption of Honkai. The volatility of Magicules. And the nuclear force of a Force Core.
"...So. It's a fusion of energy that becomes one with other sources of energy...?"
Bronya, with her smarts, could more or less perfectly follow the statistics on the hologram.
Of course, it waa now after this statement they all glanced at Mei, who just smiled wryly. They were the scientists, not her.
She had already explained it the way Laurel had explained it to her.
But that brought up a rather insane discussion.
"Imagine if we could turn Honkai into Negentropy."
Negentropy, at its base, was harmless to the wielder-and even those around the user.
Even when fighting, no energy leaked out. It was a pure internal circulation until the wielder weaponized it.
They could take advantage of that.
It sounded almost too perfect, and they knew it. Naturally, Einstein was the first to interject.
"What if we can't control it?"
She stepped forward.
"If the negative polarity backfires... or corrupts itself-"
It wasn't that Tesla herself wasn't aware. But still, she couldn't help but consider how possible it might be.
"...But then, wouldn't it be Moonlight Selene all over again?"
"That was where I was going before Mophead distracted me."
"If Negentropy can assimilate energy safely," Tesla continued, "Selene could be the key. We retool it to act as a buffer, an artificial absorption gateway.."
"I don't think Selene was built for that kind of core modulation."
Ryoma raised his hand, saying that with a skeptical tone. He might not be scientifically gifted like them, but when it came to engineering, he was no slouch either.
"You're turning it into a power regulator for an unknown force whose source hasn't even been calibrated yet."
Einstein then rubbed her forehead. "What's she trying to build? A spaceship? What do you want from an energy that surpasses 10,000 HW in its inactive state...?"
Tesla crossed her arms.
"And? Maybe I am. You want to keep relying on unstable energy that mutates people or builds skyscraper-sized beasts?"
Einstein interjected again, calmly: "You're not thinking about the global implications."
"And you're not thinking about what that blonde-haired Overseer will do when he finds out."
As usual, both Tesla and Einstein were arguing-and this much had become a normal thing among them.
Then again, the people here were the only ones who knew of the existence of otherworlders.
Welt had still been looking forward to meeting Laurel again. However, he had yet to tell Mei.
He was waiting for the right time. And he wasn't alone.
Sitting across the table, Raiden Ryoma stared absently at the projection.
But his mind wasn't on energy conversion. It was on Laurel.
Specifically, on how the hell some smug interdimensional bastard had managed to steal the heart of his only daughter without even shaking his hand.
He hadn't said much aloud. Yet. But every time the name "Laurel" came up, Ryoma's eye twitched ever so slightly.
He was waiting too.
"Hehehe..."
Just then, Mei giggled.
Heads turned.
All eyes on Mei.
She blinked innocently, one hand raised to her mouth. "Ah-sorry. I just remembered something."
Welt arched a brow. "Care to share with the class?"
Mei smiled, almost too composed. "Nothing important."
But the look in her eyes-distant, wistful-told a different story.
Ryoma narrowed his gaze. "You sure it's nothing?"
She tilted her head, just a little. "Mmhmm."
That only made him more suspicious.
Einstein looked between them, mildly confused. Tesla rolled her eyes.
"Oh great," she muttered. "She's in love."
"No she isn't," Ryoma said quickly.
Mei turned to him slowly. Her tone was teasing, but gentle. "Father."
Ryoma looked away. "Tch."
Welt smiled faintly to himself, not saying a word. Because unlike the rest of them, he knew.
He knew that in Mei's heart, Laurel wasn't just someone important. He was inevitable.