"Kiana, calm down!"
The faint voice barely registered. The Honkai energy magnified her emotions, and with blood rushing to her head, she had no intention of stopping.
After all, the enemies were Abominations.
Just like the Swarm or the Antimatter Legion—they were notorious existences.
It didn't matter how many she killed.
She could vent all the pent-up Honkai within her heart without any restraint or worry.
Transmigration, Honkai, Nihility…
"Die!"
An enormous surge of energy burst forth from the blade she wielded. The force unleashed from the Edict Edge carried the frost of Frost, freezing an entire stretch of the planetary system in an instant.
All this time, all along, she had been hiding the loneliness and unease buried deep within her heart under countless disguises.
The Abominations, swarming like locusts, were all frozen solid by the cold wave. Yet, because her strike hadn't dealt lethal damage, some of the more distant beast ships and the Abominations aboard them were merely immobilized—frozen, but not dead.
The abundant vitality granted by the Path of Abundance ensured that their life force was stubborn and tenacious. They wouldn't perish so easily.
The loneliness of being stranded in another world weighed heavy in her heart, impossible to dispel. Only when she met Raiden Mei did she feel that familiar warmth—that fleeting sense of safety.
She didn't know why that memory surfaced now. After swinging her blade to clear the enemies around her, her golden eyes reflected the image of a nearby planet.
The faint voice in her heart was gone.
Right now, she had only one thought—to keep fighting, to wipe out every single one of these offending creatures.
To purge these Abominations, to make her name resound across the universe—for only then, only then could she…
Once again, she became a streak of light and vanished.
This time, her destination was that planet.
A battle cruiser following her, intending to hail her, had only just approached when the pilot watched in disbelief as the warrior transformed into a flash of light and disappeared.
The pilot stared, dumbfounded, at the frozen Abominations—the range of the attack was truly immense. Swallowing nervously, he murmured, "No way... that person must be an Emanator!"
Could an ordinary Pathstrider really unleash such a vast-scale attack with only their own power?
...
Herta Space Station.
Lady Herta was quite something.
Saying there was no need to contact Ruan Mei, she had taken the relic Ruan Mei gave her and vanished somewhere to study it.
Leaving Sirin waiting on the station.
Fortunately, Director Asta was kind enough to handle their accommodations—much easier to talk to than Herta herself.
That must be why she was the director.
Until Herta reached a conclusion, Sirin had no plans to leave the Herta Space Station. She had already handed over everything; without seeing the results, she couldn't rest easy.
One way or another, she needed to learn Ruan Mei's location from Herta.
"Miss Sirin, look at this!"
Her assistant seemed frantic, rushing toward her in a hurry.
"What's got you so worked up?"
Sirin instinctively commented on her impatience, but the woman ignored it, shoving the terminal in Sirin's face.
"Just look!"
Look at what?
Puzzled, Sirin focused on the screen—and the message displayed there nearly broke her composure.
"Raiden Mei's been... listed for a bounty?"
Sirin's expression turned strange. She took the terminal and carefully examined the information.
"Well, well. Not a small one either—one hundred million."
"I told you she'd be fine, didn't I?"
Tch. Of all things, to see Raiden Mei's name appear on a bounty list—it was quite the surprise.
What in the world had that woman done?
Walking further down the Path of Nihility... What was she doing after leaving Euphorion?
As she wondered, Sirin scrolled upward.
"No, wait—Miss Sirin, look closer. This isn't an IPC bounty, it's a missing-person notice!"
Seeing Sirin miss the point, her assistant voiced her confusion: "We didn't issue any missing-person notices, did we?"
From her perspective, the only people who'd care about Raiden Mei's whereabouts or condition—besides themselves—were no one.
"This is..."
Scrolling to the top of the notice, Sirin froze the moment she saw the photo attached to the bounty.
"The photo must have been taken on Izumo. Whoever's looking for her must be from Izumo too. Could it be those who disembarked—the ones who might have business with Raiden Mei?"
One hundred million credits.
That was no small sum.
If this bounty had truly been posted under a private name, then whoever was searching for Raiden Mei must be in serious trouble to be willing to spend such a fortune.
But if that were the case...
Why not contact them instead—those who were far easier to find—instead of paying to locate Raiden Mei?
It made no sense.
Whatever her assistant said next, Sirin didn't quite hear. Her gaze was locked on the photo, her expression shifting subtly.
Raiden Mei—still a little younger then.
Undoubtedly taken back on Izumo.
That smile…
On her face was a gentle, slightly helpless smile, her eyes soft as she looked toward the direction of the camera.
That girl… that girl wasn't short-tempered, but she never showed such an expression to anyone else.
Kiana.
Yes—this photo must have been taken by Kiana. Only when facing Kiana did Raiden Mei ever wear such an expression!
At the thought of that name, Sirin's breathing quickened, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
A photo taken by Kiana—why would it appear on an Interastral Peace Corporation missing-person notice?
Closing her eyes, she recalled everything carefully. Kiana had no one closer to her. If this photo was indeed taken by Kiana, then it could only have been in either Kiana's or Raiden Mei's possession.
There could be no third person.
Which meant…
Borrowing her assistant's terminal, Sirin sent the message to her own device. Then, gripping it tightly, she turned and headed toward the rest quarters.
"I'll handle this."
No sane person would post a bounty for themselves—much less for such a staggering amount.
That left only one answer.
Kiana…
She was still alive—and she had already left Izumo. She was somewhere out there, in this vast universe!
"Only looking for Raiden Mei, huh?"
The more Sirin thought about it, the more certain she became. She decided to use a fabricated inquiry to trick the IPC into revealing the name of the person who had posted the bounty.
That wouldn't be difficult for her.
Once she confirmed the name of the issuer through the IPC, she'd know for sure—whether or not the person who posted the notice was Kiana.
With long-lost excitement stirring in her chest, she quickened her pace. But after only a few steps, she spotted a 'familiar face' within the Herta Space Station.
At first, Sirin thought she was seeing things.
But after several glances—and noticing the person chatting with others—she realized she wasn't imagining it at all.
Abandoning her previous path, she turned sharply and walked straight toward that familiar silhouette.
"Welt?"
Because she wasn't entirely sure, her tone carried a trace of doubt.
Sirin clearly remembered that Welt had chosen to stay on Izumo. Most likely, he had perished together with the others when Izumo fell…
But this man looked far too similar.
The man who resembled Welt turned around. The instant his eyes met hers, he froze noticeably, his hand tightening around the scepter he held.
"The Herrscher of the Void?"
To be honest, they didn't look exactly the same. The aura was different enough that anyone who had ever met the Second Herrscher could tell at a glance that this person was not her.
Those who had met the real one would never mistake her.
If she hadn't called out his name first, Welt would have simply regarded her as another Herrscher counterpart—like Himeko's—and never mistaken her for the real thing.
"...Are you out of your mind? I wouldn't mind being a Herrscher, but do you think I'd ever get the chance?"
The power of a Herrscher was indeed formidable, but having dealt with the Kami for so long, they were no pushovers either. And with Kiana, the natural bane of Honkai creatures, by their side, every Herrscher that appeared was swiftly and precisely eliminated.
Thanks to Kiana's help, they had lost very few people when handling the Herrschers.
Yet this man—who seemed to be Welt—had accepted the name "Welt."
And he knew about Herrschers.
That meant there was a fifty-fifty chance he truly was the Welt she once knew.
Suspicious, Sirin studied the man who made her inexplicably uncomfortable just by standing there. Welt, in turn, examined her with a calculating gaze.
From her earlier words, it was clear this supposed "Herrscher of the Void" was not the same one he knew.
But of course.
The Herrscher of the Void he knew had long since died. Her core and power had both been inherited by Kiana Kaslana.
But she said she "wouldn't mind" becoming a Herrscher—and she mentioned "Honkai."
This "Sirin" standing before him… had her world also suffered from a disaster called "Honkai"?
But wasn't this universe free of the Honkai?
Since joining the Astral Express, Welt had gathered information across the galaxies. Here, there were only Aeons and Paths. He had never once heard anyone speak of the Honkai.
"Why are you here?"
Though wary of this potential counterpart of the Second Herrscher, Welt also wanted to learn what she knew about the Honkai. He decided to talk, hoping to draw out some information.
Though Earth had survived its crisis, their understanding of the Honkai was still woefully incomplete.
If there were traces of it beyond the Solar System…
That alone would be worth investigating.
"Obviously, to discuss a collaboration with Herta."
Sirin narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the man before her—someone who looked exactly like the Welt she once knew, yet irritated her to no end just by existing.
Confirmed—it wasn't her Welt. Not the one she knew.
She wouldn't mistake that.
But the Herrscher of the Void?
For him to call out the name the moment he saw her, he must have encountered the Honkai before. Yet across the cosmos, Sirin had never once heard of any trace of the Honkai.
Not even something with a similar name.
Could it be… he was from Kiana's homeland?
Kiana rarely spoke of her homeland, only saying it was part of a past she could never return to.
It was Kiana who had brought the Honkai to Izumo.
If the Honkai existed elsewhere, that place had to be Kiana's home.
"Do you know where Kiana went?"
Feigning ignorance of Welt's identity, Sirin asked the question casually, as though in passing.
Welt's eyes flickered in surprise.
Although he had already realized this Sirin was not the Herrscher he once knew, hearing her mention Kiana still stirred something strange within him.
She knew Kiana.
Was it the same person—or merely a coincidence?
Adjusting his glasses, Welt countered with a question of his own: "You don't know?"
With Sirin, the Honkai, and even Kiana existing in her world… could it be that her world was similar to his own?
Hearing Welt's counter-question, Sirin's tone grew impatient as she glared at his attempt to fish for answers. "If I knew, would I be asking you?"
Tch, regardless of which Welt it was, they were all equally annoying.
Too similar.
Sirin seamlessly transferred all her pent-up irritation toward the Welt she had once known onto the man standing before her.
The older Welt sighed, pushing up his glasses with weary resignation. No matter which version of Sirin it was, they were all equally rude.
Neither wanted to give ground.
Neither wanted to be the first to expose information about their own world. One found the other infuriating, while the other found the first untrustworthy. Thus, the two remained locked in a tense standoff.
"Mr. Welt? Miss Sirin? You two…"
Just then, Asta and Himeko arrived. This Himeko was the navigator of the Astral Express—neither the Himeko from Izumo nor the Himeko of the Honkai Impact 3rd world.
"Miss Asta?"
Sirin greeted her politely, then noticed the red-haired woman beside her. When her eyes fell on Himeko, she froze briefly.
That fleeting moment of surprise did not escape Welt's watchful gaze.
So her world had a Himeko as well.
The similarity grew even stronger.
"...And who might this be?"
"Hello, I'm the Astral Express's navigator. You can call me Himeko."
The elegant and composed Himeko smiled warmly as she extended a friendly greeting.
"The Astral Express?"
Sirin turned her head toward Welt. After a moment of thought, her curiosity and desire for information won out.
"Well, I didn't expect to run into the Nameless of the Astral Express here at the Herta Space Station. My name is Sirin. I don't follow any Aeon, nor do I belong to any faction."
"You're from the same world?"
Sirin asked, looking between Himeko and Welt.
"No. Let's talk in private."
Welt shook his head. He could only be grateful that Void Archives had disembarked from the Astral Express some time ago and wasn't here now. He also hadn't expected that a simple refueling stop at the Herta Space Station would lead to meeting an 'old acquaintance.'
Honkai, huh…
When Welt had learned that the universe was free of Honkai, he had felt relieved. Though returning home was difficult, a world without Honkai was undeniably a good thing.
And now—Honkai had appeared once more.
Hearing of it again after all this time made Welt feel as though he were caught between two realities. An uneasy premonition began to take hold.
Wait…
Did that mean Himeko also came from another similar world?
Sensing the tension in the air, Asta quickly spoke up. "You two... have met before?"
"No."
"Yes."
Two completely different answers, delivered simultaneously. Not even a hint of coordination between them. The two exchanged glances, then quickly looked away.
Far too old to be bickering with the young, Welt sighed, adopting a calm and measured tone. "Miss Sirin here reminds me of an old acquaintance. Our worlds seem to share some connection, so we plan to have a private conversation."
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