Behind the dust-laden history is written an unknown past.
The man who became the Savior for the sake of humanity failed to save his wife, nor could he save human civilization itself, just as he had told himself at the very beginning.
"He can't do it."
But at the end of history, having abandoned his status as the Savior and praying for a miracle simply as a human being, he saved countless new civilizations tens of thousands of years later.
In the end, the person who succeeded was just that youth who liked to lie on the grass by the river, bathing in the morning breeze.
...
"Locating coordinates."
Beep—
"Target positioning complete. High Honkai energy reaction detected at target location. Honkai energy concentration is expected to drop to normal levels in thirteen hours. The recovery plan will begin in thirteen hours."
Prometheus No. 3, standing in the cockpit of a Titan, circled around that "spectacle" once, then lingered in the air, observing its state.
In the campaign against the Star-Color and the Seventh Herrscher, the Titan units were nearly wiped out. Humanity's proudest top-tier technology was like a toy to be toyed with at will in the face of even more terrifying technological levels and power. After the successful subjects of the MANTIS project appeared, the Titan—a weapon that had shone brilliantly in the campaigns against the Fourth and Sixth Herrschers—was completely abandoned.
The Titan that No. 3 was piloting now was merely one of the few remaining autonomous Titans left over from the Titan units.
And the reason she had piloted a Titan here was because of Mei order to recover the Core of the Herrscher of Reason.
The scene captured by the monitor before her could be called a divine miracle.
Towering, massive buildings like launch towers stood upon the earth, their silver-white metallic shells glowing brilliantly under the sunlight. On the muzzles at the top, substantial azure Honkai energy that had not yet completely dissipated still remained.
The footprint of just one of these launch towers was comparable to half of the headquarters base, and in this area specifically chosen to house them, there were no fewer than six identical towers.
After the Herrscher of Reason of the Previous Era reclaimed the Herrscher Core, she came to this place. Afterward, in Fire Moth's monitoring, the Honkai energy reaction that erupted was twice the total amount of Honkai energy emitted by the Seventh Herrscher burning Australia.
In other words, calculated by the scale of a Large-Scale Honkai Eruption, the Honkai energy converted by these six launch towers manifested by the Herrscher of Reason was enough to trigger twelve Large-Scale Honkai Eruptions.
Seven seconds after the high Honkai energy reaction appeared, Emperor-class Honkai beasts globally ceased activity, losing all life characteristics.
The Herrscher of Reason of the Previous Era had annihilated the collective consciousness of the Star-Color from outer space, wiping them out in Earth's planetary orbit and preventing them from attracting even more terrifying alien civilizations and Planet-class Honkai beasts.
Humanity was saved by a Herrscher.
This event, akin to the myth of Prometheus stealing fire, was the most unbelievable incident since the war between humanity and the Honkai began.
That Herrscher of Reason should have been celebrated as a miracle of "humanity reclaimed by a human eroded by Honkai."
But in history, she left nothing behind.
No one knew that a Herrscher once fought for humanity and sacrificed her life.
No one knew that a girl who once called herself No. MSA-970 had existed here.
...
She lay within the built tower, all alone, looking up at the starry sky.
The Herrscher Core in her chest had lost its color, turning from its original azure to gray, with a crack appearing as if it were about to collapse under the heavy burden, but it was quickly repaired by her using the last of her authority.
She wanted to leave this Herrscher Core for Lin.
After her consciousness completely dissipated, this Herrscher Core would be the purest crystallization of Herrscher authority humanity had ever obtained. It would not be eroded by the Herrscher's consciousness within. As long as it was used reasonably, perhaps humanity could create a Herrscher of Reason who possessed human consciousness while using Herrscher power.
Her flesh-colored skin gradually crumbled, revealing the original metallic color of Soul Steel, and her azure hair faded to white. Her mimicry was ending as her authority vanished, and the towers around her would automatically dismantle once the Honkai energy completely disappeared.
This made her think of Lin.
Not Lin, but the last human of the Previous Era who had launched a charge toward her—the last person who had no human body but possessed a human heart.
She didn't actually understand why she was born at the beginning. Clearly a Herrscher consciousness, yet she had lost the purpose of destroying humanity, appearing in the world more like a newborn person.
Later, she understood.
It was Lin prayer that allowed her to be born.
The tiny prayer for a miracle from the last human of the Previous Era, combined with the Herrscher consciousness within his own body, gave birth to her.
And this miracle had also saved the humans of the present.
"It's really... not good..." her intermittent words spilled from her lips as their color vanished.
She had no appearance of her own; her mimicry was merely a collection of female virtues seen in the memories of the Previous Era's Lin. So, she would look very beautiful, yet lacked the part that truly belonged to herself.
But this was the "her" that Lin saw. She wanted to maintain this appearance so that he could recognize her when he saw her again.
MSA-970—this girl had nothing that truly belonged to her. From her memories to her appearance, even the serial number used to call her, everything depended on others to exist.
But one thing belonged to her, fair and square.
Even if only for a few short months, this time and these memories were a life that truly belonged to her.
The girl could stay here, savoring this dreamlike and tiny life, like a dandelion being blown away.
But she didn't do that.
In these final moments, what the girl had to do was what Lin had once done.
The girl extracted the technological data of the Previous Era from the Herrscher Core, recorded it into the manifested equipment, and sent it to Fire Moth Headquarters, including these Honkai energy conversion weapons that annihilated the Star-Color.
Then, she began to pray.
"This is the prayer of a tiny human being."
"May hope always reside in the hearts of humanity, may miracles descend upon the world, and may all hardships turn into steps for progress."
"O miracle that created my emotions... please look upon the people in disaster with favor..."
"No matter how distant the future, I will always pray for you..."
Sowing a seed, taking root and sprouting, becoming a small sapling.
Everyone experiences a life like this.
At the very, very end, the girl made a wish softly in her heart.
If a different future still existed, she hoped that she could come into this world as an ordinary human, become acquainted with Lin, Elysia, Kosma, and the others, then meet more people and have a more ordinary yet beautiful life.
The stars disappeared from the sky.
A meteor trailed its light, falling toward the ground.