Hold over Myriad of Worlds

-"Cheers!!!"

~"Cheers."

Half an hour later, Dr. Mei and Kevin joined us in the cafeteria so we could begin our party. Two stars of the day behaved like always, but that was to be expected from them.

-"Mei, tell us, what attracts you to this guy?"-Elysia asked after putting her arm over Dr. Mei's shoulder.

-"Well... I guess it would be that he stood by my side for our whole journey despite me being a rather hard person to bear with, not to mention being there when I needed it. Plus, I kinda liked him from our school days, though he was a brat back then."

-"Mou, not even a blush..."-Elysia acted all disappointed in that answer.

-"I answered my question, so how about you answer the same question about Yue?"-Mei smiled at her friend.

-"Hmm... At first, I fell for his looks and those tails, but later... I found him to be similar to me. I loved humans despite not being one myself, and he defended the world despite it having no place for him. Not to mention the feeling of protection he brought to me. After that long battle and so many tragedies, it's great to have someone carry it for you."-Elysia answered while reminiscing about the time we spent together.

-"Now, your turn, guys."-Eden spoke from the side, enjoying listening to the subject.

-"I like Mei. She is the only person who, aside from Su, has remained from my old life. I don't want to lose her."-Kevin spoke in what could be his longest sentence in years.

~"As for me, it's hard not to fall for someone like Elysia, but I can't pick when my emotions for her have changed. It's like I got used to her being by my side, acting like a child while I had to take care of things for her. She just became part of my normal life and one of the center figures of my family."

-"Yue!"-Elysia jumped at me and hugged me like a koala.

-"I'll remember that, but there are few more people who should speak up, right, Sakura, Rin?"-Eden didn't plan to let the subject die out.

-"Yue is my Lord."-Sakura spoke her convictions without adding any necessary words.

-"What my sister meant is that Yue saved both of us and allowed us to live our lives without fear like we did before. As we are poor little girls left alone in the world, we could only repay him with our bodies, and Yue's excellence also claimed our hearts."-Rin spoke teasingly, learning more than just her maid duties from her teacher Rita.

-"Heh, you could always promise to be cows and dogs to repay this debt in your next lives."-Mobius commented sarcastically.

-"My, are you jealous, Mobius?"-Rin smiled as she played with the ring on her finger in view of the snake.

Her ring was somewhat similar to her sister's. It was in the shape of a simple wedding band made of a crystal, but Rin's was red, looking almost like a frozen blood. Inside it, one could see veins made from gemstone stone, a core of corruption to be exact.

Mobius looked at the ring before she turned her head away, trying but failing to act as if she didn't care. As I was looking at everyone's interactions, I felt someone tug my sleeve.

-"Yue, let's paint."-Griseo asked me with her childish look.

~"Sure, this scene is worth immortalizing."-I smiled and let the small painter drag me to her easel.

This was not the first time we painted together, so I intuitively let one of my tails extend to the side, allowing Griseo to climb it and sit so that she could access the top of the canvas more easily. As we started to paint, I looked at the little girl next to me and felt a little sad at the thought of her growing up.

-"Brother Yue?"

~"It's nothing."

-"Don't worry, Griseo will always stay with Brother."-She assured me, smiling.

~"You better not let your father hear that, or he will sue me for grooming."

-"Mm-hmm."-Griseo nodded but still leaned closer to me.

The painting that Vill-V started calling Last Supper due to some similarities depicted all of us present during the party, having fun and doing what we like.

As more time passed, the number of drinks drunk by everyone started to be much, even for MANTIS, so everyone got even more relaxed. After deciding that it was time for Griseo to go to sleep, the subjects also started to become more workplace-inappropriate.

At first, I thought that Kevin would help me control everyone as he also had a constitution immune to alcohol, but after he got put in place by a tipsy Dr. Mei like a future henpecked husband should, I alone was not enough to keep chaos from happening.

I quickly found myself entangled in Mebious and Elysia's conflict, both of my sides occupied by them. Together with the duo of Eden and Aphonia in front of me, who were speaking freely, they made me a little overwhelmed. Every time those two get drunk together, I'm shocked by how vibrant talks between an artist and a religious fanatic can get when their interests overlap.

On the side, Su, Kalpas, Kosma, and Dystopia looked at two zones of conflict and decided to keep their neutrality so that no stray bullet hit them. They simply talked about some minor things happening, focusing on Dystopia's well-being.

The last party of Felis, Fu Hua, Vill-V, Sakura, and Rin also retained their neutrality, helping here and there with drinks and food. Though, both Fu Hua and Sakura kept looking for an occasion to join my side while Vill-V and Felis made some pranks, one recording everyone's 'dark history' and the other 'borrowing' some things. Only Rin fully dedicated herself to her task of helping, but that was what she normally does, so it was not surprising.

Finally, when a certain nun almost asked for my bed performance, I decided it was enough and directly knocked out those present before sending them to their beds. I speared only Fu Hua and Rin, who remained relatively sober.

~"What will you two do now?"~I asked two of them after we cleaned the mess after the party.

-"I'll be going to rest. I have to wake up early tomorrow."-Rin put away cleaning tools and, after whispering something that I decided not to eavesdrop on to Fu Hua, she left the cafeteria.

~"What about you, Fu Hua?"

-"I..."-Fu Hua looked around, hesitating for a while before making up her mind and looking at me.-"I want to go with you."

I looked at Fu Hua standing in front of me, and seeing her determination, I nodded. After picking her up, I teleported to my room.

The next morning, when everyone was waking up from their hangovers, they were surprised to find Fu Hua not wearing her usual clothes of a MANTIS soldier but an ornate white-black cheongsam with silver accents. The dress was adorned with patterns similar to those on my armor, indicating that Fu Hua had become part of my family.

This was a 'wedding dress' I made for her, as I knew that despite having made her decision, Fu Hua was still a traditional person at heart, so with this, I wanted to reassure her that I was as serious as her. To match her, I also decided not to wear my 'doctor' attire today, deciding to use hanfu that matched her instead, further proving my feelings with my actions.

When everyone gathered for the morning meal, almost all eyes were focused on Fu Hua, who, feeling overwhelmed, had her dear so down that she was almost lying on the table. Deciding to find some subject to attract everyone's attention, I looked at Dystopia and asked how she was feeling. After everyone got into the subject, the awkwardness disappeared, and the time continued to pass.

The next days passed uneventfully. If I was not taking care of Dystopia, I would spend my time with the girls, sometimes playing around and sometimes helping them train or research. If I were to pick the most important things that took place during this time, it would be helping Fu Hua to break through in her Cultivation, giving her bloodline based on Phoenixes from Meng's world combined with my and Feng's blood.

Because of that, Fu Hua officially left the ranks of mortals, becoming the first Phoenix of her bloodline. As the first of the new line, she was one to decide the name of the bloodline, and after a short deliberation, she decided on the 'Taixuan', wanting to honor the source of this blood by calling it profound while also attracting attention to the fact of it unnatural black flame.

And so, the first Taixuan Phoenix came to life, only to be nearly killed by Mobious' unstable curiosity. Luckily, I preserved a few drops of the blood so that the snake wouldn't continue to hunt the fledgling bird.

Aside from the above, to get Mobius to calm down, I also needed to promise her the same treatment as I had for Fu Hua, meaning that I needed to secure a bloodline fitting her for her own attempt to break through into Empyrean. And with that, the floodgates opened, and all remaining Flame-chasers also put forward their own 'application' for bloodline during the ascension.

The reason why all of them were interested in ascending into what amounted to a new race was their identity as MANTIS. All of them have already modified their genetics using genes of powerful Honkaimon, and as ascension to Empherian is akin to becoming a lower god, the process of transcending the tribulation gives full rebirth to the person undergoing it, making it perfect to improve the source of their fusion.

As Fu Hua was the most diligent one, she made great strides in Cultivation, beating Elysia and Kevin in the Cultivation realm despite their greater strengths and earlier beginnings. While Fu Hua still can't defeat them, they are only World Kings, so they will need months before they can ascend.

In such an atmosphere, the time quickly passed, and soon, the last week of our time in the Memory Zone began. By now, Dystopia recovered most of her memories, leaving gaps only in the moment of her death and some minor gaps here and there. Her Soul was already stable enough to leave this place, but after discussing it with Su, we decided to make her recall everything before leaving.

We formulated a plan to play out a battle that would be the same as that in which Dystopia met her demise, but Acheron will take her place, leaving her in base to see the whole situation from the side. As I was not part of Flame-chasers, I will remain by Dystopia's side, monitoring her state and stabilizing her Soul when needed.

So, after we wished everyone good luck, two of us entered a monitoring room to spectate the combat. Soon, the battle started. Because their opponent was the eighth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Sentience, most of the fight was not conventional, but rather, everyone tried to contain the Herrscher before it could escape and harm others.

I watched everything while focusing on Dystopia's state, and I quickly found that her Soul was shaken. After closer inspection, I made sure that there were no issues, but even so, I used the Path of Ordination to nourish her Soul.

~"Are you all right?"

-"No..."-Dystopia looked troubled, not knowing how to word her answer.-"Yue, have you ever felt like everything that is going on is... wrong?"

~"Why do you ask?"

-"I saw that battle. No. I fought that battle, wasn't that why I was injured..? Injured..."-As she spoke, her Soul started to shake more and more until she finally found the core of her 'wrong' feeling.-"I... Am I dead..?"

~"You were."

-"Were..?"-She looked at me with doubt mixed into despair.

~"You are right, you not just ought, you did die in that fight. I met everyone from Fire Moth sometime after your death, and together, we finally defeated the Honkai."

-"Then why I'm here?"

~"Later, I comprehended the power to revive those we died, and after Kosma asked me to revive you, but because your situation was special, I had to use a little more roundabout method, thus current situation."

-"Revival? Then I..."

~"Yes. As of now, you can be considered alive again."

-"But then everyone here is fake?"

~"No, all Flame-chasers, Rin, and Acheron are real. They came here to help you recover."

-"..."-She looked at the screen playing the scenes of battle.

I also remained silent monitoring her state, but her Soul stabilized itself without any issues so I didn't need to interfere. The silence continued for the remaining time we were in the room, ending only after everyone returned. When we gathered all together, Dystopia threw herself in Kosma's arms, crying silently venting all her fear and despair hidden in the memories she just recovered. Seeing this, all of us stepped aside, giving them space as we started making the preparations to leave this space.

-"I'm so happy that you were successful."-Elysia approached me and grabbed my hand as we walked.

~"We were, I alone wouldn't be able to achieve all of that so easily."

-"Right."-She smiled at my comment.-"One by one, we are solving everyone's regrets, soon everyone will be able to smile all the time."

~"That's a good drive."

-"Do you have plans to revive someone else next?"

~"Yes, but not now. I first plan to create a more solid method of revival so that situations like with Dystopia won't repeat. But the next person on my list is also someone you know. Captain of your Fire Moth, and Herrscher of Fire, Himeko."

-"Eh?! Third Himeko!"

~"Haha... It'll indeed be the third Himeko sister."

-"You are doing it for Fu Hua, right?"

~"She didn't ask for this, but I can see regret when she mentions her former captain."

-"True."

~"OK, we can talk about that later, get ready to leave. Let's not force Fu Xuan to exhaust herself by sustaining this place longer than it's necessary."

-"Sure!"-Elysia pecked my cheek before running to her room to gather her things.

Two hours later, everyone once again gathered in the cafeteria, this time fully prepared to leave. During the time we were away, Kosma explained some things to Dystopia who was still somewhat lost in the revelation of her death and revival.

What shocked her the most was how hard it was to revive someone, as even a general outline of the ceremony involved Aeon, leaving Timeline and fooling the whole [Myriad of Worlds]. Aside from that, she also asked about what happened to their world after her death, and hearing about how everything was slowly falling apart until Elysia brought me to their world thus giving them new hope left a deep impression on Dystopia.

Seeing that she still had many questions I suggested keeping them for after the revival ceremony was fully finished, as now, it was time to return to reality.