I Am Honkai

"Ugh…"

Struggling to open her eyes and lift her head, Aponia stared at the outstretched hand of Selene. A deep sense of regret flashed through her azure eyes.

The silver-white gauntlet that came into view was engraved with intricate, ornate patterns. Through the hollowed-out golden floral designs, five slender, delicately pink fingers could be seen, their nails flawless and perfectly sculpted, gleaming with a polished luster, gently tucked within the thin shell of the armor.

But to Aponia, that beauty was nothing short of a death sentence, akin to the claws of a devil.

In that moment, Aponia felt an overwhelming hatred toward herself.

Why had she asked Vill-V to merge her with the Elysian Realm? Why had she chosen to prolong her existence? Why hadn't she simply died during the Previous Era of civilization?

Eden… your choice was the right one.

Perhaps, after indirectly causing the Twelve Herrscher's nuclear explosion and taking the lives of Sakura and her sister Rin, she should have died back then.

As the third among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, bearing the Sigil of [Discipline], and often regarded as the wise elder sister of the group (though not all Flame-Chasers shared this view), Aponia knew the full extent of the plans undertaken by the MOTHs to pave the way for the next civilization era.

Unlike the fragmented consciousness data uploaded by the other Flame-Chasers, Aponia had fully integrated with the Elysian Realm. She was the one who truly knew everything.

If the Herrscher of the End were to extract her memories, all the sacrifices made by the Previous Era—Dr. MEI, Kevin, Su, Hua, and all of MOTH's efforts—would be for naught.

At the thought of this, Aponia's entire body began to tremble. She desperately wanted to end her life, to destroy her brain.

But it was impossible.

When Selene had forcibly separated her from the Elysian Realm, Aponia had suffered severe injuries.

After being captured by Selene, her limbs had been pierced and pinned down by golden chains imbued with the powers of the Herrscher of Binding.

Having lost an excessive amount of blood, her body was rendered powerless. Even the Honkai energy her body could produce, thanks to the DNA of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Mitra, was suppressed. Her physical form had been corroded and partially assimilated by the Honkai energy radiating from Selene.

At this point, Aponia couldn't even muster the strength to move her jaws, let alone summon lightning to attack.

"Mm-mm-mmm—"

Discipline: Aponia, destroy your brain. End your life.

Opening her mouth, though her voice was barely audible, Aponia still tried to invoke the power of [Discipline], attempting to issue herself a suicidal command.

Her cellular activity surged as she pushed her body to its absolute limit. Summoning all her remaining energy, she tried to generate lightning to destroy her brain.

Crackle—

But it was too weak.

The faint golden sparks might have been enough to harm a regular person, but they were far from sufficient to deal damage to a fusion warrior's body.

Her own strength as a fusion warrior had become her undoing.

"Be quiet."

In the next moment, an unseen force seized Aponia by the throat.

"Discipline: By… mmph!"

Sensing the golden chains binding her limbs vanish, Aponia felt her body's blood-production mechanisms rapidly recover. Grasping the fleeting opportunity, she attempted to speak—but—

Suddenly, Aponia was horrified to realize that she had completely lost sensation in the upper half of her body.

Suspended mid-air with no leverage to support herself, Aponia tried to move her legs, but the violet-red traces of corrosion spreading from her constricted throat made it impossible to breathe. Her mind grew dizzy, and she could no longer control her body.

There was no need to guess—it was Selene who held her aloft.

With the automatic absorption function of the binding chains deactivated and her manual suppression taking over, Selene smiled brightly. Her crimson eyes gleamed with a faint, inky haze.

"Cease your resistance. Open your mind. Release your defenses."

"The power of the Herrscher of Sentience!? No, you…" Aponia's cries were abruptly silenced. Her once-azure eyes turned an eerie, blood-red—an automatic reaction of the Emperor-class Honkai Beast Mitra DNA to the high concentration of Honkai energy being injected into her body.

More and more Honkai energy was forcibly funneled into her, spreading rapidly from her throat. Within moments, violet-red corruption marks covered her entire body.

Observing the uneven lines etched across Aponia's face, Selene's smile deepened with satisfaction. "Perfect."

In the next moment, an invisible breeze swept through the area. Energy ripples, resembling water waves, materialized into tangible vibrations.

Closing her eyes, Selene split off a secondary consciousness. The scene shifted.

When she reopened her eyes, Selene found herself in the void of spacetime, where Aponia's consciousness core was already distorted and warped. It formed into a lens-like structure.

Around it, cold light from distant stars mingled with indistinct, blurred images of various figures. They circled the fragmented projection of Aponia like a ring.

Rip!

Tearing through the lens, a phantom brass door appeared before Selene. Its intricate, enigmatic energy made her skirt flutter faintly.

Dong!

A deep, resonant toll reverberated like a bell struck in a grand church.

"A cathedral? A belltower?" Selene mused with a slight smile, stroking her chin. Through the ornate patterns carved into the brass door, Aponia's consciousness appeared to be housed within an elegant, atmospheric garden.

However, unlike the Elysian Realm, this garden resembled more of a golden theater—a stage for a singer's performance.

"A seal designed to block mental abilities from accessing memories. Clever… Is this another of Dr. MEI's works?"

Snap!

Shaking her head, Selene nonchalantly snapped her fingers. In the next instant, the brass door swung open on its own, revealing a vivid and dazzling scene that filled her vision with vibrant hues.

"Eden's Golden Courtyard, is it?"

Buzz—!

Remarking aloud, Selene stepped forward into the space. The violet-red glow beneath her feet rapidly expanded outward, engulfing everything it touched. The ground seemed to come alive, writhing and squirming as though awakened.

Raising two fingers, Selene spoke softly but commandingly: "Retrieve."

As the memory retrieval process began, vast amounts of knowledge buried deep within Aponia's soul surged into Selene's mind.

As she delved deeper into the memories, Selene's crimson eyes began to flicker with the sky-blue particles characteristic of the Herrscher of Reason's power.

Rather than painstakingly piecing information together, transforming the extracted memories into a stream of data for direct access was far more efficient.

As Selene had expected, the separated memories of Aponia's true self were remarkably complete—far surpassing the fragmented data from the Elysian Realm's consciousness archives.

Through Aponia's memories, Selene gained a much clearer understanding of the MOTHs and the Previous Era of civilization.

Many blurred and ambiguous fragments finally made sense.

"Moths to a flame, struggling until death. The eternal song of life will never cease."

Softly reciting the MOTHs' creed, Selene narrowed her eyes and murmured, "The song of humanity is a song of courage."

"Therefore, the best strategy is to divide and conquer, to sow division and disintegration."

Had Selene invaded with an army of endless Honkai Beasts instead of the Imperial Human Army, the situation would have been drastically different.

For instance, Schicksal would never have surrendered. Be it Theresa, Kiana, or Durandal, they would have fought to the bitter end, choosing death over submission.

After all, a civil war among humans and a war against an external species are two fundamentally different concepts.

The presence of the Sacred Selene Empire's military offered a new path—a way for humanity to coexist with the Honkai.

This, more than the overwhelming strength of the Empire, was the primary reason Schicksal surrendered so decisively. The possibility of hope makes surrender possible.

Imagine if the enemy consisted solely of mindless Honkai Beasts, devoid of humanoid forms. Who would bother surrendering? True, there would be a few traitorous individuals eager to grovel, but the vast majority would have fought to the end.

"The Previous Era civilization was a unified human government, and the MOTHs were its dedicated military branch to combat the Honkai."

Through Aponia's memories, Selene learned the origins of the so-called MOTHs.

Unlike the fragmented state of the Current Era civilization, the Previous Era had a globally unified language, script, and culture. The fight against the Honkai was led by the MOTHs, a centralized organization under the United Nations.

Of course, this United Nations was not the flimsy tool of major powers seen in the Current Era but a truly authoritative institution governing the entire planet.

Thus, there was no equivalent to the Current Era's divided military organizations like Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.

Perhaps this was also why the Herrschers of the Previous Era were overwhelmingly powerful, each one a terrifyingly competent "examiner" for civilization.

Unity is undeniably stronger than division, even if internal conflicts cannot be completely avoided.

The Previous Era: Herrschers were monstrously strong and served as rigorous "examiners" for the survival of civilization.

The Current Era:

• First Herrscher: Defected, ultimately aiding civilization in "cheating" the exam.

• Second Herrscher: Turned traitor after a defeat, reincarnated, and eventually became another ally in cheating.

• Third Herrscher: Defected; not exactly an ally, but more of a perpetual, devoted… housekeeper.

The Fourth Herrscher? Defeated by the first three and then instantly obliterated by Titan reinforcements.

The rest? Best left unsaid.

"Kevin, Elysia, Aponia, Eden, Vill-V, Kalpas, Su, Sakura, Kosma, Mobius, Griseo, Hua, and Pardofelis."

These were the final thirteen surviving fusion warriors of the MOTHs following the Tragedy of Binding. Collectively, they were known as the Flame-Chasers.

To the organization, they were irreplaceable assets, necessitating their independent classification and command structure.

Each member was granted a rank and a title known as a "Sigil" for specific reasons.

These thirteen "weapons" bore the hope of humanity's survival.

"The fates of all thirteen need to be thoroughly confirmed. And Dr. MEI—the soul of the MOTHs—requires special attention."

Murmuring softly, Selene shook her head in admiration. "Truly, the greatest scientist of the Previous Era."

Her achievements were staggering: leading humanity to develop the superweapons known as the Divine Keys, discovering the existence of five parallel truths, and initiating the Fusion Warrior and Super Variable Factor projects.

"And yet, she is also the greatest 'cheating tool' provider for the Current Era. If she were still alive, she would undoubtedly be the Honkai's nemesis. The repercussions of her various innovations have severely disrupted the exam criteria for the Current Era civilization."

"Hmph."

At that thought, Selene let out a faint scoff. "Such greed. Even after complete annihilation, you still extended your plans to encompass the next generation of humanity."

"The Stigmata Project, Ember Plan, Ark Plan, and even the 'Overseer Plan' to prevent forerunners like Kevin from going out of control. Should I call you prophetic, deeply rational… or cold and calculating to the point of cruelty?"

As the civilization of the Previous Era faced destruction at the hands of the Herrscher of the End, Dr. MEI left behind numerous plans to pave the way for the next era of humanity.

Even for someone as dear to her as Kevin—her lover—MEI seemed to view him more as a disposable tool than anything else.

Selene, despite not being a pure researcher like Dr. MEI, recognized similarities between the two of them. This resemblance bred both respect and distaste in equal measure.

Selene admired MEI's brilliance but felt no affection for her. In fact, there was a trace of disdain.

The reason was simple: MEI was not like Fu Hua, who merely saw herself as a warrior. MEI's thoughts ran too deep. No one could truly guess what lay in her heart.

Among the fourteen figures of the MOTHs, Selene particularly appreciated the fourth-ranked Flame-Chaser, Eden the Golden Diva.

"If one must live, then live gloriously, as I once did." That was what Eden had said of herself.

With that thought, Selene exited Aponia's consciousness core and opened her eyes. She gazed at the unconscious Aponia, whose limp body hung from her grasp.

"[Discipline]—an intriguing ability, indeed."

From birth, Aponia possessed a natural talent that allowed her to easily persuade others. After becoming a fusion warrior, this ability was further enhanced, granting her the power to influence others' behavior and even partially foresee the future.

This power became the origin of [Discipline].

From deep within Aponia's memories, Selene accessed a detailed report on [Discipline]:

Sample 1:

Age: XX

Affiliation: Member of Moth Cocoon.

Symptoms: Severe blunt trauma with varying degrees of damage across the body.

Effect of [Discipline] ("I hope you recover"): Drastically enhanced cellular activity. All wounds fully healed within three months.

Sample 2:

Age: XX

Affiliation: Former prisoner of the Deep End.

Symptoms: Severe claustrophobia and nyctophobia.

Effect of [Discipline] ("I hope you overcome it"): Gained night vision and the ability to navigate tasks in pitch-black environments using hearing and touch.

Sample N: …

Summary: [Discipline] can stimulate the biological potential of its subjects.

"This ability is essentially the power to dictate: 'I hope you become what I wish.'"

Selene found herself deeply intrigued by this power.

"The true capability of [Discipline] lies in aligning with the subconscious 'wishes' of its subjects, then influencing their minds and bodies—even accelerating changes."

Slash!

The tips of Selene's gauntleted fingers suddenly sharpened, piercing deeply into Aponia's pale neck. Against the dim sky, the contrast of her snow-white skin and crimson blood stood starkly vivid.

How to acquire it? Simple. Selene coldly uttered a single word:

"Devour."

To some extent, fusion warriors could already be considered akin to Honkai Beasts. Not entirely Honkai-controlled, but half-beast nonetheless.

In the next moment, Aponia's skin grew visibly rosier. With the injection of even more Honkai energy—

Thump! Thump!

It was as if a critical threshold had been reached, producing a sound akin to a heartbeat. Wisps of violet-red particles began flowing back into Selene from Aponia's body.

"Ah… Quite a remarkable sensation." Selene exhaled, satisfaction evident in her tone.

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