I Am Honkai

The shattered universe was pitch-black, but there was no need for starlight—for their presence alone shone like the most radiant supernovae in the cosmos.

Perhaps they were the cosmos itself.

Crack!

With the fall of the primordial universe, Ashtart lost her home ground and was gravely wounded. The Swirl of the Root, fused with her and amplifying her power, now suffered equally devastating damage.

Her expressionless, refined face revealed visible pain—but weakened as she was, she could only watch helplessly as the Goddess of the End pierced her chest and reached its claws toward "Mother."

Ashtart tried to resist, to evade—but all in vain. Her cry of agony echoed.

From the wound in her chest—formed as Selene's hand pierced through her divine body, composed of endless galaxies—her form began to collapse. At first, a sharp indentation; then countless cracks like shattered ice; and finally, large fragments fell away.

Selene's hand, smooth and delicate, now glowed with a corrosive, blood-red light. The primordial goddess could no longer resist the erosion carved by end-time authority. Sinister purple-red markings twisted and writhed like serpents across her body.

Szzzz...

The sounds of stars drying up, nebulae tearing—blood like the Milky Way poured from her wound, endless. Each drop gave birth to a celestial body, a newborn world...

Only to be instantly torn apart in the spiraling black void, reduced to atomic dust. Yet each drop displayed its "flavor and nourishment" to Selene.

"Be at peace... calm yourself... don't resist. Return to origin. Become the essence of creation and merge with me. I will rebuild the primordial universe. This, I promise."

"Sleeping child... the battlefield is no place for your end. It's time to awaken. Come home... return to your family."

Her voice fluttered gently through the destroyed void—wings of a butterfly. For once, Selene's tyrannical dominance faded, her arrogance gone. Her voice now tender, patient, warm and sensual—seemingly magical, soothing all resistance.

"You... nnngh...."

Consciousness—like a candle in the wind—flickered, fragile. The pain throughout Ashtart's body faded. Unaware how, despite knowing Selene's intentions were sinister, that she was scheming something, Ashtart felt as though she were drifting in a warm, soothing stream. Her eyes grew heavy, her thoughts slowing.

This feeling... like a mother's embrace... like the amniotic fluid in the womb....

No!

Suddenly, Ashtart's divine consciousness jolted awake from the seductive trance. She was born of the cosmos itself—from the domain of existence before mammals, a primordial cosmic goddess born from the concept of the Milky Way! How could she experience longing for mammalian fetal sensations?!

There was only one explanation: the vessel that enabled her swift descent—the sacrificed human girl named "Rin Tohsaka."

The human mind she had supposedly consumed and assimilated... had affected her.

Selene was breaking her down from within!

"Selene... maybe... you win. But... don't think you'll get anything from me. You'll gain... nothing!"

Her half-lidded eyes flared with defiance, teeth clenched as she forced words from her throat.

In that instant, Ashtart's divine will shattered Selene's charm. Realizing Selene's intent to devour her, she ignited with brilliant golden cosmic ether, determined to self-destruct!

"I see...."

Selene tilted her head and winked playfully. But in the next instant, all the gentleness and warmth vanished—a deep, cold voice echoed.

"Is that so?"

"So eager to die... It seems my mercy was merely wishful thinking."

Selene had initially considered preserving Ashtart's divine consciousness—perhaps even reshaping it into a Supreme Governor-class composite AI to administrate the Type-Moon composite multiverse colonies. But now, she changed her mind.

There was no longer any need. Total annihilation would do.

As for Ashtart's original role? That could go to "Offensive Bias"—a brother to "Mendicant Bias" (a nod to the Forerunners from Halo lore).

Reaching with her other hand, Selene forcefully straightened Ashtart's head. Before she could respond, two slender fingers pressed firmly against her lips. Her flawless face radiated an inhuman aura of absolute dominance.

In those crimson eyes—only savagery, and the lust for conquest.

"Well then, Ashtart... look at this. Tell me—who is she?"

Rip—

A rift tore through the void, splitting open the black domain. At the edge of the rippling, viscous energy, stood countless ominous, shadowy figures. Their presence exuded a cold, despairing aura—they were the Ghost Legion.

A suffocating stillness hung in the air like stagnant death, as though submerged in an ocean of hopelessness. Surrounded by the Ghost Legion, a delicate girl sat curled up at their center—vacant-eyed, dressed only in the thin school uniform of Homurahara Academy. A strand of purple hair brushed her soft, cherry-colored lips.

"Sakura...."

Even the briefest moment of distraction—just a fraction of a heartbeat—was fatal in a clash of this magnitude.

Pop— A soft, rupturing sound, like piercing a worn drum. Selene's two fingers drove through Ashtart's eyes.

"Goodbye."

Corrosive Honkai energy swirled rapidly around Selene's fingers. A violet-red vortex burst forth from her hand, grinding Ashtart's divine head to fragments.

The gentleness from earlier? Merely because Ashtart might have been useful—as a separable consciousness, detached from her god-body, stored for future use. But no longer. Selene opted for efficiency.

Of course, Selene was always a connoisseur—one who relished the finest experiences.

She excelled at seizing the moment, turning every tool to her benefit—preserving the essence of her prey while minimizing damage during the kill, ensuring maximum flavor in the feast.

Rin Tohsaka, in Selene and Ashtart's duel, was less than an insect—but Ashtart had weakened, and Selene, now dominant, chose to exploit every advantage.

So, when Selene resolved to completely destroy Ashtart, she immediately activated all the residual commandments lingering within her—subduing her and awakening the remnants of Rin Tohsaka's consciousness.

Then, all Selene had to do was provide an emotional trigger.

That trigger? Selene hadn't cared much—it was Kiana's spoil.

Back when Kiana burned the Matou residence to ash after killing Zouken Matou, she had unexpectedly encountered Sakura Matou returning from the Emiya household. Faced with the girl's utter collapse—as if her world had ended—Kiana, moved by sympathy but guided by instinct, knocked her unconscious.

Of course, asking Selene to spare a mere "ant" was out of the question. Even a reverted, free-spirited Kiana of Saint Freya days wouldn't dare.

So she sought out Durandal. Using the Black Abyss White Flower, they extracted Sakura's heart—and as the old worm begged for mercy, they burned him to cinders.

And so, Kiana and Durandal made a decision: one had killed her grandfather and burned down her home, the other's maid had cut down her brother... Even for someone as grounded as Durandal, she couldn't bring herself to throw a poor, innocent high school girl back into the ashes of a destroyed home and a family essentially wiped out.

With Fuyuki City destined to become a battlefield for Selene's plan, Durandal figured she would release Sakura afterward. So she stored her in her Noble Phantasm's Tiger Talisman space. And then... nothing happened.

That night ended, and battles raged nonstop one after another. The war developed so rapidly, no one could keep up.

By the time Durandal received Selene's orders to add a layer of insurance and fall back, even her maid had retreated—there was no time to worry about the high schooler in the Tiger Talisman space. When Durandal finally remembered, Selene's main body had already descended, the islands had sunk, and Earth itself had been shattered.

Since Durandal dissolved her spirit form and entered battle in person, Sakura Matou was transferred to the Ghost Legion's Shadow Kingdom.

That's when Selene finally looked into the matter. Turns out Kiana had quietly tied up some loose ends in the Type-Moon world.

And then, since they were already involved, Selene didn't want to override Kiana's intentions. A kindness begun by Kiana—let it be her responsibility to see it through.

Now, presenting Sakura before Ashtart's eyes was just Selene making use of every possible tool at her disposal.

Despicable?

No—just a practical use of available resources. You've lost. Everything of yours is now mine. I won't let even a sliver of this pure primordial essence go to waste.

Rip—

As the rift closed, the violet-red vortex in Selene's hand surged downward from Ashtart's neck. Deep gashes burst open across her headless body, from which entire streams of "galaxies" poured.

Buzz—!

Without exception, an intense suction followed. All energy escaping Ashtart's body was instantly drawn in—none was allowed to escape. It was all devoured by the violet-red spiral.

Then—

Crack—

Ashtart's body shattered. A form once made of endless galaxies disintegrated instantly... reduced to lingering cosmic ether and primordial essence, flowing from Selene's fingertips—absorbed.

An accumulation of energy diffused around Selene, particles of radiant light swirling like shimmering neon streamers.

She opened her eyes—suddenly radiant. Crimson-gold irises were dotted with twinkling stars. Starlight shimmered and flowed, clustering in her gaze. Her eyes seemed to hold heaven and earth, dazzling and entrancing.

Huuuh... A breath like stardust escaped her lips. Selene's gaze shifted to the shattered black hole, now tainted by blood and corruption after Ashtart's demise.

Her delicate hand was still buried in it. As expected—now that Ashtart was devoured—nothing stood between her and the Swirl of the Root.

Thump!

Her other hand plunged in, manipulating the connection between Ashtart and the Root. Selene braced herself and pulled hard.

RIP—!

The black hole, born of the primordial universe's destruction, tore open!

In the next moment, starlight ignited. Light—everywhere Selene looked—light.

The ultimate "mass," the "record of all," exploded outward. Selene was instantly engulfed by the surging torrent unleashed by the Swirl of the Root.

The moment Selene stepped in, the entire Swirl of the Root boiled. Infinite quantities of "mass," "records," "being," and "existence" flooded together.

The chains of space were shattered by the surge of "existence"—accumulated to the universe's peak and released in an instant. The stream of time was torn into fragments, its linear flow splintered.

In an instant, the overwhelming influx came like a tidal wave. It carried comprehension akin to the language and manipulation of magic itself—fluent in all tongues of all eras, embedding perceptions into the mind in discernible form. Even Selene, immersed in it, felt a moment of dizziness.

Steadying herself, she knew—this was the Swirl of the Root's final counterattack. Perhaps it also stemmed from its innate, automatic assimilation of all outsiders.

Though its nature was fixed and its level supreme—origin of all phenomena—it still lacked the free will of a true creator god. That made it limited in certain ways.

"I like this method of infusion. Let's begin."

"Dimensional Unfolding!"

Wielding the authority of Honkai, Selene welcomed the flood and assimilation. She closed her eyes and descended deeper into the Swirl of the Root, letting it engulf her.

She felt her hair and lashes drifting within the "Root," her limbs weightless, her whole body suspended in its flow. It was as if she had returned to the Sea of Honkai—warm, comforting, tranquil—where the burdens of the world no longer existed.

Selene adored this feeling. The sensation of fullness. The feeling of becoming stronger....

Buzz buzz buzz—!

Countless fluid currents curved in from all directions. In that moment, Selene became a humanoid black hole. Centered on her location, a strange ripple and faint hum began to stir. It expanded rapidly, flowing along countless "tributaries" of the Swirl of the Root, stretching into the vast web of time and space.

It was the world's elegy—but Selene's hymn.

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