Chapter 51: Fading like cherry blossoms

[Because of Rin's request, Rin voluntarily accepted the imprisonment of the Fire Moth and voluntarily accepted observation and experiments... This is not a bad thing. After all, the two existing "suspected Herrschers" still have self-awareness and have not madly destroyed human civilization. As long as we move forward steadily and study slowly, we may be able to unravel the strange existence of "Herrscher"]

[As for the issue of guarding Rin, considering that she is not as powerful as you, the Fire Moth placed her in a base and buried a large number of nuclear bombs in it. Only ordinary personnel were arranged to monitor her. Except for Sakura who visited her regularly and Mei and Mobius who needed to be experimented on, the rest of the personnel had to reduce their contact time with Rin.]

[After all, everyone in the Fire Moth knows that you "heroes" have a good relationship with Rin. They are worried that you will let Rin go because of a moment of weakness... It's really hilarious.]

[And once they find out that Rin has become the Herrscher, the Fire Moth will directly launch a nuclear bomb to blow up Rin and the entire base.]

[There is nothing wrong with this arrangement. After all, Rin is not like you. She is just an ordinary little girl with no power. Therefore, there is no need to arrange "Fusion Warriors" to monitor her, and there is no need to specially transform the entire "Deep Place" to imprison her.]

[But… that's where the problem lies]

[In this extremely high-pressure environment, even a determined person would find it difficult to sustain, let alone an ordinary person]

[At the beginning, it was okay. The Fire Moth guards were quite friendly to Rin. After all, they had seen this cute little girl before. Although they were not familiar with her, they knew that Rin was Sakura's sister. Therefore, there were no problems in the early stage of her imprisonment. When Sakura came to visit Rin, they even entertained her warmly.]

[But... as time went on, fear and loneliness began to spread, and the mental torture began to show]

[The "Eighth Herrscher" made people's spirits fragile, the "Ninth Herrscher" destroyed human industry, the "Tenth Herrscher" disrupted society and spread the seeds of doubt in everyone's hearts, and finally... the "Eleventh Herrscher" completely destroyed humanity's hope]

["What will this child bring us in the end? Will she kill us all? Will she destroy the last city we survived in? Or…" Such thoughts kept coming to mind.]

[Nervous, fearful, the little concern they had was slowly overwhelmed by suspicion]

['What should we do? What should we do to avoid this outcome?' — So they thought]

[We can't give up. We absolutely can't give up hope of fighting the Honkai… We must stop the Herrscher from destroying our last living space… What should we do? What should we do? ]

[Oh, right, let's kill her before she becomes a Herrscher! We can't let her become a Herrscher! That would kill us all! Get rid of the Herrscher in advance, and kill her before she has that kind of powerful power! This way we can keep our last living space! That's right, that's it!]

[This is all for humanity! To fight the Honkai! To defeat the Honkai! That's right!]

[The guards' thoughts became more and more strange and extreme. Unconsciously, the resentment that had been accumulated in their hearts gradually surged up. Whether it was towards this world, towards the Honkai, or towards the increasingly difficult life, too many complaints and resentments were ignited at this moment.]

[…But they firmly believe that all this is for humanity, to fight against Honkai]

[After all... killing the Herrscher, isn't that what the Fire Moth has always been doing? ]

[So, when Sakura came to visit Rin again, she found that the entire base was extremely quiet, as if everyone in the base had disappeared.]

[She reacted immediately and rushed to where Rin was imprisoned, but what she saw in the end was... Rin's body]

[Sakura kneels down on the ground somewhat powerlessly, with a dazed look on her face]

[The body was badly injured. The marks left on the wrists and ankles proved that Rin had struggled violently. The tools scattered around suggested the methods used by the abuser... Rin was not killed directly. Instead, she died of exhaustion and blood loss after being tortured.]

(TL: Wow, this fanfic author really put Rin through the torture way more than in the original!)

[It is hard to understand, hard to accept, and... even more unforgivable, to do such a cruel thing to a girl who has not hurt anyone, who was judged as a "suspected Herrscher" and voluntarily accepted detention and experiments.]

[However, the Herrscher's alarm has already sounded, and the original perpetrators have all become corpses, corroded by the Honkai... They all died the moment the Herrscher appeared.]

[Sakura pursed her lips, and her originally dizzy pupils gradually became clear. She supported her body again, staggered for a while, and then ran quickly and firmly.]

[The Herrscher has appeared. She... must fulfill her duty and go and defeat her.]

[Similarly, as an elder sister... she should also go find her younger sister]

————————

boom!

On [P21 Island], a huge roar was heard, and a large amount of blue water rushed up into the sky, breaking through the entire [Deepest Place].

Boom boom boom——

What followed were countless explosions and sounds of attacks. All the remaining weapons on the entire island began to attack the figure. Vill-V also entered the device she had prepared long ago in a somewhat embarrassed manner, trying to delay time and allow others to deal with Nozomi who suddenly destroyed everything.

But Nozomi ignored her. The water quickly gathered and formed an "ocean current" in the air, which quickly took him in that direction, the direction that exuded the aura of the Herrscher.

The [Herrscher] appeared... She finally appeared, but she was not the one who was first judged as a "suspected Herrscher", so the only one that could be was... Rin.

We have to go... We must go... It doesn't matter, nothing else matters, just take Rin and Sakura and run away. The world is big anyway, the three of them can just find a place to live, and the current Fire Moths can't do anything to them.

The Ocean seemed to be happy and concerned as if asking him if he needed help... Nozomi didn't care. Come on, as long as it could make him go faster, faster!

As a result, the sea water began to rhythmically move, and the power of the "ocean" was added to the "ocean current" in the sky, allowing Nozomi's speed to increase to a higher level.

Tick-tock

The sky gradually darkened and a steady stream of rain began to fall.

Here I am... I am coming... please... faster...

I can already feel that familiar breath, the increasingly faint breath that belongs to Sakura.

Nozomi looked at the base that was right in front of him, swung the sword in his hand, and created a white water blade-like wave, violently cutting through the base's outer defenses, forcibly breaking through one wall after another, and rushing towards the familiar breath.

In the end, all that could be seen was Sakura lying in the metal rubble.

"Nozomi...you're here..."

After smelling the familiar damp scent and the sweet smell of lilies that wouldn't go away, Sakura's long ears trembled slightly, and then she raised her head, smiled, and spoke softly.

The traces of the collapse erosion... have already spread to her neck.

"I'm sorry... your gift... was accidentally broken by Rin..."

Sakura lowered her eyes slightly to look at the familiar and cherished cherry blossom pendant in her palm… the color on it had become dull and the shell was destroyed, revealing the electronic components inside that were no longer usable.

"It's okay... just change it."

Nozomi held her in his arms with a panicked look. The azure water kept disappearing and reappearing. Finally, Nozomi simply bit his wrist and let the dark blue liquid flow out. He applied it to the part of Sakura that had been eroded, and tried to let Sakura drink it, praying that this way he could save her life, or at least... at least delay the erosion of the collapse.

But... this method doesn't work.

Nozomi's alienated [blood] is converted into special "nutrients" to nourish the Honkai Beast genes, further stimulating the fusion warrior's physical recovery ability to achieve the "healing" effect. Its essence can even be said to be "Honkai Beast restores itself by absorbing Honkai energy", and Sakura's current condition is not suitable for absorbing this kind of "nutrients".

Because the Honkai that erodes her can also obtain this kind of "nutrients".

So Nozomi immediately stopped this behavior, hugged her helplessly, and kept looking for anything he could do to help her. He sought the "ocean", hoping that the "ocean" would accept her and give some of its power to Sakura so that she could at least recover by "eating" him.

But no, the Ocean will not accept children who do not belong to the Ocean.

"...Thank you, but...this will do, Nozomi."

Sakura could feel her body becoming increasingly weak, and could also sense that the speed at which the collapse was eroding her body had slightly increased, but Sakura still smiled and thanked Nozomi.

She was quite happy...really.

When Rin left, when Rin died, when Rin became the Herrscher... Nozomi became another person she cared about.

Being able to see him before we part, seeing him rushing to me regardless of everything, seeing him panicking for me... haha, these are all very rare to see.

"Be at ease... look..."

Sakura said softly.

"I stayed with Rin until the last moment... She is not alone... She is still my sister, and still... the child you like."

"I kept my pride as a sister...right?"

"Um."

Nozomi responded softly.

"...Nozomi, can I ask you for a favor?"

Sakura blinked and spoke softly, trying to attract Nozomi's attention.

"I want to go home...with Rin...let's go home together."

"um."

Nozomi agreed.

"Under the cherry tree...have a good sleep."

"um."

"I want to eat Sakura dumplings..."

"um."

"Ha ha..."

Sakura smiled happily, she knew that he must like her, just as she liked him... It was a pity that due to various reasons, they were not lovers after all.

However, at this time, it's not wrong to be a little willful, right?

Just like when we were on the Ferris wheel, a little more... willful and proactive.

Sakura tried hard to move her head closer to Nozomi's face, but her already corroded body made it impossible for her to do so.

Nozomi also subconsciously leaned down and hugged her so that she could get closer to him.

So she gently left a kiss on the corner of Nozomi's mouth, which was cool and had a hint of cherry blossoms.

"Thank you...really, thank you..."

Whether it's your care for us or your love for us.

She gently lowered her head, leaned in his arms, smiled, slowly closed her eyes, and let her breathing become weak.

"I like you the most...No..zo...mi..."

The slender ears rested softly on the back of Nozomi's neck, trembling slightly, bringing a furry touch, expressing their affection for him, and finally... drooped down weakly, never to move again.

After confirming this fact, Nozomi felt that his entire train of thought had stagnated and fell into a blank.

"...see."

A cold breath came from behind, the temperature around him dropped rapidly, and Kevin's voice sounded simultaneously.

"You shouldn't be here."

He was just stating a fact... Nozomi was still a "prisoner" and was still judged to be "likely to become a Herrscher at any time", and Nozomi's forced breakthrough... would only make the Fire Moth judge him as "already corrupted by Honkai", and could even directly label him as a "Herrscher".

But Nozomi just looked back at him and ignored him. He just controlled the blue water flow and wrapped Sakura's body in the water.

The surroundings began to become humid. Even the low temperature around Kevin could not stop it. More and more azure water emerged, spreading and diffusing in all directions.

Nozomi, on the other hand, took a step and walked on his own.

"......"

Kevin remained silent and did not attack in the end.

Nozomi has not been confirmed as a Herrscher at this moment, he is still a companion.

But his distracted, dead-like look just now also made Kevin alert, worrying that he might become a Herrscher at any time.

So, you must follow him.

Nozomi came to the place where Rin was imprisoned and saw the broken corpse... He saw many familiar wounds on it, just like the ones he had suffered.

The surroundings became more humid as if we were in the deep sea.

Nozomi remained silent. He just wrapped Rin's body in the blue water. Then... he summoned the "ocean current" and walked into it. He ignored Kevin at all, and Kevin could not catch up with him at all.

Tick-tock

The rain was still falling, drizzling, with no sign of stopping.

Nozomi came to the construction site of the [Ark Project], where a large amount of resources to be placed on the "Ark" were piled up, including various plants, crops, artworks, books, and some animal embryos.

Nozomi naturally found a cherry tree sapling here, took it away directly, and then left... As for the soldiers guarding here?

Soldiers? Where were the soldiers? Nozomi only knew that someone was trying to stop him from taking his things.

The azure water continued to surge, sweeping up all the people who came forward, and then dissolving them bit by bit, turning them into foam in the water, leaving no trace at all.

The "ocean current" was outlined in the air again, and Nozomi stepped into it. Before leaving, it cut off and rolled away the entire kitchen area.

He returns to Sakura and Rin's hometown - Far East, which is also the place where he met her.

He found a place to stay, put down the kitchen area, controlled the water flow, and started making cherry balls... He remembered how cherry balls were made, so it wasn't difficult and he could do it quickly.

He controlled the water to bury Sakura and Rin, then cut two pieces of wall from the kitchen to serve as tombstones, and then dug a small hole in front of the grave, buried a piece of cherry sapling he brought, watered it, and then stared blankly at the sapling that quickly withered.

The Honkai energy emanating from his surroundings was still too high, and the Honkai energy had already corroded the saplings.

Tick-tock

The rain is still falling.

There was only a slight sound of fluttering wings, and the rain did not fall on Nozomi's body, nor did it fall on the dead sapling.

Looking up, I found that there were several pure white wings shielding me from the rain.

The scent of lilies lingered at the tip of his nose. He turned around and found her standing behind him.

As always, she was holding a lily and surrounded by abundant, azure "water".

She stepped forward and placed the lily in Nozomi's palm, causing it to turn into a stream of azure water and flow into his body.

Nozomi did not resist.

She gently lifted Nozomi's hands, cut his wrists, and used his alienated blood to water the dead sapling.

Then, the sapling "came to life" in a way that was visibly visible to the naked eye.

It grew rapidly, from a sapling into a towering tree, with pink flowers in full bloom. Countless petals fell with the wind and scattered all over the ground, adding beauty and... Honkai energy to the ground.

It has become a collapsed beast.

It trembled slightly, making sounds of its own, and the roots beneath it began to move, trying to move its body, but soon, the azure water penetrated the entire tree, forcibly fixing it in place.

[■■■...]

After doing all this, she whispered something in Nozomi's ear. It sounded like a horn, or a female voice, but her language was still unknown.

Finally, her figure disappeared quietly, as if she had never existed, and only the scent of lilies remained there.

On the other side, tentacles made of water flow placed a plate of cherry balls covered with water in front of the grave.

Tick-tock

When she left, the rain fell on Nozomi again, but Nozomi didn't care.

Lying quietly beside the grave, he closed his eyes, as if about to fall asleep.

The cherry tree that had become a Honkai beast was still imprisoned. It kept struggling, and its pink petals fell along with the rain until they covered the ground.

Nozomi ignored it and just closed his eyes, gradually letting his breathing become steady, as if he was going to fall asleep.

The trickle of water flowed down his face and gradually merged into the puddles on the ground, making it difficult to tell whether it was rain or tears.

One of the two "lines" that were constantly flowing on his body also deviated from its original trajectory at this moment, and disappeared bit by bit behind him like a petal blown by the wind.

......

.........

No, that's simply not enough.

Nozomi opened his eyes, and only star-like golden color remained in his dilated pupils. The scarlet color originally given by the "ocean" had long since dissipated, but the predator-like breath was still there.

Obviously, Rin did nothing and was only judged as "suspected"... but in the end, she was treated like this... In the end, this led to the arrival of the Herrscher... Hehe.

Such human beings... are not worth continuing to exist, nor are they worth saving. They are not worth continuing to be tolerated or acknowledging as [human beings].

Embrace it... embrace [Honkai], and fulfill the wishes of those people, let yourself become [Herrserker], and clean them all up.

Hunt... Hunt [humans], eat them all up, let them all embrace the "ocean", dissolve in the "water", turn into foam, and become a flower in the waves.

Tick-tock

The rain is still falling with no sign of stopping.

He stood up shakily and raised his hand. The dark strange sword not far away was brought by the water flow and fell into his palm.

Attract the "ocean current" and walk into it.

Come on, come on, the hunt begins.

......

.........

Tick-tock

"It's so hot!"

The hot drink spilled from the cup made him cry out in pain, and he rubbed his burned hands while muttering to himself.

"What's going on? I feel so scared... Is something bad going to happen?"

I heard that something happened to the little girl who was imprisoned before, and all the people who were still inside died, and that little girl really turned into a Herrscher... Humph, I knew it, this "suspected Herrscher", she must be the Herrscher!

But luckily... I wasn't transferred to that class, otherwise, I would have died... huh?

Suddenly, his whole body tensed up and he froze in place.

It was like being stared at by some ferocious predator.

A damp smell came to his nose... He was familiar with this, it must be him! Another imprisoned "suspected Herrscher"!

No... He is the Herrscher! It's just that the Fire Moth has not yet made a judgment on him!

"Why are you here?! You should still be in the [Imprisonment] observation stage!"

He turned around and yelled at the man, his tone filled with anger due to fear, and even with a hint of threat.

But Nozomi ignored him.

A trickle of water poured into the room and slowly began to eat away at and dissolve his body.

"Damn it… Damn it! I knew it! I knew it! You are one too! Just like that girl! You are Herrschers! What's the point of saying you are suspected? You are one! I should have killed you when I found you! I should have punished you! I shouldn't have kept you here for observation! Those people on the Fire Moth are trash!!"

"Wait... please... please! Don't! I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything... don't kill me... please... I didn't know when the girl died... I didn't know anything... If I were here, I would definitely stop them... How can you forgive someone for doing this to a little girl?"

"I never mentioned that Rin was dead."

Nozomi calmly pointed out the loophole in the other party's words.

"And the Fire-Chasing Moth has not been released yet. The news that the Herrscher appeared only because of Rin's death."

"......"

"snort."

Nozomi turned around and ignored him.

The only smell left in the original room was dampness and the scent of lilies mixed with a hint of sweetness.

Which one is this? Never mind, it's not important.

Go ahead, keep [hunting] until you [hunt] them all out.

Just as Nozomi was about to summon the "ocean current" again, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

He shifted his gaze and looked at her who had arrived here at some point in time.

"Please don't go on... everything that holds you together is becoming weak..."

"Shut up, Aponya."

Nozomi straightened his body and faced her.

"Come to think of it, you should also be a target of [hunting]... They all have the smell of [discipline], so... tell me, why?"

"Dr. Mei once promised Sakura and me that although Rin was imprisoned, she was also protected. She also promised that she would not harm Rin for reasons other than [becoming a Herrscher]... But now it seems that she lied to us. She really did not harm Rin... Because she did not need to do anything. She only needed you to impose [Discipline] on others."

"Now, you have one chance to tell me what that [commandment] is... You can make up any excuse you want, even a lie."

He raised his hand and pointed the sword in his hand at her, and the water around her began to move unconsciously, changing from transparent to azure.

"But you... must be [hunted], along with Mei."

"Lying is a crime. I have no intention of deceiving you... but if you want me to pay the price for this, I will never refuse."

Aponya put her hand on her chest and spoke softly.

"The [Commandments] I gave them were simple... 'Never give up hope against the Honkai,' that's all."

"I don't know why this makes their hatred for the Herrscher reach such a level... that even when faced with the existence of the Herrscher-suspicious... they must execute her."

Then, she looked at Nozomi with some worry and anxiety and said.

"Please stop here... or else..."

"Otherwise what?"

Nozomi's tone remained calm.

"Otherwise, you will be attacked? And judged as a Herrscher?"

"......"

"Heh... Honestly, I wish I was really a Herrscher now."

"you..."

"At least this way I don't have to maintain my identity as a human being and listen to your nagging, nor do I have to listen to your words of dissuading me with words like 'for the sake of humanity'... hehe."

"......"

Aponia opened her mouth and finally lowered her head in disappointment. She looked very dejected as if Nozomi's denial of her own existence as a human being was a huge blow to her.

"Come on, let's start the [hunt]."

Nozomi ignored her and just spoke calmly.

"I allow you to resist because you are a strong enough [prey]."

"You can try to restrict me with your [Discipline], but you will definitely be [hunted] by me."

"I'm sorry... I can't do this..."

Aponia said this dejectedly.

"You...are walking on a long and difficult road. Your [destiny] has already been waiting for you at the end, and the [end] you expect will surely be achieved...Before that, I cannot, should not, and will not be able to have any influence on you."

"In other words, you can impose [discipline] on anyone [person], but you can't do it on me?"

"...Yes."

After saying this, Aponya seemed to have used up all her strength. She just lowered her head and waited silently for his [hunt].

She naturally knew the meaning of acknowledging this... This undoubtedly further confirmed the fact that [Nozomi no longer belonged to the human race], and this would also allow Nozomi to further let go of the so-called insistence on [being human].

"ha..."

Nozomi smiled, as if he was laughing at Aponia's hypocrisy, and also as if he was laughing at his own boring persistence and all the past events.

The azure "water" began to spread and eventually turned into a sharp blade and attacked her.

But in the end, it was blocked one by one by the pink, crystal-like fragments.

"Nozomi... is enough."

Elysia said softly, stepping forward and holding her hand.

"I'm still here..."

She tried her best to comfort Nozomi, no matter how insignificant it was.