And I Pledge to You, to Him, to Everyone
As dawn barely broke, the tightly shut gates of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical building creaked open.
Shu, with the golden Xuanyuan Sword strapped to his waist and a seemingly expensive drone in hand, walked out of the gate.
He was alone; the streets outside were desolate, devoid of any sign of life.
Only the wind whistled through the narrow gaps between buildings, causing the posters and small advertisements peeling off the walls to flutter, and stirring up the dust that blanketed ARC City.
Amidst this swirling dust, Shu walked towards the newly risen sun, step by step descending the grand staircase in front of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical.
The staircase was wide and long. Shu walked alone in the center, his black hair, interspersed with a few lighter strands, swaying gently in the wind.
Reaching the middle of the stairs, Shu raised his hand and released the drone, watching it ascend into the sky.
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Simultaneously, Otto, seated in the thirteenth underground floor of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical, dark circles of fatigue under his eyes, watched the screen in front of him and pressed a switch.
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In the sandstorm-swept Gerhaim, a burly Caucasian man in camouflage fatigues hefted two barrels of water onto his shoulders.
"Hey! Fellas!" The burly man jutted his scarred chin towards two other men of Asian descent nearby. "You two go tell the women, they can drink their fill today!"
"John… we don't need to waste it like that. You need a good drink more than we do." The two Asian men, with Middle Eastern features, exchanged a glance. One of them said helplessly.
"Hey, for God's sake." The Caucasian man spat. "Old folks and kids first! If we run into those… uh, Honkai beasts again, I don't want to be dragging your deadweight asses!"
The Asian man was about to say something when a large screen in the plaza suddenly flickered, startling them.
"What the hell!" The burly Caucasian man abruptly dropped the barrels from his shoulders, reaching behind him for a rifle, cautiously scanning his surroundings.
Before the "f**k" could escape his lips, the screen successfully activated, displaying an image.
The first thing that caught the eye was a long staircase. The top-down view was clearly pulled back far, but all that could be seen was a gray staircase.
And in the very center of this pale gray world, a dark figure.
"Homu, have mercy…" The burly Caucasian man stared dumbfounded at the oppressive gray scene before him, his hand trembling as he reached into his chest pocket, pulled out a crumpled cigarette, and put it in his mouth.
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In Hoelspruit, perpetually covered in snow, a dozen people, wrapped in thick layers but with sallow complexions, gathered in a dimly lit basement.
"Silke, why do you think Fire Moth suddenly started a livestream?" A middle-aged man asked a weathered-looking man.
"Don't know…" The weathered man shook his head, wryly turning over the phone in his hand and placing it in front of everyone.
Everyone huddled together, peering at the image displayed on the weathered man's phone.
In a colorless world, a young man with a golden sword strapped to his waist, carrying all the colors of the world, steadily descended the stairs.
Though only the howling wind could be heard from the phone,
everyone seemed to hear the young man's heavy footsteps.
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Cocolia orphanage…
"Seele! Hurry, tell Mama Cocolia! That Fire Moth organization suddenly started a livestream!!"
"O-Okay!"
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Mogadishu…
"Bro! What is this!"
"Is this guy a member of Fire Moth?! Just looking at his stance, I can tell he's incredibly strong!!"
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Murmansk…
Milan…
Pascagoula…
Future City…
Across the globe, in the grand plazas of over a hundred major cities, large screens that had been dark for ages suddenly flickered to life, displaying the same scene.
A young man with short black hair slowly descended a long staircase, like a dignified king rising from his throne, step by step descending the dais.
Such exclamations echoed in every corner of the world. Everyone who could turn on their phones, who could see the images on the suddenly lit screens, gasped in astonishment.
They wondered who the person in the image was.
They wondered what the person in the image was going to do.
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In the fourth underground floor of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical, everyone crowded around a giant screen, intently watching Shu descend the stairs with composure.
Each step landed on the beat of their hearts. Shu's calm expression, the golden glow of the long sword in his hand, and the swirling dust around him presented a stark contrast.
"Captain Shu is so cool!"
"Shut up, no need for you to state the obvious!"
Theresa and the others also sat there, watching Shu on screen, speechless for a moment.
In the thirteenth underground floor, Otto controlled the drone, fine-tuning the shooting angle, satisfied with Shu's pace and posture, while subtly desaturating the colors around Shu again to further highlight his presence.
…The long descent of the stairs took a full five minutes, but not a single viewer around the world complained. They had been deprived of such sights for too long… Now, everything captivated them.
"Honkai… it is an unnatural disaster born alongside civilization…" As Shu stepped onto the avenue in front of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical, Otto picked up a prepared microphone and began to speak.
Otto's voice was soothing yet somber. The drone's camera shifted from Shu, soaring into the sky to overlook the entire gray ARC City.
Everyone could see the former splendor of ARC City, but this once-thriving city, now bathed in a somber gray filter, appeared exceptionally lonely and desolate.
"Here, Fire Moth regrets to inform everyone—our civilization is on the verge of collapse, because the strongest enemy of civilization, the strongest apostle of Honkai, has descended upon this world…" Otto narrated.
The camera zoomed in on a building. That familiar figure reappeared in the frame.
Shu, at some point, had sat down on the edge of this building, one leg dangling over the side, the other planted firmly on the rooftop edge. His left hand rested on his bent knee, his right hand gripping the golden sword, planting its tip beside him.
"This will be a battle where we wager the survival of civilization… If we fail, our civilization will be declared dead." Otto deliberately let a sigh be recorded by the microphone, and transmitted it across the globe via [Spiderweb].
"I pledge to you, to him… to everyone…"
Just then, another voice emerged from the scene, cutting through Otto's somber tone.
The camera zoomed in, focusing on Shu's face. The wind whipped around him, a stark counterpoint to his unwavering gaze. Everyone realized it was the young man on screen speaking. Unconsciously, they held their breaths, waiting.
Shu looked into the distance, towards the massive chasm, a scar upon the earth, a testament to the power he wielded. He spoke, his voice carrying over the wind, resonating with an almost preternatural clarity, reaching every corner of the globe.
"From the cradle of humankind, we have faced adversity. From the first enemy to the last, we have endured. We have been broken, shattered, and scattered, yet we have always risen again."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the ruined city, then lifting to the sky, as if encompassing all of humanity in his sight.
"This city, this world, bears the scars of our struggle. But these scars are not a mark of defeat, they are a testament to our resilience. They are a reminder of what we have overcome, and what we will overcome."
He drew the Xuanyuan Sword, the golden blade gleaming in the nascent light, becoming more red like an Blasting ember—a last ember against the encroaching darkness. He pointed it towards the monstrous dragon in the distance, and the figure atop its head.
"This is not our ending. This is not the twilight of humanity. This is where we make our stand. This is where we draw the line."
At this moment, when the wind should have been howling the loudest, it ceased. The world held its breath. People could only hear him say—
"No matter the cost… humanity—"
"Will surely triumph over Honkai."