Honkai: It’s broken, I have become the Herrscher of Corrosion?

"...please."

"Graysh's father, Ken...during the Ninth Collapse, he made what you considered to be a "choose between two evils" decision and rashly sacrificed himself.

"And... at that time, I pushed you into a situation where you had to face both evils - even if you were willing to become a monster, you still couldn't save your mentor and friend."

"Think about how you felt back then, okay? If you repeat the same mistake, the pain you felt back then will also fall on others. Unlike the Ninth Herrscher, I'm not the kind of villain who leaves you no choice, am I?"

"...Indeed. But everything you say about Hen is completely wrong."

"Kosmo, don't force yourself, okay?"

"I am not saying one thing and thinking another. From the very beginning, Hen's decision was not to choose between two evils... but to have the best of both worlds. It was because he found the only way for me that I am now standing here - in front of you, to do what I should do."

[Herrscher of Corrosion] looked at Kosmo thoughtfully, then revealed an expression of sudden enlightenment:

"I see... But even if we don't consider the past, we still need to consider the future. If I really take action, you should know what will happen to you."

"……certainly."

"So... have you ever thought about what will happen to Grayshu after I completely erase you like this?"

"No matter what decision I make, if you really want to do something to Gray Shu, I seem to have no way to stop you. So all I can do is fight to the last moment before you hurt her."

"...Ah, Kosmo, I think you seem to have misunderstood something. The Grayshu I'm talking about is not the one in the paradise of the past, but... the one who is traveling through the universe on the Ark right now."

"No matter how long she travels in the galaxy, she will eventually return home. Regardless of how you, as a memory, perceive yourself, to the real Gresh, you are the only Kosmo, and the last memory of Kosmo for her."

"And for you, the [real Grayshu] also has a special meaning. So... considering from her perspective, you shouldn't stand in front of me, an [unbeatable] enemy. It's not shameful for the memory to give in to the Herrscher of Corrosion."

"..."

Kosmo's expression seemed to be moved, but his body...didn't show any sign of moving.

"Well, ... after coming here, I knew what I would face... but it's really ironic. I should be a "villain", but I have to "force" you to live again and again. If I continue to argue with you, Mei will probably have completed all the work..."

Seeing that the [Erosion Herr] seemed to have lost his patience, Kosmo didn't waste any more words and directly launched an artificial collapse.

"Alas...it ended up like this. Why did it have to be like this...Kosmo, look at you, you can't even speak after becoming like this. Don't you want to leave the paradise and see the outside world? The real Kevin and Grayshu are waiting for you outside...hmm?"

"The efficiency of erosion... has slowed down? Kosmo... you... is this your real purpose?"

"It is meaningless to simply put yourself into "Overweight Transformation" to increase your strength in front of me... But "Vishnu's" instinct to devour... can also work for "Erosion"? In other words, from just now, you have been... "devouring yourself"? "

"No, although it can indeed slow down the process, it cannot really stop me. It's just that... under the hindrance of this characteristic, the process will be extremely long."

"And in this case, if we waste the time we originally had, even if we had a hundred times more time, it would still be far from enough. This... is a risk that I absolutely cannot accept."

(Aliceia...if it were you, what would you do?)

But she changed her mind and stopped thinking like this. Because some of the "differences" between the two of them could not be made up by data at all - whether she was worried that this would be confirmed, she herself might not be able to give an accurate answer.

But there was one thing she couldn't ignore. When she made a decision - a decision that the real Alicia would never make, she didn't even hesitate.

"Okay, Kosmo, in order to [save time], I can only [completely delete] you."

[Corrosion Herrscher] completely wiped out the Kosmo in front of him, just like he did to Qianjie and Ying before. But at the moment when Kosmo's data disappeared, Kosmo in the collapsed form appeared again.

"What's going on? Why...I see."

She looked upwards:

"Kosmo... has already become a "painting" of yours... right, Grayshu?"

Earlier, Kosmo carefully used Vishnu's devouring ability to swallow the eroded and polluted monsters in the paradise into his body.

"Did you make it?"

Hua's slightly worried call brought his thoughts back to reality.

"…At least I didn't feel anything else strange."

He raised one arm and showed it to the other two people present.

"Indeed... there has never been an example of recovery before. So, using the characteristics of Vishnu to devour the eroded parts of oneself, is this method really feasible?"

"…Well, but it's not without cost."

"Have you lost some of your strength compared to before the erosion?"

"Yes, although it is very small. But after all, a part of me was "devoured" by myself. And... if it was done by the Herrscher of Corrosion himself, I am afraid I can only delay it, but not recover."

"...So, we can only adopt the "original plan"? Well, in order to prevent her from getting closer to Alicia, we must use..."

“What was the ‘original plan’?”

The young voice startled the two. This was the first time that Grayshu had participated in their conversation after Hua brought them the news about the Herrscher of Corrosion.

Before this, she was just talking to Mei, and after learning that the crystal flower in her hand was very important, she handed it to Mei without saying anything. She herself always showed an indifferent attitude towards the current situation, and even found it difficult to understand what the "Hersher" was.

When she participated in similar incidents in the past, she was often just a "weapon" without her own will, and there was no need for her to know the current situation.

"It's just some adult talk. Keep painting."

"……grown ups?"

She looked at Hua and Kosmo with a little suspicion, as if she didn't agree with this. Fortunately, as usual, she was always very obedient in front of this boy who was like a "brother" or even a "father".

"Okay, let's continue. When you say 'original plan', does it include Grayshu?"

"……Um."

"...Then please allow me to refuse. If we just want to buy time for the Herrscher of Thunder, we have other means."

"Other means? But you've already said that if it's the Herrscher of Corrosion, you can only delay it... and, after realizing that the process will be extremely long, maybe she will choose to "delete" you directly. In that case, even delaying it will no longer make sense."

"You misunderstood. Just now, I thought of a way. A way... to have the best of both worlds. This method also requires the use of the Eighth God's Key. I need you... to "cheat" someone for me."

"You mean... I understand."

"...Hmm? Kosmo, have you finished talking about the adults?"

Not yet, but... I want to ask Grace to do me a favor this time. I promised you that I would tell you what I was going to do.

"Now in the Paradise of the Past... a bad person has appeared. We can only defeat her with the help of Grayshu's power."

"Bad guy? Do you need Mr. Knight's help?"

"...No need to bother him, Grayshu, you just need to paint as before. But...it will be a little different. Can you...not use my "colors", but still paint according to what I say?"

Grayshu shook her head.

"No, Kosmo. Without color... it will look ugly."

"It's okay. I... and Hua, we will all help you."

"Well... okay. Kosmo, what do you want me to draw?"

"Let's start with a portrait of a young boy."

As the brush fell, Hua finally showed a trace of "reluctance" on her face. She stared at the brush in Greshu's hand, as if its rise and fall would bring about terrible disasters.

"He... must be very thin, but like all boys, he wanted to be a hero. When he was eight years old, he had already started to do good deeds. He wanted to use this method to move towards his goal."

Gretchen's brush touched the canvas, but she did not start painting.

"Wait a minute, Kosmo. How do you draw these stories?"

"Uh... collect evidence on your own and ruin the bad guys' plot?"

The girl shook her head. She knew that there was no sense of picture at all.

"Hmm... it should be... wearing tights, running on the eaves in the moonlight..."

"...Okay, I'll draw it as you said. In the process, he always wanted to make his actions "the best of both worlds" - and everything went as he wished. Until... one of his companions who was both his teacher and friend fell into a desperate situation. "

"...Companion? How should I draw him?"

"Maybe... a father figure."

"Oh... Daddy's look? I get it."

"At that time, facing an almost invincible enemy, in order to save more lives, this companion had to sacrifice himself. Of course, in everyone's view, this was "choosing one of two evils", a rational and correct choice. "

"But the boy is unwilling to accept it?"

"Well, he thought that he was not strong enough, which led to this result. For this reason... he did not hesitate to turn himself into a monster, trying to prevent this from happening, but... in vain. He struggled hard, but pushed the situation of "choosing one of the two evils" into "getting both evils." "

"Kosmo, if you put it that way, I don't know how to continue drawing. Is there no... more specific picture?"

"...Yes. When his life was about to come to an end, he once again faced an unacceptable choice."

"He was assigned a mission. When the whole world was facing catastrophe, he had to board a huge spaceship and leave the earth to find new hope for people. In other words... he could survive the disaster, but he would become a deserter. Or... he could stay and die with the world as a hero."

"Sounds... familiar."

"Really? Perhaps I have told you this story before. I didn't like it, but I did read it."

"But, Kosmo, you can't say that about others. Those who seek hope are also heroes."

"But...Gresh, that was an 'abandoned' plan...Looking for hope, that was never true. The home of the stars...For humans, the road to them is still too far away. Although that manned spacecraft was created by a genius, it was ultimately unable to accomplish this feat due to the limitations of the times."

"So... the boy's true mission is to hide in the endless darkness and wait for the day of return in the long time. If the world is destroyed, he can spread the other "spark" preserved on the spaceship on the ground again. Spread it... on the bones of his former companions."

"So...how did he choose?"

"It was another person who made the choice for him. That boy... in the final analysis, he was too immature and too weak to have the strength to deal with this kind of "two evils" choice again."

"However, the reason I tell you this is because I hope that the boy in your painting can change. Can you... draw him as a more mature person who can accept reality calmly?"

"…More mature?"

"Well, I hope that in this painting, he will no longer think that the choice made by others is just "one of two evils". He is not as stubborn as me, but truly understands that as long as the person who makes the decision thinks it is more worthwhile, then the so-called "choosing one of the two evils" is actually "the best of both worlds."

"And the reason he keeps refusing to accept it is simply because he can't accept that "he can face this kind of thing calmly". Selfish people... are annoying, right? Don't draw him like this, okay?"

"Well, selfish people are the most annoying, unlike Kosmo."

"Really... Then, can you draw what I just said?"

"I don't know, but I'll try. It doesn't matter if I can't do it. After all, he was originally such a "selfish" person. If he can't change... it's natural."

"Well, Hua... I'll leave the rest up to you. Please... trick her for me."

(happy New Year to all!)