Honkai Impact 3rd: I picked up a Seele at the start of the game.

……

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Timeline: The end of the second cycle, the prelude to the third cycle

Subheading: The Day the Gods Were Shot

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"Argonus will eventually awaken the dead, and the grieving ghosts will become His dreams."

The sleeping maiden groggily awoke. The court musicians' praises were then sung.

The world of El Inis came to a standstill, and all sentient beings stared at it with blank, puppet-like eyes and strange, uncanny expressions.

"The towering structure of the world will eventually crumble, and the bubble of dreams will shatter."

An unnamed supreme being descended upon this place, its sharp spike piercing the barrier of the world, directly peering into the truth of the depths of Erinis—Argona, the “Land of Origin.”

"..."

Alicia squinted at the newcomer. Even though she was exhausted, her clear and melodious voice, like that of a nightingale, remained as beautiful as ever.

She smiled faintly and said, "Let me guess—you came here to hurt them, didn't you?"

Seele in the sea had a serious expression; she had already figured out the problem.

Currently, Alicia bears the majority of the power of the God of Gods. But why would the Tree of Imaginary Numbers do this? What fool would give away their own primordial power to someone else?

"In this nothingness, only God endures... Only God endures!"

Suddenly, the cheers of the multitude rang out, causing the newcomer who had descended through Seele's body to pause, then tilt his head slightly, seemingly puzzled.

Alicia rose from the coffin surrounded by crystal flowers, yawning wearily. She stretched, and a bow and arrow materialized in her hand, a force field gathering within her; clearly, she was ready for a great battle.

She sighed, "The world is full of tragedies, one after another, in a never-ending cycle. When will I finally be able to stop pretending?"

"...?" Hai Xi looked slightly puzzled.

Alicia: "What I mean is—"

She drew out her voice, then suddenly smiled subtly, just like when she had banished Seele!

"You should understand—the towering structure of the world will eventually crumble."

Seeing the astonished look on the newcomer's face, she suddenly burst into a maniacal laugh: "Argona, will eventually crumble!"

As she cried out incoherently, all living beings in the world echoed her cry:

"Argona will eventually crumble, and the dream bubble will shatter!!"

"Argona will eventually crumble, and the dream bubble will shatter!!!"

In the next instant, Alicia teleported behind Seele and whispered in her ear, her voice suppressed with madness, yet hysterical!

"Sea of ​​Quanta, you've fallen for our trap!"

"—Click."

The primordial land, which contained most of the power of the supreme god, suddenly collapsed!

As the stars faded and the shadows fell, each star transformed into an independent fragment, as if representing the fate of a person—these were the stars into which all the people of the previous civilization had become, and also the fate of the entire previous civilization.

The shallow waters surged and gathered, and as they receded, a crystal coffin materialized. From within the coffin, a remnant soul floated out, the last remnant of the true Alicia. Without consciousness, without thought, only the radiant light of humanity shone as brightly as ever, unchanged.

This is also proof that 'Erinnis' is 'Alisia'.

A remnant soul lingered on Seele's soul, offering her a warm protection. The power of the supreme god gripped Seele's body, and with it, her destiny and her time. Countless stars watched over Seele, their cries echoing the fate of an entire era, cheering and celebrating her, going hysterically for her, and showering the world with praise!

Witness a miracle here!

The simultaneous appearance of three unique "powers" allowed Seele's existence to overwhelm the existence of the "Sea of ​​Quanta," enabling her to become herself again.

This is not the complete Quantum Ocean, at most occupying one percent of its knowledge/power/authority. Yet this authority is all-encompassing, representing one percent of all the knowledge/power/authority of the Quantum Ocean. To draw an analogy, it's like simultaneously possessing one percent of all the Herrscher abilities: Reason, Void, Lightning, Wind, Ice...

The greatest significance is "qualification".

From this moment on, Seele can be called a god. Apart from the two supreme beings, she is now a being above the End, a level beyond which there is no gap.

Even so, Alicia will not grant her freedom at this time.

Seele woke up groggily, her vision blurry, and she could only barely make out the pink figure.

She managed to open her mouth with difficulty: "Alicia...you..."

Alicia: "Yes, it's me~"

Her voice was cheerful, but Seele's body trembled involuntarily.

Seele's intuition was correct. After that, Alicia took control of her body, leaving the shattered vortex of reality and illusion in the Origin Land and stepping into the world of Erinis.

She whispered in Seele's ear, "Let me handle this myself. Seele, I'm sorry, but I promise, this is the last time! I hope that next time we meet, we can be friends again—after all, I... I really like you all."

She took a deep breath and then said, “This is my promise to Him, the starting point for changing everything, and I have to do it. If you want to blame someone, blame me. Blame me for being too greedy, which is why you have to go through so many tragedies.”

Seele's consciousness was hazy and she could hardly stay awake. She tried to struggle, but it only made her remaining consciousness more and more blurred.

At that moment, Yun Fuyu knelt on the ground, clutching his aching heart, writhing in agony. World Bubble Hope wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind, both to heal him and to protect him, keeping a watchful eye on the stagnant world around them.

The next moment, Seele suddenly appeared before them. To their surprise, everything about Seele solidified and attached itself to the authority of the Sea of ​​Quanta. In an instant, she transformed into an arrow and pierced Yun Fuyu's heart unexpectedly!

His heart is the core of "Argona", the core of "Elginis", and the core of "God of Gods".

The core power of the Quanta Sea pierced his heart—such a collision...?

"..."

The giant waves were silent; everything subsided into stillness amidst the clamor.

"..."

Everything is false, everything is nothing.

The mourner is gone, the end is near. All the Heralds of the dimensional realms have betrayed him, and he has vanished from his divine throne.

Where to go? Where to go? Where did he go? Where should we go?

Argona will eventually awaken the dead, and the grieving ghosts will become His dreams.

The towering structure of the world will eventually crumble, and the bubble of dreams will shatter.

In this void, only God endures... Only God endures!

What God testifies to must be the only, immortal, and indestructible truth in all the world!

……

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Timeline: The initial stage of the third cycle, the "present" timeline

Subheading: Spacetime Distortion, Confusion of Cause and Effect

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By the time Kiana arrived at the End, it was already too late to turn back.

El Innis, this exceptionally vast world, has been reduced to ruins, with material remnants and the remnants of time and space mixed together, making it impossible to discern its former appearance.

"The Shadow of Darkness, Erinis... just like that, gone?"

Kiana's heart skipped a beat. She then bit her tongue and examined the ruins closely, trying to find something out.

After all, this was Alicia's last remaining place, the world bubble where Seele had lived for so long, and the place where that being's human form resided... How could it be destroyed like this?

In a hazy, dreamlike state, Kiana heard a song.

Life is but a fleeting dream, a repetition of the past; time betrays the years, and relentless thoughts destroy people...

It's... Alicia's voice.

Is she regretting the existence of this world, Erinis? This is nothing but a fleeting dream, a repetition of the past. Countless cycles of reincarnation bring nothing but pain.

However... isn't the tree of imaginary numbers what represents "years" and "time"?

The pleasant melody suddenly changed from mournful to melodious, as if both sighing and joyful:

[It was my long-standing deception that blinded me; time flies by, when will fate bring us back to normal...]

Does she...regret her actions? Is she reminiscing about the past?

Kiana listened quietly, a deep sadness inevitably settling in her heart.

After a moment of silence, a faint sigh came from the ruins, followed by the bustling sounds of millions of people, before finally fading into silence.

This seems to be the final lament of this world.

Even if it weren't for Kiana, Mei and Bronya might not have been able to hear the voice of the imaginary number.

...But where did Seele go?

"Let's go back first..."

Kiana could only console herself with this thought. After searching for a while longer, she left.

Behind her, a pair of indifferent eyes watched her, and then closed their eyes tightly.

……

The original world of modern civilization is the moon.

Upon receiving Kiana's message, Mei rushed over, only to be greeted by Kiana's pale face.

Mei immediately became worried and flustered, and quickly asked, "Kiana, what's wrong?"

Kiana turned her gaze away from the imaginary space, coughed twice while covering her mouth, and finally whispered, "Mei, Seele has disappeared."

Seele from Elginis is missing, and Seele from the Sage's Tower is also gone. Now, Bronya is rushing to the Twin World Bubble with the suddenly vanished and reappeared Black Seele to help stabilize the world.

Mei gently patted Kiana's back and said softly, "Don't rush, tell me what happened?"

Kiana briefly described recent events: Seele's anomaly, Seele in Erinise, spacetime distortion, Seele's rebellion, the destruction of Erinise... and now—

Kiana coughed twice more, and when she lowered her hand from her mouth, Mei saw it—her gloves were stained with blood, dark red and mottled.

Kiana's voice was hoarse: "On the Imaginary Tree, below our world, a new branch appeared out of thin air."

Is Elginis truly destroyed?

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"Su."

"Ah."

Fu Hua remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Is everything from the previous civilization truly unchanged?"

Su Yiran remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I don't know."

When their memories of the previous civilization were compared, some inconsistencies were clearly observed. The most obvious was the existence of "Seele" and "Herrscher of Death".

Fu Hua then asked, "If the purpose of the Dark Shadows and Erinis is to alter time and recreate a previous civilization... Su, what would you do?"

Everything in the pre-civilization was something they cherished and could not part with, but due to the distortion of time and space, everything in the current civilization could collapse.

Sue: "...I don't know."

Fu Hua stood there for a long time, until the shouts of the Herrscher of Knowledge grew louder as they approached. Only then did she sigh, leave the deserted corner, and go to comfort Xiao Shi.

"..."

Although she said she didn't know, Sue knew slightly more than everyone else.

The sage, whose inscription name is "Tianhui," like Kiana, saw a new branch on the Imaginary Tree, beneath the intrinsic world.

But he also saw that when Kiana was far away from the present civilization, the spacetime where the End was located was disturbed by ripples from the Sea of ​​Quanta, and then returned to calm.

Shortly afterward, a sudden, cosmic-like wave of energy surged forth, only to vanish in an instant. Su barely managed to catch a glimpse of the wave's tail and, through a combination of guesswork and deduction, discerned what had transpired.

The Sea of ​​Quanta and the Tree of Imaginary Numbers, two supreme beings in a state of mutual balance, suddenly collided at their cores, unleashing a dazzling display of light unlike anything ever seen before.

Did Erinise create a parallel world, or did he replace the past timeline? If it's the latter, how can one ensure that the world line/causality is not altered?