"What are you waiting for, Elysia!"
Elysia couldn't understand why the Herrscher... the new Herrscher, the one that she believed to be her enemy, had protected her back at the most critical moment, shielding her from the Sixth Herrscher's fatal blow.
Then, that somewhat unfamiliar figure gradually transcended time and space, overlapping with the Mikael in her memories.
The little boy who always hid in a corner, reading books alone... the little boy who was always easily teased to tears by her... the little boy who, before she left, went to town to buy her a cake...
But he wasn't him. Elysia knew this very well because that boy had died in her arms eight years ago.
He had never let go of the cake that was meant to see her off.
"Damn it... How could you joke about something like that! Damn Herrscher!"
Elysia knew that this was an excellent opportunity. The Herrscher "Mikael's" shoulder was held by the Sixth Herrscher, and the Sixth Herrscher's wrist was firmly controlled by the Herrscher "Mikael". All she had to do was turn around, and without even aiming, she could release the three fingers holding the bowstring and kill both Herrschers with one arrow.
It would be easy, simple, with no technique, and no complicated thinking. She could directly kill two Herrschers and buy humanity the most precious chance to breathe... So, without hesitation, she released the bowstring.
The crystal arrow grazed past Mikael's ear, accurately hitting the Sixth Herrscher's left eye--in the end, she still didn't shoot Mikael as well, even though she knew that this wasn't that Mikael.
At the same time, Mikael exerted force with his fingers, coating them with his spatial powers. He easily tore off the Sixth Herrscher's arm.
Not caring to remove the remaining half of the claw from his shoulder, Mikael immediately reached for the Herrscher's chest—he understood. The Sixth Herrscher was like an earthworm.
As long as the "clitellum" was not destroyed, even if the rest of her body was smashed to pieces, she could quickly regenerate!
And what her "clitellum" was, was already self-evident!
The flesh on the Herrscher's chest was ripped open, revealing a water-blue gem that looked very similar to Mikael's core.
Mikael pinched the core between two fingers and turned around to show Elysia, even using her catchphrase when he spoke.
"Eh? Too bad..." Mikael glanced at the core in his hand disdainfully. He then tossed it to Elysia-- He had originally wanted to take advantage of this bubble world's reflection and see if he could figure out its powers before the Sixth Herrscher appeared in the real world. But a reflection was just a reflection. It could only show the outer appearance, but it couldn't touch the meaningful core.
The Elysia in front of him was fake, a reflection left by a destroyed world.
Mikael knew this, he knew this very well, but he still... he still couldn't help but reach out, wanting to fix Ellie's bangs.
"Hey hey! Easy, easy!"
"So... are you really Mikael?"
Elysia suddenly pulled out the half of the arm from Mikael's shoulder and tossed it aside. Then, she blankly stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure, asking the question.
She knew that it was a very silly question, but she couldn't help but ask it.
Mikael hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to answer that question.
He was of course Mikael, but he wasn't that Mikael either. At least, after just these few short minutes together, he realized that the "him" in this world might not have become the First Herrscher, and he hadn't left Vostok with Ellie either.
He wasn't even sure if "he" existed in this world.
And he also understood that no matter what he did in this world, no matter how much emotion he put into it, it would all be useless—this was just a small bubble world, a reflection of a world that had already collapsed.
It would soon start its cycle again, and all the memories of this would no longer exist, until one day, the bubble world shattered, and all traces of that world would naturally disappear...
In the end, a million words had been compressed into just these two short syllables.
He left a gentle smile, closed his eyes, and prepared to leave this world—now that the Sixth Herrscher had been taken care of, he should be able to leave this bubble world, right?
Hmm... would he be immediately teleported out, or would a portal appear?
But thirty seconds passed... then a minute passed...
Mikael opened his eyes blankly, and only saw Ellie staring at him with puffed-out cheeks, looking at him like he was a fool.
"Cough cough!" Mikael cleared his throat, embarrassed, "It seems like there's a small problem. It's okay! I have a way to fix it!"
Could it be that this bubble world didn't like him moving?
But it didn't matter!
The well-known Herrscher of the Void, Mikael! Leaving a bubble world was just a small matter for him!
You don't want to move, right? Fine! Then I'll move!
"This time it's really goodbye, Elysia."
Elysia was speechless. This "Mikael" seemed to be a completely different person from the extremely introverted little boy she remembered from the Vostok-51 orphanage... if she had to say it, it was like he was similar to her in the past...
Her mind was full of Mikael, Mikael... She had forgotten a very, very serious problem--Mikael... just now... had he been injured by the Sixth Herrscher?
Thinking about this, her eyes started to become extremely terrified, but she happened to meet Mikael's smiling eyes.
"What's going on... Honkai energy is flowing so slowly... I don't have any strength... ah... I messed up again..."
The Weak Herrscher--Mikael, once again fell into Elysia's arms. Elysia roughly tore open the clothes on his shoulder. The skin and flesh surrounding the wound had already started to turn black and necrotic...
"No! It's the Sixth Herrscher's power!"
Countless comrades had died in such a tragic manner. Elysia was all too familiar with it.
For some reason, Elysia naturally called out that name. She patted his cheeks, but Mikael had already fallen unconscious, with only the smile on his face that hadn't faded completely due to his muscles being tense.
Elysia's hands were trembling lightly. It was as if everything had gone back to that snowy night eight years ago. No matter how much she called his name, no matter how much she shook his remaining half of his body...
The dead were already dead. Once consciousness disappeared, it could never return. This was the world's unchanging law.
She bit her lip and hesitated for a moment--
The identity of this guy was indeed questionable. She would never forget what he had used earlier. Those were the powers of the Second and Third Herrschers.
Moreover, there weren't many humans left now, not to mention all kinds of equipment...
Back then, even the humans in their prime couldn't do anything about the wound left by the Sixth Herrscher, and had wasted too many medical resources. So what if she brought Mikael-- for now, let's consider him Mikael--back?
No, maybe she wouldn't be able to even bring him back. He would die from the necrosis of all his cells along the way...
So taking him back or not... Perhaps it made no difference at all.
"But... why did you have to look so much like him... and even have the same name as him..."
Her fingers traced the smiling face that remained on Mikael's cheek, and she had already made up her mind.
"You are not him... yes, you are definitely not him... but why did you, that annoying Herrscher, choose to protect my back at that moment... maybe... you really do have some connection to that Mikael... you called me Ellie, after all..."
As for the problem of whether he would die halfway there...
"Ah, whatever! You're a Herrscher anyway. Your body should be able to hold up until then, right?"
Elysia's fingers slowly moved down and finally stopped at Mikael's ankles.
"Hmm? This position isn't bad!"
She grabbed Mikael's ankles and began to drag him along the desolate and lifeless wasteland.