Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers-Chapter 288: But You Can Choose How to Die

"Tap, tap, tap—"

Michael clenched his fist, his knuckles rapping lightly on the tabletop, creating a staccato rhythm.

The abrupt action and sound undeniably captured the attention of the other three people in the conference room.

"Let me handle this."

Although Mei had fired the starting gun, signaling the "beginning," Michael remained the one to ultimately execute the explanation.

After all, Mei had received the "script" secondhand. Only he could lay out the matter clearly.

He first looked past Sakura, his gaze landing on Rin.

"Rin, although you're not an official member of Fire Moth, you understand the Honkai and Herrschers better than most people in this world, right?"

Rin, uncharacteristically, made no sound. She lowered her head, lips pressed tightly together. Michael didn't know where her gaze was focused—perhaps on her hands resting on her lap, perhaps just on a meaningless empty space in the air. But one's gaze must rest somewhere, just as some words must be spoken by someone.

"Let's start with the conclusion. Rin, you are the potential host for the Twelfth Herrscher."

No embellishments needed, no roundabout metaphors. Michael maintained his direct style.

"Heh..."

Rin's mouth opened slightly. She inhaled sharply, then held her breath tightly.

Sakura reached out, but her hand stopped mid-air, perhaps debating whether to steady Rin's shoulder, grip her hand tightly, or pat her back to help her exhale and breathe normally.

Michael's gaze also lowered. He didn't look at Sakura and Rin's reactions anymore, instead resting his eyes on the empty tabletop, gleaming with field gray and metallic reflections.

As long as you don't get close to the fire, the blood remains cold, the ice won't melt. Something like that, perhaps.

"As you know, the reason I brought you and the other two here to the Bubble Universe, just like sending Seele here before, was for one reason only—you are the potential hosts for the upcoming Herrschers. Only here, where the tips of the Imaginary Tree cannot reach, can you escape the threads woven by fate."

Seemingly confident that Rin could quickly accept all this, Michael continued speaking on his own:

"But unlike them, they only needed to [Escape]. You, Rin, need to [Control]. We need you to return to the real world and proactively become the Twelfth Herrscher."

"BOOM!"

Although it was utterly silent at that moment, Michael mentally supplied the sound of two simultaneous, thunderous explosions.

"Why?"

Unsurprisingly, Sakura was the first to speak.

Her voice remained clear, devoid of cold hostility, and naturally held no joy. What swirled in her heart was persistent confusion.

"Why do they only need to escape, while Rin needs to become a Herrscher?"

After completing her question, Michael slowly explained:

"It's simple. Whether it's the Sixth Herrscher corresponding to Seele, or the Tenth Herrscher collective corresponding to Immer and Klein, or even the Eleventh Herrscher whose host wasn't known beforehand—I knew the authorities of these Herrschers in advance, and I had methods to defeat them while minimizing casualties."

"As for the Twelfth Herrscher, I still know its authority. But even so, or perhaps, precisely because of this, if it were allowed to manifest randomly, I have no way to guarantee an easy victory."

"Just because of that?"

"Just because of that. Although the so-called Elysian Realm project also requires the Twelfth Herrscher's authority, that's something a Divine Key could achieve, albeit with more trouble. The fundamental reason remains this."

"Just because..."

"Michael-nii chan!"

Sakura was about to ask again but was abruptly interrupted by Rin.

"Mhm."

Michael just hummed softly in acknowledgment. He didn't even shift his gaze, didn't blink once, but his meaning was clear—I heard you, you can speak now.

Rin didn't seem to grasp this subtext. She let out a long breath, then clasped her sister's outstretched hand tightly with both of hers.

How long did the silence last?

No one was timing it.

Mei, sitting opposite them, hadn't made a single move since firing the starting gun. She merely watched events unfold through her cold lenses, feeling somewhat detached across the table, like watching a fire from the opposite bank, though that wasn't her intention.

In the current situation, even if she wanted to speak, she wouldn't know how to begin.

The silence began with Rin exhaling deeply and ended with her inhaling deeply.

Between breaths, she seemed to have made some kind of decision. She resolutely released her sister's hand:

"Michael nii chan, you... like Auntie Aponia, you can see 'fate,' or 'the future,' right?"

Although Michael hadn't concealed this, to quickly extract this information from his words and deduce that his foreknowledge of the hosts and Herrscher authorities wasn't secondhand information from Aponia, but genuinely stemmed from his own visions of the future...

It had to be said, Rin shared her sister's talent in this regard.

"I knew it... If it were Auntie Aponia, she would definitely try to change that fate recklessly first, instead of... laying everything out for us like this... Thank you, Michael nii chan!"

"Hm?"

Michael turned his head in astonishment, only to find Rin watching him with a smile.

Unlike her sister, who rarely smiled and only showed happiness with an almost imperceptible lift of her lip corners, Rin's smile possessed a unique youthful vitality. She wasn't as carefree as Pardofelis of the same age—in fact, a trace of melancholy lingered in her eyes, yet to be wiped away. She didn't giggle foolishly either, just curved her eyes into arcs matching her eyebrows, then grinned, facing forward.

It was as if someone had neatly drawn two pairs of arcs for her eyebrows and eyes on her face—a face less cool than Sakura's, yet more lively and gentle—then drawn an inverted arc for her lips.

Simple, clear, direct.

For a moment, even Michael was stunned.

But he wasn't swayed by it. He merely closed his eyes, sighed deeply inwardly, unwilling to look at the girl's smile any longer.

"Rin..."

Sakura bit her lower lip, once again taking her sister's hand.

Rin chuckled in response:

"Onee-chan, why are you so sad? Making me a Herrscher doesn't mean I'm going to die!"

"Hm?"

Sakura didn't understand where Rin's confidence came from. Among all the Herrschers who had appeared so far, only Michael and Elysia had escaped the Honkai's control.

More accurately, only Michael. Elysia was very different from other Herrschers. She didn't even have a core, at least not a gem-like one in the conventional sense, nor did she exhibit any specific authority. Yet, in some aspects, she did fit the definition of a Herrscher, such as the intense connection to the Imaginary Tree detectable when she used her full power...

In short, according to Michael's explanation, she was a special Herrscher who had escaped the Honkai's control from the beginning and stood with humanity.

So, the only one who had truly escaped the Honkai's control was Michael.

Once anyone else became a Herrscher, if they didn't want to cause more destruction, the only path was to be killed as soon as possible.

And she felt Michael's meaning was also clear. Although he hadn't specified the Twelfth Herrscher's authority, it must be an extremely difficult power to handle.

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According to him, if the Herrscher manifested randomly, even he couldn't guarantee an "easy victory."

This naturally required interpretation. "Easy" probably meant more than just being unable to kill it quickly.

It likely included difficulty in finding and locating it, difficulty in dealing with it even if found, or, no matter the approach, failure to resolve it the instant it manifested would inevitably lead to unbearable sacrifices for humanity.

What sacrifices could there be? Nearly two billion people remained on Earth. Surely this single Honkai Eruption wouldn't wipe them all out?

And Sakura's interpretation of Michael's meaning was clear: have Rin, the potential host, return to the real world. Then, the moment the Twelfth Herrscher descended upon Rin according to fate, use the Authority of Sentience or some other method for an instant kill.

But Rin ultimately wouldn't return. All this came at the cost of sacrificing Rin.

If this plan had indeed been proposed by Mei, Sakura could have accepted it. Michael himself had anticipated this, saying:

"Mei might tell you many grand principles about saving the world, and precisely because of that, I need to remind you."

But now, this cold calculation was laid bare by Michael himself.

Sakura couldn't fathom it. This was completely different from the gentle, somewhat fragile Michael she remembered. No, it was the exact opposite.

Yet she couldn't blame Michael. It wasn't Michael who was cold-blooded, but the words themselves.

It was just that, in their original plan, these words perhaps should have been spoken by Mei, known for her rationality, not Michael.

Besides, their starting point wasn't wrong. To everyone else, Rin was just an ordinary girl. Her life was no more precious than anyone else's. Sacrificing her alone to save two others was, from a purely rational standpoint, a "worthwhile" trade.

Let alone saving thousands, tens of thousands?

"Since Rin is everyone's sister, your hesitation actually represents all of our hesitation. Which choice do our emotions lean towards? If this were something we could vote on democratically, what choice would we make? You should understand."

Michael's words, originally meant as comfort, echoed like a nightmare in her mind.

She didn't doubt the truth of the statement—quite the opposite. She knew it came entirely from the heart, at least for Michael, Elysia, Pardofelis, Aponia, those very close to Rin. They truly saw Rin as their own sister, or at least half a sister.

But precisely because of this, precisely because...

Precisely because she knew this, she couldn't muster even a shred of hatred towards Michael for saying these things, towards the others who proposed this plan...

Making this decision, she and Rin were undoubtedly the ones in most pain, but the others were also deeply hurt by this decision. So she couldn't unleash her negative emotions, her hatred, onto everyone.

Thus, her emotions had no outlet.

Your decision to sacrifice Rin isn't wrong. My determination to protect Rin isn't wrong either. What's wrong is this world.

But human mistakes can be corrected by humans. The world's mistakes can only be passively accepted; acceptance is inevitable, even if unwanted.

She possessed a nearly unstoppable blade. If the fault lay with a specific person, she could naturally cleave them in two.

But she couldn't sever this world. She couldn't destroy this world she currently hated so much, nor could she save this world where she and Rin existed together.

Mist filled her vision. Just as she felt almost unable to bear it, a familiar voice echoed in her mind:

"Rin is your sister, and she's our sister too. The decision ahead might be cruel, but you must remember—be a little selfish!"

Decision!

Yes!

Decision!

What Michael had presented wasn't an [Order], but a [Decision] placed in her hands!

This time, she wasn't a machine executing orders, but the one who could control the direction of the entire plan!

And Michael said:

"Be a little selfish!"

Be a little selfish!

He had hinted quite clearly! Hadn't he?

If he didn't inwardly reject this approach as well, why would he say that!

The choice is mine, the choice is mine!

Sakura's gaze cleared instantly. She turned her head, looking stubbornly at Michael, about to utter the word "No," which perhaps he also hoped for.

But... but her lips kept moving, the muscles in her neck and vocal cords trembled uncontrollably, as if after strenuous activity, parched and cracked, only able to produce choked gasps of air.

She just couldn't force out the word "No."

Her eyes misted over again, like breath fogging a windowpane in winter.

She thought she had only ever fought to protect Rin.

She thought Rin was her sole reason for fighting.

But if that were truly the case, why couldn't she lightly utter a "No" right now?

"Onee-chan!"

Rin's coquettish voice sounded behind her. For a moment, she felt dazed, thinking it was an illusion.

Until Rin broke free from her grasp, physically turned Sakura's entire body towards her, and firmly gripped her hands in return.

She gently wiped the tear tracks from the corners of Sakura's eyes, allowing Sakura to see her radiant smile.

"Rin, look at the time, and you're still smiling!"

Sakura desperately wanted to say this, but just like the "No" she could never voice, she now understood that perhaps she hadn't just lost the ability to express negation, but her entire ability to speak, to express anything, had been temporarily lost under the weight of her grief.

"Onee-chan! You're rushing things! Didn't Michael nii chan say?"

Rin continued smiling carelessly, mimicking Michael's tone:

"[Although the so-called Elysian Realm project also requires the Twelfth Herrscher's authority, but that's something a Divine Key could achieve, albeit with more trouble. The fundamental reason remains this.]"

"Hehe! See, Onee-chan! [But that's something a Divine Key could achieve]. Onee-chan, you know better than me, only a deceased Herrscher's core can be made into a Divine Key, right? Just like your Third Divine Key! But Michael nii chan clearly wants a Herrscher who can control their own authority, like him!"

"Ah—Ah?"

Sakura managed two syllables before finally regaining her ability to speak:

"Is... is that right?"

She turned to Michael again, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

But she also felt something was wrong. If it were truly as Rin said, a perfect win-win solution, then why would Michael and Mei have created such a heavy atmosphere? Why would they hint for her to make a more selfish choice?

Rin didn't care about all that. She stood up, knelt on the chair, spun it around with her toes, then rested her head on Sakura's shoulder, asking Michael with a smile:

"Well, Michael nii chan, am I right?"

Meeting the sisters' gazes, Michael fell silent once more.

"Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!"

Michael seemed to hear auditory hallucinations, like someone hammering nails into the wall next door.

But it had to be a hallucination. The walls were armored plating made of special alloy; you couldn't hammer nails into them. Besides, if someone were really doing that, who? Elysia?

If this were really happening, why weren't the others reacting?

It seemed like quite a while before Michael realized it wasn't the sound of hammering, but the sound of his own heart—spurred by adrenaline, pumping a surging volume of blood throughout his body, creating a deafening roar.

A slight dizziness enveloped him. He suddenly raised his hand, then quickly lowered it.

No one knew the meaning behind this baffling gesture—he actually just wanted to slap himself hard across the face.

Stop pretending to be strong, pretending to be rational! A voice screamed in his head!

Now! Immediately! Right now! Abandon this plan!

So what if the other two billion people on Earth die?

What does it have to do with you, with them?

They probably still hate you right now! Thinking you used the Honkai as an excuse to enslave them!

They probably don't even know you're a Herrscher. If they knew you were a Herrscher... Hahahaha!

Why are you making Rin sacrifice herself for these people who have nothing to do with you or her!

Perhaps the silence only lasted an instant. His heart continued its dry, hard beat, but the dizziness slowly faded.

"Because what I want to save isn't those two billion people, but this world, this world's civilization."

Huh?

What kind of nonsense is that?

The voice continued its incessant chatter, pursuing him relentlessly like flies to filth.

"Just as Mobius said—would you call someone with no limbs or torso, just a brain, a person? Even Mobius couldn't define such a being as human. So naturally, I can't call a civilization that has lost everything else, leaving only Fire Moth, a civilization.

"And what I want to change, what I want to save, is that very thing. She, they, feel the same way."

Then why didn't you hide the truth? According to this plan, as long as you don't say anything, Aponia doesn't say anything, Mei doesn't say anything, Sakura, even Rin's consciousness copy wouldn't sense any problem! They could have continued enjoying their happiness in ignorance!

"Perhaps. But I don't want to deceive my family anymore. I don't want to hide the truth from them anymore, just like with Seele back then. Even if it's a sad ending, I hope they can grieve with clarity, rather than receiving muddled, false happiness."

This time, the voice vanished completely. Even the pounding heartbeat gradually subsided.

Michael looked at Sakura and Rin, silently bowed his upper body, almost looking like he was bowing—but he didn't stand up, so clearly that wasn't it.

He merely bent forward, spread his legs slightly, rested his elbows on his thighs, then clasped his hands before his lips, answering in a muffled voice:

"That's not it."

A chill began emanating from Sakura. Rin's smile froze precisely at that moment.

Before either could ask, Michael decided to reveal the entire truth in one go.

No more hesitation, no more concealment, straightforward.

"We do indeed plan to make Rin a [Herrscher of Humanity], like myself and Elysia—an existence that possesses Herrscher authority without losing human nature."

"We are very confident in the process. First, Aponia will copy Rin's consciousness. She successfully copied Seele's consciousness before, and also copied the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness in the Deep End. She's adept at this."

"Then, Aponia and I will constantly monitor Rin's state. The moment the Herrscher consciousness descends upon Rin along the Imaginary pathways, the consciousness within Rin's body will be erased. Then we kill the Herrscher consciousness, allowing the copy of Rin's consciousness to regain control of this body, which has already become a Herrscher."

Rin's gaze started to lose focus. Perhaps she didn't yet understand the difference between her consciousness and a copy of it, nor had she ever considered the difference between "A" and a copied "A."

But Sakura undoubtedly understood. And she thought of more—why Mei had previously deliberately mentioned the difference between herself and her real-world counterpart:

"By the definition of 'Mei,' she and I are different individuals."

By the definition of 'Rin,' the original Rin and the copy of Rin's consciousness are different individuals.

"Like a T-Rex and a chicken."

Rin had used this crude analogy.

Like a T-Rex and a chicken.

"Consciousness copy..."

Sakura murmured the term, seemingly grasping a distant memory.

Michael thought she still didn't understand, or perhaps he simply wanted to say something more. He explained:

"The consciousness copy is identical to Rin's current consciousness. Content-wise, there's no difference. She still has all the memories of being with you, with us."

Sakura certainly understood this, but the memory she grasped wasn't this.

She sniffled, her voice extremely suppressed, cold, dry, and slow as she asked:

"I remember, during the Sixth Honkai Eruption, Aponia also copied Seele's consciousness, right?"

"Yes."

"There were two copies then. One inside Seele, the other transferred into her necklace, correct?"

As soon as she said this, both Michael and Mei understood her meaning.

Though she was calm, unbelievably calm, this was the last straw she could grasp at while drowning.

However, someone had to cut that straw. Because impossible was impossible.

This time, perhaps feeling Michael had said enough, or perhaps feeling the technical aspects were better explained by her, Mei spoke before Michael could:

"Are you suggesting transferring Rin's true consciousness into an object, or a body constructed by Michael, then hiding it back in the Bubble Universe? Forgive my bluntness, but that won't work."

"Why? It clearly worked back then!"

The chill radiating from Sakura completely spiraled out of control. Frost-colored cold instantly ravaged the conference room. Michael radiated heat using the Authority of Flame while shaking her shoulder.

"Sakura, calm down!"

The chill vanished instantly without a trace.

"..."

"Consciousness transfer technology has never been fully successful. The reason Aponia dared to use a similar method to transfer the copy of Seele's consciousness was precisely because it was a copy, and because Seele herself suffered from dissociative identity disorder, this consciousness belonged to the dark, volatile alter. That's why she dared."

"And was she completely successful? That can't be confirmed either. We only know that this consciousness eventually merged with the Stigma within Michael's body. Whether it suffered irreversible psychological damage during the transfer, no one can say for sure."

"If you're willing to accept a 37% direct mortality rate, a 49% rate of becoming vegetative, and a 14% rate of consciousness damage, we aren't entirely opposed to trying."

"But such a near-zero success rate is far lower than the chance of Rin returning to the real world and the Honkai not choosing her as the Twelfth Herrscher, or the possibility that the Herrscher's consciousness is dealt with by Michael before it manages to erase Rin's original consciousness upon birth."

"Is that so..."

A corner of Sakura's mouth lifted, but she couldn't even manage a wry smile. Mei was clearly using this to tell her that the outcome Michael described was the worst-case scenario. What if a miracle truly happened? Like the Honkai not choosing Rin, or Rin's own consciousness holding on until the Herrscher consciousness was killed.

But what was the probability of such a miracle? No one could say, only that it was greater than zero.

"Alright, Onee-chan! Don't say anymore, I accept!"

Rin's voice, laced with laughter, rang out again.

"Aiya, Onee-chan! Everyone dies eventually! I read a book here, it said: 'We can't choose how we're born, but we can choose how we die.' Since we all have to die anyway, why not pick a more meaningful way to go?"

Michael turned away, closed his eyes, and tilted his head up. Though his movement was swift, tiny teardrops still glistened on his eyelashes.

Mei also silently lowered her head, her right fist covering the lower half of her face.

Sakura stared blankly at her sister, at her smile that held both sincerity and fear, listening to her voice that gradually began to tremble, eventually breaking into sobs:

"We're all going to die anyway. Our generation, even though we're still kids, we're no strangers to death! Since we all die anyway, I think this way of dying is great! Saving countless people, giving humanity another Herrscher's combat power, and it won't make Onee-chan too sad—there'll be another me, exactly the same, who can stay with you, Onee-chan, right?"

Sakura was already biting her lower lip so hard, but it still trembled uncontrollably, puckering upwards.

Gradually, she couldn't even see Rin's smile clearly anymore.

No, I must imprint this moment of Rin deeply into my mind!

Thinking this, she desperately wiped at her tears with both hands, yet her vision never cleared again.

"Don't make that face, Onee-chan! The other me is still me! You have to treat her just like you treat me! As for me, I'm really happy with this way of dying! See, we couldn't choose to be born in a world without Honkai, but I chose the way I want to die. That's an expression of my free will too, right? You should be happy for me!"

"Besides... besides, what if there really is a miracle? What if I survive? Right? Then Onee-chan, you'll be crying happy tears again..."

Sakura turned and collapsed onto the cold tabletop, her shoulders shaking continuously. Tears soon flowed from the edges of the table her arms couldn't encompass, forming a waterfall.

"It's just... hic... Onee-chan... hiccup..."

Rin finally couldn't maintain her forced smile. Wiping at tears that would never stop flowing, she burrowed into Sakura's embrace like she used to when she was little.

"If... hic... if possible... Onee-chan, Rin probably, can't walk with you anymore."

What cannot be saved, cannot be saved. What cannot be done, cannot be done.

Michael silently covered his ears, then walked alone to the wall, slamming his forehead hard against the armored plating.

Once, twice, three times...

The armor plating quickly deformed and cracked, but Michael's head remained sickeningly intact, not even feeling a shred of pain.

No one came to stop him. No one paid attention to Mei, using tears and the corner of her shirt to wipe her glasses. No one tried to console the sisters crying in each other's arms.

Just as no one could save this world, doomed to destruction.