Disclaimer: 'Honkai Impact 3rd' is the property of Hoyoverse, Singapore. I do not own any characters in this story except the minor OCs here and there.


Difference Amongst

MAIN BRIEFING ROOM (FIRE MOTHS H.Q.) – 2025 (One year later)

"And that is all for the analysis of the last eruption we accomplished last year. I have officially named the Sixth Herrscher as the Herrscher of Death. Its primary powers lay in the deconstruction and reconstruction of matter. However, it was not powerful enough to reconstruct the lost consciousness of the living being that has already perished."

"In other words…" General Alexei began.

"Yes, this Herrscher may be able to reanimate the dead, but even it cannot bring back the dead to life."

"But still, to think that a Herrscher could have this much control over life and death. It almost feels like cheating." Colonel of the First Regiment said.

"That's what the Herrschers are, Frank. They never play fair, nor according to our rules." Ato replied.

"Yeah." the colonel of the First Regiment agreed as he nodded his head. They looked towards one of the youngest members of their ranks to see his reaction to their conversation. As usual, his Sky-blue eyes betrayed nothing of his thoughts on the matter. Ato could only imagine how hard this meeting was for the young man. However, he could say no comforting words to him as he knew that all those were useless. The dust had long since settled at the Sixth eruption, and bringing it up will only cause old wounds to surface again.

The eruption had changed every single one of them in one way or another. For example for him, he was now even more protective towards his family. Griseo had become more withdrawn after she had lost her best friend. Nowadays, she just sat in the corner of their allotted room for most of the day and kept on painting. Even the shades she painted with have gone to a duller tone compared to earlier when she used more vibrant colours.

He and Clara had tried on many attempts to cheer their daughter up but to no avail. Ato could now see a maturity in her eyes that wasn't there before, and he couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not.

While thinking such things, he turned his head to see one of his oldest comrades and one of his fellow Colonels. Her long crimson hair spilled across her back and shifted slightly as she moved her head about, observing everyone present in the briefing room. Their eyes met momentarily, and Ato could swear he could see an emotion in those orange-yellow eyes that he couldn't quite correctly place. It looked a lot like… tiredness? But how was that possible?

She turned her head away the next moment and Ato couldn't her expression anymore. What he could see, however, was her gaze lingering a bit longer on the silver white haired young man before moving away again.

"Then what about the research of the core of the Sixth Herrscher?" the commanding voice of General Alexei made all the other Colonels stop their conversations and look at the man in question. Welt's body stiffened a little at the mention of the Herrscher core which did not go unnoticed by General Alexei. However, he knew that it was not time to act with emotions, but rather cold and rational logic. They could not afford to waste such a crucial piece of valuable material like a Herrscher core. Their massive research potential, along with their fundamental role in the creation of the Divine Keys, meant that the moths could not afford not to use it.

Taking a breath to steady himself, Welt replied:

"Yes, General. The research of the core is nearly completed, and with that we have increased the efficiency of our regenerating serum REG-s49. We are now in fact, in the process of creating a new type of serum that could potentially heal even fatal wounds."

"Hmm." General Alexei nodded. The others had reactions various reactions ranging from Ato's surprised one to Himeko's relieved one, and even a particular somebody's indifferent one. Ignoring their responses, General Alexei finally asked the question that everybody wanted to know the answer to but didn't dare to ask:

"What about the Corresponding Divine Key, Dr. Welt?"

At the mention of Divine Key, the entire briefing room went silent again. Some looked at the Silver white haired boy to see his reaction. However, as usual, his face betrayed nothing. He just sat there looking at everybody equally, his eyes focused and still. Even Welt felt uncomfortable with continuing it, but on General's que he started:

"The Divine Key is in its last stages of fabrication. Soon we can run field tests on it."

"Hmm… I see. And what have you named this Key, by the way, Dr. Welt?"

At this Question, Welt was silent for a while before he began:

"The Sixth Divine Key is named as Abyss Flower. Its official title is Key of Creation."

"Key of Creation… really Dr. Welt?" General Alexi asked, somewhat skeptical at the chosen title of the Divine Key. After all, it was made from the core of the most horrific Herrscher they have faced till date.

"Yes, General." Welt replied, this time albeit with a little more confidence "This Divine Key is special and the first of its kind."

"First of its kind?" the Colonel of the Second regiment asked, unable to hold in his curiosity anymore. The other Colonels looked at him with disapproving eyes, to which he replied:

"What? Do you not want to know how it works? And even the man himself has no issues with it? Do you, Kevin?"

At this, the man with silver white hair, for the first time since the meeting started, opened his mouth and replied:

"None, Colonel Davide. Please continue, Dr. Welt."

Ato shivered a little internally at the young man's tone. He had always known Kevin to be stoic and a slightly detached person. He had always shown a restrained and composed attitude when interacting with others, which had come across as cold behaviour for most people. However, for those who had known him for long enough, they knew that it was just an external façade, and they knew of how much of a gentle person he was on the inside.

However, since that tragedy, he has changed. He had grown even colder and more detached than earlier, to the point that it felt he treated them more like co-workers now than actual comrades and family. He had locked himself so deep in now that it wasn't possible for others even to guess what he was feeling now. His now icy Sky-blue eyes remained static the entire time, making it impossible for even those who knew him the longest to discern the emotions in them. Before the Sixth eruption, one could see hints of pain and wrath in his eyes. But now nothing. There was nothing in those Sky-blue eyes except for stillness.

Ato turned his head slightly to see two women in dark purple and lime hair flinch somewhat at his voice. Who could blame them, however? After the tragedy of the Sixth eruption, his voice had grown even colder to the point that it brought chills to even hear it. It felt less like a person's voice and more like that of a robot's. Maybe that's what he had become now, and Ato couldn't help but feel sorrow for him.

The girls too. He once more looked at those two women who looked at the man with furrowed eyebrows and sorrow in their eyes. It must be so hard for them to see the man they loved become a machine and be unable to do anything about it.

Ato's musings came to a stop as he heard Welt continue:

"Ahem… so what I meant by unique is its composition. This particular divine Key is not just one, but an amalgamation of two different Divine Keys."

At this proclamation, everybody raised their eyebrows in curiosity. Welt then turned his head and said to the empty air behind him:

"Prometheus, bring out the design blueprints for Abyss Flower."

"Yes, doctor." a synthetic girly voice replied, as the hologram of a petite girl with twin drills appeared where there was nothing before. This was the most advanced A.I. that Welt had created and the backbone of all the software and electronic systems in the Moths H.Q: Prometheus.

As Welt commanded, Prometheus typed on a virtual keyboard that she conjured out of thin air. Soon the main screen of the briefing room lit up, showing the blueprint of the proposed Sixth Divine Key. The blueprint showed two different lances, one short and one long. Seeing the confusion on nearly everybody's faces present there, Welt continued to elaborate:

"Abyss flower, or if we call it by its actual name Black Abyss- White flower, is a Divine Key made up of two different parts representing the two different facets of the Sixth Herrscher's powers. The Black Abyss, or what you see as the short lance has the capability of matter decomposition. Theoretically, it can deconstruct every type of matter, whether it be from this dimension or the Sea of Quanta."

General Alexei nodded and motioned him to go on.

"The bigger lance, or the White flower is the exact opposite of its twin. It has the capability of matter reconstruction, and could also Theoretically reconstruct every type of matter whether it be real or imaginary. However, it needs a blueprint for reconstruction, and the only blueprint the Herrscher core had inherently been of Biological nature, it can only reconstruct living tissues. i.e. it can only heal wounds. And no, before any of you ask, it cannot bring back the dead, just like the Herrscher of Death."

As Welt finished his explanation, Kevin who was silent again after responding to the Colonel of the Second Regiment finally asked his first question:

"What is the range of injuries it can heal?"

Hearing this question, Welt's eyes softened a little and he replied in a somewhat softer tone than earlier:

"Anything. Cuts, burns, puncture wounds, amputations. As long as the user is capable of using it, it can bring someone even on the brink of death to life."

"I see." he replied monotonously. However, even in those monotone words, the true meaning of what he wanted to say was not lost to them.

"Yeah…" Welt affirmed in a soft tone, unlike the one he had used until now. The women did not say anything, but their expressions told it all. Kevin didn't say anymore and went quiet again, observing and listening to what Welt had further to say.

"Anyway where was I? Oh, yes… as I have stated earlier, the Abyss flower is in the last stages of fabrication and soon we can conduct field tests on it." he looked at Kevin and continued "However I'm sorry to say that you will not be able to help out with the testing of the Key of Creation, Kevin."

"…" Kevin was silent as he didn't raise any questions against Welt's words. It was General Alexei who asked instead:

"Any particular reason, Dr. Welt?"

"Yeah, the results of the preliminary tests we ran for affinity for the Divine Key were largely outside the acceptable range. So, it is safe to assume that Kevin is not suited to use Abyss flower. More like, the Divine Key won't show its full potential in his hands."

"Why is it such, Dr. Welt?" the Colonel of the First Regiment asked, curious.

"Well, it depends upon many parameters and something that I call as elemental tune."

"Elemental… tune?" the Colonel repeated unsure.

"Yes. It is a complex theory that will take too long to explain fully. Thus, long story short: the element that the Abyss flower represents is not in tune with what Kevin has the most affinity with."

"This sounds more like a fantasy game thing I played as a child, not going to lie."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. However, believe me that it has a sound theory behind it."

"Didn't you name it after those weird cartoons you have been watching?" Tesla huffed from the side.

"Oi, don't call my anime collection weird. And let me tell you, that G****m is the peak of the mecha genre."

"Whatever…" she swatted his accusations off. The entire room was filled with snickers as nearly everybody laughed subtly at the seemingly contrasting image compared to the usual sage-like behaviour of their head of Science and Research Development. Soon afterwards, the laughter died down and Welt started to speak again:

"So that is why you won't be able to help with the Divine Key test this time. The Third Divine Key was another matter because its inherent element was closer to what you were in tune with, but the Abyss Flower is completely the opposite of the element to which you are attuned. Please forgive me."

"…" Kevin remained silent as usual. He already knew that he was incompatible with the Sixth Divine key. It was already apparent to him when Welt told that the Divine Key had the power of healing.

He couldn't heal anyone or anything. He was a destroyer, not a nurturer. And he could never sully the one wish of Seele to heal others with his dirty hands.

Never.

So it was for the best that he couldn't use this Divine Key. He was not worthy of it. His Sister's last wishes deserved to be used by someone gentle. Someone kind.

And it can never be him.

As he thought this, Welt spoke:

"So that is all about the newest Divine Key. With this, we have finished the agenda for today's meeting. So does anyone have any more questions?"

Nobody answers, so Welt knew that everyone didn't have anything else to ask. Observing their answers, General Alexei decided to end this meeting for today.

"Well, if that is all then we can adjourn today's meeting. Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

The Colonels got up, gave a salute to the General and started to leave one by one. At last, when it was Kevin's turn to leave the briefing room, he turned around to see the General, Welt and other members of the three Institutes. His still eyes did not tell what he was thinking, but still being under those discerning eyes made them feel uncomfortable for some reason.

"I-Is there something you want to ask, Kevin?" Tesla asked, berating herself for how meek she sounded now. But who could blame her? Even Welt and the general were averting their eyes. As for the other women, they didn't even raise their heads, afraid of looking into those cold and sharp Sky-blue eyes.

All of them knew that he knew they were hiding things from him. But for what they were going to discuss next, it was essential that he should be absent here.

Kevin didn't say anything anymore and left the briefing room. As they heard his footsteps fade away, they finally looked at each other with a pensive look. The first one to break the silence was Mei:

"Does… he know?"

"It wouldn't be strange if he didn't have his suspicions. After all, his perception of the things around him is even greater than mine." Welt replied.

"I agree with you on that Dr. Welt. I personally have taught that boy to be extremely observant of his surroundings; and I can confidently say that you can't hide all the details from him, no matter how hard you try."

"Geez. Is he an Esper or something?" Welt shook his head in frustration.

"Something like that." General Alexei replied.

"Well then, let's not waste time and begin our review of what we are actually supposed to discuss." It was the lime green haired woman who spoke this time.

"Yes, you are right Dr. Mobius. Dr. Welt if you please." the General replied as he sat down again on his chair. At his words, welt nodded and turned his head to look at the hologram of Prometheus and said:

"Prometheus, load the presentation for the MANTIS project." Welt commanded.

"Yes, doctor." the synthetic voice of a little girl replied, and soon the screen changed from black to white. In the centre of the screen were two words written in bold letters:

PROJECT: MANTIS

Welt then looked at the Mobius and spoke:

"The presentation is all yours, Dr. Mobius."

"Oh why, that is so kind of you, Dr. Welt." Mobius replied in courtesy, but the bad blood between them was not lost to anybody present in the room. These two had a rather… rocky relationship with each other, which may or may not have been influenced by Welt continuously pushing a particular person into dangerous situations.

Mobius made her way to the place where Welt was standing earlier. Once she was facing everyone present in the room, she smiled(which caused some people to shiver internally) and started:

"Then, let us begin with the current progress of PROJECT: MANTIS."

She then swiped her hands and the screen changed showing various diagrams showing the composition of currently known Honkai beasts.

"After the initial testing on the traitors in the Cocoon incident, I have concluded that it is indeed theoretically possible to splice Honkai DNA with Human DNA to change the fundamental structure of a human. Unfortunately, the amount of Honkai adaptability needed for a successful transmutation is much higher than what our average, and all the experiments until now… were subpar to say at least."

"As if we forgot your supposed accident, Dr. Mobius." Welt chimed in from the side, not letting go of a single chance to take a jab at her. He disliked her, plain and simple; even though they were both working for the same ultimate goal, it did not mean that he accepted her rather forceful and radical methods. Not to mention, her obsession with Kevin, which made things difficult for him many times.

"And please do enlighten me on what that accident was, Dr. Welt." Mobius snapped back quickly. Like him, she also hated this man with every fibre of her being. Not only he used his position to disrespect her work every chance he gets, but he also puts Kevin in unnecessary danger to serve his own self-righteousness. He had the gall to guilt-trap Kevin into following nearly suicidal plans and to make him the guinea pig for all of his experiments. She would rather dissect him then and there if she could have her way, but she refrained from doing so because she knew that Kevin would never approve of something like that.

"Oh, you know that abomination you created in Mu Island five months ago. The same abomination that managed to nearly kill everyone present."

"Oh, that." Mobius huffed "Well to my defence, I warned you all well ahead before of the possible mishaps that could occur during the experiment and submitted an official application for increased soldier presence. That application, which if I remember correctly, you rejected on the basis of keeping those experiments Top Secret."

"So you want us to broadcast to the world how we are conducting biological experiments on live animals? That we are trying to create genetically altered species that have the genes of a freaking Honkai Beast of all things?"

"Ara, why are you getting that much mad about, Dr. Welt? Are you seriously going to argue with me about morality and ethics after basically cutting open the corpses of your own kin?"

"This and that are two different things!" Welt said indignantly.

"Oh! Please, do enlighten me." Mobius said provoking him. At this, the temperature in the room dropped drastically, and everyone felt a shiver run through their spine. They saw Welt's eyes starting to shine red. Seeing him getting this much worked over Mobius' provocations, General Alexei finally decided to intervene:

"ENOUGH!"

The surging power dissipated quickly as Welt came back to his senses. When he saw the reactions of those around him, he felt guilty of nearly losing himself.

"I'm sorry, everyone. That was out of line." Welt apologised while slightly bowing his head. Hearing his apology, General Alexei turned to Mobius and spoke in an authoritative tone:

"Dr. Mobius, we all here work towards one single goal: to defeat the Honkai. And for that, we have to do things that we may not personally accept, or which may lie outside the norm of morality for normal people. However, that does not mean that we should slander each other for our actions." He looked straight at her and said:

"In this war, we all have to make sacrifices and bear the suffering if we want to make a bright future for everybody else. And if you are not ready to do that, then there is no place in Moths for you."

The General's words stunned everyone. However, the one who was most affected by General Alexei's words was none other than Mobius herself. The shock could be clearly seen on her face as her mouth struggled to form a coherent sentence. Seeing their reaction, the General continued:

"At this crucial juncture in the war, any form of slander or internal strife amongst our members is simply unacceptable. The devastating Cocoon incident and the subsequent two Eruptions have already dealt us a heavy blow. If our top members engage in petty fighting, we risk losing the entire war. I am resolute in my determination to prevent this disastrous outcome, no matter the cost." He then straightened himself as he looked squarely at everyone present there and continued:

"I will not allow the sacrifices that so many of our soldiers made. I will not let their deaths be in vain. And most of all, I will not allow Kevin to think that his sacrifices meant nothing in the end." he again looked at Mobius "What about you, Dr. Mobius? Are you willing to disappoint Kevin and make him feel that his pain was for nothing?"

"N-No." Mobius blurted out. Anything else than that. Anything else but that. She could care less for the insults, the disdain and the hatred towards her. But, she couldn't let Kevin down, even if it costs her, her life.

"Then, I believe we have come to an agreement then, Dr. Mobius." General said. At this, Mobius just nodded her head meekly, understanding that she had lost against this man. She gritted her teeth. One day. One day she will make this grey-haired old geezer pay for insulting her. But for now, she had to do what he asked of her. That is if she wanted to continue to stay beside him.

"And this goes for every one of us present here." General finished what he wanted to say. In response, everybody nodded their head in acceptance. It was true. While they had their differences, they could all share the sentiment of not wanting to let the sacrifices of those who made the way for them to move forward go to waste.

"Now, let us continue where we let off." the General said and looked at Mobius "Dr. Mobius, if you will."

Mobius nodded in reply and continued from where she left off:

"As stated earlier, the experiment to splice Honkai genes with living beings naturally found on the earth ended in utter failure. Apart from the very fundamental difference in the composition of DNA between normal living beings and the Honkai beasts, the Honkai adaptability needed to make the combined DNA stable successfully is astronomically high."

"What are the implications?" it was the first time Tesla asked a question. She was aware of the incident at Mu Island but was still not privy to exact details.

"To start with, the DNA of a living being and that of a Honkai beast are different at their most basic level." Mobius started and moved her hand in a swiping motion. The following slide was filled with diagrams of the structure of DNA for a typical living organism from their planet. Everybody recognised the double ladder-like shape at first glance. However, the following diagram was vastly different from the first one. This DNA consisted of four strings in what seemed to be a cross shape. It looked as if two DNA strands had been melded together perpendicularly. Seeing the confusion on the General's face, Mobius continued:

"The DNA of any Honkai-based organism is what we call a double cross-shaped Helix. It looks as if two DNA strands have intersected perpendicularly, but is actually, in fact, a single DNA strand. This allows it to have sixteen different variations of nucleobases, compared to four found in our DNAs. Furthermore, some of the nucleobases are very volatile and oxidise rapidly the moment they are separated from the DNA strand."

She then swiped her hands again to show a pictorial representation of splicing Honkai DNA with a normal one.

"During the process of fusing Honkai DNA with common DNA, it has been observed that some of the nucleobases present in Honkai DNA undergo oxidation prior to their successful incorporation into the new DNA strand by the polymerase enzyme. This oxidative phenomenon leads to the occurrence of substantial and unwarranted mutations in the resultant DNA, thereby giving rise to unpredictable outcomes. Furthermore, the emission of Honkai energy from Honkai DNA exerts a deleterious effect on common DNA, resulting in the eventual destruction of the newly spliced DNA strand."

"So, that means…" General Alexei said not fully following Mobius' words. While he had the basic knowledge about biosciences, this much technicality was making it harder for him to follow. Seeing his reaction, Mobius sighed and said:

"To make things short, it is difficult to make stable combined DNA of Honkai beasts and a normal living creature. At worst, they disintegrate or turn into something similar to what happened at MU."

"Oh, I understand now." General Alexei nodded his head understanding the problem they were facing "Then what do you propose we should do?"

"Nothing."

"Huh?"

"As I said nothing. I have been conducting experiments after experiments for three years straight now. I have experimented with millions of combinations to ensure that the resulting DNA after splicing the Honkai DNA is stable. And yet, there has not been a single successful case where the resulting DNA after splicing the Honkai DNA segments was stable."

"Then… what do you propose we do?" General asked. They had to make PROJECT MANTIS work if they were to reduce the astronomical losses they suffer each time when eruptions happened. Their numbers are already running low, and the entire world's military strength has already been reduced by half. They needed strong soldiers. Tough soldiers. Soldiers that could survive the eruptions just like Kevin does. Soldiers that not only were stronger physically but also in their ability to command and utilise Honkai energy. They had to make their enemy's weapon their own if they were to not only survive the Herrschers but to win against them. They wanted a new strand of Humans who would become the beacon of Humanity along with Kevin.

They all shared the same thought of not letting Kevin shoulder everything alone anymore. And for that, they will do anything, no matter what.

Hook.

"There is a way." Mobius' words brought everyone out of their thoughts at once. All the other members present there looked at her in surprise. Didn't she say just now that it was impossible to make a stable DNA after recombining it with Honkai beasts' DNA?

"What do you mean by that, Dr. Mobius?" General Alexei voiced out the question that was on everybody's mind. At this, Mobius just smiled and said:

"It's very simple. We need better quality samples for the experiments."

Line.

"How is that possible?" General Alexei asked, a little bit desperate. He wasn't going to let even a tiny chance of making this project work. On the other hand, Welt felt shivers run up his spine again. Mobius only smiled like that when things went her way. Welt, knowing her sinister nature and her lack of morals compared to normal people, could only guess what immoral solution she had come up with this time.

That was when something clicked in his mind. She said 'better quality of samples'; and if she wasn't satisfied with even the mammal animals, then there was only one other organism which was on a higher evolution level.

"Wai-" Welt started to open his mouth to protest against what she was about to propose. It was insanity… madness… depravity… if they went down this path, then they would be no better than Cocoon. However, this time, the odds were not with him.

And sinker.

"We need human samples, General. Live Human samples." Mobius said with a bone-chilling voice. The entire briefing room went absolutely silent at her words. Nobody moved a single muscle, and it was so much quiet that one could hear the conditioned air flowing from out the vents in the walls and the roof. General Alexei looked at Mobius, his eyes totally frozen much like Kevin's. He then asked in an icy voice:

"Do you know what are you implying Dr. Mobius?"

"Of course I do, I wouldn't even bring up this proposal if I didn't."

"Then you may remember my stance on this matter, Dr. Mobius."

"Of course, I do, G-E-N-E-R-A-L. A-L-E-X-E-I." Mobius punctuated every single letter to show that she was not backing down this time. Suddenly the tension in the room went up again as the commander General of the Moths and the head of its First Institute started down each other. Welt had to give hats off to Mobius for sticking to her ground against an angered General like that.

"Explain." General Alexei said this one simple word; however, everybody present there stiffened at the force with which those words were spoken. Mobius, however to her credit continued unfazed:

"It is as I have said, General. Normal animals won't cut it. the Honkai beasts are leaps and bounds ahead in evolution compared to the ones found on Earth. And as such, for the best possible results, the splicing will have to be experimented upon the living organism which is at the highest stage of evolution at this point in time. And I believe all of us know what that organism is."

"So, just for that reason, you are telling us to do human experimentation? Have you gone insane Mobius?" Welt finally was able to get his words out. However, instead of backing down, Mobius stood his ground and retaliated:

"So, do you, our honoured chief of our Science and Research department have any other plans to deal with the ever-growing strength of Honkai? Maybe you will take to the battlefield on your own from now on? Or maybe you will somehow magically create creatures with the same strength as Honkai beasts to fight them, instead of normal humans?"

"Geh…" Welt flinched back at her sharp, yet true words. He bit the inside of his cheek as he realised that no matter how much venomous words Mobius's words may seem, it was the bitter truth. Things have only come to this point because he failed to provide a better solution.

"Or, will you just order your soldiers to sacrifice themselves again, General Alexei?" now she turned to look at the General with the same challenging eyes. She then continued with confidence in her voice "You just said a few moments before of not disappointing, Kevin. So are you prepared to disappoint him, Commander General Alexei Romanov?"

"…" the General was silent at this accusation, because this time, it was her who was in the right.

"Dr Mobius, I think that is-" Mei tried to intervene.

"Please don't speak between us three, Dr. Mei" Mobius cut Mei off. However, instead of retaliating back, Mei flinched back. The way how Mobius' eyes were narrowed was enough to make her afraid of her. That day, Mei truly understood how fearsome the head of the First Institute could really be. Ignoring her junior's scared face, Mobius continued:

"We are already at a point where it is useless to speak about morals and honour. All of our hands are already stained with blood. Those who die at your command General, their blood will forever be on your hand whether you like it or not. Same for you, Welt. Those who died following your words, their deaths are on your fingers, no matter how much you try to run away from it."

"…" both the General and Welt were silent. Their heads were bowed down, and their shoulders sagged as if they were extremely tired.

"We are now at a conjuncture where we will have to choose between so-called morals or the continuity of our species. So make your choice General, your so-called honour, or the future of humanity. Choose."

Saying what she had to say, Mobius made her way to the nearest chair and plopped down on it. She kept a hand on the table and started tapping it with her finger in a rhythmic fashion. To everyone present there, every single tap of her nail on the table sounded more like a ticking clock, representing 'Time': one thing they never seem to have enough of, and were running quick out of whatever of it they had.

After a very very long silence, General Alexei spoke slowly:

"And if we do, what are the chances that you will be able to succeed."

"General-" Mei said shocked.

"Dr. Mei. I did not ask you. So please be silent."

"Y-Yes General." Mei apologised quickly. Nodding his head to accept her prompt apology, the General looked at Mobius with serious, unmoving eyes.

"What are the chances that we will be able to make a stable DNA strand if we use the DNA of a human."

"More than what we currently have. After all, this project was developed to transform human soldiers into a hybrid of Human and Honkai beast. This technology is ultimately meant to be used on people, so I don't see a concern to start early."

"Hmm…" General Alexei mused and nodded. Whatever points she had said were factually correct. The MANTIS project is ultimately meant for transforming their soldiers into a stronger version of themselves. To give them the same powers that a Honkai beast had. To make more of them survive till the end. Hence, if seen in that way, it is only beneficial to start the development of this technology by using humans as a starting point.

However, he also knew that if they step down that line, there is no coming back. That they will become what they despised themselves. But, it seems that there was no choice remaining now.

"Very well." The General opened his mouth to speak of his decision. The reactions were expected: Welt looked mortified at the General's approval on what basically was human experimentation. Mobius looked ecstatic as her smile grew wider. Her eyes narrowed like she had caught her prey, which maybe wasn't that far from the truth.

"General, please reconsider." Welt said hurriedly "We don't know what are the after-effects of the Splicing of Honkai DNA would do to a human body. There will be far worse accidents than what we witnessed on the MU base."

"Then do you have any alternative plan, Dr. Welt?" General Alexei asked in a simple tone. Yet, those words were enough to silence Welt. He bowed his head again while saying:

"None. Please forgive my out-of-line speaking."

"Hmm." General Alexei waved him off. He then turned to Mobius and said:

"I will agree to allow you to splice Honkai genes to living humans."

At this, Mobius smiled even more. Her plan was coming to success. Now she was about to have an infinite supply of lab rats for her experiments. Now she could focus on some of her more 'Personal Projects.', but the General or that Welt didn't need to know that.

"However…" General Alexei's voice brought her out of her musings as she saw him looking at her with a hard look "… there are conditions."

"Of course, General. Participation to the experiments will be totally voluntary. And neither I nor any of the First Institute members will force anyone to participate against their will. Is that enough for you, General?" Mobius replied.

"It is a starting point. We will discuss the restrictions in detail in the next meeting a week from now. By then, I would require you to present a framework of how you are going to do your experiments and the risk factors involved. Depending upon that, I will decide how many restrictions will be needed to be applied. And remember Dr. Mobius…" he looked at her squarely "… if I catch even a wind of you doing something that was not sanctioned, the consequences will not be pretty."

"Okay." Mobius replied, not bothered much by the General's words. She was sure that with the next eruption, all these irritating oppositions to her will disappear one by one, and no one will be able to stop her. After all, who can stop evolution?

After getting his affirmation, General Alexei spoke:

"I believe it is high time to adjourn today's meeting. I think we all have many things to process. For what reason are we here? For what do we fight for? And how far are we willing to go for what we believe in?"

General's words hung heavy on everyone except Mobius. She already knew what she was here for; to ascend her beloved to the peak of evolution and to keep him safe. For that, she was willing to bathe her hands in an untold amount of blood; and if someone wasn't able to go that far for him, then in her eyes they didn't deserve him, neither his kindness nor his protection.

The people in the room started vacating one by one until it was just her and Welt left. Seeing no reason to argue with that failure of a researcher any further, Mobius began to make her way outside the briefing room.

"Mobius…" hearing her name being called out caused her to stop and look back. The man was looking at her with eyes full of disdain and resentment. He then continued in the same resentful voice as the expression on his face "… you will never get away with this. Never."

"And you cannot stop me. Ever." Mobius replied and finally stepped outside the room. She utterly loathed and despised this hypocritical man, she decided. This human skin-wearing apostle of Honkai. To her, he was never an ally to humanity and never will be.


MAIN CEMETERY (NEAR THE FIRE MOTH H.Q.) – 2025 (Previous era) (Around the same time)

Kevin tiptoed through the rows of graves, mindful of the slumbering souls that lay beneath him. His every step felt like a burden as if he was walking on the memories of the departed. He dared not make a sound, afraid that it might shatter the gentle silence of the cemetery and awaken the ones sleeping here from their peaceful slumber.

Slowly, he came to the place where he wanted to come. In front of him was a beautifully made tombstone. Behind the marble tombstone, there was a huge monument describing a fair maiden led to the heavens surrounded by angels with beautiful wings. On the headstone, with beautiful calligraphy was the name of the person who lay to rest here:

Seele

October 18, 2007

To

November 27, 2024

Below were the words of the epitaph which described precisely what that person meant to him and the others at Moths.

To our loving sister Seele.

Your smile was sunshine, and without it, the world is filled with rain.

Even if thousand years pass, the wound in our hearts will still pain.

May you continue to see over us and the future may you bless.

Sleep peacefully, our angel princess.

'Angel Princess' Kevin mused inwardly. Indeed she was an angel that descended to this forsaken land to heal it; yet, the only thing she received in the end was anguish. He could still remember her last words before she went away just as clear as the day it happened.

"Pl… ea… se…be….hap… py… Seele...will… be… for.. ever…. wi… th…. you…."

She told him to find his happiness. That she will be forever with him. However, all that he felt now was a never-ending coldness which was even more pronounced than before. He felt as if the coldness that he felt now will consume him, freezing him solid from the inside out. He sat down on the ground in front of the grave, his eyes never leaving the epitaph on the headstone. The sound of leaves rustling softly reached his ears, but he didn't care. The small animals were hard at work to stockpile food for the oncoming winter. Their fervent movements make it seem like this winter was going to be harsher than late autumn air had a slight chill to it, and even though the sun was high in the sky, one couldn't help but shiver once in a while. Yet, even in this chilly weather, he didn't feel anything: both Physically and Emotionally.

He knew that he was a broken man inside and was not able to comprehend emotions as clearly as others did. However, after that day, he felt as if a void was eating away at him from the inside. He realised was getting tired of this. Tired of constantly losing things precious to him. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried, the only thing that he was able to bring to the lives of others was destruction. He felt like disappearing into nothingness; but, that would be for the best, wouldn't it? After what he had wrought, did he even deserve to live? It may be better to die off in the next mission. It will be so much easier than to live with this never-ending coldness in his heart.

However, he made the oath to his fallen comrades to purge the Honkai and burn down those false gods. He promised *** that he will make this world a place where there will be no more people like him. But most of all, he promised himself that he will not give up again; not until the future of humanity was secured for good, and it was his time to scatter to the winds and to lay in the fields where they lay.

Kevin supposed that he could at least live until those promises were fulfilled because those promises were all he had left now. He felt no more attachment to this life, or this world except for his duty. And even though at his core, he wanted nothing else more than to die, he told himself to move forward and make the people who could never return dreams a reality. And a small part of him held a little hope that when he dies, he will be able to stand equal to them. That he will finally make them proud; ***, Seele, all of them.

Lost in his own thoughts, he remained oblivious to the setting sun and the approaching figure heading towards the grave where he sat. It wasn't until he suddenly saw a hand placing a bouquet of white lilies on the headstone that he sensed the other person's presence. However, he didn't raise his head to see how the person was as he didn't really care who they were. Many people in the Moths loved Seele as a little sister, and he wouldn't be selfish as not to allow others to pay their respects to her.

Kevin had thought the person had left after keeping the flowers, only to be proven wrong when he heard a rustling sound beside him. The smell of jasmine wafted to his nose as the person sat beside him on the grass. However, instead of saying something, the other party kept silent, something that Kevin was thankful for. They sat there in silence until the sun completely set and the air started to get much colder. The stars glimmered in the autumn sky, showering the earth below in their radiance. It was a moonless night, which only made the presence of the stars more profound. The grave seemed to shine under the starlight in Kevin's eyes. Maybe an indication that she was really at peace.

He was brought out of his thoughts by noises from his side. Turning his head slightly, he noticed that the woman was waking up from her slumber. She must have fallen asleep at some point in time that he didn't know. He couldn't for the world understand why did they care for someone like him. He wanted them to be free, to live their own lives, to find their own happy endings instead of being burdened by pain and his worthless self. He couldn't help but feel that he is chaining them down, making them unable to live their life fully.

As his mind wandered into the dark thoughts, he heard the woman finally wake up completely and look at him in a way that he couldn't understand. It seemed like she was holding back something. Whatever it was, Kevin didn't know, nor did he care. The woman rubbed her eyes with one hand and stifled her yawn with the other. After a few moments, she turned to see Kevin sitting there like he was before she fell asleep. Her face tingled slightly red with embarrassment as she realised that he must have sat there for who knows how long to support her while she was sleeping; hence she opened her mouth to apologise:

"Please forgive me for falling asleep, Kevin. You must have been uncomfortable all this time." Kevin heard a soft and gentle voice come from his side. He didn't turn his head and continued to look at the headstone. The woman, not getting a response, frowned in sadness as she saw him looking at the grave with such longing in his eyes that it made her heart hurt. She knew that she could do nothing to ease the pain in his heart this time; no matter what she did, she could never change what had happened. However, what she could do was be by his side until he started healing enough, no matter how long it took.

As she looked at him at his sister's grave, the chilly autumn wind blew, causing her to shiver involuntarily. There was a movement from the man's side as he noticed her shivering in the cold outdoors. Then before she could react, the woman felt something warm wrapped around her. Moving her hand, she felt the warm overcoat the man had worn earlier draped over her. She then saw him getting up from where he sat and turn around to look at her.

"It's getting late." he spoke in a soft voice, as if he was afraid to disturb the peaceful slumber of those who lay here. Seeing his kindness to even those who were not in this world anymore made the woman smile sadly at him. He was so so kind that it hurt. Why did a person as kind as he had to suffer so much, she could never understand. She just prayed that at the end of this supposed war, he would find his own happiness; whether it be with her or not.

The woman then saw Kevin extending his hand towards her. She gingerly took his gloved hand which felt too cold to her liking. Kevin let her go as he proceeded to leave the cemetery first. As she saw his back retreating back, a sudden thought came into her mind. And before she could even think about it, she had called out to him:

"Kevin?"

Hearing his name being called out, Kevin turned back to see the woman wearing clothes similar to a nun looking at him with a smile on her lips. Then before he could reply, she continued:

"The children were missing spending time with you. So…" she trailed off, unsure what reply she will get; however, she decided to continue anyway, hoping for the best "… will you eat dinner together with us tonight."

There was a palpable silence for the next few minutes. Kevin did not show any hint of change in his face. This caused the woman to become worried about whether he was going to accept her invitation or not. She just wanted him to not be alone in these trying times, and be with others' company. However, with the way he had distanced himself from them after the incident last year, it was becoming increasingly difficult to be by his side. Nowadays, she seldom saw him, and each time she did, he would be covered in wounds.

She had heard from his comrades of how he seemed to be even more ruthless and reckless now against the Honkai beasts. Those who fought alongside him say that he now fought like a demon possessed. They say he was getting borderline obsessed to kill as many Honkai beasts as possible in the most brutal way possible.

This scared her and the ones who cared for him to no end. She had tried numerous times to confront him about this reckless behaviour of his but to no avail. Before he would at least listen to them, although begrudgingly; but now, it seemed as if their words of concern for him didn't register in his mind. Now the only thing she could do was to hope that she would see him the next time, in flesh and blood and not in a coffin. Hence, the only thing she could do now were these small things. She knew that it would change nothing in the grand scheme of things, and it was just pure selfishness on her part; yet still, nonetheless she didn't want to see him alone.

She hated seeing him alone and lost and would do anything in her power to not let the man who is important to her not feel alone. Hence, the proposal. Now all she could do was wait for his answer and pray that it would be a positive one.

After what felt like hours to her, Kevin finally opened his mouth to say:

"You don't have to do this, Aponia."

Hearing him calling her name, Aponia couldn't hold back a smile creeping upon her lips. This showed that even though he had locked himself inside so tightly, he was the same as he was before, and that made her hope. Hope that one day he will be able to move over this pain and open up. Hope that one day things will be better. Hope that he will one day smile a genuine smile. Hope that one day those eyes would not be cold and distant, but instead filled with warmth and compassion. Keeping all of these hopes inside of her, Aponia spoke in a gentle voice:

"I know, but the children would appreciate your presence. Also, I would like to have dinner with you as it has been a long time since we ate together. So, will you not consider joining us, Kevin?"

At her earnest request, Kevin was silent for a few more moments before he gave a slight nod and left the cemetery without saying anything. Aponia saw his back melting into the darkness of the night, a small smile playing upon her lips; because even though she didn't get a verbal confirmation of his answer, his nod told her everything she wanted to know. She thanked whatever higher power was out there to listen to her pleas and allowed Kevin to accept her invitation.

She looked back at the grave of the person to whom she had come to pray her respects to. She along with others had kept the grave as pristinely as possible during the last year. After all, Seele was not just Kevin's little sister but all of theirs; and they were equally devastated at what happened to her. Aponia knew that Kevin, Hua, the General, Welt-san and many others were trying to hide things from them; but she did not care as she already knew what they were trying to hide. And that made this situation all the more painful. She couldn't even imagine the amount of courage Kevin had to have to do what he did, and she was sure that anyone else wouldn't be able to do it if they were in his position. Thinking such things, she approached the headstone of the grave and traced her fingers lightly over it, he sadness returning tenfold at the unjust cruelty that such an innocent and pure girl had to go through, and by extension him.

"I'm sorry, Seele. I wasn't able to do anything. I will not ask for your forgiveness, because I know that I'm not worthy of it. However, be rest assured that I will take care of your brother as long as I live. He will never be alone. And I will not stop until he finds his happiness."

Aponia said those heartfelt words out loud, knowing that nobody will ever hear them. Yet, she chose to do so because it helped her find her resolve whenever she started to falter. Saying what she wanted to say, she gave one last look at the grave and turned around to leave.

"Thank you."

Aponia stopped abruptly as these words were carried by the wind to her. She turned sharply back to see the grave shining under the starlight. It looked so ethereal at that moment that it made Aponia believe that Seele's soul had descended briefly to thank her. However, the only thing present there was the bouquet of lilies that she had brought earlier gently waving in the cold autumn breeze. Realizing that she had overstayed at the cemetery and she had to get back to the base to prepare for the supposed dinner, Aponia started to leave the graveyard. Though instead of her heart feeling heavy like she expected it to, she felt lighter than before. It was as if a heavy burden was lifted off her chest, even if only slightly; and while the pain still remained, she found it a little bit easier to bear it now.

'No. Thank you, Seele. I won't break my promise to you. I will be by his side, from now until the end.'


TRAINING ARENA (FIRE MOTH H.Q.) – 2025 (Previous era) (Next day)

"Training Difficulty Selected: Extreme."

"Constructing virtual environment…"

"Reconstructing Honkai beasts…"

"Reconstructing ambient Honkai radiation values…"

"Reconstructing landscape vectors…"

"Calibrating aggressiveness values…"

"Calibrating resistances to physical and elemental attacks…"

"Calibrating physical parameters…"

"Calibration complete…"

"Initiating training scenario…"

The world changed from a closed grey chamber to a ruined cityscape. Matsui Sakura didn't have to wait for long as her sharp ears picked up the stomping of the Honkai beasts rushing towards her. She wasted no time in drawing her sword; a new and improved version of the Homura shined beneath the artificially created sun of the virtual environment. Sakura smiled inwardly in satisfaction as the craftsmanship of the blade was impeccable. It was extraordinarily well-balanced and had that weight distribution done just right which allowed her to deal heavy blows while not hindering her speed. This blade was the latest of the bladed weapon: the DECIMATOR series. And while the version that Kevin once wielded was just a prototype for these types of bladed weapons, what Sakura held now was pretty much the finished product.

These bladed weapons are made from the composite of Soulium and other metals with strong tensile properties that while they were not as powerful as the Divine Keys, were far stronger than any other conventional weapons that the Moths soldiers used before.

"Fshhhhh…" Sakura drew in a breath as she lowered herself for a Battō slash. It was her preferred way of fighting, something that was taught to her before the Honkai took away everything except Rin from her. She still remembered what her father told him when he taught her the first basics of stances.

Flashback

"What do you feel now, Sakura?" a voice gentle, yet firm asked her.

"It's heavy, Chichi-Ue." the young Sakura replied. She couldn't understand how father and grandfather could swing such a heavy thing like it was a thin branch.

"Good." the man replied. Sakura looked up to see a man in his thirties looking at her in an understanding way. His eyes were the same shade of purple as he and her sister, but his hair was black, typical of Japanese men. Both the siblings got their hair from their mother who was regarded as an otherworldly beauty even by their standards.

"Remember this feeling Sakura. For the blade is heavy, but the life which it cuts short is even heavier than this. Thus, you must always not their suffering prolong and end it swiftly as possible."

"I don't understand Chichi-Ue." Sakura said innocently, her young mind not understanding the implications of what her father had said now. At this, her father allowed a small smile to creep upon his lips. He then said:

"It's nothing to be concerned about now. But keep what I told you in the corner of your mind; though, I hope that the day when you need to follow these words would never come"

"Haaa…" Sakura replied unsure as to how to respond to her father's words. However, she was not allowed to dwell upon it much as he father's face returned to stern as he continued:

"With that being said, it is now time to return to practice your katas. You will perform the first movement of Matsui-style one hundred times before noon."

"Ehhhhh?" Sakura was shocked. How could she perform that complex movement one hundred times? However, to his credit, her father's face remained unchanged as he said:

"You will do it if you want me to teach you further. If you fail to do it one hundred times by noon today, then I will cancel your training."

"I will do it!" Sakura replied with vigour. She had to plead so many times to her father to teach her their family sword arts, thus she was not going to let this chance get out of her hand.

"Good. Now get into the stance." Her father nodded at her enthusiasm and ordered.

"Hai!" Sakura said as she twisted her body to position herself as her father had shown her earlier. She would become the strongest swordswoman, so that her grandfather and her father would be proud of her.

Current time

Sakura let her mind still as she remembered the words told by her father at that time. Even though he wanted Sakura never to know the true use of a sword, it seems like fate had other plans. Now she was a soldier, with the blood of hundreds on her hands. The once innocent girl who wanted to be the strongest just to make her father proud was gone. Now she was just a simple murderer, doing everything she can to ensure that her little sister would be able to have the future that she never could.

ROOOAR.

The Honkai beasts neared, yet her mind never wavered. She may have become a bloodstained monster beyond redemption at this point, but she will make sure that her sister will remain innocent until the end; because she didn't know what she would do if something happened to Rin. And she knew very well that she didn't have the same strength as Kevin-dono to move on despite such pain. She was not a 'hero' like him; she was just an elder sibling that one could find anywhere, whose wish was the best future for their little sibling.

"Frigid Rave!" she called out the name of the attack as she drew out her sword, sliced the air in front of her and then sheathed it again in one fluid motion. However, she wasn't done just yet. In the span of a second, she had repeated this move millions of times, making it impossible to see with the naked eye just how this move worked.

Clink. The moment she sheathed Homura for the last time, the hundreds of simulated Honkai beasts dissipated into pixels as they were cut down into minute pieces by Sakura's technique. Sakura then looked at the one final remaining beast that the simulation had generated. The beast seemed to be stopped in its track, but compared to others, it was not going down.

'Yākshā': a gigantic blue fox-like Judgement class Honkai beast born with the fifth Herrscher. Along with the inherent powers over the element of ice, it had one more unique property. It decreased the temperature of things around itself to absolute zero, thus stopping anything from moving, even the most fundamental quantum particles. This gave an illusion of the time itself being stopped. During the actual eruption, using its unique power, it caused many casualties among the soldiers and civilians alike. It was only by Kevin's unique flames which were not bound by the constraints of this world that it was ultimately slain.

"So you have used your ability to stop my slashes from reaching you, huh? But unfortunately, my slashes are faster than an instant itself."

Crack. Crack.

As she said this, the wounds started to appear on the honkai beast's body. The beast howled in pain as it tried desperately to heal itself using the superb innate healing that it possessed. However, the slashes ultimately dominated over the rate of healing and the beast fell down, cleaved into five parts. The sheer fact that it was not turned into mincemeat like the other simulated beasts showed its prowess and was a testament to how strong the Judgement class could be.

SHATTER.

However, against the technique which she had perfected over fifteen years, along with an exceptional weapon like this, there was no way she could lose to a simulation. After all, a simulation was hardly the representation of the real thing. These virtual Honkai beasts were under the constraints of the computers which generated them, and Sakura knew that no matter how much advance a computer would become, it could never replicate the real thing; not especially a Honkai beast of such calibre.

"All generated targets destroyed…"

"Ending Simulation…"

"Deconstructing virtual environment…"

"Calculating final results…"

The synthetic voice came from above as the surroundings as the ruined cityscape she was in earlier melted away into the grey-coloured walls of the training room. On the farther end of the room, she could see some of the after-effects of her attack, and she hoped that it would not hinder the availability of the room for tomorrow.

As she exited outside the arena, she was met with the technician who was currently overseeing the functioning of the training rooms. Once she approached near to the person, they spoke:

"Good work, Miss. Sakura. As expected, your prowess is no lesser than the strongest members here. If I must be bold, under the right circumstances, you could even surpass Colonel Kaslana."

"Please don't make lightly of Kevin-dono, Mr…" she looked at his breast pocket to see his I.D. hanging off it "… Ethan Taylor. You must be new here if you think that his strength could be measured by these machines alone."

"Huh?" the technician asked confused. Indeed he was new here, but he had seen the technology here which was easily decades if not centuries ahead of what the rest of the world had currently.

"The Judgement class that I fought in the simulator, it was not even at its full power. The real one wiped out nearly three battalions of the Seventh Regiment during the Fifth eruption. The only one who could defeat it, in the end, was Kevin-dono. if I had fought against the real one, I'm not sure that I would have won so easily."

"T-That's impossible…" the technician muttered.

"that is indeed the truth. You have been here just for a few months if my assumption is correct. You will come to know eventually just how strong the strongest soldier of the Moths is…" she then whispered the last part "… and just how weak I currently am."

"Did you say something Miss. Sakura?" the personnel asked.

"Nothing. I will be on my way then." Sakura said as she left the training facility leaving a confused technician behind. As she made her way to her room to check up on Rin and wake her up, she couldn't help but feel the weight of what was happening around her now.

Everyone around here was losing things precious to them. She finally understood that Kevin's words that he is a monster meant that time.

To protect what matters to you the most, you must become a monster greater than whatever threatens that precious thing. And for her sister, she could become even a worse demon than anyone could imagine. She would never let anything let harm her sister.

Honkai.

Or Human.


To be continued…

Hello everyone, welcome back to 'A Warriors Destiny'.

With this, we have officially kicked off the Seventh Eruption arc. And you know what that means: fire, death, MANTIS and finally…Kevin's weapon. So stick around to find out just how exactly this eruption is going to play out.

On the other note, one thing you can see in this chapter is the conflict of views among various characters. This was also highlighted in the cannon story as how everyone didn't agree with Mobius' methods. However, here it is not just about her. As expected different people here have different wants, needs and a different sense of morality. What binds them together is the common threat of Honkai.

How this conflict of ideals is going to affect the story moving ahead; stay tuned to find out.

As always if you like the story please leave a follow, favourite, and/or review.

Thank you for reading, until next time.