The Divine Key was to be handed over to Kiana?
The hope Shu had been clinging to finally died.
But he had to admit, aside from Shu himself, Kiana was the only one present who could utilize the Genesis Key to its fullest potential.
It was just that Shu had some... reservations about the Kiana-plus-Genesis-Key combination.
With me around to keep an eye on things, it should be fine, right?
Watching the two of them squabble their way into the castle, Shu raised a hand to his forehead and let out a long sigh, then moved his hand to cover his eyes.
Time to get down to business... Haven't you seen Bella already sitting up over there?
Shu didn't know if Bella would actually call King Sirin over if he truly didn't cooperate, and then, acting as a bug fixer, embed Shu into the ground again.
"Ahem, ahem." Shu coughed forcefully into his fist, couldn't help but cough a second time, then signaled that it was time to proceed to the final act of the story.
The three, having returned to their positions, exchanged glances and stood united, facing Shu.
Shu raised his hand and, with exaggerated emotion, stick reading (monotone, as if reading from a script), declared: "Knight from the kingdom, guiding fairy, and rescued princess, your adventure ends here."
As he spoke, the wind that had arrived with the dark clouds finally began to blow, making the back of Shu's long windbreaker flutter dramatically, compensating for his otherwise slender build.
If it weren't for the fact that Shu's clothes radiated an almost tangible aura of righteousness, like a flame burning brightly in the light, Shu right now would have perfectly embodied a major villain.
"So cool?" Kiana muttered under her breath, then stepped forward to respond.
"Demon Lord! Are you ready to be defeated?"
Mei, who had been struggling with how to deliver her lines, felt as if she'd been granted amnesty. She decisively took half a step back, entrusting this daunting task to Kiana.
"Such impudence," Shu said verbally, but in reality, he had already spread his arms wide, as if to say, "I'm ready."
Bronya Zaychik discreetly nudged Mei with her elbow, signaling that it was her turn to go up and defeat Shu.
Mei glanced at Shu, then stepped forward with the five-dollar plastic toy sword. With a soft "sorry," she gently tapped Shu on the chest.
Shu fell to the ground, straight as a board. The moment he hit the ground, he thought, might as well take this opportunity to get some proper rest.
These past two days had been truly exhausting... either recovering from injuries or rushing around, thinking... And the emptiness from expending so much energy tearing apart that black substance had made Shu's already fragile mental state even worse.
Even when he finally got a chance to sit down, Shu was still enduring mental torment.
Taking advantage of this opportunity to lie down, Shu decided to rest properly for a few minutes.
Mmm... just a few minutes...
---||---
A few minutes later, the three of them squatted in a circle around the motionless Shu. After exchanging glances, they looked back at Shu on the ground.
"Did he fall asleep?" Kiana scratched her head, puzzled. "He can fall asleep even like this... It's exactly like me in class."
Bronya poked Shu's face with a finger, then nodded seriously. "He's asleep."
Mei stared at Shu's peaceful sleeping face for a long time before finally looking up at the massive castle before them.
"Should we wait for Shu to wake up before returning to the kingdom?" Mei asked.
"Why don't we leave here first and then make plans?" Kiana said, puzzled, though in reality, she was already preparing to help Shu up from the ground.
She had lived in this castle for a few days, after all, and knew which bed was the most comfortable.
Bronya shook her head. "We can't leave. Bronya and Mei returned to the train, but a black wall appeared on the path we came from. We're trapped here now."
"A black wall?" Kiana scratched her head. "What kind of wall?"
"Like a pool of paint... predominantly black, with some colors mixed in..." Bronya thought for a moment, trying to describe it. But seeing Kiana's still uncomprehending expression, Bronya fell silent.
After a moment, Bronya stated bluntly, "Just like in Dusty Relics."
"Oh!!" Kiana immediately understood. "You mean that iridescent black stuff!"
Bronya nodded. "Yes, exactly that."
Kiana, who had already slung Shu's arm over her shoulder, suddenly remembered something. Her body froze for a moment. She looked at Shu, then around at the others, and tentatively said, "So... does that mean... we're actually in a consciousness space right now?"
Bronya and Mei both paused, stunned. Neither understood why Kiana had suddenly reached this conclusion.
Just because that "iridescent black" had appeared in the main consciousness space in the original story, it meant they were in a consciousness space now?
It had to be said, that was a uniquely Kiana-like line of reasoning...
And the possibility was actually quite high!
Bronya raised a hand to her chin, striking a classic detective-thinking pose, and began to ponder.
Homu... This is a creature that definitely doesn't exist in the real world, yet there are so many Homus here... I initially thought it was due to the Herrscher's power... Now it seems, this place might indeed be a dream.
And those ironclad rules Bronya and Mei discovered unintentionally, like bread always landing jam-side down, and being able to reach the destination even by wandering randomly...
These inexplicably achieved phenomena were exactly like the "settings" in a story. Coupled with what Sirin said when she repelled Shu...
"Perhaps... this really is a dream..." Bronya nodded seriously, giving her answer.
---||---
Hiding in the shadows, Schrodinger was slightly surprised. She looked at Kiana with a newfound, peculiar interest.
She hadn't expected Kiana, who seemed the most foolish and silly, to be the first to notice something was amiss here. And it didn't look like she had figured it out through analysis, but rather through experience from having seen it before, more than once.
Such a space was a first even for Future City. If not for the structural similarities to [Utopia], Schrodinger wouldn't have connected this world with "consciousness."
Moreover, regarding the fundamental constitutive logic of this world, Schrodinger had only just begun to scratch the surface, having managed to refine a little "Aether" with Joyce and the others.
No, it should be called Honkai energy now. That was the name provided by Fire Moth.
Such a simple and easy-to-understand name... [Energy that triggers collapse (Honkai)].
She just didn't know how far Fire Moth's research on Honkai energy had progressed... Schrodinger had a feeling that Fire Moth's understanding of this energy wasn't very deep either.