"Whether the Valkyries on the front lines or the garrison personnel in the rear, everyone is dead. I destroyed Schicksal." In the screen, Welt spread his arms wide, his eyes full of madness.
"You killed them... you killed Seele..." Bronya struggled to stand up, seemingly having heard news she was unwilling to believe, her emotions collapsing for a moment.
"Your eyes are filled with surprise, sorrow, and hatred. Just like me in the past."
Seeing Bronya like this, Welt's madness subsided slightly. He seemed to remember something and spoke in an instructional tone.
"Ah... to you, she must have been a very important person. Good. Remember this moment."
"Hatred, confusion, despair - these are the pillars of everything, the purest and most powerful force."
Who exactly were these words meant for? The Valkyrie before him? Welt didn't know.
He had clearly completed his revenge, successfully accomplished what his former comrades couldn't do, but... why did his heart still feel so empty?
"Why... why do such things?"
The Valkyrie before him was full of confusion, but... yes, why indeed? Besides revenge, was there really anything in this world that truly belonged to him?
After thinking it over, Welt could only come up with one answer.
"Because this is my mission."
That's right, mission. Welt crossed his arms, his mind inevitably returning to that day when everything changed.
"That man named Welt Joyce entrusted it to me so preciously in 1955."
"1955... the day Anti-Entropy was founded."
Founded? Perhaps. For this damned world, that was indeed the day the world's second largest anti-Honkai organization was created, another great step for humanity toward a beautiful future.
But... for Welt, for Joachim Nokianvirtanen, it was undoubtedly like the apocalypse.
"No, that was the day Anti-Entropy was destroyed." He took a deep breath, the hatred in his eyes growing even more intense.
"Welt Joyce, Lieserl Albert Einstein, Frederica Nikola Tesla, Emma Planck, Erwin Schrödinger..."
"I remember each of their names, because remembering them is the only thing I can do."
One name after another was spoken, accompanied by Welt's increasingly intense killing intent.
"They were killed by Schicksal's Valkyries before my very eyes, one by one, while I could only shamefully flee... like a fearful and weak beast."
In a trance, his tone calmed down, as calm as if he were telling a story unrelated to himself.
But within that calm was a bone-chilling terror.
"Every dark night when I couldn't see light, I would dream of that man."
"He lay in a pool of blood, entrusting his name and Herrscher core to me, over and over again."
"Finally, I returned, using his name to fulfill his promise to fight for humanity."
Seemingly unable to bear the madness of the man before her any longer, Bronya raised her right hand and summoned Project Bunny.
"Destroying Schicksal - this is what you call fighting for humanity?"
"What a joke! You're just reenacting the history of Anti-Entropy's destruction. What you're doing is no different from those who ruined your life!"
Project Bunny began charging up. Bronya no longer intended to continue conversing with this bastard who defiled Anti-Entropy.
"Anti-Entropy's founders would never entrust such a mission to someone like you!"
"Hehe, you're absolutely right." However, Welt laughed. "They were all gentle and powerful people."
"Even after having everything taken away by Schicksal, they could still let go of the hatred in their hearts and continue fighting for their ideals."
"So..."
Massive Honkai energy gathered as Welt summoned his weapon - the Ninth Divine Key, Star of Eden.
"They paid the price." Taking off his glasses with one hand, Welt's eyes flickered with crimson light - a sign of Herrscher authority activating.
"Power, belonging, ideals - when I inherited the name of Welt, I also received everything of that man."
"But... under this name, there's nothing that belongs to me. I'm just playing the role of a shadow that died years ago."
"...But why should I play the role of a failed shadow..."
He spoke with grief in his tone, but gradually his emotions began to surge.
Even though this broken body could no longer support his use of Herrscher power, even though blood was already splattering from various places, his voice became even more excited.
"That's right! I killed the Herrscher of the Void and saved this world!"
"I accomplished what that man couldn't do. I have already surpassed him!"
Red light flashed as a steel behemoth descended beside Welt. He looked down proudly at the Valkyrie before him, his clouded eyes now containing only madness.
"...You're insane." Crushed to the ground by the massive pressure, Bronya struggled to fire a shot, but this was undoubtedly like throwing an egg at a rock. The massive war machine casually opened fire, and that missile was instantly shattered.
"I'm not insane. I conquered the world."
"This is my own power, my own belonging, my own ideals..."
"This... is the real me."
As the mad and brutally violent words fell, the screen immediately went black.
"Is this... over?" Stelle touched the goosebumps that had been scared out of her and still felt somewhat unsatisfied.
How to describe this strange feeling? It was like the helpless feeling of seeing your own elder wearing women's clothing and dancing at a competition.
It was both hard to keep a straight face and yet you wanted to keep watching.
"So Mr. Welt had this kind of personality before?" Dan Heng held his chin with one hand, seemingly contemplating something.
As for March 7th...
"My goodness, that was so cool!"
At this moment, her eyes were shining as she continuously tried to replicate the poses she had just learned from the screen, showing no trace of her initial resistance to the so-called villain.
March 7th pushed her non-existent glasses and held her head high, trying to recreate a certain classic famous scene, but no matter how she tried, she felt something was missing.
So she planned to start learning from a master as soon as she returned, but before that...
"Stelle, Dan Heng, when we get back, come with me to find Uncle Yang, okay? I have questions I want to ask him."
After watching Uncle Yang's transcendence declaration, March 7th was momentarily a bit afraid to face this former villain alone.
Although she knew Uncle Yang would definitely not hurt her, it was like being afraid to go to the bathroom alone after watching a horror movie - even though you know it's impossible, you're still scared.