Cultivating in Honkai! Chapter 219: Different Choices, Same Ending

The impressions with ultimate attacks are their one-ti use. It could not be used again for the second ti.

‘I hope he falls for it.’

Countless deductions appeared in Shi Tian’s mind. His [Encompassing Eyes] worked wonders to achieve short bursts of clairvoyance. He could, to a certain extent, predict Kevin’s next move. Although, it is sotis inaccurate due to Kevin’s Finality.

‘This went a lot easier than I thought. He’s already in his final struggle.’

Originally, Kevin was supposed to be a formidable enemy. However, the lack of Judgent of Shamash gave him a weakness. He could not unleash Finality’s power steadily due to a lack of power source. Coupled with the evolved Blade Mantra’s ultimate attack, used with the enhanced Shamash, forced him to summon the STIGMA shield earlier than he planned.

He let go of Kiana and stared at Deliverance Kevin from the distance. A barrier protected him from their ultimate attack. It was the sa STIGMA shield that seed invulnerable in-ga.

Shi Tian peered through space and ti and saw the current situation within the Project STIGMA space.

‘It’s done!’

“Bronya!”

“Da.”

She patted Seele’s shoulder before disappearing. The latter glared at Kevin with obvious frustration.

‘Don’t. We need to buy more ti.’

Shi Tian's voice rang inside her head.

‘I can let her out now.’

‘Go.’

Kevin, who saw everything transpire and attempted to recover behind the STIGMA barrier, was stunned to see a new arrival in this battlefield. mories returned to him as his gaze turned cold. It is none other than the Herrscher of the End, the sa being who nearly wiped out the Flachasers.

Kevin noticed the Herrscher’s apparent obedience and was surprised.

“Seeing you now ans I won.”

The Herrscher remarked as she stared at him.

“...You won.” He replied. “But it will be different now.”

“Indeed.”

The Herrscher of the End’s manifestation stemd from Seele and Veliona. Their current strength only allows her one full-powered blow before their quantum entanglent gets forcefully ended.

She no longer spoke as she pointed her fingertips at him.

Bzzt-!

A ray of light went straight to Kevin. It went past the STIGMA barrier and struck him on the shoulder.

‘..!’

He could feel his control over the honkai diminishing. The barrier he put up was forcibly broken down.

He felt all of his relevant Herrscher Authorities, save for Ti and Void, beco inactive. It interrupted Kevin’s recovery, making it harder for him to regain his strength.

The Finality fragnt he bore is a source of power, but it is also a hot potato that is swiftly killing him. He is not a Herrscher. He is forcefully taking control of it, which causes unimaginable damage to his body.

The cost of it was Seele’s and Veliona’s being knocked unconscious.

Shi Tian caught them in ti and teleported them back to Earth. His raw capabilities as a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator allowed him to do so with ease.

Soon, he t Kevin’s gaze.

“There are a lot of ways it could have gone down.”

Shi Tian spoke as he gave him a knowing look. Kevin understood it. He could have been defeated right after the STIGMA barrier collapsed. Yet, Shi Tian took the ti to talk with him.

He gazed further away and saw a huge battleship headed to their side. Kevin saw the Project STIGMA network they built get destroyed. Its remnants are housed by this battleship, the Moonlight Throne.

With Bronya at its helm, it can gather the will of humanity from parallel worlds, thereby breaking his STIGMA barrier down. This level of preparedness thoroughly crushed Kevin.

It was a complete, utter defeat.

“Did you prepare for sothing else?”

Kevin suddenly asked this question.

“Yes. Nihility. One of the Aeons outside this world. Their gaze is about to land on Earth.”

Shi Tian spoke of the chilling matter calmly.

“The Cocoon of Finality held a tight grasp over the solar system. But, it can be overpowered by Nihility if they wanted it.”

Good news: IX represents Nihility. Their inaction is their way of life.

Bad news: Nihility doesn’t need any purpose to pull off random stunts every now and then.

“Can you deal with it?”

“Yes.”

Shi Tian was pretty straightforward in this regard.

“As long as you trust us, we can.”

“...”

Kevin’s montary silence turned into a sigh. His Deliverance Form was replaced by his normal look. A dazzling “light” floated on top of his hand. It held no fixed form as it turned into a variety of things.

Chickens, fish, clocks, cogs, flas, clouds…

The re sight of it sent Shi Tian into a daze. An extrely familiar sensation struck him hard. Chills were sent down his spine as he ca to a realization.

‘No wonder it’s called Finality!’

Far beyond Earth lay the gods known as “Aeons”. They preside over a certain path (i.e. concept) and govern all related phenona to it. Their gaze is as vast as the Imaginary Tree’s range.

At first, the Cocoon of Finality was dismissed as sothing lower than Aeons. It was unrelated to the Aeon of Finality. That was the way things went when Shi Tian died.

However, the abnormality of this world began to cause doubts. It started with the temporal dinsion’s abnormality. The Past and Future are covered in fog, yet deductions about the Present remain the sa.

‘It was the Imaginary Tree. Its ability as a ‘server’ shrouded the real Past and Future of this world. The reason behind it… I have a feeling it lies here.’

He looked down and saw the growing connection between him and the Stigma Space he threw back in the Imaginary Space. The Cocoon of Finality’s fragnt and Nihility’s traces resonated in an extrely bizarre way.

‘The final trailer I saw was the four paths to Finality.’

It was said that four Aeons will lead the world to Finality. They, willingly or not, act right under the influence of Finality.

The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook.

The Aeon of Nihility, IX.

The Aeon of Voracity.

The Aeon of Rembrance, Fuli.

Then, there was the seemingly unrelated Cocoon of Finality. Turns out, it was actually related to them!

At least, the resonance between Nihility and the Cocoon is there.

Shi Tian suppressed the growing unease in his heart.

“Take over as the Herrscher of Finality first. I need to do sothing.”

His sudden declaration stunned Kiana. This was not within their plans.

“Finality… its direct presence caused so trouble on my side. I want to bring the bomb sowhere else just to be safe.”

She understood what he ant. He never bothered to hide his troubles regarding Nihility. It is a ticking ti bomb that will bring trouble to Earth at any given ti.

“Are you going there?”

“Yes.” Shi Tian replied. “I will leave the Theater as a gateway. If things get worse… I’ll cut it off.”

“Wait for . I will finish this quickly!”

“Of course…”

For a while, he had to stabilize Kiana. The old tricks worked as usual. Kevin was fed with copious amounts of dog food as a result. His mind inevitably flashed back to the mories of his younger self.

Fate robbed him of the ability to normally spend ti with I. Nevertheless, their love remained strong.

'In another life, could we...'

Just like that, humanity's greatest hero t his end.

The two stopped on what they were doing and looked at the place where Kevin once stood, especially Kiana who looked very complex.

"Think of it as resting for a while. We will bring them back later."

Shi Tian's words broke the solemn atmosphere. Kiana's did not feel as sad as before. They already had the plan to reverse ti and bring back the Previous Era. There is also Kiana's mother, Cecilia. Adding Kevin into the mix is not a huge burden to the said plan.

Nonetheless, the emotions brought by Kevin's departure remained. He, who had truly believed of eting his end, showed a sincere expression when rembering his beloved.

"We need to beco stronger to fulfill it."

"Mn..."

Soon, Shi Tian bade farewell. He turned into a streak of light as he entered the imaginary space instantly.

Its infinite distance and unimaginable space made it hard to find sothing without a proper anchor.

Fortunately, Kiana is the Herrscher of the Void. It is not a problem to stabilize the Theater of Domination for a while.

Soon, he found the specific space and stepped onto it.

“No specific ti…”

Every ti Shi Tian used his divination and ford an approximation, he could not see when IX would gaze at him. Even when he burned his lifespan and elevated his aspect of Causality into a Divine Realm, nothing changed.

If he forced his way through, all that leads to it is true death. Such is the result of gazing a God with bare eyes.

Sighing, he exited the divination state. He was brought back to the large Theater.

Only, an extra visitor appeared in Shi Tian’s sight. His pupils narrowed as he looked at the man in disbelief.

‘I didn’t sense him!’

The vast spiritual consciousness of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was aningless. He tried to do it again with Origin and Blade Mantra thrown into the mix, but they also failed.

The vague man in front of him is invisible to the world!

“.tfig suoicerp tsom sti ;uoy ot detnarg ytimilac delbeefne eht dnecsnart tsum uoY”

His murmurs, albeit pure gibberish, did not disappear from his mind.

‘Wait…’