Honkai: Star Rail — Kamen Rider! Chapter 162: Honkai: Star Rail — Kamen Rider! [162]

"The hidden perk is allowing your loved ones, nearing the end of their lives, to continue existing as moria."

When Jobs said these words, a trace of tenderness flickered between his brows.

He gazed at a family photo held in his hand, lost in thought about sothing.

After the initial shock wore off, Hoshigaki Sora quickly adjusted his mindset.

In another world, perhaps allowing soone dead to continue existing would be extraordinary.

But in this universe, for the dead to remain wasn't sothing all that strange.

After all, this world wasn't just about technology or superpowers—it had Aeons.

If a certain playful god found interest, resurrecting soone on the spot wasn't completely impossible.

Though co to think of it, Sora hadn't heard of Aha ever resurrecting anyone.

Maybe because sothing like that just wasn't amusing enough.

"So in other words, Jobs-san, your reason for being here is..."

Pulling back to the main point, Sora quickly figured out why Jobs had sought him out after ntioning the hidden perks.

"That's right. I ca here because my wife has passed away."

Jobs calmly explained his story to Sora.

Through this conversation, Sora learned about the identity of the man sitting before him.

This director could genuinely be called a winner in life—achieving considerable status within the company from a young age.

He fell in love, got married, and had a child.

Under normal circumstances, this would be an exemplary blueprint for a perfect, successful life.

Yet, ironically, the more his career flourished, the more tragic his family life beca.

His child was later caught up in a calamity, and after losing the child, his wife sank into deep despair and eventually passed away.

Unable to cope, Jobs halted his company's operations entirely, freezing his career at the exact mont his wife died.

He had brought his wife to this place, successfully allowing her to live on here in moria form.

"My beloved can only exist here, on this planet. Once she leaves this high-density moria environnt, she will quickly dissipate."

"But this is enough. I no longer ask for anything more."

The sorrow in Jobs' expression slowly faded, replaced by quiet gratitude.

Sora, sitting opposite, suddenly didn't know what to say.

Whether words of comfort or sothing else, anything he said now would inevitably sound like mockery.

So Sora simply chose silence.

If I say nothing, I can't go wrong.

"I got carried away," Jobs smiled apologetically. "It's all in the past, yet here I am, bringing it all up again. Sorry you had to hear that."

"No worries," Sora replied.

After all, when emotions rose to the surface, anyone would feel compelled to vent them out. Sora understood this kind of feeling perfectly.

They continued talking for a while, and during the conversation, Sora learned more about the previous owner of his mbership.

Augreno was also a director whose family mber was seriously ill. Jobs had seen his own reflection in Augreno, and had even encouraged him:

Losing a career can be reversed, but losing family ans losing everything.

And so Augreno, who later transferred his mbership to Sora, chose to temporarily step away from his work to care for his sick family mber.

The supre-level mbership Sora now enjoyed was Augreno's fallback plan.

"But since he transferred his mbership to you, it seems his family mber's illness was effectively treated," Jobs inferred Augreno's current situation from this small change.

If the illness had not improved, why would anyone willingly give away the chance to reunite with their family?

"Sorry you had to listen to my troubles here."

Under the calming influence of the location, Jobs' emotional state gradually returned to calmness.

"No, it's fine, really. It's just..."

Midway through his sentence, Sora suddenly jumped to his feet, staring sharply into the distance.

He had just sensed a strange fluctuation.

This particular feeling was all too familiar to Sora!

He'd encountered this exact power before—he'd even directly confronted its wielder!

This feeling was…Titania?!

In an instant, Sora identified the source of the power: it was none other than the Propagation larva he'd clashed against before—Titania.

How could this be?

Hadn't Titania already been destroyed?

Sora vividly recalled the scene before he left—it had barely been over a month ago, after all.

Precisely because of that, he was absolutely certain of Titania's death.

That blazing, fla-engulfed planet had burned itself into his mory.

That was Titania's final mont of glory, the proof of her existence.

He had even witnessed Titania's passage into the Stellaron Graveyard with his own eyes. That was an indisputable event.

Otherwise, his body wouldn't have recovered its health so quickly.

Then just now, what exactly was…?

"What's wrong?" Jobs hadn't noticed anything unusual. He stared curiously at the suddenly standing Sora. "Did sothing happen?"

Sora snapped back to reality, suddenly realizing Jobs was still there. "Ah! My friends are calling —sorry, we'll talk later!"

After hastily bidding farewell to Jobs, Sora dashed off in the direction Hotaru was in.

The Iron Cavalry were clones created from Titania's genes. If even Sora had sensed it, they must have felt it, too.

So, he absolutely had to hurry and check on their condition!

Jobs watched Sora's departing figure, his expression slowly shifting back to neutrality.

His eyes narrowed, thoughtful and calculating.

Had Augreno almost finished dealing with his family matters?

When Augreno returned to the company, he'd undoubtedly discover what Jobs had done with his faction.

At that point, he'd surely storm over here, demanding explanations.

The forces beneath these two directors combined would wield trendous influence within the company.

But now, with Augreno about to resolve his family situation, Jobs soon wouldn't be able to leverage Augreno's forces any longer.

As for the young man who'd just left?

From a brief test, he was clearly an idiot—good-hearted, perhaps, but naive and without ambition.

At first, Jobs had worried that Augreno had already caught onto sothing and sent soone over to investigate.

But it appeared that he'd simply given away the mbership.

"As expected of the generous, good-hearted Augreno."

These two truly were cut from the sa cloth.

One dares to speak, and the other dares to believe. Unfortunately, fools had their fortune—he'd inadvertently dodged Jobs' sches this way.

"Ti is short. I'll need to speed things up."

"Wait for . I'll surely bring you all back to life."

Jobs gently placed the family photo near his heart.

Thus, he had to accelerate the progress of his plans!

...

Titania's power fluctuations spread outward instantly, rippling into the boundless void of space.

At this mont, Sora's extraordinary physical abilities burst forth.

He sprinted faster than most vehicles on this planet.

With such speed, he quickly arrived at the deep-imrsion area.

There, many people had just finished their moria baths, chatting leisurely.

"Huh? Sora, when did you co out?" Unkyō asked, startled upon seeing him.

She'd been first out, yet hadn't seen him anywhere.

"Never mind that! Did you feel Titania's power just now?"

Sora urgently asked them.

If Titania could really revive, then these people's bodies were the most likely hosts for her resurrection.

"Huh? No, I didn't," Unkyō shook her head.

Sora swept his gaze to the other Iron Cavalry mbers. As he scanned them, each shook her head in turn, indicating they hadn't felt anything unusual.

"Then did any of you feel sothing off with your bodies?"

"Nope. Maybe you're just overthinking things?"

Was I really just imagining it?

Self-doubt crept into Sora's mind, but he quickly dismissed that thought.

He absolutely hadn't imagined it. That fluctuation had definitely been Titania's.

He'd directly fought against her—no one could fool him about her unique aura.

Even if soone tried to imitate it, they couldn't mimic it perfectly. That breeding power seeking to convert all others into herself wasn't sothing anyone else could fake.

He definitely wasn't mistaken...

So did that an the problem was with these people in front of him?

Sora silently observed his surroundings. The Iron Cavalry chatted cheerfully, their expressions serene, so even wearing gentle smiles. Not one showed any concern about what Sora had just said.

The topic of Titania was brushed off lightly, like discussing breakfast plans in the morning.

This was absolutely abnormal. This feeling was also abnormal.

In a flash, Sora rembered exactly what planet they were on right now.

"Is this the power of Tartaro's Soul Springs?"

This force silently soothing everyone's emotions was truly formidable.

Only Sora—thanks to his [Idealistic Power], fused with danger itself—remained clear-minded here.

If things continued like this...

"Then it might get dangerous."

Titania could potentially revive from anyone at any mont.

He had to resolve Titania's resurgence as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the solution was straightforward.

"As long as you're still on this planet, there's nowhere you can run."

[Planetary Library Connecting: Progress 25%...]

...

At the core of the planet, almost solidified moria was piled densely here.

But unlike the invisible and intangible moria on the surface, the moria here, deep within, was glowing with strange colors.

Those colors seed to possess so mysterious charm—just looking at them made emotions surge uncontrollably upward.

Sorrow, grief, joy, delight…

These were the deepest-buried things, suppressed at the innermost core. Normally, this place would remain completely unchanged.

But today, an uninvited guest had arrived.

A clown mask appeared from the void. Nobody knew how it got here, nor how it bypassed the planet's surface.

It simply appeared, utterly illogically, at the heart of Tartaro, freely moving about as it pleased.

"All the guests are finally here! Aha can't wait for the fun to start!"

He spread open his hands, revealing a golden brilliance.

Wherever that light touched, whether moria or ordinary matter, everything showed signs of transforming into flesh and blood.

This was sothing ordinary people couldn't possibly comprehend, a phenonon beyond the bounds of physics itself.

That was a fragnt of the newly reborn Propagation Aeon's body—rely by existing, it would convert everything around it into replicas, filling the universe endlessly.

The clown mask saw the moria changing under the influence of this divine fragnt and was deeply satisfied.

"Aha really wants to see the new bug and old bug fight it out."

The voice sounded as casual as a child wanting to watch crickets fight.

As the Aeon who sought only amusent, this was exactly the scene Aha desired.

"Who's stronger—the new bug or the old bug?"

He argued like a child comparing insects, yet unfortunately, no one was here to join his discussion.

Not that it mattered, since it was purely one-sided anyway—he simply wanted to entertain himself more thoroughly.

"Hehehe, what will happen next, I wonder? What will happen next?"

Golden light gently poured downward, slowly mingling with the moria around him.

The mask grew happier and happier, the sight increasingly pleasing to his eyes.

"Aha can't wait to see how it'll unfold! Can we speed things up? Can we—"

Mid-sentence, his gaze abruptly shifted toward another spot in the void.

There stood a presence resembling a stone sculpture.

Its hands were clasped as if in prayer, but in the center of its body were two opposing yet interwoven spirals.

Concepts around its body were constantly divided into binary opposites, converting endlessly into one another. Positive and negative emotions swapped places at its will.

Beauty and ugliness, joy and sorrow, good and evil, love and hatred—countless opposing concepts were born and interpreted around it.

Within the universe, there weren't many existences capable of manifesting such miracles.

Fortunately, Aha knew exactly one old friend capable of this.

"Hello, old wooden-head, long ti no see!"

Aha cheerfully greeted the other being, for the presence in the void was indeed his old friend—

The Aeon of Equilibrium, HooH.

Like Aha, it was one of the oldest Aeons. It had dissolved its will into the fundantal logic of the universe, forever maintaining the balance and stability of everything.

It rarely revealed itself openly, and its actions remained undetectable.

Soone once described HooH's actions like this:

"I secretly stole away the golden weights and gloated at the ripples created—but it always saw through my tricks, restoring balance before the stars even noticed."

Silent and imperceptible—this was the perfect description for Aha's old friend.

It would always silently replace missing pieces before anyone noticed, forever upholding universal balance.

Aha had frequently "played" with this old friend in the past, hoping to finally coax a joyful smile from it.

Or, at least, so different expression would suffice.

Unfortunately, all his efforts were effortlessly neutralized.

He'd once simultaneously created black holes across galaxies, aiming to trigger entropy loss—

But sohow, those black holes always got mysteriously sealed off:

Sotis by idle insects taking a random bite; other tis, by a certain brute suddenly smashing down his hamr...

Such outcos made Aha deeply unhappy, and eventually, after eons, he gave up playing with the old wooden-head.

Because he eventually realized his "gas," on so level, actually helped the other achieve equilibrium.

One or two tis were fine—but every single ti? That wasn't fun at all.

Rather than play with old friends, he'd much rather prank the newcors.

These newcors were all such remarkable individuals: talented, amusing speakers. Aha absolutely loved playing with new friends.

One day he'd tease that brainless calculator; the next, annoy the grumpy one who liked blowing up planets like firecrackers…

This lifestyle was vastly more entertaining than playing with the old wooden-head.

Not to ntion he'd just found a new form of entertainnt—pitting two bugs against each other at exactly this mont.

"What's wrong, old wooden-head? Want to join in watching bugs fight?"

Aha's hands moved dramatically as he spoke, but unfortunately, HooH didn't even spare him a glance.

"Equilibrium…"

Its task was simple. In fact, its very appearance here was because sothing had disrupted equilibrium.

As for who exactly that was—did it even need ntioning?

HooH paid no attention to Aha, who continued gesturing dramatically, and instead turned its gaze to the divine body rging with moria.

Since the fallen god's body appeared here, it ant it had a rightful place in the universe.

Yet, its reappearance would pose the greatest threat to universal balance.

HooH's essence was deeply intertwined with the logic of the universe itself, enabling it to perceive all threads within existence.

Thus, it had foreseen a future—

A future dominated by an entity born of moria, one that devoured everything.

With moria as its body, mories beca tools for its propagation.

Anyone who rembered its form would unconsciously start transforming into its replica.

This moria-born existence threatened universal equilibrium, so HooH must intervene.

Aha's concern over the battle between old and new bugs didn't matter at all.

The life and death of insects across the universe also held no aning.

For HooH, the only thing of importance was universal balance.

It was the pinnacle of its Path, the Aeon who embodied balance itself.

Thus, it had arrived to impose restrictions.

"Equilibrium…"

HooH repeated itself. Though it uttered only one word, Aha imdiately understood clearly:

[If you've brought her back, then I'll bring back so others as well…]

Aha clearly saw who these were: the forr top warriors of the previous Propagation Aeon, its personal Emanators:

Starcrusher Swarm King, Calamity Swarm King, Afterglow Swarm King, Phantom Swarm King, Deceiver Swarm King.

As for the Aeon itself, HooH would never revive it.

Doing so would only create greater imbalance, so HooH simply recalled its direct offspring—the Emanators.

A broken god's body would now face the previous Emanators of Propagation.

This was the fairest, most perfect battle imaginable.

"Equilibrium…"

[After this battle, no matter what, the balance of the universe will continue.]

A broken god couldn't face the previous Emanators unhard.

And those Emanators likewise wouldn't fare much better against the broken god.

No matter who won, even if every insect in the universe transford into Titania afterward, it wouldn't matter.

Because at that point, Titania could no longer propagate herself through mory.

Universal equilibrium would be flawlessly preserved, and the universe could continue safely onward.

After hearing his old friend's speech, Aha laughed—wilder and crazier than ever!

The laughter was muffled here, blocked by moria, unable to escape outward.

"Fantastic! Amazing! Old wooden-head, you really are my bestest friend!"

He hadn't imagined the scenario would escalate like this. No entertainnt could possibly surpass this.

Nothing excited Aha more than what might co next!

He was ecstatic, desperate to see what would happen!

HooH truly was his greatest old friend. Indeed, his best partner!

Aha admitted openly, "Old wooden-head, your mastery of entertainnt surpasses even mine!"

HooH did not reply, nor did it linger. Instead, it vanished, setting about realizing the vision it had just presented.

It knew this joyful friend would never back down, so it had to act imdiately.

"Wonderful, wonderful! I can't wait to see the future unfold!"

Aha eagerly gazed upon the divine body gestating amidst negative emotions.

Suddenly, he rembered sothing else:

"That little friend—I wonder what choice he'll make amid all this?"

That strange fellow had beco Aha's latest amusent. Now he was curious about that one's choice!

His gaze shifted toward him, but this ti a silver buckle blocked his view, completely hiding the figure behind it.

"May you not be toyed with by the gods." That blessing, given by soone who wished to save the world, shielded Hoshigaki Sora.

Aha laughed wildly, hysterically delighted.

He couldn't see, and neither could the old wooden-head.

Thus, even HooH knew nothing of this.

So fun! So amusing!

Slowly, Aha vanished from the place, leaving only golden light devouring negative emotions behind.