"And you? Are you going to stay here to help?"
Kiana asked curiously.
She had almost lost her life just now.
Was Robin planning to continue staying here, or leave Kasbelina-VIII and return to Penacony?
"..."
Robin's reaction was a little unusual. Her smile faded, and a complex emotion flickered in her eyes.
"I don't really know what to do."
Her answer surprised Kiana. That didn't sound like sothing Robin would say.
Had she been hurt and fallen into a low mood—perhaps even doubting herself—so she didn't know what to do anymore?
Kiana didn't know what to say either.
"Maybe you should leave?"
After thinking about the current state of this world, Kiana said, "So things can't be solved with good intentions alone..."
Then she suddenly rembered what she had done in Izumo. Her heart sank for a mont, and her words trailed off.
"Right, I told you before that those monsters spread because of war, didn't I?"
She quickly adjusted her tone and asked, "Did you tell anyone else about that?"
"...I did."
Robin looked even more downcast.
She had just started to recover, her face no longer pale—but now she lowered her head again, listless.
"Tch."
Kiana frowned unhappily. "Then you should all the more leave. No one can save a fool determined to die."
Robin hesitated, pursed her lips, and finally said nothing. She forced herself to smile faintly and said, "Sorry for making you worry about ."
"Didn't you worry that I'd face trouble in Bury City too?"
Yes, that's what friends do—they worry about each other.
Robin's expression softened a little.
"Yeah, you stayed in there for so long."
"There was just so much to research. Honestly, the ti we spent was short. Anyone else would've needed a year or more to find anything aningful. Ruan is a real genius. And being in that environnt brought back a lot of old mories for ."
"Will the disaster in Bury City keep spreading?" Robin asked.
"It shouldn't."
Kiana paused. She didn't want her own situation to beco public knowledge. Ruan's words had made perfect sense, and her ti in Izumo had taught her a painful lesson.
She herself was a walking disaster.
No matter her intentions, once things spiraled out of control, she would always beco the first to be blad—the one under suspicion.
"The energy's activity has already peaked. It should gradually decline from now on."
"Really?" Robin's eyes brightened with relief. "That ans the civilians won't be caught in the crossfire anymore."
"It's true. The energy levels will drop, but the monsters won't disappear entirely. Soone still needs to wipe them out."
That wasn't bad news.
But Robin's joy lasted only a few seconds before a thought struck her. Her expression clouded again, her face filling with worry.
She frowned slightly and murmured, "In that case... the IPC..."
At the ntion of the Interastral Peace Corporation, Kiana perked up her ears and asked curiously, "The IPC? Why bring that up?"
Robin stayed silent for a long while before sighing. "I only found out two days ago. The IPC's planning to take over this planet—not through cooperation... but by buying it."
"Buy it?!"
This wasn't so unclaid planet—tens of billions of humans lived here.
Wars had broken out over its ownership. Countless lives were lost for the right to decide this world's fate.
"Since you weren't here, let tell you what's been happening lately. Once you hear it, you'll understand."
"After the disaster in Bury City and the discovery of that new energy source, the IPC reassessed Kasbelina-VIII. They suspect that the energy appearing in Bury City might have co from an Aeon—an unknown Aeon."
Fwip.
"An unknown Aeon?"
Kiana's face shifted slightly.
Robin said seriously, "That's what the IPC believes. It doesn't belong to any known Path."
"Mm. Go on."
"...Rember the day we first arrived here, when we were attacked? The investigation's finished—the ones who attacked us were actually rebels supported by the IPC."
Kiana was slightly surprised, but when she thought about how greed was part of human nature, it no longer seed that shocking.
Robin's face darkened, filled with disappointnt toward humanity. "There are many reasons for it, and... I can't even say they were entirely wrong."
"There's no need to dwell on it. We stand on different sides—there's no reason to view things from their perspective."
Over a year of amnesia had taught Kiana many things. The biggest change was how much she had learned from Ruan i—how to think like her.
"You're right. Our positions differ, and there's no point agonizing over this."
"The IPC used this as an excuse to abandon the rebels and strike a deal with the local army. The local forces are preparing to sell Kasbelina-VIII's ownership to the IPC. And the money from selling it..."
Robin stopped mid-sentence.
She didn't have to finish for the rest to be clear. The nobles who took the money would never stay on Kasbelina-VIII.
"The IPC really has guts."
Kiana finally understood what was happening. The IPC appeared to be a benefactor, but in truth, it was the root cause of the chaos engulfing Kasbelina-VIII.
The war itself had been fueled by the IPC from behind the scenes—to seize Kasbelina-VIII with minimal cost and secure the cooperation they desired.
There must be countless worlds like this one.
The IPC wasn't in a hurry. Worlds like this would eventually fall into their trade network sooner or later. They had all the ti in the universe to wait.
Originally, that had been the plan.
But the appearance of the Honkai had stirred suspicion. The IPC believed it might be a trace left behind by an unknown Aeon.
That alone was enough to draw their attention.
So they shifted from cooperation... to acquisition.
The war on Kasbelina-VIII was nothing more than one of the IPC's thods—a tool to achieve the partnership it sought.
"So now I don't know what to do."
Robin lowered her head, her voice lost and uncertain. "If all of this was caused by the IPC... if the good deeds are done by the IPC, and the war is also driven by the IPC, then everything I've been doing... does it really an anything?"
She realized she had been far too naive.
If her brother were here, he would have seen through all of this imdiately. Unlike her—who only understood once everything had already surfaced.
Her heart felt heavy.
"It does an sothing."
Seeing how dejected she was, Kiana took Robin's hand and looked at her with firm, sincere eyes. "Believe —what you're doing matters."
"The people you've helped care about you—and you care about them too. The reason I ca with you here is because I share your beliefs."
"See? So many people care about the sa things as you do. How could it possibly be aningless?"
"...You agree with my beliefs?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Kiana smiled helplessly. "You don't really think I ca here just to watch the show, do you?"
"No, no, I didn't think that!"
"That's good then. I ca because I agree with your desire—to do sothing for those who need help."
Kiana continued, "So don't think that way. The IPC is the IPC. You are you. Their actions are their own—different people will see them differently."
With Kiana's reassurance, Robin's mood finally lifted. "I understand. I won't keep brooding over it. Thank you, Kiana."
"But it looks like I'm no longer needed here. The IPC's already sending a lot of people. This planet will soon be under their control."
She hadn't expected things to end this way—but even so, this trip hadn't been aningless.
She had witnessed the IPC's true thods.
And she had t a friend like Kiana.
...And gained so unforgettable mories.
"Let them do as they please."
Kiana shook her head. "The energy reactions here will fade over ti. The IPC might have geniuses, but there aren't many who can compare to Ruan. They won't figure much out."
Ruan i truly was a genius—and with the Herrscher of Finality herself assisting her, no other researcher could hope for such a privilege.
Speaking of which, had Welt boarded the Astral Express by now? She couldn't help but wonder how he'd react to the Honkai appearing again.
"Ruan? Your friend sounds like quite the scientist."
"Mhm, she's incredible. Her na's Ruan i—mber #81 of the Genius Society, specializing in life sciences."
Two characters who had never crossed paths in the ga now knew each other because of her. The thought made Kiana feel oddly sentintal.
"She's a mber of the Genius Society?"
Robin looked at her with surprise. She hadn't expected the 'Ruan' Kiana ntioned to be a Genius Society scholar.
Every mber of that organization possessed intellect far beyond human comprehension. Though Robin didn't know much about them, she had naturally heard of their reputation.
She could at least imagine what that ant.
"Well, you're a famous singer in the universe yourself."
Kiana rubbed her chin in mock seriousness. "So even if I'm just a nobody, I sure have great taste in choosing my friends!"
Robin couldn't help but laugh. "You're amazing too, Kiana."
Amazing?
Kiana didn't think so. Aside from being a walking calamity, what else was there to praise about her?
She smiled faintly but said nothing.
It was enough that she knew her own heart.
"I've decided—I'll be leaving Kasbelina in a few days too."
"Good idea. The IPC's done this plenty of tis before. They have their own system for resettling the survivors."
Kiana said, "Here, the IPC holds absolute power. Compared to them, we're just small figures—there's nothing we can do."
Robin nodded, then seed to rember sothing. She looked at Kiana again. "The place you're heading to... is Euphorion, right?"
"Yeah, that's right. Why?"
Robin hesitated before lowering her voice. "I looked into that region a few days ago. It's quite close to IX."
Nihility...
To most people, it was sothing to be avoided at all costs.
"You've been researching that place?"
Kiana suddenly felt awkward—guilty, even. Only now did she realize she was still holding Robin's hand. Embarrassed, she let go and stepped back slightly. "Sorry, I haven't been honest with you. My amnesia—it was caused by Nihility's influence. I'm actually a Self-Annihilator."
Robin saw her trying to pull away and quickly grabbed her hand again. "I already suspected as much—and I don't care who you are."
She had always chased her dreams and t many people along the way—but those she could truly call friends...
Were few.
For as long as she could rember, the one always by her side had been her brother. No matter what she wanted to do, he would support her unconditionally.
But a brother was still a brother—a family mber.
There were so troubles, so feelings, that couldn't be shared with him.
"...I might be even more dangerous than you think."
Since Robin had brought it up, Kiana couldn't keep hiding it.
She didn't ntion anything about being a Herrscher or the Honkai, but she didn't avoid warning Robin, in vague terms, about her own dangerous nature.
Robin didn't let go of her hand. "But we're already friends, aren't we?"
"I'm not just a Self-Annihilator—I'm sothing even more dangerous. Didn't the IPC say that the energy here might co from so Aeon? If that's true, then... I might count as Their ssenger."
Kiana spoke softly, as though confessing a sin. "A ssenger who could bring calamity at any mont."
"That doesn't matter."
Robin shook her head. "We're friends now, aren't we? Friends shouldn't care about such things."
Kiana was silent for a mont before sitting back down with a faint smile. "...As long as you don't mind."
"I don't."
Robin added firmly.
Then she continued, "You said you rembered another friend waiting for you there? But that place is near the Aeon of Nihility. Are you sure your friend is still there?"
"She should be... I think."
"Oh, right, Robin—have you ever heard the na Acheron?"
"Acheron?"
Robin thought for a mont, then shook her head just like Ruan i had. "Sorry, I haven't heard that na before."
"Then what about Raiden i? Or Sirin?"
She suddenly rembered that Sirin had been with i. If i was still alive, then Sirin and the others might be too.
If Project Ark had succeeded, there should still be quite a few survivors from Izumo, right?
"Sorry, I haven't heard of any of the people you ntioned," Robin said apologetically.
"It's fine. Maybe they never left Euphorion. It's normal you haven't heard of them."
That faint hope vanished—but Kiana knew she still had to go to Euphorion, to retrace her path through Izumo if she wanted to find them.
"Euphorion... what kind of place is it, exactly?"
"I don't really know."
Kiana scratched her head awkwardly. "Honestly, I don't even know where Euphorion is."
"It was Ruan who found unconscious and amnesiac in Euphorion and brought back. She was also the one who told that if I wanted to find my past, I'd have to return there."
"But Kiana, didn't you say you've already rembered everything?"
"I have, but apart from Izumo, the farthest I've ever gone is Takamagahara. I've never traveled between galaxies before. I don't know much about Euphorion—but I can tell you the story of Izumo instead."
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