482 Toward a Brand-New Tomorrow

The storm of Honkai energy slowly faded away.

The blazing fire feathers, crimson lightning that streaked across the sky, and the razor-sharp ice crystals—

All of it vanished in an instant, dissipating along with the storm, leaving only tranquility in its wake.

The dark clouds parted, and sunlight poured through the long-overcast sky.

What was once shrouded in the darkness of Honkai energy now revealed a sky as blue and pure as crystal-clear water.

The violent presence of Honkai had vanished without a trace.

The destructive storm condensed by Otto had now transformed—along with Otto himself—into countless beautiful crimson petals that danced in the sky…

Carried by a gentle breeze, the blood-red petals fluttered across the sky like a rain of blossoms, replacing the earlier storm of fire with a scene of breathtaking splendor.

Finally, as the petals slowly descended, the entire battlefield looked as though it had been captured in a magnificent masterpiece.

In that moment, everyone instinctively lowered their weapons.

They knew—the war was over.

This world, this world that had lived under the shadow of the Honkai, was now stepping into a future unlike anything before.

A new future. A bright one. A future brimming with hope…

‘Ssshh...’

Smoke still curled from a charred arm.

Kagura let her scorched right arm fall to her side before collapsing to the ground with a soft thud, letting out a long sigh.

[Core Energy Remaining: 2%]

“Phew… Mmmgh… That was way too close…”

The silver-haired girl let out a wry smile.

“Geez… If it weren’t for those two 'Taixuan' punches from Immortal Fu Hua, this beauty here wouldn’t be in such a mess right now!”

Right now, Kagura was a wreck—her "White Moon" combat suit barely clinging to her in tattered strips.

She had used nearly all of the suit’s material for emergency matter-energy conversion, just to keep her "health bar"—her core energy—from dropping to zero.

Normally, her body wouldn't consume core energy anymore.

But using the full power of the Infinity Stones to "snap her fingers" still cost her a whopping 50% of her core energy.

And that energy was what tethered her to the Soul Stone—her very life force. If the core energy hit zero, Kagura would lose her "living state"—in other words, she’d die.

That’s why, with only 20% left just moments ago, she had sacrificed her entire outfit for the energy needed to perform the Snap—just enough to defeat Otto without dying on the spot.

“Well… it was miserable, sure, but at least…”

She looked up, eyes landing on the group of girls ahead of her, smiling softly as she saw Miss Fu Hua regaining consciousness.

“…at least the people I care about made it back to this ship safe and sound. And this world… it’s going to be one worth looking forward to.”

————————————————————————

Three days later, aboard the floating battleship Hyperion

“You’re already heading back to your original world, Kagura?”

On the bridge, Himeko looked at Kagura, who had come to say goodbye.

“You sure you don’t wanna stick around a few more days? The Hyperion’s so quiet right now, we could throw a party anytime!”

“Yeah, even if you took a little vacation here, it wouldn’t be a big deal for the folks back in your world, right?”

Kagura chuckled and replied, “Thanks for the offer, Himeko, but no need!”

“In terms of time, there’s no problem at all. My world and this one move at different speeds, so however long I spend here won’t affect anything over there.”

“But you know… everything major in this world has pretty much settled down. There won’t be any huge crises for a while. So I figured—why not haul back all the data and ‘souvenirs’ I collected for a proper analysis?”

“Aaahhh! Just thinking about it gets me excited! I can’t wait any longer—so I’m heading back right away! Ehehe!”

In the Honkai world, Kagura had gathered an overwhelming amount of technology and research samples.

She had complete records of Honkai energy, from the smallest Honkai beast to observations of Herrschers at every level—everything except the true Final Herrscher.

She had collected it all.

In addition, she’d cataloged every known application of Honkai energy: the engines and weapon systems of floating battleships, Honkai-powered shielding tech, detailed specifications of combat mechs, and every form of Honkai-infused weaponry.

Naturally, she hadn’t skipped the famed Valkyrie battlesuits either—the so-called "Godslayer" armors.

From archived suits aboard the Hyperion, to unreleased prototypes held by Schicksal, she had analyzed them all—down to the last detail.

Even the legendary Divine Keys didn’t escape her data sweep!