pertwk Chapter 37 The Legacy of the Herrscher of Reason
Chapter 37 The Legacy of the Herrscher of Reason
The moment Bronya caught the core of the Herrscher of Reason, the core involuntarily merged into Bronya's body.
The moment she merged into it, Bronya's consciousness was instantly pulled into the core of the Herrscher of Reason.
The moment her consciousness was pulled into the core, Bronya thought she would see light.
No.
It's gray.
A blanket of dust.
She stood amidst ruins, the sky a scorched color, the ground littered with broken stones and twisted metal.
The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.
Berlin, 1952.
Bronya saw shadows, three hundred thousand shadows wandering in the ruins.
Their mouths were moving, but Bronya couldn't hear anything.
She tried her best to listen.
I heard that.
The thoughts of 300,000 people at the last moment flooded Bronya's chest like a tidal wave, making her want to curl up in coldness.
She didn't know these people.
"This is what the core of the Herrscher of Reason embodies."
A voice came from behind.
Bronya turned around immediately after hearing the sound, and when she turned her head, she saw a boy.
He stood amidst the ruins, dressed in old-fashioned clothes, his eyes devoid of youthful innocence, only a weariness she couldn't comprehend.
"What the Lawholder of Reason bears is never power, but weight."
Bronya looked at his face, and she was certain she had never seen him before, but a name flashed through her mind immediately.
"...Joachim?"
The boy did not answer; he turned and walked deeper into the ruins.
Bronya's feet followed unconsciously.
The scene changed.
Bronya saw the Second Honkai Impact, and she saw the Second Herrscher.
The video continued.
She saw the long years.
Bronya thought she was going to fall, but she didn't.
Gradually, the scene before me began to look familiar.
That was everything she experienced at St. Freya Academy.
Chen Feng was drinking porridge, and she sat beside him, turning her head to look at the bacon on Kiana's plate.
Kiana protectively held onto her bacon like a mother hen, then ate it in one bite.
Bronya didn't say much, but silently picked up the bowl of white porridge in front of her and took a sip.
In the next scene, Chen Feng is training with Fu Hua on the training field, while Mei waits for him silently with a glass of water in her hand.
These are all part of their daily routine.
But what followed was completely unfamiliar to her.
Scenes I had never seen before and had never been in my memory came into view.
Scene after scene, one image after another.
Footage of gunshot wounds on the USS Hyperion.
His forced smile appeared on his face in Sky City.
The image shows a man with a full head of white hair standing in front of Kevin, confronting him.
Bronya's fingers began to tremble.
But the video continues.
She saw herself, or rather, her future self.
She stood beside Chen Feng, her eyes devoid of any affection or love, but rather filled with a profound sense of humility—a simple wish that he was still there.
At that moment, she finally understood why her future self cared so much about him.
It wasn't because he did anything earth-shattering, but because he was always there for them whenever they needed him.
He never said anything fancy; he just proved he was there through his actions.
The image freezes.
Bronya saw Chen Feng's back, and he turned around and said something to her with a smile.
She couldn't hear the words, but she knew what they were; she had heard them in her future self's ears.
"Wait for me to come back."
Then the screen darkened.
The next scene showed her his body.
He just lay there quietly, no longer speaking.
Bronya's tears finally fell.
She stood in that void, looking at the cold corpse, trembling all over.
She wanted to walk over, but her feet felt like they were nailed to the ground.
"Is this...the future?"
"This is everything I've been through, and this is the future you might experience."
Bronya appeared beside her, and the two stood next to the corpse.
Her expression was calm, but Bronya noticed that her hands were clenched tightly.
"But none of these are predetermined."
Bronya looked at her future self, and her lips moved slightly.
"...Why didn't you stop him?"
The future Bronya remained silent for a long time.
"Because Bronya couldn't stop him."
The erosion of consciousness began, and a feeling of despair that made one want to give up everything surged from all directions, trying to take over Bronya's mind.
She heard a voice.
"You can't save him."
You can't save anyone.
"Give up."
Bronya's body began to grow cold.
Then she heard another voice.
Three hundred thousand people whispered in her ear.
It is the voice of those who have lived, loved, struggled, and ultimately chose to leave everything to those who come after them.
These voices were not noisy; they were like a wall, firmly suppressing the crumbling consciousness that was about to encroach.
Bronya clenched her fist, raised her head, and looked at her future self.
"Can Bronya be changed?"
Bronya looked at her, a relieved and gentle smile on her face.
"sure."
"Everything you are doing now is making up for the regrets I once experienced."
"So the first step is for you to become a Lawyer of Reason."
Bronya closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, all the hesitation in them had vanished.
She wasn't the strongest, but she knew what she was capable of.
She didn't want to relive those scenes.
The Herrscher core is activated at this moment.
The consciousness of 300,000 people whispered in her ear, and her body changed.
She sensed all of this, but she didn't immediately try to control it.
Because she had one more thing to do.
She wants to suppress the memories of what she will see in the future.
After learning of the other party's decision, Bronya did not refuse.
Are you sure?
Bronya didn't want to know too much.
Bronya's voice was calm. "Bronya is afraid that if she knew the ending, she wouldn't dare to change it."
She looked up at her future self.
"Bronya only needs to remember two things."
Which two items?
"His smile when he left."
"The image of him standing still when we came back."
The future Bronya looked into her eyes and remained silent for a long time.
She then nodded.
The will of 300,000 people transformed into a beam of light and surged into Bronya's mind.
The images gradually faded to black, frame by frame, as if someone had pressed the pause button.
Most of it was suppressed to the deepest part of her consciousness, so much so that even she herself couldn't find it.
Only two images remain.
Chen Feng turned around, smiled, and said, "Wait for me to come back."
Chen Feng lay there, no longer speaking.
Bronya clenched her fists.
"...That's enough."
The moment she opened her eyes again, the core of the Herrscher of Reason was fully activated.
A brilliant blue light erupted in this sea of quantum light, illuminating the faces of everyone present.
Upon sensing this immense power, Chen Feng, who was confronting Kevin, couldn't help but turn around. He looked at Bronya, who was gradually transforming into the Herrscher of Reason, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his bleeding lips.
You succeeded, Bronya.