Ashborn Funeral
"Kouro? Sakura? Mobius?"
Higokumaru, who had just woken up, immediately stood up looking at them with a surprised expression.
She also saw the others like Sagaki, Aponia and Shadow.
"What's going on? Didn't... I'm already dead?" Higokumaru muttered with furrowed brows looking at her hands, her body currently felt very weak and cold making her skin pale.
"So that ability did work." Mobius said with a smile but her eyes said the opposite.
Sagaki was standing stiffly staring down, unfortunately Higokumaru did not pay attention to him because she was in a state of strong confusion.
Higokumaru still remembered her last memory when the Herrscher of the End destroyed her Herrscher core.
Wouldn't it have been impossible to resurrect a Herrscher when their core that housed their soul and consciousness had been destroyed?
But now, she was alive again, although a little weak now, she was indeed fully alive and kicking.
'Hm? Wait a moment?'
Higokumaru realized that her body currently lacked a Herrscher's core...
'Doesn't that mean... I was revived as an ordinary person?!'
It was already incredible that she could be revived, but to think that she could be revived as an ordinary person... Who had revived her?
Higokumaru wanted to thank him so she subconsciously turned her head to look at Kouro only to realize that he was crouching down together with Shadow who was hugging Ashborn's body.
'Ashborn? He's here too?' thought Higokumaru with raised eyebrows.
Looking at Ashborn's body that seemed to be in a lifeless state, she vaguely confirmed something so turned her head to look at Sakura.
"What happened?" She asked.
Sakura first looked at Shadow who was hugging Ashborn's body while crying, each teardrop falling down Ashborn's cheeks and sliding to the floor.
"*Hiks*... *Hiks*... I promised... To myself that I would not cry... But! *Hiks*... *Hiks*... I can't help it... *Hiks*... *Hiks*...." Shadow said softly.
Kouro was also beside him crouching down with his head bowed and holding Ashborn's hand tightly while emitting a green aura.
Sparkling tears were falling from Kouro's face and dripping onto the floor.
Sakura then turned back to look at Higokumaru and explained everything in a soft voice.
...
A few minutes later.
After hearing Sakura's explanation, Higokumaru looked at Ashborn with a complicated expression.
She didn't know what to say, Ashborn who was her enemy had revived herself at the cost of his own life...
It was very ironic when Sakura and Higokumaru thought about it.
Kouro and Shadow had stopped grieving, their eyes both looking red, Sagaki was currently holding Ashborn's corpse with a sad expression.
Kouro looked at Ashborn's corpse being carried by his father before saying, "Ashborn-san... His last wish was that he wanted to be buried next to KOURO."
Sagaki nodded in understanding at his words, he turned to look at Aponia and Mobius, they both gave him permission.
After that, Sagaki turned to leave followed by Shadow but before that—
"Wait!... Can I come too?" said Higokumaru, approaching them with the help of Sakura.
Although Ashborn was an enemy of both of them, since he had revived her, she wanted to pay her last respects to him.
Sagaki didn't say anything, just nodded his head before walking back, Kouro helped Higokumaru while healing her, leaving Aponia and Mobius alone in the room.
Mobius and Aponia just stared at them without saying anything, only the sound of their footsteps could be heard before it grew farther and farther away and finally the atmosphere became quiet again.
"Aponia... Is this the future you saw?" Mobius asked coldly.
Aponia was silent for a moment before shaking her head.
"Kouro's arrival made the future uncertain, I've seen countless possibilities that could happen and the current events are the most likely. "
Mobius listened to her words in silence before asking back with a serious expression, "Of the countless possibilities you've seen, is there any possibility where Kouro wins against the Herrscher of Shadows?"
If Kouro was here and heard her words, he would definitely feel very surprised because he really didn't expect that Mobius and Aponia knew that the Herrscher of Shadows was still alive.
This makes the purpose of Project Shadow really questionable since they already knew the Herrscher of Shadows was alive.
Was the Project created before they found out the Herrscher of Shadows was alive... Or was it the other way around?
No one would answer this question.
Aponia who heard her question closed her eyes, she recalled the countless possible futures she had seen.
The ability to see the future was not an ability she acquired after becoming a MANTIS but rather an innate ability from birth.
Although not as powerful as now where she can see various futures, back then she could only see the colors of people's destinies, such as the color black represents death, the color gold represents luck and the color green represents normal.
Everyone had their own color, Kevin and the others had a different destiny than many people.
Kevin had a bright blue star-like destiny that carried the other destinies.
Destiny was very difficult to change and once changed it would bring disaster to many people, Aponia knew this because she had even changed someone's destiny many times.
But there was one thing she could not change, which was the destiny of death.
Usually when she tried to change fate, the future she got was even worse than the original.
Therefore, in the past, she would no longer try to change the destiny and would even defend the destiny from change, even if it meant getting her hands dirty.
But of all the people, there was only one person she saw who had ever escaped the fate of death.
That was KOURO.
Then, since he had escaped from that fate which was absolute, Aponia could no longer see KOURO's fate.
Unfortunately... Kouro was not the same as KOURO.
Aponia opened her eyes again and said out loud.
"Nothing."
Her bleary eyes reflected one of the worst futures she had ever seen.
The sky looked purple-black, the earth looked like it had been reduced to nothing but rubble, countless people had died into dust.
Kevin, Kiana, Mobius, herself, Welt, Shadow, everyone seemed to have become corpses, and were floating in space with their eyes wide open.
Their eyes all reflected Kouro who was being choked by some kind of shadowy humanoid creature, his heart was pierced by the humanoid creature's hand and the Herrscher of Shadows' core was taken by the creature.
Kouro's body was immediately thrown away, his eyes looked completely red with anger, he turned to look at the corpses of Kiana, Mei, Ayame, Durandal and the others.
Kouro gritted his teeth so hard that he broke his own teeth.
He pointed at the humanoid creature with a trembling body, "I will curse you! I will curse you from the depths of hell!"
Those were Kouro's last words before his body turned to dust.
The creature ignored his words and stared at the Herrscher of Shadows' core in its hand.
"Finally... The 'system'... I found it! With this I can rise!" Its voice sounded like a mixture of old men, women, men and children.
The creature's eyes then turned to look at Aponia making her stop looking at the future.
"... With Kouro's death, it only shows one thing."
She turned to look at Mobius before saying.
"The Rise Herrscher of Shadows."
__
A few hours later.
Kouro along with Sagaki, Welt, Higokumaru, Sakura and all the members of World Serpent stared at the new grave next to KOURO's grave.
Kouro was wearing a formal black suit that was often worn when attending someone's funeral, not only that he also wore a black fedora hat and white gloves.
Asborn did not ask for a lavish funeral, he even specifically mentioned to be buried simply.
That's why he was buried with a tombstone that only displayed his name next to KOURO's grave.
Rain fell from the sky, the cherry blossom tree protecting the grave swayed slightly releasing cherry blossom petals and falling on Ashborn's grave.
Several people had left using umbrellas and were expressing their condolences towards Shadow who was kneeling in front of Ashborn's grave with reddened eyes.
He didn't care about the rain soaking his body, instead he was a little relieved because it meant he could cry to his heart's content.
Kouro let his body get soaked and raised his head before pulling his hat down to hide his teary eyes.
A few tens of minutes later, only Kouro, Shadow, Mobius and Grey Serpent remained.
Grey Serpent carried an umbrella to protect Mobius from the rain, his red-colored mechanical eyes staring at Ashborn's grave a little blankly.
As a robot or Cyborg, he did not understand Ashborn's act of reviving someone who intended to kill him.
'Is this what they call being human?' Grey Serpent thought with interest.
Kouro who was standing still then approached Shadow and tapped him on the shoulder.
Shadow turned to look at him with a sad face, Kouro seemed to take something out of his pocket and gave it to him.
Looking at the object he gave him, Shadow's eyes widened slightly.
"Ashborn has entrusted me to give you his mask. Take good care of it."
Shadow took it and stared at the front of the mask, the mask was made of a special metal that was lightweight and not easily damaged, it also did not reflect light when used.
He stared at the white mask before putting it on, he then looked at Ashborn's grave for the umpteenth time and stood up before bowing his head deeply towards Ashborn's grave.
"Thank you for being my teacher, my friend, and most importantly... My father. "
After that he turned around and nodded his head gratefully towards Kouro, he also looked at Mobius and Grey Serpent for a moment before leaving.
Kouro looked at the graves of Ashborn and KOURO before glancing at the nameless grave on the side, out of curiosity, he asked Mobius.
"Whose grave is this next to KOURO's grave?"
Mobius who was wearing black clothes with her face covered by a veil turned her head to follow his gaze.
Staring at the nameless grave, she seemed to pause for a moment before saying, "... That is the grave of KOURO's first love."
"Hm? You mean... Elysia?" asked Kouro innocently.
Mobius shook her head against his words, "Although it was unfortunate, that grave does not belong to Elysia."
"Hoo? What kind of girl was KOURO's first love?" asked Kouro, he could only imagine Himeko from the Previous Era or Eden.
As if she could read his mind, Mobius just shook her head again while sighing, "KOURO's first love was just an ordinary girl."
"It's a pity that the girl died in KOURO's arms because of the Honkai Eruption." she continued softly.
"I see... " Kouro stared at the nameless grave before turning to leave, followed by Mobius and Grey Serpent.
....
The days quickly passed and finally a week had passed.
Night.
[Time remaining: 17 Days]
Kouro stared at the Quest interface with a pensive expression, he was currently in his hotel room and was standing in front of the mirror in a formal black suit.
He was currently preparing to attend a celebration event organized by the Anti-Entropy for humanity's victory over the Herrscher of the End.
Kouro took a comb and combed his white hair back, he also used the authority of [Life and death] to lengthen his hair slightly.
Currently his hairstyle was like John Smith from one of Cid Kagenou's disguises, except that his hair was white and his eyes were a bright purple color.
The impression he gave became a little mysterious and authoritative thanks to his acting skills.
Seeing his appearance, Kouro nodded in satisfaction and before leaving he opened his status interface.
...
Name: Hanagami Kouro
Level: 80
Job: None
Title: Wolf Slayer [+]
[Authority: Death and Life, Ego, Fire, Thunder.]
[HP: 51,000/51,000]
[SP: 21,440/21,440]
Fatigue: 0
Strength: 343 -- > 348
Agility: 270 -- > 275
Vitality: 250 -- > 255
Senses: 250 -- > 255
Intelligence: 250 -- > 255
Honkai: 330 -- > 335
Point(s): 49
....
Kouro had not been lazing around for the past week, he had a few days earlier encountered Sirin who was feeling a little awkward towards people.
Well, this was no surprise after all she had previously created a mess that cost Schicksal dearly.
Fortunately with his help, Sirin no longer felt awkward around people, so Kouro asked her for help in showing him her Gems.
He also had nothing to hide and explained her reasons why he wanted to see the Gems.
Sirin didn't really care and even felt a little warm when Kouro was honest with her.
Unfortunately even after days of trying to use 'Conversion' he only gained the authority of the Gem of Haste and the Gem of Conquest.
It was very difficult because there was only a 1% chance that he could convert another Herrscher authority and that was after not being complicated by Sirin.
Well, it didn't matter, because-
"Kouro! Have you finished dressing? We're going to be late!"
"You'd better hurry!"
Sirin and Bella's voices were heard from behind the door of Kouro's room.
"Yes! In a moment!" replied Kouro.
He took one last look in the mirror and straightened his collar and tie before opening the door.
"Hmph! Are you a girl? Why are you so-"
Sirin with folded hands wanted to vent her frustration only to be mesmerized by Kouro's appearance.
Kouro looked at Sirin in confusion, seeing her dumbfoundedly staring at him.
"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"N-nothing! " Sirin shook her head quickly and turned away to hide her heated face.
'Kyaa! Kouro looks so dashing and handsome!'
Kouro shrugged his shoulders and looked at Sirin and Bella's clothes before complimenting them.
"You girls look charming in those."
Sirin was wearing a purple lace dress with the bottom of the skirt in golden yellow, the back of the dress, at the hips, had a large purple ribbon attached which became a golden striped shawl that floated thanks to her ability.
Her long hair has been neatly combed with a purple hairpin studded with gold-colored gems given to her by Kouro.
Bella was also wearing a similar outfit to her except without the large ribbon and had predominantly blue and white colors.
The unique thing here was that Bella had black colored upward curved horns similar to the ELF Bella in the game.
"Re-really?" asked Sirin shyly while turning around to let Kouro see her appearance.
Kouro nodded honestly with a smile.
He then bowed his head slightly while extending his hand.
"Miss Sirin, will you accompany me tonight?"
Staring at Kouro's hand, Sirin unconsciously smiled happily and took his hand.
"Hmph! Alright, I'll accompany you, but don't get me wrong! I'm accompanying you because you're really pathetic."
After that, the three of them then levitated and then went outside through the balcony of Kouro's room before flying into the moonlit sky.