Chapter 52: Homecoming

"Ouch!" "Ah!" "Hmm..."

On the plaza of the St. Fontaine, a group of people descended from the sky. Despite the assistance of the "Moon Ring" auxiliary device, the suddenness of the spacetime travel caused them to crash together.

Adam was pinned at the bottom, with Carole, Timido, Bronya, and Raiden Mei above him. Finally, Lyle, who fell down last, bounced off the pile and rolled to the side.

As for Welt Yang, the former Anti-Entropy Lord, he was indeed knowledgeable and remarkably agile. He descended gracefully, dressed neatly, and floating down with his cane.

"Ugh... buddy, you okay... ah..."

Lyle rubbed his hair, looking up to find Adam's figure. Instead, he saw Carole propped up on her hands, accidentally flipping everyone above her to the side.

The silver-haired girl and the black-haired boy covered their mouths in the same manner, faces flushed, almost steaming.

Carole's eyes spun in circles. "Oops... bumped into... the senior..."

"Carole... I didn't mean to..." Adam stuttered.

"It's... it's okay... was going for something more formal..." Lyle tactfully turned away, helping the two captains and Timido up from the ground.

"...Mei, did you hear what Void Archives said?"

Bronya rubbed her wrists, feeling unusually tired from the continuous shooting.

"I heard. How come he suddenly seemed like a different person... Not only kindly sending us back but also interested in giving us a star map of the Sky People? He even revealed the location of the Sky People's Factories here..."

Raiden Mei also looked somewhat disheveled. She pulled out her sword, inspecting its blade, which had dulled from battles with the St. Fontaine and the mechanical monsters.

After arriving in Kolostein, Mei primarily used her remaining Herrscher powers in the high-Honkai energy environment, so the damage to her sword wasn't much.

"Just the barrier of the St. Fontaine, and those imaginary numbers and quantum intrusions... wait, what's that?!"

Bronya looked in astonishment as a massive energy cannon hit the barrier, as if another sun had risen from the ground. Amidst the howling wind and the sound of shattering glass, an aerial battleship crashed through!

"Hyperion! It's the Hyperion!"

Timido exclaimed excitedly, watching the steel behemoth. Though she had recently boarded a different timeline's Hyperion, it didn't feel the same to her... After all, it wasn't her "home" where the legendary battleship had earned its merits during the Honkai!

At this point, Adam and Carole seemed to have finally recovered a bit. The two of them helped each other up, smiling somewhat sheepishly.

"Hiss... Bronya... hiss... Mei, please respond!"

"Bishop! This is Bronya! Everyone here is safe!"

"Great! Finally, we've managed to get in touch with you! Earlier, I completely lost your signal... Stay where you are, reinforcements are on their way! I'll be there in no time!" Theresa said firmly, but the attentive Raiden Mei and Bronya detected a slight tremble and wavering in her voice.

"Alright, alright, Overseer, we're all fine here, aren't we..." Big Duck consoled softly.

"Stop! I'm currently on the bridge of the Hyperion..." Before Theresa could finish, a clear laugh came through the communication channel.

"No laughing! The next operation is very dangerous. You can laugh all you want when you get back!" Carole rubbed her cheeks, sighing, "I never thought I'd see Captain Bronya and Bishop Theresa when they were young and immature..."

"Yeah..."

The shadow of the floating warship gradually enveloped everyone. Subsequently, the ship's searchlights were turned on, and a series of combat personnel descended from the sky with various equipment, establishing a temporary camp in the plaza.

The group received treatment from the medical department, watching their busy compatriots around them, finally relaxing after a long time.

Sharp-eyed Lyle noticed a figure and exclaimed in surprise, "Overseer, how did you get here..."

"Ah... as long as you're all safe..." Theresa Apocalypse rubbed her eyes and flashed a bright smile.

------

Luo Lin strolled along the crimson corridor, accompanied by the somewhat awkward Seele Vollerie.

"Um, sorry... I didn't know the other me would exaggerate so much when she said she couldn't control herself..." Seele scratched her cheek, unsure where to look.

Just now, Void Archive also threw Seele into this passage that leads home, but the one who logged in at that time was Veliona. As soon as she saw Luo Lin, she rushed over, like an octopus, using both hands and feet to entangle the girl.

Luo Lin acted decisively, using close combat techniques derived from Kaslana's gun fighting skills to quickly throw Veliona into disarray. Seele took the opportunity to push Veliona off the line, clapping her hands in surrender.

"...Sorry, big sister Luo Lin..."

"Although in a sense I understand you didn't mean it... but..."

You know, close combat inevitably involves physical collisions. Although Seele looks small, she's actually the orphanage's favorite. After Bronya came, she even occasionally gave her extra meals, so she grew up quickly...

Luo Lin's fingers trembled involuntarily, seemingly reminiscing about something. She quickly straightened her clothes and concealed the blush on her face.

She sighed, "This is too exciting for a young girl like me..."

"What's exciting?" Seele tilted her head, innocently staring at the girl, making her conscience undergo severe questioning.

"Nothing... uh, we're here."

The journey through the worlds seemed to only take a few minutes, but Luo Lin knew everything was thanks to that golden cube...

The girl held the dice-sized Revelation Key in her hand, then looked back at the way they came.

The passage made of red energy gradually collapsed and disappeared.

"It's time to go back... Seele? Why do you look so pale?"

Seele gently touched the golden branch, but her hand was suddenly flung away.

She bit her lip and whispered, "It seems like... the world is rejecting me..."

"Ah?!"