182 The Core of the Herrscher of Shadow

[71 hours and 56 minutes before Sirin throws 12 more meteors]

The atmosphere became very quiet for a moment after Kouro said that he was from the future

They looked at him strangely as if in disbelief except for Vill-V, Aponia, Ashborn, and Mobius.

Seeing this, Kouro just sighed, he understood their thoughts, moreover, he had no adequate proof that he was from the future.

'Wait! Proof?' Kouro's eyes narrowed slightly, and an object crossed his mind, thinking about it.

He wanted to speak but Ashborn suddenly interrupted him.

"I believe him."

His calm voice echoed throughout the room making everyone turn their attention to him.

Feeling their gazes, he then wordlessly took out Kouro's black mask and placed it on the table.

"Eh?! That mask!" said the hologram girl with a surprised expression, she immediately stood up and rushed to take a closer look at the mask.

Not only the girl, but Mobius was also staring at the black mask intently.

"There's no mistaking it, this mask..." muttered the hologram girl after looking at the mask closely.

"Belongs to KOURO." said Mobius, she then turned to look at Kouro with a hot gaze.

"What year are you from Kouro-kun?" asked Ashborn.

"Ah... I'm from the year 2015." He replied.

"...Although what he said may be true, isn't time travelling impossible?" asked Gray Serpent with his eyes still on Kouro.

'He is indeed right.' Kouro thought with a calm expression.

From what Kouro knew, the basic concept of the Honkai Impact universe began with two inseparable beings, the "Imaginary Tree" and the "Sea of Quanta".

The Imaginary Tree was the origin of life itself, as all universes and bubble universes were born from there. The Imaginary Tree creates countless worlds according to the number of branches and leaves that grow along the river of time.

The "Bubble Universe" itself is a fragmented world that falls from the "Imaginary Tree" into the "Sea of Quanta" that reflects the infinite possibilities of the past, present, and future.

It is also said that one's memory is enough to create a "Bubble Universe" in the "Sea of Quanta."

Of course, there are also artificial Bubble Universes, such as the "Seed of Sumeru", a Bubble universe created by Su to observe other universes.

In general "Bubble Universe" is a reflection of fragments of past, present and future history, it also has a short lifespan because it is unstable, but there are some "Bubble Universes" that are stable because of the "Ether Anchor" but that does not fix the problem of the short lifespan of Bubble Universes.

As for the "Sea of Quanta" itself, it is a place that does not follow contemporary rules.

The Sea of Quanta is not an actual ocean but rather parts of past, present, and future history, which are created into an uncountable number of "Bubble Universes" to form an "ocean".

Since the Sea of Quanta and the Imaginary Tree were the only beings at that time, they ended up competing with each other, the "Tree" absorbing the "Ocean" while the "Ocean" overwhelmed the "Tree".

But growth is balanced by selective and corrective forces-systems in their competition, this is a natural system based on Imaginary mechanics.

The Imaginary Tree develops buds, nurtures buds, and tests buds, before eliminating failed buds to then develop new ones.

The Imaginary Tree tests all the universes that grow from it using "Honkai".

In this case, it means that the Honkai that human civilization fights against is something that cannot be avoided.

The human race of the entire universe created by the Imaginary Tree must forge ahead in resisting the Honkai, because if they fail...

They will be like "withered leaves" or "old branches" and will be dropped by the Imaginary Tree into the Sea of Quanta and turned into nutrients.

Then from this lengthy explanation, what does it have to do with Gray Serpent's words about time travel?

The point is that the timeline in the "Imaginary Tree" was branching from the beginning so the mention of Kouro going to the past is not correct, rather he went to an alternate world that happened to have the same history as the original world.

That means Kouro's actions in the alternate universe will not change the past of his world that has already happened.

But then this became a question, why was Kouro sent to an alternate universe and then told to change the future by the system?

On the surface, he wore a calm expression, but his brain was currently thinking hard.

Ashborn glanced at Kouro before looking at Grey Serpent and said, "You are right, time travel is something that is impossible but travelling across other dimensions is still possible."

Mobius and Vill-V nodded their heads silently at his words.

Aponia seemed to stare at Kouro with calm, her sad eyes widened slightly, and she seemed to have seen something.

"So, Kouro-kun, what is your purpose for coming to our universe?" asked Mobius with shining eyes.

Hearing her question, they all then looked at Kouro with curious gazes.

Feeling their gaze, Kouro was silent for a moment, should he tell the truth or not?

After thinking for a while, he chose to tell the truth.

"'The future. I came here because I want to change the 'future'." he said with a determined expression.

Although he said it with determination, Kouro knew very well changing the future was not easy, even his 'senior' in the Previous Era had to squeeze his body and knowledge just to change the future.

And now, he would continue his senior's unfinished work.

Not only to change the future but also to win against the 'Honkai'.

"Heee~ I see... Which future do you want to change?" Vill-V said with an excited smile.

After that, she then stood in front of Kouro with both hands on her waist.

"Okay! I'm starting to like you! My name is Vill-V, but you can call me The Great Magician!"

After introducing herself, she then introduced Aponia and the others to Kouro.

"The nun with a curvaceous body and sad eyes is Aponia, but don't be fooled by her seductive appearance because she can perform hypnosis and can see your destiny."

Aponia was looking at Kouro before looking at Vill-V and muttering, "Vill-V..."

When hearing Vill-V's initial sentence, Kouro was rubbing his nose in slight embarrassment, he felt that Vill-V knew his thoughts, especially when stared at by Aponia herself, but when hearing her last sentence, Kouro's expression immediately became serious.

'Hypnosis? Now that I understand the effect of 'Discipline', fortunately, I have the ability [Unknown]. It's just that... Did she just say that Aponia can see one's destiny?'

Did that mean Aponia knew KOURO's secret identity?

This question crossed his mind, but before he could think about it more deeply, Vill-V then continued the introduction.

"This little boy who looks like you is Shadow, but never underestimate him even though he's a little boy, he's very strong."

Kouro turned to look at Shadow who was currently staring at his black mask with sparkling eyes.

"Ah! Greetings, Kouro-nii san!" said Shadow after realizing his gaze.

Seeing this, Kouro blinked, Shadow... Was he really that strong? It wasn't that he was feeling arrogant but he really couldn't feel the aura that was so strong from him.

Kouro then shook his head not wanting to think about it too much, at least with Shadow's presence the atmosphere became a little warmer.

"For this little green-haired girl, she is Klein, she is Mobius' assistant who looks after the administration of the Elysian Realm."

"Nice to meet you." said Klein in a flat tone.

'I see, so this girl is the one guarding the Elysian Realm.' Kouro thought.

"For the man in the silver mask with the black cloak is Grey Serpent. And that man is Ashborn."

Vill-V only briefly introduced these two men.

"Ahem! And then for the green-haired girl looking at you right now, she is Mobius, she is the leader of the World Serpent for now."

Kouro who pretended not to feel Mobius' heated gaze just nodded his head stiffly.

"Nice to meet you."

"Unfortunately, due to your sudden arrival, there are some people who can't attend." Vill-V muttered with a helpless expression.

'Are the people she's referring to Griseo, SAKURA, Fu Hua, Kevin and Su?' Kouro thought.

Well... No matter what now, at least his relationship with World Serpent wasn't a hostile one.

'Since my first objective has been completed, it is time to carry out the second objective!'

Thinking like this, Kouro then turned to look at Mobius with a serious expression.

"Mobius-san, my purpose here is not only to change the future but also for the core of the Herrscher of Shadows."

Their expressions changed slightly when they heard this, even Shadow seemed to be looking at Kouro with a wary expression.

The core of the Herrscher of Shadows, the only legacy left to them by KOURO, the core was also one of the main factors why the World Serpent organization was founded.

Mobius looked at Kouro with raised eyebrows before asking in a deep voice, "Why do you want it?"

Kouro could feel a terrifying aura from her that even made him feel suffocated, let alone Ashborn and the others also gave off the same terrifying aura.

The situation had turned tense again!

Kouro gulped down his saliva before gritting his teeth and saying, "Project Shadow... The Herrscher of Shadows' core from my world is inside my body... I am the successful container of the Herrscher of Shadow... I think..."

Hearing his words their expressions all instantly changed except Aponia.

Feeling that the tense aura had dissipated, Kouro breathed heavily, what he had said earlier was the result of deducing the information he had gathered.

Mobius and the others immediately simultaneously looked at Aponia, as if to confirm Kouro's words.

"What he said is indeed true."

"No way..." Mobius muttered before with a look of excitement, she grabbed Kouro's shoulder.

"Hahaha! I did it! My research really worked!" said Mobius pulling Kouro back and forth before hugging him.

At this moment Mobius was really like a girl who had just successfully confessed to her crush after waiting for so long.

Kouro who was being hugged had a painful expression rather than a happy expression, his shoulder felt like it was going to crack because of Mobius.

"Calm down Mobius-san! Even though I have the core of the Herrscher of Shadows, I can't use its abilities at all."

"Eh?" Mobius' movement completely stopped, and she looked at Kouro with a confused expression.

Kouro then quickly moved away from Mobius before saying, "As I said before I don't have the ability to manipulate shadows. I only have the ability of the Herrscher of Death."

After saying that, Kouro opened his palm and revealed black smoke created from thin air.

Ashborn's eyes widened slightly when he saw this.

'With the Herrscher of Death's ability, healing Kouro... It seems possible.' He thought.

"Since I have been given the opportunity to go to another world that is the past of my world, I don't want to lose my chance to find out my origins."

Actually Kouro himself now somewhat knew what power he would get after completing the [Job Change Quest].

Mobius seemed to have a thoughtful expression before raising her head and looking at Ashborn with a serious expression.

"Ashborn, I order you to take Kouro to the place where the Core of the Herrscher Shadows is located."

After saying that, she threw some sort of card towards Ashborn.

"As ordered." After saying that, Ashborn then looked at Kouro for a moment before taking out the Xuanyuan Sword from his shadow, then throwing it towards Kouro.

Kouro caught the sword carefully, he stared at the sword and caressed it carefully before raising his head and looking at Mobius.

"Mobius-san I need your help... No, I need World Serpent's help to change the future! Please, help me save the Second Herrscher."

Kouro said with a serious expression, so serious that it made one think that he wanted to confess to her.

Hearing his words, Aponia raised her head, Vill-V turned to glance at him, and even Mobius looked at him with a surprised expression as if she hadn't expected it.

Vill-V then smiled beautifully, "You really remind me of him KOURO-kun, you even carry his obsession."

Aponia smiled at him for the first time, that smile looked sad but at the same time looked... Relieved?

Mobius also smiled, not a sadistic smile or any other strange smile, but a refreshing smile like an ordinary girl in general.

"I promise. With my Authority, I will help you to change the future."

Hearing his promise, Kouro finally smiled with relief, he then turned around and followed Ashborn.

Staring at Kouro's back, Vill-V then muttered, "That kid really looks like him, to the point of making me think that KOURO is still alive..."

"...You're wrong Vill-V, KOURO is indeed alive." Mobius said in a confident tone.

...

15 minutes later.

Kouro was walking in a dark alley following Ashborn.

He looked around with a curious expression before hearing Ashborn's voice.

"Hanagami Kouro... Are you Hanagami Sagaki and Hanagami Luna's son?"

Kouro turned his head to stare at Ashborn's back, since his back was to him, he could not see Ashborn's expression.

"Yes. I see, does uncle know my parents?"

Ashborn did not answer immediately, he paused for a moment as if he was composing his words before saying, "Yes."

After saying that, Ashborn did not ask again.

Kouro didn't ask either as he felt a little awkward.

In this dark hallway only the sound of their footsteps echoed, not the sound of insects or anything else.

"We've arrived." Ashborn said.

They were currently standing in front of a large, multi-layered metal door with a high level of security.

The metal door seemed to be made of the same mineral used in the walls of ancient temples in Indonesia.

Ashborn stood at an identification device and swiped the ID card Mobius had given him before removing his mask and standing in front of the device before finally pressing his finger against the device.

[Access Granted]

The metal door then opened slowly creating a large vibration that made the hallway they were in shake.

"Let's go in."

Kouro followed Ashborn before putting on a surprised expression, inside the room he stopped and stared at the carefully placed Herrscher of the End core fragment.

"Not that one. Follow me." Ashborn's voice sounded from beside him.

"Ah! Okay.", Kouro followed Ashborn with his eyes not wavering from the core fragment.

The two of them walked deeper before finally stopping at a small room.

"Here." Ashborn said.

Kouro then turned to look ahead before putting on a dumbfounded expression as if mesmerized by something in front of him.

A heart-sized gem of purple-black colour mixed with a silver colour like a star.

It even reflected light and shone brightly like a star in the night sky.

"That's..."

"That's right. That is the Herrscher Core of Shadows."

Kouro was staring at the Herrscher core unblinkingly as if mesmerized and unconsciously walked closer to it.

When he was very close to the Herrscher core, Kouro was seen turning around and asking Ashborn in an excited tone.

"...Am I allowed to touch it?"

"Sure." Ashborn replied briefly.

Slowly, Kouro moved his hands before finally holding the core of the Herrscher of Shadows with both hands.

"So this is the core of the Herrscher of Shadows..." Kouro muttered.

But right after that, the core then shone brightly emitting purple light.

*ZING!!!*

Kouro narrowed his eyes because of the bright light, he felt something in his chest-beating very fast.

*Ba-dum!*

Seeing this change, Ashborn said in confusion, "What?! What's going on!"

The purple light didn't last long, Herrscher's core was seen turning into purple dust and finally spread out like stardust before suddenly spinning around Kouro and moving in towards Kouro's chest.

Kouro looked blankly at his empty hands.

His thoughts were only one, 'The Core of the Herrscher of Shadows has turned to dust because of me!'

(A/N: The Lore... the execution is better than I anticipated.)