Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

(Taking a day off today, don't forget!) (T/N: oh me too)

Hahahaha, didn't expect an update, did you?

Updated, yes, but it's a summary, hehehe.

Volume 3 went a bit off the rails, and I originally wanted to explain a bunch of stuff, but then I figured, nah, not really necessary.

Still, some parts were a bit messy, so I'll do a recap in this volume summary.

If you skipped ahead to this, reading this summary should save you the trouble of going back through the original text.

Volume 3's main plot has two threads: the plot line and the psychological line. I think the plot line is fine, not messy at all, even a bit simple.

It's just: Find Kalpas — Accidentally fall into the Quantum Sea — Set up some foreshadowing — Fish Kalpas out, just in time for the 4th Eruption — Anti-Entropy is founded — Coincidentally encounter Seele's breakdown, introducing Pardo, more foreshadowing — Perspective shifts to Fire Moth, Lucien experiments on Mikael's body from the 3rd Eruption, even more foreshadowing — The End.

The real mess is the psychological line. Many people can't understand why Mikael broke down, multiple times at that… emmm…

Let's start from the beginning. What was Mikael's mental state while searching for Kalpas? Check the original text:

[Even though, judging by Mikael's recent behavior, it was certainly possible… Hua knew that it was just a facade.

Lately, Mikael seemed increasingly unreliable, acting more and more like Elysia. But Hua could sense the difference between them.

Elysia's liveliness was based on optimism, while Mikael's was based on pessimism and bewilderment.

The more pessimistic and bewildered he became, the more he needed to put on a lively facade to cover it up—Hua didn't understand why she understood this so clearly, but she just could. ]

This actually foreshadows Mikael's bipolar disorder. As for why he's becoming increasingly pessimistic and bewildered, I think that's easy to understand. He's the only one who knows the Previous Era's tragic end. Knowing the outcome from the start, pessimism is inevitable. How can you be optimistic under those circumstances?

But it hadn't fully manifested yet because Mikael still had hope. He still believed he could somehow rewrite fate.

Then there's the Bubble Universe arc. The main psychological activity there is pretty straightforward, I think. Mainly two questions:

First, how did Mikael recognize Seele as the Herrscher of Death?

… Because the manga showed it.

Second, it was just a fake Elysia in a Bubble Universe, so why did Mikael break down so hard?

Well, the Bubble Universe arc was originally much longer, with a lot of daily life interactions between Bubble Elysia and Mikael. If I had included those parts, it wouldn't be hard to understand.

But at the time, the comment section (it coincided with the 7 pm comment control, so you guys couldn't see it, only I could) was full of people complaining that Volume 4 was too slow, so I didn't dare expand on it. The result was that the emotional shift felt too abrupt.

Personally, I don't think it's a big deal. At least the logic behind the psychological change is sound.

["It's like you're looking at a photo left behind by the deceased. This photo is important to you because the image on it is of someone you love, but it's also not that important, because the person you truly love is already gone."] This was Bubble Mei's analogy for Mikael and Elysia's relationship.

["So… even if I'm just a phantom of her… I'm still this important to you… Mikael…"] This was Bubble Elysia's own thought.

[If she were just an unrelated phantom, she should have decisively killed him, a Herrscher, while he was unconscious…

If she were just an unrelated phantom… how could she have poked his cheek with her finger, just like he and the Elysia of the real world were accustomed to?

But what if she really was a phantom?

Then she was still Elysia's phantom, and to him, at least to him at this moment, even a phantom, she was still Elysia! What was the difference?!] This was Mikael's internal monologue.

Of course, even without the deleted daily life scenes, the logic of this psychological change remains consistent. The most important reason for Mikael's breakdown was:

After his entire civilization, even himself, ceased to exist, Bubble Elysia asked him to kill the 6th Herrscher, to give their civilization an ending they never had in the real world—sound familiar?

Replace Bubble Universe with Elysian Realm, replace the 6th Herrscher with the Herrscher of Corruption…

Thus, the memories of Elysia, the real-world Elysia, and the Bubble Universe Elysia, their faces, actions, behavior, and tone of voice all converged at that moment, making it impossible for him to act.

This was the first mental shock Mikael suffered.

Then there's the part from the 4th Eruption to the founding of Anti-Entropy. Nothing much to say here, both plot and psychology are smooth sailing.

It was precisely this smooth sailing that laid the groundwork for his bipolar disorder.

Then came the encounter with Seele, and boom, another breakdown.

The reason for the breakdown is clearly written in the plot, it's because of fate.

[He might have changed the fates of some individuals, like Carole, Aldemir, and… these people in Anti-Entropy.

Oh, he also changed the location of the 4th Eruption—according to the Bubble Universe's timeline, the 4th Eruption should have happened in a small coastal border town in southeastern Europe, where Kosma was supposed to be.

But the 4th Herrscher's authority remained unchanged—what did that mean?

Honkai was supposed to send different Herrschers based on the development of civilization, but in this somewhat distorted timeline that he had changed…

The world line was constantly converging. The appearance of the 2nd and 4th Herrschers, the scope of the 3rd Eruption, and the authority of each Herrscher… every step landed precisely on the corresponding fate, perfectly aligned.]

Many readers might not understand one thing—the concept of fate in the Previous Era, including the so-called fate in Genshin, is different from the typical "fate" in other anime.

In many other stories, fate is a pseudo-concept. It may or may not exist. If it exists, it's coincidence. If it doesn't, the protagonist controls their own destiny.

But the miHoYo universe is different. "Fatalism" is the cornerstone of the entire Honkai universe. The existence of Aponia, and Mona, makes this fatalism explicit. They're straight-up telling you that the fate of the entire world is predetermined and cannot be changed.

But it's not completely unchangeable—Elysia did it.

After she dissipated, all fates were severed. So, the final choices made by the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, whether to live, die, or exist in a state worse than death, were no longer dictated by fate, but their own decisions.

And Kevin's line: "One's fate is their character," applies both before and after fate was severed.

Only before, "character" itself was part of fate. Afterward, everything became humanity's own decisions.

In fact, as an outsider, Mikael was never bound by fate, which is why he could change the fates of some people, like Carole, the original 1st Herrscher, and the time and location of the 4th Eruption.

But these were minor changes. The world would quickly correct itself. The biggest proof is that the authorities of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Herrschers remained unchanged.

A Herrscher's authority should be tailored to the state of civilization. The Current Era had an inside job, but the Previous Era was different. Logically, with Mikael as a variable, the Herrschers' authorities should have changed accordingly. (This is actually what Mikael has always feared.)

But the most ironic thing is that the lack of change is even more terrifying.

Think about it. Really think about it.

PS: How did Mikael change fate? Think of a gravitational field. A massive object warps space, causing surrounding objects to orbit and eventually collide with it. If that's the original fate, Mikael is a second massive object appearing in this space. However, his mass is still too small compared to the original fate, so he can only capture a few insignificant characters into his orbit.

But what if his mass continues to increase, eventually surpassing the original fate? Then…

As for Seele, his feelings towards her are simple. Initially, it was about fate. He couldn't kill her. Not only would it cause the 6th Herrscher to appear in an unexpected time and on an unsuspecting person, but no one could bring themselves to do it.

And if he didn't kill her, it meant watching her walk the path of her original fate, ultimately to be killed by him.

This was the second shock… no, the second blow.

The third blow wasn't as intense as the first two, but… it was incredibly mocking.

See, Seele is, in a sense, your little sister. So, what are you going to do?

It's like some idiot does something bad to you, then constantly rubs it in your face, mocking you.

If you really think about it, this mockery of fate started at the end of Volume 1 with Alfred.

So, the third time, he completely snapped, and the illness manifested.

That's why when Mikael was beating Lucien, his cries of "Why are you smiling?" were actually directed at whoever decided fate exists.

As for those who say, "How can you write the protagonist like this? How can a protagonist be so fragile…"

Su's words weren't directed at Mobius either. They were for the readers who think that way.

Was Kevin strong enough?

After personally killing Himeko in the 7th Eruption, he developed severe psychological trauma.

And the pressure he faced wasn't even on the same level as Mikael's.

After all, he could still delude himself, numb himself, with the possibility of future victory. But for Mikael, there is no victory in the future, no hope.

In fact, I think it's already pretty impressive that he's held on this long, with only occasional breakdowns, instead of completely giving up.

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T/L: For long chapters, I can provide 3 chapters a day. For short chapters, I can provide 5 chapters a day. This depends on the original source. New chapters will be uploaded tomorrow.

tq