Why did they have to treat Kiana like this... It hurt! It hurt so much!!
The story in the game continued.
This time, it was no longer Kiana who threw herself into Mei's arms.
Instead, Mei ran over and tightly embraced Kiana, as if she were afraid Kiana would run away the very next second.
"Kiana... you're hurt..." Mei's voice was choked with emotion as she spoke. "I'll take you back, back to the Hyperion. The principal and the others are all waiting for you..."
The melancholy music, this kind of reunion, and Mei's trembling voice...
Many emotional viewers found their eyes turning red.
"I... I can't go back... Mei..."
By the time Kiana said this, her eyes had become utterly despondent.
She felt terrible inside. Conflicted.
Even if Mei and the others could still accept her and treat her as they had before...
Kiana could not accept herself... nor could she laugh and smile recklessly with her friends like she once had.
Once certain things happened, it was like having scars carved into one's face. A forced smile would only make the pain clearer.
Besides, she had no idea when she might lose control again and hurt her friends once more.
And finally... the people of Sky Dome City were waiting for her to save them...
Whether emotionally or rationally, she could not go back.
"Mei... I'm sorry, but I can't go back!"
That answer made Mei's pupils contract.
Whether it was the evasive look in Kiana's eyes when she saw her, or these unequivocal words of refusal...
Everything made Mei feel like Kiana was a stranger.
To Mei, Kiana now resembled an injured little animal, able only to curl up alone in a corner and carefully lick her wounds.
She had no idea what Kiana had gone through during these three months for her to have been tormented into this state...
Her heart clenched, tears welling in her eyes as her arms around Kiana tightened even further.
Damn MiHoYo... I thought this was fluff... then you suddenly stabbed me.
It was obviously a knife, yet it insisted on disguising itself as candy!!
Boss of MiHoYo, did you fucking suffer some kind of psychological trauma or something? Huh?
MiHoYo... you're just too vicious, boohoo~~ Mei... Kiana...
It was not only the Danmaku. Even the usually cheerful Kiana could not help covering her mouth, her eyes trembling slightly.
Perhaps because the Kiana in the game used her template, she felt it even more deeply.
By this point in the game, Kiana was panicking so badly that she hurriedly looked around.
When she spotted Mei in the distance, she immediately ran toward her in anguish. "Mei! Boohoo~~"
Himeko: "..."
She had already been devastated by the story herself,
but when she saw Kiana being so rash, she could only shake her head helplessly, take the keyboard and mouse, and continue advancing the plot.
Naturally, the viewers in the livestream had heard Kiana's shout just now as well.
Mei? I think I heard Kiana calling Mei!
I can already picture it: Kiana got stabbed by the game's plot, then ran crying to Mei for a hug...
Boohoo~ Reality is so sweet, but the story is such a knife...
Sister Himeko, can you turn the camera around? I want to see the lilies in full bloom~
Himeko ignored the Danmaku.
Right now, she really wanted to see what happened next.
Would Kiana go back to the Hyperion with Mei?
It was strange. Even though the story hurt so much, she still could not help wanting to keep watching.
She clicked through the game's story.
Then the scene changed, and Fu Hua's somewhat awkward voice rang out. "Ahem... Kiana, now isn't the time to catch up. Enemies are pouring in through the passage. Tell Mei to get ready for battle..."
Kiana took a deep breath as well, suppressing the disappointment in her heart. Her tone was incomparably serious. "Mei, give me some time..."
"We have to leave here now. Once we resolve this city's crisis, we can talk about everything else."
Seeing a Kiana completely unlike the one she knew before, Mei could not hide the pain in her eyes.
But she also understood how urgent the situation was, so she nodded to show that she understood.
"Rita already told me about the situation..." As she said this, Mei could not help adding one more thing.
"Kiana, I hope you understand... everyone aboard the Hyperion... will always be waiting for you!"
Kiana: "..."
With complicated feelings, Kiana and Mei cleared out the enemies in the passage together.
Only after they had a moment to spare did Kiana explain things to Mei with a solemn expression.
"Mei, back in the laboratory, that person wearing a dog head let slip their plan..."
"Besides altering the vaccine to activate the Stigmata inside people's bodies, World Serpent will also create a Honkai disaster that covers the entire city, completely activating the Stigmata."
Mei looked worried. "There's no specific time or location? If that's the case, even if we turned this place upside down, we still couldn't stop their plan..."
"I know their plan~" Just as the two were fretting, Rita suddenly appeared behind them.
"It seems Miss Kiana is doing quite well... Now I can rest easy~~"
The moment Rita appeared, Mei immediately became alert. "I won't let you take Kiana away!!"
She thought Rita had come to capture Kiana.
Facing Mei's vigilance, Rita merely smiled softly. "Please calm down. I said before that, in this city, we are on the same side~"
Then Rita gave them the locations of the Honkai energy bombs, as well as the consequences of their detonation.
If World Serpent's plan succeeded, not only would everyone in the city die, but they would also pin the blame on Celestial Mandate.
Therefore, Rita would never betray Mei and Kiana over something like this.
After hearing Rita's explanation, Mei and Kiana finally lowered their guard around her.
Kiana: "Looks like... we can't waste any more time here!"
"That's right~" Rita smiled faintly. "However... it seems the other side doesn't want to let us leave so openly either..."
Looking at the enemies surging toward them in the distance, Rita raised her scythe and stood before Kiana and Mei. "Miss Kiana... do you remember what you told me?"
"Stopping a disaster is more important than running away."
"Now... I'll hold it back, and I'll leave disarming the bombs to you two."
Kiana did not hesitate, solemnly nodding. "I understand!"
"Oh, right. Thank you for coming to save me under those circumstances... That means we're even now~"
However, just as Kiana and Mei headed for the top of the signal tower, Raven suddenly appeared again and blocked Kiana's path.
And at this point, the story had finally reached the final stage of Chapter 14.
After a conversation between Raven and Kiana,
the viewers finally realized that Raven seemed to hate the Herrscher of the Void intensely.
And from Raven's words, they learned that she appeared to be a victim of the Second Honkai Eruption as well.
Thinking about it that way, Raven did not seem quite so hateful anymore.
After all, she did not know that Kiana was not the Second Herrscher from back then.
The conversation ended.
And unsurprisingly, the boss of this final stage was Raven.
After Himeko controlled Kiana and defeated Raven with great difficulty, another conversation appeared.
When Raven thought she was certain to die, Kiana unexpectedly spared her, leaving Raven utterly astonished.
"Hehehe... I held you back... I won this battle!"
Hearing Raven's cold laugh, Kiana understood that there was probably no longer enough time to make it there.
To get this far, Kiana had nearly drained every last bit of strength from her body, forcing herself to the brink of collapse.
Yet at the final moment, she had been one step too late...
She was on the verge of breaking down, drowning in guilt.
"...I've already come this far... yet there's no time left! No..."
"There must be another way..."
At that moment, Fu Hua's voice rang out again.
"Kiana, use the Herrscher of the Void's power with everything you have... I'll restrain the Herrscher of the Void's personality with all my strength. Use the Herrscher Core's power as much as you want!"
Kiana was worried. "But... Class Monitor, you're already so weak..."
Fu Hua smiled. "You were right before. When someone looks back on the past, they cannot realize that all they have ever done is run away."
"Those who sacrificed themselves because of the Honkai are already gone. They have no chance to witness this world becoming better through your efforts... but..."
"You can let those who are still alive witness all of it with their own eyes."
"So... go do what you need to do..."
Seeing this, both the viewers and Himeko felt their hearts tremble...
Could Fu Hua be about to die too?
In the final narration, Kiana and Mei parted ways once again, and Kiana headed alone toward the tall tower rising into the night sky.
Class Monitor!! MiHoYo, you...
Don't panic... This is only a feather. The real Class Monitor hasn't appeared yet.
Boohoo... Mei and Kiana had only just reunited, and now they had to part again... A
Himeko took a deep breath as she quietly stared at the play button on the stage selection screen.
This was the animated short that appeared at the end of every major chapter.
It also meant that Chapter 14's story would be brought to a close by this short film.
Sky Dome Meteor, Emotion, Shock, Tears!
So far, MiHoYo had released a total of four animated shorts.
Nearly every one of them had been of top-tier quality.
But what left the deepest impression on players was still the shock brought by Queen's Descent, and the emotion and heartbreak of The Last Lesson...
Himeko still clearly remembered the description for The Last Lesson—
"Even if dark clouds blot out the sun, I will still set the sky ablaze and lead you to the road home."
It was like Himeko's oath. Even if there was no hope at all, she would burn herself away, ignite hope, and awaken her student, Kiana.
Before you continue