Imaginary Space / Flash Sheath ...

Because this person was Cocolia, and in this world, she had another identity as well: the current head of the Qiye Family, and Ishiu's mother.

Imaginary Space

"No. You're staying home and recovering properly. Until you've fully recovered, you're not allowed to go anywhere. Otherwise, I'm really going to get angry."

Cocolia walked over to Ishiu, lovingly ruffled his hair, then quickly explained as though afraid he would get upset. "Son, don't blame your mother for being harsh. You nearly scared me to death this time. Is a Honkai Beast something you can handle? I know you're interested in Bronya, but there was no need to prove yourself this way, was there? If you died, how was your mother supposed to go on living?"

Ishiu looked helplessly at Cocolia's tender, maternal expression. The Cocolia of this world spoiled her child even more than the Cocolia from his original world. It could practically be said that an indulgent mother raised a wayward son.

To be honest, a huge reason why "Qiye Ishiu" had become such a wastrel was Cocolia's excessive doting. From childhood to adulthood, she had indulged him in everything, leading to his current state.

Still, even if indulgent mothers could ruin their sons, who wouldn't like a mother who sincerely cared for them and would support them without hesitation no matter what they became?

Ishiu sighed. After all, he was no longer the arrogant, domineering, and conceited "Qiye Ishiu" of the past. He would remember Cocolia's kindness toward him and return it with respect.

"Fine, Mom. I understand. I'll listen to you."

"Yes, that's Mommy's good boy." Cocolia immediately broke into a delighted smile, wrapped an arm around Ishiu's neck, and kissed his forehead.

She did not know why, but ever since Ishiu had awakened from his severe injuries, he seemed like a completely different person. All his old bad habits appeared to have vanished. Perhaps this was what the ancients meant by being reborn.

Hovering at the edge of death really could change a person.

"Oh, right. Bronya... wants to break off her engagement with you. The elders have all agreed too. I'm afraid I can't suppress this matter... What do you think?" Cocolia's expression was somewhat ugly, but more than anything, she felt apologetic toward Ishiu.

After all, she and Bronya's mother had arranged the childhood betrothal. She had always regarded Bronya as her future daughter-in-law, but now this had happened. Although her own son truly had failed to live up to expectations, breaking off an engagement was never something that sounded good. She was even more afraid that Ishiu might have other thoughts because of it.

Yet to her surprise, Ishiu showed no unwillingness whatsoever. Instead, he merely nodded calmly.

"Oh. Then let's leave it at that."

"...That's it?"

Cocolia was somewhat surprised by Ishiu's indifferent reaction, but she did not dwell on it. Maybe her son had finally come to his senses?

It was just a bit of a pity that Bronya could no longer become her daughter-in-law.

Afterward, Cocolia chatted with Ishiu about everyday matters for a while before leaving.

As the head of the Qiye Family, she had countless matters to deal with every day. The fact that she could make time to visit Ishiu daily was already quite remarkable.

After Cocolia left, Ishiu did not remain in his room. He chose to go out for a walk instead.

Although Cocolia had told him not to go out, she meant not to leave the Qiye Family estate. She did not mean he could not leave his own room, or that would be little different from imprisonment.

Along the way, Ishiu observed the Qiye Family while feeling the contemptuous looks every member of the family gave him.

Honestly, Ishiu felt quite helpless about it. He had clearly been an outstanding young man of the new century, yet now he had taken the blame for someone else and was forced to bear suffering that did not belong to him at such a young age.

Ishiu made his way to the Qiye Family's training room. This was where the family's younger members practiced techniques for dealing with Honkai Beasts. Though rather than fighting Honkai Beasts, it was more accurate to say they trained to escape from them, because no martial art could let a person face a Honkai Beast alone.

Only with the appropriate weapons or mecha could one contend against Honkai Beasts. This remained humanity's only method of dealing with them.

It was morning, and quite a few Seven Nights clan members had come to train. To avoid disturbing one another, they would activate separate Imaginary Spaces, projecting their consciousnesses inside to fight Honkai Beasts to their hearts' content. That way, even if they died, nothing would happen in reality.

Those outside could not see what happened within. They could only view the corresponding results by judging from the real-time data in the training room.

Ishiu's luck was fairly good. When he arrived, one Imaginary Space slot was still available. He immediately sat down in the chair, put on the helmet, and activated the Imaginary Space.

Quite a few Qiye Family members nearby saw Ishiu foolishly come to challenge Honkai Beasts as well and immediately began mocking him.

Their words amounted to calling him trash, saying that just days ago he had nearly been killed after being rammed by a Rush-class Honkai Beast, yet he actually dared to come to the training room now.

Ishiu treated all those words as passing wind. The person who had nearly been rammed to death was not really him anyway.

You're talking about Qiye Ishiu. What did that have to do with me, Ishiu? .jpg.

Once he was ready, Ishiu activated the Imaginary Space. His vision beneath the helmet instantly turned pitch-black, and when his sight returned, he was already inside a space spanning over a thousand square meters.

There was nothing in this space. It was an endless expanse of white, and apart from Ishiu himself, it seemed as though no living thing existed.

This was not Ishiu's first time in the training room. Familiar with the process, he called out, "Ready," and a light screen appeared out of thin air before him.

It displayed all kinds of Honkai Beasts, ranging from Rush-class to Emperor-class. There were no Judgment-class ones, though. Thinking about it, that made sense. Even if they were virtual, Judgment-class Honkai Beasts were not something humans could stop by their own power. To humanity, Judgment-class Honkai Beasts were disasters on the level of natural calamities, so Emperor-class was the upper limit.

Without hesitation, Ishiu chose a Ballista-class Honkai Beast. He had challenged a Knight-class one last time and found it rather easy, so this time, he would take another step forward.

After choosing his Honkai Beast, it was time to choose a weapon. The light screen offered many weapon types. At a glance, there were no fewer than a hundred varieties of pistols alone, not to mention cannons, laser weapons, grenade launchers, and more.

There were no restrictions on these choices. As long as you could carry them, you could choose even a hundred pistols.

Naturally, Ishiu would not choose those firearms. Since he possessed the Seven Nights Assassination Technique, he had to choose the weapon best suited to him.

(PS: Let me say this here—the World Bubble arc won't last too long, at most a dozen or so chapters before we return. It's mainly to give the protagonist a small cheat boost. You know what I mean. grins)

Flash Sheath

Without much hesitation, Ishiu quickly selected a plasma cutting blade at the very bottom of the light screen.

He actually wanted to use a dagger, since daggers were better suited to the Seven Nights Assassination Technique, but there were no daggers among the weapon options.

Thinking about it, that made sense. What era was this? Surely no one would really take a knife into close-quarters combat with a Honkai Beast, right?

Interestingly, Ishiu also discovered traces of the Seven Nights Assassination Technique within the Qiye Family's close-combat martial arts. But compared to the intricacy of the Seven Nights Assassination Technique, those martial arts fell far short. They did have the same flavor, though—like an utterly castrated version of the Seven Nights Assassination Technique.

Ishiu had asked Cocolia about it, but she did not know much either. She only said that long ago, before modern firearms and mecha existed, the Qiye Family had used an incredibly mysterious technique to exorcise demons—or rather, to eliminate Honkai Beasts.

However, that technique was extremely difficult to master. Out of a hundred people, if even one managed to learn it, even only at a mediocre level, that person was already remarkable.

Then, as time passed and the era advanced, this demanding method—which made it exceedingly difficult to form large-scale combat power—was abandoned.

After all, if you spent decades studying a skill, then died, everything would be gone.

But if you invested in technology, then even after someone died, later generations could inherit their predecessors' legacy and allow technology to develop without end.

Laser weapons were like that, and so was mecha.

Very quickly, the scene before Ishiu changed. The blank white space instantly became a world of ice and snow, while the Ballista-class Honkai Beast appeared a hundred meters ahead of him.

Although Ishiu had never officially dealt with a Honkai Beast, he had read the basic information. Like the Honkai Beast opposite him, which held a large ball in its arms, its method of attack was to hurl that ball at its enemy. The force it generated was no less than that of a human artillery shell.

Moreover, different Ballista-class Honkai Beasts possessed different attributes, so the effects of the balls they threw varied as well. There were basic explosions and freezing effects. This one should have the freezing attribute.

Ishiu held the blade in his right hand, casually letting it rest at his side as he slowly walked toward the Ballista-class Honkai Beast.

Boom—!

Honkai Beasts had no intelligence. Their only purpose was to destroy every living creature before them.

The Honkai Beast let out a roar and viciously hurled the large ball in its hands at Ishiu.

Its attack was accurate, and both its speed and power were impressive. If Ishiu had been an ordinary person, that blow would absolutely have taken him out with ease.

But unfortunately, Ishiu was not an ordinary person.

Watching the shell howl through the air toward him, Ishiu raised an eyebrow. He could have easily dodged it, but this time, he had no intention of doing so.

His Flash Step had already reached the level of mastery, but the Flash Sheath he had only recently acquired still needed more practice before he could use it more skillfully.

So, facing the shell that was about to descend, Ishiu held his long blade horizontally. A sharp glint flashed through his eyes, and in the next second, he vanished from where he stood.

Flash Sheath - Four Ghosts Annihilation

Slash—

In an instant, an orange blade-light flashed past, forming a massive cross as it passed through the shell.

The shell was instantly cut into four pieces. The energy within abruptly erupted, and boundless freezing air turned everything within ten meters into ice.

Yet Ishiu's figure lightly landed twenty meters ahead of the shell.

"Still just as easy." Ishiu flourished his blade with a smile on his lips. The warm-up was over. Now the real show could begin.

At that moment, however, quite a commotion was stirring in the training room outside the Imaginary Space.

Since Ishiu had entered the Imaginary Space, the other Seven Nights clan members could check the display panel in front of him to learn what was happening inside.

When they saw that Ishiu had actually chosen a Ballista-class Honkai Beast as his opponent, and had selected only a single blade as his weapon, the training room immediately erupted.

"Holy shit? Is this guy an idiot? He actually dared to pick a Ballista-class Honkai Beast as an opponent. Even if dying in the Imaginary Space won't affect reality, mentally he'll still be killed once. Isn't he afraid of dying?"

"Yeah, and look at him. He only chose one knife. What use is that? Does he really think he can kill a Ballista-class Honkai Beast with just one blade? What a joke."

"Forget it. I think he's just trying to get attention. You all know this useless young master. If he weren't the family head's son, he would have been thrown out of the family long ago. I really don't know how such an intelligent and formidable family head ended up with such a useless son."

Everyone discussed it heatedly. Some even started a betting pool. Of course, they were not betting on whether Ishiu could defeat the Honkai Beast. They were betting on how long he could last inside.

Some bet five seconds, some bet seven, and some even said three seconds.

No matter what, though, not a single person thought highly of Ishiu.

Then, Bronya entered the training room.

She had no mission today and had planned to come train, but the moment she entered, she saw a group of people gathered together, apparently discussing something.

"What are you all doing?" she asked as she walked over curiously.

When the Seven Nights clan members saw Bronya, they immediately greeted her respectfully.

If Qiye Ishiu was someone everyone despised within the Qiye Family, then Bronya was someone everyone admired. She was the most outstanding figure among the younger generation. Not only was she adorable, but she also had a gentle personality. Anyone who knew her basically liked her, which gave her immense popularity and status within the clan.

It could even be said that a major reason so many people looked down on Qiye Ishiu was because he was engaged to Bronya.

Human jealousy was terrifying, no matter the time or place.

After the Seven Nights clan members explained, Bronya learned that Ishiu had come to the training room and had directly chosen a Ballista-class Honkai Beast as his opponent. No wonder everyone had gathered here. They were probably waiting to watch him make a fool of himself.

Bronya frowned slightly at this. Although she had no favorable impression of Ishiu, she admired Cocolia greatly. If Qiye Ishiu had not previously pestered her so relentlessly, she would not have developed such disgust toward him.

But now, seeing everyone waiting to laugh at Ishiu, she had no interest in it. Shaking her head, she was about to leave when she suddenly stopped, as if remembering something. "Right, how long has he been in there?"

"It seems like it's already been... almost two minutes."

The Seven Nights clan member who answered immediately revealed a shocked expression.

Honkai Beasts Arrive

Inside the Imaginary Space, Ishiu was having a great time playing with the Ballista-class Honkai Beast.

Yes, playing.

With Ishiu's current strength, he could easily deal with a Ballista-class Honkai Beast in just a few breaths.

But in order to familiarize himself with his techniques, he waited for the Honkai Beast to throw its ball at him before striking, using all kinds of methods and techniques to respond.

Throughout that process, his understanding of Flash Sheath rapidly improved as though he were riding a rocket. Of course, that was also because he had already mastered Flash Step.

Ishiu played with the Honkai Beast for half an hour. Only after testing every move once did he finally slash it apart with several swift strikes, satisfied.

The people outside were already dumbfounded. They had never expected that the useless young master would survive against a Ballista-class Honkai Beast for a full half hour—and even clear the challenge in the end!

"Quick, look! He... he's challenging a Chariot-class Honkai Beast now!"

The information on the screen rapidly changed. Ishiu's opponent had already become a Chariot-class Honkai Beast.

Although Honkai Beasts of this level could not yet be called natural disasters, they absolutely could not be underestimated. Every Chariot-class Honkai Beast that appeared represented a brutal war.

Fortunately, the worldviews of the Seven Nights clan members had not been completely shattered today, because a few minutes later, Ishiu automatically withdrew from his battle with the Chariot-class Honkai Beast.

That result left them both relieved and somewhat regretful.

When they looked at Ishiu again, their gazes had already changed.

No matter which world one was in, capable people could always earn the respect of others. The former Qiye Ishiu could not, but the current Ishiu could.

In truth, Ishiu was feeling quite frustrated as well. After defeating the Ballista-class Honkai Beast, he had confidently challenged a Chariot-class Honkai Beast. He had thought that with his current strength, fighting one would not be difficult, but reality had ruthlessly slapped him in the face.

It was not that the Chariot-class Honkai Beast was absurdly strong. Ishiu could actually handle it. It was just... its body was far too massive. It stood nearly thirty meters tall, practically half the height of an Ultraman.

With such an overwhelming disparity in size, even if Ishiu's techniques allowed him to utterly dominate the Chariot-class Honkai Beast, it only needed to stand there without moving, while he could not even break through its defenses.

Honestly, against a creature nearly thirty meters tall, Ishiu wielding a one-and-a-half-meter katana was no different from scratching an itch. No matter how unwillingly he kept slashing at it, he only managed to make the Honkai Beast bleed a little.

So what was there left to fight?

Ishiu left the training room in frustration, only to find someone he had not expected blocking his path.