29. Sirin: "I Can't Beat You, So I'll Drag You into QQ Space and Fight You There" / 30. Xia Ling: "Is It My Turn to Be Big-Hearted This Time?"

"Even if you try to escape, you'll pay the price..."

Sirin glanced around resentfully, then flicked her skirt and disappeared into thin air.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sirin: If you can't beat them, pull them into QQ space and fight them slowly.

"Great Ain- in hit her!"

Seeing that the azure pillar of light had successfully engulfed Sirin, Theresa happily hugged Xia Ling who was standing next to her.

However, she suddenly noticed that Xia Ling's face did not seem to show any joy of victory; instead, her expression was unusually solemn.

"What's wrong, Xia Ling?"

"Theresa, didn't you notice that someone is missing?"

Xia Ling's face showed a hint of anger.

"She took Himeko with her."

"What?"

Theresa then realized that Himeko, who had been closer to the other side, had suddenly disappeared.

"She must have brought Himeko into the Imaginary Space. She thinks she can still take care of one of them in her current state, so she plans to defeat them one by one."

Xia Ling sighed, "We can't leave Himeko alone. Wait for me, I'll go find Himeko."

"Wait, Xia Ling." Theresa grabbed Xia Ling's sleeve. "Although you didn't say what you were doing just now, I can tell you're not feeling well either, can't you?"

"Don't forget, I'm the only user of the Judas' Vow all these years. I can see the marks and scratches on your body, as well as the traces of Judah's Honkai Energy nullification on your body at a glance."

Theresa's eyes held a hint of lingering fear. "I don't need you to tell me who you were fighting just now, or how you feel now. I only have one request: take me with you, okay?"

"You talk as if you're in great shape." Xia Ling pinched Theresa's cheek. "Aren't you also covered in wounds? Besides, when you're out fighting, who doesn't get injured?"

"Don't worry, I am a user of spatial abilities myself. Even if the Imaginary Space is Sirin's home turf, I am confident."

"I can't bear to leave you alone, nor can I bear to leave these students, so I will come back."

"But... at least bring Yae Sakura ..." Theresa was still somewhat hesitant.

"It's too risky to rashly call upon the Stigmata Space on the opponent's home turf. Let's forget about it."

As soon as she finished speaking, before Theresa could react, Xia Ling quickly placed a light kiss on her forehead.

"Don't worry, even if I can't come back, I'll still win the revival match!"

With those words left behind, Xia Ling disappeared, leaving Theresa standing there in a daze.

"You absolutely must come back..."

"Ah... I didn't expect my power to recover so quickly after returning to the Imaginary Space..."

Feeling the abundant Honkai Energy around her, Sirin smiled contentedly.

"If I had known, I would have pulled you all into the Imaginary Space sooner, you foolish humans."

"Hey, you're always talking about humans, but who was it that got beaten up by a human and ran away just now?"

Compared to Sirin, who is rapidly recovering her abilities, Himeko's situation is not so good.

The strain of the Key of Blankness, the strain of the Artificial Stigmata, and the lingering pain from her injuries made Himeko feel like her body was becoming unresponsive.

If it were just that, it wouldn't be so bad; she was already used to operating while severely injured. But the fact that Sirin's condition was constantly improving shattered Himeko's last hope of defeating Sirin head-on.

"Is there no other way...? I can only use this 'Holy Blood' that Tesla gave me. I hope that what she prepared by following Otto's experimental procedures isn't a counterfeit..."

Himeko concealed the injection containing the Holy Blood inside her left arm armor and looked toward Sirin's location.

"The next question is how to break through the black mist surrounding her."

"If it doesn't work, I'll just have to force it... I only get one chance, and I hope I'm not at the point where I can't even seize this opportunity."

"Ha, human, it seems you have some other ideas?"

Seeing Himeko's thoughtful expression, Sirin revealed a teasing smile.

When she entered her home turf and had the upper hand, she couldn't suppress her true nature and became arrogant.

"In that case, let me keep you company for a while, as an after-dinner pastime?"

With a snap of her fingers, Sirin sent several energy blocks, entirely formed from Honkai Energy, hurtling towards Himeko.

Although her efficiency in absorbing Honkai Energy is limited, she can utilize the free-floating energy in these Imaginary Space with ease.

"We need to find a way to get closer first..."

Himeko swept her greatsword horizontally, a ring of flames clearing away the surrounding obstacles, and a powerful burst of energy erupted from the jets on her back, allowing her to dodge the attack.

At the same time, Himeko casually drew a greatsword from her back and swung it directly towards Sirin's location.

The greatsword flying straight at Sirin naturally wouldn't have a chance to hit her. However, after Himeko casually opened a portal to teleport the greatsword away, the greatsword, which was then pulled back to her side by Himeko, actually caused a scratch to Sirin on its return journey.

Using this wound as a prelude to the battle, the two began fighting again.

While Himeko was still struggling with her solo run, Xia Ling encountered a problem on the other side.

"Although I promised Theresa that, whether I can avoid the revival match this time is still uncertain..."

Xia Ling checked her physical condition and gave a wry smile.

"Forcibly interfering with the powers of the Herrscher... I didn't expect it to actually be possible, but the consumption was a bit too great."

"Just freezing Sirin for a few seconds completely drained my Honkai Energy. If I hadn't activated Embryonic Lily in an emergency, Kiana probably wouldn't have even had her the Last Lesson."

"Cough cough, I feel terrible. Even my location tracking isn't working properly anymore... Luckily, Himeko still has my End of Time, so the system can pinpoint her location directly. Otherwise, it would be really hard to find her."

[Don't worry, host, I've located Himeko's position, and the coordinates have been transferred into your memory.]

"Sigh, the distance Sirin teleported was really quite far... No wonder it drifted to Schicksal later. Oh well, let's hurry over there."

"By the way, system, notify Elysia that we might need her to come and help us later."

[Are you planning to have Elysia fight for you, host?]

"No... Putting aside Himeko's presence, Kiana can also see the outside world through her body right now, how could she possibly expose Elysia..."

"I need Elysia to help me deal with the Key of Blankness later. In my post-battle condition, I'm not sure I can get close to the core of the Herrscher of Flame."

"Hopefully, it's not too late..."

Chapter Thirty: Xia Ling: Is it my turn to be open-minded this time?

"Heh, by normal human standards, you really are excessively tenacious..."

Somewhat impatiently, Sirin casually released several Spear of Subspace, their sharp tips shooting towards Himeko from several tricky angles simultaneously. However, she skillfully dodged them all, and the only one that was unavoidable was precisely blocked by her greatsword.

Interestingly, when Himeko first equipped herself with this armor, she felt like she could squander her power at will. However, as her physical condition deteriorated to an extreme degree, her control over her abilities became increasingly refined, even giving her a feeling of returning to the era when she was still a member of the Stormtroopers.

"Seriously, this isn't a good sign... This is a deathbed lucidity and a sudden flashback... Am I really going to die soon...?"

Himeko shook her head, banishing these distracting thoughts from her mind.

"At least before we die, we have to give Kiana a chance to live... If there's still no chance, then let's just charge in..."

"Oh?" Sirin, who was idly teasing her prey, suddenly raised an eyebrow, and then, under Himeko's wary gaze, revealed a malicious smile.

If Sirin's eyes only revealed murderous intent, Himeko would surely have remained calm. But this tangible malice and pleasure... Himeko's heart tightened, and a bad premonition arose spontaneously.

"How interesting! Can you guess which little mouse is coming?"

"Oh no." Himeko thought to herself, the worst-case scenario she had ever feared had come true.

"This little guy with some spatial abilities must be this body's teacher, right? How interesting. So confident in his spatial abilities? Too bad, I am the Herrscher of the Void..."

"Hmm~ I can feel it, that consciousness named Kiana is frantically trying to regain control of her body..."

Do you know why?

The answer to Sirin's question came from a bright red figure.

"Oh? Trying to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao? Too bad, although this is also an opportunity to kill you, I'll enjoy slowly toying with my prey more."

Sirin's figure vanished instantly, causing Himeko's attack to miss its target.

"Going back to the question we just discussed, the reason she's so eager to regain control of her body is, of course, because..."

"I can sense every single thing that girl Xia Ling does. This is my territory..."

"And when she finally arrives at this space I've sealed off after overcoming countless hardships, what awaits her will be..."

"Die."

Sirin turned her gaze to a spot in the void, a spot that Xia Ling had clearly marked as the "landing point."

"Himeko, I'm here to save you!"

Sure enough, accompanied by a shattering sound, Xia Ling's figure appeared out of thin air from this location.

However, what greeted her was not Himeko and Sirin's fierce battle, but... Himeko's heart-wrenching screams.

"Xia Ling, run!"

"Huh?"

Unfortunately, Sirin's time management was much more precise than expected.

Upon hearing Himeko's voice, Xia Ling felt a strange, penetrating sensation throughout her body.

She lowered her head with some effort, and on her chest, a Spear of Subspace adorned with black and gold proclaimed its existence.

As if afraid that Spear of Subspace Xia Ling n't give her time to say another word before exploding in the middle, turning into four pure white spikes, giving Xia Ling a second blow.

"Ah... this feeling..."

Sirin slightly covered one of her eyes, and that golden eye suddenly burst into a bright blue light as Xia Ling's body fell.

"Damn it, is that person that important to you...? They almost overwhelmed my defenses in an instant..."

As she pulled the Spear of Subspace from Xia Ling's body, creating a cloud of blood mist, Sirin turned away, no longer looking at the slowly falling corpse.

At the same time, several Spear of Subspace suddenly converged, blocking the greatsword wreathed in crimson flames.

"You... bastard!"

"Oh? You're the type who gets your potential unlocked after witnessing your comrades die? Heh... Should I be glad she's the only one here? Otherwise, if a few more died, Kiana might actually take over this body..."

The azure in Sirin's eyes gradually faded as she suppressed the attack again. However, precisely because of this, she was somewhat hesitant to kill this person who was already at his limit.

With her ability activated again, Sirin once again created distance, while simultaneously summoning the signature black mist of the Core of the Herrscher of Death.

"But so what if I'm just defending? You can't even touch my body, let alone want to..."

Before she could finish speaking, Sirin's eyes narrowed sharply.

"Excuse me... didn't anyone tell you to remember to confirm the last hit was successful?"

A voice rang in Sirin's ears, startling her instantly.

"How could this be? You're not...!"

Sirin turned her head abruptly, only to be startled by Xia Ling's state.

Xia Ling's horrific penetrating wound in her chest had not healed, and one could even see the scene behind her through the wound. However, as if defying the common sense of biology, even with her heart not fully intact, she miraculously stood up.

No, that's not right... Sirin suddenly realized the problem. She could feel a strange energy in Xia Ling's body, replacing her missing heart, mending her wounds, and continuously supplying energy to her body.

"You, are you still human?" Sirin couldn't help but take a step back. She had seen people come back to life before, but she had never seen anyone so open-minded as to run around like this.

"Don't worry, it's genuine!"

Xia Ling felt the strange sensations coming from her body, and for a moment she was also quite curious.

After all, it's not common to experience feeling a draft in your chest with every step you take.

As for why she could still live after becoming like this, it was thanks to a certain—no, a certain magical collection.

[The King's New Gun: When the user is near death, pain is automatically blocked, and full mobility is gained for one minute, while attack speed is greatly increased.]

[King's Branch: When the user is in a near-death state, pain is automatically blocked, and full mobility is gained for one minute. Honkai Energy is automatically replenished to the maximum, and the Honkai Energy recovery speed is greatly increased.]

[Crowns of the Kings: When the user is in a near-death state, pain is automatically blocked, and the user gains full mobility for one minute. At the same time, Honkai Energy reserves are doubled, and the ability enters an amplified state.]