44. Will of the Honkai: Wait, Bro? Where's My Herrscher? / 45. Sorry, This Is the Last Time I'll Lie to You...

"Then why not be more radical?" Xia Ling suggested. "How about you just revive me on the spot as if I were in a near-death state?"

"The people present are all trustworthy. Even Durandal, considering that you are Anna's lover, should turn a blind eye to your situation."

"Besides, resurrection is not a rare ability. Otto is about to be too busy taking care of himself to bother with you."

"How about we just follow the second half of your plan, cut the Gordian knot, and pull Anna in to isolate her from the interference of the Honkai Will?"

"That's... it's not a bad idea. It's good to resolve Anna's problem quickly, since things might change if we delay."

Flame Willow nodded, but still hesitated a little.

"However, after all this, I have a feeling I'll be severely punished later..."

"You've been dealt with quite a bit before, it's just that you'll go from being unilaterally suppressed to being sandwiched in the middle."

Xia Ling kicked Flame Willow away without hesitation. "Remember to take off the King's Set beforehand!"

As Flame Willow was kicked out of the system space, and its resurrection location was set to resurrect on the spot by default, Flame Willow, trapped in the ice shards, suddenly regained a sliver of life.

However, because she deliberately chose to be resurrected in the state before her death, there is no doubt that Flame Willow entered a near-death state again upon resurrection.

Because the King's Set was removed prematurely, the Flame Willow that had been raised by the Qiermiaosijiu had no chance to continue for even a minute. Enveloped in the extreme cold, which was extremely incompatible with its own nature, this glimmer of renewed vitality was also rapidly fading away.

However, this fleeting glimmer of hope did not escape the notice of those present. Anna turned around abruptly, her somewhat dejected spirit instantly jolted awake.

Ignoring the attacks flying towards her, Anna quickly placed her hand on the icicles and began to "thaw" the Flame Willow.

However, Flame Willow's near-death experience this time was meticulously planned. Her purpose was not to kill Anna again, but to trigger a collectible.

Forcing his dying body to move, Flame Willow reached out his hand to Anna, a smug smile on his face.

"I've got you, Anna..."

[Collection: Archway and Call for Help, triggered]

[Detecting host's collection... Detection complete. Entering the Bizarre Chapter now will automatically grant and activate the Mystery of Tranquility.]

[Entering Bizarre Chapter... Host has selected no-story mode...]

[Interference from external links detected x2... Disconnecting...]

[Severance successful.]

Chapter 44 The Honkai Will: Wait, buddy? Where's my Herrscher?

Amidst the bewildered and shocked expressions of the three, Flame Willow, who had been thought to be dead, suddenly rose from the dead and disappeared from the spot along with Anna.

"What... is going on?"

Mei felt that this trip was purely to broaden her horizons. She put the mission aside for now, and although she didn't fight much along the way, her head was itchy, as if she was about to grow a brain.

I've seen it all.

I've never seen anything like this before.

"I don't know." Durandal's lips twitched. "But my long experience of being exploited by the bishop tells me that we are most likely being used by Reed."

Judging from the swift and coordinated actions she performed after the Reed came back to life, it was clear that her death was premeditated.

As for what they were used for... looking back on their journey, they probably did indeed consume a lot of Anna's strength.

After all, they had shattered the layer of black ice covering Anna.

"So that's how it is, we were brought here to be free thugs...?"

Durandal fell into deep thought.

However, the one with the most complicated feelings among the three was Raven.

Although Raven was very happy that Flame Willow was alive and seemed to have her own plans, she just wanted to disappear into the ground when she thought about all the embarrassing things she had said in front of Flame Willow and Anna.

Although I and Reed are often very affectionate, it's a completely different story in front of outsiders and at home!

Or, after this incident, let's punish Reed, the culprit, until she can't remember anything... I'm sure Anna would agree with my plan to erase her dark past...

The already corrupted island crow is brewing her evil plan.

However, these three were not the only ones who were completely bewildered.

Out of everyone's sight, the Honkai Will also went into a malfunction.

As we all know, a perfect body is very important for Herrscher to unleash their full power.

And Flame Willow's body is naturally very moist... no, perfect.

With extremely high recovery ability and superhuman physical strength, it also possesses a talent with a very high potential. If combined with the authority of the Herrscher of Rock, although the two abilities are completely unrelated, it would definitely not be much weaker.

Most importantly, given the recent Honkai events, solo Herrscher are no longer effective. If the Ice and Rock Herrscher could descend upon Coral Island simultaneously to participate in this grand event, the effect would be unparalleled.

He had originally planned to implant the Herrscher consciousness into this excellent body, turning it into a new Herrscher of Rock.

As a result, this body suddenly came to life?

Okay, if it's alive, it's alive. It doesn't affect the fact that He can insert a Herrscher consciousness. Anyway, dual personalities are practically standard in modern civilization. You'd be embarrassed to talk if you didn't have a dual personality when you go out. So it's not a problem.

However, this body vanished under His gaze!

Well, it's not a Honkai Will deal. If it disappears, it disappears. It's just a body. At worst, the Honkai will can find another one. The Herrscher of Rock's powers don't require close combat, so it's okay if the body is a little damaged.

After all, if you don't become Herrscher, there are plenty of others who will.

However... before Flame Willow disappeared, she also abducted the Herrscher of Ice, who had already completed her Herrscher transformation!

This made matters worse for the already not-so-intelligent Honkai Will. It felt that its program had encountered a small bug. It didn't know if Ice Herrscher was alright, but it was about to crash.

Although Ice Herrscher's position was still occupied by Anna, He was completely unable to "communicate" with Anna. When asked, Anna would say she was at her workstation, and when called, she would say she was currently out of service.

Unfortunately, it is just a Honkai Will, and there is nothing it can do. After all, in the original work, Mei could directly suggest a group chat to it, Fu Hua could kick it away with a single sword strike.

With the inexplicable disappearance of one of the Herrscher still shrouded in mystery, the Honkai Will turned its gaze to another direction.

At this moment, in a space that was almost pure white, Anna slowly woke up.

Perhaps the events in the real world were too despairing, so when she saw this vast white space, she momentarily thought she had arrived in heaven.

The idea of Reed coming back to life is just a delusion before death.

However, what she discovered next dispelled her suspicions.

After all, logically speaking, unless it's some kind of weird paradise, there shouldn't be any paradise that specifically puts a bell around people's necks.

She gently tugged at the collar around her neck, seemingly unable to find the switch, and with each movement, the bells around her neck jingled softly.

The noise seemed to calm Anna down a bit.

"Anna? You're awake?"

Anna was still looking around, wondering where she was, when suddenly she heard a familiar voice.

"Reed?!"

"It's me... I'm sorry for making you worry before, but before that, I need to confirm something."

"You... you must be Anna, right? Not Herrscher Persona implanted by Honkai Consciousness, are you?"

"I, I..." Anna forced herself to say yes, and stammered, "I don't know..."

"Don't know? If you don't know, then you are Anna."

Flame Willow nodded in satisfaction, then pressed the girl directly against his chest.

Although not particularly voluptuous, it was enough to soothe the heart of a young girl.

"Phew, that's great. Before bringing you in, I really wasn't sure if it was you I brought in. If it was Herrscher Persona I brought in, then I'm afraid I would have to start another plan."

"Another... plan?"

Anna raised her head blankly. With the help of the bell on her chest, she felt that she had calmed down a lot. At least, she didn't burst into tears at the sight of the Reed.

"The Archway and Call for Help can last for a long time. If you're curious, I'll tell you the story slowly."

With a gentle tap of Flame Willow, the white space where the two were instantly transformed into a campfire in a camp, with sparks flying everywhere, seemingly indicating to Anna that this place was extraordinary.

Flame Willow began to slowly recount her story, starting with her fabricated ability to fake death, and then introducing the Archway and Call for Help. This was the advantage of setting herself up as a visitor from outside the world; when she took out some strange items, she could attribute them to her non-existent homeland.

However, Flame Willow didn't make everything up. Although she added a lot of patches to the background, at least the content of her plan was true.

"The Archway and Call for Help are a special kind of cipher seal. When released, they will lead the people I am with into a completely hidden world, which is said to be the inner world of a certain god."

"Of course, putting the legend aside for now, the key point is that this item can only be triggered when I'm near death. So, my previous feigned death was actually an attempt to meet the conditions for triggering this thing..."

Chapter 45 I'm sorry, this is the last time I'll lie to you...

"So, Reed, you did that on purpose?"

Anna blinked.

"No, I almost froze to death because of you."

"Waaah, I'm so sorry QAQ..."

"It's alright, the way I die doesn't matter, as long as I can fake my death..."

Flame Willow wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and continued to explain.

"Then, I stayed by your side, waiting for the right moment, until Durandal and Raven fought with you. When I felt the time was right, I brought you into this space."

"As you can see, you haven't heard any noise from the so-called Honkai Will, nor have you sensed any control here, right?"

"It seems that's indeed the case..."

Anna nodded belatedly, realizing then that she no longer felt that competitive feeling about competing with others for her body.

"But why Reed n't you just bring me in from the beginning, Reed? Why did you have to wait until Raven and the others arrived?"

"Raven looked so sad just now... I'm almost afraid to see her."

"Ahem, that's because I wasn't confident I could bring you in..."

Flame Willow silently looked away.

She wasn't lying about that; she genuinely couldn't be sure what the Archway and Call for Help would pull in.

Normally, she and Anna would definitely be considered friendly units, but given the current situation, Anna is very likely to be classified as an enemy unit.

Once identified as an enemy unit, Anna's Herrscher Persona will be pulled in. Although eliminating that Herrscher Persona would solve Anna's problem, it's still a tough fight.

To deal with a Herrscher Persona at its peak, Flame Willow didn't know how much she would have to pay, so she simply had Durandal and Mei take turns weakening Anna outside to ensure that she could win before Flame Willow began her own operation.

If Anna were to enter, her Herrscher Persona would be treated as a virus and either eliminated or blocked from the outside, and the control of the Honkai Will would be severed, which would naturally be a happy ending for everyone.

If it's Herrscher Persona that gets in, then Flame Willow will find a way to get rid of her, so that at least once Anna gets out, she'll only need to fight against the temptation of the Honkai Will will.

"So that's how it is..."

After Flame Willow's explanation, Anna finally understood the whole plan.

"So, we've encountered the best-case scenario?"

"No, we've encountered an unknown situation."

Flame Willow shook her head with a wry smile, "Although the connection between the Honkai Will and you has indeed been severed, the problem with your Herrscher Persona is probably not resolved."

"To be precise, it can't be considered a Herrscher Persona; it's more like a being instilled with evil thoughts that want to destroy the world."

"The problem now is that if you go out, no one knows whether you will still be affected by that evil thought."

"Then... maybe I shouldn't go out?"

Anna's expression darkened. "I've heard about what happened at the Far East Branch... The previous Herrscher were able to break free from the Honkai's control through their own efforts, but what happened to me..."

"As expected... I'm just an idiot who can't do anything right..."

No, you're already invincible for saying that. If you go to the Far East Demon Cave for a few more years of training, you'll definitely be Ascended Herrscher... Flame Willow thought to himself.

"Even if you don't want to go out, you'll still be kicked out when the time comes." Flame Willow shook her head slightly. "But this time, luck is on our side."

"Upon entering this space, we will randomly receive something like a blessing... We were very lucky; the item we received happened to have the effect of calming the mind and maintaining one's composure."

However, this wasn't just good luck. To ensure that she would obtain the Mystery of Tranquility from the Bizarre Chapter, Flame Willow carried all seven other possible random collectibles with her. Therefore, the probability of obtaining this collectible was actually 100%.

"Is it... this bell?"