Stab her? We were the ones getting stabbed!
Perhaps it was because the video was made too exquisitely, or perhaps because this was all a true story.
The viewers had already accepted the new premise, and the dull ache in their hearts deepened even further.
"Someone with nothing, even if they die, no one would cry for them, right?"
"..."
Himeko lowered her head, her red bangs concealing her expression.
"Hahahaha! Looks like I was right!"
Himeko's silence was met with the Queen's unrestrained laughter.
At that moment, this Herrscher bent on destroying the world was filled with delight. Exploiting the flaws of human nature to crush an enemy gave her a greater thrill of revenge than overwhelming them with brute force.
"Heh... hehehe..."
But just as the Queen prepared to finish Himeko off, she heard a relieved laugh.
"What a despicable person... Do you know how much those words hurt?"
Himeko stood back up. Though her body was already battered beyond recognition, though her skin was drenched in blood, though her breathing was rushed and faint...
The hand gripping the God-Slaying Greatsword showed not the slightest sign of wavering.
"But unfortunately, even someone like me, who has never been favored by the gods, still has someone who would cry for me."
At that moment, Ye Ming's figure filled Himeko's mind.
You should have woken up by now, right?
When you find that I'm not beside your bed, what kind of expression will you make?
With how clever you are, you'll probably learn the truth soon enough.
I hope you won't be too sad when that happens.
Once your tears have run dry, please forget me and begin a new life.
"Hah... hah..."
As Himeko adjusted her breathing, she had already prepared herself to burn out completely.
Yet before she squeezed out the last of her life force, Himeko seemed to remember something.
She gave a self-mocking smile, her eyes filled with regret.
"If only... I'd kissed you back then."
Boom!
In an instant, a thunderous crash drew everyone's attention.
The Imaginary Space belonging solely to the Herrscher of the Void nearly shattered under the fierce impact.
Though that void-like space immediately began repairing itself, someone had still forced their way inside.
"Ye... Ming...?"
Even through several layers of thick armor plating, Himeko could sense that familiar presence from within the mech.
"Damn rat! You actually snuck in here!"
"You called my BT... a rat?"
Controlling the mech, Ye Ming swung the gigantic greatsword in his hand with all his might, spraying the blood of countless Honkai Beasts.
Do You Really Think Loving BT Won't Get Me Killed?
"Ye Ming, is that you?"
Himeko could feel Ye Ming's presence, but she still did not dare to be certain.
Seeing the person she loved before death would only make her feel as though she were dreaming.
"I came to take you home, Himeko."
Ye Ming opened the cockpit's protective plating and gave Himeko a smile.
"It really is you..."
Just one face, one expression, one voice was enough to fill Himeko's nearly burned-out heart with happiness.
"But... why?!"
From Himeko's perspective, Ye Ming was just an ordinary person—the sort who made others want to protect him.
Yet now, he was piloting a mech and had barged into the destroyer's cage.
"We can save the explanations for later. There's something else we need to do now."
Sensing danger approaching, Ye Ming hurriedly lowered the armor plating and blocked the Queen's spear.
"Mere human technology... and it's surprisingly sturdy."
Though she did not feel pressured, the Herrscher of the Void still realized that the mech before her was different from the machines that had previously surrounded and attacked her.
"Hehe, what a shame. I don't have the spare time to tell you about BT and me..."
Ye Ming pulled the greatsword embedded in the ground free, using his own power to activate BT's strength.
"Otherwise, you'd understand exactly what you're facing right now!"
Violent power blasted out from behind the mech. The sheer pressure of the airflow swept every bit of debris from the ground.
The enormous figure charged forth, its overwhelming momentum even eclipsing the world-destroying Queen's cruelty.
Boom!
For the sake of her pride, the Herrscher of the Void did not evade him and chose to receive Ye Ming's charge head-on.
The two forces collided, causing the entire Imaginary Space to tilt as countless crystals hanging in the air swayed violently.
The clash appeared to be a draw. The Queen used the power of space-time to block the greatsword and began corroding it with Honkai energy, while Ye Ming had no intention of retreating.
"It's not over yet!"
The inscriptions across BT's body lit up all at once. Power not belonging to this world swirled around BT, forming one glowing magical array after another.
"What is this?!"
Startled by that unfamiliar power, the Queen revealed a tiny opening in an instant.
Seizing the opportunity, Ye Ming temporarily abandoned the greatsword being suppressed by the Queen, grabbed her with BT's arms, and then crashed downward.
The two of them struck the crystals within the Imaginary Space like comets, and the thick platform was blasted into a crater like one left by a falling star.
But just before impact, Ye Ming and BT forcibly rose into the air with the power of the inscriptions, avoiding any damage.
"No... That's impossible?!"
For the first time, the Queen lying in the crater revealed a panicked expression. Ever since Ye Ming had entered this place, she had been unable to understand the situation before her.
However, viewers who had watched Queen's Descent knew full well that this alone could not defeat this world-destroyer.
"Lowly insect!"
The enraged Queen would not allow anyone to look down upon her. With a flick of her wings, she instantly flew to the very top of the Imaginary Space.
"Die!"
She raised both arms and activated every crystal around her. This time, she did not fire them immediately. Instead, she continuously accumulated power in order to kill her enemy in a single blow.
Gradually, nearly all the crystals floating within the Imaginary Space were gathered by the Queen, as though a basin in the heavens had been overturned, ready to pour down a solid torrent as divine punishment.
From Himeko's perspective, it was as though the sky itself had fallen.
"BT, divert all energy to reinforcing the torso!"
"Torso reinforcement complete. Ye Ming, it seems you and I had the same idea."
The perfectly coordinated pair seemed to have already agreed on a plan, but even so, faced with that suffocating pressure, they did not dare relax in the slightest.
"Yaaah!"
After gathering her power to its limit, the Queen roared and hurled the sky-obscuring crystals down at Ye Ming.
There was no room to evade an attack like the collapsing heavens. Even the strongest defense could not withstand the burial that followed the impact.
Since that was the case, their course of action was clear—there was no path other than crushing it head-on!
"BT!"
"Locking pins released. Limb reinforcement complete. Commencing interception!"
BT lowered both arms, then began spinning its body wildly, using its massive frame to whip up a devastating tornado.
The raging gale was a hundred times sharper than metal blades. The instant it touched the crystals, it shredded the crystal mass at the front, then continually reduced the crystals' size like a peeling machine.
Under the assault of that incomparably sharp gale, capable of tearing apart metal and stone, Ye Ming forcibly cut down the originally earth-shattering attack until it was only the size of a mountain.
"You think you can stop it?!"
But... a mountain was still a mountain! The Queen kept pouring Honkai energy into the crystals, giving that mountain endless momentum!
Even a storm that struck like hundreds or thousands of blades chopping at once would eventually have its edges shattered.
Before long, crystal cannonballs and spears broke into the eye of the storm, seemingly about to crush BT's body.
"Activate high-frequency vibration! Full power!"
At the critical moment, BT's body began vibrating at a super-high speed invisible to the naked eye, knocking aside the Queen's void crystals one after another.
Using rotation to deflect projectiles, then high-frequency vibration to redirect attacks...
Wasn't that just science?! Basic physics!
Using the power of magic to carry out the laws of physics—awesome!
BT became famous in a single battle. More and more viewers stopped seeing it as Ye Ming's tool and began treating it as a character in its own right.
Anyone else become a BT fan?
Me, me, me! BT's adorably stoic yet dependable vibe is amazing.
This is boyfriend material! I'm a BT fan now.
Liking a robot shouldn't get me killed, right?
Exactly. I'm starting to stan BT now. Let's see who can kill me off.
BT's dazzling performance had the comments shouting in delight, but Ye Ming at the scene could not remain optimistic.
"BT, assess the damage..."
"Structural damage exceeds 60%. The energy core has also begun to destabilize. Ye Ming, we need to end this quickly."
A Story Not Yet Finished
"End this quickly?"
Ye Ming looked at the Queen high above them. She had not continued attacking, so she was likely exhausted as well.
Victory or defeat would be decided in the next instant.
"BT, wait for the right moment and switch to automatic mode."
"Understood. Be careful."
Ye Ming piloted BT and charged at the Queen once more.
However, this time, their flying speed was somewhat slower than before.
It seemed that BT's mention of the unstable energy core weighed heavily on Ye Ming's mind.
"Damn it! Why are you still struggling?!"
Unable to find a way to secure an absolute victory, the Queen could only wield the Spear of Subspace and engage Ye Ming in battle. The two entered a grueling contest to see who would fall first.
Before you continue