Joining MiHoYo, I, the Savior, Caught Elysia's Eye

"Like Ragna, I could only remember that person through written descriptions. Like... like..."

"Like the person who once saved you from the sea of flames?"

"Mm..."

Himeko pursed her lips, a bold thought forming in her mind:

"Maybe they... were the same person?"

"That was certainly possible."

Boom!

Just as the two were wondering about Ye Ming's identity, a deafening crash came from underground nearby.

A gigantic spider-like Honkai Beast burst from the earth, quickly turning an entire street into white cocoons.

"Everyone, take your positions! Prepare for battle!"

The Valkyrie Assault Squad charged forward as one, but they had clearly underestimated this bizarre monster, which looked nothing like an ordinary Honkai Beast.

Though its attacks were not fatal and its strength had not reached world-shattering levels, the spider silk it sprayed from its mouth was tougher than steel.

Before the battle had lasted long, the Valkyries had been wrapped inside cocoons, unable to move.

"No choice..."

It was not as though the Valkyries could not break free from restraints of this level, but... using the necessary power would place an enormous burden on their bodies.

In an instant, countless stigmata lit up, shining in different colors.

"Wait!"

"!!"

But at that moment, a white cocoon beside Himeko and Ragna suddenly spoke.

Moments later, the spider silk was torn apart by a fierce gust, revealing Ye Ming's figure.

"I'll handle this thing."

"You're... that person from before..."

Although the Valkyries had no memory of Ye Ming's appearance, the boy before them perfectly matched the descriptions in the rumors.

As for Himeko and Ragna, they felt an indescribable sense of familiarity with him.

The battle that followed was not particularly spectacular. Ye Ming's strength was completely overwhelming.

Yet he seemed unable to control his own power, creating far more chaos than necessary.

Ye Ming's unskilled brutality made him look like a machine on the verge of collapse, filled with dangerous warning signs.

Their Lives Were Like Shakespeare

"You're hurt..."

After the battle ended, Himeko stepped forward, only to see a strand of spider silk piercing Ye Ming's body, stained with his blood.

"It's nothing."

"Come with us. At the very least, let us treat your wound."

"There's no need."

Without looking back, Ye Ming left. He did not want to become too entangled with Himeko in this timeline.

Because Ye Ming knew very well that he would get along wonderfully with Himeko, that he would lose himself in the time spent with her at his side, and that he would waste precious time because of it.

Though time did not pass within the Time Corridor, Ye Ming was still deeply anxious. He was racing against a countdown.

The countdown to his own collapse.

"Why...?"

Watching Ye Ming leave, Himeko's heart was filled with reluctance.

Even if interference with time had blurred her memories, it could not erase Himeko's soul-deep longing for Ye Ming.

And at that very moment, the spider silk, having lost its host, also lost its power and became ordinary thread.

The strand of spider silk dyed red with Ye Ming's blood became a red thread, which Himeko clutched tightly in her hand.

"Shall I compare him to a summer's day?"

At that moment, Ragna, who had witnessed everything, came to Himeko's side. In a gentle voice, she softly recited:

"Of course. He is more gentle, more deserving of tenderness."

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, and summer's lease hath all too short a date."

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, and often is his gold complexion dimm'd."

"And every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd."

"But his eternal summer shall not fade, nor lose possession of that warmth he brings."

"Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade, when in eternal lines to time thou grow'st."

"As long as there are people still breathing, people still bearing witness, this hymn will be passed down and grant him life."

A beautiful, moving poem that, in its final lines, bestowed the power of inheritance.

"This is...?"

"Shakespeare. My favorite poem."

Ragna smiled faintly.

"When I went to free the civilians from their cocoons just now, they kept thanking that person for everything he had done."

"Even if, for some reason, our memories of him have become blurry, as long as he remains steadfast in his beliefs, one day, we'll come to know one another."

Seeing this, the real Ragna's eyes trembled.

Was the version of herself in the video really fictional?

How did the author know that she liked Shakespeare, even reciting the poem she had been thinking of?

"System, has Himeko's condition improved?"

Within the Time Corridor, Ye Ming had just finished stopping the bleeding and was already preparing to head to the next timeline.

But before that, he needed to confirm the results of what he had done.

—It has improved significantly. At the very least, there's no longer any need to worry about her lifespan.

"That's good..."

For the first time in a long while, Ye Ming closed his eyes in peace. That brief rest felt incomparably healing.

"No, wait!"

Yet soon, a terrifying pressure swept over him again.

"I remember the Herrscher of the Void saying that Himeko had missed one of the squad's operations, which was why she became the sole survivor of that massacre."

"I'm a little worried... If Himeko's condition is looking better, will she... take part in that operation?"

The greatest malice of this world was that every one of Ye Ming's "worst-case scenarios" became reality.

After he had interfered with Himeko's timeline countless times, a new memory scene suddenly appeared in the previously empty corridor.

There, the young Kiana was possessed by the Herrscher of the Void for the first time, while Himeko and the others struggled desperately against her.

"Everyone, fall back! Your highest priority is protecting yourselves!"

It was the Valkyrie Assault Squad's first time facing a Herrscher directly. Though they had paid with their vitality to unleash the full power of their Artificial Stigmata...

The gap in strength was still far too great. Everyone had been gravely wounded and could no longer continue fighting.

"Listen carefully. Forget about the mission. You only have one thing to do—escape from here."

"Captain, what about you?"

"I'll draw her attention."

Perhaps hearing the tremor in the girls' voices, Ragna forcibly suppressed the tension in her heart and gently reassured them.

"Don't worry. I've encountered situations like this before. I can't promise victory, but I can still manage a retreat."

After leaving her students with one final smile, Ragna charged toward the Herrscher of the Void.

Don't! She'll definitely die!

Waaah! Ragna! My Ragna!

Please, no more angst! Can't Himeko and Ragna both survive together?

With her power fully unleashed, Ragna continuously overtaxed her own life force, gaining strength equal to that of the incomplete Herrscher of the Void in return.

The scene of their battle was so familiar, its composition almost identical to Himeko's past fierce battle with the Queen.

Because of that, the viewers' traumatic reactions were all stirred awake. Before the story had even ended, they had already swallowed the blade in advance.

"The Herrscher is... such a small child!?"

Just like Himeko back then, Ragna swung her greatsword and broke through the Herrscher of the Void's attacks again and again.

But just as Ragna was about to cleave apart the Herrscher of the Void's body, she discovered that this terrifying enemy was actually a young girl.

"Urgh!"

At the crucial moment, Ragna's heart softened. Unable to bring down that strike, she was pierced through by a Spear of the Void and collapsed helplessly onto the ground.

"Captain!"

At that moment, Himeko also arrived and stood protectively in front of Ragna.

"Himeko? Cough, cough! Why did you come back!?"

"I was worried about you..."

"Idiot! Get out of here, now!"

"Too late. None of you are leaving."

The Herrscher of the Void would not pass up the chance to raise the death toll by one. Though Himeko had also unleashed her Stigmata and desperately wrung every last bit of strength from herself.

She had been far too weak at the time, however, and soon collapsed beside Ragna.

"How touching. Since you two are so close, you can die together."

The Herrscher of the Void revealed a sadistic smile, then slowly gathered her incomplete power.

Before long, a pitch-black crystalline spear, carrying incomparable sharpness and Honkai energy that warped space itself, hovered before the two of them.

"This is my full-power strike. It's very powerful—guaranteed to pierce through both of you at once and let you die at the same time."

37. A Mere Fatal Wound...

Ragna was already doomed to die, and now Himeko was here too. Were they going to die together?

You fucking can't do this! You can't do this, aaah!

This was supposed to be fanfiction! Fanfiction was supposed to make the audience smile!

No, it could also kill the audience twice.

Many of those posting comments had fingers trembling over their keyboards.

They understood now. This fanfic author was just as beastly as MiHoYo, completely refusing to follow the usual script.

But there was nothing they could do. They had already fallen into the pit, been tricked, and grown attached to those characters. Even if it was a knife, they could only swallow it whole.

Unless...

Someone could change all of this.