Joining MiHoYo, This Savior Caught Elysia's Eye

"I understand. Come with me."

After that, Himeko took Ye Ming around St. Freya.

Whenever she introduced the school, Himeko spoke as though she were introducing her own home.

She always wore a smile, her voice filled with pride.

"Oh, right. This might be a strange question, but have we met somewhere before?"

"Maybe."

It was the last time he would interfere with Himeko's timeline, and Ye Ming could not be bothered to hide anything anymore.

"But where could we have met?"

"..."

As Himeko racked her brain, Ye Ming considered what came next:

With his position changed, he was no longer the one who could personally look after Himeko's daily needs.

Logistics work had little overlap with Himeko. They probably would not be able to develop the same kind of romantic relationship as before, would they?

It did not matter. As long as he could bring her home, anything was fine.

"Please take me to the dormitory first. I want to take a shower and trim my hair while I'm at it."

As he spoke, Ye Ming pulled the red cord from his ponytail and casually set it aside.

Himeko's eyes widened at that gesture.

"This is..."

In that instant, countless memories surged into her mind: being rescued from a sea of flames, receiving countless acts of help after becoming a Valkyrie...

And the person who had stood in front of her and Ragna when they faced the Herrscher of the Void.

"Mm!"

Even though her memories had reached this point, Himeko simply could not recall that person's face. Only this red cord stood out vividly in her memories.

"Could it... be him?"

A red cord proved nothing, yet it left an extraordinarily deep impression of Ye Ming on Himeko...

As time passed, Himeko's suspicions about Ye Ming's identity gradually turned into concern for him.

To uncover the truth behind that sense of familiarity, Himeko took the initiative and entered Ye Ming's life.

From their first drink together, to their first exchange of gifts, the first time she let him take her home, the first time she gave Ye Ming the key to her house...

In the end, not only did Himeko fail to uncover the truth, she only fell deeper and deeper.

At some point, she could no longer take her eyes off Ye Ming.

"Ye Ming, do you remember... how long it had been since that first encounter?"

In the cold night wind, Himeko, drunk on Ye Ming's back, asked in a slurred voice.

"A little over two months."

Ye Ming held Himeko by the thighs as he carried her slowly forward beneath the moonlight.

"It was three months and two days, you know?"

"You... weren't drunk at all, were you?"

"Hehe~~ The time we spent together—forget getting drunk, even if I turned to ashes, I'd still remember it!"

Himeko wrapped her arms around Ye Ming's neck as though seeking praise, but this time, Ye Ming did not feel even the slightest sweetness.

"..."

Those familiar words made Ye Ming think of the Himeko he had failed to kiss, of how she had felt when she said those words...

And of the sensation of Himeko slipping from his grasp.

"But it feels so unbelievable."

Himeko whispered softly into Ye Ming's ear:

"Even though it has only been three months, I feel as though I've known you for a very, very long time."

"..."

At that moment, Himeko on Ye Ming's back clearly felt his shoulders trembling without stop.

"I think... perhaps you..."

Ye Ming, choking up again and again, remembered BT. He remembered the battles across countless timelines along the way, and the endless loneliness within the Time Corridor.

"...counted the time we met in our dreams..."

All the pain, all the grievances, all the loneliness, all the coldness he had deliberately feigned, all the feelings buried deep within his heart...

At that moment, they all became a sobbing voice he could no longer hide.

"Count that in too."

Pain that even a Herrscher could not endure had failed to stir Ye Ming's tear ducts.

Yet now, the revival of those happy days from the past had left him weeping uncontrollably.

Perhaps that old saying was right: despair only turned a person's heart to ice.

What could truly melt sorrow into tears was nothing but the feeling of happiness.

I held it together until now, but Ye Ming crying here completely broke me.

Ye Ming and I shed manly tears together.

No wonder everyone kept spamming "remember these words" in the last video.

The weight of this foreshadowing was far too heavy.

39. The One Abandoned by God (2nd Update)

"Ye Ming..."

Himeko, lying on Ye Ming's back, did not understand why her beloved was crying.

Yet she seemed able to understand his feelings, as though every one of Ye Ming's tears had fallen into her own heart.

Himeko silently reached out, wanting to wipe away Ye Ming's tears.

But at that moment, Ye Ming had already steadied himself and said in a gentle yet unwavering voice:

"Let's go home."

"Mm."

After that, Ye Ming pretended to fall asleep, while Himeko woke up first.

She had wanted to kiss Ye Ming, but then she saw the scars on his chest.

The heartache that surged up in an instant replaced her affection, forcing Himeko to give up and instead gently stroke Ye Ming's face.

—There was no room for error in the final battle.

After Himeko left, Ye Ming woke up as well. But this time, he no longer had BT's help.

"I know, System. Let me travel to another dimension first. I need to reclaim the power someone promised me before."

As soon as he finished speaking, the screen went black and remained dark for a long while.

A shot like this clearly meant they did not want anyone to know what had happened during that time.

And while all the viewers could do was stare at the black screen and imagine what had happened, a deep male voice rang out:

"The contract has been formed. Those who break their word shall suffer the Punishment of Rock Consumption."

The Queen descended, and all living beings suffered.

Every scene was familiar—so familiar that it was terrifying.

Clad in Eclipse Armor and holding the God-Slaying Spear, Himeko arrived before the Queen.

Just as Imaginary Space was about to swallow her, Ye Ming suddenly rushed in. He shut off the Plague Gem powering Himeko's armor, and also stopped the armor from harming her body.

"Ye Ming...? Why!?"

Himeko was overwhelmed by confusion, and while she was distracted, Ye Ming seized the God-Slaying Spear and fastened it at his waist.

"Himeko, leave this to me."

"No! You have no idea what kind of existence the Herrscher of the Void is."

"I do."

Ye Ming said coldly:

"I know better than anyone."

With that, Ye Ming gave a light wave of his hand. Four rune-covered stone pillars rose from the ground, trapping Himeko within them.

Each stone pillar radiated energy powerful enough to distort the surrounding space, while the pillars continuously resonated with one another.

The energy from that resonance formed a wall of seals, leaving Himeko trapped inside and unable to move.

"Wait! Ye Ming!"

Himeko tried to force her way through, only to be gently bounced back by the energy field. Such immense power seemed surprisingly gentle when it reacted.

Only then did Himeko understand that this was not imprisonment, but protection. Those force fields were shields protecting her.

"At least let me help you!"

"Sorry. This is the last chance. I don't dare take that risk."

With that, Ye Ming stepped onto the battlefield that belonged to him.

"It's you... It's you!!"

The moment she saw Ye Ming, all the humiliation and fury of the past surged forth at once.

The once-elegant Queen instantly transformed into a tyrant consumed by rage.

"Finally, I get to see you again! I've missed you so much all these years!!"

Black lightning coiled around the Queen, while surging Honkai energy seemed ready to force all living things to their knees.

"I've dreamed of killing you!"

"Couldn't you dream about something nicer instead of murder and arson all day?"

Just like a Valkyrie's stigmata, two runes lit up on Ye Ming's body.

One was the wind rune he had seen before, while the other was an earth rune radiating golden light.

"How about a kids' meal?"

"!!!"

The overly pointed mockery sent the Queen's fury straight past the threshold of reason.

Spears of Subspace rained down like droplets, and just as Ye Ming tried to evade them, the Herrscher of the Void once again invoked her authority over warped space-time, slowing Ye Ming's time.

Impregnable Fortress!

Seeing that he could not escape the attack range, Ye Ming immediately awakened the power of the earth element and wrapped himself in a thick shield.

The rectangular shield, coursing with runic words, absorbed the impact of Honkai energy while gathering power. Then it burst forth in blazing brilliance, and beneath the golden radiance, countless shockwaves shot outward.

They blasted away the surrounding space-time distortion as well.

"You bastard! You always have these little tricks!"

Ye Ming's wind-like movements had already made the Queen hate him to the core. She had finally come up with a way to counter them, only for Ye Ming to awaken yet another new power.

One incomprehensible move after another made the Queen's scalp tingle.