Where's the promised Third Honkai?!!

She activated the eroded Erosion Authority time and again, using the last shred of her will to transfer her consciousness into the other body within her own.

That body, sealed alongside her, belonged to Yae Sakura.

For Yae Sakura, who had repeatedly defied her will, Ling should have long since destroyed her body.

But perhaps it was that face, so strikingly similar to her sister's, that kept the girl from ever hardening her heart.

Who would have thought that at this critical juncture, the body she'd spared out of momentary softness would end up saving her when she was cornered with no way out?

And so, using the Four-tailed Fox Demon's body as a shield, Ling forcibly endured Fu Li's Seven Swords Nuclear Blast and the subsequent decapitation strike.

Then, using her own corpse as cover, she burrowed underground to evade the follow-up dismemberment and finishing blow.

Yes, classic old Beijing behavior—truly authentic.

No matter the technique, as long as it worked and was effective, that was what mattered.

Of course, this also exposed Fu Li's weakness in combat: his finishing move only minced her into bits but didn't dig three zhang deep? Bad review, bad review!

That said, while it's normal for a boss to have a second phase, claiming the earlier fight had no effect at all would be pure slander.

The moment she was sealed into the Divine Key creation process—the Divine Box—fifty thousand years ago, Ling had already lost her ability to "link to the Imaginary Space and extract Honkai Energy without limit."

Unable to replenish her Honkai Energy, she was no longer the Herrscher of Erosion who had single-handedly severed the final hope of the Previous Era.

The Honkai Energy lost in the earlier battle was truly gone. Now, Ling's internal energy concentration was roughly on par with an average B-rank.

And although she hadn't destroyed Yae Sakura's body out of deference to her sister-like face, during the five hundred years of sealing, Ling had continuously eroded that body to ensure that if it ever awakened, it wouldn't be at peak condition to beat her up again.

In other words, whether in defense, MP cap, or HP, Ling's second phase was far inferior to her first.

If Fu Li still had a trump card up his sleeve, he might have easily reaped her?

"What a pity, what a pity."

Ling slowly approached Fu Li, who was slumped on the ground, and used her Bewitching Long Blade to lightly lift his chin.

Her left index finger swayed leisurely, the Moon Ring spinning atop it.

"This thing, and that unremarkable seven-sword strike at the start—both were meant to hint to me that 'this is all you've got,' weren't they?"

With a slight exertion of force, the Moon Ring crumbled into dust and fell.

Seeing this, Fu Li actually calmed down instead.

Sitting on the ground, he looked up, his gaze bypassing the long, slender legs wrapped in white stockings to meet the Miko's stunningly beautiful face: "That's right."

"You really are a person with eight hundred schemes."

Ling smiled sweetly, the Sakura-colored Fox Ears atop her head twitching slightly.

"—Die."

Then she raised her long blade and brought it down without reservation!

Fu Li's life was over!

Chapter 25: "Kiana Cat: Half-Time Break!"

A few hours earlier, at dusk, Changkong City—

Watching Fu Li's retreating back, Kiana, who had been putting on a tsundere act just moments before, gradually calmed down.

She returned to the room, took out a pair of well-maintained dual pistols from the drawer, and holstered them at her waist.

Then she went back out, stopped in front of Room 202 next door, and punched the lock.

'Boom!'

With the Kaslana Family's monstrous strength, the door gave way in one hit.

The girl stepped inside, and an empty room came into view.

"This lady did ask around the neighbors," she muttered to herself. "Yesterday, you left home early in the morning, and after coming back today, you never went out. So when did you have time to clear out all this furniture?"

And besides—

Kiana knelt down, carefully examining the objects that looked like bed legs and table legs.

The broken ends all had marks resembling bite wounds.

"A power related to eating? Did he awaken some kind of devouring ability?"

The girl stood up, rubbing her forehead with some exasperation.

Honkai Energy had always had a nickname: Honkai.

That was because Honkai Energy manifested in vastly different states and powers depending on the situation.

Through scholars' induction, summary, and research, Honkai Energy could achieve—but was not limited to—conversion into material changes (increasing mass/constructing armor), force field construction (suspending wings/simulating black holes), form transformation (electric current/controlling molecular motion), and rule manipulation (electromagnetic control/gravity control/death control), and so on—practically as versatile as Doraemon.

Because of this, in each person's hands, Honkai Energy manifested different abilities and constructs.

As an energy widely present in the atmospheric environment, Honkai Energy's convergence tendency would occasionally cause it to gather abruptly in one place.

Some solitary Honkai Beasts were born this way. If the concentration was even greater, forming a demonic realm resembling a different dimension wasn't out of the question.

It wasn't as if there were no cases where it converged on a single person. Generally speaking, the unfortunate soul subjected to such treatment would be corroded into ashes in an instant, and any survivors would become mindless zombies.

If their adaptability was high enough to endure it, based on the all-powerful nature of the Honkai, it wasn't impossible for them to awaken some special ability.

Kiana now suspected that Fu Li had awakened a devouring-type special ability. That would explain the look he'd given Muye and her earlier.

It wasn't the gaze of someone looking at the soon-to-be dead, but rather a self-proclaimed higher lifeform eyeing a feast.

Realizing this, Kiana's head immediately began to ache terribly.

These types who suddenly awakened superpowers were the hardest to deal with! They all put on an act like "I'm the boss, second only to heaven," thinking themselves superior and omnipotent, then letting loose without restraint!

It seemed Fu Li was no exception?

No! That's wrong!

Kiana shook her head vigorously.

If that were really the case, A Li would never have let her go when she was practically a plate of braised pork in his eyes!

Choosing to leave meant he could still suppress the swelling desires that came with gaining power!

But that didn't mean she could let her guard down! How did that saying go?

If I had superpowers, day one I'd punish evil and promote good, day two I'd seamlessly switch to Homelander.

For now, Fu Li might barely be able to control his urges, but if another two or three days passed, who knew if he'd suddenly decide "I don't eat beef"!

"No! I need to think of a way to prevent this from happening!"

Kiana made up her mind. No matter what, Fu Li had followed her all the way to the Far East, and the girl felt she bore at least a basic responsibility toward him.

Besides...

If he'd also stepped into the same world as me, then could he also...

No no no, Kiana, what are you thinking? That guy's a creep who stalks you, follows you, and confesses to you every other day! Even if you really wanted a companion on your journey to find your deadbeat dad, you shouldn't set your sights on him!

The girl shook her two braids with a rustle, tossing the unrealistic thoughts in her head to kingdom come.

"Anyway, I'll just secretly follow behind him and see what this guy does next!"

She patted her slightly reddened cheeks, stood up, and returned to her room.

Lifting the bed, she pulled out a mechanical creation shaped like a husky from the space under the mattress.

Kiana pressed the startup switch on its nose. The husky's eyes lit up, and it began circling her in an endearingly clumsy manner, occasionally nudging her calf with its snout.

"Haha, Soth, stop it, stop it!"

Kiana patted its head and led it to the neighboring room, B202.

"I'm counting on you, Soth. Memorize the strongest male scent in this room, then take me to find him!"

This was a specialized tracking mechanical dog Kiana had bought after selling a Honkai Beast Core on the black market. She'd originally planned to have it memorize Sigfried's scent so she wouldn't miss him if he was nearby, but now it was perfect for finding Fu Li.

As for why she'd hidden it under the bed in such a secretive spot—it was because the landlord here didn't allow tenants to keep pets.

After receiving its task, Soth didn't bark twice to acknowledge. Instead, it sniffed around the room a few times before returning to its owner and, as usual, nudged her calf with its snout to signal completion.

"Done recording? Alright, let's go!"

Kiana smoothed the dog's fur while marveling at how lifelike even a built-in low-intelligence AI could be. What must the high-level AIs be like?

Technology... was terrifying.

"Hi there, Kiana!"

"Hi there, Sister Linye!"

"Hi there, Big Sister Kiana! Whoa! A doggy!"

"Shh—! Little Shizuo, you have to keep it a secret for your big sister, okay!"

"Mm!"

Smiling and greeting a few neighbors, Kiana followed Soth down the stairs.

Once outside the apartment, the dog became noticeably more lively. It barked once and sprinted south on all fours.

As a mechanical creation, Soth had a top speed of 50 km/h, faster than some small cars.

Even when it deliberately halved its speed in the city, it was still a blur of motion.

Kiana kept up with it the whole time. Even when Soth pushed its speed to the limit after leaving the city, the girl followed at an unhurried jog.

After a while, the girl and the dog stepped into the territory of the ruins of Yae Village.

At this point, even without Soth's guidance, Kiana could tell exactly where Fu Li was.

Looking out, the hillside where the Yae Shrine stood had already been reduced to a pitted mess.

The adjacent mountain peak looked as if it had been cleaved diagonally by a giant wielding a guandao. Half the severed summit lay isolated and fallen on Zhúquè Slope beside Yae Village, the cut surface polished smooth as a mirror.

Just from this, Kiana dared to conclude that both sides in the battle were either A-rank or exceptional B-rank.

She whispered, "Soth, find a place to hide!"

"Waaah..."

Soth bit down on Kiana's shoe, unwilling to watch its master throw herself into danger.

An A-rank fight, possibly even Super A-rank.

With Kiana's level, what difference was there between recklessly charging over and just serving herself up as a side dish?

But unfortunately, thinking and weighing pros and cons meant nothing to the girl.

Fu Li was there, so she had to go. It was that simple!

Because she was Kiana Kaslana!

And so—

"You really are a person with eight hundred schemes in your heart."

Ling smiled sweetly, the pair of sakura-colored fox ears atop her head, so different from ordinary humans, twitching slightly.

"Die."

Then she raised her long blade and brought it down without reservation, straight for the head!

A silver blade-light bloomed in the air, but was blocked by a flash of the same color.

CLANG!!!

"Long time no see, you bottom-feeder!"

The clash of metal and a familiar, spirited shout rang out together in Fu Li's ears. The white-haired girl who had crossed her twin guns to block the lethal strike didn't even look back.

Kiana Kaslana had made her grand entrance!

In mere seconds, she had sprinted across half the battlefield, her heroic bearing like a meteor streaking through the boundless darkness of the night sky!