Interlude: Birds Should Fly

It's not enough to be strong on your own; you must also improve the overall strength.

At the same time, innocence will always be a thing of the past, and fledglings must be allowed to experience the harsh realities of the outside world.

Even he himself hadn't expected that he could actually Fire-Chasing Squad Chaser Squad. Xing thought to himself.

It wasn't that they were too weak; it was just that I had a significant advantage in combat experience, which caused Mei to be defeated before they could even use a single skill.

But it felt pretty good to beat him up. Could it be that I have sadistic tendencies?

I felt sorry for them, but when the attacks hit them, a strange feeling arose...

Although You Hui explained to him that even outside of official duties, the divine messenger would never develop Herrscher Persona, he still felt like something was wrong with him.

Forget it, let's figure out how to clear the current dungeon first. This time it was so easy, I can't believe it. I cleared it by killing a few bugs... Has the author of the loli story finally had a change of heart?

The Silly Loli who was arranging to add a new boss in the Main Branch World suddenly sneezed.

P. S.: The long list of enemy personnel I mentioned earlier mostly consists of cannon fodder and grunts. There aren't that many bosses! Even if you added all the big monsters together, it wouldn't be as thick as a book!

—Beginning of main text—

"What's the meaning?"

Fortunately, there was no reply. He glanced at Tesla, and the battle video of the Extreme Fox was playing on the big screen. It stopped at the last second, and the veil of the man in black was lifted, revealing a face that everyone was extremely familiar with.

Kiana staggered back a few steps, her expression one of utter shock, like someone who'd been dating someone they'd known online for years only to discover in person that their online boyfriend was actually their best friend. Mei quickly steadied her, "Could it be an act? After all, parallel worlds are just too..."

"Ha, is it that hard to travel between worlds?" In response to Mei's question, Sachi snapped her fingers. "Traveling to another world through the Quantum Sea is not impossible. Besides, this world already has items that can travel between parallel worlds."

"But, that kind of device shouldn't be something that can be made casually..."

Before Bronya could finish speaking, Xing casually said, "Oh, I brought one back with me when I went to the Quantum Sea last time. I gave it to Professor Welt and the others to study. Would you like me to borrow it so you can broaden your horizons?"

Everyone: "..."

Brother, are we really from the same world? Why do I feel like I can't keep up with your train of thought?

They also felt that parallel worlds were a vague and distant concept. When Xing brought Seele back from the Quantum Sea last time, they only had a superficial understanding of it. But you brought back the shuttle directly, how come we didn't know?!

"You didn't ask either," Xing replied.

"Could it be a clone?" Rosalia suggested, but before she could finish speaking, she was knocked away by Xingyi's staff. "Children shouldn't interrupt adults. How can a clone be so tough? This Kiana would have been killed by the time I used my third ultimate. That guy actually withstood more than ten of my ultimates!"

Liliya wanted to say that you are even younger than us, but seeing Xingna's kind gaze, she decisively shut her mouth.

"Hmm... I don't quite understand what you're saying. Can you explain the reason to me in the simplest and most straightforward way?" Kiana felt overwhelmed; her CPU, which hadn't been used in a long time, simply couldn't handle such a complex question.

Author who is currently typing: Oops, I feel confused about the paragraph above, so I'll just skip the explanation to avoid you guys saying I'm padding the word count. It's not because I'm lazy!

Time Erasure - Time Reversal

After Yuki briefly described the cause of the incident (omitting the parts that couldn't be told to Kiana), everyone fell silent.

"So, in other words, the Kiana in the parallel world blames herself for everything, believing that if she disappears, Sister Mei and the others won't be harmed, so she keeps traveling to other worlds to hunt her down..." White Seele's eyes were red, and her voice choked up, "Why did she choose the path of evil when it was clearly for everyone's happiness?"

"The line between justice and evil is very blurry." Fortunately, no, Luming floated over, took out a handkerchief and gently wiped away her tears. "From other people's perspective, it is truly unforgivable to deprive those Kiana of their future and happiness, but for her, it is the best way to atone for her sins."

Note: The change of pronouns has a deeper meaning.

"What is this?!" Mei couldn't accept it at all. "What about us in other parallel worlds? And everyone in those worlds who knew Kiana, they had no idea about the future, they only knew that a living girl had disappeared from their sight forever. What kind of atonement is this? It's just adding to the evil deeds to beg for psychological comfort!"

Mei was very emotional. Kiana was the most important person to her. When she was in darkness, it was this angelic girl who saved her. She was willing to pay any price for Kiana.

Of course, you can't mess with Sesame normally; Raiden Mei isn't that easy to mess with.

"...Sure, that's what you just said, right? Because of an accident, Kiana from that world became Herrscher and killed everyone who tried to stop her." Bronya looked up, glanced at Kiana who had been silent since, then turned and stared intently into those heterochromatic eyes. "Then, why would she want to hunt down her other selves? If she can become Herrscher, does that mean her parallel world selves will too? Or... Herrscher Transformation is actually..."

Bronya abruptly stopped speaking halfway through her sentence, her mind going blank. Could it be...?!

"That's right, you guessed correctly." Seeing Bronya's face full of shock and regret, Kiana's eyes flashed with an unreadable light. Luming decided to go all the way and tell you about this. Do you know the Herrscher of Void?

"I know, the Herrscher born during the Second Great Honkai in Siberia in 2000 is named Sirin." The first to speak was Kiana, who had been silent until now. It seems she wasn't sleeping the whole time in class and was actually paying attention.

The white hair hanging over her forehead obscured one of her eyes, but through her Honkai Vision, Luming could clearly see that the long-dormant core was now showing signs of activity.

"If you're looking for death, I don't mind sending you on your way sooner. Think carefully about how many seconds it will take me to kill you, Sirin."

The core has returned to silence.

"I know too! She's the culprit who caused everyone in the orphanage to be displaced!" The Arin Sisters gritted their teeth in anger. "It's all her fault! If that person hadn't appeared and caused the Honkai, we wouldn't be in this situation now!"

"But, wasn't the Herrscher of Void Sirin already killed by Cecilia? And the core of the split was still..." Wendy subconsciously stroked her thigh, where one of the fragments, the Gem of Desire, was residing.

Mei thoughtfully reached for her chest, while Luming glanced down awkwardly at her lower abdomen.

Damn it, why is my core Polymerization located in this place?

"Textbooks are written by people. Do you think what's recorded in them is all true history?" Luming didn't answer directly, but instead posed a question to them.

"As I said before, the line between good and evil is very blurry. Before you met Lobster Doctor, your impression of Anti-Entropy was based on the stereotype of them being big bad guys, and so was Schicksal."

Luming floated back to Kiana's height, touched Kiana's brow with her finger, and then slid down, stopping just before reaching the two mounds of fat. "Hey, do you know where the Artificial Stigmata used by the other Valkyrie come from?"

"Wait, Little Xing!" Theresa, who had appeared out of nowhere, rushed out, looking at her daughter with almost pleading eyes. "Please, at least don't let them know about that darkness now. They're still just children..."

"Am I not one, Mother? Durandal is just a child now, but even knowing the darkness of Schicksal, she still chooses to work for Otto." Luming gently covered her mouth, making a shushing gesture, her heterochromatic red and blue eyes flashing with a color that only appeared during battle. "Naivety will pass. Rather than letting them be forced to unveil that bloody veil later, it's better for me to tell them now."

"At least, I'm still a human being."

—Time Erasure!—

After a moment, Rosalia looked up, her eyes filled with tears. "So, Sirin was just an ordinary, pitiful little girl, who, like us, lost her parents and was Honkai by the Honkai during Schicksal's experiment in the Tower of Babylon Tower..."

Liliya didn't say anything, but simply buried her head in her sister's shoulder and stayed with her.

"Was Sirin also a victim?" White Seele looked down at the bright Stigmata on her chest and suddenly felt a little fortunate that Bronya had come to rescue her when she was kidnapped by mercenaries and that another version of herself had awakened in time. Otherwise, her fate might have been the same as those children who were sent to the laboratory with Sirin.

"She deserves sympathy, but it's too late." Luming hugged and comforted the two crying children, and gave Seele some psychological counseling. "Even without Sirin, there would be Nanlin, Donglin, and Beilin. Someone will eventually become Herrscher. All Otto wants is that Herrscher with the power. As for who becomes it, it doesn't matter."

"Why would someone like that become a bishop of Schicksal?!" Kiana slammed her fist through the laboratory wall, her eyes bloodshot, wishing she could fly to Schicksal Headquarters right now and beat Otto to death. "It's all because of that bastard! That's why the Second Honkai 3rd broke out, why so many families were torn apart, why my mother died because of her, why my father was forced to leave me and take me on a life of wandering because of her persecution... Bastard!!! That guy doesn't deserve to be a bishop at all!"

"That's not right, Kiana." Luming used healing magic to repair her broken skin on her hand. "No one in this world is more qualified than him."

"What right does that villain have?!" Not only the others, but even Tesla, who was just watching the show, roared.

"Indeed, that man's crimes are too numerous to count, but you must know that this world needs him—" Luming looked around at everyone in the room, her face remaining calm and composed. "Without Otto, this civilization would have ended long ago."

"What, am I wrong? Oh, I know, you're probably going to say that experimenting on living people is absolutely heinous, right?"

"Where did the Stigmata come from? Where did your weapons and armor come from? How did Schicksal advance its Honkai technology? All of this was built on the cost of human lives; it's all necessary for the progress of civilization..."

Bang!

Kiana punched Luming in front of her, but it only caused a slight ripple in the Force Field.

"... Consumption. Morally speaking, I deny it. But from the perspective of the overall situation, I fully agree with it."

"Everyone, protecting the world isn't something that can be done just by talking or holding onto certain beliefs. My great-grandfather committed atrocities that no one else could match, but his achievements were—"

"Even Welt can't compare."

Bang!!!

The crimson iron fist slammed into the Force Field, Tesla's face almost contorted in pain. "You, do you dare say that again?!"

"... Doctor, I respect Senior Joyce and Professor Joachim, but what I just stated was merely the truth."

"Let me tell you a little more. My great-grandfather is a person who has lived from five hundred years ago to the present day. He has extended his life to this day by creating mechanical prosthetics, just to fulfill a long-cherished wish. So don't try to understand him. He has gone mad long ago because he has not given up his original obsession after five hundred years of time."

"So..." Bronya took a few steps back and leaned against the cold wall, "When did you find out all this?"

Faced with the questioning looks from the crowd, Luming hesitated for a moment, then, noticing the people standing at the door, gave her answer, "Before I met you all."

The reactions varied. Kiana paused for a moment, staring intently at the calm-faced Luming, then suddenly rushed forward and lay down on the Force Field, staring straight at her. "So, you knew all this from the beginning? Your innocence when you were with us, your initial weakness, the emotions you showed when you were with us—were all fake? Was it all a pretense? Was it all just you, the 'max-level pro,' playing with us newbies?! That makes sense, that explains why you suddenly became so much stronger than us!"

(I don't think this is a forced plot. Putting yourself in Kiana's shoes, after being bombarded with so much information, it's normal to have this reaction when you suddenly find out that your little brother is a second-time pro.)

"Kiana, what are you saying!" Before Luming could react, a furious Theresa punched her into the wall. "Little Xing was forced to acquire these memories when she touched the Key of Consciousness at Taixu Mountain! It's like a blank sheet of paper being forcibly stained with colors that don't belong to her!"

"Suddenly, I gained memories?" Mei's mind raced, and suddenly a terrifying thought occurred to her, "Then, how much of those memories truly belong to me?"

Bronya tapped her head. "So much information today, my CPU feels like it's going to overheat... Heavy Cannon Rabbit, did you record what happened earlier?"

After pulling the dazed Kiana from the wall by the angry blow, Luming deactivated her transformation. She hesitated for a second looking at the Omnitrix in her hand, then slapped it down, transforming back into her original form in a stream of light.

"Please understand, Kiana, no, sister." He gently hugged the girl in front of him and whispered in her ear, "I didn't hide my strength or deliberately conceal it. Back then, you and I were still immature, and revealing it rashly would only bring unnecessary disaster. As for my strength... I just treat the one or two growth and crises that a person might encounter in their life as daily tasks to complete."

"The memories I have with you are one of the few parts of my own among the vast collection of memories from others in my mind. I really, really, really love you... So please forgive me, I don't want you to get hurt, but some things still have to be faced."

After a long while, the white fluffy ball finally came to its senses, hugged the boy in front of it, bit him on the ear, and said resentfully:

"... You show-off brat, hmph!"

Bronya & Wendy & Yae Sakura & Luna & Black Seele: Insect-killing intent 99+

Fu Hua's Father had been observing from the doorway for a long time, breathed a sigh of relief. The huge weight in his heart finally lifted. Old Yang had been brought in as an outside helper, also nodded with satisfaction. Not bad, maintaining rationality without losing humanity, this is the ideal successor of the Herrscher of Reason.

—Um, isn't this a bit of forced sentimentality?—

A long train car cut through the Cang Qiong and finally arrived at the station in this desolate wasteland.

IF Goose kicked open the car door and stepped out humming a little tune, followed closely by IF Bug, who looked troubled. "Do we really have to do this? We've never done this before..."

"Now we have it, don't we?" She grabbed the IF Bug by the collar, almost pressing her face against it. "You saw it too. You were lucky in that world. There were too many people blocking us from taking her down, so we needed special methods."

"... I'll sneak her out, without affecting anyone else."

"Ah, that's for the best."

The two left one after the other. After they left, several powerful auras suddenly erupted from the open car door, ready to pounce.

—Calm down, calm down. Luckily, I wasn't left with low health in this dungeon; in fact, I even recovered some health!—

(If I don't heal soon, I'm really going to burn my life away in the next dungeon.)

After Xing opened up to everyone, the barriers that had created a rift between them were finally broken, and the group discussed their battle plan together.

"According to what you just said, a gem has actually been implanted in my body, and it's the core of Sirin." Kiana, who had just been told that she was actually Sirin's resurrection vessel, suddenly felt a premonition of breaking free from fate. Fate? I'll fight it and show you how I win!

"I swear in the name of lightning, I will never let that happen." Mei's aura suddenly intensified, and her usually gentle temperament was tinged with a hint of bloodlust.

"We'll deal with whatever comes our way, let's see what we do next. The future is just the future." A calm Bronya patted Sachi on the shoulder. "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

Fortunately, she didn't answer directly. Instead, she patted the mechanical device on her chest, transforming back into her normal juvenile form Luming, and floated into the air, striking a comfortable pose. "That's a question for Kiana ~"

Kiana's expression was conflicted. "I don't want to kill her. If I could, I would love to save her. But I also know that since she is me, and she can make my future self despair, I myself might not be able to bear it."

"So what's the point of talking about saving her? What can I offer to save her? Trying to redeem others is nothing more than seeking self-comfort and peace of mind; it's nothing but disgusting hypocrisy."

Kiana suddenly looked up, her sapphire-like eyes filled with a sharp light. "Since that's the case, things are simple. Whether I save her or kill her, I must defeat her and let my sword decide the outcome!"

"Not bad, not bad, this is a bit beyond my expectations." Luming clapped her hands with satisfaction, as if she were seeing her own dog grow into a big dog, and handed her the Flame Sword Liehuo. "Here, take this. Now you are qualified to use it."

"This is..." Kiana was a little surprised. The new one was made so quickly? No, this one feels much better than the old one.

"Let's go. This time, don't break the sword so easily." Luming took her hand and led everyone outside.

"Let's discuss the battle plan in detail. This time, we'll decide how the story ends!"

Kiana had a strange premonition that her lines had been stolen.

Hey, wait a minute, have you guys forgotten about someone?

Jiu Xiao, locked in a secret room and subjected to a tickling play:...

It's broken~

——Love Gate——

A colossal dragon arrived unexpectedly, its skeletal armor encasing its body, with pale flames burning on its surface.

Judgment Class Honkai Beast Belleros Undead Version Super Enhanced PLUS Version, here to report!

Standing atop the building, Jiuxiao gazed at the giant dragon that had appeared in the distance and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. "So it has finally arrived? You sorrowful dragon, intent on corrupting the world, we cannot allow you to pass through here."

The girl suddenly drew a long sword from behind her back, raised it to the sky, and shouted, "Descend! My Lord..."

"I'll hit!"

Before she could even finish her lines, the poor savior was sent flying by the Magical Girl Lady who had just transformed and flown out. "Don't try to add your own drama, you idiot! That sword is just an ordinary one-star broken sword. Don't think you can do it just because you saw me summon the red lions with the Beast Emperor Sword the other day!"

Drawing the extended version of the Beast Emperor Sword 2.5, a Christmas gift from Stardust, the little girl raised the sword majestically to the sky, shouting, "Summon all beasts! Descend! Power Beast!"

A vast wormhole opened behind her, and the long-awaited Power Beast rushed out, excitedly preparing for the upcoming battle.

"Super Beast Fusion!"

When the sacred beasts unite and offer their combined power to the chosen one, an unprecedented elven Supreme King descends.

The Barking Falcon Icarus, with its enormous wings, landed on the back of the second-generation Megamorph red lion and merged with it into Gryphon form. Its head became one with the GaoRed Lion, replacing the GaoYellow Eagle, which was too small.

With a roar, the Lion King, now as powerful as a tiger with wings, flapped its wings and soared into the air. Icarus's claws merged with the sides of its neck, becoming the chest armor, and the two beasts together became part of its upper body and wings.

The Gao Gorilla climbed a tall tree and used the tree trunk's flexibility to leap into the air. Two green plates on its back exploded, forming a pattern resembling eight abdominal muscles. After the transformation was complete, it was attached to the lion's lower body, increasing its size and filling the abdominal area.

The massive GaoMoon Bear retracted its bear head into its body, and after some transformation, it was placed under the gorilla as its hip and the base of its two thighs.

The transformed GaoDeer filled part of the empty space in the center of the crotch, even using its own deer head as decoration for the crotch area after the combination.

The black and white bears and one beast are mounted on either side of the lion, serving as shoulders to expand the upper body's volume, while the two bear heads act as shoulder cannons to increase output.

The Gao Kangaroo Mother and Child duo are mounted on a shooting backpack, which is carried on Icarus's back without obstructing her wings, while two long cannon barrels are draped over her shoulders.

The GaoSea Jade extended and deformed its broad body, attaching it to the middle of its back to increase the number of wings.

The GaoBat spreads its wings, which, together with the GaoPeacock spreading its tail feathers, are attached to the lower half of its back, forming the tail fins and skirt.

After the GaoBlack Bull and GaoRhino completed their transformations, they were mounted on the two thighs that the Moon Wheel Bear had transformed from, as if dressing the soon-to-be-born giant in a pair of beast-headed war boots.

The GaoLeopard and the GaoAntelope galloped in one after the other, becoming the paws of the cheetah.

The front part of the arms, consisting of the GaoWhite Tiger and the GaoSilver Wolf, is attached to the shoulder armor of the Black and White Bears, while the back part of the arms is taken over by the GaoCoyote and the GaoJackal.

The GaoBlue Shark and GaoHammerhead Shark are mounted on the side of the coyote and Jackal, with their tail fins removed and merged with the dorsal fins to form sharp arm blades.

The GaoCrab split in two, becoming the giant's two hands.

"Birth! Multiple Beast Fusion – Ultimate Beast GaoKing!!!"

(Use your imagination; this is an original ultimate fusion and there are no pictures.)

Author's Note—

Ahem, what are your thoughts on this chapter?

The first half of the description felt rather stiff...