"Activating Kiana's Vassal's special ability. When Synchro Summon succeeded, all monsters on the opponent's field were destroyed." The violet lightning warrior raised his right hand and called down heavenly thunder. In an instant, lightning swallowed the Titan squad before him.
Though the transformation and attack took quite a few words to describe, it had all happened in less than a second. While Bronya was still stunned by the transformation effects, the entrance attack had already wiped the field clean, making her forget to chain her response.
"Is this the power of the Herrscher of Thunder? A mere Pseudo-Herrscher possesses this much power. How strong would the true Herrscher of Thunder be after triggering a Honkai Eruption?" Xing murmured as he looked at his hands, now covered in armor.
"Xing." The purple gem embedded in the sword hilt lit up. "Th-this, what's going on?"
"Uh... sorry. I didn't explain my ability to you beforehand. Just let me use it for now. I'll release it once I make sure there's no danger... Don't reject me so quickly!" Xing gritted his teeth and covered his crackling purple left eye.
"Ah, I'm not!"
"You damned human! How dare you treat the Thunder Queen like this!"
A voice utterly unlike Mei's, brimming with brutality, exploded within his mind. Herrscher Mei was fiercely resisting synchronization with the boy, and the samurai armor around him began to flicker unstably.
"Fire!" A missile burst through the smoke and streaked toward Xing. He removed his hand, revealing that sparking eye, and roaring lightning pierced the steel creation in an instant.
As the smoke gradually cleared, countless blue lights ignited. The Titans that had crouched down with their heads covered and activated energy shields resumed combat mode, while the others without that function had honorably become scrap metal.
"This is troublesome..." While joining Mei in suppressing Herrscher Mei's resistance, Xing gripped his blade with both hands and let violet currents course over his body. Even Kaslana blood could not withstand the erosion of Herrscher energy for long. Red markings had already begun spreading across his body...
Come to think of it, why did the Honkai Energy inside me feel like it was circulating a little slowly?
--Scene Break--
Covered in soot—no, she had been black to begin with—Raven dusted herself off and casually set down Kiana, who had nearly been caught in the artillery fire. "Get moving, little girl. This isn't a place you should be." The mercenary looked coldly at the lightning rising into the sky in the distance. Even she had not noticed that her clawless left hand had clenched into a fist.
"Looks like I really can't bring back a living specimen this time..." she muttered, too quietly for anyone but herself to hear.
"No! My Mei is still waiting for me over there!" Kiana showed no fear and strode straight toward the battlefield. But in the next instant, the world spun around her, and she found herself flat on the ground.
Who am I, where am I, what am I doing? Kiana was a little dazed.
Raven, who had effortlessly taken Kiana down, bent over and softly asked, "Raiden Mei?" Looking closely, wasn't this the girl who had been clinging to that Mei earlier?
"Huh? How did you know?" Kiana's eyes widened in delighted surprise, only for her expression to turn to terror the next second.
"Mm, because I might kill her later." Raven said it casually, as though she were talking about killing a bug.
"Don't even think about it! As a warrior of the Kaslana Family, I will never allow you to hurt my Mei!" Kiana instantly bristled, sprang up from the ground, and threw a hard punch at Raven's face.
"What a coincidence. You're a Kaslana too?" Raven reached out just before the fist could make intimate contact with her cheek and firmly caught it. A bead of cold sweat rolled down the girl's head, but she immediately caught the implication in Raven's words. "Too?"
"I've changed my mind. Come with me. Go see what your Mei has become. I hope you can still be as confident then as you are now." Raven released Kiana's hand and turned away. After thinking for a moment, Kiana hurriedly followed.
"What exactly happened to Mei?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
--Scene Break--
As he gripped the katana in his hand, a strange sensation came over him.
Hokushin Itto-ryu—Instant Slash
Naturally, he used Mei's technique as if it were his own.
Steel bodies fell one after another before the warrior, like puppets performing on a stage.
Bronya's expression remained cold as countless dark violet rings appeared and unleashed a barrage of artillery fire, swallowing Kiana's Vassal from sight.
"You know, when a storm arrives, the eye is the safest place, you know~" A frivolous voice sounded in her ear. Bronya's pupils suddenly contracted, but it was already too late. Xing gently patted her head, and electricity swept through her entire body in an instant. A certain connection snapped.
"I didn't use too much electricity. She should be fine, right?" Xing checked the breathing of the duckling, who had reverted to her original form, and let out a sigh of relief. "Good, good. Ya Ya is fine."
At Anti-Entropy headquarters, Cocolia silently fell to her knees. Just moments ago, the biological chip's signal had vanished. There were two possibilities: first, the biological chip had been removed or destroyed; second, its host had died.
"Okay, danger cleared." After dealing with the last Titan mech, Xing let out a long breath. He touched the increasingly dense red markings on his face, signs of Honkai Energy gradually eroding him. "I'm almost at my limit too. Let's release the armament, Mei. Mm, Mei?"
The girl did not respond for a long while, and unease spread through his heart. The next second, lightning far stronger than before burst from within him.
"What's going on? This power..." Due to the Herrscher personality's resistance, the Honkai Energy inside him could not be fully mobilized. Combined with that inexplicable feeling of blockage, he had been unable to fully unleash this form's power. But now, abundant Honkai Energy boiled within his body.
"Because I suddenly realized that lending you my power isn't impossible." Herrscher Mei's teasing voice rang out. "But can you withstand it?"
The power of the Gem of Conquest surged forth without end, far exceeding his limits. Xing twisted in pain and collapsed. The katana fell from his hand and reverted to Mei.
"Xing!" Mei looked in panic at the boy curled up on the ground. Crimson markings had spread across nearly his entire face.
The stigmata on the boy's right hand quietly began to glow.
"Mei!" A familiar voice rang out behind her. Mei instinctively turned around, only to be pounced on by a white-haired ball of fluff. Kiana, having successfully launched herself at her, happily hugged Mei. "Great! You're okay!"
Raven watched the two girls nestled together with a dark expression. "Hey, Raiden Mei—" She picked up Xing, whose body was covered in erosion marks, and swiftly took out an injection to administer to him. "Could you explain how he ended up like this?" The mercenary's eyes were filled with killing intent.
Kiana pulled out her baseball bat and stood in front of Mei. "Mei, run! I'll hold her off!" But Mei grabbed her. "Wait, Kiana." She looked at Raven. "Are you Xing's...?"
"His temporary guardian, more or less."
"Xing defeated the out-of-control me and bore that forbidden power in my place." The girl recalled what had happened while armed. In the instant before the armament was released, more than half the Honkai Energy in her body had flowed into Xing. If the severe imbalance in their powers had not forcibly released the Bonded Weaponry, her Herrscher personality would likely have directly catalyzed the boy into a Honkai zombie.
"Are you sure?" This brat had defeated an incomplete Herrscher? He was that fierce? Wait, bore it in her place? Did that mean all the Honkai Energy in that girl's body was now inside him?! Raven was instantly drenched in cold sweat. Even natural stigmata and Kaslana blood might not be enough to suppress it!
"Why did I only bring three? Whatever, I'll inject them all and see." Raven decisively injected the remaining Honkai Energy Inhibitor into Xing's body, though she knew perfectly well that it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the Honkai Energy inside him.
Sure enough, the erosion marks showed no sign of fading. Raven looked at the unconscious boy in utter anxiety. Her bonus! What was she supposed to do? Jackal definitely had a way to handle this, but at this rate, Xing would have become a Honkai zombie long before she got him there. Just as Raven was about to have a heartfelt discussion with Mei, a massive battleship appeared in the sky.
Justice might be late, but it would never be absent. The Hyperion had arrived on the battlefield.
Raven stared at the battleship, hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind.
"Hey, what are you doing? Let go of Mei!" In less than a second, Raven's claw was pressed against Mei's chest. "Don't come any closer." She coldly watched Kiana rage helplessly. For some reason, looking at her felt as infuriating as looking at the murderer of her brother.
"Pray that your core isn't somewhere fatal." Raven took out a device and placed it over Mei's forehead. "Scanning... Scan complete. High Honkai Energy reaction detected. No high-concentration Honkai Energy crystal reaction detected."
How was that possible? Raven stubbornly scanned her again, but the result was the same. Could Jackal's device be malfunctioning? Raven was growing irritated when inspiration suddenly struck her, and she thought of an impossible possibility. "No, that's too absurd."
Raven released Mei, and Kiana immediately stepped forward to shield her behind herself.
"Scanning... High-concentration Honkai Energy crystal reaction detected."
"Little one, should I call you lucky or unlucky? This time, I'll let you go. Next time, you won't be so fortunate."
Raven let out a long sigh and handed the boy over to Kiana. "He's your kin. Schicksal people should arrive soon. Tell them this little guy is a natural stigmata bearer and that they must save him at all costs. Understand?"
"Huh?" Kiana was a little confused.
"His stigmata are keeping him alive. He'll be fine for a while." Raven waved her hand and turned to leave. "When he wakes up, tell him that the 'Serpent' has its eyes on him."
"Mm, Mei, who's this little sister? She's so cute."
"Kiana, he's a little brother..."
--Scene Break--
Herrscher Mei breathed weakly, as though even breathing had become difficult for her.
"Ha, haha..." Herrscher Mei forced out a laugh. "That was... unexpected."
The white-haired Nun looked at her expressionlessly, controlling several golden chains that bound her tightly.
--Scene Break--
"So, the mission failed?" Jackal's tone sounded calm, but it was only the prelude to a storm.
"That little guy was about to turn into a Honkai zombie. You couldn't expect me to bring back a corpse, could you?" Raven, now changed into casual clothes, lounged in a café as she reported on the mission. "Don't worry. I implanted a miniature tracker in him. We can find another chance to capture him later."
"Forget that. What about the Herrscher Candidate?"
"Ah, let me confirm something first. The person implanted with the Herrscher Core you mentioned was the girl named Raiden Mei, right?"
"Yes. What about it?"
"Simple. Her core is gone."
"?"
"Put simply, the two targets have become one." Raven ended the call and walked out of the café.
"Waaah, my balloon!" A little purple-haired girl stood beneath a large tree, looking utterly helpless.
"Here, kid." Raven nimbly leaped onto the treetop and retrieved the little girl's balloon.
"Wow, big sister, you're amazing! You're such a good person!" The little girl beamed, stars glittering in her eyes.
"A good person? Forget it. I'd still like to live a few more years." Raven turned and left. For a mercenary, being called a good person was a phrase that had absolutely nothing to do with her. Still, she rather liked that little girl's smile.
"Little Kong, what are you doing?"
"Mom, Dad! I just met an incredibly amazing big sister!"
The butterfly from another world had caused unexpected changes to the timeline. Changkong City had been preserved to the greatest extent possible, and the arrival of the Third Honkai Eruption had also been delayed. Though some people might no longer meet, that was not necessarily a bad thing for them. What changes would the future bring?
Author's Note—
The prologue is complete! The St. Freya arc is about to begin!
Don't worry, everything will be returned.
Also, the protagonist will not be that person.
And I may have written Raven a little out of character. Please forgive me.
By the way, the last part was sweet, right?
Oh, and when Bonded Weaponry appears next time, it'll be time to collect the three summons mentioned in the synopsis. Stay tuned!
Before you continue