Life Is Like an Illusion, an Empty Dream

"I'm alive?"

This was the first thought that popped into her mind after she awoke from the Fifth Divine Key, the Key of Stagnation, the Slumber of All Things.

What happened? She remembered that she was already dead, that she should have died on the moon long ago, killed by the Herrscher of Finality.

She struggled to climb out of the hibernation pod, hoping to see her other companions, but she was all alone.

"Brother Kevin, Sister Eden, Sister Aponia, Sister Vill-V, Brother Jie, Brother Su, Amo, Mobius, Little Griseo, Sister Hua, where are you all? Why did you let me live? I was clearly, clearly prepared to die..."

Her wish was simple: to live, to take a nap every day, and to bask in the sun every day. She was content with simply living a simple life.

But now that she can fulfill this wish, why isn't she happy at all?

"Where are the others? I can't be the only one who survived, can I?"

She felt terrible. She estimated that she was in a state that was less than a tenth of her usual condition. "Is it because I slept for too long or is it the price of surviving? It must be that Mobius performed some kind of surgery on me to keep me alive. Anyway, I need to find the others. They didn't even wake me up. I'm going to be angry!"

She retrieved her weapon— the Dream of the Past —from the locker next to the hibernation pod. Its once gleaming exterior had become dull and lifeless over the past fifty thousand years. She looked at her ring blade with heartache. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of it once we find Boss Kevin and the others. Honestly, they didn't even wake me up, and they didn't even leave me a note!"

After emerging from the Key of Stagnation and finding the city, she realized how long she had slept. "Has this era developed to this extent? Are we too late?"

She couldn't understand the language of this era, and the clothes she wore were completely out of place with her surroundings. However, relying on her skills, she returned to her old trade, finding places to "buy goods" every day, and lived a fairly comfortable life. When she occasionally encountered Honkai Beast, she would also take action to deal with them.

"After all, we are one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, we can't just do nothing, can we?"

Although she often encountered girls wearing armor and carrying weapons while eliminating Honkai Beast, she guessed that they were the forces fighting against Honkai in this era, just like the Fire Moth of the previous era.

Their base must have a lot of good stuff, right? Maybe we can even find clues about Boss Kevin and his crew!

Using a perfectly legitimate reason—no, to buy goods— Pardofelis secretly boarded the Schicksal's spaceship, changing flights several times along the way, and finally arrived at a vibrant, harmonious, and beautiful campus.

Pardo stared blankly at the scene, her intuition telling her that she would live a very comfortable life here!

Following her intuition, she always had good luck, and this time was no exception. Pardo found a room that had been empty for a long time at the St. Freya Academy, and by stealing from other dormitories, she managed to gather a complete set of daily necessities, and that's how she settled in.

When she got hungry, she would put on the uniform she stole from the clothesline, sneak into the canteen, and steal a few dried fish to eat, or simply buy them directly from there. When she got tired, she would go to the rooftop to sunbathe, set up traps to prevent anyone from getting close, and then take a nice afternoon nap. She was very happy.

Moreover, in this school, she often saw a girl who looked a lot like Hua Jie. Although she felt very similar, her aura was much weaker than Hua Jie's in her memory. She must be a time-space counterpart.

What interested her most was a sign she had seen by chance on a door on her way back from the last shopping trip. It had a picture of a moth drawn to a flame on it, and she was absolutely certain that it was the symbol of the Fire Moth!

So she quietly followed a little boy who came out of there and sneaked into his dormitory, trying to find some useful clues.

"That little brother has a strong Kevin's scent on him. He might be his descendant. Let's quickly look for anything of value."

While the other person was taking a shower, Pardo searched around Xing's dormitory. After failing to find anything, her gaze involuntarily fell on the pile of sparkly ornaments that Xing had placed on the table.

Pardo grabbed the Judas Bracelet and stuffed it into her pocket. "Gold! Is it okay for me to take one? He looks like a young master, he won't care about something like this, right? Um, I don't know why, but the cross on this bracelet looks so familiar."

Pardo hesitated for 0.1 seconds, grabbed the Pseudo-Judas pendant and stuffed it into her pocket. She faintly heard a delicate shout in her ear, and she was so startled that she quickly turned around, only to find that there was no one beside her. She must have misheard.

"Is it okay to take a few more?"

Each time she picked up one, she told herself it was the last one, and eventually the table was empty.

The guilt of bullying the boy spread through the cat's heart. Just as she was thinking about whether to put one of the items back, the sound of water in the bathroom suddenly stopped.

Get out of here! Pardo jumped out the window and ran away.

Back to the present, Xing stared at the empty desktop, her brain went blank for a second, and then her clear red eyes turned black and white.

All three Stigmata on his body shone with dazzling red light, and the phantoms of Cloud Ink Dan Xin, God's Blessing Anthem, and True Flame Lucky Soul appeared behind him. Sachi switched her form to speed type, communicated with Yae Sakura in the Stigmata Space, transformed into Nightshade Heavy Mist, and two spirit swords, Cherry Blossom Blizzard, appeared in her hands.

The Fox Ear Ninja's eyes flashed with a chilling light. He removed the fox mask from his head, put it on, and nimbly jumped out of the window.

She thought of the school ghost stories she had recently heard, "HOMU Phantom Thief? Ha, I don't care who you are, if you dare to steal my things, you'll pay the price!"

In the black and white view, the colors of the pendants stood out exceptionally clearly.

——Divider——

Pardo lay on her small bed, admiring the new arrivals. The things she liked best were the cross pendant and the black and white Leg Ring with a gold trim, but for some reason, she just couldn't put them on.

However, if we're talking about her most satisfying item so far, it has to be the camera she unexpectedly discovered!

After fiddling with it for a while, she figured out how to use the camera in this era, and then...

Cat wiped the blood from her nose. If she weren't an unregistered resident, she would have already found a way to print out the photos from the camera and sell them. She would bet Kevin's virginity that they would sell like hotcakes!

That way I can count money every day, hehe~

Having just come to understand why Cosmo was so fond of children under 14, Pardo was lost in a sweet dream when suddenly a chill ran through her body. Her sixth sense was frantically warning her of impending danger.

Mentioning the [Dream of the Past] that had degenerated from the transcendental state, Pardo arched her body like a cat, staring intently at the door, preparing for the battle that might come at any moment. Suddenly, a burly man burst through the door and, before the astonished Pardo could react, grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.

Poor Pardo's face turned purple as she frantically slashed at the man's hand, but his skin was as hard as steel, leaving no mark no matter how she attacked. The man's hand was like a powerful steel clamp, pressing down on her trachea. Pardo's resistance grew weaker and weaker until finally her head lolled to the side and her body froze.

—The above scenes are all from Pardofelis's imagination.

Imagined it in her mind, Pardo trembled with fear. She quickly packed up her favorite things, put on a coat, a hat, and a mask, and jumped out the window to escape. She didn't notice that the Judas Bracelet was faintly glowing.

In the pitch-black night, the girl, as agile as a cat, ran frantically through the St. Freya campus. She dared not take the main roads covered by surveillance cameras, so she had to escape through side streets.

She said to herself, "Go, hurry up and get out of here!"

——Divider——

Rita has been very depressed lately. Her precious camera has been stolen by someone. It contains all the photos she took of Theresa and Sachi in drag. It represents her savings of many years!

Although photos can be taken again, what if the photos in the camera are made public...?

Otto will definitely list her as the most wanted criminal in Schicksal, Durandal's favorability towards her will definitely plummet, Theresa will absolutely take on the role of Judah and fight her to the death, and Sachi will probably come to help as well.

They're doomed!

Even though she had been diligently investigating for the past few days, trying to find the thief's whereabouts, she hadn't made any progress. In a bad mood, the maid went out to admire the moon. Looking at the bright moon, Rita clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and sincerely prayed, "God, if you truly exist, please return my lost camera to me. I will become your most loyal follower from this day forward."

A camera flew by and hit her on the head. Rita caught it in a daze, and upon closer inspection, she realized it was her precious camera!

Rita: "..." Is this the legendary "sincerity brings results"?

Is it too late for her to switch jobs and become Nun with Theresa tomorrow?

Just as Rita was contemplating life, the sounds of fighting nearby caught her attention.

——Divider——

While on her way, Pardo felt a chill behind her and immediately blocked with her ring blade. The two blades collided, sparking a series of sparks.

With one hand protecting the crate containing the goods and the other holding half of the ring blade, Pardo turned and blocked Xing's attack. The electric current traveled along the katana to the ring blade and finally to her body.

Pardo was startled and quickly distanced herself. Upon closer inspection, she was stunned. "Sister Ying?" No, Sister Ying is already dead. This must also be an alternate dimension entity.

Xing paused for a moment. Did she recognize her?

Seeing the electric current swirling around her blade, Pardo had no will to fight and only wanted to escape as quickly as possible. She was not good at fighting to begin with, and for some reason, her physical condition had not improved. Even an Emperor Class Honkai Beast could easily take her cat's life.

"Go, Hiyokomaru!"

Pardo instinctively turned around, and a huge fox appeared out of nowhere, opening its blood-red mouth to pounce on her. The cat was terrified and ran for its life, but two legs can't outrun four legs. Hiyokomaru easily caught up with her and slapped her to the ground with one paw.

The cat let out a painful cry, "It hurts! I'm going to die!"

The bags containing the goods flew into the air and disintegrated automatically in mid-air. The Judas Bracelet automatically unfolded and extended its chains to catch Xing's other pendants and other items steadily. However, when catching a camera, it accidentally slipped and the chain pushed the camera away.

Sachi gestured for Hiyokomaru to lift her paws slightly, and pulled off Pardo's hat and mask. A girl with brown hair and heterochromatic eyes came into view. When Sachi saw the two cat ears on her head that blended into her hair, her brain went blank for a second. Could she be? No, impossible!

With tears welling in her eyes, Pardo pleaded in a trembling voice, "Sister Fox, I'll never steal again, please let me go? I don't want to die..."

For some reason, hearing those words felt like a needle piercing her heart, causing her immense pain. She told Hiyokomaru to lift her paw and release Pardo. But as soon as Hiyokomaru raised her hand, Pardo, who had been crying her heart out, instantly changed her expression, flipped over, and quickly fled into the distance.

Sachi & Hiyokomaru: "..."

Ignoring the internal injuries inflicted by the Hiyokomaru, the cat took off running faster than the Crimson Kite's Wings. "Great! That guy is soft-hearted. Run! I'm doomed if I fall into her hands!"

The terrified Pardo didn't think about why Xing was able to understand her pre-era language.

The cat turned a corner and bumped right into Rita, who was searching.

Pardo gave her an awkward smile, walked around her, and tried to continue her escape, but was stopped by Rita.

The maid wore a standard smile. "Young man, what are you doing wandering around campus so late at night?"

Unable to communicate with the language, Pardo could only maintain an awkward smile, her eyes darting around restlessly, trying to find an opening. Inadvertently, she noticed the camera Rita was holding.

"Hey, isn't that our treasure?"

Rita took in all the changes in her expression, noticing the cat ears on her head, the ring blade behind her, and her all-black attire. A cold glint flashed in Rita's eyes.

"In case--"

The Fourth Generation God-Slaying Armor of Schicksal - Argent Knight - Argent Knight: Artemis is transmitting...

Armor resembling a dress appeared on the maid's body. Sensing something was wrong, the cat retreated repeatedly, only to find that her feet had been frozen solid. The Moon Soul Armor continuously released New Moon Particles that lowered the ambient temperature. Although Pardo liked low temperatures, she was still shivering from the cold.

Seeing that Pardo was unable to move, the maid swung her scythe at her.

Just when Pardo thought she was about to die (in fact, Rita only wanted to knock her unconscious), a purple streak of light rushed from afar.

The moment the Spirit Blade Cherry Blossom Blizzard encountered Frosty Skadi, its blade turned blood red, and violent flames ignited on the blade, melting the surrounding ice.

The Spirit Blade Cherry Blossom Blizzard evolves into the Demon Blade Crimson Cherry Blossom.

Armor switch: Nightshade Heavy Mist → True Flame Lucky Soul.

Author's Note—

One of the inherent privileges of the Order Emissary is the ability to communicate without barriers with any intelligent being.