Kiana felt that something was strange. Bai Chen had clearly knocked down everyone who had been obstructing them, so why was he still standing there on guard instead of leaving?
Before she could figure it out, something unexpected happened.
"Bang!"
Accompanied by the thunderous collapse of a building, countless Honkai Beasts rushed out from the nearby ruins, charging straight toward the innocent civilians nearby, ready to begin slaughtering them.
"Honkai Beasts?! Why are they here?!"
Kiana stared at the horde of Honkai Beasts in shock. This had never been part of their plan.
"Of course, it's because I'm here to save you, my fiancée, Kallen. I will not allow these foolish creatures to kill you."
A blond man emerged from the shadows to one side, making an outrageously theatrical gesture as he came to Kallen's side, completely ignoring the ordinary civilians around them as chaos erupted.
Five hundred years ago, Otto Apocalypse was not yet the Overseer of Schicksal. In order to rescue his beloved Kallen, he had released a massive number of imprisoned Honkai Beasts to create chaos, never realizing that this act would become the true cause of Kallen's death.
What a pathetic and hateful man. Looking at Otto's face, Bai Chen knew that becoming enemies with Otto would be an unavoidable hurdle in his future.
No longer dwelling on Otto's affairs, Bai Chen swiftly rushed into the crowd and leaped into a kick at the Honkai Beast closest to them.
Heavenly Fire
"So you released these Honkai Beasts!?"
Kiana angrily questioned Otto. How could someone be so indifferent to life? Bai Chen had gone to hold back the Honkai Beasts he had released, but what about the original history?
Would all those people who had just pleaded for Miss Kallen have died horribly?! Kiana wanted nothing more than to rush over and punch him a few times, but someone moved faster than her.
"Enough!" Kallen shook free of Kiana's hand, stepped in front of Otto, and slapped him across the face.
"Stop humiliating me, Otto! The Kaslana family is the shield of the people. I will never abandon them and escape alone!"
After saying that, Kallen ignored everyone else and leaped into the beast horde alone, intending to lure them away.
Meanwhile, Bai Chen felt that there were simply too many of them. There were far too many Honkai Beasts; without transforming, he could not handle them all.
From the plot, Bai Chen knew that Otto was currently monitoring this area in reality. If Otto discovered that he possessed the ability to transform into Kiana, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Imperial Drive: Thunder Blade Oni Horn
Amid a blur of afterimages, Bai Chen drew a pair of oddly shaped purple pistols. Though they were guns, each muzzle was fitted with a blade shaped like an oni horn.
Bai Chen crossed the guns and braced them tightly against the gaping maw before him. Then he fired into its mouth, the fierce impact forcing the Honkai Beast to cry out in pain and release its bite.
Seizing the chance, Bai Chen immediately fired several shots into the Honkai Beast's head, ending its life completely.
The guns in Bai Chen's hands then unleashed bullets as if they had an infinite supply. In fact, weapons summoned through this skill did indeed have unlimited ammunition, though they could only be used once.
The powerful barrage covered a large area around Bai Chen, carving out a temporary safe zone.
But there were simply too many Honkai Beasts, and the panicked crowd was scattering everywhere like ants on a hot pan. Bai Chen could not possibly manage them all.
Bai Chen tried to shout for the crowd to gather to one side, but no matter how loudly he yelled, his voice was swallowed by their screams and the Honkai Beasts' roars.
Bai Chen suddenly accelerated, scooped up a child who had fallen to the ground, and dodged a Honkai Beast's attack. He then turned and shot the Honkai Beast dead.
"Th-thank you."
Still shaken, the child thanked Bai Chen helplessly.
After setting the child back on the ground, Bai Chen nodded to him and pointed out a safe route. "Hurry and leave from there."
Bai Chen realized that he had apparently been lying. When he had first spoken with Kiana, he had told her that this place was fake and advised her not to waste her efforts.
Yet when he saw these data characters, who could respond and react, about to die, he could not help wanting to save them. Even he did not know what to make of it.
After covering the child's retreat, Bai Chen suddenly noticed Kallen leaping down and charging into the beast horde, trying to lure away all the Honkai Beasts.
This data space had actually been looping all along. Even if he saved Kallen this time, she would have to go through all this again next time. But since he was standing here now, even if it was only once, let him save her.
"Protecting others never means sacrificing yourself."
Thinking of Skyward Ranger's experiences, Bai Chen tightened his grip on his weapons and rushed toward Kallen.
When Bai Chen reached Kallen's side, he saw that she was indeed preparing to sacrifice herself to stop the Honkai Beasts from continuing their attacks on the civilians on the ground.
"Get the hell away from her!!"
Bai Chen activated Chrono Break once more and rushed in front of Kallen. He used Thunder Blade Oni Horn to block the Honkai Beast's attack, but his stamina was insufficient to sustain Chrono Break for long, so he had no choice but to deactivate it immediately.
"You? You're the one who was with Kiana!"
Kallen looked at the boy who had suddenly appeared before her in surprise. When they had first met, she had only thought that this child was so fast she could barely see him.
Though he was short and slender, he now stood between her and the Honkai Beast like an impassable wall, giving off a sense of security utterly unfitting for his age.
He was only thirteen or fourteen, wasn't he? Perhaps he would become an incredibly powerful knight in the future.
"Ha!"
Bai Chen gathered all his strength and knocked the Honkai Beast before him away. Then he raised his guns and poured fire into its head, but the Honkai Beast ducked down and evaded the attack.
As it lowered its body, a bone spike like a sharp blade shot from the palm of the Honkai Beast's clawed hand toward Bai Chen.
This was the move that had killed Kallen in the original world! Bai Chen hurriedly twisted aside to evade the sudden attack.
Fortunately, the bone spike had limited range. Otherwise, for the safety of the people behind him, he would have had to take that blow head-on!
Taking advantage of the Honkai Beast's opening, Bai Chen fired bullets that resembled plasma at its ankle. The destructive shots directly tore apart one of its legs.
You could duck bullets, could you? Try dodging this one too!
With one leg gone, the Honkai Beast swayed, then crashed uncontrollably to the ground.
But after falling, the Honkai Beast opened its mouth and launched another bone spike!
There was another one!? Caught off guard by its hidden move, Bai Chen could only hurriedly use Oni Horn to catch the bone spike.
"Watch out!"
Seeing that things had gone wrong, Kallen immediately stepped forward to help.
"Please stop, Miss Kallen! You don't have a weapon, so please don't force yourself."
While blocking the attack, Bai Chen hurriedly stopped Kallen. Right now, he was afraid that this special Honkai Beast would reveal some hidden ability and forcibly cause the worldline to converge.
"No! I, Kallen Kaslana, will never hide behind the people."
But if Kallen could stand by and watch others fall into danger, then she would not be Saint Kallen.
Helplessly, Bai Chen sighed. "Miss Kallen, do you know? I also know a girl from the Kaslana family. She really is a lot like you."
"?"
Kallen did not understand why Bai Chen had suddenly started talking about this.
"She used to be just as pure, and she always spoke of the Kaslana blood burning in her veins. She gave everything she had to protect everyone."
"But everyone suffered because of her protection. Because that idiot pushed herself too hard, her body became covered in wounds. She lost her sense of pain, and even her sense of taste."
"Why couldn't she rely on everyone else more? They would have understood her! Every time I think of what she went through, I feel unbearably miserable."
"..."
Kallen roughly understood why Bai Chen had suddenly said all this.
"Senior Kallen, you're the same, aren't you? You have people who love you. Don't make them sad!"
A dazzling purple light erupted from Oni Horn. Bai Chen suddenly exerted force, and a powerful current burst forth, shattering the bone spike into fragments.
"I want to become the person who protects that Kaslana girl, so please watch closely, Senior Kallen! I'll definitely finish them off beautifully!"
Drive: Heavenly Fire Holy Judgment
Drawn!
"That... Dad!"
Kallen stared at the pair of pistols in Bai Chen's hands in shock, unable to understand why the Key of Destruction had appeared here.
"Bang!"
Heavenly Fire Holy Judgment spat out a stream of flame that struck the Honkai Beast's vital point without fail as it tried to resist.
Heavenly Fire Holy Judgment truly lived up to its name as the Key of Destruction. After its flaming bullets struck the Honkai Beast's body, they pierced through it as smoothly as fireballs passing through foam.
In an instant, the Honkai Beast that had been struggling was ravaged by the overwhelming heat, and it fell still on the ground.
After dealing with the Honkai Beast, Bai Chen walked straight toward the civilians who were frozen to the ground in fear. He holstered Heavenly Fire at his waist, helped them up, and said,
"Hurry and leave this place. Go reunite with your families."
After watching them leave, Bai Chen heard several sets of footsteps behind him. When he turned around, he found that Kiana had also arrived nearby.
"Bai Chen? That's the one Dad always used. You can summon even that?"
Over the past month, Kiana had seen the strange aspects of Bai Chen's abilities, but she had never expected that he could even use this. Was it because he had used it when he was younger?
No, what happened that time could not really be called using it.
"Yeah."
Bai Chen nodded in response to Kiana's question, then examined Heavenly Fire Holy Judgment in his hand.
"Dealing with those Honkai Beasts isn't a problem now, but they're too spread out. If I use Heavenly Fire's full power, I'm afraid I'll injure civilians nearby who haven't evacuated."
Bai Chen felt deeply conflicted. There were at least dozens of Honkai Beasts left. If he killed them one by one, it would be far too late.
He could use the Herrscher of the Void skill card, but Otto was currently interested in matters related to that aspect.
If he used those abilities, then even if he did not expose his transformation ability, Otto would still come sniffing around like a hound.
Using the excuse of checking her injuries, Kiana was feeling Kallen all over. After hearing Bai Chen's worries, she was troubled too. She did not have a weapon in hand, otherwise she could have fought alongside Bai Chen.
Wait, Kiana suddenly seemed to think of something.
"Bai Chen, do you just need to draw the Honkai Beasts together?"
With an idea flashing through her mind, Kiana asked Bai Chen for confirmation, making sure she had understood him correctly.
"Right."
"Then we can use Nutrient Solution!"
"?? Nutrient Solution?"
Bai Chen rubbed his ears, wondering if water had gotten into them. Otherwise, how could this topic possibly have anything to do with Nutrient Solution?
"That's right. Those Nutrient Solutions are part of your ability too, aren't they? Whenever you hold Nutrient Solution, people feel like you're someone they shouldn't mess with."
Kiana gestured animatedly, imitating the way Bai Chen had held Nutrient Solution before.
"? It has that effect?"
Whenever Bai Chen had a chance to draw prizes over the last month, he had tried his luck. The amount of Nutrient Solution he possessed had not decreased compared to a month ago—it had increased instead.
He had been drinking Nutrient Solution for a whole month for nothing? It had a special effect, and no one had told him? No, that was not strange. The system had never introduced anything about that.
"As long as you give your Nutrient Solution to those ordinary people, the Honkai Beasts will think those people are dangerous when they see them. Then won't the people without Nutrient Solution naturally become targets?"
Bai Chen was slightly surprised after hearing Kiana's idea. He had not expected Kiana to come up with something like that. Then again, Kiana had always been smart; she had simply grown lazy about thinking in a comfortable environment.
"But how am I supposed to get these drinks into every person's hands?"
Bai Chen hesitantly took out Nutrient Solution from the system space. If he had the time to hand these drinks out to civilians, he might as well shoot the Honkai Beasts one by one. The efficiency would be about the same.
"Bronya can solve that easily."
Bronya, who had disappeared for a while, walked out from one side and operated on a light screen with her fingers.
"Hacking into the database to call up weapons is troublesome, but copying the data you already have onto other people will be easy."
"Fine. Then I'll go somewhere more open and draw as much attention as possible."
With the final problem solved, Bai Chen did not waste any more words. He tossed the Nutrient Solution to Bronya, glanced at the distracted Kallen, and charged toward the plaza.
Reaching the center of the plaza, Bai Chen took in the surrounding situation at a glance. Sure enough, many people had not left yet, and there were at least twenty Honkai Beasts.
"Begin deployment."
Bronya operated the console and successfully copied the Nutrient Solution data onto everyone at the scene except Bai Chen. A phantom image of Nutrient Solution appeared beside every person.
The moment those phantoms appeared, the Honkai Beasts that had been chasing civilians suddenly stopped. Like cats facing hedgehogs, they prowled around the area without daring to advance.
Before you continue