Honkai: Star Rail: I'm a Big Villain, Starting with Annihilating the Astral Express Crew

Gallagher lowered his head with difficulty, his pupils trembling as he looked at the blade piercing through his chest.

The next second, you pulled out the blade and swung it backhand. A flash of light, and Gallagher collapsed to the ground.

Flicking the blood off the blade, you glanced at the stunned Something Unto Death.

"You thought I didn't notice what you brought?"

"ROAR—!!!"

Something Unto Death seemed to be completely enraged by Gallagher's death.

Instantly, countless dark tentacles and claws lunged at you!

You snorted coldly and blocked it with a single swing of your blade.

[The battle was short and intense, but the outcome was never in doubt. Under the suppression of the Power of Order and Harmony, Something Unto Death was completely killed.]

[You stood in the center of the devastated side hall, without a speck of dust on your body.]

["The troublesome insects are all cleaned up…" you muttered to yourself, your eyes deep and dark. "The plan… it's time to begin…"]

[Target Gallagher has died… Analyzing… Analysis successful!]

[Obtained temporary Eidolon [Disguise (Blue)]!

[Effect: You can imitate and disguise yourself as any character you have been in close contact with (Cooldown: 24 hours).]

[Villainy +200]

This Eidolon doesn't seem very useful right now…

But, it gave me another 200 Villainy. Killing a key character really pays off!

This was a good deal!

[The next day, the truth could no longer be concealed.]

[The disappearance of both Aventurine and Gallagher eventually aroused the suspicion of the Astral Express crew.]

[Welt, Stelle, March 7th, and Firefly, resurrected at some unknown time, all confronted Dewlight Pavilion.]

[Facing their questioning, you did not deny it.]

["I did it," you admitted. "Aventurine tried to subvert the Order of Penacony, and Gallagher was a pawn of death. For the long-term peace and stability of Penacony, their disappearance was necessary."]

["Sunday!" Welt exclaimed. "What exactly are you planning? This is not just about maintaining Order!"]

[You looked at them, a smile of almost pity on your face:

"You don't understand. The freedom and reality you seek are precisely the source of pain and chaos.

Only under absolute Order can true and eternal peace be achieved."]

[You said no more and forcibly pulled the four of them into your inner world.]

[Here, you showed them your past, letting them relive the choices you faced, trying to make them understand why you wanted to build a "New World of Order," why you wanted to promote the ultimate ideal of the "Seven-Day Rest," and why you were willing to pay the price of martyrdom for it.]

["The system of the entire universe should be the Seven-Day Rest…" you expounded your philosophy.]

[However, the Astral Express crew firmly opposed your views. They believed that happiness deprived of freedom was meaningless, and that escaping into a beautiful dream was ultimately a prison.]

["It seems words cannot make you understand the beauty of Order."

You were slightly disappointed, but not surprised.

"Very well, let's settle this on the stage of the Grand Theater."]

[Center stage of the Grand Theater.]

[The Trailblazers arrived as promised.]

[You reiterated your purpose to them one last time: "The new world I want to create is a paradise for humanity, where no Aeon or person can interfere, a place that embraces the dignity and happiness of all."]

[Your response was the weapons they drew.]

["Stubborn fools…" you sighed softly, no longer hesitating.]

[The battle erupted!]

[You personally entered the fray, directly transforming into the body of God Sunday, the philosophical fetus, preparing to resurrect the Aeon of Order.]

[You used the powerful Power of Order to completely drag Penacony and the Astral Express crew into the Taiyi Dream.]

[However, just when you thought victory was assured—an accident occurred.]

[Without Robin's song as a breakthrough, Boothill summoned the Space Rangers, Acheron unleashed a nihilistic slash that tore through the false reality, and the Trailblazers unleashed a powerful force of Harmony… The impact of multiple forces shattered your Taiyi Dream!]

[The Astral Express crew challenged you again.]

[Although you were powerful, maintaining the dream, fighting multiple powerful enemies, and suppressing the backlash of the Power of Order at the same time gradually took its toll.]

[Finally, after a fierce and tragic battle, your God Sunday form was forcibly broken, your massive body shattered, and you fell from the sky.]

[No one caught you.]

[You crashed heavily onto the cold stage, your consciousness beginning to blur.]

No way? I lost like this?!

Even with Robin, the biggest variable, gone, they still can't win?

Is the Astral Express crew's protagonist halo really this overpowered?!

Is this simulation going to end just like this?

However, to Jiang Mo's surprise, the simulation continued.

[Just as your consciousness is about to sink into darkness, a cold, androgynous voice, as if the collective whisper of trillions of lives, echoes directly within your soul:]

["Order is dead... but, the 'seed' of Penacony is not only Order..."]

["Do you desire true power? Are you... willing to embrace 'us'?"]

[Faced with the unknown call, you choose—]

[1. Accept.]

[2. Reject.]

Jiang Mo was stunned.

"Holy crap, there's a twist like this? Only an idiot would refuse!"

I'll cause trouble even if I'm dead! Gotta choose 1!

Give me power!

I want this sky to no longer block my sight!

I want that Astral Express crew to vanish into smoke!

["I am willing!" You accept the power.]

[Villainy Points +300!]

[In an instant, a torrent filled with the desire for insane proliferation erupts from the deepest recesses of your consciousness, instantly enveloping your crumbling body!]

[On the stage, you, who had already lost strength, have your body reshaped by strange, dark red energy in the horrified gazes of the Astral Express crew, and then...]

[You rise again with a chillingly bizarre posture!]

[You open your eyes, feeling the power within you, which is completely different from Order, yet even more immense.]

[You look at the Astral Express crew below, who are waiting in full battle readiness, and a crazed smile appears on your face.]

["Act Two," your throat becomes somewhat hoarse, with a strange timbre, "begins!"]

[You are no longer merely a child of Order; at this moment, you represent—Order and The Propagation!]

Chapter 8: Total Party Kill of the Astral Express Crew

[In the center of the stage, your originally gorgeous formal attire is rapidly overgrown, covered by a strange substance like a mixture of shells, and your head is encased in an outer shell, with scarlet compound eyes appearing on the surface.]

["W-What is that monster?!" March 7th's voice couldn't help but tremble as she subconsciously raised her bow.]

[Welt's expression was grave: "The aura of his Path has completely changed... Wait, could this be, The Propagation?!"]

["No, it's not just The Propagation." A twisted smile hung on your face. "The constraints of Order are too fragile, and The Propagation is too ancient. What I seek is a new order—endless, devouring everything, propagating everything, uniting everything..."]

[You open your arms, and swarms of insects erupt from your body like a tide, instantly covering the entire stage!]

["Come, witness the newborn Aeon, and then... become a part of it!"]

[In an instant, the floor, walls, and even the air of the stage begin to frantically grow, twist, and proliferate!]

[Countless compound eyes gleaming with eerie light open, and indescribable creatures composed of slime and shells emerge like a tide, emitting piercing screeches as they pounce on the Astral Express crew!]

["This is bad... there are too many! We can't kill them all!" March 7th shouted while resisting the swarm.]

["Damn it..." Stelle wielded their bat to meet the enemy, but the insects seemed to feed on the power of Harmony, making them difficult to destroy!]

[Firefly's voice rang out, and the red-hot flames of SAM surged, temporarily clearing an area, but more insects emerged from the shadows.]

[Welt tried to tear them apart with black holes to control the situation, but the number and regeneration speed of the insects exceeded his expectations, and his attacks were ineffective.]

[Boothill's bullets accurately tore through the monsters, but he soon realized that this was too inefficient against the swarm.]

[Even Acheron seemed to find this sheer number of enemies somewhat troublesome.]

[You hover in mid-air, coldly observing the battle.]

[This is The Propagation, mixed with Order, and a little bit of the power of Harmony... simple, brutal, perfect, and effective.]

[At this moment, you can clearly see the weaknesses of each of them, and The Propagation and Order provide endless means to target them.]

[...The battle continues, and the theater has been transformed into a frantically growing insect nest.]

[Although the Astral Express crew fought valiantly, they gradually became overwhelmed in the face of the endless swarm, precisely controlled by you.]

[Acheron's figure weaved through the monster tide, each strike annihilating swaths of insects, only to be met by more swarming from all directions.]

[SAM's flames covered a wide area, but you drive the swarm to expend her energy with suicidal attacks, gradually exhausting her as well.]

["It's over." You looked at these people, losing patience.]

[You directly infuse the entire theater with the power of The Propagation and Order!]

[Red and black substances, like living things, surge from the walls, ceiling, and floor, forming a giant, constantly writhing cage, completely enveloping and devouring those who resist!]

Their struggles seemed so futile against the power of a Star God.

Soon, everyone was consumed.

But because this is a dream, they didn't truly die.

It doesn't matter, though. You've already invaded their minds through the dream. Whether it's the Astral Express crew, or Sam of the Stellaron Hunters, even Acheron, the Emanator of Nihility, none can escape your control.

The moment the dream shattered and reality overlapped, you gained the power of a Star God.

In the real world, the endless swarms of locusts have already obeyed your new will of "Unification," combining the characteristics of Order and The Propagation.

They are no longer a chaotic, disordered tide, but have transformed into disciplined, undying legions, densely covering the skies and streets of Penacony, completely surrounding the Astral Express.

Every inch of the metal shell is covered with dormant swarms, and the train's engine and exits are completely sealed off, cutting off any possibility of escape.

"The first step of Unification is to eliminate redundancy," you announce softly.

Without another word, at your command, the swarms surged silently like machines precisely executing instructions, completely engulfing and devouring Welt, March 7th, Boothill, Acheron, and the others still asleep in their hotel rooms. There were no screams, no struggles, only the rapid process of matter being unified.

Only Stelle, the Trailblazer who carries the Stellar Nucleus, was left behind by you. Her eyes are empty, her mind still firmly under your control.

You walk towards her, your terrifying body, fused with Order and The Propagation, carrying her and traversing space in an instant.

You arrive above a forgotten, lifeless, barren planet.

You look down at the numb Stelle, without the slightest pity. She is the embodiment of variables, your greatest hidden danger.

"Become part of 'us,' it's your last bit of value."

As the words fall, the Propagation torrent that makes up part of your body surges towards her. The swarms cover her, beginning the final assimilation and devouring.

However, just as Stelle's body completely melts away, the dormant Stellar Nucleus within her, as if detecting the death of its host, suddenly erupts with massive amounts of light and heat!

The energy of destruction erupts instantly, and the singularity of a stellar explosion blooms with its final light on this dead planet!