That Really Was Hilarious

On the Hyperion, Raiden Mei stared at the metal hemisphere floating in midair, a bead of cold sweat trickling down her temple.

For Mei, who had used the Power of the Herrscher of Thunder, maintaining the metal's altered shape and keeping it suspended in the air was no difficult task.

Rather, with the Herrscher of Thunder's ability to manipulate electromagnetic forces at will, maintaining the metal hemisphere in that state took about as much effort as breathing.

But now that Raiden Mei had begun actively using this portion of the Herrscher of Thunder's power, a voice began to echo in her mind.

Kill.

You are a Herrscher, the Herrscher of Thunder who belongs to Honkai's side.

These humans are all enemies of Honkai.

Kill them... kill every last one of them!

Those voices kept replaying in Raiden Mei's mind, nearly driving her to collapse.

If she had not remembered that her companions were also aboard this battleship, Raiden Mei felt that she would have been unable to endure the voice in her head and might have fainted on the spot.

"Hey, Theresa, something's wrong."

Himeko Murata, who had been keeping a close watch on Raiden Mei, immediately alerted the companion beside her when she saw the pained expression on Mei's face.

"I know. Judas has been ready for a while."

"The moment Miss Raiden makes any unusual move, I'll activate a small-scale Divine Prayer Barrier around her."

As Theresa mobilized the Honkai Energy within her body and watched Raiden Mei's expression grow increasingly strange, her heart filled with bitterness.

Before inviting this girl onto the Hyperion, she had planned to let her learn to properly control the Power of the Herrscher within her at St. Freya Academy.

If the girl named Raiden Mei could control the power within her, then this persecuted girl might at least be able to live as an ordinary person for a little while in the days to come.

But now, she had no choice but to aim Judas at this innocent girl.

Because she had not forgotten what Otto had just said.

[You are the person in charge of the Far East Branch. You must take responsibility for the branch and everyone in it!]

Those words were indeed grandiose and hollow, but Theresa also knew very well that Otto was not wrong at all.

Her subordinates were in mortal danger because of her mistake. If she let the Herrscher of Thunder act freely now out of personal compassion...

—If the Hyperion sank because of her mistake, then even if she survived, she would spend the rest of her life trapped in a nightmare of helplessness and regret.

Yet just as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, the metal hemisphere in the sky suddenly exploded.

Gu Yu, who had been imprisoned within the hemisphere, fell from the air and landed lightly on the ground.

"Feels like I slept for a long time... Wait, why are you all looking at me like that???"

After awakening from the Consciousness Space, Gu Yu immediately opened his eyes.

For some reason, although he clearly felt as though he had rested for a long time, the exhaustion in his body had yet to fade.

Rather, after fighting Dark Decade, who bore the same appearance as himself, in the Consciousness Space, Gu Yu felt even more tired.

If he had not felt that passing out again would definitely cause trouble, he would have wanted to lie down on the deck and sleep shamelessly.

"Huh? Oh. There's no sign that the energy was drained? Then it's fine."

After immediately contacting her subordinates and confirming that the terrifying situation from earlier had not happened again, Himeko Murata let out a soft sigh of relief.

Then, she turned an unfriendly look toward Gu Yu and spoke with obvious displeasure.

"Kid, I think you need to give me an explanation. Why did you steal the Hyperion's energy at a time like this?"

"Do you know this battleship nearly crashed straight into Changkong City because of your reckless behavior?"

"I don't know. Besides, I wasn't the one who made me cancel my transformation."

Having been bombarded with accusations the moment he woke up, there was no way Gu Yu would give Himeko Murata a pleasant expression.

After sorting through his thoughts a little, he looked at the wary expressions on the faces of the companions who had escaped Changkong City with him.

Then he looked at Rita, Theresa, Himeko Murata, and the others, and based on Himeko Murata's words, he more or less guessed what had happened.

He very much wanted to have a proper talk with these people right now, but...

"Forget it. I don't have time to argue about this with you right now."

Rushing over and catching the nearly exhausted Raiden Mei, Gu Yu spoke to her with great solemnity.

"Thanks. Get some proper rest."

"If you can, don't use that power again."

"Mm, I understand."

The instant Gu Yu caught her, Raiden Mei, who had been barely holding herself together, completely lost consciousness.

But before she passed out, a thought appeared in her mind.

This embrace...

It feels so warm...

Seeing the expression on Raiden Mei's face gradually relax, Gu Yu let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"All right, let me guess. After I lost consciousness, my special constitution that Absorbs Honkai Energy caused the Hyperion's energy reactor to fail to keep running."

"Then you people from Schicksal were going to tear me and the deck apart and throw us down, right?"

Looking at the expressions on Himeko Murata and Theresa Apocalypse's faces, Gu Yu sneered.

"Is this how the [Schicksal organization] that fights Honkai and saves the world treats its guests?"

"That really was hilarious."

PS2: If a chapter came out at this time, then it meant one thing.

You definitely didn't have a girlfriend, hahaha.

I didn't have a girlfriend either, sob sob sob sob sob.

Why did I have to work overtime alone on Qixi Festival for five years straight? This life was unbearable.

PS3: There's more coming later. Whatever I write today, I'll post today. No girlfriend—might as well spend the rest of my life with my keyboard. [Stares at the sky]