Twists of Fate

The Third Herrscher fell, and Yae regained control of her body.

Dragging her exhausted body along, Yae came before Feng Chen and Yae Sakura.

"Thank you. You are...?"

"My name is Feng Chen, and she is Yae Sakura." Since he was only introducing himself, Feng Chen saw no need to hide even his name. As for Yae Sakura, she had crossed paths with an S-rank Valkyrie from Schicksal five hundred years ago, and only mentioned it because she had never been afraid of trouble.

"Thank you for your help, Dust-kun and Miss Sakura. Raiden Mei has nothing with which to repay you." Yae forced herself to stay upright and tried to bow in thanks, but because of her condition, she nearly collapsed onto the ground.

Sakura and Feng Chen caught her, never expecting her to grab their arms in return. Her dark eyes turned violet, and an evil smile spread across her face.

"The Third Herrscher!" That was the answer that immediately came to both their minds, but by the time they tried to break free, it was already too late.

Violet lightning continuously passed from the Third Herrscher's hands into their bodies. Both of them felt a wave of numbness and were unable to move, falling to the ground together.

Feng Chen's consciousness had already grown hazy. After all, this was the struggle of a Herrscher whose strength was close to that of a Two-Core Herrscher. They said even a rabbit would bite when cornered—let alone a Herrscher.

Sakura still retained the last bit of clarity and shouted, "Have you gone mad? Your body will collapse if you keep this up!"

"My body? No, no, no. This is the body of a human girl named 'Raiden Mei.' If we're talking about bodies, yours is quite excellent. It's probably even somewhat stronger than those S-rank Valkyries'." It turned out that her goal from the very beginning had been Sakura's body. If she could seize it, she would be able to unleash her abilities more effectively.

Of course, that depended on her being able to defeat the consciousness of the Herrscher of Erosion. Sakura and the Herrscher of Erosion existed in a symbiotic relationship. Unless the Herrscher of Erosion gave up, no one could obtain this body.

"Sakura, summon Jizou Mitama!"

Yae Sakura did not know how Feng Chen had learned that she possessed Jizou Mitama, but to escape her current predicament, she had no choice but to use it.

A considerable amount of Honkai Energy gathered around Yae Sakura, but in the end, it failed to break through the rank of "Simulated Herrscher."

A mysterious creature resembling a samurai enveloped Yae Sakura, its violet eyes fixed on the Third Herrscher. Although the Third Herrscher's strength was already close to that of a Two-Core Herrscher, it was nothing before Jizou Mitama.

The Herrscher of Erosion's ability was absolutely bug-level. The Third Herrscher had only one way to defeat Jizou Mitama: overwhelming it with absolute power. But that was impossible. The Third Herrscher was not a complete Herrscher to begin with. Even if her strength was close to that of a Two-Core Herrscher, Jizou Mitama could still gain the upper hand.

"Higanbana, restore our ability to move—quickly!" Yae Sakura urged Jizou Mitama. "Higanbana" was the name she used for the Herrscher of Erosion.

Jizou Mitama paused for several seconds, and Feng Chen and Yae Sakura's bodies returned to normal.

"A Divine Key..." The Third Herrscher recognized what it was. Divine Keys were originally made from Herrscher Cores, so it was perfectly normal for Herrscher Cores to attract one another. Holding a Divine Key was almost like possessing an extra Herrscher Core, making it highly tempting to the still one-core Third Herrscher.

She saw a black box inside Jizou Mitama's chest and shifted all her attention to it, failing to notice that Feng Chen and Sakura were already able to move.

By the time she realized it, it was too late.

She was surrounded by three targets. One was someone capable of attracting the attention of Honkai—untouchable. Another was the remnant Herrscher consciousness within a Divine Key—also untouchable. And the last one had just crushed her once—still untouchable.

A violet bolt of lightning shot out of the encirclement and grabbed Kiana, who had fallen to the ground, by the neck.

The robot named Heavy-duty Rabbit carried Bronya backward, joining Feng Chen, Yae Sakura, and Jizou Mitama in surrounding her.

"I'm telling you, if you keep coming closer, I won't be responsible for this little girl's life." The Third Herrscher tightened her grip, as though she would snap Kiana's neck the next second.

"Shameless." That was the only judgment Bronya gave her.

"System, is there any way?"

"There is. I'll move all the Honkai Beasts responsible for interfering with Schicksal away and let Schicksal's battleship, the 'Hyperion,' enter Changkong City. Host, prepare to stay hidden."

"Sakura, get ready to hide. Someone is coming."

Yae Sakura did not know why they needed to hide, but she chose to retreat because she trusted Feng Chen.

Jizou Mitama transformed back into a black box and was held in Yae Sakura's arms.

Feng Chen took several steps back and said, "Put her down, and we'll let you leave."

"You'll keep your word?" She had no idea what scheme Feng Chen was plotting and could only take things one step at a time.

"Of course." Feng Chen also glanced at Bronya, signaling for her to hide with them.

Bronya nodded and had Heavy-duty Rabbit carry her into hiding with them.

The Third Herrscher had not yet lowered her guard when a battleship entered Changkong City, gradually appearing in everyone's field of vision.

"I see. You had already planned this from the beginning..." The Third Herrscher lifted Kiana up, gradually increasing the strength in her hand. "In that case, there's no use keeping you alive."

"Cough! Cough!" Kiana opened her eyes. Her azure eyes were as clear as the sky. "Mei..."

The wings behind the Third Herrscher grew back. Yet when she heard that voice, she eased her grip and smiled. "Look again. Am I your Yae?"

"You! You're not Yae!" The hand gripping Kiana did not loosen. It seemed she was deliberately holding her up.

"Give my Yae... back to me!"

Kiana reached both hands toward the Third Herrscher's wings and tore at them with all her strength.

"What a joke. Humans think they can harm the power of a god? That's simply—"

Before she could finish, the Third Herrscher clearly saw that the tiny "human" before her was holding a fragment of her wing in her hand.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The Power of Lightning within the Third Herrscher's body went berserk, destroying many of the surrounding buildings and affecting Feng Chen and Sakura as well.

Because Heavy-duty Rabbit protected her, Bronya was affected far less than Feng Chen and Sakura.

"Kiana! Sister Yae!" Bronya cried out. Many of the surrounding buildings were clearly collapsing toward the two of them, and nothing could be seen through the cloud of dust.

She wanted to search for Kiana and Yae, but she could not bring herself to leave Feng Chen and Sakura behind. Without relying on external forces, Feng Chen's strength was about equal to that of a B-rank Valkyrie, and he had already suffered severe injuries. Sakura had fought several battles just now, and exhaustion had filled her body. She was barely holding herself upright.

Feng Chen smiled and said, "Go. They're your companions, after all. And strictly speaking, we're enemies."

"Bronya doesn't know the difference between enemies and companions. Bronya only knows who treats Bronya well and who treats Bronya badly. Big Brother Feng Chen is someone who treats Bronya well."

"System, what happened?"

"The favorability reached the required level. That's all."