Blood Knight: Moonbeam

"What's wrong, Sakura?"

The Kallen in Sakura Cycle was merely Kallen from Yae Sakura's memories. Any behavior outside those memories was a "false personality" bestowed by the Herrscher of Erosion, though it was extremely similar to the real Kallen.

"No, it's nothing."

Even the personality created by the Herrscher of Erosion couldn't see Feng Chen. After all, Feng Chen had a master whom even the Herrscher of Erosion couldn't afford to provoke—the Will of Honkai.

"Oh." Kallen acknowledged him and returned inside.

Under Yae Sakura's astonished gaze, Feng Chen explained, "They can't see me. Even if the Herrscher of Erosion herself came here, she wouldn't be confident she could kill me."

"That's good. I'll have to trouble Dust-kun again this time." Clearly, Yae Sakura had already guessed that Feng Chen knew about what was happening to her. It wasn't convenient to ask how he knew, since that was Feng Chen's privacy.

"We're friends, aren't we? How could helping you be a trouble?"

"Friends..." That word had rarely appeared in Yae Sakura's life. If she had to name the person closest to her, it was probably Kallen.

"System, how much longer?"

"About a month."

"That long?"

"It wouldn't have taken that long originally, but after the host entered, he attracted the Herrscher of Erosion's attention, causing her to extend the duration of her plan."

"Is there a time difference between Sakura Cycle and the outside world?"

"There is. It depends on the host's strength. At the host's current strength, the ratio is 5:1. At most, it can reach 100:1."

Feng Chen checked his inventory. Nothing was missing. He had more or less guessed what the Oni Mask and Golden Cross were for.

"Since only Sakura and the Herrscher of Erosion can see me, I'll try out this Blood Knight: Moonbeam here. What do you think, system? Can you make this set of armor equip itself on me like Shadow Knight: Moonblade?"

"Actually, the host doesn't need to equip it to use its abilities. Shadow Knight: Moonblade is special only because it has different modes. Queen of Thunder's Kirin doesn't have that feature, and Blood Knight: Moonbeam doesn't change much after switching modes." There was one more thing it didn't say: after switching modes, Blood Knight: Moonbeam was even weaker than before.

"Whatever. As long as it looks good."

"This... Let's try Moonbeam first. Please confirm whether you wish to use the item: Cross."

"Confirm."

Feng Chen's clothes then transformed into a white bodysuit with a small amount of armor. A purple-red blade hung at his waist. A faint scent of blood lingered on it, making it quite fitting for the name "Blood Knight."

"How do I use this armor?" He truly couldn't imagine it. The armor consisted of nothing more than a bodysuit and a small amount of armor—how was it supposed to defend him in battle?

"See the blades hanging from your body? That's your method of attack. Originally, you were supposed to throw the blades at your enemies, but since the host doesn't know how to retrieve them, I modified it and turned it into an assassination-type armor. You only need to hold them in your hands. They're especially effective against the dead."

"So it's like Moonblade, pursuing extreme offensive power? But Moonblade is heavy and forceful, while this one has been modified to focus on attack speed?"

"Correct. The Blood Knight: Moonbeam I modified is characterized by extremely high attack speed and powerful suppression of enemies."

Just as he was about to test the armor's strength, Xiao Yun suddenly spoke.

"With this armor combined with my Stigmata abilities, you'll be able to bring it to its full potential. (Nibelungen Violet, QTE Charge, you understand.)"

"I'll give it a try. By the way, Miss Xiao Yun, can you teach me Sword of Serenity now?"

"Don't you already know it?"

"I only copied the form. I haven't grasped its essence." If Feng Chen had grasped the essence of Sword of Serenity, he wouldn't have been beaten into the ground by Jizou Mitama.

"All right, then. Listen closely..."

Xiao Yun explained it to him for barely ten minutes before Feng Chen had already learned the general principles. All that remained was more practice.

"You're teachable after all... Once you can freely wield the three abilities of wind, shield, and sword, you can consider yourself to have mastered Shangqing Zhishui."

"Huh? It's that simple? I thought there'd be some kind of trial."

"A trial? There is one, indeed. But you can't reach that level yet. At the very least, wait until you become a Simulated Herrscher."

After saying this, the blue Stigmata dimmed. It seemed Xiao Yun had returned. She knew that if she stayed out too long, she would instinctively absorb some Honkai Energy. As for that Honkai Energy... it would come from Feng Chen. To avoid causing him trouble, she never stayed out for more than half an hour.

Feng Chen held one of the short blades at his waist in a reverse grip and used it as a dagger. He closed his eyes. His heart was as tranquil as a gentle breeze, and his body stood like a green pine. Even raging wind and torrential rain could not disturb his mind.

The dagger slashed upward, cutting a falling leaf in half.

Through the falling leaf, he saw numerous enormous purple spears suddenly erupt from the ground. Their spearheads were identical to the short blades at his waist. When Feng Chen looked again, the many short blades hanging from his waist had vanished.

"Impressive... But the charge time seems a little long?"

"That's because this is the host's first time using this armor. You haven't gotten the hang of the charging time."

"How long does charging usually take?"

"That depends on how calm the host's mind is. If the host can skillfully use Xiao Yun's Stigmata abilities, charging once every two seconds is no problem."

"How long did I spend charging just now?"

"Three minutes and forty-nine seconds. If you had been on a battlefield, the host would already be dead."

"My mind isn't calm enough... I've only barely reached the level required to use it? System, is there any way to make my mind calmer?"

"There is. Just do what Bronya did and cripple the brain function responsible for 'emotion.'"

"This..." The first time he had seen the little girl named Bronya wearing an expressionless face, he had assumed it was only because she was around strangers. Who would have thought that she had actually...

But hadn't the system said this armor had another mode?

"System, what's the other mode for this armor?"

"Execution Mode. Attack speed is greatly reduced, while attack power is greatly increased."

"Activate it and let me try."

The system fell silent for a moment before replying, "Yes."

Afterward, Feng Chen saw a prompt appear before him: "Weapon Judas' Embrace of Blood equipped."

The heaviness on his back quickly became unbearable, and he collapsed onto the ground.

"System, what the hell did you equip me with?"

"This is Execution Mode. According to the armor's original design concept, the attack method in Execution Mode is the cross."

"This... How do I use it?"

Feng Chen removed the huge blood-red cross from his back and planted it in the ground before asking.

"Smash them. Smash your enemies into meat paste without leaving a single scrap. That is the correct way to use the cross in Execution Mode."

"What about under normal circumstances?"

"Please move away from the cross, then silently recite, 'Teriri is the cutest in the world.'"

What the hell...? The method of using the cross had completely shattered his worldview. Wasn't a cross supposed to ward off evil? And what was that incantation supposed to be?

"Teriri is the cutest in the world."