Little Su, Please Come Back, Okay?

Formed from remnants of souls and Honkai Energy, she is a beautiful young girl dressed in a dark black robe, a garment from ancient times.

The only two colors on it are the muted gold threads, which, together with varying shades of black, create cloud-like patterns, serving as an exquisite and magnificent decoration.

She stared coldly at the silent boy hidden inside the armor in front of her.

Ji Xuanyuan, Ji Lin.

In this ancient era, the sages who once devoted themselves to protecting the people are now filled with resentment and malice.

What she held in her slender fingers was the jet-black Xuanyuan Sword.

Himeko stood rooted to the spot like a puppet, her dull, lifeless eyes showing no sign of struggle.

Her consciousness remained under Ji Xuanyuan's control. The memory loop caused by that emotion led her to the most crucial juncture in her life, thus forcing her to continuously immerse herself in this dream.

This is why Su Qing'an didn't choose to step forward to stop him; he couldn't guarantee that Ji Xuanyuan wouldn't directly attack Himeko.

The girl, dressed in a single layer of clothing, seemed to be expressing a sense of longing and nostalgia for this physical vessel.

Even if there is nothing else here but a scene of devastation from the battle.

But in the fleeting moments of breathing; in the real sensation of the breeze caressing her cheeks; in the unmistakable clarity of the colors before her eyes—before all these things she had silently longed for for countless years, the girl still felt a heartfelt joy and a joy that permeated her very being...

Hatred.

How can one not hate?

Imprisoned in darkness that seemed to lie beneath an abyss, unable to sleep, he survived alone for a thousand years, possessing only his sanity.

How can one not hate such prolonged loneliness and suffering?

Su Qing'an said seriously:

"Chi Yuan, I have not betrayed you."

She said softly:

"Dan Zhu is dead, Cang Xuan is dead, Lian Shan is dead, and I am actually dead too, leaving only this inhuman and ghostly appearance."

"You're saying... Chi Yuan didn't betray us? Maybe, but does it matter?"

Su Qing'an did not answer. He was just glad that Fu Hua was not here, because even though they both knew that the Ji Xuanyuan in front of them was not the real Yellow Emperor from a thousand years ago.

But this answer and question still saddened the immortal.

And he... didn't want to make her sad.

Perhaps, going to the battlefield alone was an inevitable outcome.

Ji Xuanyuan suddenly revealed a bewitching and morbid smile. She laughed loudly, mocking the boy's silence and venting her endless malice.

Moment.

[Calming the Tempest] and the Xuanyuan Sword struck out jarring notes once more.

Boom boom boom.

Each clash of swords created countless air rings and sonic booms.

Like phantoms, the extreme speed of the sword intertwined across the entire battlefield. A girl dressed in ancient black robes engaged in a fierce battle with a boy in black armor, wielding an ancient sword.

It was no longer a turn-based game with back-and-forth exchanges. The two players' exceptional mobility meant the battlefield was no longer confined to a small area. Two dark lines drew countless tracks in this desolate deep-sea ruin, almost obliterating the original shapes of the land wherever they went.

Kiana and the others' battlefield was also affected. The combat power of those clones was no less than that of any normal A-rank Valkyrie. The trio who needed to take care of Satou Yunona could only barely hold their own for the time being, while Su Qing'an's efforts to pull the battle back prevented them from being greatly disturbed.

Those who were unaware that Su Qing'an had undergone Artificial Stigmata transplantation had already expressed amazement at his current combat prowess, but they also felt an unprecedented anxiety about the increasingly unpredictable battlefield.

However, the excessive physical exertion and the limitations of one's own abilities rendered these emotions useless.

Although all three of them have cheat codes, the existence of those things is not a good thing in the current situation.

Raiden Mei, who cannot control the power of the Herrscher; Kiana, who is unaware that she is the Herrscher's original form; and Bronya has not yet become the Herrscher of Reason in the Sea of Quantum.

Unlike the protagonists who suddenly become overpowered in typical shonen manga, even the main characters in this Honkai world can never do whatever they want.

The high altitude is also their brief battlefield.

This unknown armor uses Gamma Particles and Honkai Energy to create a brief levitation ability.

Yes, Su Qing'an cannot fly.

But with just this one ability, combined with martial arts, Honkai Energy techniques, and the speed of [Thousand Stars], he showed no sign of being at a disadvantage against this girl's sword that could fly freely.

Ji Xuanyuan's fighting style is the most basic and unadorned close combat. Just as modern martial arts are only suitable for killing, most of the martial arts she knows are used to deal with Honkai Beast, which are usually large in size.

Su Qing'an mastered all the martial arts of these two schools, with the killing techniques being the very martial arts he had initially learned.

With this level of skill, he wouldn't be a match for a teenager.

Let alone the current Ji Xuanyuan, who only knows how to exploit his memories and fighting instincts to act recklessly, even the original Yellow Emperor...

Su Qing'an also possessed the confidence that he would never lose in martial arts.

You lost.

Before the words were finished, the boy, falling like a shooting star, unleashed a sword strike, [Time Cutter].

That was a sword strike that was much faster and more frequent than the previous ones.

The sword then grazed across the opponent's soft, delicate neck. This should have been a fatal blow, but instead, no blood appeared in mid-air.

It was as if he had struck at nothingness; the enemy that Su Qing'an had been fighting and wielding his sword against was nothing but a non-existent mirage.

But the boy's face beneath the armored helmet remained expressionless. It wasn't that he had anticipated the sword would be useless; rather, he simply believed that Chi You's assistance to Ji Xuanyuan went far beyond this.

Besides, she was just playing around.

The girl laughed heartily, her beautiful face bearing the joyful smile of someone who had tasted a sweet fruit.

She casually paused in mid-air, seemingly unconcerned about the feeling of a sword piercing her neck, and asked:

"What's your name? A descendant from a thousand years in the future?"

Her voice echoed in the vast space, like a wandering ghost, floating beside everyone's ears.

The boy replied:

"Su Qing'an."

Ji Xuanyuan couldn't help but laugh and said:

"Su Qing'an, how much of your lifespan did you consume in that brief minute of fighting with me?"

"A week? Or a month?"

Su Qing'an silently slashed across her waist, but just like her previous responses, it was a meaningless attack.

It was as if he had cleaved through an entire ocean.

The boy vaguely understood something; perhaps it was the ocean.

A vast ocean of Honkai Energy.

Ji Xuanyuan does not possess a physical body; she is an energy form created by Honkai Energy. However, due to unknown reasons and the extremely high density of Honkai Energy, she displays a form indistinguishable from a real person.

Human weaknesses naturally don't apply to her, and even purely sharp weapon strikes lose their meaning.

The help Chi You gave her was nothing more than linking his unused Honkai Energy with her, turning Ji Xuanyuan into a humanoid boss whose health bar would never run out.

She ignored Su Qing'an's actions and instead asked with a smile:

"How much longer do you have to live? Seven years? Your vitality is like a candle flickering in the wind; it will go out almost without being blown away."

Are you courting death?

"How stupid, how stupid, how stupid! Whether you win or not, you won't live much longer after this battle."

Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya, who were in the middle of a battle, reacted to this on almost different levels.

They were only curious about what kind of latest special armor it was; Schicksal's technology was even more advanced than they had imagined.

Otherwise, given his original Honkai Energy resistance and adaptability, he wouldn't have had the ability to control that level of Honkai Energy to cut through the storm.

But only now do they realize that the price of such combat power is fueled by lifespan.

The quiet, gentle, and earnest boy may have accepted this fate long ago.

But just like that day when he went to Changkong City alone, it was without reason or logic.

When they encountered a crisis, Su Qing'an, again without reason or logic, arrived at the Nine Nether.

Clad in jet-black armor, he cleaved through the storm, forced to draw his sword against his own family, burning his remaining life force to fight against the spirits of the dead from thousands of years ago.

Now, Su Qing'an silently faces these facts that he has long understood.

Kiana felt a little cold, but her blood was clearly burning from the intense battle.

But that chilling aura remained unrestrained, arrogantly eroding her body and oppressing her nerves, causing the girl to involuntarily feel fear. Beneath her feet was a gradually dissipating energy clone.

Just like the life-or-death battles she fought during her wandering days, she ultimately did not lose.

Ever since Kiana began wandering alone, for who knows how many years, she has forgotten what fear is.

It's good to die or live.

Finding her father, to add some weight to this empty life, is the reason Kiana has been struggling and fighting for.

Perhaps she later had many more reasons to fight, but this one reason was the original intention she always had.

Only when it comes to matters related to this can her emotions truly be stirred.

But now she was afraid, like a timid girl huddled in a corner of the room, clutching a doll, terrified of the storm and thunder outside.

Others cannot understand that feeling because adults and children see the world differently.

When Su Qing'an was lying unconscious in bed, she only felt worried and anxious, but not intensely fearful.

Because he was there, as if time had stood still and would never leave.

But things are different now; many things are not as straightforward as Kiana thought.

It consumes lifespan.

How much longer can he live?

All those bright red words, coupled with the boy's silent response, made the girl realize that she had known nothing all along.

She never understood how much cruel reality and suffering was hidden behind the faint, gentle smile on the boy's face in those ordinary days.

He never says anything and hides himself too well.

That day you went to Changkong City, and that was also the day Yuno returned.

Yes, Yuno has become Pseudo-Herrscher.

How could she possibly have complete control over herself from the very beginning?

She knew the former Satou Yunona; she was just an ordinary girl with a weak will.

If she couldn't do it on her own, then there must be other factors that forced Satou Yunona to overcome all her cowardice.

That day, Su Qing'an went to Changkong City.

Then many things become logical; where in this world are there so many coincidences?

Satou Yunona's maturity and transformation must have come at a price, perhaps the city reduced to ruins, the broken promise, the lost parents, and so on...

Su Qing'an's sacrifice.

Artificial Stigmata must hurt a lot, right?

With such poor Honkai Energy resistance, the cost of Artificial Stigmata Erosion is far higher than that of a normal Valkyrie.

It's impossible for a man to receive Artificial Stigmata transplant, which is why Kiana never suspected that Su Qing'an had received Artificial Stigmata.

His acting was so good, and he hid in the blind spots of logic, so all those previous laughs and joys seemed so natural.

The intense grief that kept surging and tearing at Kiana's heart almost stunned her, but the sharp sword energy tore through a corner of the wall, and she looked in that direction and saw a black knight, his body radiating flowing fire and blood light, silently swinging his sword.

The girl had previously thought that it was some kind of advanced armor with a built-in multi-core power reactor that made Su Qing'an's combat power so ridiculously exaggerated; she thought that S-rank Valkyrie might be just like that.

She even secretly wondered, almost jokingly, if the former S-rank Valkyrie could really defeat Su Qing'an now?

That joke isn't funny anymore.

He's burning his life.

The boy is burning through what little life he has left at a visible pace.

The resulting combat power seems so justified, yet so... speechlessly tragic.

She shouted with all her might:

"Su Qing'an! Stop swinging your sword, come back!"

There was no response.

The team voice chat that Bronya had connected to was disconnected by Su Qing'an the moment Ji Xuanyuan spoke.

He understood the possible reactions people might have, but he absolutely did not want Kiana to face that possible outcome so early on, so choosing not to answer was the most convenient course of action.

Raiden Mei once thought Su Qing'an was a very arrogant person, but after spending time with him, she realized that he was not at all like she had imagined. How so?

When you see him quietly doing many good-natured things, you might find yourself laughing involuntarily, just like Raiden Mei did back then.

Compared to the high walls he built around himself, Su Qing'an was perhaps the truly aloof one; beautiful faces seemed no different from stray cats on the street in his eyes.

He might diligently prepare cat food and high-quality cat food for the latter, but he would only receive a cold expression and polite response from the former.

Over the next six months or so, they became much more familiar with each other.

Su Qing'an is a very slow-to-warm-up person.

It's quite rare for someone like that to consider you a friend.

Raiden Mei was supposed to be the weakest of the three.

But in that instant, the girl's Beichen Ichi-ryu completely shattered the restraints, and at the same moment, an almost invisible purple current spread through her limbs, allowing her to reach a brand new realm.

The scalpel successfully severed the enemy's body, and she became the second to kill her opponent.

Raiden Mei sheathed her sword, her slender hand gripping the hilt so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

She didn't want Su Qing'an to die.

Bronya always felt that Su Qing'an was a very gentle person. These thoughts would always emerge in many details of their interactions, making the little girl feel that the boy was like an older brother to her.

In her entire life, no one had ever played such a role before.

Even with Mei, Bronya couldn't develop a complete sense of dependence, because the girl was confused and young. But Su Qing'an was completely different; it wasn't about ability or anything else, but simply a reassuring and dependable atmosphere.

Like the earnest look in his eyes when he occasionally wiped the stains from her lips; or the gentle expression when he patted her head and said Bronya was cute; and the patience when he made her coffee and the warmth when he handed her a marshmallow.

Su Qing'an is a very, very good person.

The Heavy Cannon Rabbit finally broke through all the defenses and successfully connected to the boy's voice module.

Ignoring the enemies on the ground, reduced to [Ashes] by artillery shells, the little girl whispered:

"Bronya doesn't want Sue to die."

"Xiao Su, please come back."