The Rain Seems to Have Stopped

Kiana watched as the Honkai Beast's left arm turned back into a sword-lance and frantically scratched her head. "Why?! Why won't it die already? Is this thing impossible to kill?!"

Suddenly, Kiana remembered seeing Sheng Jiu inject something into himself just moments ago. She immediately turned around and saw him pull out two more syringes, ready to stick them into his neck.

"Ow!" Sheng Jiu clutched his hand and stared at the shattered booster on the ground, then looked at Kiana, whose eyes were blazing. "What was that for?!"

"You... You have the nerve to ask me that? Do you even know what that stuff is?!" Kiana lifted Sheng Jiu right off the ground. "You could die, you know!"

"So what? Without the booster, everyone would die!" Sheng Jiu shouted back, just as defiant.

A sword-lance flew toward them without warning. Sheng Jiu lunged forward, knocking Kiana down and pinning her beneath him. "Look out!"

The spearhead skimmed past Sheng Jiu's back. Enraged that its attack had failed to kill them, the Honkai Beast raised its sword-lance again, ready to run them both through.

"This is really it!" Sheng Jiu shielded Kiana with his body, turning his back toward the approaching sword-lance...

A flash of light streaked across the sky. Six glowing orbs descended at high speed and struck the Honkai Beast. Its huge body began convulsing all over, as if it had been electrocuted.

"Hm?" Sheng Jiu watched the Honkai Beast slowly topple over, then realized what had happened. "Well, that was timely. The Hyperion's backup arrived just in time!"

"So, are you enjoying lying on top of me?" Kiana's voice reached Sheng Jiu's ears. A chill ran down his spine, and he immediately tried to get up.

"Take this!" Sheng Jiu's vision went black. When it came back into focus, he was flat on his back.

After giving Sheng Jiu a shoulder throw, Kiana dusted off her hands and stood up. She looked down at him, utterly dejected. "I'll deal with you when we get back!"

Everyone gradually gathered around the Honkai Beast. Himeko cautiously stepped forward and kicked its enormous hind leg, but it still didn't react. She turned and smiled at the others. "It's fine now. It should be dead—"

The Honkai Beast, which should have been dead, suddenly sprang back to life. With a roar, it flung out a large amount of blue bodily fluid that gushed from its body.

The others couldn't dodge in time, and they were all splattered to varying degrees. Yae Sakura, who had been hit the worst, was horrified to discover that her whole body was slowly starting to freeze.

"Ah! What's happening?!" Yae Sakura frantically slapped at the spreading ice, but she still couldn't stop it from advancing.

"Yae Sakura! You bastard! I'm gonna kill you!" Kiana raised the Fire Fairy Type I and unleashed a barrage of shots at the Honkai Beast's single eye.

The scorching fireballs quickly pierced the Honkai Beast's eyeball, causing even more bodily fluid to gush out.

"Everyone, get back!" Heavy Trooper Bunny raised a car door and held it in front of the group.

Sheng Jiu frantically brushed the ice chips off Yae Sakura, but it was no use.

As the Honkai Beast struggled on the ground, trying to get back up, a huge scythe flew in from nearby and plunged into its head. This time, the Honkai Beast collapsed outright, showing no signs of life. The frost on Yae Sakura's body also miraculously stopped spreading, then slowly fell to the ground.

"Yae Sakura, are you okay?" Kiana hugged Yae Sakura tightly, trying to melt the ice with her own body heat.

"I'm fine, Kiana~ Don't hug me so tight. Everyone's watching..." Yae Sakura blushed, too embarrassed to push Kiana away.

"Beep. Heavy Trooper Bunny 19C, preparing to fire!"

"Hey, hey, Bronya, what are you doing?!"

Sheng Jiu bent down to examine the scythe that had suddenly appeared, his face full of confusion. "Huh, weird. Where did that scythe come from?"

"It's mine, Mr. Sheng Jiu~" A voice, at once unfamiliar and familiar, rang out across the battlefield.

Sheng Jiu jumped back in fright, then looked toward the voice. A figure stood on a nearby rooftop, smiling at him.

"Rita? What are you doing here?" Himeko stared in disbelief as Rita landed lightly on the ground.

Rita wasn't wearing the maid outfit Sheng Jiu had seen at Schicksal Headquarters. Instead, she wore a lightweight, dark-green suit of armor. Its clean lines and sharp angles gave the S-rank Valkyrie an intimidating, battle-ready look.

Rita slowly approached and gently pulled out the scythe, which was absurdly large compared to her height. She smiled faintly. "That's right, Major Himeko. I'm here."

"I discovered this Emperor-class Honkai Beast an hour ago. I tracked it down and wounded it badly, but I didn't expect the little thing to be so tenacious. That's why you all ran into it. Please forgive my rudeness." She bowed deeply to everyone, her expression apologetic.

We fought so hard just to hold off an already badly wounded Emperor-class Honkai Beast. That showed how powerful it must have been at full strength—and Rita, who'd wounded it so severely, was even more unfathomable... Sheng Jiu shuddered at the thought.

"The Emperor-class Honkai Beast has been defeated, so my mission is complete. Please come with me while we evacuate this area."

"Besides, you're not in a very good position right now, are you?"

Sheng Jiu stared at Rita, completely confused. "What do you mean?"

Smiling, Rita raised a flare gun and fired a signal flare into the sky. It arced gracefully through the air, illuminating the surroundings.

Near the streets, a seemingly endless mass of zombies and the dead had gathered without anyone noticing. The weapons in their hands reflected a cold gleam.

"Lead the way, Rita," Himeko said, breaking the silence.

"With pleasure." Rita smiled and snapped her fingers. "Let's get moving, Carbon-based Hunter."

A figure shot out of the shadows like lightning and charged at one of the dead. Before it could swing its scythe, its head was already severed from its body.

The black-and-green mechanical hound shook its head and let out a hoarse growl, then charged back into the crowd of the dead. They fell like grass before a scythe.

"Let's go. There are only two hours and thirty minutes until the bombardment~" Rita led everyone along the path the mechanical hound had cleared.

"Hey, what do you think that dog is, anyway?" Sheng Jiu poked Kiana, but she said nothing. She just gave a soft huff and turned away, refusing to acknowledge him.

"What's wrong?" Sheng Jiu looked at Bronya, puzzled.

"Bronya thinks silly Sheng Jiu made silly Kiana angry by injecting himself with a large dose of the booster without permission."

Sheng Jiu glanced at Kiana, who was sulking, and gave a helpless smile. He started to say something, then fell silent.

Hey, you! Say something! You're such a blockhead! When a girl's angry, you're supposed to go comfort her! (｀Δ′)... Kiana thought to herself, then huffed again.

With Rita and the Carbon-based Hunter's help, everyone soon reached the blockade at the edge of Manila.

Inside a tent, they stood watching the fallen city through the rain, saying nothing.

A few minutes later, a tiny light appeared on the distant horizon. An F-16 fighter jet launched a missile, and before everyone's eyes, it struck Manila. A gigantic orange mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

After the Honkai Energy fission warhead detonated, the whole city fell completely silent. The quiet was so deep that Sheng Jiu could hear his own heartbeat.

The buildings at the center of the explosion had been reduced to a charred, shapeless mass. The dead and the Honkai Beasts in the surrounding area had also been turned to dust, leaving only devastation behind.

"Big brother, look! The rain stopped!" Chen Tianwen excitedly tugged at her brother's sleeve, urging him to look out the window.

Everyone turned around. The rain had stopped at some point, and the clouds hanging over them had scattered. The sun slowly rose over the distant horizon, bringing that extraordinary night to an end.

Among the rubble not far from the blockade, a nameless plant stood upright. Even after surviving the enormous explosion, it remained strong, proudly displaying its still-green branches and taunting Death for its helplessness.

Himeko clenched her fist. "Humanity... will surely defeat Honkai."

"Well, everyone, it's time for us to part ways. If we get the chance, you must come visit me!" Anna smiled as she said goodbye.

"Okay! Anna, you have to come visit the Far East Branch sometime!" Kiana reluctantly said goodbye to the gentle, beautiful big sister.

"Please wait, Miss Anna." Chen Tianwu stopped Anna and pulled out half of the heart-shaped pendant. Embarrassed, he began, "Um... about our bet..."

Anna's pretty face flushed. "You can bring it up again once you're able to beat me!" Then she walked off on her own. After a few steps, she turned back and said crossly, "Are you coming or not?"

"Oh, right! I'm coming!" Sheng Jiu whistled. Chen Tianwu snapped out of his daze and followed after her with his younger sister. He didn't forget to say goodbye to Himeko and the others. "Everyone, we'll be going ahead. Thank you all so much for your help. Goodbye!"

Watching them leave, Yae Sakura said to Himeko with an amused smile, "I think there's something going on between those two~"

"Agreed."

Sheng Jiu looked at Kiana, who was wrapped in a blanket and still sulking. He slowly walked over and stopped beside her. "Um... Kiana..."

"Hmph! I don't want to talk to you right now. Go away!"

Sheng Jiu tried to explain, but to his surprise, he started stammering. "I'm sorry... I was wrong before. I should've listened to you... It was... it was my fault. I'm apologizing to you... so don't... don't be mad..."

Seeing Sheng Jiu's flushed face as he struggled to get the words out, Kiana finally couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing, but immediately schooled her expression to keep up appearances. "What did you do wrong?"

"I... I shouldn't have been so careless with my... my health."

Kiana gave a satisfied "Mm," then pinched Sheng Jiu's ear hard. "Are you going to do it again?"

"Ow... I won't... That hurts..." Sheng Jiu sucked in a sharp breath from the pain, but let Kiana keep pinching his ear.

Watching the two of them fool around, Bronya turned away and expressionlessly hugged the Homu plushie in her arms...