Su Nian felt that starting with Elysia could bring the story straight to its conclusion.
She had crossed paths with everyone, and her shadow was present in every major event.
In the Flame-Chasers' network of relationships, it clearly stated that she liked everyone.
This was Elysia, who loved all mankind!
Su Nian's mood improved considerably. Next, it was time to speed things up.
Rushing to the computer, Su Nian immediately typed out several large words.
Sakura's younger sister, Ling, had been identified as the Twelfth Herrscher—the Herrscher of Erosion—and was temporarily placed under Mei's protective house arrest.
Sorry for the wait, sorry for the wait. I made some careful revisions.
Thank you all for your support and for the gifts you sent me.
Inevitable Death
"...Another new storyline? Does Su Nian's imagination never run out?"
Welt was utterly astonished. How had this kid come up with another new Herrscher after taking such a short break?!
Was inspiration free, or was it just that easy to come up with another ability?
After all, the hardest thing to control in any novel's power system was the concept of "power creep."
The Herrschers kept growing stronger, and Kevin kept growing stronger too. Su Nian had created corresponding powerful enemies for him without collapsing the power system. He had controlled it well.
But that brought another difficulty.
The difficulty was that the Herrschers Su Nian had created all possessed different abilities.
How could he ensure that their Herrscher Authorities remained distinct while keeping their strength formidable without making them impossible to defeat?
The two most recent Herrschers had clearly been tailored to target this civilization.
This time, the Herrscher had even come from within their own ranks.
The Herrscher of Erosion...
In Shenzhou culture, erosion carried several meanings.
Gradually causing harm and corruption: germs...
Secretly encroaching bit by bit...
Was this going to erode the Moth of the Fire from another angle?
The Herrscher of a Thousand could make people lose trust in one another. Erosion from within might be something else entirely.
But unlike before, Su Nian had not directly written the beginning of this Honkai outbreak.
Instead, the person identified as the Twelfth Herrscher had been placed under house arrest.
What was going on?
Shouldn't a host begin wreaking havoc the moment they became a Herrscher?
Something strange was clearly afoot.
What was Su Nian setting up this time?
And how would the Herrscher's ability manifest itself?
Welt's anticipation rose once more. The surprises Su Nian could bring him seemed to have no end.
Otto stood leisurely to the side. Regarding Su Nian's plot, he had already grown tired of calling him a genius.
Schicksal had already extended an olive branch to Su Nian. Such an outstanding talent would soon be taken under his wing.
This time, victory was assured.
This one was in the bag!
"Su Nian, show your talent to the fullest and shine brilliantly here." Otto stared at Su Nian on the screen and spread his hands.
There were still advancement rounds ahead. If he was already shining so brightly now, what would happen later?
Otto was bold. He had already planned things out for Su Nian.
Su Nian continued typing the next passage.
Around the time Ling was discovered and confirmed to be the Twelfth Herrscher, Elysia gathered the Thirteen Heroes of Fire.
Meanwhile, the Moth of the Fire created The Past's Paradise, where the Flame-Chasers left behind their memory data.
Su Nian chose to set The Past's Paradise aside for now and write about it later.
It was an extremely important concept.
MiHoYo first introduced the concept of The Past's Paradise, allowing Raiden Mei to seek the truth within it. Only then did the players gradually come to know those characters.
Characters never introduced in Honkai Impact 3rd's manga appeared before their eyes.
They had different appearances and personalities. Some were as innocent as blank paper, some were as flawless as falling flowers, and some were cold as ice around others but became a little like a big boy again before their closest friends.
Only afterward, through continuous exploration, did people learn certain details about the Previous Civilization, as well as its truth.
Su Nian did not choose to write out every detail and display it all before the camera.
Some details could be guessed.
Others had to be revealed by Su Nian himself.
Controlling a work's pacing was something every contestant had to know how to do. Not only did they need to know it, they also had to dig holes for themselves in the outline and conceal the things everyone most anticipated.
The program's livestream format was wonderful and could help contestants gain more popularity, but it also meant viewers could directly see the story's full outline.
If they did not find a way to hold back one or two cards, then once the final story lost its sense of anticipation...
Its impact would be greatly diminished.
Therefore, Su Nian also had to write the later parts of the story more roughly.
Only then could the baiting effect be maximized.
Ling was Sakura's most precious family. Back when Sakura chose to cooperate with Mei and reorganize the Poisoned Cocoon forces, it was because she could no longer protect her younger sister as Honkai incidents became increasingly frequent.
It could be said that her younger sister was Sakura's only weakness.
Ling had still retained her human consciousness and had not used her Herrscher Authority, so Dr. Mei ordered that Ling was not to be harmed.
Sakura trusted Dr. Mei, but she could not trust anyone else. Thus, she betrayed the Moth of the Fire and forced her way into the underground base in search of Ling.
Kevin stood before Sakura in an attempt to make her reconsider, but Sakura possessed a secret technique—an ability that even Kevin did not know about.
Every surviving Flame Chaser now had their own trump card. Anyone ordinary would likely have died long ago.
Even the weakest, Pardo, had incredibly good luck protecting her.
Sakura swung her blade. That single slash was enough to freeze time.
In an instant, Sakura vanished from before Kevin.
After successfully escaping, Sakura did indeed find Ling on the 33rd Floor of the underground base...
But the truth proved that her unease had been justified.
Sakura cut down several zombies and rushed into Ling's cell, only to collapse helplessly onto the floor.
In the game, that CG even showed the exact same pose as when Yae Sakura saw Yae Rin die.
The tragedy kept repeating itself, and painful memories overlapped once again.
Su Nian's gaze was firm. This was a sacred baiting moment—he absolutely could not get depressed first.
Sakura stared blankly at her younger sister's corpse. The truth proved that her unease had been justified.
Her younger sister lay in a pool of blood, several bloody holes in her body. There was no breath left in her.
Why... couldn't she have simply been wrong?
She had only wanted to save her younger sister...
Among humanity's survivors, the overwhelming majority had wanted Ling dead. Perhaps an entire base had participated, allowing them to hide it from Mei and kill Ling without anyone noticing.
The guards who had watched over her had been overjoyed, cheering that they had defeated a Herrscher.
They had not defeated a Herrscher. They had released a demon with their own hands.
This was a Herrscher unleashed by humanity itself.
She would begin her revenge against humanity with hatred in her heart.
If Ling had not died, the Previous Civilization might have been able to "struggle on" for a little longer.
This disaster once again caused the Moth of the Fire to lose one of its Flame-Chasers.
Yet all of this was reasonable.
Ling's death was not an accident, but an inevitable result.
Under the disaster of Honkai, humanity had suffered devastating casualties, leaving only three cities.
No one knew whether they would be the next to face death.
Under such immense pressure, humanity's fear and hatred of Honkai had long reached their peak.
Aside from Mei's faction and its supporters, no one wanted to let a Herrscher live right beneath their noses.
On top of that, Aponia had imposed the Law of Retribution upon them: [Never give up fighting Honkai.]
The Law of Retribution's negative effects surfaced.
Under such circumstances, Ling's death became inevitable.
Immediate Retribution
So this stupid act had directly wiped out humanity's last hope.
No matter how powerful the Flame Chasers were, they could no longer carry this group of people who ruined everything they touched.
Sakura did not know why her younger sister had become like this... She had still arrived one step too late.
Although Ling had once been an ordinary girl, no one could guarantee that this was her true nature. That thought kept growing in people's hearts.
Fear and the Law of Retribution drove the Moth of the Fire's soldiers into the cell, where they brutally murdered the unarmed girl.
The final sight in Ling's eyes was of people cheering beside her corpse.
"We destroyed another Herrscher."
Su Nian wrote out what had happened before Sakura arrived.
A brutal murder—yes, brutal.
Ling's life had been taken merely because of suspicion.
If viewed through Honkai Impact 3rd's usual storytelling process...
The Current Civilization was created first, then the concept of the Previous Civilization was added and gradually expanded upon.
And during the Current Civilization, Otto had already said that humanity's enemy was not Honkai, but humanity itself.
Humanity as a group was inherently contradictory. The Previous Civilization had human higher-ups dragging it down, making things even worse for those who had no help and could only grope their way forward alone.
The Current Civilization had Otto, a man who was both good and evil—someone who led people against Honkai, yet was willing to do anything because he hoped to revive Kallen.
Ling was a pitiful person. With this kind of characterization, although the viewers were seeing this figure created by Su Nian for the first time...
They still felt dissatisfaction welling up from the bottom of their hearts.
Human empathy was powerful.
Human nature was not purely selfish. Empathizing with others and helping them was also part of humanity's nature.
Immersed in the story, the innocent girl and her devastated older sister immediately ignited everyone's fury.
Holy shit, holy shit! What right do these humans have to be protected? If they suddenly realized at the end that they had failed to protect anything at all, I wouldn't be surprised.
Before you continue