I'm Not a Flame-Chaser - Chapter 600

This guy...

Using the same weapon was tantamount to a provocation. In the past, Kiana might have been driven mad by anger, but at this moment, her mind was unusually calm, and another voice in her head was reminding her to adjust her breathing and calmly face the enemy.

Kiana observed the mysterious man; his posture appeared relaxed and casual, yet he could exert force in all directions...

Sitting idly by and waiting to die is not Kiana's style. After determining the distance between them, she pulled the trigger. She didn't think the bullet would hit the mysterious man, but it could be used as a feint to cover her attack.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two bullets burst from the muzzle flash as Kiana charged at him at top speed, but the mysterious man merely swayed his body and let the bullets miss without even making a significant dodge.

This surprised Kiana, who was rushing forward. Although she had tried to avoid the opponent's vital points, the scene, which looked as if she had missed, made her realize that the person in front of her was not simple.

"Bang!"

The distance of a dozen meters was less than a second for the two of them. Kiana's seemingly slender and weak right leg, which contained terrifying power, kicked towards the mysterious man's head.

However, with the same small movement, the mysterious man simply turned his head to dodge her side kick. Even though Kiana thought she was fast enough, her opponent was still able to dodge her attack with centimeter-level precision. After missing her first strike, she did not retreat, but instead launched a storm of attacks on the mysterious man with physical techniques.

The mysterious man dodged and retreated, effortlessly weaving between the shadows of his legs. When Kiana tried to blast him with the muzzle and grip of her gun, he deflected her attacks with his pistol.

"Bang! Swoosh!"

Her whip kick aimed at her lower body was dodged, and when she tried to stab the mysterious man in the chest with the muzzle of her gun as if it were a dagger, he raised his hand and accurately struck her right hand joint, distorting her movement and causing her to miss.

Just as her fierce attack missed, the mysterious man who had been on the defensive raised his head slightly and kicked into the inside of her stance. Kiana, who had no time to defend, was punched in the abdomen. The punch was fast and hard, and her stomach churned. Kiana couldn't help but gag.

But it wasn't over yet. The mysterious man grabbed her right arm, which she hadn't pulled back, and pulled her back, causing her to lose her balance. He then kicked her left knee with his right leg, forcing her to her knees. Finally, he grabbed her neck and forced her down onto the muddy ground.

The cold muzzle of the gun was pointed at the girl's forehead, freezing her in place.

"..."

Her once resolute and decisive gaze now betrayed a hint of confusion and weakness when she saw the weapon on her forehead that could take her life in the next second, making her forget even to resist.

"Splash..."

Rain dripped from the hood of her trench coat onto the girl's cheeks. She stood motionless with her hands outstretched, her heterochromatic eyes seemingly fixed on the mysterious person before her, or perhaps gazing into the distance.

She only came to her senses when a voice in her head reminded her, and she was almost about to take action. And at that very moment...

The mysterious man put away his gun.

Under Kiana's suspicious gaze, he tucked the gun back into his sleeve, released his hand that was pressing down on her, stood up, took a few steps back, and quietly waited for her to stand up.

What's going on? What exactly is he trying to do?

The hooded figure stood silently in the rain, like a killer in a horror movie, lurking in the darkness, undetectable at first glance.

"Whoosh."

The mysterious person threw a small black box to Kiana, who instinctively caught it and only then realized it was a communicator.

"Tomorrow, still here." The mysterious man's hoarse voice rang out, penetrating through the rain to reach the girl's ears. "Shencheng Pharmaceuticals has taken notice of you."

After saying that, he turned and left without any hesitation.

"Who... who are you? What do you want?" Kiana asked his retreating figure, clutching the communicator in her hand.

"...clatter."

The mysterious man stopped, turned his head slightly, raised his chin, and revealed his appearance under the hood.

Kiana's pupils widened slightly.

"Your kind."

The rainbow-colored right eye, accompanied by a ghostly whisper, disappeared into the night.

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Three - Lockdown

In Sky City, at Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, a call takes place between communicators from different locations.

"I received reports that industrial facilities on the outskirts of Sky City have recently been attacked to varying degrees, and even the armory has been looted. Was this done by the Herrscher of the Void?"

"No, it's not that little girl. Judging from the traces left at the scene and the surveillance footage, the other person's size doesn't match the Herrscher of the Void. Could it be Schicksal..."

"Hmph, the Venerable Lord has already awakened. I doubt you'd want Venerable Lord to know that someone can come and go as they please right under the Snake's nose, treating its territory like their own home. Besides, what if this unknown factor interferes with the experiments and plans..."

"I don't need you to tell me; I will investigate this matter myself."

He turned off the communicator, the communication ended, and the black screen reflected his smooth chin under the hood and the beauty mark at the corner of his mouth.

"Class President, do you know who that person is?"

After returning to the base, Kiana took off her coat and leaned against the window to survey the surrounding area. On the wall next to the simple bed was a map of Sky City that she had pinned to the disaster site with the intelligence she had collected. After confirming that there were no suspicious persons near the base, she returned to the map, looked at the intelligence connected by various lines, and then asked the empty room.

After a moment of silence, a girl appeared behind her wearing a cheongsam with Blazing Feathers, with pink and white gradient hair. Her bright red eyes looked solemn and mature, but her figure was an unreal, semi-transparent shape.

The girl called Class President came to Kiana's side. After hearing Kiana's question, her face was solemn. "I sensed a distant and familiar aura from him, but I have no corresponding memories of him. My power is too weak to read his consciousness right now. Be careful, he is dangerous."

"Yes, I know." Kiana had also witnessed the man's methods. When his gun was pointed at her forehead, the chilling feeling of being on the verge of death made her break out in a cold sweat, but the mysterious man did not kill her, as if he was testing her.

At that moment, she wondered if he might be a victim seeking revenge after losing everything in the Great Honkai.

It was then that she felt a sense of relief at ending the life of this unstable monster within herself...

But when she gave up resisting, the mysterious man let her go.

She couldn't help but feel a little self-deprecating. It was still far from enough. Even now, was she still thinking of escaping...?

He said he was one of my kind...

Kiana's soft murmur made the girl ponder deeply, rubbing her chin.

"Impossible. Among the Herrscher known so far, only Welt, the leader of Anti-Entropy Welt, meets the criteria, but he couldn't possibly be here." The girl shook her head, denying the man's statement.

Kiana nodded, but still thought of the iridescent eye that had appeared in the hole of the mask beneath the hood when she left.

"Similar..."

She softly uttered words that no one had ever said to her before.

It rained all day, and the entire Sky City was filled with a faint dampness. From the bright morning to the first light of night, the city seemed like a nocturnal creature, just beginning to awaken and turn on its lights again.

Recently, a series of Honkai disaster have occurred in Sky City, causing widespread panic. Even in this technologically advanced city, there are far fewer pedestrians at night than before.

The silver-haired girl moved nimbly between the high-rise buildings that served as both rooftops and floors. The unique topography and urban layout of Sky City made her movements easy and difficult for patrolling mechs to spot. The neon lights also provided cover for her. When she arrived at the location from the previous night, the mysterious man had been waiting there for quite some time.

He didn't hide himself, nor did he need to. He could become a shadow in the moonlight simply by standing there, and the man wrapped in that trench coat seemed like an invisible monster.

Kiana stepped out of the shadows and came up behind him, but he didn't turn around. He simply raised his hand and glanced at the time on his watch, just like before.

"I am coming."

The girl's long hair fluttered in the evening breeze.

However, to her surprise, the mysterious man suddenly turned around and swept his leg towards her knee joint. Kiana barely managed to react and narrowly dodged the whip kick.

"What are you up to!"

"...8:03." The mysterious man withdrew his leg and showed his watch on his left wrist. The precise hands inside the scratched transparent case indicated the passage of time. He said to Kiana indifferently, "You are ten minutes late."

Kiana frowned and said, "But you didn't tell me the exact time we'd meet before you left."

"So you won't be punished today," the mysterious man replied coldly.

"Punishment? You?"

Kiana felt a sudden unease. Who did he think he was? Did he want to punish her?

"From today onwards, I will give you special training so that you can fully control the Herrscher power within you. You have no room to refuse." The mysterious man crossed his arms, his cold gaze fixed on Kiana from beneath a hood that was half a head taller than her, sending a chill down her spine. "I do not intend to allow a threat to remain in human society, so if you cannot pass the special training, or if your body is completely taken over by the Herrscher consciousness, I will kill you directly."

His tone was very flat, as if every syllable was on the same level, but the chilling coldness conveyed in the depths of his words was truly penetrating to the bone.

"You?" Kiana cautiously took a step back, secretly gripping her twin pistols and staring intently at the motionless man. "No need, I already have a teacher."

"I told you, you have no choice but to agree, Kiana Kaslana."

Prismatic Eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness beneath the hood!

The mysterious figure flickered distortedly, and Kiana instinctively raised her gun, bracing herself against the barrel of the gun that was blocking her way!

"Those who lack consciousness can only survive by the charity of others."

The world spun before her eyes. Although she had blocked the attack, a shock still traveled through the pistol to the girl's body, causing her to stagger back several steps.

Kiana steadied herself, her eyes hardening as she quickly adjusted her breathing and posture. She was in much better shape than yesterday, and might not necessarily lose...

"Bang!"

"Hmm..."

She was choked and pressed against the wall, and terrifying Prismatic Eyes were deeply imprinted in the girl's eyes from under her hood.

"Cough..."

Kiana gritted her teeth, trying to use the power of the Herrscher of the Void to escape her confinement. However, two golden chains emerged from the man's sleeves and wrapped around her neck. To her astonishment, she discovered that the Honkai Energy she had been channeling within her body instantly came to a standstill, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move it an inch.

"This is... how is this possible..."

Meanwhile, the girl in Kiana's consciousness rarely spoke up in surprise. Her illusory figure appeared beside Kiana, looking at the chain around the silver-haired girl's neck, and then looking incredulously at the hooded man.

The man released her, Kiana coughed and fell to the ground. She reached for the chain around her neck, but it was icy cold to the touch, as if it were glued to her skin and had become one with her.

"I will investigate Shencheng Pharmaceuticals with you afterward, but only if you can break free of the chains binding your neck on your own, otherwise..."

The man pointed at the helpless girl and coldly pronounced his verdict.

"Just think of yourself as a little dog with a collar on, someone I could kill at any moment."

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Four - Training

What's wrong... I can't get any strength in my body...

Kiana sat on the ground with her back against the wall, the still-wet rain splashing all over her. Clutching the restraints around her neck, a sense of powerlessness overwhelmed her, making even breathing incredibly difficult. Her limp body instantly transformed her back into that helpless little girl.

The mysterious man squatted down in front of her and said coldly, "Take a deep breath. Treat that power as your tool, your weapon, not as a part of you. You control it, not the other way around."

Damn it... who is this person...?

"Kiana, do as he says." At this moment, an ethereal voice from within reminded Kiana, while simultaneously emanating a certain consciousness to calm her mind.

"Huff... huff..."

The silver-haired girl closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, her well-developed chest rising and falling. Gradually, her flushed neck and face returned to normal.

As her consciousness sank into her body, the Honkai Energy that had been eroding her consciousness and body was suppressed to the point of almost stopping by the golden chains. She could almost faintly hear the angry roar of the Herrscher had long resided deep within her consciousness.

When she opened her eyes, the man had already stood up again, silently watching her. His iridescent right eye, gleaming with a bewitching light beneath his hood, sent chills down her spine.

"Class President, are you still there..." Kiana called out to the girl in her heart as she looked up at the man.

The girl attached herself to Kiana through the power of the Eighth Divine Key Feather of Dust, so Kiana was worried that suppressing Honkai Energy would also affect the girl.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." The girl's calm tone reassured Kiana, and then she solemnly said, "Kiana, he could indeed be a Herrscher."

"... Are you sure?"

"It's not certain yet. His ability is indeed related to a Herrscher, but that Herrscher doesn't belong to this era and was long ago defeated and turned into Divine Key." The girl pondered for a moment, then sent a tremor of consciousness into Kiana's mind, "It's the Oath of Judas in the hands of Headmistress Theresa."

"The Oath of Judas?"

Golden chains suppress Honkai Energy...

Kiana also thought of the bright Golden Cross that she had once used to tease her.

But the Oath of Judas is in Aunt's hands. Could it be a newly born Herrscher? How could that be?

"Kiana, don't act rashly. He may not be an enemy. Let's observe for a while longer."

The girl is extremely weak now. Continuing to use Feather of Dust will only accelerate the dissipation of her already dwindling consciousness. At that point, Kiana will be completely unprotected. Before that, she needs to train Kiana into a qualified warrior, so she needs to minimize the use of her primal abilities.

Furthermore, the man has not yet directly harmed Kiana, and the abilities he has displayed are intriguing. Taking rash action would not be a wise move.

However, the girl still couldn't find any clues about him in her memories. Could it be in the memories she had lost before...?

"Stand up when you feel better." The mysterious man said coldly to Kiana, who was sitting on the ground. "You cannot use Honkai Energy until you break free of your restraints yourself. The Herrscher Core's erosion of you will also slow down, but only temporarily. Once the Herrscher consciousness completely takes over your body, it will be very easy for the complete Herrscher Authority to break free of its restraints. At that time, she will use your body to slaughter humans."

Slaughtering humans.

The word sent a shiver down Kiana's spine, and she recalled the flash of light that tore through the darkness in the Imaginary Space.

But Kiana quickly dispelled the confusion in her eyes. She endured the emptiness in her body, leaned against the wall, and stood up on her own. This scene softened the man's cold gaze.