Honkai, Survive

Blood covered the ground.

The sky was indeed overcast, and the thunder from above had begun to dissipate when Raiden Mei left, but it was enough to illuminate the cherry blossom-filled campus, now awash in blood.

Although Chiyu Academy's drainage system was well-maintained, it could handle monsoons and downpours without issue.

But... if the system wasn't just draining "water," it would show its limitations.

Severed limbs, minced flesh, hair, fat, strangely shaped carapaces, mountains of skulls... and viscous blood.

The Death Troopers weren't alive, yet they still bled, and Honkai Beasts had similar bodily fluids that mixed in. If one looked down from above, the scene might be closer to people's perception of hell than a city ravaged by Honkai Beasts.

Undeniably hell!

The sticky, fragmented parts from biological organisms even clogged the drainage pipes.

Viscous blood plasma flowed across the spacious campus, forming a small river deep enough to reach past one's ankles.

Lighter materials like fat and hair floated on the blood river, eventually blocking the drainage pipe openings.

The stench of blood assaulted the senses, making one...

Friends who kill often know that some people, seeing a corpse for the first time after killing, will often vomit.

Fang Jie didn't have that physiological reaction, nor had he killed anyone. If Death Troopers counted... he couldn't even keep track with how many there were.

Before him lay far, far more Death Troopers than the countless ones he had killed.

Their remains cruelly formed a picture of hell.

Who was it?

Human?

Perhaps not.

Fang Jie gazed at a flower drifting in the blood river. It wasn't a Lycoris radiata or anything, but a... small white flower.

Amidst the scarlet, its white stood out distinctly, spreading from thorny vines, an unnamed flower in full bloom.

Fang Jie held his breath. He had already done so when the smell of blood hit him, and he stopped inhaling completely upon seeing this sight.

'Winter.'

He abandoned the incantation and entered his state.

It wasn't enough. His skin, already battered by wind and snow, began to emit cracking sounds of freezing, and a layer of ice armor, useless but present, materialized to cover his entire body.

It wasn't the Six-Phased Ice; it had no defensive capabilities, just normal ice.

But it might be useful. He had a vague idea of who had caused all this.

'Trouble is coming.'

This was Chiyu Academy, the epicenter of the Honkai outbreak. The dense Honkai energy attracted countless Honkai Beasts and Death Troopers, which would wander, grow, and evolve here into stronger forms.

Lesser Honkai Beasts could evolve into Honkai Emperors; Death Troopers could also evolve into Pseudo-Herrschers.

After all, the group lost its master.

The Honkai energy abandoned by the Herrscher of Thunder continued to gather, always giving birth to new, powerful Honkai creatures, unless this Honkai energy, exceeding 1000 HW in concentration, could be resolved.

Who could do it?

Cecilia was already dead, and Fang Jie couldn't resolve it himself for the time being.

He could only absorb energy through a medium, by making contact. The efficiency of absorbing Honkai energy floating in the air was, as one could imagine.

Similarly, for Pseudo-Herrschers with the right aptitude, it was too slow, too slow.

But attacking Death Troopers and Honkai Beasts that could gather Honkai energy was much more efficient.

In the less than half a day he had been gone, the monsters that had gathered at Chiyu Academy from who-knows-where were, literally, slaughtered until blood flowed like a river.

Sensing carefully, the Honkai energy that had dropped overnight to 1000 HW with Raiden Mei's departure was faintly climbing again within the scope of Chiyu Academy.

The Pseudo-Herrscher, whose achievements earned her the description of the Herrscher of Poison—Sato Yuno. The vines were one of the mediums she used to exert her abilities, and she was continuously absorbing Honkai energy at Chiyu Academy!

She only needed a trigger to break through the 1000 HW energy level in one go, transforming into a being comparable to a Herrscher.

In his senses, the surrounding Honkai energy was rising, rapidly rising. In just a few seconds... it was as if another Great Eruption had occurred, showing how much it would shock the nerves of the people of Chang Kong City.

Fang Jie had no time to think about those things.

Where?

Fang Jie didn't need to search. Just as eye contact with a Honkai Beast led to a fight, a voice, completely different from the previous weakness and filled with aggression, sounded:

"Oh my, oh my my, how strange. Isn't this... Big Brother."

From the shadows, vines thicker than an adult's arm suddenly erupted from the ground, directly binding Fang Jie's arms, neck, and cervical spine!

"Hello."

A greeting carried on the wind, unable to suppress the emotion, impatient.

Chapter 11: You Must Return to a World of Clarity

On the outskirts of Chang Kong City, the Hyperion was located.

Murata Himeko, busy until now, finally continued her work amidst her packed schedule, guzzling down a large dose of coffee.

"Major Himeko, the detection devices are in place. Drone attrition rate is 73.58%. Preliminary detection results along the route indicate that the Honkai energy concentration in Chang Kong City has dropped below 1000 HW..."

"Very good, that's finally some good news."

Himeko automatically ignored the attrition rate, an unavoidable aspect of the battlefield. It was their destiny to be expendable, just like the Valkyries themselves – weren't they also expendable?

She should be happy to receive good news. Although she was skilled at finding the silver lining, bringing reassurance and boosting morale to everyone with a smile, actual good news was undeniably better.

Things were looking up. The Great Eruption wasn't worsening. Even with Theresa's situation... she trusted her. No change was good change.

Holding her battlefield coffee, Himeko gazed at the overcast sky. The setting sun cast a warm hue over the outskirts of Chang Kong City. Tomorrow would surely be a good day.

"The world welcomes a new day of peace, and it will inevitably continue to be peaceful until tomorrow."

Himeko's tone was firm.

Even if not everyone could reach tomorrow, as long as everyone was striving their hardest for it, believing in tomorrow, that was enough.

Looking around, the Valkyries who had been working alongside her, busy until now, were also giving their all. Like her, their eyes burned with a fire, as if they harbored lions within.

Even though they were still young girls, ordinary girls their age would likely be enjoying peaceful campus life, experiencing shy, nascent romances...

But here they were, burning brightly.

The Valkyries, with their sharp gazes, held their weapons with firm, strong hands. They weren't just prepared to lay down their lives on the battlefield at any moment; they were already dedicating their remaining lives before that even happened.

That was why Himeko didn't want to, couldn't, and wouldn't let them down!

That was why she was always so tolerant of the younger generation. Even if they were a bit suspicious, as long as they appeared before her and weren't villains, she wouldn't hesitate to lend a helping hand.

Not long ago...

Forget it. She didn't want to think about it. Such an annoying brat. Did they really need her to show kindness before they'd return it? Did she look like a bad person, or untrustworthy? She was such a great beauty...

You kid also look like the type of classmate who likes tall girls with big butts.

Really, forget it. She didn't want to think about it. In that situation, it was hard to say. A Herrscher, escorting such a being out of Chang Kong City. And Kiana, that kid had major problems.

Himeko waved her hand forcefully, as if shattering some troublesome thoughts, and shouted encouragement to her surroundings:

"Everyone, keep up the... "

The Honkai energy detection alarm on the Hyperion suddenly blared shrilly.

The staff on the bridge immediately shouted, "Herrscher reaction detected!!!!"

Without needing the alarm, Himeko, who possessed Honkai energy perception, had already felt it – another surge of Honkai energy exceeding 1000 HW had suddenly erupted within Chang Kong City.

That's right, Chang Kong City again?

But it didn't matter.

Murata Himeko closed her eyes.

The smile on her face vanished for a moment, but it returned quickly. She snapped her eyes open, her smile filled with passion, fervor, and fire, not just in her eyes.

With a wave of her hand, her cape, which she kept for aesthetic reasons despite affecting combat effectiveness, billowed dramatically. She gripped her greatsword firmly and raised it high.

"All hands, the Herrscher has appeared! Follow me!"

--Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!

The sound of shattering, followed by more shattering, echoed as Fang Jie, who had used the Honkai Killer to block a sneak attack, tore through the vines that, lacking Honkai energy support, were no stronger than ordinary plants.

As he sped through the sky filled with ice shards, he also saw the layered, wild vines and their wielder.

She stood in a seemingly well-preserved classroom in a teaching building several hundred meters away from the cafeteria, gazing at him through the window.

She wore the same Chiyu Academy uniform as Kiana and Raiden Mei. Her figure was slender and wiry, her expression indifferent, her eyes filled with madness. Green vines writhed around her, suspending her in mid-air as she moved towards Fang Jie. Amidst the wild green foliage, her purple hair also flew like vines.

She looked like a ghost from a horror movie!

In a way, she was. Fang Jie had seen her 'before she died.'

--Sato Yuno.

She commanded the plants as her soldiers, advancing in winding, crushing waves.

Fang Jie, while scavenging for supplies last night, naturally wouldn't have gone to the teaching buildings. They held no value for him. He was racing against time, and the knowledge he needed wasn't something a place like Chiyu Academy could offer.

He had missed this significant detail.

Murata Himeko was on her way. The only ones who could respond immediately, besides Theresa, were her.

But Fang Jie didn't hold out much hope for that.

Facing a Herrscher... even a Pseudo-Herrscher with power comparable to a Herrscher, without connecting to the Imaginary Space, her Honkai energy reserves wouldn't be infinite.

For a true Herrscher, the passive diffusion of Honkai energy exceeding 1000 HW concentration alone would be enough to erode Valkyries below A-rank Honkai resistance into Death Troopers within half an hour, even those who had survived the initial impact.

Fang Jie, however, was different. He had absorbed life paths before learning Honkai energy. Had his training these past few days been for nothing?

Hmph!

He could live for at least two more hours.

That's assuming he wasn't killed by the Herrscher during his crooked-mouthed escape.

"Boom—"

The ground continued to shatter. The solid earth was like liquid water, from which countless giant vines emerged, rising like colossal pythons and slithering towards Fang Jie.

Having already accelerated, he was long gone. Accompanied by a cacophony of electronic sounds, he left afterimages in his wake, sprinting at high speed towards the edge of the school. However, every landing point exploded directly.

Damn it, were they hidden below, or could she generate so many in an instant?

This was a setting even fairy tales wouldn't use; magical seeds still took a night to grow into sky-high beanstalks.

With the Herrscher's energy level erupting in an instant, the surging giant vines weren't intending to wrap around him gently. The massive shockwave from their sudden lunge shattered the very air, and the few remaining intact buildings of the academy began to crumble. Vegetation and dust were directly blown away.

These vines were wild, ostentatious, reaching for the sky, and they 'discovered' a huge 'castle.'

The original cafeteria was lifted by thousands of vines working in unison, soaring into the sky—then it was brutally smashed down.

This savage attack swept towards Fang Jie, who was quite capable of running, engulfing everything in its path in indescribable vibrations and deafening roars.

The sheer mass of reinforced concrete buildings was like small hills. The vines, which could barely be called vines anymore, flung them with the impact of a collapsing celestial pillar, sending them flying and crashing down!

Everything around them caved in under the dust-filled shockwave. The ground cracked like ripples, forming countless spiderweb fissures that then spread into the surrounding air, as if still unsatisfied.

If Fang Jie were to collide with this building, shattered into countless pieces, the circular shockwaves would be devastating. Based on his own experience of nearly knocking himself out while running, without activating the Honkai Killer, he'd be finished!

Even with it activated, it wasn't a sure thing. If he were buried... he'd be rendered immobile, just like when he froze himself.

So, he could only retreat. This path was blocked, so he had to turn back!

Sato Yuno was determined to block any possibility of him escaping Chiyu Academy, encircling the massive nest, leaving him with no way up or down!

"Why are you running? Why are you leaving? Do I look that scary? Stay—stay with me!"