Live Stream Honkai Impact 3rd, I Choose to Expose Kiana in Arc City! Chapter 12

Next up, the two members of this trio who usually didn't get along were about to face off in a fateful duel...

Chapter 17: A Challenge from Rita

Inside the live stream, Seele was extremely surprised by the encounter between Bronya and Kiana.

"Big sister Bronya actually got grouped with her good friend... The upcoming duel must be really painful, right? After all, having to fight someone you spend every day with—anyone would hesitate and agonize over it..."

Seeing Seele's floating comment, Beichen chuckled.

"Don't worry, those two have a great relationship. They won't care about that at all."

If anything, this pair of constant bickerers were itching to teach each other a lesson.

[Bronya, your body... is it pretty much fine now? Seeing you come to take the exam, I'm actually pretty happy.]

[Ugh... Could Kiana be trying to use emotional tactics to boost her chances of winning? No, idiot Kiana couldn't possibly think that far...]

Before the duel began, Kiana and Bronya were already showing a confrontational attitude.

[That's because I finally have a proper chance to go head-to-head with that annoying Bronya! Hehe, I'll make you understand that my strength is way beyond what a little brat like you can imagine!]

[See... see, I was overthinking it. Has Kiana's brain finally completely rotted from Honkai energy?]

Their tsundere replies left Seele, who had been feeling anxious, at a loss.

"Huh? Did I misread them? Are they actually not on good terms?"

"Not really," Beichen replied after seeing Seele's comment. "Maybe they're just being tsundere."

"Tsu...ndere? What does that mean?" Seele asked blankly.

But Beichen didn't answer her question—there was no need, and besides, it was time to move on to the next stage.

As the dialogue ended, the game switched to the actual gameplay interface.

Bronya entered the battle wearing the Valkyrie Armor, Snowy Sniper.

On Beichen's side, it was the latest Herrscher of Reason armor.

The power levels of the two sides weren't even from the same version, so in just a few moves, Bronya was utterly defeated...

Inside the live stream, Seele immediately sent a happy comment when the dialogue box popped up again:

"Big sister Bronya won! No wait, big sister Bronya lost... Huh? Did she win or lose?"

In her eyes, there were clearly two Bronyas on the field! So who actually won and who lost... she couldn't tell.

Beichen noticed this and explained, "She lost, and lost badly."

"Huh! How could that be..."

Amid Seele's extremely reluctant, resentful comment, the game's dialogue box popped up again.

[Hahaha, how about that, Bronya? Once I went all out, you couldn't even fight back, could you?]

[Dammit, Bronya's body probably hasn't fully recovered yet, so her performance is unstable for now. Kiana shouldn't get too cocky. Bronya already snuck a look at the matchups after this—idiot Kiana's next opponent is the Class Monitor.]

"Class Monitor?" Upon hearing this, Hua in the live stream recalled that it referred to the Valkyrie who looked so much like her...

Was she about to see her fight next?

Exciting... What kind of powerful moves would she use to defeat Kiana?

Meanwhile, Elysia, who had just joined the stream not long ago, was also pleasantly surprised: "Wow! Class Monitor? You mean that cute girl named Fu Hua, right?"

Beichen almost burst out laughing at Elysia's description of Fu Hua: "Pfft, cute girl..."

A cute 'girl' over fifty thousand years old, right?

"Hmm?" Elysia was a bit puzzled.

"Nothing."

Beichen didn't continue on that topic—he knew if he went on, things about the Previous Era would have to be exposed.

"Let's keep watching the story."

"Okay~"

[Ah?! Th-this can't be real...]

With Kiana's reluctant complaint, the dialogue box disappeared.

Soon, Fu Hua's dialogue popped up...

[Miss Kiana, I look forward to working with you in today's exam as well.]

[Cl-class Monitor...]

[What's wrong, Miss Kiana? You seem to have something to say?]

[Ugh...]

[I don't know what's on Miss Kiana's mind right now. But no matter what burdens you carry, you should set them aside and focus only on the battle before you... Overthinking will only lead to total defeat. To be honest, I envy the Miss Kiana of before. Full of fighting spirit and energy. I think that Miss Kiana, fighting like that, was already the most outstanding Valkyrie.]

Hua: "..."

Beichen: "Hmm? What's wrong?"

Hua: "Ahem. Nothing."

In the Previous Era, Elysia turned to look at a stunned Hua: "I never thought Hua could be so gentle with others, hehe~"

"Please don't tease me. That person's name is Fu Hua. I am not her—just very similar."

Hua closed her eyes, trying to distance herself from Fu Hua.

"Hehe~" Elysia laughed playfully. "If Hua could counsel me like that, I'd be very happy, you know~"

Just as these Flame-Chasers were chatting, the dialogue had already ended.

Beichen maneuvered his character into the final battle.

Facing Fu Hua on the arena, Bronya effortlessly landed a few moves and defeated her.

Then, a dialogue box between Fu Hua and Kiana popped up again.

[...Miss Kiana's performance is truly outstanding.]

[I don't know what's going on, but today's battle felt especially smooth. So smooth it almost didn't feel like me.]

With that, Stage 2-7 ended, and the game's settlement screen appeared.

Seeing this, Hua in the livestream room was a bit confused.

"That's... it?"

Beichen noticed the barrage of comments and replied casually, "Yeah, it's not a life-or-death fight. Do we need to battle until the sky goes dark?"

"Who won this fight?"

"Fu Hua won."

"Hmm... fortunate, but I think her performance could have been more perfect."

Hearing Hua's critique, Beichen was a bit speechless.

Was this the past self judging the future self?

Still, as one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers in the past, Fu Hua indeed had that right.

"Always striving for perfection, huh. Alright, let's keep going through the stages."

After chatting for a while, Beichen clicked on Stage 2-8's story level.

As the story played, the first thing on screen was Theresa's cute face.

[Taking advantage of the break, let me introduce the inspector from headquarters, Miss Rita Rossweisse.]

[She's here at St. Freya Academy to observe the Valkyrie assessment. I hope you all perform well.]

After Theresa's introduction, Rita's beautiful and charming figure appeared on screen.

But as soon as this inspector showed up, she said something baffling...

[Sorry to interrupt. Lady Theresa, your students are truly talented. I can't help but want to interact with them.]

[Interact?]

[A few Valkyries' performances have really surprised me.]

[Please forgive my rudeness. I'd like to spar with one of them.]

[Welcome, Miss Rita, to personally demonstrate combat techniques. So, which examinee is so lucky?]

Chapter 18: Hua felt an unprecedented awkwardness...

Rita, as an inspector from Schicksal, proposing to spar with an examinee surprised both Theresa and everyone present.

Of course, even more surprises were yet to come.

[That white-haired girl, what's your name? Hmm? (Reading the nameplate) Kiana Kaslana?]

As soon as Rita finished speaking, Theresa exclaimed in surprise:

[Kiana...? Why pick Kiana?]

[Oh? Kaslana...]

Rita's tone was very suggestive, giving the illusion of uncovering a hidden secret.

Her reaction—or rather, the surname she repeated—caught the attention of the livestream audience.

"Kaslana..." Durandal couldn't help but comment in the barrage. "That must be a meaningful surname..."

Durandal's remark left both Beichen and Otto in the livestream room speechless.

The reason was simple: both of them knew the hidden truth.

Among them, Otto was the witness and finisher of that incident, having Ragna bring her back to Schicksal for treatment. Otto wrapped her body in Honkai alloy, induced her potential, and gave her curly hair.

As someone who lost her memory after treatment, the name Bianka Ataegina was one she chose herself.

Beichen didn't plan to reveal this truth, so he went along with her words: "Yeah, indeed."

Just as he said this, a response from Academy Principal Theresa popped up on the screen.

[No no no, that's not that Kaslana, just a coincidence.]

Seeing Theresa's comment, Durandal sent another bullet: "Why would Academy Principal Theresa say it's just a coincidence?"

Beichen found this bullet both amusing and exasperating.

Because he knew full well that the truth really was a coincidence...

"Haha, maybe Theresa has her reasons for keeping quiet. Anyway, time to move on with the story."

As Beichen finished speaking, Kiana's dialogue box appeared.

[Huh? A spar with a headquarters official? Spar in what?]

Just when everyone expected a conversation to follow, the game jumped straight into real-time mode...

Rita, wielding a scythe, joined the battle as an ally.

However, though she fought alongside them, she was also a competitor.

The two sides had to compete on who could eliminate Honkai Beasts faster.

But this was a breeze for Beichen, given his well-built team and fully upgraded characters.

In just a short while, all the monsters on the field were wiped out.

The score floating on the screen read [Rita: 10] vs [Kiana: 100].

"Did Kiana win?" Seele couldn't help sending a bullet to ask after the battle ended.

"No, she lost."

As Beichen said this, the story dialogue box appeared.