No lethal strikes.
The crescent-shaped weapon looked even more like a real, luminous moon in the mist.
But beneath its beauty lurked danger.
The inward-curving little scythe wasn't suited for slashing.
Yet every thrust, its oversized tip easily inflicted grievous wounds.
A touch left a wound; a graze left its victim crippled.
It swept across his abdomen.
His mangled, crimson intestines poured from the gash like floodwaters bursting through a breached dam.
Jiang Cheng had never seen Cyrene like this.
In his impression, she had always been gentle.
Sometimes she played pranks, sometimes she told stories, and sometimes she dragged him into the azure pool with her.
But she had never, ever hurt anyone.
It was as if the cherry blossoms of spring had turned into blades. Petals that should have caught the sunlight in a breathtakingly romantic display beneath the warm breeze now left every passerby covered in cuts.
"Is it strange?"
A voice came from above—
First, a flawless jawline with elegant contours. Kiana, holding him in her arms, looked down at him.
This position wasn't exactly ideal for looking at her, but even so, he could glimpse her graceful jawline from the corner of his eye. Her unusual gaze made her seem rather aloof.
"I don't care what they think. But the people behind them are trying to stop a Herrscher from leaving the city—a calamity that could trigger a Great Honkai and easily destroy the entire city if she loses control."
"Wouldn't anyone consider them enemies? And if they work for the enemy, then they're enemies too."
"What's wrong with attacking them?"
She tilted her head. Her glacier-like eyes held the matter-of-fact look of someone saying the weather was nice today.
"Not killing them is already pretty merciful, okay?"
"Or... did you think I'd be so softhearted that I wouldn't even hurt my enemies? If I were, I'd have been ambushed and dragged off to some basement while I was wandering around."
That was right.
Kiana was absolutely no stickler for pointless principles.
Even if the old chapter of her life, the story titled Three-Year Sakura, had most likely been eaten away,
in the story that followed, she had never shown mercy to anyone clearly marked as an enemy.
If she ever held back, it was only because the other side threatened innocent civilians.
She stopped for the innocent.
Never because she was worried about her enemies' lives.
Mei wasn't some benevolent soul, either. She was the kind of person who would say, "You matter more than the world."
Or rather—
No matter how kind or benevolent someone was, after being tormented until their family and home were destroyed, after the whole world had mercilessly crushed them for so long, it would already be indecisive of them not to fly into a rage and slaughter the forces behind all their tragedies, cutting them all to pieces.
The only one who most likely hadn't treated her own kind as enemies—or whose enemies weren't usually her own kind—
was Cyrene.
At first, the pressure from humanity had been suppressed by Kerythra. Later, it would all fall on Aglaea's shoulders.
Whether she did well or poorly, at least she hadn't unleashed that pressure on others.
She should only have had to fight the Black Tide. The conflict with humanity shouldn't have been centered on her. She shouldn't have had to bear that pressure.
But even someone as kind and sweet as her—
had also...
"Swish—!!!"
The arc of light that swept from the tip of the semicircular blade was so cold and sharp it seemed to tear through space.
She wasn't a trained combat specialist.
She hadn't studied martial arts in any depth.
Even so, with nothing but her natural physique and the innate talent of a Chrysos Heir, her overwhelming speed, reflexes, and strength—
were enough to send those well-equipped, professionally trained enemies flying like stray dogs by the roadside.
"Where's the heavy firepower? Where's the heavy firepower?!"
"—Get it up here, now!"
The sudden attack and the overwhelming disparity in physical ability sent the entire formation into chaos.
The fog all around them and the unnatural changes in the environment had cut off their lines of communication, only making the chaos spiral further.
A few commanders pulled out their radios, searching the battlefield for the most prominent location as they tried to forcibly restore the collapsed order. Then—
"Bang—!"
An oval-shaped bullet pierced his head.
Even his advanced helmet couldn't save his life.
Kiana's arms were bound around Jiang Cheng in an embrace. He stared blankly at her—
He was holding a revolver, a wisp of smoke still fading from its muzzle.
"Looks like my aim's pretty good."
15. Kiana's Signature Weapon, Acquired
"That has nothing to do with it. Honkai Energy strengthens your body even as it erodes it."
"That doesn't change based on how adaptable or resistant you are. It just means you get more of a boost or less of one."
Her shock lasted only a moment.
Kiana closed her eyes. When she opened them again, there was a little less distaste in her gaze.
She bent down gently and carefully shifted her posture. Her slender arms gradually loosened, allowing Jiang Cheng to stand firmly on the ground—
"Having one hand completely eroded should boost your physical abilities about fivefold... Your ordinary resistance will keep you from dying too quickly, while also making up for some of your lack of adaptability. This power isn't suitable for prolonged use, but it's perfect for you to get some practice in this temporary fight."
"I'll lend you this pistol for now. Its recoil is just within what you can handle. You only need to deal with the ordinary troops. I'll take care of the mechs nearby, then we'll meet back up. If your trust in me isn't misplaced, you'll still have plenty of time after the fight to wait for her to save your life."
She carefully gave him instructions, then somehow pulled dozens of bullets from her waist.
"Can you handle it? Shouldn't you run?"
"Those are... Titan Mechs."
Jiang Cheng looked doubtful—
From the corner of his eye, he could already make out several mechs standing six meters tall. The vibrations of their footsteps were so heavy that they brought tanks to mind.
Each of those could match a standard B-rank Valkyrie. Even after three years of studying at St. Freya, Kiana would only be B-rank. Right now, she didn't even have a Valkyrie battlesuit, and her weapons were pretty basic.
"Hey, what do you take me for? Do you really think your future self won't make any progress?"
Kiana furrowed her brows in displeasure. A few cartoonish hash marks seemed to appear on her fair forehead.
"—No."
Jiang Cheng nodded without hesitation.
"Not for at least three years."
"Then I hereby declare—"
Kiana huffed, picked up another revolver, and grabbed a baseball bat with her left hand. No one knew where she'd found it.
She didn't argue further. Instead, she turned around without hesitation, her glacier-blue eyes fixed squarely on Jiang Cheng.
"The future you saw has already been changed. Don't confuse foreknowledge with the present, okay?"
"Besides, I'm not the main force."
She pointed ahead.
"—?"
Jiang Cheng followed her slender, pale finger—
Raiden Mei had been using a steel pipe to play around with a dual-wielding routine, bashing heads. At some point, she'd tossed the pipe aside and taken up the katana with both hands.
No Valkyrie battlesuit.
No specialized weapon.
The tall girl charged at the mechs just like that.
If the situation weren't so dire, he would've been tempted to ask if she was about to shout "Banzai!" and charge.
Fighting mechs like that? I'll take on the Titans, I—
"Riiip—!"
Blinding lightning stripped away every point of focus in his vision.
He couldn't see anything else. All that remained was a sudden flash of light and a shriek like ten thousand birds screaming at once, nearly tearing his eardrums apart.
"Crack—crack—crackcrackcrack!!!"
One Titan Mech after another exploded where it stood.
Smoke and dust filled the sky.
Even with his enhanced physical abilities, Jiang Cheng could barely make out a horizontal flash cutting through every Titan Mech.
Amid the lightning stood a girl with purple hair flying in the wind.
But there was no time to relax. The sound of a helicopter's spinning blades cutting through the air reached them loud and clear.
She turned around, her purplish-red eyes suddenly narrowing. A helicopter hovered just a few meters away, its open side door aimed at them, a black gun barrel visible within.
A bright stream of fire poured from the muzzle.
Bullets sprayed wildly.
"—!"
Jiang Cheng tried to force himself upright and sprint over, but his arms and legs were firmly bound. He couldn't move at all.
"—Don't move."
The command at his ear made him stop for the moment.
What followed was the sound of countless light bulbs exploding beside his ears.
The neon lights and screens along the street dimmed all at once. The bullets fired by the machine gun froze in midair, one after another, linked together by purple-black currents.
And the source of those currents was—
—Raiden Mei.
At that moment, she stretched one hand forward. The electricity from the entire block converged within the area she controlled.
A powerful, unusual magnetic field formed out of thin air. Anyone or anything that tried to pass through it would be pierced and controlled by the currents that had condensed into solid form.
She was also trying to extend the magnetic field outward, stopping the moment it reached its limit.
Not even much energy had spilled beyond it.
Before you continue