Honkai Double Traverse, Taking Xilian to Honkai Impact 3rd

"Don't be so mushy, it's disgusting."

Kiana waved her hand in distaste, her gaze fixed directly on the dejected Raiden Mei, looking down at her from a position of near-superiority.

"Your attitude just now, it wasn't just directed at me, was it?"

"I... I will try..."

Raiden Mei bit her lower lip gently, the voice that escaped her lips nothing more than soft, like a blade of grass trembling and swaying helplessly under a torrential downpour.

Kiana remained silent, though her eyes grew increasingly sharp.

"I—"

"No."

Raiden Mei shook her head without hesitation, as if trying to cast off all the cowardice and timidity clinging to her.

When she opened her eyes again, her deep purple pupils seemed to truly contain the thunder of the high heavens.

"I will absolutely master it."

"Just as you told me, Jiang Cheng, I will become the protagonist of a shonen manga, and—"

"I will—never—lose—control!"

"That's the spirit, you're almost catching up to me."

Kiana finally clapped her hands in satisfaction.

"Is this kind of spirit only 'almost'?"

Xilian also tried her best—or at least, tried to ensure her performance didn't look out of place—keeping her head lowered and molding her tone to be soft.

"When I was only seven... no, eight years old, I dared to take up a gun and fight a Honkai Beast alone. You're still a long way off."

Kiana tilted her nose even higher, her chin practically pointing toward the sky.

"—Alright, alright, we can't waste any more time."

Jiang Cheng raised his hands... then snapped his fingers with one.

Although it didn't make a sound, it immediately drew everyone's attention.

"We only spent a few minutes breaking through the blockade, but these forces are insignificant compared to Cocolia. Once they catch up to us, we'll be worn down sooner or later."

"Given their information transmission efficiency, their troops have likely already gathered around us, so right now, immediately—"

"—Run!"

The moment his voice fell, Kiana's hand arrived once again.

Jiang Cheng was grabbed by the collar, and he experienced that world-spinning rotation once more, sensing the softness coming from her side.

No more conserving energy.

The final stage had arrived.

With her legs encased in white stockings taking the widest strides possible, the white-haired figure vanished from the spot like a teleporting, wild leopard.

But the two girls following closely behind were no slower: Raiden Mei, with lightning occasionally flickering from her toes, and Xilian, who relied purely on the stats of a Golden Descendant to constantly tap into her potential.

The three of them left everything else in the dust.

Roads, signboards, neon lights.

Things like these vanished from their sight in a blur, the continuous line of trees forming a green track.

The final few thousand meters passed in an instant.

The objects before their eyes shifted from processed synthetics symbolizing civilization and human transformation of the world, to yellow soil, endless mountain ranges, and wilderness.

The earth-gray land surged into their vision all at once like a vast sea, the wind blowing endless dust and sand, whipping up miniature sandstorms out of thin air.

In the past, unbridled development and plundering had led to soil erosion, turning the surroundings into barren hills and fields.

At this moment, however, these no-man's-lands were just right.

As long as they crossed a sufficient distance, they would reach the finish line.

"Whew."

Jiang Cheng let out a heavy breath and began to observe the surrounding scenery—

The sky had suddenly cleared, and without the cover of the city's skyscrapers, even the thin ring of light was clearly visible.

Unlike the scenery of the Aili Secret Pavilion, this desolation, once trodden by human feet, had a unique flavor of its own.

Occasionally, one could see the work of persistent individuals still attempting to restore the land of the past, their efforts at reforestation visible in rows of treetops swaying with the wind, forming layers of undulating waves.

Stones worn down by wind and sand acted as natural mirrors.

They were scattered across the wilderness, one by one.

So much so that even the elfin, pink-haired girl who wandered into their midst did not seem out of place.

"A-Cheng?"

"We're almost there, keep your spirits up~"

The familiar, gentle call almost made him suspect he had returned to the Aili Secret Pavilion.

Staring at the bright daylight and the shimmering, rippling water, he could almost see the things usually found in manga—the so-called speed lines—appearing before his eyes.

Jiang Cheng almost felt at ease without permission, and along with that, some of his thoughts seemed to dissipate into thin air.

Perhaps, passing through safely like this wouldn't be so bad.

There was no need to think about all those extraneous things; having the Herrscher of Thunder grant him Honkai Energy adaptability was pretty cool.

At this speed, he could cover the distance in a minute...

--Bang!

Like a typhoon or a tsunami, an unstoppable and irresistible shockwave appeared out of thin air from ahead.

With no room to react, Jiang Cheng could only watch as the arms holding him tightened instantly, the creamy, coconut-scented softness pressing hard against his face—

Everything before his eyes turned upside down in an instant, the entire world presenting itself in a topsy-turvy fashion.

The ground was the sky, and the sky was the ground.

No...

The trees were the sky, and the dust dancing in the air was the sky.

The internal gyroscope humans use to perceive the world was thrown into such unbearable disarray that silver-white hair scattered in the air, as if the bright moonlight were descending from the heavens.

Crystal-clear shards and dust swirled, and a delicate, beautiful body floated and hovered amidst it all.

----Kiana!

Jiang Cheng couldn't help but reach out.

Even though it seemed like only a short distance within reach, he couldn't grasp that strand of silver-white no matter what, forced to let the shockwave strike and the distance gradually widen.

"Boom--!!!"

The sound of the explosion, instead, became a late arrival.

The world turned upside down, his vision went white, and his brain felt like an old television set experiencing a malfunction.

His thoughts were swollen and sour; even the most basic movements became an impossibility.

He took deep breaths, panting heavily. Even as countless dust particles entered his mouth, he lacked the strength to care. Stones fell like raindrops, striking his forehead, making his head spin even more violently.

No.

He wouldn't accept this.

With all his might, he stubbornly opened his eyes.

Blinding white light flickered incessantly, swallowing everything like a cataract, and his head was still buzzing.

Pain?

That was already an irrelevant matter.

The problem was—they had been attacked!

Jiang Cheng tried to clench his right hand; fortunately, it hadn't suffered serious damage from the impact just now.

Incredible.

Honkai Energy was indeed powerful.

Left leg, right leg. After going through the same process, even that part felt perfectly healthy, having not been struck by any debris.

"Hoo..."

"Haa..."

Panting in place, he waited for the white light to dissipate.

Jiang Cheng opened his eyes, and immediately, dazzling thunder appeared, tearing the last of the white light apart—

It was like a terrifying cry devouring the heavens and the earth; the thunder from the high heavens was being summoned.

And then.

He saw it clearly.

Raiden Mei was being brutally beaten by Bronya.

21. Legendary Duck Catcher Mei—Crash (Revised)

Jiang Cheng was still not worried at this moment.

His own memories had many uses; as long as he found an opening, he could wedge himself in, and in the worst-case scenario, he could call Xilian before he died. Anyway, he wouldn't actually die.

At worst, he would just give up the Divine Key.

In any case, it was highly unlikely that the Key of Corruption could break through the Iron Curtain.

Perhaps it was precisely because he felt victory was completely within his grasp that he didn't even care about the pain.

However.

"----!!!"

What unfolded before Jiang Cheng's eyes was something inconceivable.

The overwhelming attacks from Raiden Mei, the Legendary Duck Catcher, and Bronya, which should have been unstoppable at any given moment.

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible!

He even wondered if his condition hadn't improved at all, or if the enhancement from the Honkai Energy wasn't as terrifying as he thought, and he had simply passed out from the previous impact.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain what was happening before him—

Wielding a katana shimmering with lightning.

Brandishing thunder.

Raiden Mei, who seemed to have regained her posture as the Thunder Queen, found every one of her attacks missing their mark.

Instead, the large mecha that appeared out of thin air, armed with a lance and artillery, could easily reach Raiden Mei's side; even when she blocked with her blade at the first opportunity, she could not avoid taking damage.

Was that person really Bronya?

He struggled to open his eyes wide—

The other girl in the fray could not be described as being in a fierce battle at all.