"Don't be so mushy. It's making me sick."
Kiana waved dismissively, staring down at Raiden Mei, who had her head bowed in dejection. Her gaze was almost condescending.
"Your attitude just now wasn't only toward me, was it?"
"I... I'll try..."
Raiden Mei bit her lower lip. What came from her mouth was a voice so soft it could only be described as timid, like a little grass bent and trembling in a storm.
Kiana fell silent, but her gaze grew sharper.
"I—"
"No."
Raiden Mei shook her head without hesitation, as if trying to cast off all the weakness and timidity clinging to her.
When she opened her eyes again, her deep-purple irises seemed to truly hold the thunder of the heavens.
"I'll master it. No matter what."
"Just like you told me, Jiang Cheng, I'll become the protagonist of a hot-blooded manga, and—"
"I will never lose control!"
"Now that's the spirit. You're almost as impressive as me."
Kiana finally clapped in satisfaction.
"That spirit is only almost as impressive?"
Cyrene did her best—at least in appearance—to seem no different from anyone else. She still lowered her head and spoke in a gentle, soft voice.
"When I was only seven—no, eight?—I dared to face Honkai Beasts alone with a gun. You've still got a long way to go."
Kiana lifted her nose even higher, her chin practically pointing at the sky.
"—All right, all right. We can't waste any more time."
Jiang Cheng snapped his fingers... with one hand.
Though it made no sound, it immediately drew everyone's attention.
"We broke through the blockade in just a few minutes, but compared to Cocolia's forces, these troops are insignificant. If they catch up, they'll wear us down sooner or later."
"Given how quickly they can spread information, their troops have probably already gathered around us. So, right now—"
"—Run!"
The instant he finished speaking,
Kiana's hand came swooping in again.
She grabbed Jiang Cheng by the collar, and he experienced another dizzying spin, feeling the softness pressed against his side.
—No more saving her energy.
They had reached the final stretch.
Her legs, wrapped in white thigh-high stockings, strode out as far as they could.
Like a wild she-leopard, the white-haired figure vanished from where she stood in an instant.
But the two girls following close behind were just as fast: Raiden Mei, whose toes occasionally crackled with lightning, and Cyrene, who relied purely on the stats of a Chrysos Heir as she continued to explore her potential.
The three of them raced far ahead.
Roads, signs, neon lights—
Things like these flashed past their eyes, while rows of trees blended into a green track.
The final few kilometers were over in a blink.
The sights before them shifted from manufactured objects that represented civilization and humanity's efforts to reshape the world, to yellow earth, mountains stretching to the horizon, and wilderness.
Gray-brown land surged into view like an endless sea. The wind swept up boundless dust, forming miniature sandstorms out of nowhere.
In the past, reckless resource extraction in the pursuit of rapid development had caused the surrounding soil and water to erode until the area had become barren hills and wilderness.
Now, these uninhabited zones were just what they needed.
As long as they covered enough distance, they would reach their destination.
"Whew."
Jiang Cheng let out a deep breath and began to take in the surrounding scenery—
The sky had suddenly cleared. With the city's high-rises no longer blocking the view, even the ring of light on the horizon was clearly visible.
Unlike the scenery of Aedes Elysiae, this desolation, touched by human hands, had a charm of its own.
Every so often, they spotted determined people still trying to restore the land to what it had once been. They had planted trees all on their own, and the rows of treetops swayed in the wind, forming layer upon layer of waves.
Stones worn smooth by the wind and sand served as natural mirrors.
They dotted the wilderness, one after another.
So even the pink-haired girl, who seemed like a fairy, didn't look out of place among them.
"A-Cheng?"
"We're almost there. Keep your spirits up~"
The familiar, gentle call almost made him think he had returned to Aedes Elysiae.
Bathed in the bright sunlight, with the shimmering reflections flickering before him, it almost seemed as if he could see those things usually found only in manga—the so-called speed lines—
Jiang Cheng was almost ready to let himself relax. Along with that, some of his thoughts seemed ready to vanish.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to get through this safely.
There was no need to dwell on all that other stuff. Having the Herrscher of Thunder give him Honkai Energy adaptability sounded pretty cool.
At this speed, they could cover the distance in a minute...
—Bang!
A shock wave, as unstoppable and irresistible as a typhoon or tsunami, appeared out of nowhere ahead of them.
There was no time to react. Jiang Cheng could only feel the arm holding him tighten at once, while soft, creamy flesh slammed against his face—
The world turned upside down before his eyes, everything appearing back to front.
The ground became the sky, and the sky became the ground.
No...
The trees were the sky, and the dust swirling through the air was the sky.
His body's built-in sense of balance, which humans relied on to understand the world, became so disoriented it was unbearable. Silvery-white hair scattered through the air like moonlight falling from the heavens.
Crystal shards and dust flew everywhere, while a breathtakingly beautiful figure floated among them.
—Kiana!
Jiang Cheng instinctively reached out.
She seemed only a short distance away, close enough to touch, yet no matter what he did, he couldn't grab that strand of silver-white hair. The shock wave swept over them, and the distance between them grew wider and wider.
"Rumble—!!!"
The explosion came late, trailing behind the shock wave.
The world spun upside down. Everything before his eyes turned white, and his brain fizzed like an old television losing its signal.
His thoughts felt swollen and raw. Even the simplest movement had become impossible.
He gasped, breathing heavily. Dust poured into his mouth, but he was too helpless to care. Pebbles fell like rain, pelting his forehead and making his head spin even more.
No.
He wouldn't accept this.
With all his strength, he stubbornly forced his eyes open.
Blinding white light flashed relentlessly, swallowing everything like a cataract, while his head continued to throb.
Pain?
That was irrelevant now.
The point was—he'd been attacked!
Jiang Cheng tried to clench his right hand. Fortunately, it hadn't been seriously injured by the impact.
Unbelievable.
Honkai Energy really was powerful.
His left leg, then his right. He checked them the same way, and even that part of him seemed perfectly healthy. No pieces of rubble had hit him.
"Whew..."
"Haa..."
He stood there, panting, until the white light faded.
Jiang Cheng opened his eyes. A dazzling bolt of lightning immediately appeared, tearing through the last of the white—
A terrifying roar, as if it could devour heaven and earth. The thunder of the heavens was about to be summoned.
Then,
he saw it clearly.
Raiden Mei was being beaten mercilessly by Bronya.
Legendary Duck Catcher Mei—Crash Landing (Revised)
Jiang Cheng still wasn't worried.
His memories were useful in plenty of ways. He just needed to find an opening and take advantage of it. Even in the worst-case scenario, he could call out to Cyrene before he died. It wasn't as if he could actually die.
At worst, he could give up on the Divine Key.
The Key of Corruption probably couldn't break through the Iron Curtain anyway.
Maybe it was precisely because he was so confident of victory that he didn't even care about the pain.
However,
"—!!!"
What unfolded before Jiang Cheng's eyes was beyond belief.
Raiden Mei, who should have been the Legendary Duck Catcher at any time, was being overwhelmed by Bronya's attacks.
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible!
He even thought his condition hadn't improved at all—or that Honkai Energy's enhancement wasn't all that powerful, and he'd already passed out from the impact.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain what he was seeing—
Raiden Mei wielded a katana crackling with lightning.
She swung bolts of thunder.
She seemed to have reclaimed the bearing of the Thunder Queen, yet every attack missed.
Meanwhile, a huge mecha had appeared out of nowhere. Its lance and artillery could easily reach Raiden Mei, and even when she raised her blade to block in time, she couldn't avoid being hurt.
Was that person really Bronya?
He forced his eyes wide open—
The other girl could hardly be called someone locked in a fierce battle.
Before you continue