"You little runt, don't think you can break through this young lady's defenses. Killing Jiang Cheng? You'll never manage it in your entire life!"
A carefree girl, a cool and distant girl, a serious girl. Who knew which one was the real girl? But at that moment, moonlight truly stood between Jiang Cheng and danger.
With flesh and blood, she became the purest shield.
Bronya swung her lance again, but Kiana caught its tip with her bare fingers. She glanced at Raiden Mei.
Well.
You were so cool earlier. How did you end up getting beaten so badly by some little runt off the street?
So you were saving all your strength just for me, huh?
That was no way to repay Jiang Cheng's unwavering trust. He hadn't tried to run away from the start! And he hadn't vanished without a word for no reason, leaving them unable to find him.
Kiana clicked her tongue disdainfully to herself, then drew a deep breath and stepped forward—
"The mastermind behind the attempt to trigger Honkai."
"You won't get away with this!"
25. Grey Snake: Miss Aili, Gravity Suppression (Revised)
Desperately searching for Jiang Cheng along the right edge of the crater, Cyrene had invoked the unfamiliar prayer again and again. Now she saw a mysterious figure slowly emerge from the shadows ahead.
"Cyrene... no, allow me to call you 'Aili/Elysia.' That should be your real name, shouldn't it?"
"You are..."
The pink-haired girl furrowed her brows slightly.
The mysterious figure before her could only be described as mysterious.
Its face was completely hidden by a black hood and a dark green mask. Only a crimson glow shone where its eyes should have been.
A black coat covered its body completely, and shadows concealed its feet. Not a hint of skin showed from head to toe, and both hands were wrapped in gloves.
"I am someone who has been waiting for your return."
In that moment, it revealed an expression that would have left Cocolia dumbfounded—
It bowed slightly.
"Aili."
"Please allow me, Grey Snake, to extend an invitation."
"You should already know that the world goes through an endless cycle, and similar flowers bloom again and again. That is why you have the right and the privilege to learn the truth. The truth of this world."
As the other spoke, Cyrene seemed to realize something, and her expression grew more serious.
"So what do you want?"
"To invite you."
"And... what if I refuse?"
Her slender fingertips tightened around the Ritual Sword.
Her lake-blue eyes reflected the figure before her like a clear spring—an inhuman figure.
"You have no choice but to refuse."
Its voice was cold, with nothing human in it. It sounded like the harsh scraping of cold machinery.
"But I'm refusing your invitation anyway. I have to go save A-Cheng. I don't have time to waste on you!"
Without hesitation, she swung her sword—
Her attacks had always been unstoppable, but for the first time, she had met an opponent who could hold its ground.
It raised its arm and caught the crescent-shaped blade. The crimson light looked down at her from above.
"Your ability to choose seems poor."
"Still, I'll help you make the right choice."
Cyrene immediately took a step back, pulling the Ritual Sword away from its arm.
"Sorry, but I don't see it that way~"
Her gaze remained fixed on the arm she had just struck. Unlike the black-robed figure's seemingly effortless, unharmed composure, a clear little wound showed through the black sleeve at its wrist.
No.
That could only be called a hole.
No blood or other fluid seeped from it, and there was no sign of muscles twitching or twisting. Instead, a faint silver glimmer shone from within, like broken steel.
A person made of iron...?
Still, she could handle it.
Just wait a little longer for me, A-Cheng~?
Cyrene gripped the Ritual Sword. Her delicate fingers held it with a mysterious rhythm, and the Oronis Prayer hovered at her lips, ready to be spoken at any moment.
"—!"
Just as the battle was about to begin, a dull sound rang out amid billowing clouds of dust, like countless blacksmiths striking steel with their hammers.
Cyrene looked toward the dust in confusion, only to meet a pair of unusually strange eyes.
Looking down, she could clearly see who they belonged to.
A girl.
She was slender in both her arms and legs.
The girl sat atop an especially tall Titan Mech. Its original blue-steel plating had been turned a dazzling gold, and it had barged into the battle with brazen force. Behind her, dozens of blue lights flickered through the billowing smoke.
At the sight, Cyrene unconsciously clenched her teeth. She knew exactly what it meant.
"Hey, Grey Snake. Need my help?"
She grinned widely, baring a mouthful of sharklike, pointed teeth.
"That would be helpful, Xing."
Grey Snake coldly scrutinized her and the towering mech beneath her. After a moment of silence, it gave a slight nod.
"But don't hurt her."
"Don't you dare order me around!"
She turned her head with a disgruntled look and snapped her fingers.
As Cyrene's pupils abruptly contracted, the steel construct kicked up dust and took a heavy, measured step forward, arriving with a thunderous show of force—
"Can you just surrender peacefully and let this thing called Grey Snake take you away without a scratch?"
A scene straight out of a myth played out before their eyes.
Kiana swung her fist. Her body should have been pulverized instantly, leaving not even a scrap behind, yet she was actually matching the steel construct blow for blow.
"Riiip—!"
Sparks seemed to flicker between them, like the ones produced when steel ground violently against steel. The heat was so intense it seemed ready to set the air ablaze and raise the world's temperature.
But clearly, some people weren't satisfied with the results of this mech, a machine far ahead of its time.
"Bronya, my most excellent daughter. Hurry up."
The cold command came through the screen—
It left no room for refusal, going straight into the depths of her mind as an order that could not be disobeyed.
"Yes, Mother."
"Project Bunny, firepower mode activated."
The pale-skinned girl, slender in both her arms and legs, gave a cold command, as if she knew nothing of the human world.
There was no electromagnetic field around Kiana to dispel the attack. The cannons on Project Bunny's arms shifted, and without any warning, an electromagnetic pulse erupted from them.
—There was no time to react.
Kiana could only take the hit head-on. Her instinctive sidestep merely reduced the area struck.
Her clothes were vaporized, exposing her slender waist. Below the delicate curve of her abdomen, her navel showed beneath the line of her hips, while her dazzlingly pale skin flushed a deep pink.
"As expected of the Kaslana bloodline. Your value is second only to the Third Herrscher. I can't wait to analyze every secret of your body."
"But still..."
The tall woman looked down coldly from the floating screen, supremely confident and in control of everything.
"Without Valkyrie armor or a weapon, how long can your stamina last? What can you possibly do?"
Her lips curled into a smirk.
"—You can do nothing."
"And I..."
Cocolia lifted her chin, proud as a swan, as if declaring her intentions to the entire world.
"Cocolia will soon become the hero who stands against Honkai. The research I lead, and my analysis of the Third Herrscher, will lay an unshakable foundation for the world. Humanity will soon achieve victory. From then on, the threat of Honkai will be insignificant. I will use that victory to crush Schicksal and build my Floating Island in the sky."
Her voice paused. Her gaze descended from on high and settled on him like a handout.
"A lowly little bug like you—"
"Of course you can't understand my greatness."
The voice on the screen went on, buzzing like a fly. But Jiang Cheng could no longer hear it.
The mockery and boasting had become meaningless background noise. All his attention was fixed on something else.
—Getting there.
He was rushing toward Raiden Mei, and as he sprinted, a cold laugh rang out from the screen behind him.
"Go ahead and regret this, and scream your heart out."
"Because of your insults, I've decided to bring you an even deeper, more complete despair."
Cocolia's voice carried the smug delight of a victor, like a cat preparing to toy with a mouse. She raised her right hand, its fingers concealed by her uniform sleeve, and pressed her middle finger against her thumb before snapping them apart.
"—?!!"
His footsteps.
Stopped.
26. Unable to Resist, Welt's Arrival (Revised)
—Why?
No one could give him an answer.
For an instant, Jiang Cheng even wondered if time had stopped. From head to toe, every joint, muscle, and bone was pinned in place by some invisible force, leaving him unable to move.
Only the sensations in his body still reached him.
It was something called pain.
Before you continue