Honkai Double Transmigration, Bringing Xilian to Honkai Impact 3rd

Screaming.

◇

Above Nagazora.

Clouds.

Those thick, piled-up layers of clouds, endless like grayish-white cotton wool—were torn apart.

From bottom to top.

A golden trajectory pierced the firmament.

Wherever it passed, all the clouds rolled back to both sides like silk sliced by a sharp blade! They collapsed! They evaporated!

It left behind a massive rift wide enough to contain an entire city, deep enough to reveal the true blue sky in the heights above.

"Full barrage!"

Cocolia, yielding without hesitation to the anxiety in her heart, roared, her voice exploding through the command center.

"All firepower—everything—unrestricted activation! Shoot that arrow down!! And then blow them—every single one of them—into ashes!!!"

Boom.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!!!

Countless weapon mechanisms opened fire simultaneously at this moment.

The muzzle flashes dyed the sky outside the command center into daylight within mere seconds, as if a second, far hotter sun had risen above the earth.

Missiles.

Shells.

Energy beams.

Everything that could be launched, everything that could be poured out, everything that could be used to destroy the enemy. At this moment, it all poured down like a torrential rain, like an ocean of steel and fire overturned from the sky, with a density of firepower—

"Enough to plow the ground flat."

These were the words a designer had written in a test report.

"Enough to make any intruder vanish into dust before they even touch the first layer of defense."

There should have been nothing capable of rivaling this; it was the manifestation of human technology. Even before possessing Divine Keys and MANTIS warriors, the previous civilization had slain six Herrschers.

At this moment, Schicksal had only Rita as its sole active Valkyrie, and Durandal was traveling within a Sea of Quanta bubble.

World Serpent still lurked in the shadows, and its strongest combat power was merely Raven, a weakened, redacted, and pacified MANTIS warrior.

Cocolia could indeed feel proud of this and declare that no existence in the world could withstand this strike without damage; anyone would be killed.

However—

The airtight defense was utterly meaningless at this moment.

That arrow! That blade, with its peerless momentum, akin to a wild thunderbolt descending from the heavens to tear the entire sky asunder!

—It tore through it without a moment's hesitation!

It created an illusion like a hot knife passing through butter or sunlight passing through glass, as if those artillery shells, missiles, and energy beams simply did not exist.

The excessively dazzling golden trajectory, amidst the storm of steel and fire, continued straight and without slowing down, piercing through as if it were merely passing through a thin mist!

The first layer of defense, the long-range detection system.

—Torn apart.

Those precision optical lenses, radar arrays, and sensor modules exploded into blinding sparks the instant the golden trajectory grazed them.

The second layer of defense, the automated interceptor cannons.

—Pierced through.

Those barrels, bases, and ammunition depots exploded into scrap metal one after another along the path of the arrow.

The third layer of defense, the energy shield.

That energy barrier, glowing with a faint blue light and capable of withstanding a direct hit from tactical missiles, shattered like a soap bubble.

The fourth layer of defense, the specialized alloy armor developed by the radical faction by burning through ME Corp's funding, a metal barrier measured in meters and touted as never falling, was like thin paper.

—Torn asunder.

The fifth layer.

The sixth layer.

The seventh layer.

—Collapsing layer by layer.

The creations of technology were worthless at this moment. Pure violence that could batter the entire galaxy, destroy all order, and trample millions of people, unreasonable Path energy, endless chaos—

—Manifested!

Cocolia's expression grew more panicked and closer to collapse with every layer of defense that was torn away.

"No—"

For the first time, her voice trembled.

"Impossible—"

It was just an arrow used as a cold weapon, an arrow shot by some boy who had appeared from nowhere, someone who, until just a moment ago, had been only slightly stronger than an ordinary soldier.

How could this be?

How could it pierce through all of this!

Even a Herrscher could not tear through this place.

"NO!" Cocolia's pupils shook violently, her posture of having everything in the world under her control shattering in an instant.

—It was useless even to say NO!

The final layer of the shield, already precarious and flickering with unstable light, was about to make contact with the arrow that pierced the sky.

On the screen, Jiang Cheng's face was looking at her.

There was no self-restrained, elegant indifference, nor the arrogant, haughty gaze of a hunter watching prey.

Perhaps there had been a little before, but it was shattered now, leaving only the purest mockery and derision.

Jiang Cheng was mocking her with unreserved, wanton recklessness.

"So, you can make that expression too!"

"I just love listening to the wails of a loser; scream a little louder!"

"Hahahaha—!"

—Rip.

The final, heavy tearing sound, as if from the collision of unspeakable behemoths, manifested.

Cocolia heard the sound of the last shield shattering, the sound of the air being torn apart, and the sound barrier being broken again by the arrow that was clearly about to arrive, yet accelerated even further.

She felt, with absolute clarity, the presence of something scorching, heavy, and rapidly closing in on her.

"----!!!"

The arrogant and self-righteous leader of the radicals, who had attempted to create a Herrscher and believed she could control it, stared blankly upward, seeing the golden trajectory that had already pierced through all defenses.

It was heading toward her—

"No."

She opened her arms, attempting to shield herself.

It was—over.

In Cocolia's final moment of consciousness, only this thought could emerge, her expression—shifting from a cold sneer to confusion, then panic, then terror—caught in the golden light.

—Was torn apart!

BOOM----!!!

Witnessing a ray of sunlight—coming entirely from the heavens, not any artificial brilliance, but pure, bright, natural sunlight descending from the video—

It illuminated what had already been reduced to ruins, shattered and scorched by extreme physical force and high temperatures.

That lady, once arrogant, wild, and condescending, was now pinned firmly to the wall by a massive, several-meter-long arrow, unable to move like a taxidermy specimen.

Steel had been melted into molten iron, and even the reinforced bars had evaporated the instant they made contact.

Liquid plastic gradually softened, boiling into a scalding, pitch-black mess.

The vile, viscous sludge dripped down, drenching the face she had once held so high—

"Ahhhhhhh—!!!"

"Truly a melodious wail."

Jiang Cheng's smile grew even more delighted, as if he were witnessing the most wonderful thing in the world; the corners of his mouth curled up in wanton arrogance, and he laughed out loud without any attempt to hide it.

"Cocolia, the wails of a thing like you are as pleasant as the howling of a stray dog on the side of the road."

"Ahhhhhhh, kill me!!!"

There was no response, and there had long been no way to respond.

Like prey pinned to a display rack, she struggled in vain, unable to do anything.

Her limbs twitched, her waist and abdomen writhed, and she clawed at her own face.

Arrogant, beautiful, yet everything was hideous to the extreme at this moment.

Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes, and saliva spilled out in a wretched display; the primal fear of a living creature was awakened in this instant.

PS:

A complete counter-kill against Cocolia.

There will be no act of sparing her. Jiang Cheng is never merciful or soft-handed when facing enemies; once someone is confirmed as an enemy, he will at the very least crush them into comminuted fractures immediately. For people like Cocolia or Otto, he will kill them whenever possible.

Although this level of decisiveness doesn't fit the Honkai setting, I simply cannot write a "pawn-style" protagonist who goes soft or follows someone else's pace.

As the protagonist witnesses too many disgusting deeds and endless streams of villains later on, he might exhibit "madman" behavior, such as single-handedly smashing the world, conducting great trials, or carrying out massive purges.

However, he won't go so mad as to lose his humanity or slaughter large numbers of innocents; he is the type who loves and hates clearly.

He is not a saint; he simply dislikes these disgusting things and will beat villains to death just to put himself in a better mood. In reality, he also values his friends and family more.

I wonder, do you feel this kind of personality is alright?

35. Cocolia doesn't deserve a quick death, Cheng-jun is so bad~

"Heh."

Jiang Cheng gave a cold sneer.

"You've tortured Raiden Mei for so long, and you're about to destroy an entire city for your own selfish desires. You are so arrogant and conceited that you can't even tell the gap in our strength. A thing like you—"

"—how could you possibly deserve a quick death?!"

The mere thought that she might close her eyes and drift into eternal sleep after a bit of stimulation before dying—without ever having to face any of the mistakes she created—was unbearable.