Honkai Double Traverse, Bringing Xilian to Honkai Impact 3rd

A gap suddenly appeared in the middle of the wall in front of them.

Then, it slid open from both sides—

A vast cavity, so large it made one suspect an entire city had been hollowed out, appeared before their eyes.

Raiden Ryoma turned around, his right hand spread open.

"—Just show us what you've got."

Countless openings appeared on the spacious floor, and various unidentifiable instruments floated up from the ground, spontaneously and precisely demarcating several different zones.

On the left wall, a cube detached itself.

It spun in the air, revealing a screen behind it. Three emoticons, resembling a human face, appeared.

"—Instrument installation complete."

A cold mechanical voice echoed in the vast room.

The test could begin.

Such a simple signal appeared in everyone's minds with Raiden Ryoma's action.

"I have retained all test data for most of Schicksal's Valkyries from rank A to D, including a very small number of S-rank Valkyries. I have copied all the information data I could access, totaling three thousand seven hundred and forty sets," Raiden Ryoma turned and moved aside, "Please follow instructions to perform corresponding actions."

First, naturally, was Jiang Cheng.

Among the many test items and instruments, the most basic were naturally punching power, grip strength, comprehensive power output, running speed, reaction time, perception ability, and endurance.

He walked forward slowly, standing in the designated area, and began the comprehensive physical tests one by one according to the AI's guidance.

"—Bang!"

He threw a punch.

The impact caused by the mere fist wind and initial velocity seemed to surpass the sound barrier.

The slightest outward release of his aura, even a purely physical attack, was enough to make Raiden Ryoma, standing dozens of meters away, falter for a moment.

He quickly adjusted his stance, barely managing to steady himself, and brushed back his windblown hair.

The moment he looked up, his pupils suddenly constricted.

"—!"

The instrument had been torn apart.

The test-type defense wall, capable of withstanding the direct impact of a Honkai fusion missile and enduring temperatures of tens of millions of degrees without even the slightest dent, bore clear marks.

More than just a fist print, it had been punched through.

It was more like it had split open from the center to both sides.

Like bricks being split, the two halves of the main body fell to the sides under gravity, shedding debris from metal fatigue, and the shockwave scattered them everywhere.

"..."

Silence.

Raiden Ryoma's mouth opened, closed, and opened again. Several times, he couldn't hide the shock in his eyes.

"...A bit mediocre."

Jiang Cheng shook his fist and commented casually.

"—What kind of joke is this!!!"

Raiden Ryoma's voice, at this moment, broke through a certain limit of reserve inherent to people from the Far East.

The finger pointing at the pile of wreckage trembled.

"This is ███ Steel! One layer has more defensive power than excavating an entire mountain!!"

"Why do you think that a few of the top-tier S-rank Valkyries, who can fight Herrschers after putting on a full set of equipment, cannot destroy a mountain?"

Jiang Cheng said calmly, his tone as if he were pointing at the sky and stating that the weather was good today.

"Yesterday, you should have used a map to check the wasteland where I fought Cocolia's Titan Legion and the clones. Besides the ground I shattered and the mountains I tore apart—the tragic sight of the land being dug down tens of meters was merely the result of Raiden Mei transforming into a Herrscher and standing there."

"No authority, no attack. No subjective malice or destructiveness is needed. The thunder surrounding her alone surpasses all natural disasters in human history."

His voice was as calm as reading a manual, but it was precisely because of his unruffled tone that it seemed...

—Irrefutable.

"It is precisely such super-powered beings who can single-handedly beat down an entire civilization. In its most rudimentary use, a single blow is enough to easily destroy a city and cause celestial phenomena spanning millions of kilometers."

"..."

Raiden Ryoma remained silent.

After a short while, he nodded gently.

He, who thought he could kill Mei after she fell into a Herrscher by creating Plasma Kagehide, probably never imagined how ridiculous his thoughts were at the time.

"Let's proceed to the next step," his voice carried a certain calm of giving up on thinking, "1,337 kilometers ahead, there is a target made of ███ Steel... can you see it?"

Jiang Cheng nodded.

"Then I'll let it move freely within a three-kilometer radius at three times the speed of sound. Can you still notice it?"

Jiang Cheng nodded again.

"I'm going to shrink the range now. Assume the distance is magnified a thousand times. If you can hit it, try to attack."

Jiang Cheng held out three fingers.

A golden pattern on his left arm briefly dimmed slightly—then, as before, golden radiance automatically appeared.

He grabbed that wisp of burning golden flame.

He clenched his left fist—

That large golden bow reappeared out of thin air.

The burning flames transformed into arrows. He took a step forward, the scorching arrow held between three fingers, nocked on the bowstring.

The muscles in Jiang Cheng's arms tensed as he stared intently at the target, which was as clear as if it were right in front of him.

Then.

—Fire.

"Boom—boom—boom—!"

As if to tear the world apart, sonic booms, powerful enough to easily pierce human eardrums, exploded three times in an instant.

And this was by no means the limit of speed, merely the limit that human hearing could perceive.

The fourth sound could not be heard at all.

Because it had already arrived.

—A strike powerful enough to level heaven and earth!

"----!!!"

The target on the screen disappeared.

Along with it, the three-kilometer-thick wall behind the target vanished.

What remained was a smooth, semicircular pit, deep enough to bury a skyscraper.

The ground that had served as the path was torn open with a massive gash. The floor, made of some unknown steel, was as fragile as shoddy glass at this moment.

There was no need for actual contact; merely being brushed by the aftershock left a shocking chasm.

"..."

Raiden Ryoma's mouth opened for the third time.

This time, it didn't close.

Neither female nor possessing native Stigmata, having honed his swordsmanship all this time, he had probably never truly participated in high-level combat, never truly witnessed the terror of a natural disaster.

But it was precisely such a person who dared to confidently say he could storm Schicksal and kill Otto.

Raiden Ryoma recalled Jiang Cheng's words from before, and the calmness and naturalness in his eyes suddenly felt reasonable.

He silently popped his dislocated jaw back into place.

Continuing to use the instruments here was useless. An attack like this, if repeated, could tear the entire building apart and bury them all.

"How many times can you perform an attack like this?" he asked, trying to regain his composure.

"Unlimited," Jiang Cheng replied.

"If I'm not mistaken, one of the golden patterns on your left hand seemed to dim just now."

Raiden Ryoma pulled out his glasses from his pocket, allowing him to see more clearly the golden patterns hidden beneath the black fabric, yet still eye-catching, as if constantly burning.

"These are linked to my anger," Jiang Cheng said, pulling up his left sleeve to reveal markings on his skin like scorching magma, like molten gold boiling. "As long as I'm angry enough, they will appear continuously. My output is also related to my anger. What you just saw was just the most ordinary state."

"...In other words, this wasn't even your burst? Just a completely ordinary attack? And your combat endurance doesn't come from external energy, but from your emotions?"

Raiden Ryoma's voice was already distorted, a violent loss of voice that sounded like a scream.

"That's right," Jiang Cheng nodded.

Anger was one of the elements of the Destruction path. If The Hunt gave him the vision to never miss, then Destruction was his reason to burn enemies to ashes.

His stride in The Hunt path was three arrows; his steps in Destruction would only be farther. In the Aili Secret Pavilion, he had, more than once, thought of destroying the world in fear of being discovered. Before transmigrating, he had also wanted the world to end when browsing the internet.

However, his strength had always been insufficient, and Xilian had always appeased him. She was the only one who could make him ignore Laigushi.

Especially after yesterday's nightmare, he felt his destructive power had increased by at least another quarter.

Raiden Ryoma was at a loss for words.

He waved his hand, signaling Jiang Cheng to stop the test. His gaze then fell upon Raiden Mei, whose gentle expression caused a pang in his heart, making him inexplicably want to clench his fist.

"Mei, you go next."

"...Mm."

If it were yesterday, she might have been a little dazed, and would have feigned ignorance, asking, "Me?"

But now, Raiden Mei only moved forward decisively—with every crisp step of her high heels, her long hair, tied in a ponytail, loosened a little.

"--Wait!"

Jiang Cheng frantically waved his hand to stop this.

Under everyone's confused gazes, he looked at Raiden Ryoma, who stood at the very front.

"Uncle Ryoma, is your Honkai Energy resistance sufficient?"

"----!"

Raiden Mei realized the mistake she had almost made. Her ponytail, which had been swaying naturally even without wind, immediately stilled, her deep purple hair settling calmly on her shoulders.

"..."

Raiden Ryoma really wanted to say that he wasn't so incapable that he couldn't even get close to his own daughter.

He had even dared to develop Plasma Kagehide as a weapon against Herrschers, secretly resolving in his heart that if Raiden Mei transformed into an uncontrollable Herrscher, he would be the one to end her.

--No.

Having witnessed firsthand how terrifying the strong individuals of this world were, everything he had created seemed as insignificant as weeds.

He had already discarded that self-righteous notion.

So...

"I can't. I'll leave it to you all from now on."

PS:

Otto, who only half-understood the subsequent plan for Kiana, made this experiment without knowing why Herrschers possessed humanity.