She watched Raiden Mei's retreating figure, her whole body slumping as if all the air had left her. Her voice was so faint it seemed the wind would carry it away the moment she spoke.
"...Do you really"
"want to save Raiden Mei that badly?"
"Riiip—"
As the fabric was clenched, its fibers compressed and rubbed together. A sound like it was about to tear apart rang out abruptly.
"Crackle—crackle."
11. Isn't the sidewalk wide enough?
"If you didn't know before, then I'll tell you now: if you leave here and go to a proper hospital, you might live another ten years." Kiana's voice came from up ahead, cold and hard.
"I know."
Jiang Cheng nodded, but had no intention of stopping.
Even as the "Riiip—" beside his ear grew clearer, he simply reached out with his still-healthy left hand and gently laid it over Cyrene's little hands. At some point, they had become entwined, gripping each other so tightly they were nearly leaving red marks.
"I came all the way here to help Raiden Mei because I hoped that after I helped her escape Cocolia's blockade, she'd help me in return. With her assistance, I have a way to obtain Stigmata."
"Do you really believe a Herrscher can have humanity? The Second Herrscher's destruction affected the entire world."
Although she hadn't received any systematic education about Honkai,
Kiana had still learned from Stinky Old Man about the harm Herrschers had inflicted on the world.
"I believe."
Jiang Cheng spoke each word deliberately.
"—I believe in Raiden Mei."
His expression was as serious as a knight taking an oath, and his voice seemed to echo as it struck the ground.
"...Is that the only reason?"
That voice.
Soft and quiet.
Like a ripple rising from the bottom of a very, very deep well, it left Jiang Cheng frozen in place. His thoughts raced, and countless explanations appeared in his mind, each seemingly capable of resolving the problem before him. And yet—
"—Don't lie."
Cyrene didn't look up. He couldn't see her eyes, but he felt her fingers suddenly tighten—
The hands Jiang Cheng had covered were now in control.
It wasn't a drowning person grasping a piece of driftwood. It was the driftwood choosing to sink beneath the water.
"...Don't lie. A-Cheng."
She spoke.
The car held only the low hum of the engine, yet three people had four completely different heartbeats.
"Maybe... there are some other reasons. I just didn't want to see Mei bullied, treated like that, and then captured by Cocolia..."
Jiang Cheng could only reveal what was in his heart, the indignation he'd felt as a player watching the story unfold.
"..."
"...I see. So that's it? I knew it..."
The beautiful, innocent, adorable pink-haired girl lowered her eyes, her long, curled lashes breaking up the sunlight.
"Don't you think it's strange?"
Jiang Cheng's voice dropped low.
"After all, A-Cheng always thinks so deeply. Whatever he does, he likes to think and think and think."
"If I hadn't spent so, so long with him, even I would have a hard time figuring him out~"
Her brows lifted lightly, unusually lively. Her lashes spread like butterfly wings, and her perfectly drawn features were impossibly cute.
Having finally felt a little of the familiarity she'd known in the past, the fairy-like girl smiled.
Kiana furrowed her brows, then irritably pressed down on the accelerator.
"—?!"
She couldn't speak.
It was as if something had lodged in her throat.
It was as if something was pressing down on her heart, making every beat impossibly heavy.
Raiden Mei could only stare blankly ahead, trying to distract herself by focusing on the identical traffic and streets before her.
Her vision had blurred until she could see nothing, but she didn't blink. She only stared at the congested traffic ahead, at the red taillights that seemed like strings of fireflies unable to reach the other shore in the fading daylight.
Something like this...
It had to be a hallucination. It had to.
Suddenly becoming the hero of a hot-blooded novel, suddenly radiating intense Erosion, then sacrificing someone who cared about her, suddenly having to bear responsibility for someone else's life...
"Crackle—crackle."
The car continued on.
Once Kiana confirmed that Jiang Cheng was acting of his own free will—not because he was stupid or ignorant—she had no reason to deny him anymore.
So what if he was presumptuous?
So what if he was arrogant?
Sending a dangerous Herrscher out of the city was absolutely the right thing to do. They just had to do it.
That complete trust wasn't bad, either. Kiana let out a heavy breath. It made for a decent diversion while she was tracking down Stinky Old Man.
"—We're stuck in traffic."
She hit the brakes, then looked through the windshield at the sea of red taillights stretching into the distance, all at a standstill.
"Is traffic control in Nagazora that bad?"
Jiang Cheng looked at the cars ahead, frowning slightly.
"I don't know. When I used to go to school with Father, the roads were always clear."
Raiden Mei shook her head.
This was beyond an ordinary traffic jam. The road was completely blocked, packed so tightly that the people standing together looked like ants lined up side by side.
Jiang Cheng saw traffic officers at their posts, but they showed no sign of trying to direct the crowd.
"Stop! Stop—"
"Don't go any farther!"
Some of the officers even had batons at their waists, along with some kind of mysterious bulge that shouldn't have been there. They were forcing the surging crowd back with near-violent measures.
The chaos was on full display.
With her impressive physical abilities and a reckless confidence in her own skills, Kiana leaned half her body out to look ahead.
In the shadows at the corner, she could vaguely make out a mass of steel gathering. The screens and signs on nearby high-rises, even the neon lights, had all been forcibly changed to display—
[Warning! Warning!]
[A high-level dangerous individual has been spotted in the city.]
[They are traveling in a black Maybach S. If you see it, call the police immediately.]
While Kiana was still surveying the area, the sudden clatter of spinning rotors came from outside the car window. She turned around and saw a helicopter hovering in the air.
Through the open cabin door, Kiana saw a long, black barrel—
A heavy machine gun.
She didn't know why the black car with the damaged door had been sitting here in plain sight without being spotted, but it was clear that the entire city was already in motion.
Kiana gripped the steering wheel again, her right foot poised on the accelerator, ready to go.
Then
she heard a voice from the back seat.
"—Isn't the sidewalk still wide enough?"
"???" Raiden Mei tilted her head blankly. Still caught up in the Erosion and tangled in guilt, she hadn't realized what was happening.
"A-Cheng's idea is wonderful~"
The approving voice came from the left side of the back seat.
It belonged to the girl who had just lowered her eyes and clenched her hands, her voice as delicate as Glazed Realm, ready to shatter at any moment.
Now, Cyrene lifted her head.
It was as if those few minutes of silence, and that sorrow so intense it had nearly spilled from her eyes—
had all, all been an illusion!
"If we can't take the normal road, then we'll take an abnormal one. It's a simple idea, isn't it~?"
Her voice was sweet as if coated in honey, gentle as a mother bird tenderly caring for her newborn chick.
As if she'd ever object to A-Cheng—
Impossible!
The other girls realized it in an instant.
Raiden Mei turned to the girl in the driver's seat for help—the one holding the steering wheel, and thus holding their fate in her hands, including whether they'd be chased by the police.
"—!"
At that moment, Raiden Mei's heart pounded even harder.
Kiana looked even more excited. Her blue eyes sparkled as though she'd just spotted a new toy, and her lips formed a perfect "Wow."
12. Cyrene counts as my guardian
"That's completely illegal!"
Raiden Mei couldn't help protesting. It seemed she wasn't quite ready to face the consequences of their actions.
"...I'll be careful."
Kiana's tone was earnest, her attitude serious.
"Besides, even if we actually hit someone, at worst they'd get hurt or suffer a minor disability. But if we can't get the Herrscher out of the city in time—"
Her gaze passed through the rearview mirror and settled on Raiden Mei.
For a moment, the violent girl who was always said to be carefree and laid-back at school, and who liked carrying a baseball bat, wore an expression of almost serious composure.
"—the entire city will be destroyed by Honkai."
"..."
The conversation had reached a heavy point.
It was as if several close friends had gathered at school to complain to each other. That lighthearted atmosphere had completely vanished.
Before you continue