Those Who Hold Hope Deserve to Be Saved / A Boy, a Girl, and a Cat ...

The gigantic Honkai Beast let out a furious roar, raising its two massive foreclaws high as it assumed the stance of a predator about to pounce on its prey.

Having gathered enough strength, it held nothing back. Its entire body leaped high into the air, crashing down like a colossal meteor falling from the sky.

Screech—!

The fire hydrant pipes buried underground shattered instantly. Rainwater sprayed into the air, painting rainbows beneath the sunlight. The broad asphalt road cracked inch by inch, collapsing into a horrifying crater.

Boom—!

The surrounding buildings began to collapse one after another. Flying rubble struck the fallen ruins and instantly turned to dust. Shattered tempered glass became countless bullets, mercilessly slaughtering the citizens living in the area.

Screams, sobs, furious cries.

Human struggle was so insignificant when Honkai descended. Only those who had truly faced it could understand how desperate it was.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, click, click.

The guard who had emptied his pistol kept pulling the trigger, trying to use his only weapon to drive the rampaging Honkai Beast from the area. Unfortunately, pistol rounds were no more than scratches to a Honkai Beast; they could not even damage its hide.

"Die, monster!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, but soon his eyes widened in despair, the arm holding his pistol trembling uncontrollably.

Reflected in his wide-open eyes was the Honkai Beast's claw, raised high in his direction.

Boom!

The claw came down, instantly pulverizing the concrete ground. Amid the rising dust, a pistol fell to the ground with a clatter.

The next second, apparently still unsatisfied, the Honkai Beast slammed its claw down again, crushing the fallen pistol into a sheet of metal.

Only after confirming there were no signs of movement did the Honkai Beast sway contentedly and head in another direction.

Yet from behind a collapsed ruin not far away came the sound of loose stones rolling.

"Don't move. It hasn't gone far yet." Holding down the terrified officer, Kiana lowered her voice. Looking at the city that had already been reduced to ruins, pain flashed through her eyes.

She had arrived too late.

Chapter 15: Those Who Hold Hope Deserve to Be Saved

"Save them, save them." The officer Kiana had just rescued kept repeating himself. Rather than feeling fortunate to have survived, he only looked at Kiana pleadingly. "They're over there—my wife, my child."

"Please save them." He repeated himself again and again. Though terrified out of his wits, he still worried about his family.

Kiana frowned deeply. After using the Herrscher of Void's power to rescue the officer, waves of weakness began washing over her body.

She had not had a proper meal for days. Usually, she could only dig up wild vegetables in the outskirts to fill her stomach. On top of that, she had been constantly running around rescuing citizens attacked by Honkai Beasts. That tiny amount of food could not sustain such intense activity. She could clearly feel that her body had nearly reached its limit.

If the Herrscher of Void's Honkai Energy had not been truly powerful enough, she would likely have collapsed long ago.

"See? Humans are this greedy. Even after being saved themselves, they still want someone else to save their family."

The long-silent voice surfaced once again. Sirin's Honkai persona began pouring her negative emotions into Kiana.

Ever since Sirin had erupted again at Su Jue's home and hurt Su Jue, Kiana had not dared relax her guard. She had focused all her energy on suppressing Sirin's consciousness.

Yet as her body continued to weaken and she used the Herrscher of Void's power so extensively, Sirin's consciousness finally found an opening and emerged again.

Kiana turned a deaf ear to Sirin's sarcastic remarks. She gently helped the officer lean against the wall, then nodded. "Don't worry. They'll be all right."

"Please."

Amid the officer's pleading, she sprang into the air, using the walls on both sides for leverage as she chased after the Honkai Beast.

"Hey, vessel, you're not actually planning to go die, are you?"

"No. I'm only doing everything I can to help those who need help." Kind-hearted Kiana would not be shaken by Sirin's few words. She pulled herself together as best she could and sensed the survivors around her.

"Why? You've never met them. They don't even know your name. No matter how many people you save, you won't get so much as a word of thanks."

"Maybe in their eyes, you're nothing more than a tool they can summon and dismiss whenever they please."

"Have you forgotten how your friends treated you? Your best friend Mei pointed a knife at you. The class monitor you trusted most had been watching you all along. Even having you join St. Freya Academy was for the sake of carrying out the Herrscher of Void awakening ritual."

"You are merely a vessel created for my awakening. Even your birth was a carefully planned farce."

"You've saved so many people. Has anyone ever cared about you? Has anyone ever thanked you?"

The voice in her mind grew clearer and clearer, as if Sirin could replace Kiana's personality at any moment. She repeatedly questioned Kiana's heart, trying to make her waver.

"Yes."

"Hm?"

"Su Jue. He did." Climbing over a low wall, Kiana spotted the Honkai Beast's massive body ahead. Standing atop the ruins, she picked up a relatively intact baseball bat from the roadside.

"Despite living in a conflicted family, he still retained kindness toward others."

"Despite suffering from a terminal illness and having less than half a year to live, he still longed for life."

"When I saved him, his eyes were filled with clear, sincere gratitude."

"Even after being hurt by the out-of-control me afterward, he never once thought of abandoning me and leaving alone."

"He never gave up. He only wanted to live. He only silently begged this world to grant him the slightest kindness. How could someone like that not be worth saving?"

"You!" Somewhat flustered, Sirin had never expected that strange little punk to gain Kiana's trust so easily. Just as she prepared to speak badly of him again, Kiana unilaterally muted her.

"As long as there are still people in this world worth saving, I have no reason to give up." Her quiet murmur drifted toward the battlefield on the scorching wind. Standing atop the ruins, Kiana raised the baseball bat high, as though she were gripping the eternally burning Flamescion greatsword.

"Come, Herrscher of Void. Let me use your power once more."

Golden light burst forth completely. Under the Herrscher of Void's power, even the sunlight had to retreat.

Kiana leaped toward the towering Honkai Beast. The Herrscher of Void's power provided platforms for leverage with every step she took. At incredible speed, the back of the massive Honkai Beast's head entered her attack range in an instant.

Bang—!

The bat struck the Honkai Beast in the back of the head. The heavy blow staggered it, while the solid wooden baseball bat shattered into splinters.

However, such an attack was not fatal to a Honkai Beast. The attacked creature reacted at once, extending a claw toward Kiana.

"I don't have time to waste on you!"

With a low roar, as the strength gradually drained from her body, her remaining Honkai Energy gathered into a Spear of the Void, which she viciously drove into the Honkai Beast's body.

The higher-level Honkai Energy invaded the Honkai Beast's body in an instant, continuously destroying its bodily functions. The Herrscher of Void's power was absolute poison to ordinary Honkai Beasts.

Boom—!

Even with its enormous size, the Honkai Beast could not withstand Kiana's desperate strike. Its corroded body swayed continuously before finally collapsing with a tremendous crash.

"Whew." Rolling across the ground to bleed off the impact, Kiana panted heavily. After creating that Spear of the Void, she really had nothing left this time.

Fortunately, the people she needed to save had been saved. Looking at the citizens hiding fearfully behind windows in the surrounding buildings, she recognized a mother and daughter among them as the officer's family.

Exhaustion covered her face, but inwardly, she finally let out a long breath of relief. Kiana smiled. At least the outcome was not bad.

Suddenly, her vision went black, and her entire body began to feel faint. The gentle sunlight could not offer her even the slightest warmth.

Worse still, she heard the girl's cry.

"Run! Run, big sister!"

It felt as though someone had doused her with a basin of icy winter water. A sense of foreboding welled up within her. She slowly looked behind her as an enormous shadow gradually covered her body.

The second Honkai Beast hidden here finally revealed itself. It was even larger than the previous one, while in the distance, a third Honkai Beast stared at her as though it were a predator toying with its prey.

The rage-filled Honkai Beast was right in front of her.

Death was like a venomous snake that had been watching for a long time. Seizing its chance, it coiled its cold body around Kiana, tightly constricting her neck and giving her a powerful sense of suffocation.

After saving so many people, this time, no one could save her.

Chapter 16: A Boy, a Girl, and a Cat

"Idiot!"

With death approaching, Sirin, who shared the same body as K423, could no longer maintain her usual composure. In the space of consciousness, she had lost the Herrscher of Void's pride, stamping anxiously against the ground. She kept striking at the space of consciousness, trying to replace Kiana's awareness and directly access the Herrscher core.

Even trapped in a desperate situation, Kiana did not relax her vigilance against the Herrscher of Void in the slightest. When Sirin tried to break through, Kiana not only refused to yield but reinforced the seal. She knew very well that Sirin's power was utterly uncontrollable. If she gave way even a little and allowed the Herrscher of Void an opportunity, the entire world would fall into despair. All her efforts would be for nothing, and everyone who had cared about her would cease to exist.

Then she would use herself as a prison and let Sirin disappear with her.

"Moron. Even if you die, I'll only fall into weakness. Once I lose my restraints, I'll gain complete freedom instead."

"Give me the body, and neither of us will die."

"Then we'll talk after I'm dead." Listening to Sirin's endless curses in her mind, Kiana felt an unusually explosive surge of satisfaction after confirming that Sirin was truly panicking.

The Honkai Beast gradually opened its enormous maw. Its mouth occupied nearly half its body. This was a Honkai Beast that attacked by biting.

Biting was not especially meaningful for a Honkai Beast of such massive size. Compared with attacking like a wild beast using sharp fangs, using its huge body and overwhelming physical force to crush its target was clearly more direct and effective.

But none of that mattered to Kiana anymore. Her body was utterly depleted, and even her limbs had gone weak, yet she still had to restrain Sirin's outburst.

She had already gone rigid. Even an ordinary person could easily kill her now.

Let it end like this.

A feeling of relief suddenly rose in her heart. Himeko's image flashed through her mind. Had Himeko also faced that moment with the resolve to die?

"What are you standing around for? Run!"

The Honkai Beast's bite came crashing down. Just as Kiana closed her eyes in despair, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

The sharp fangs gleamed beneath the sunlight. The Honkai Beast's descending maw seemed to be tugged by something, causing it to shift ever so slightly. The deviation was far too small, and Kiana, with her eyes closed, did not notice the Authority of Domination erupting in that instant.

The moment Kiana opened her eyes, she suddenly felt someone embrace her. Then came the enormous shadow cast by the descending Honkai Beast. At the instant its fangs closed, the person holding her lunged forward, and the two narrowly slipped through the gap between its teeth.

Collapsed ruins lay everywhere. The two who had just leaped out landed unsteadily, clung to each other, and rolled down through the rubble.

Broken stones and roof tiles painfully scraped against her body, but Kiana felt nothing. Having survived, such superficial wounds were entirely insignificant.

Meow~

Before Kiana could clearly see who had saved her, her head suddenly felt heavy. Four tiny paws lightly landed and rested atop her head.

"Tread Snow? Why are you here?"

Her thoughts were somewhat muddled, but her gaze immediately fell on the person beside her. She never could have imagined that the one who had carried her out of the Honkai Beast's mouth was Su Jue, whom she had not seen for a long time. However, Su Jue seemed to have fainted from the intensity of his earlier movements.

"Damn it, it's that brat again." Sirin, who had already prepared herself for K423's death, was furious. She had been only a step away from freedom.

"Experimental subject, run! Maybe he brought the Honkai Beasts here. This guy is definitely plotting something against you. You need to—mmph, mmph, mmph..."

Before she could finish, Kiana sealed off their communication in the space of consciousness once again.

Turning her head slightly, Kiana gazed worriedly at the gray-haired boy who had rolled into the ruins with her.

Boom—!

As soon as she spoke, a grenade with a blazing trail exploded in the Honkai Beast's mouth. The roar of helicopters came from the distant sky, along with the sound of heavy weapons firing.

Sky City's military forces had finally arrived.

[All citizens, evacuate immediately! All citizens, evacuate immediately!]

The broadcasts from the aircraft repeated endlessly. Thanks to Kiana defeating the first one, the survivors who had been pressed by the Honkai Beasts finally had a chance to catch their breath. Now that the military had arrived and drawn the Honkai Beasts' attention, the survivors who could still move immediately began retreating.

The noisy commotion startled the boy awake from his faint. Perhaps because he had rolled several times when tackling her earlier, Su Jue was still dizzy when he woke up.

Only after Kiana raised her hand and wiped the dust from his face did he finally come to his senses.

"Seriously. Why didn't you run just now? You're a Valkyrie, aren't you? Don't tell me you were scared stupid."

Seeing the mix of reproach and concern on the boy's face, Kiana, whose heart had long been exhausted after two months of constant running, suddenly felt a hint of warmth.

After leaving St. Freya Academy, someone still cared about her. Someone was still willing to save her. Tears filled the girl's eyes.

But Su Jue was clearly not the sentimental type. He did not notice any of her emotions at all. He glanced at the Honkai Beast in the distance, which was being attacked and roaring endlessly, then quickly stood and pulled Kiana to her feet.

"Let's go. The military is here, so leave the rest to them. I know you're strong, but don't do something this dangerous next time." Whether intentionally or not, he held the girl's hand as he ran toward the safe zone.

Unfortunately, his stamina was truly terrible. Before long, he began panting heavily. Gradually, Kiana recovered herself and regained her strength. Their roles switched, and Kiana ended up dragging Su Jue along as they fled.

Warm sunlight fell, illuminating the dust rising through the city. The boy, the girl, and the cat, somewhat bedraggled, passed through this ruined steel forest and fled toward the rising sun.

Chapter 17: Trust Is the Best Medicine for Healing Wounds

"We're almost there." Panting heavily, Su Jue wore a smile of relief after surviving the disaster. After the two had fled all the way here, the blockade at the edge of the district had finally come into view.