Stirring Up Trouble / Su Jue Is Dead

Most obviously, despite already being at the end of her strength, she had still managed to shoot that arrow into the Herrscher. That had not been due to her own weakness at all, but because Schicksal had injected her with something similar to HSN serum.

And according to the information gathered by World Serpent, that red-haired woman was undoubtedly Schicksal's Valkyrie, Murata Himeko. They had thought she had died in the battle against the Herrscher of Void, but apparently that was not the case. Schicksal must have saved her. Even the Herrscher of Void appearing in Sky City was likely Otto's doing.

Watching Raven's expression continuously change, Rita's face did not look much better either. Ever since losing to the woman codenamed Crimson Snake last time, she had thought she was cautious enough this time. Yet she had still been played. Not only had someone taken away the weakened Herrscher of Void beforehand, they had also destroyed her vehicle. More importantly, the Immortal Blade Squad, which had been responsible for support, had failed to arrive because of the inspection of Eos.

"Impressive planning!"

"What a scheme!"

After figuring out the situation, the two women who felt insulted immediately began fighting without another word.

Frost rapidly spread. To avoid another setback like last time, Rita had deliberately deployed her new armor form—Azure Moon. This was Schicksal's fourth-generation Valkyrie God-Slaying Armor, specialized in particle flow dispersion.

It represented the terrifying side of the moon, scattering life-extinguishing cold across the earth like moonlight and bringing despair to all things.

The sky should have been obscured by dark clouds tonight, but the Herrscher of Void's power had directly pierced through them, allowing bright moonlight to settle upon the silver-white scythe. Rita tightly gripped its handle and slowly approached Raven. This time, she would not let her guard down again.

Sure enough, as she drew closer, a bomb buried underground detonated. Had she not been cautious enough, she would inevitably have been affected.

"Hmph~" Pleased with her own improvement, Rita curled her lips as icy frost continuously advanced toward Raven.

Of course, Raven had no idea that what had exploded just now was not a bomb, but a spear Su Jue had buried underground while bombarding the area with the Spears of the Void. Feeling the pressure of an S-Rank Valkyrie, Raven's stress immediately rose. More importantly, her arrows had been exhausted, leaving only two backup pistols to deal with the situation.

Bang—

Gunfire rang out. Raven knew the importance of ranged suppression. Since there was no escape now, she would fight to the death. Both pistols continuously spat bullets. Naturally, she appeared determined on the surface, but she had actually pressed the distress signal. The only people remaining in Sky City were herself and Cleo. Although Cleo had suffered serious injuries, that woman was not so simple. As long as her brain was still intact, she would not die so easily.

Beep, beep, beep—

The urgent distress signal echoed through the laboratory. Cleo looked at her communicator, her expression turning ugly.

"Dr. Cleo, your communicator is ringing." An unfamiliar female voice came from the shadows. Cleo looked up at the golden hair swaying in the faint light, her eyes filled with anger.

This unfamiliar woman, whom she had never seen before, had somehow infiltrated Shencheng Technology's underground facility without anyone noticing. Just as Cleo was preparing to treat herself, she had forcibly interrupted her. Raven, who should have been stationed at Shencheng Technology, was nowhere to be found, and Cleo could only watch as the woman wreaked havoc in her laboratory.

This unfamiliar woman was naturally Su Jue in disguise. He had directly used the [Mother] puppet as a host, and dense Honkai cracks still covered her body. These were traces left by Cleo during the previous Stigmata Awakening Project.

"Not answering it?" The woman's voice was low, faintly carrying the madness of someone being eroded by Honkai.

Listening to the increasingly urgent alarm, Cleo merely silently turned it off. After the Honkai Beast serum had worn off, she had returned to her original body. However, she had also lost the ability to move. Moreover, her lower leg had been completely fractured, leaving her in her weakest state.

Under fully equipped medical facilities, these would not have been major problems. But after luring Raven away, Su Jue had used a spatial passage to reach the underground facility and shut off her equipment right in front of the immobile Cleo. His manners were truly terrible.

"Who exactly are you? Your body has suffered over fifty percent erosion. A mere test subject could never possess such powerful resistance." Having witnessed countless test subjects turn into zombies after failed experiments, Cleo understood well that with an ordinary person's willpower, even broad-range energy infection would turn them into zombies, let alone actual erosion.

Though this woman was already close to collapse, she could still remain rational and stand before her. That indicated not only that her Honkai Energy adaptability far surpassed ordinary people, but that her will had undoubtedly been trained as well. For someone like that to voluntarily become a test subject, she must have had another purpose.

"Who I am isn't important. I only came to borrow some of Dr. Cleo's experimental results, such as... the serum that can turn you into that form." Perhaps because of the intense pain, the blonde woman's voice trembled slightly. "What a perfect existence. It would allow me to draw closer to my god. Human bodies are too fragile. Only that form can accept more of my god's blessings."

She had thought it was some powerful organization, but it turned out to be a cult that worshipped Honkai. Cleo relaxed. There were plenty of such Honkai-worshipping organizations around the world, along with many madmen who voluntarily came into contact with Honkai in the vain hope of earning its favor through their willpower.

There were countless people like that, and their fates were easy to imagine. Although World Serpent also sought to forcibly awaken the Stigmata within people's bodies, at least it followed a legitimate path. Once she realized the other party was merely a lunatic, Cleo relaxed considerably.

"I can give you the materials. I can even give you the serum used to awaken Stigmata, but I doubt you can hold on much longer."

"That has nothing to do with you. Hand over your research materials and finished products, and I will naturally leave."

Fanning the Flames

"Materials? Those aren't something you can understand. With an insignificant force like yours, even if I gave them to you, you still couldn't produce anything." Cleo looked down on these organizations from the bottom of her heart. World Serpent's reach spanned the world. If she were not currently in trouble, people like this would only be fit to become test subjects.

Bang—

But Su Jue did not give her the chance to keep talking. He had more important things to do. Any excuse would do to fool her. If he understood scientific research, he would have simply taken Cleo's entire laboratory.

If possible, a scientist like Cleo would have suited his objectives better. But she was still someone Kevin valued, and acting against her now was too risky. He could only settle for taking some research materials before leaving.

The Honkai markings on the woman's body grew denser and denser, showing that the erosion was worsening. Once she turned into a zombie, Cleo would be unable to deal with her in her current state. Left with no choice, she could only hand over her materials to Su Jue, though they were certainly not complete.

"What a perfect serum." Looking at the pale blue liquid in the syringe, the blonde woman seemed to see hope. Without another word, she gave herself an injection.

Even Cleo was stunned by that. She had seen crazy people before, but never one this crazy. Was she not afraid there was something wrong with it?

After that injection, the woman, who had already begun turning into a zombie, immediately evolved in an even more chaotic direction. The beastification serum Cleo had developed could allow someone to transform into a Honkai Beast while retaining their sanity, but that required the user's will and physical condition to be stable enough. In the woman's current state, she would only become a true Honkai Beast.

"Lunatic..." Cursing under her breath, Cleo pressed the control panel beside the experimental table, reactivated the equipment Su Jue had shut down earlier, and fled.

Su Jue, left behind, began to mutate. Naturally, this was only a smokescreen. After confirming that Cleo had escaped, he sent the spoils to the Theater of Domination, then used the Theater of Domination to transfer himself to the next stage.

The Honkai Beast left behind began moving toward the surface under his deliberate control. Another performance was waiting for him there as well.

Returning to Raven's side, the failure of her distress call did not surprise her. Instead, it made her even more certain that this was part of Schicksal's plan. The bullets in her backup pistols had now run out, and she could only fight while retreating against Rita's attacks.

Honestly, if Raven had been fully prepared, with enough arrows and the Divine Key World Serpent had assigned her, Seven Thunders of Retribution, she would not have feared Rita at all. But after the battle with the Herrscher of Void, all her arrows had been exhausted, and Seven Thunders of Retribution's sniper rifle form was unsuitable for close-range combat.

With no other options, she could only try negotiating with her Divine Key. Seven Thunders of Retribution had multiple forms, but its demands on its user were rather high. If the conditions for use were not met, it would go on strike at any moment. Even using its sniper rifle form smoothly had required Raven to spend years cultivating a rapport with it.

Clearly, Seven Thunders of Retribution was extremely dissatisfied with becoming a melee weapon and completely ignored Raven.

Helpless, Raven could only try to keep Rita occupied using the sniper form, but that was all she could manage.

Just as she was gradually being pushed into a disadvantage, the red-haired woman who had fled with the Herrscher of Void appeared again. Seeing Raven being suppressed by Rita, she shouted, "I brought you Cleo's serum, and the Herrscher of Void has already been dealt with. The two of us will kill her together."

No, who even are you? Why are you acting so familiar?

Controlling the Himeko puppet, Su Jue directly tossed the recovery serum he had just obtained from Cleo to Raven. He himself wielded the katana Mei had left behind and immediately clashed with Rita.

"It was you! Crimson Snake, you won't escape this time." Enemies meeting again made old grudges burn even hotter. Recalling the humiliation of her previous defeat, even ice-element Rita felt a flame burning in her heart. She immediately abandoned Raven, whom she had been unable to defeat for so long, and began trading blows with Su Jue.

Having gained a moment to catch her breath, Raven instinctively caught the serum Su Jue threw her. Looking at the symbol on it, it was indeed Cleo's product. And the vial was perfectly sealed, so there was no possibility that it had been switched.

"Could she really be a hidden World Serpent executive?" By now, Raven was becoming increasingly unable to understand the situation. Moreover, after the red-haired woman had truly entered the battle, Raven discovered that she differed greatly from the Murata Himeko described in the records. If she was not from Schicksal, where had she come from? Why was she so familiar with Raven and Cleo?

With those doubts in mind, she hurried to recover her strength. Rather than immediately drink the serum Su Jue had given her, she first conducted a series of tests. Even Cleo's medicine came in many varieties: some restored energy, some healed injuries, and some turned people into Honkai Beasts. Raven could not determine this serum's properties.

After confirming that there was no problem, Raven did not hesitate. She drank the serum directly. A warm current gradually surged through her body, quickly dispelling the chill Rita had brought and making her feel much better. Raising Seven Thunders of Retribution, she intended to deal with Rita first. As for the red-haired woman, whether she was an ally or not could be addressed later.

With the two working together, the situation was completely reversed. Schicksal's Valkyries were strong because they could fight in squads. Now that Rita had separated from her team, her supplies and support could not keep up. Especially with Su Jue holding off the melee attacks, Raven could freely use the Divine Key for support. It would not be long before Rita was defeated.

Just as the situation was improving, Su Jue once again [failed to dodge in time] and was struck by Rita's scythe. The powerful blow sent him flying into the ruins.

Seeing this familiar scene, Raven suddenly recalled that the Herrscher of Void had seemingly been hit by her arrow because of a similar mistake before. Could it be...

Unfortunately, the moment that thought emerged, it was interrupted. Su Jue let out a scream from within the ruins, then gradually fell silent.

Having finally gained an advantage, Rita naturally would not miss the chance to finish him off. Raven's heart tightened, and she immediately aimed Seven Thunders of Retribution at the ruins.

But without knowing the situation, she still did not fire directly. The red-haired woman's allegiance could not yet be determined, but if she truly was an ally, Raven would certainly be charged with murdering a teammate. She could only fire as much as possible to block Rita's path.

After confirming that Crimson Snake was no longer moving, Rita could only wearily attack Raven again. Raven, lacking a suitable weapon, could only barely hold her off.

Neither of them noticed the rift that quietly opened within the ruins, taking Himeko back to the Theater of Domination.

Su Jue Is Dead

Having successfully held back Rita and Raven, while Cleo was too occupied by Su Jue's interference to care about Shencheng Technology, the Honkai Beast Su Jue had created took the chance to wreak havoc. Shencheng Technology's ordinary employees fled in all directions.

Night had already reached its latter half. Across all of Shencheng Technology, only continuously burning flames and ruins of broken walls remained. Dark clouds covered the sky again, allowing not a trace of starlight through.

The sturdy concrete ground had collapsed. Broken streetlights crackled with sparks. Abandoned cars had crashed together, blaring piercing alarms.

There was no doubt that this was a terrifying disaster, the wreckage left behind after the Herrscher of Void's rampage.

At the very center of the ruins, a white-haired girl slept. Her consciousness had already fallen into endless darkness, but no one could save her.

Why had things turned out like this?

Within the sealed mental space, Kiana sat curled up in a dim corner, constantly repeating that question.

There was no answer, no response. Even the Herrscher personality, which had always tried to provoke her negative emotions, was silent now. She was like a child abandoned by the world, completely forgotten.

So quiet.

So quiet that it was as if... everyone had died.

They were all dead, and the person who killed them...

Was me.

Crimson blood gradually appeared in the girl's hands, then continuously flowed and dripped down, eventually forming a scarlet lake that tightly surrounded her.

Beneath the mirror-like lake lay countless corpses piled together. Some were mangled beyond recognition, some were bloody masses of flesh, and some wore twisted expressions, carrying the despair they had felt at death.

The white-haired girl sat atop the highest pile of corpses, while all the dead reached toward her, trying to drag her into the depths of the lake and make her one of them.

"Herrscher of Void!" "Monster that destroys the world!" "Blood-soaked demon!"

Countless screams and wails intertwined as they flooded into Kiana's mind. She tightly hugged herself and curled up in the darkness.

"I'm not... I'm not..."

Tears continuously streamed down her face as the despairing girl muttered like she was praying.

But compared to those hundreds and thousands of voices, her answer was so weak.

If you aren't the Herrscher of Void, then who are you?

Are you Kiana?

Are you K423?

Or Sirin...

"I..." The girl's voice stopped. The name was clearly on the tip of her tongue, yet she could not say it no matter what.

After killing Griseo, did she still deserve to possess the name Kiana?

She lowered her head and looked at the blood covering her hands. At some point, the scarlet lake had already submerged the upper half of her body.

You cannot escape. Even if you refuse to admit it, those lives that vanished will not disappear just because of that. Every one of them bears witness to your sins.

They have come for you!

Everything before her was swallowed by blood-red color. Several corpses lay directly in front of her, and the instant Kiana saw them, she no longer had the courage to deny it.

"Ms. Himeko... Griseo... and..."

And that gray-haired boy.

Su Jue is dead! Su Jue is dead! Su Jue is dead! Su Jue is dead! Su Jue is dead! Su Jue is dead! Su Jue is dead!

The entire space began to twist. Blood-red words covered the world, sharp and warped as though blades were cutting through Kiana's soul.

"No!"

The girl closed her eyes, but the countless corpses beneath the lake began repeating those words.

She covered her ears, but a strange sensation gnawed at her spine like maggots clinging to bone.

She shut away all of her senses, yet that voice still did not vanish.

Who was still saying that name...

It turned out it was me.

The scarlet lake no longer held her back, completely swallowing the girl. She began to feel suffocated. Her body had no support left, and she could only fall endlessly.

Gurgle...

The sound of bubbles drifted around her ears.

Vaguely, she heard someone continuously calling her.

"Kiana... Kiana!" Within the space of the Divine Key Feather Dust, Fu Hua was desperately trying to connect with Kiana's consciousness. But no matter how she tried, she could not awaken Kiana's mind. Naturally, this was Su Jue's doing.

Knowing that Fu Hua was inside Kiana, how could he possibly have failed to guard against her? Long ago, he had begun using the Authority of Domination to interfere with Feather Dust. Although Feather Dust leaned more toward consciousness control, and this fragment containing Fu Hua's true soul was nearly unbreakable, no matter how powerful it was, it was still only an incomplete Divine Key. Under a Herrscher's control, interfering with and controlling it was not difficult.

After Su Jue stole part of Feather Dust's power, he also sensed the changes in Kiana's heart. Looking at the sleeping girl, he began trying to awaken her shattered mental world.

The faint power of Feather Dust, enhanced by the Thousand Laws, was no weaker than the original, allowing Su Jue to enter her world in the form of a consciousness body.

The instant he entered the mental space, all he saw were the words "Su Jue is dead" filling the world.

"..."

Perhaps his influence on her ran deeper than he had imagined. Realizing this, Su Jue could not help sighing deeply. But his purpose was not to destroy her; it was to turn her into his weapon. Such intense self-destructive emotions were harmful to her growth. It was time to give her some hope.

He gradually erased the words covering the world. They did not merely fill Kiana with despair; even he felt uncomfortable looking at them. Then came the shattered space and overflowing lake water. While Kiana, its owner, was asleep, he could only interfere personally.

Originally, he had thought this would be difficult. But unexpectedly, Kiana's inner world seemed completely defenseless before him. With Feather Dust's power, he easily erased those negative emotions.