Honkai's Thousand Laws, Abducting Kiana at the Start

Finally, she had to bring the girl back from the darkness she was lost in.

He leaped into the deep sea of her consciousness, the Herrscher's power illuminating a faint light for him. Then, he grasped the girl's hand.

"Found you."

A faint light illuminated the girl's azure eyes.

Chapter 85: Emergency Aid

The acrid smell of burning gasoline filled her nostrils, a sharp ringing filled her ears, and her vision was obscured by smoke and dark clouds. Every nerve in her body burned with pain. Kiana slowly awoke amidst the ruins, the suffocating sensation causing her to cough incessantly.

Confused, she turned her body. Her hand was still clasped around the boy's, but the owner of the hand now lay beside her, almost devoid of life.

Bright red blood soaked his entire body as if it were free, and a long bloodstain stretched out beneath him. Kiana realized that the boy must have kept crawling forward until he lost consciousness, ultimately reaching for her hand. It was this very strength that had shattered her consciousness and saved her from the desperate abyss.

But now, he was completely still.

"Su Jue!"

The girl's fingers trembled uncontrollably. She dared not let go of Su Jue's hand, fearing that if she did, he would slip away. She could only desperately move her body, even as sharp debris tore at her skin, forcing herself to his side to test his breathing with her other hand.

The tension on her face quickly turned into relief, like a survivor's joy. Su Jue's breathing was faint, but it was still there.

"Thank goodness, you're still here."

However, he was already growing cold from the massive blood loss, and the faint cracks on his skin indicated he had been corrupted by Honkai. But at this moment, Kiana, with a strength she didn't know she possessed, struggled to her feet. She desperately tore at the fabric of her clothes with her teeth, carefully bandaging him to stop the bleeding. But this was only a temporary measure. Su Jue was an ordinary person, even weaker than average. What he needed now was professional medical treatment.

"Su Jue, don't die!" Looking at the boy's pale face, Kiana, like a drowning person grasping at a straw, prayed incessantly.

Yet, there was only ruin around her, the remnants of the Herrscher of Void's rampage everywhere, and no one to answer her.

Only the charred corpses and collapsed buildings created a scene of devastation. Even the wails of survivors were gone. Kiana knew in her heart that while she was unconscious, the Herrscher of Void had likely slaughtered everyone. Su Jue's injuries were clearly also the work of the Herrscher of Void.

But now was not the time for guilt. The entire world had abandoned her, and Su Jue had awakened her in her moment of despair. Now it was her turn to save Su Jue.

Her legs trembled. Kiana knelt on one knee, hunched over, and gently placed the unconscious Su Jue onto her back. Then, summoning all her strength, she stood up and staggered towards the edge of the block.

There were no living people in the entire block. Only smoke and flames stood by the roadside, accompanied by collapsing buildings, watching the staggering girl carry the severely injured boy step by step into the distance.

ROAR—

However, not all existences were as quiet as the ruins. Even though all survivors were dead, Honkai was still rampant.

With a boom, a concrete wall of Shencheng Technology was suddenly shattered by a massive figure. Flying debris smashed holes in the surrounding facilities as a Chariot-class Honkai Beast burst through the wall in a frenzy.

It leaped high and then slammed down, causing the entire road to cave in. Although it desperately wanted to tear the fragile human to shreds, Kiana's Herrscher aura made it completely unwilling to approach.

Its instinct for destruction still drove it. After leaving the Herrscher, it began to attack the surrounding buildings.

Under the impact of its colossal size, the ground was riddled with depressions. Buildings toppled by the Honkai Beast collapsed onto the street, blocking Kiana's path forward.

Just as the Honkai Beast was about to directly smash through the overpass ahead, its body suddenly froze. Then, under the inertia of its charge, it split into countless small pieces.

Silver-white hair obscured Kiana's face, but her golden eyes blazed with an unyielding light. This was the authority of the Herrscher of Void, the power of a divine apostle.

Mere cowardice could not save anyone. Endless evasion could never atone for sins. Without the support of power, she could do nothing.

And now, to save the person important to her, Kiana chose for the first time to actively embrace the authority of the Herrscher of Void.

"Get lost!"

Her voice was weak, yet it sounded like the highest judgment. The rampaging Honkai Beast was directly sliced by an invisible force, and even the collapsed ruins ahead were annihilated.

Even with such immense power, Kiana didn't spare it a second glance. She turned to look at Su Jue's closed eyes on her shoulder, her expression resolute.

The emergency room lights were still on. Kiana clutched her palms tightly on the chair in the hallway. She didn't even have time to wonder why the hospital was still operating normally after the Herrscher of Void's rampage. She just desperately begged the doctor to save Su Jue.

After a long wait, the emergency surgery was finally completed. Kiana looked up and gazed in the direction of the ward.

"Are you a relative of the patient? No, you're also injured, why aren't you getting treatment?" The doctor who had completed the surgery looked at Kiana, who was also in bad shape, with some confusion.

But Kiana ignored his latter sentence. "Yes, how... how is he?"

"I'm very sorry."

It was like a thunderclap in her mind. Kiana felt a moment of dizziness. Just as she was about to confirm again, she heard the doctor continue, "Although we have saved his life, there seems to be an unexplainable energy within him that is hindering his recovery. His legs have been severely eroded, and it will likely be difficult for him to walk in the future."

Hearing that his life was saved, Kiana finally breathed a sigh of relief. As for the Honkai erosion, she understood it much better. Ordinary people would immediately be infected and turn into MANTIS after close contact with a Herrscher. It was already a stroke of luck that Su Jue's legs were only eroded. Schicksal had many treatment plans for this kind of erosion. Even if he couldn't regain his ability to walk, his life would not be in danger.

When her own strength grew stronger, she would directly rush to Schicksal and forcibly seize the treatment equipment. If that didn't work, Theresa would surely have a solution. What worried her more was that Su Jue hadn't made it through this time.

"It's okay, I'll take good care of him from now on."

"That's good. I've seen many young couples abandon their partners when they become disabled. Sigh, this day and age..."

The doctor was still rambling on, but Kiana couldn't hear him anymore. She had already seen Su Jue being pushed out on a stretcher by a nurse. He was still sleeping with his eyes closed, as peaceful as a child.

Chapter 86: Comfort

As dawn broke, the dark clouds of the previous night had completely dispersed. The first rays of morning sunlight filtered through the leaves, illuminating the hospital room where two figures stood.

Kiana, exhausted and tormented by pain, was leaning against the bedside. Su Jue, lying on the hospital bed, had actually woken up long ago and was staring blankly at the sleeping Kiana.

For yesterday's drama, he had planned for two full months. Although there were many unexpected changes, it had finally achieved the desired effect.

Only those who have seen the deepest despair can understand the beauty of the world. Only those who have reached the deepest darkness will yearn for light more. Kiana was a strong child, but this strength needed someone to nurture and maintain it, and it needed constant tempering.

The world has never been a good place. From the moment Kiana was born, she bore the malice of the entire world. As the chosen Herrscher of a Thousand, Su Jue was swallowed and destroyed by this very malice in his previous life. He understood the wickedness of the human heart better than anyone.

Thus, he built a stage for her using the entirety of Sky City, bestowing upon her the most profound pain and the deepest salvation. Only in this way could she become like steel that has been hammered and forged, filled with strength and resilience, and no longer lost in the future.

Only in this way could she become the sharpest weapon to tear open the hypocritical veil of this world... and the flame that illuminates the darkness of the Theater of Domination.

Now, under Su Jue's series of maneuvers, Shencheng Technology has been half-destroyed. The Honkai Beast that [Mother] transformed into also completed its final mission after being killed by Kiana. Shencheng Technology will inevitably be investigated by Schicksal, and the World Serpent hidden behind it will surely retaliate.

As for Rita and Raven, after a prolonged battle where neither could gain the upper hand, they could only retreat for the time being.

Rita naturally found the Eos and began to gather reinforcements, directly using the Immortal Blade Squad to investigate the entirety of Sky City.

Raven, on the other hand, returned to Shencheng Technology to upgrade her equipment. With the scientist Jackal present and Shencheng Pharmaceuticals operating on home turf, they had no fear of Schicksal.

The reason for sending these two away was, of course, to set up the venue for last night, giving him and Kiana a private space for the girl's heart to undergo a transformation. Although Su Jue was well aware that Kiana still had many unresolved issues, as long as she no longer rejected the power of the Herrscher of Void, she would eventually become the strongest Herrscher.

Otto cultivated a Durandal to resurrect Kallen; it wasn't excessive for him to cultivate a Herrscher of Void.

"So, you must transform this world into what I desire..." Su Jue murmured as he looked at Kiana bathed in sunlight.

Just as Su Jue was lost in thought, Kiana seemed to sense the glaring light. Her eyelashes fluttered, and then she opened her eyes.

"Su Jue, you're awake." Seeing that Su Jue had woken up, Kiana didn't even bother to wipe away the drool from the corner of her mouth. She quickly adjusted the hospital bed slightly, allowing him to lie more comfortably. "Does it still hurt? Should I call a doctor for you?"

Seeing the girl's anxious face, Su Jue shook his head and managed a strained smile. "I'm fine... Pour me a glass of water."

Su Jue's face was pale, the aftereffects of severe blood loss had not yet recovered, and his body was temporarily paralyzed due to the Honkai Energy erosion. His legs were completely numb, and he might have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

"Okay." Although she was asked to help, Kiana was very happy. What she worried about most was Su Jue waking up and not saying a word, which would prove he was still holding a grudge. Therefore, she busied herself pouring warm water from the dispenser and found a spoon from the cabinet, feeding the immobile Su Jue bit by bit.

After finishing the water, the two fell silent again. Su Jue gazed out the window, his eyes filled with longing as he watched the birds chirping on the treetops and the distant sky.

Kiana, who had been watching Su Jue closely, immediately caught his expression. Her heart ached, and she assumed Su Jue was now feeling the immobility of his body.

Forcing a smile, Kiana interrupted Su Jue's gaze and used words to distract him. "It's okay, the doctor said it's only temporary loss of mobility. As long as you recuperate well, you'll definitely recover in the future."

But in reality, she had no confidence. The doctor had also mentioned another thing: besides the severe bleeding and erosion this time, Su Jue's body had an undetectable strange illness that greatly shortened his lifespan. It would take at least a few years to recover full limb function.

Even with continuous treatment and maintenance, it would be difficult to regain his former health.

"Mhm." A faint sound came from Su Jue's throat, and then silence fell again.

Faced with Su Jue's silence, Kiana grew anxious. Due to her own experiences, she knew very well that this mental state was a precursor to self-denial, but she had no solution. In the past, Teacher Himeko could guide her, but now, when it was her turn to guide someone else, she couldn't utter a single word.

After a while, Su Jue, who had been lost in thought for a long time, seemed to have finally emerged from his distress. He withdrew his gaze from the window and focused on Kiana again.

"The sunlight outside is beautiful. Why don't you take me out for a walk?" His voice was soft, but Kiana immediately caught it. She quickly borrowed a wheelchair from a nurse and took him out of the ward.

Due to the Honkai event last night, there were quite a few injured patients in the hospital, and many like Su Jue had lost the ability to walk. Shencheng Pharmaceuticals voluntarily covered all treatment costs for this Honkai outbreak, allowing those without financial means like Su Jue to receive treatment, greatly boosting their public image.

But this couldn't alleviate the suffering caused by the Honkai. As Kiana pushed Su Jue through the hospital's public garden, many patients who had lost control of their emotions were crying uncontrollably due to their disabilities, and many had lost their loved ones. Despite the bright weather, it felt more oppressive than being in the ward.

Sensing the wrong atmosphere, Kiana quickened her pace.

"Were they... properly buried?"

Her footsteps suddenly stopped. The hands pushing the wheelchair trembled slightly. The scenes from last night flashed back, and she suddenly remembered that Su Jue's mother and Griseo were dead.

They died by her own hand.

So... he saw.

She had thought she could still leave him with the will to live, but now the last shred of hope in her heart was finally shattered. Kiana fell silent, closing her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks and onto Su Jue.

"I'm sorry." Chapter Eighty-Seven: Flamescion Ignited

"Why do you say sorry?" Su Jue's voice was calm, as tranquil as a dead, still lake, without the slightest ripple.

Kiana remained silent, but large tears continued to fall. Although the young man's voice held no trace of resentment, her heart felt as if it were being twisted.

"I'm sorry." A dry voice was forced from her throat. She had so many explanations she could give, but they could only be reduced to three meaningless words.

If apologies were useful, there wouldn't be so many tragedies in the world.

"Hey, you said you were a Valkyrie, right? You actually had the ability to save her back then, so why did you... why did you let her..." Her voice faltered due to trembling, her grief and anger well-hidden within her calm demeanor. Su Jue looked up, his gray eyes fixed on the girl's eyes. "Griseo shouldn't have died like this."

"At least, not by your hands."

Living in this world, everyone is subject to circumstances, and everyone will die. Some deaths only make one feel the unfairness of fate, but some are etched into the bone, bringing endless pain.

The sunlight was bright, yet Su Jue's voice, laced with disappointment, was like a carving knife, continuously chipping away at Kiana's newly healed heart, chilling her to the bone. If Su Jue had shown hatred and curses, Kiana wouldn't have felt so much pain, but precisely because she understood Su Jue's character, knowing he would only choose to swallow all his pain himself, she understood even more how intense the suffering hidden beneath his calmness was.

"I'm sorry." She offered no defense. Although Griseo's end was the result of multiple factors, it was a sin Kiana could not escape.

If only she had thought a little more before leaving, if only she had discovered Shencheng Pharmaceuticals' plot earlier, if only she had recognized the girl during the battle, would things have been completely different?

But there are no "ifs" in reality. Committing one mistake often requires more effort to rectify, and more mistakes are made in the process of trying. The moment the first choice was made, fate had already determined everyone's destination.

The wheelchair stopped in the hospital garden. Unbeknownst to them, everyone around had already left, leaving only a fork in the path ahead, awaiting their decision.

The path leading under the shade of the trees was covered by a large expanse of shadow beneath the canopy.

Intense pain transformed into a heavy sigh. Su Jue turned his head, no longer looking at her. "Apologies are meaningless. You should go. You are a powerful Valkyrie. I don't know if you are Kiana or Sirin, and I don't want to know anymore. Consider it a nightmare. When the dream ends, it's time for us to part."

As his words fell, it was as if their two worlds were torn apart. One was the powerful Herrscher of Void, and the other was just an ordinary person with paralyzed legs. They were never meant to have any intersection, and this misguided journey should end here.

The girl's body trembled slightly, but her grip on the wheelchair tightened. "I won't leave. This is my mistake, and I will repay it with my life."

But this statement seemed to shatter the balance in Su Jue's heart. The calmness vanished from his face, finally turning into anger. "Enough! Don't you understand? We're just ordinary people. We just want to live. Even if we're like ants penned up in this world, only to be toyed with by it, we still want to leave our mark."

"I'm like a moth just born into darkness. If I get too close, I'll be burned to death by your intense heat. Everything you've experienced can easily destroy my life."

"This world has never been beautiful. It's full of injustice and darkness, and I don't have the power to change it. Any disaster can shatter my life into pieces. But you're different. You have your own life and path. You have the ability to change all of this. What you're about to face are enemies I can never reach."

"This is the sorrow of ordinary people, and the despair of the weak. Now my mother, my family, they've all left me. This was a predetermined end, I just didn't expect it to come so suddenly."

"Kiana!"

"It's not you I hate, but this unfair world!"

"So, leave. I have nothing left, and I'm not worth your time here. You have the power to change all of this, so you shouldn't linger here."

"..."

The young man gritted his teeth. He wanted to break free from the malice of this world, but now he couldn't even move. He could only act like a cripple, cursing this damnable world meaninglessly. This was the cry of the powerless, and the heaviest sorrow of all ordinary people.

He cried, tears overflowing his eyes. This time, it wasn't just Su Jue's sorrow, but also the sorrow of the Herrscher of a Thousand. Every one of them had once been a loser trapped in the mire. They faced the world with good intentions, only to bear the heaviest malice.

Just as Su Jue lost control of his emotions, the white-haired girl took his hand and gently rested her head on his forehead. They were so close they could hear each other's heartbeats.

"One day, I will transform this imperfect world into what we hope for."

The two, tormented by the world's malice, could only huddle together for warmth like travelers in the dead of winter. Kiana gently wiped away the tears from Su Jue's eyes, and then wiped away her own. Sorrow and pain were no longer suffocating, but transformed into a more intense, burning flame.

Though the fiercely burning Flamescion was just a small spark now, one day it would ignite the entire sky and dispel all the winter.

"Let me stay with you, okay?"

Her voice was soft. The two pairs of eyes gazed at each other, their pupils reflecting each other's appearance.