Honkai's Thousand Laws, Abducting Kiana at the Start

It's Kiana's time!

She narrowly dodged the grenades, and the machine gun fire that followed was all swallowed by her spatial portals.

Then the Spears of the Void shot out, directly piercing the mechs and causing them to detonate.

"That was close." Kiana breathed a sigh of relief, having avoided the sneak attack, and slowly descended from the air.

However, what she didn't notice was that on a high tower 3 kilometers away, Raven's lips curved into a cold smile.

Chapter 103: Going Back

Her fair fingers gently pulled the trigger, and the surging Honkai Energy rapidly erupted, accelerating the bullet in the sniper rifle to 3 kilometers per second in an instant.

The Divine Key, Seven Thunders of Retribution, crafted from the core of the Third Herrscher, transformed into an electromagnetic sniper rifle. It was silent, and under a surprise attack, almost no one could dodge it.

And with the mechs as bait, the Herrscher of Void absolutely couldn't dodge this shot.

The next second, the Herrscher of Void's head would explode into a spray of blood. Thinking of this, Raven could no longer contain her smile.

"Kiana!" Just as the sniper shot was about to hit, a familiar voice suddenly called out in Kiana's ear.

What followed was a flash of intense electric light. The enhanced Striker armor allowed Mei to unleash the full power of an electromagnetic pulse.

Bang—

The sniper bullet was deflected by the surging electromagnetic pulse, flying past Kiana's face by a hair's breadth and creating a deep crater in the concrete wall.

Only then did Kiana react. Realizing she had been targeted by a sniper, she keenly sensed that she was being locked onto again.

With a slight raise of her hand in the direction the bullet came from, a circular spatial portal was constructed. The next second, Raven's second bullet arrived, but it could only disappear into the portal without causing any ripples.

Seeing this through the scope, Raven clicked her tongue in annoyance. A surprise attack was one thing when she was caught off guard. Once the Herrscher of Void was alerted, sniping her was impossible. Helpless, she had to give up this opportunity, put away the Seven Thunders of Retribution, and quickly leave.

World Serpent's arrangements in Sky City were now complete, and their hidden strength had been fully exposed after this incident. A purge by Schicksal and Land of the Divine was inevitable.

Jackal had already left, and Rita's Immortal Blade Squad was still searching for her whereabouts everywhere. There was no longer any point for Raven to stay here.

She hoped the Honkai bomb could still be detonated successfully.

Kiana, who had been targeted by the sniper, remained on alert. She could feel the sense of danger gradually receding, and the enemy had given up on sniping.

The spatial portal dissipated, and just as she let out a sigh of relief, her body froze in place.

The voice she had heard earlier echoed in her mind. Kiana slowly turned around, and the next moment, she was tightly embraced by a soft body.

"Mei..." She had imagined countless scenarios of reuniting with her companions, but none were as sudden as this. It should have been a joyous reunion, yet Kiana felt a sense of bewildered helplessness.

Feeling the girl's embrace, Kiana's voice inexplicably carried a hint of panic, "Mei, why are you here... This... this place is dangerous..."

However, Mei remained silent, holding Kiana tightly as if she would vanish if she let go.

"I caught up to you, Kiana, I made it. If I had been a moment later..." If she had been half a second late, Mei would have only been able to watch Kiana die under Raven's sniper shot. She couldn't imagine such a scene, nor did she want to.

But now, she could hold this girl tightly, see Kiana safe and sound beside her, and feel her real presence.

"I almost lost you." Tears soaked Kiana's collar. Mei rested her chin on Kiana's shoulder, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I can't let you be alone anymore. Come back with me, okay? Kiana, let's go back to the Hyperion together. Everyone is waiting for you."

"..."

Go back. During her time wandering, she had thought of this countless times. But some experiences, once endured, were like scars on the cheek; even if one forced a smile, it would only make the wound more apparent.

After the Herrscher of Void incident, she had lost the courage to return to her everyday life. Moreover, she had committed even more mistakes now. She had tried her best to atone for these sins, and if she left now, her soul would have no place to rest.

"I'm sorry, Mei, I can't go back yet."

"Why? You should have come back to the Hyperion with me last time. What are you so afraid of?"

Kiana remained silent. Past memories burned within her, making her instinctively want to evade. But whenever she felt like giving up, she would recall that single beam of light, a faint glow illuminating a path of refuge for her in the vast darkness.

She suddenly realized that what she feared was not just facing her old friends again, but also the fear of losing the boy who had lit that fire for her.

Her lips parted slightly, and Kiana was about to say something when Mei interrupted her.

"I understand. That man was right. You absolutely won't be willing to go back now." Mei released Kiana from her embrace and wiped her tears with her sleeve. Although the sadness on her face had not yet faded, she didn't press further.

That man?

Kiana's face showed confusion. Besides Su Jue, she couldn't think of any other man who would be so familiar with her. But when she wanted to ask, Mei was the one who remained silent this time, which inexplicably made Kiana feel a sense of unease.

"Regardless, Sky City is currently facing a crisis. Let's talk about other things after we resolve this crisis." There was just over an hour left until the bomb detonated, but they didn't even know where the bomb was. Kiana didn't have much time left.

"Let me go with you, Kiana." Mei slung her katana onto her waist, emitting a faint electric glow under the drive of her Striker armor. "I've grown a lot. I'll definitely keep up with you."

"Okay."

After the two reunited, their efficiency increased significantly. After dealing with the mech forces deployed by World Serpent in the outer areas, Kiana finally obtained some rough information.

To cover the entire city, the Honkai bomb would be placed at the highest point in the city. Kiana couldn't figure out what that highest point was for a while, but Mei immediately blurted out the signal tower.

"How did you know?" She had wandered this city for over a month without understanding its layout, yet Mei, who had only been here twice, knew it so clearly.

"Uh, I guessed." Actually, it wasn't a guess. This information was specifically revealed to her by Su Jue. Of course, he didn't directly tell her that World Serpent would place the bomb at the signal tower, but he casually mentioned that the highest point in the city was the signal tower, so combining that with the current information, she immediately guessed the location.

"I have a feeling you're hiding something from me, Mei." Kiana looked at her friend with suspicion. The awkwardness from their reunion had dissipated, and after returning to their usual dynamic, Kiana easily detected the unnaturalness in Mei's words, as she wasn't good at lying.

"It's just some trivial matters." Mei looked down at the katana in her hand, not daring to meet Kiana's eyes, as she had also promised someone else a condition and couldn't tell Kiana certain things.

Chapter 104: Tightening Time

As time passed, darkness gradually encroached upon the entire city, and the night grew deeper. Even the moon hid behind the heavy, oppressive clouds, afraid to show its face.

Colorful neon lights began to flicker, scattering into dreamlike spots of light through the hazy mist, ethereal and illusory.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Himeko's voice drifted from behind, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, as the evening wind howled on the high platform.

This was the city's central area and also its tallest building—the signal tower.

A terrifying Honkai bomb emitted a faint blue light, accompanied by a crisp countdown, suspended above Su Jue's head. Yet, he didn't even lift an eyelid, merely gazing down at the entire city.

No one noticed how the two of them had appeared here. The mecha units World Serpent had ambushed here hadn't even detected their heat signatures. Su Jue was like a ghost, silently lurking in the darkness, observing this world.

Receiving no answer, Murata Himeko felt a growing unease. She quickened her pace to Su Jue's side, intending to press him further. But what met her were a pair of glowing golden eyes. The Herrscher, wielding divine authority, showed no emotion, neither joy nor sorrow.

The words on the tip of her tongue wouldn't come out. Himeko sighed and said in a low voice, "You know what will happen if this bomb explodes. So many people will die in this blast."

"But what does that have to do with me? I am a Herrscher; destroying humanity is what I'm supposed to do," Su Jue replied calmly. Millions of lives were merely a number. "Besides, don't you know who created this bomb?"

"Humans have always been a race obsessed with self-destruction."

Himeko's voice faltered. Of course, she knew Su Jue had no obligation or standing to help people. But perhaps, after spending so many days with Su Jue, she had subconsciously begun to see him as an ally on humanity's side.

Although this young man had always claimed to be humanity's enemy, he had never truly done anything to destroy humanity. Instead, in recent investigations, Himeko had discovered extensive evidence of World Serpent conducting human experiments.

With a kind heart, Himeko naturally wanted to save the city, but without Su Jue's permission, she could do nothing. Even with the bomb hanging over their heads, she dared not dismantle it herself, as she couldn't guarantee Su Jue wouldn't detonate it directly if she did.

To this day, she hadn't even figured out Su Jue's specific objective. If Su Jue had truly intended to cause destruction, she would have fought him with all her might. However, what distressed her was that even though the Herrscher had done nothing, she felt a profound sense of powerlessness.

Perhaps, as Su Jue had said, even if the Herrscher did nothing, humanity would continue down the path of self-destruction.

Under these circumstances, any persuasive argument would become pale and weak. The only bargaining chip Himeko could think of was her student.

"Kiana can't endure any more corruption. Only you can help her..."

Silence, followed by a low chuckle. "Is this the resolve of a teacher?"

His golden eyes fixed on Himeko's orange ones. Murata Himeko could feel the undisguised mockery within them. She bit her lip tightly, drawing blood, but she had no other choice.

Millions were not just simple numbers, but living souls. If she could indeed persuade the Herrscher with Kiana's sake and save the city, she was willing to pay Kiana's debt with all her own life.

Under the Herrscher's gaze, she no longer held her former defiance. For humanity, personal dignity was meaningless.

Looking at Himeko, who stood before him with lowered eyes, Su Jue's face broke into a playful smile. He leaned close to Himeko's ear and said in an ambiguous tone, "If this is your resolve, then it's not impossible for me to help. I hope you don't regret your decision today."

As his words fell, countless transparent threads suddenly extended from Su Jue's body, surging towards the Honkai bomb.

Under Jackal's design, as long as there was a strong Honkai Energy fluctuation around the bomb, it would detonate immediately. However, even at such close range, Su Jue's ability left the bomb undisturbed, like a sleeping infant.

This was the characteristic of Domination's power. Besides the Herrscher of Binding, only Domination could control its power with such precision. Because of this, even if Honkai Beasts appeared nearby, it was difficult to sense his Herrscher identity.

This was one of the contingencies he had prepared for himself. Honkai Beasts not attacking Herrschers was originally a phenomenon symbolizing identity and authority, but in some situations, it could inadvertently expose a Herrscher's hidden identity. Especially for those from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy who had been in contact with Honkai for so many years, it would be easy to find Su Jue's true form from this.

Domination's threads wrapped around the Honkai bomb, tightly restraining the leakage of Honkai Energy. With this safeguard, Kiana would have enough time.

Although Su Jue hadn't directly disarmed the bomb, Himeko breathed a huge sigh of relief. The bomb continuously emitted Honkai Energy during its countdown. This energy alone was enough to infect nearby ordinary people into MANTIS, and this was precisely what she had worried about before.

Now, with Su Jue's added safeguard, even if the Honkai bomb took a rocket hit, it probably wouldn't detonate so easily. This undoubtedly greatly reduced the difficulty of rescue.

Just as she was about to say something else, she noticed that Su Jue had vanished at some point, leaving her alone in the cold wind.

Just as she was also preparing to leave, a sudden, ferocious beast roar reached her ears. Following this first roar, more and more Honkai Beasts began to appear in the city.

"What is this?!"

Undoubtedly, this was the final arrangement left in the world. Jackal possessed a serum that could turn humans into Honkai Beasts, as well as a concentrated amount of Honkai Energy sufficient to trigger Honkai. The combination of the two formed a perfect defense.

The explosives detonated earlier were merely an appetizer. What could truly cause chaos was Honkai. Only then could the city be thrown into complete disarray, and only then could the detonation of the Honkai bomb proceed without interference.

After Raven's failed surprise attack on Kiana, World Serpent realized that the Herrscher of Void would be the biggest obstacle to the Stigmata Project. The appearance of Raiden Mei also signaled that Schicksal and Anti-Entropy had begun their actions.

The originally estimated 10 hours would now be less than half, but it no longer mattered. The integration of the Honkai bomb and the Stigmata-inducing gene was nearing its end. Four hours?

Who told you the intercepted information was the truth?

The integration of the Honkai bomb and the Stigmata-inducing gene actually only required 3 hours. This meant that everyone had less than half an hour left. With the outbreak of a Honkai event at this moment, no one would be able to stop the Stigmata Project.

"Mist deployed, Stigmata Project enters countdown," Gray Serpent's muffled voice echoed through World Serpent's public channel.

Chapter 105: Save One Person or Save a City

Woo—

The whistle of the train was drawn out as it sped along. The high-speed monorail train roared past, kicking up a gale. No one noticed two figures descending from the monorail.

Then, in a blur, they vanished again.

On the tracks, the white-haired girl landed and, in the next instant, quickly used the momentum to leap to another spot. Mei followed closely, her toes lightly tapping on the monorail. Mei leaped high, chasing after Kiana.

"Kiana..." Under such high-speed pursuit, Mei's physical condition couldn't compare to Kiana's Herrscher form. Unconsciously, she had fallen far behind.

The significant expenditure of stamina caused Mei's vision to blur, making the white-haired girl's receding figure ahead seem indistinct. In a moment of daze, the image of Kiana leaving her flashed in her mind.

But she immediately cast aside the illusion, gritting her teeth and reaching out to grab a steel frame for leverage, forcefully propelling herself towards Kiana.

Whoosh~

However, the exhaustion of her stamina was something her will couldn't compensate for. Mei's legs buckled, and she almost lost her balance. Forcing herself to stand up again, she dared not pause, fearing that if she stopped, she would never catch up to Kiana's retreating figure.

Jumping down from a height again, this time luck was not on her side. The narrow steel frame only allowed her to steady one foot; the other slipped, and she instantly lost her balance, about to plummet to the ground.

Mei's body soared into the air. She reached out for a steel frame, but only managed to grasp its side, finding no leverage. All she could do was stare blankly at the sky as she plummeted rapidly toward the ground.

The feeling of weightlessness was unpleasant. Without anything to hold onto, it felt as though her will to live had vanished. Just as she braced for death, her body landed steadily in a pair of arms.

She looked up at Kiana, who was holding her, her eyes misting over.

"Kiana... Kiana, I thought you didn't want me anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Kiana gently set Mei down, helping her stand straight. She softly wiped away the tears from Mei's eyes, a helpless smile on her face.

Mei had never realized it before, but after being apart for so long, she seemed to have become even more dependent on Kiana. Kiana herself was just an ordinary girl who wanted to rely on others, even borrowing courage from them.

But her companion needed her support, so Kiana wouldn't hesitate for a moment.

The long journey had drained a lot of their energy. Supporting Mei, she sat down for a moment and looked up in the direction of the signal tower.

For some reason, even though the data indicated there was still over an hour before the bomb detonated, more than enough time for them to reach it, an ominous feeling gnawed at her.

As this feeling intensified, Fu Hua sensed something was wrong.

"The Honkai Energy concentration in the air is steadily increasing. While it hasn't reached a level that affects ordinary people yet, this is highly abnormal."

Just as Kiana was about to ask for details, a powerful burst of Honkai Energy erupted. The high concentration of Honkai Energy deliberately set by World Serpent quickly attracted Honkai Beasts.

Honkai?

This unforeseen development abruptly shattered all their plans. Kiana's expression changed, and her gaze shifted towards the hospital. As expected, an attack by Honkai Beasts had also broken out near the hospital.

"No!" Kiana's heart trembled, and a terrible premonition surfaced. Worse still, the Honkai Energy bomb at the signal tower seemed to be showing signs of activity, with the Honkai concentration continuously climbing.

"Something's wrong. If it's a bomb set to detonate in 4 hours, the Honkai Energy concentration shouldn't be increasing this early," Fu Hua analyzed the situation, but Kiana could barely hear her.

She stood up and took two steps towards the hospital. "No, I have to go back for him."