Sky Meteor

Body was already approaching its limit, and Kiana's consciousness even began to blur, as the corrosion from the Herrscher of Void constantly disrupted her thoughts. The more she used the Herrscher's abilities, the faster that corrosion arrived.

The four-pointed star on her right eye, symbolizing the authority of the Herrscher of Void, grew increasingly bright, and even her sapphire-like left eye unknowingly took on a tinge of gold.

In the confrontation against the Herrscher of Void, Kiana could no longer maintain absolute self-awareness, and the Herrscher's authority was spiraling out of control.

Mottled Honkai Energy rapidly gathered around her. The Honkai Energy that ordinarily behaved as docilely as a child in her Herrscher state was now impenetrable and harsh in Kiana's hands.

The continuously gathering Honkai Energy gradually formed Spears of the Void and wings of light behind her, and her attire was likewise shifting toward that of the Herrscher of Void, with four peculiar skirt-tails rapidly spreading and fluttering.

Upon those skirt-tails, bizarre eyeballs flashed with black lightning, and the eerie power from the Imaginary Space seemed to be peering into this world.

The huge pillar of light arranged by Su Jue illuminated the horizon like a searchlight, and likewise illuminated Kiana's figure as she desperately sent the Honkai Bomb up into the sky.

Within the chaotic city, countless fleeing citizens finally realized that someone was saving them. They gradually stopped in their tracks, raising their heads as if witnessing a miracle.

"That's a magical girl saving the world, she's saving us." The simpler children didn't have so many scruples. Seeing Kiana flying toward the sky, they immediately cried out. Whether they had been saved by Su Jue or simply read manga, they all knew that a magical girl was saving the world.

"Mom, let's lend our light to Kiana together."

*"..."* The childish behavior of the children did not cause much of a reaction, but the figure flying in the sky was real indeed, and the supernatural power of this world was finally exposed to the vision of ordinary people.

The magical girl of light did not exist, but right now someone was truly saving this city and passing hope on to everyone.

Unawares, the adults who had originally sneered at the light began to silently pray that the girl in the sky could fly higher.

Meanwhile, Anti-Entropy, Schicksal, World Serpent—every organization related to Honkai saw Kiana in the sky through their respective channels.

Upon recognizing that the girl struggling to push the Honkai Bomb into the sky was none of other than the Herrscher of Void, some people wore faces full of anger, some were in disbelief, and some paced back and forth while cursing loudly, but after all, there were still some people who revealed expressions of admiration.

Although their stances differed, as long as it was for the survival of human civilization, no matter what her identity was, she was a hero of mankind.

"Another Herrscher fighting for humanity?"

At Schicksal headquarters, Otto looked at Kiana in the image and revealed an enigmatic smile.

Chapter 111: Sky Meteor

Above the high heavens, profound silence reigned.

At an altitude of several thousand meters, the cloud layer had already been left far below, and here there was only a realm of absolute emptiness.

Without the obstruction of the clouds, the starlight across the sky began to vie in flashing their brilliance. They looked down upon Kiana, seeming to wonder at her actions.

Blood was still flowing continuously from her wounds, and the intense pain spreading all over her body was gradually disappearing. Kiana knew very well that was a precursor to her body completely losing sensation.

"Higher, higher still..." Even though her consciousness was already blurred, Kiana still repeated it unceasingly.

The Honkai Energy within her body had completely drained away, and even the authority of the Herrscher of Void had reached its limit; the wings of light vanished into pale purple particles of light.

Finally, the meteor falling toward the sky had reached its end after all.

Yet this was still far from enough...

In this void, she seemed to have returned to the time of her initial wandering. Like a stray dog, she had wandered alone in the corners of the city, hiding in filthy sewers to pass the long, dark nights.

So I've always been all alone?

Her consciousness began to blur, and she could not even see the Honkai Bomb close at hand very clearly. A intense wave of sadness washed over her, engulfing her like a tidal wave.

Negative emotions were the best nourishment for a Herrscher. In the process of confronting the Herrscher of Void, a fraction of sadness was enough to tear open a crack in the soul.

Sirin's consciousness quickly discovered the loophole appearing in Kiana's conscious space, breaking through the originally unbreakable mental barrier in just a single instant.

"Fragile humans are bound by emotions after all."

Sirin, having recovered her self, finally entered the conscious space. Next, as long as she corroded this place slightly, Kiana would completely degenerate into a vessel for the Herrscher of Void.

Yet the moment she just entered the conscious space, she sensed something was amiss. Here it was entirely pitch-black and void, save for a strange theater swaying amidst suspended threads.

A youth holding a great sword of flames stood in the center of the theater, seeming somewhat surprised by Sirin's appearance.

"Sorry, Herrscher of Void, we're fully booked here."

"?" Before Sirin even had time to react, her consciousness plunged into darkness once again.

Just as Su Jue and Sirin successively invaded Kiana's conscious space, Kiana had already fallen into remorse over her past self.

"Teacher Himeko..." Without a doubt, the thing that hurt Kiana the most was the matter of killing Himeko; even her encounter with Su Jue had not completely unknotted this emotional entanglement. "I'm sorry..."

"No need to apologize, Kiana, you have grown." Just as Kiana's consciousness was about to dissipate, a hallucination still appeared before her eyes; she seemed to see Teacher Himeko accompanying her by her side.

Only, this hallucination seemed a bit too real. Not only was there a sense of touch, but even the scent of Teacher Himeko's body, her breathing, and her body temperature all seemed to truly exist by her side.

"You've already managed it—turning this imperfect world into what we hoped it would be."

Himeko in the hallucination smiled at her. Kiana suddenly felt like crying; knowing full well this was just a hallucination, why did she... still want to embrace her one more time?

Just as she was thinking this, a warm embrace enveloped her. Himeko hugged Kiana, who was still desperately holding up the bomb.

Everything Kiana had done in Sky City—aside from what Su Jue deliberately concealed—Himeko already knew entirely, and naturally she witnessed Kiana's growth.

The Herrscher was right, you're already a big kid.

Himeko loosened her hands, her body gradually flying backward.

After all, this was just Kiana's [hallucination] right now; if her physical body stayed by her side too long, even though Kiana's consciousness was already blurred, she would definitely be discovered.

Himeko's appearance finally caused Kiana's emotional knot to dissipate. Although still in pain, Kiana still revealed a smile.

"Mm, Teacher Himeko, this is my promise."

Her altitude had reached its limit. Kiana used her final ounce of strength, pushing the Honkai Bomb fiercely upward.

Then came blinding white light, and tens of thousands of mega-watts of Honkai Energy erupted without reservation. Even the starry sky was masked by this grand explosion; the intense shock wave wiped out all the cloud layers in a split second, and even cities hundreds of kilometers away could see that cleared-out blank region.

Yet at such an altitude, Sky City would suffer the impact of Honkai. Thus Kiana made a crazy decision: she would shoulder all the Honkai Energy directed toward the ground by herself, and this was true salvation.

Was the Stigma Project—that plan of sacrificing the majority of humanity to preserve the seeds of civilization—truly salvation?

Kiana gave her answer: true salvation did not require sacrificing anyone at all.

"I'm sorry, Su Jue, it seems I'm going to break my promise."

Excessive Honkai Energy had completely destroyed Kiana's bodily functions, and she could no longer perceive any feedback—no touch, no smell, no taste. Gradually, even her hearing vanished.

Her body fell from an altitude of thousands of meters, resembling a meteor streaking across the night sky.

In her mind, that night on the grassland gradually surfaced, with the swing swaying unceasingly. The two of them sat upon the swing, flying higher and higher, the twinkling stars across the sky almost within arm's reach.

Yet now the starry sky was right before her eyes. The girl reached out her hand; what she wanted to grasp was not the starry sky, but the boy's hand.

Goodbye.

Her vision was likewise gradually stripped away, and darkness invaded, swallowing everything whole.

The very instant her sight completely vanished, she seemed to see the gray-haired youth falling down together with her.

Two hands gripped tightly together.

"Mom, is that a shooting star?"

"No, that's a hero."

Just as Su Jue and Kiana transformed into meteors plummeting from the sky, Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, Durandal, finally arrived in Sky City as well. Wielding the Black Abyss White Flower, she stood quietly atop a tall building, gazing at the stars streaking across the sky in the distance, wondering what she was thinking.

Rita, who was leading the Blade of Immortality squad and preparing to meet with Durandal, likewise saw the meteor in the sky, and a smile hooked the corner of her lips.

"Not just a Herrscher, but a hero too? Miss Kiana."

Mei, who was likewise gazing intently at the sky, was not nearly as at ease. At this moment her face was full of worry; although the Kiana Organization had promised to ensure Kiana's safety, how could she possibly let her heart rest?

By the time she hurried to the hospital, the Honkai had long since subsided, and as for the person Kiana wanted her to save, she hadn't seen her either. Now that Kiana had personally detonated the Honkai Bomb, she could no longer care about so much and rapidly rushed toward the direction where the meteor had fallen.

Meanwhile, the mission information from Kiana Organization had also arrived.

"Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, Durandal, intends to capture Kiana, and will immediately conduct inhumane experiments upon catching her. You must rescue her."

Chapter 112: 5 Cores

Within the gloomy theater, the creaking of puppets in motion echoed. A dim, faint light spilled down from above the theater, gently caressing the girl lying within it.

The girl was serene and beautiful, like the most dazzling gem in the world slumbering.

Below the theater, a massive number of puppets stood erect in the audience seats. Some of them had bizarre postures, some feigned calmness, some were like frantic believers worshiping their deity, and others merely stood in place—colloquially known as taciturn knights guarding the girl's peace.

Here was actually not the Imaginary Space; the entire theater was constructed by Su Jue through Kiana's conscious space and the power of Feather Dust.

The Honkai Bomb was intentionally detonated by him, and naturally he knew how dangerous this thing was; the corrosion from Honkai and the Herrscher would likely destroy Kiana's consciousness immediately.

Before detonating the bomb, he not only used the threads of domination to carefully control the bomb's detonation time and intensity, but also preemptively introduced his own Herrscher of Domination authority into the conscious space.

During the previous rescue of Kiana, he had discovered that the girl's inner mind held almost no defensive vigilance toward him, which was why he had been able to successfully modify the conscious space. All of this was to prevent Honkai from taking advantage of the void to corrode the girl's soul.

Sirin's Herrscher consciousness could pollute Kiana, but facing a clear-headed and rational Herrscher of Domination, she possessed not a shred of possibility for success.

Now that Kiana had lost her five senses and plunged into slumber, this Theater of Domination would become the best barrier to protect her, capable not only of helping her shoulder the Honkai corrosion, but also of preventing the intrusion of the Herrscher consciousness. As long as it wasn't an existence specializing in consciousness like the Herrscher of Sentience, no one could cross Su Jue's protection to harm Kiana's mind.

Yet this theater was both protection and imprisonment.

Before Kiana awakened, the theater would continuously extract her Herrscher authority, including the power of the gems within her body, which would likewise be pilfered by Domination.

Upon the stage of this theater, in the locations not illuminated by the lights, after confirming that Kiana was entirely without issue, Su Jue turned and left. Yet as he departed, the Sword of God's Fall, which had been reduced to a mere hilt, gradually radiated a red glow, followed by a surging eruption of roaring flames.

Endless threads began to entwine and spread. The Serenity Gem representing death and genesis, the Conquest Gem representing thunder and roaring, and the Plague Gem representing fire and destruction were enveloped and wrapped by the threads, thereafter being continuously pilfered.

Su Jue did not touch the core belonging to the Herrscher of Void, instead choosing to forge a pseudo-core just like last time—though this time he directly fused the pseudo-core with the core of the Thousand Herrscher, making its might far more powerful than before.

Coupled with the Herrscher of Domination authority possessed by Su Jue himself, it ultimately constructed the eternal and undying Flamescion greatsword.

Even if the darkness be ever so long, I shall light up the distant sky for you and illuminate the path home.

"Kiana, when you wake up, you will find this world has changed. But don't worry, I will accompany you by your side forever."

Low, murmuring whispers echoed in the theater, and all the puppets lowered their heads one after another, just like warriors about to march into battle, respectfully welcoming their commander.

"Even if it is in a manner you dislike."

Within Sky City, after the Honkai Bomb was detonated, the crisis was finally temporarily resolved. The authorities of Shenzhou immediately began organizing rescue efforts, and the survivors who had previously scrambled to flee were ultimately compelled by official force to evacuate obediently according to plan, avoiding stampede incidents from occurring.

The adults wore faces full of worry, and the children harbored hearts full of yearning, yet ultimately no one dared to pursue that meteor falling from the sky.

She was the hero of salvation, but we were all merely ordinary people.

While everyone was evacuating toward the shelters, Rita and Mei were swimming against the current, rushing toward the direction where the Herrscher of Void had fallen.

Durandal's arrival undoubtedly signified the absolute entry of Schicksal's forces. Under the deterrence of the strongest Valkyrie, both World Serpent and Anti-Entropy had to temporarily step back and avoid the sharp edge.

The remaining members of the Blade of Immortality rapidly converged toward the direction of their captain, yet Rita's heart still harbored some worry. The people of World Serpent had already retreated, but that woman named Crimson Snake had yet to appear.

If it truly was as she surmised—that Crimson Snake was a backup plan cultivated by the Herrscher of Void—then she would inevitably launch a rescue once Kiana was heavily injured.

"I won't let you interfere with Lord Durandal." Rita whispered softly, her icy-cold frost scythe sketching a gleam of light in the air before halting.

Ahead of her, the young woman leaned sideways against a streetlight, her vibrant, fiery long hair gently fluttering with the evening breeze.

Pinned to her exquisite long dress was a decorative corsage, a black shawl with white-bordered patterns draped casually over her shoulders, and her fair fingers held a glass of red wine, her moist lips still stained with traces of wine. She looked like an elegant noblewoman who had just stepped out of a ballroom event—if not for the great sword resting by her feet.

"Good evening, Rita Rossweisse." Beneath the pure white mask, a bizarre smile hooked the corner of her lips as Himeko raised her head slightly, meeting Rita's gaze.

For some reason, seeing the appearance of this woman with her own eyes actually made Rita heave a sigh of relief. This individual's background was far too mysterious; she had originally thought her to be a World Serpent cadre, yet she repeatedly lured the two sides into open warfare while she herself fished in troubled waters.

Rita was not afraid of combat, nor would her mindset lose balance simply because she had been backstabbed once. Now that Durandal had arrived, as long as she pinned this woman down, victory would inevitably belong to Schicksal.

"Crimson Snake? This shouldn't be your real codename, right? Might you tell me your real name? That way, perhaps we could save quite a bit of time when you undergo Schicksal's interrogation." An icy aura began to spread, and the Honkai Energy within her body became quite dangerous under the amplification of the Umbral Rose battle suit.

Hearing Rita's voice, Himeko couldn't help but laugh. Although this wasn't her first time fighting Rita, the opponent's trash talk before every battle and her overturning her vehicle after the battle still amused her somewhat.

"Then I really am somewhat worried, seeing as I'm facing Schicksal's S-Rank. How could a cannon fodder like me who crawled out from who-knows-what obscure corner possibly defeat Lady Rita?" While speaking in a terrified and uneasy tone, she simultaneously fished out from her clothing pocket the artificial eye she had snatched from Rita last time.

It wasn't like she couldn't talk trash; Himeko had never been afraid of anyone—save for a certain Herrscher.

In any case, both of them knew well in their hearts that the center of gravity of the battlefield was not here at all.

Himeko's taunt caused Rita's blood pressure to spike somewhat, but although Himeko was merely an A-Rank, her combat experience was exceptionally rich. It wouldn't be simple for Rita to take her down; better to chat a bit more and see if she could extract the opponent's intelligence.

Just as Himeko intercepted Rita, members of the Blade of Immortality across various parts of the city were also attacked by unidentified personnel. They wore varying attire, yet shared a single identical emblem.

The Kiana Mark.