Stairway to Heaven / The Returning Stand User

Every word Qin Mo said had been sincere, without the slightest lie. Although survival had been his first priority, after gaining power, he truly had wanted to change this story that was destined to end in tragedy.

After saying all that, Qin Mo felt deeply conflicted. He did not know how Mei would see him.

He knew what he had been doing all along: taking advantage of her vulnerability to worm his way in, earn her trust, and even change his own original fate.

Although he had never harmed them, his initial purpose had only been to complete his mission. In a sense, he had taken advantage of someone else's trust.

"Thank you, Qin Mo..."

Qin Mo had already prepared himself to be blamed, but unexpectedly, what he received was Mei's gratitude.

"Why are you thanking me?"

Instead of answering Qin Mo's question, Mei asked, "In the future Qin Mo knows about, what was our relationship?"

How many times did he have to say it?! Don't answer a question with another question!

Though that was what he thought, Qin Mo still spoke with a trace of emotion. "I knew of you, but you didn't know me. You were the famous Herrscher of Thunder and Herrscher of the Void. Anyone who knew about Honkai knew about you. Even after becoming Herrschers, you were heroes who kept fighting Honkai for humanity."

In an instant, Raiden Mei imagined many things. Qin Mo had merely wanted Mei to know that she and Kiana would eventually gain control of their Herrscher powers, so she would not need to worry. Yet Mei interpreted it as the admiration of a once insignificant person toward the two of them—a person who had witnessed countless tragedies, hated his own helplessness, and after returning to the past and gaining power, chose first and foremost to prevent those tragedies, enduring suffering without fear to come to her side.

The students around her had isolated and rejected her, and she had nearly lost the will to live, like a cherry tree left uncared for until it withered away.

It was precisely Qin Mo's appearance that had breathed vitality into that dying cherry tree, allowing it to bloom with different flowers once more.

"You won't fight alone. I will always be by your side."

Qin Mo stared blankly at Mei, who had leaned against his chest and wrapped her arms around him.

What was going on?????

The Stairway to Heaven

Morning, morning, morning, morning, Morioh-chou Radio, we love Morioh-chou~

To the melodious music of Morioh's radio station, Yoshikage Kira leisurely prepared his breakfast for the day.

Winter's chill had faded, and warm sunlight once again shone upon the land of Morioh.

Having just graduated from D Academy, Yoshikage Kira had returned to his hometown—Morioh—during the winter season.

Morioh lay on the outskirts of S City, a remote little town by the sea.

The townspeople had no faith and did not appear particularly warm or hospitable, but once one got to know them, it became clear that they were all easygoing people.

Yoshikage Kira liked this place.

Not only because it was his hometown, but also because its peaceful atmosphere suited the plant-like life he had always pursued.

Once this period of rest ended, Yoshikage Kira would have to go to work in neighboring S City.

Although he loved staying at home most of all, Yoshikage Kira knew that he could not act too differently from everyone else. He hid his exceptional intelligence and abilities, treated others with gentleness and humility, and had always maintained third place during school. Even after entering the workforce, he maintained the identity of an ordinary office worker.

"Kira, we're almost out of eggs. Pick some up on your way back later."

Yoshikage Kira's Father opened the refrigerator in the kitchen, took out two eggs, and spoke.

"I understand."

"Oh, right, Kira. Don't expose that Stand of yours to anyone. The person who gave this old man the arrow was supposedly killed, though the investigation probably won't reach us."

Yoshikage Kira's Father suddenly remembered something and spoke.

Yoshikage Kira nodded. He only wanted to live a peaceful, plant-like life. Though his uncontrollable perverse fetishes and desire to kill had been growing day by day, after gaining the strange power called a Stand, he no longer needed to sneak into people's homes and slaughter entire families as he once had.

After washing up and putting on a proper suit, Yoshikage Kira headed toward Kameyu Department Store, the largest store near Morioh.

People on the street hurried back and forth on their way to work. Yoshikage Kira strolled beneath the shade of the trees while searching for suitable prey.

The Stand known as Killer Queen could erase prey perfectly, leaving behind no trace whatsoever except for the hands he wanted. Ever since gaining this power, he no longer had to worry about his murders being discovered.

Having returned to Morioh this time, Yoshikage Kira decided to choose a target he liked in celebration of coming home.

Hmm? That girl's hands looked rather nice.

Fair and smooth, white as jade—merely seeing them made his heart stir...

That was right. Yoshikage Kira was a pure hand fetishist!

Unlike other people, hands were the only thing he liked, and he also possessed an uncontrollable urge to kill.

"A foreigner?"

The owner of those beautiful hands sat in a café not far away. Her hair was as white as the bright moon, and she was speaking with a black-haired girl across from her.

Ah, he had not noticed just now, but the hands across from her were beautiful too...

What a pity. His heart already belonged elsewhere.

What should he do? Go strike up a conversation? Forget it, too troublesome. If they were only two girls, perhaps following them and enjoying the feeling of having one in each arm would not be bad?

Just as Yoshikage Kira was calculating in his heart, a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Sir, what business do you have with my girls?"

A male voice came from behind Yoshikage Kira, making his heart jolt.

So there were other people?

But it was no problem. If there were three of them, he only needed to wait until no one else was around and deal with them all at once.

Filled with confidence born from his new power, Yoshikage Kira was completely unafraid.

There were other people around right now. He would brush him off first.

Yoshikage Kira silently worked out a response in his mind. Just as he was about to turn around and give a perfunctory reply, his body became unable to move.

What was going on?!

Having merely acquired a Stand ability without ever experiencing Stand combat, Yoshikage Kira did not realize that he had been affected by a Stand ability.

"This is... what..."

As he watched two DISC slowly emerge from his head, Yoshikage Kira gradually lost consciousness.

Ordinary people nearby could not see the extracted DISCs. After having White Snake pull them out, Qin Mo helped Yoshikage Kira onto a nearby bench, making him look as though he was resting, then removed Killer Queen's DISC from among the two DISCs.

"A second Stand ability."

This had been Qin Mo's purpose in coming here. Originally, he had only intended to use White Snake to obtain Killer Queen's Stand and give it to someone he trusted, or use it himself temporarily.

But the appearance of Heaven's Gate had disrupted his plan—or rather, improved it even further.

Heaven's Gate could completely transform Stand abilities into his own powers.

The disc drive on Qin Mo's left arm popped open, and he inserted Killer Queen's Stand disc. Killer Queen's image appeared on the screen upon Heaven's Gate.

"It can use two abilities at the same time?"

White Snake's image appeared on the screen on the back of his left hand, while Killer Queen's image appeared on the back of his right hand.

"If we're going by the screens, then... can I use up to five abilities at once?"

After directing Heaven's Gate to test it, Qin Mo discovered that they could not be considered fully simultaneous. His left hand could only use White Snake's ability, while his right hand could only use Killer Queen's ability.

"Is it because both abilities require contact to activate?"

Looking at the screens on his two shoulders and forehead, which displayed no images, Qin Mo did not know whether five was the maximum number of abilities that could be stored, or merely the maximum number that could be used simultaneously.

Qin Mo was more inclined toward the latter, because Heaven's Gate could hide the images of the two Stands at any time to stop using those abilities, or switch the arms through which they took effect.

In that case, if an ability required hands to activate, he could only use two at the same time. But if an ability did not require hands to activate, it could function through the other screens.

For example, Dio's time stop.

"Go turn yourself in..."

After checking Yoshikage Kira's memories for the location of his home, Qin Mo inserted a command DISC he had made and Yoshikage Kira's own DISC into his head.

The command was simple, with only one instruction: turn himself in and reveal every one of his crimes to the public.

Qin Mo glanced at Mei and Kiana, who were still drinking coffee in the distance and had not noticed anything here, then turned and continued toward the Kira residence.

Since he had come here, Qin Mo naturally did not intend to deal with only one person. There were not many Stand users in town at the moment, but there were two people Qin Mo would not feel guilty about targeting.

They were Yoshikage Kira and Yoshikage Kira's Father...

Compared to Yoshikage Kira, Yoshikage Kira's Father's Stand possessed no combat ability at all. To Qin Mo, this Stand ability could only be used as an attribute for Heaven's Gate.

The Return of the Stand User

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, three figures suddenly appeared atop the empty school building.

"I'm back!"

Looking at the familiar city and sensing the familiar Honkai Energy around her, Kiana felt her body fill with power.

Though the effect had not been severe while they were in another world, Kiana could still feel the Honkai Energy in her body slowly draining away. The loss was not fatal, but it still left her with a sense of weakness.

"We're... back again."

A city of Honkai was a feast of revelry for Honkai Beasts.

Every Great Eruption was a celebration for the birth of a Herrscher, an apostle of the gods, and the Honkai Beasts within those celebrations would become the most loyal soldiers beneath the Herrscher's command.

Unfortunately, this time, the Herrscher had already been taken away.

"There is no time to brood over it. We need to escape this city as quickly as possible."

The three had not been gone long. For this world, they had only been absent for a little over an hour, so the situation around them had not changed much. Moreover, the concentration of Honkai Energy in the air was extremely high.

Not to mention Mei, even the Herrscher of the Void within Kiana would secretly absorb the surrounding Honkai Energy in this environment in an attempt to revive.

And less than a minute after returning, Honkai sickness patterns had already begun spreading over Qin Mo's body.

All things considered, remaining in Chang Kong City for too long was not a good thing for any of the three.

"Yeah, Mei, Qin Mo, let's get moving. I can already see zombies approaching."

Originally, no zombies had dared approach the rooftop because of the Herrscher of Thunder's power. But with the Herrscher of Thunder gone and another hour having passed, the surrounding zombies had gradually begun converging upon this empty area.

Not to mention that this was the school's teaching building. Going down from the rooftop meant they would inevitably encounter many enemies.

"I'll clear the way."

Heaven's Gate appeared beside Qin Mo. Qin Mo also placed Dance of Fine Snow into his equipment slot, and the ice-blue katana appeared in his right hand. Yet after looking at it, Qin Mo still turned toward Kiana.

"Kiana, give me Impact Steel. I'm not good with a katana."

Compared to a katana that required skill, Impact Steel—which could unleash its power with nothing more than punches—suited Qin Mo better. In Qin Mo's hands, the katana could only be used for wild slashing.

"No way!"

Kiana refused without hesitation. Impact Steel, transformed into gauntlets and leg gear, appeared on her body, and she simultaneously drew a black-and-white pair of pistols from her waist.

After dealing with Morioh, the three had rested briefly for a few days. Before returning, Qin Mo had used the funds provided by SPW to prepare supplies for surviving in Chang Kong City, while the two girls recovered the weapons Qin Mo had kept in his inventory.

"Qin Mo, your body is already in a lot of pain, isn't it? Honkai Energy may not be able to kill you, but the corrosion and pain won't lessen."

Kiana looked worriedly at the purple markings that had begun slowly spreading across Qin Mo's body. Perhaps because he had already been completely corroded by Honkai Energy once and gained a little resistance—or adaptability—the corrosion this time was not as fast as before.

But this degree of corrosion was still fatal. Unfortunately, because of the Dog Talisman, anything capable of killing Qin Mo could not produce its intended effect.

Therefore, Honkai Energy's corrosion could only bring Qin Mo enormous pain. It could not even properly inflict crippling effects.

"That's right, Qin Mo. Leave the enemies along the way to Kiana and me. Your body..."

Mei tried to use Crazy Diamond to heal Qin Mo, but Honkai Energy corrosion was not an injury, so Crazy Diamond's ability had no effect on it.

Qin Mo still wanted to say something, but Kiana had already rushed out.

"It's Kiana time!"

With one kick, Kiana burst through the loosely shut rooftop door. Holding her twin pistols, she charged downstairs and began fighting the zombies drawn over by the noise—in the literal sense.

After fusing with the body, Impact Steel increased physical ability and resilience. Combined with the fact that Kiana had previously needed to conserve ammunition and had already grown accustomed to attacking with kicks while using pistols for support.