"The mist around you is materialized Honkai Energy!"
PS: Has nobody read Touhou Immortal Records? It was the first book that got me into Shuke.
You Smell Like Big Brother
For Theresa, today should have been another repetitive day, just like the past four thousand-odd days. Left at home by her sister, Theresa ordered takeout and planned to watch cartoons while eating, quietly getting through another plain, peaceful evening.
But to her surprise, the delivery sister's appearance caught her attention the very instant she saw her.
Silver hair in twin braids, azure-blue pupils—especially her face, which looked so much like her sister's. Theresa could not help but take notice.
But after getting closer, she first sensed fluctuations of Honkai Energy from her, then caught the scent of the big brother Theresa had wanted to thank for days but had never encountered again at the supermarket.
After the delivery sister left, countless thoughts emerged in Theresa's little head. First, there was the matter of Honkai Energy, then the woman's appearance. Theresa could not help thinking of the place she and her sister had finally escaped from, as well as the "grandfather" who had created them.
Theresa also knew that people emitting Honkai Energy were not easy to deal with. According to her sister's instructions, she should have stayed at home.
But when she thought of Kiana carrying Mo Yi's scent, Theresa could not help worrying that he might be harmed. After all, that delivery sister smelled of Honkai Energy.
After struggling for a while, Theresa pocketed the hundred-yuan bill that still carried the kind big brother's scent. For the first time, she left home alone without her sister accompanying her. Relying on her keen sense of smell, Theresa quickly tracked down Kiana.
Although Kiana's driving skills were superb, Theresa was even faster. Her red mist wings allowed her to fly and hover briefly, and her smaller body encountered less air resistance.
In truth, Theresa had never figured out how to deal with Kiana, this suspicious delivery sister. She had thought that following her might lead her to news of the kind big brother. After all, she had not smelled blood on Kiana, so Big Brother should not have been attacked by her.
Of course, there was also the possibility of a long-range attack, where blood would not have splattered onto her.
With her extraordinary sense of smell, she had already memorized Mo Yi's scent. As long as she got close enough, she could find him.
But things did not unfold as she had imagined. Kiana kept wandering around instead of heading home, occasionally speeding up. After this happened several times, Theresa suspected that Kiana had discovered her.
It was not until Kiana entered this little grove and threw a lunchbox bomb at her, confirming Theresa's suspicion that she had been discovered, that Theresa stopped hiding and jumped out directly.
Honkai Energy was inherently an extremely violent energy, yet Kiana could sense that the red mist, whose essence was materialized Honkai Energy, was in an exceptionally tranquil state. The unease in her heart intensified. This was clearly a sign of complete control over Honkai Energy. Even she, with her unknown talent that made her immune to Honkai Energy corruption, could not achieve something so terrifying.
A person's strength could be measured in many ways, and control over one's power was a very important indicator.
Having once traveled all over the world, fighting monsters and avoiding all kinds of dangers, Kiana quickly realized that this opponent was likely far stronger than herself.
"What do you want by following me?"
As Kiana forced herself to calm down, her eyes scanned the surroundings and calculated the most suitable escape route. At the same time, she asked her question, hoping to divert the other party's attention.
"You smell like Big Brother—"
Though she was not young, Theresa had been kept at home by her sister for a long time and had not received much information from the outside world, so she was very straightforward. She first displayed her strength to tell Kiana that she was no ordinary person, and that escape or rashly attacking her would be pointless. Upon hearing Kiana's question, she directly voiced the doubt in her heart.
"Where is he?"
Perhaps because she had not communicated with people for a long time, Theresa's tone sounded somewhat cold. Combined with her brief, unexplained words, Kiana heard them as an obvious indication that Theresa was looking to cause trouble for the Big Brother she mentioned.
"The scent on me?"
After hearing Theresa's words, Kiana quickly guessed that the Big Brother she referred to was probably Mo Yi.
When she delivered food, her nimble and agile movements gave strangers no chance to touch her, so she naturally would not have carried anyone else's scent.
The only person who could have left a scent on her was Mo Yi, who lived with her, occasionally argued with her, and sometimes had pillow fights with her.
Feeling that she had grasped the truth, Kiana asked in a grave tone:
"Is Mo Yi your target?"
"Hm?"
Theresa asked in return:
"So Big Brother's name is Mo Yi. Theresa will remember that."
Kiana: "..."
This was bad. She seemed to have done something stupid and revealed Mo Yi's name to a Honkai Messenger who apparently harbored ill intentions toward him.
In Kiana's mind, someone who followed her and was also a Honkai Messenger like Theresa was countless times more likely to be a bad person than a good one!
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Kiana denied it.
"I don't want to waste any more time here talking to you. And stop following me."
Although she knew the chances of the other party letting her leave were low, what if it worked?
Theresa noticed that Kiana seemed to intend to flee. Part of the red mist swirling around her separated and formed a pair of enormous red mist wings behind her, completely disproportionate to her petite body.
Flying in the air, Theresa looked down at Kiana and spoke in the same slightly cold tone. "Until you tell me about Big Brother, don't even think about running away, delivery sister."
Looking at the massive wings behind her, at the sharp feather-like spikes formed from red mist, Kiana knew those huge chicken wings were not merely for flight. They could also serve as a spiked shield, and might even fire those long, sharp red mist spikes as a ranged attack.
"There's only one chance—"
Kiana specialized in speed, and with only a pair of low-powered pistols on her, she could not possibly confront Theresa head-on. At this moment, Theresa's sheer presence alone far surpassed hers, and Theresa could both attack and defend.
Therefore, Kiana had no intention of staying to fight her for long.
"Space-Time Rift—"
At that instant, Kiana went all out. She simultaneously mobilized Honkai Energy and Aura, activating her innate skill, Space-Time Rift. She accelerated in an instant, swiftly and skillfully drawing her dual pistols from behind her waist. She infused the specially made guns with Honkai Energy and Aura, then rapidly fired a barrage of energy bullets carrying both at Theresa, who seemed frozen in midair.
After unleashing the greatest burst of firepower she could manage in that instant, Kiana turned and sprinted madly along the escape route she had planned beforehand. She had no time to see whether her attack had worked.
Under the effect of Void Space, this entire series of movements was smoothly completed within a single second.
Just as Kiana, who had already run out of the grove, expected, her rapid-fire attack was blocked before it could even approach Theresa in midair. The red mist swirling around Theresa, as though it possessed a will of its own, automatically shifted into shields and blocked every shot. Aside from delaying Theresa by a few seconds, it dealt no damage at all.
Theresa's little nose twitched, instantly catching Kiana's scent lingering in the air. She muttered, "Delivery sister, you can't run away—"
PS: Go, delivery sister! By the way, what are Kiana's Hot Spring Incident and NEET Princess's Bizarre Adventure? I can't find them through a mobile browser search.
Pufferfish: Rejoice, This Is the Power of God!
Before you continue