Raiden Mei: "I could tell too. Although Sirin was furious after learning the truth, she never truly intended to kill Lady Cecilia. Otherwise, neither she nor Z Siegfried could have escaped."
Kiana: "Then someone must have hidden the truth!"
Damn it. Kiana had always wondered why, when her mother had supposedly died in the Second Honkai War, the system's answer said she had only suffered minor injuries in battle.
So her mother had not died fighting the Herrscher at all!
Kiana: "Damn it! I'll definitely uncover the truth and get justice for Mom!"
Himeko Murata: "Mm, we'll help you too, Kiana."
They had clearly come so close to redeeming the Herrscher with love, yet Cecilia had still died in the Second Honkai War.
It was obviously difficult for everyone to accept such an ending.
Eden: "If the Honkai Beast called Benares hadn't died, perhaps the Herrscher really could have been redeemed."
Pardofelis: "When we fought the Honkai back then, I don't think we ever ran into anything like this. The idea of Honkai Beasts and Herrschers betraying the Honkai sounds unbelievable."
Elysia: "Put simply, wouldn't that make them traitors?"
Raiden Mei: "..."
Kiana: "..."
What did she mean, traitors?
Their resolve to fight for all that was beautiful in the world—could a Valkyrie's actions be called betrayal?
Pardofelis: "Looking at it that way, the Herrscher was actually pretty pitiful too. No one cared for her, no one loved her, and Cecilia won her over so easily."
Kiana: "That just proves my mom's charm was irresistible even to a Herrscher."
Himeko Murata: "But Kiana, if Sirin really acknowledged Cecilia as her mother, and Cecilia truly liked Sirin... doesn't that basically mean you gained a little sister?"
Kiana: "Uh... I guess so."
Himeko suddenly felt as though someone had stolen her candy.
But when she thought of the Sirin in the footage, of how desperately she longed for family and love...
At least she still had that smelly old dad. Yet even the tiny bit of precious love Sirin had received had only been a false illusion.
Since Mama Cecilia had acknowledged her as a daughter, Kiana was more than willing to accept this little sister.
Besides, having such a well-behaved and pretty little sister like Sirin did not seem so bad.
Kiana: "Then I'll just have one more little sister. I'm not that petty. We're both Herrschers of the Void, so long as she doesn't stand with the Honkai."
Elysia: "Eh? Really? I was going to say that if you didn't want this little sister, I would. She's such a cute girl, after all."
Kiana: "Pink Fairy, stay away from my Sirin!"
Damn it, what was wrong with this woman?
She had stolen Mei from her in the Previous Era Elysian Realm, and now she had her sights on Sirin. Was she deliberately trying to make things difficult for Kiana?
Act Three: Akainu, Immortal Crimson Bird.
In the footage, Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void, Bishop Otto, Cheng Lixue, and the Immortal Crimson Bird stood atop a high-rise building. The atmosphere was so oppressive that it seemed ready to explode at any moment.
"Otto, follow the plan. Let me fight her alone. None of you interfere."
Fu Hua undid the button at her collar, and the color of her hair began to change.
It turned into the interwoven red and white of the Immortal Crimson Bird.
"What? You only beat that trash Agata, and you're already getting full of yourself, insect!" Sirin said from across from Fu Hua.
They were merely a bunch of weak humans. Even if she had to fight three of them alone, she had nothing to fear.
"Bishop Otto, do we really not need to help Master?" Cheng Lixue looked toward the distant battlefield, her face full of worry.
"She alone is enough."
Otto stood hundreds of meters away, watching with an expression that said it had nothing to do with him.
He had complete confidence in the Immortal Crimson Bird's strength.
Within the domain of Fenghuang Down, the Immortal Crimson Bird could wield her greatest power. And when the strength she had lost five hundred years ago returned to her body, she became the undisputed strongest person in the world.
The strongest Immortal Crimson Bird.
Kiana: "Class Monitor Fu Hua?"
Elysia: "Hua?!!!"
Regarding the red-and-white-haired Immortal Crimson Bird in the footage, Kiana's group and the Flame-Chasers had very different opinions.
Pardofelis: "Wait, isn't the Fu Hua you mentioned the class monitor in Teacher Himeko's class? What does she have to do with Hua from our Thirteen Flame-Chasers?"
Raiden Mei: "I wanted to ask the same thing. Who is this Hua you keep mentioning? Isn't that my class monitor?"
No matter how they looked at it, they all felt that the Immortal Crimson Bird in the footage was the person they knew.
The same face, the same temperament, the same flatness.
One-Punch Fu Hua
Bronya: "If we rule out the possibility that they are the same person, then one side of us must have mistaken her for someone else."
Pardofelis: "But what if the Class Monitor Fu Hua you know and the Hua we know are the same person?"
Bronya: "Impossible. There is a full Fifty Thousand Years between the two eras, and our Class Monitor Fu Hua is still a young and beautiful maiden. The timelines simply do not match."
Eden: "That makes sense."
No matter how alike they were, after thinking it over, they all reached the same conclusion.
Fu Hua was not Hua!
After all, the Class Monitor Fu Hua Kiana and the others knew was merely an ordinary A-rank Valkyrie, nowhere near the level of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers.
Otherwise, how could she still be just an ordinary student at St. Freya Academy?
Himeko Murata: "But something is still wrong. The Immortal Crimson Bird in the footage participated in the Second Honkai War. Given Fu Hua's age, she could not possibly have experienced that event."
Raiden Mei: "So we guessed wrong?"
Theresa: "Definitely. The Immortal Crimson Bird is a legendary figure from Shenzhou. She has lived for at least five hundred years, and on top of that, she can fight the Herrscher of the Void. She absolutely cannot be Fu Hua."
After all, Theresa herself, the esteemed principal of St. Freya Academy and one of Schicksal's S-rank Valkyries, had not even been a match for the Herrscher of the Void.
Theresa absolutely refused to admit that Fu Hua was stronger than her.
Pardofelis: "No need to guess. I guarantee that person is Sister Hua. There's no mistake. My intuition can't be wrong."
Elysia: "At certain times, Pardo's intuition is exceptionally reliable. It seems we have already grasped the truth."
Kiana: "I'm curious. About how strong is this Hua you're talking about? Could she really fight the Herrscher of the Void alone like the one in the footage?"
Pardofelis: "Sister Hua ranked twelfth among us, one spot ahead of me. Of course, she was much stronger than I was. Even a hundred of me might not be able to beat Sister Hua."
Raiden Mei: "But I remember you said the same thing about Mobius before."
Pardofelis: "Well, what can I do? I'm the weakest among the Flame-Chasers. Nothing I can do about it."
Kiana: "..."
Perhaps it was just psychological, but the more Pardo claimed she was weak, the more everyone doubted her.
Tell us, Pardo. Were you acting this whole time?!
Theresa: "Then based on what you know, how long can the battle between the Immortal Crimson Bird and the Herrscher of the Void last?"
Pardofelis: "I'm not sure. I've never seen the full strength of the Herrscher of the Void from your era. But the battle should end soon enough."
Pardo watched the scene in the footage. Both the Immortal Crimson Bird and the Herrscher of the Void had already entered fighting form, ready to unleash attacks as fierce as a raging storm at any moment.
In the footage, Sirin unfolded the authority of the Herrscher of the Void. Her Imaginary Barrier surrounded her as she looked down on the Immortal Crimson Bird before her.
The next instant, Fu Hua threw a punch.
A mere fist, no matter how powerful or fast, would never catch Sirin's attention, because human attacks could not pass through the Imaginary Barrier.
But half a second after the Immortal Crimson Bird's attack struck the barrier, she realized she had been wrong.
Terribly wrong.
That was not an ordinary punch, but countless fist winds crashing down like a violent storm.
"What kind of joke is this?!"
Although the attacks barely hurt a Herrscher's body, she was thoroughly enraged.
"Get lost!!!"
Acting on instinct, Sirin unleashed the black mist of the Herrscher of Death.
The black mist could corrode everything around it, but it could never corrode the flames the Immortal Crimson Bird had burned for five thousand years.
"Inch-Punch: Heaven Splitter!"
Fu Hua drove her fist forward, striking Sirin squarely in the abdomen and shattering the defense she had been so proud of.
That solid Inch-Punch: Heaven Splitter nearly knocked Sirin unconscious on the spot, sending her straight to her knees.
The victor had been decided almost instantly.
Kiana: "Holy shit! That was Class Monitor Fu Hua's Inch-Punch: Heaven Splitter? But was that thing really that powerful? She one-shot a Herrscher with one punch?"
It was unbelievable.
Kiana had often seen Fu Hua practicing tai chi in the park, but its power was not even one ten-thousandth of the Immortal Crimson Bird's strike.
Bronya: "Bronya also finds it difficult to believe that a Herrscher could be defeated with nothing but fists."
Elysia: "That is the difference between users. The Hua I remember would have had no difficulty achieving something like that."
No matter how powerful a weapon was, it displayed different levels of strength in different hands.
Right, Theresa?
Himeko Murata: "Theresa, before you brag next time, you should really look at the Immortal Crimson Bird. That is what true dominance looks like. She knocked the Herrscher of the Void down with one punch."
Theresa: "I-I-I also played a huge role!"
Raiden Mei: "Let's put the principal's matter aside for now. I'm curious why our class monitor knows how to use the Immortal Crimson Bird's Inch-Punch: Heaven Splitter. Do they really have no connection at all?"
Seeing Theresa about to bury herself in shame, Mei hurriedly changed the subject while voicing the doubt in her heart.
Bronya: "There must be some connection, but Bronya does not believe that Class Monitor is the Immortal Crimson Bird. The difference in strength is far too great."
Theresa: "What is there to be confused about? The Immortal Crimson Bird is a legendary figure from Shenzhou, and Fu Hua also happens to be from Shenzhou. Maybe she got lucky and learned a few of the Immortal Crimson Bird's secret techniques. That would be perfectly reasonable, wouldn't it?"
Himeko Murata: "Analyzed that way, there really is nothing wrong with it."
Kiana: "For now, that's all we can assume. We can ask Class Monitor next time we get the chance."
Himeko Murata and Bronya exchanged a glance, silently burying their doubts in their hearts.
If Fu Hua was not the Immortal Crimson Bird, then that would be for the best.
But if she was the Immortal Crimson Bird, then Fu Hua must have had some unspeakable secret for coming to St. Freya Academy.
Bronya: "Pardo, can you tell us more about Hua from your Thirteen Flame-Chasers?"
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.
Bronya had already begun trying to see whether she could get some information about the Immortal Crimson Bird from Pardo and the others.
That punch which had instantly defeated a Herrscher was enough to prove that they could not afford to underestimate her.
Pardofelis: "You mean Sister Hua? She was incredible. A Mental Fusion Warrior. Although she usually didn't talk much, she was one of the most proactive among us when it came to fighting Honkai Beasts."
Theresa: "Wait, you call that a Mental Fusion Warrior?"
If they had not seen wrong just now, the Immortal Crimson Bird had punched the Herrscher of the Void straight to her knees, hadn't she?
If they understood correctly, Mental-type fighters were supposed to be mages—fragile types who could not fight in close combat.
Did people from the Previous Era have some kind of misunderstanding about Mental-type fighters?
Masked Man, Actor Otto
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