In the distance, there was nothing but ruins. Up close, more ruins. The empty, desolate city was swept by a breeze, carrying with it the deadly Honkai Energy.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
In the sky, tens of thousands of small, bird-sized flying Honkai beasts formed flocks, their piercing cries mingling with the swarms of worker bees, locked in fierce battle. A constant rain of Honkai beast and bee fragments fell from the sky.
Overall, the bees had a clear numerical and tactical advantage. Yet, this group of winged Honkai beasts had begun showing signs of evolving specifically to counter the bees.
"Is this... evolution?"
Standing atop a crumbling building, Sigurd silently sighed as he watched the Honkai beasts gradually get devoured by the dark tide of worker bees.
The bees had developed self-evolution capabilities, updating their operating systems and structural designs nearly every day. What used to take six months, then three months, was now updated every two weeks, from the inside out. The power of the bee swarm was unparalleled at this point.
However, the rate of evolution for the Honkai beasts couldn't be predicted. The next large-scale Honkai Eruption could very well bring forth beasts even more suited to combating the bees.
With both sides evolving, the outcome would ultimately depend on who could evolve faster.
Boom!
Sigurd's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of combat not far off. A young girl in black armor, with a graceful yet powerful physique, was destroying the Honkai Zombies with ease. Her punches and kicks whipped up gusts of wind, shredding the screaming undead with ruthless efficiency.
But what caught Sigurd's attention wasn't just her power—it was the occasional black holes that would appear around Kiana, either swallowing enemies whole or slicing them in half. These mysterious attacks, appearing without warning, were impossible to defend against.
She was wielding the Herrscher of the Void's powers.
Though not proficient, and on a much smaller scale than her physical attacks, these spatial powers were undeniable.
Sigurd stood at a height, observing Kiana's performance. Meanwhile, the swarm of worker bees devoured the sky-bound beasts like a black tide, overwhelming the Honkai disaster.
Sigurd thought Kiana would stop after this, but instead, after a brief moment of catching her breath, she took a deep breath, stretched out her arms, and her eyes shone a brilliant gold.
"Cut!"
Kiana shouted.
A massive light circle formed, stretching out to a radius of 10 kilometers and hovering about a meter above the ground.
Then, in an instant, the circle contracted back into Kiana's body. Everything within its radius—Honkai Zombies, some bees, and even buildings—was cleanly sliced. The cuts were impossibly smooth, as if made by the legendary Saber class Muramasa from the Nasuverse.
This was the power of spatial cutting—a blade that ignored physical defenses, even ideal fluid barriers, as it sliced through space itself, causing the complete annihilation of matter.
But Sigurd sighed as his figure disappeared from the rooftop.
"Reckless…"
The wind carried away his murmured words.
In the next moment, Sigurd crossed the vast distance, appearing at Kiana's side. He raised his hand just in time to catch her as her exhausted body collapsed.
"Sig..." Kiana murmured.
"You can't even walk yet, and you're already trying to fly?"
With one arm around Kiana's shoulders, Sigurd spoke with a stern expression. Then, without hesitation, he scooped her up in a princess carry, cradling her limp body.
Kiana wrapped her arms around Sigurd's shoulders, her face pale from exhaustion, but a small smile still managed to surface.
"I had to take that step forward. I need to get used to it. Hehe, I didn't let you down, did I?"
"Fool, don't compare yourself to Welt or Wendy."
Sigurd shook his head. Welt's Herrscher core had been tamed by the first Herrscher, Welt Joyce, and it had undergone decades of adaptation and refinement. Plus, Welt's body structure had been calculated meticulously by Sigurd himself, giving him an edge.
As for Wendy, she had undergone a complete Herrscher transformation. Aside from retaining her human heart, her body and consciousness were fully aligned with her Herrscher powers, making control effortless for her.
But what did Kiana have? Her body, created in a lab, had inherent flaws that were only somewhat mitigated by her Kaslana and Schariac bloodlines. And then there was Sirin's consciousness, always lurking, waiting to resist whenever Kiana used Herrscher powers, placing an even heavier burden on her.
Though Kiana was now far stronger than she used to be, this strength meant little compared to the full potential of Herrscher power. Right now, just like in the original timeline, she was burning her life force and shortening her lifespan every time she used these abilities.
Sigurd looked down at the pale face of the girl in his arms and saw the bright, smiling eyes staring back at him.
His frown deepened.
"Stop being reckless. Your health is more important than power… I'm already working on the materials for a fusion warrior for you. Once your body's flaws are corrected, then you can try to wield that strength."
"You're lying…"
Kiana rested her head against Sigurd's chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. She sighed, knowing full well that Sigurd was bluffing.
She wasn't dumb—in fact, she was quite knowledgeable in various fields, including Honkai energy and human experimentation. Though not an expert, she understood the difficulty behind fusion warriors.
More importantly, she understood Sigurd.
To Sigurd, there were only two kinds of technology in the world: those he could immediately see through, replicate, and improve, and those that were fundamentally impossible to achieve.
Perfectly and safely fusing someone like her, especially with an unstable Herrscher within, fell into the latter category.
If Sigurd could have done it, he would have done so long ago. There was no reason to wait.
Sigurd carried Kiana across the ravaged battlefield, his voice as calm as ever.
"I thought we came out here to take a break, but now I feel even more tired."
"Sorry…"
"It's not your fault. Just understand me—don't push yourself. Especially don't do anything that puts you in danger. That's an absolute order."
"Okay, I understand."
Kiana nodded in Sigurd's arms, then lifted her head and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Sigurd didn't react, only glancing at her before sighing.
"You understand, but whether you'll actually listen depends on the situation, right? If you were obedient, I wouldn't have so many headaches."
"Hehe! Don't worry, for your sake, I won't let anything happen to me... And if the worst happens, you can always revive me, right?"
Kiana blinked at him with a mischievous yet optimistic smile.
Sigurd had indeed developed a resurrection technology, one that worked as long as the death hadn't been too long ago and the soul hadn't been fully absorbed by the larger world data.
But Sigurd still frowned.
"…Don't think about resurrection. Death is death—it's a painful thing, and you don't need to experience that."
"Oh."
Kiana nodded again, her expression obedient, though Sigurd couldn't quite read her true thoughts. Perhaps she wasn't afraid of death.
So Sigurd added:
"If you die, I'll go three years without talking to you—no, three years without seeing you, as punishment."
"Eh?! That's too harsh!"
"You're scared, huh? So you've really been considering the possibility of sacrificing yourself?"
"…I just have this feeling. No solid evidence, just an instinct that the threat we'll face is immense and getting closer. Sig, sometimes we have to make choices for the sake of the world."
"I refuse."
"Sig! We've grown up now, we can't be so childish."
"You've grown up, maybe. I've never changed—I'm as stubborn as ever."
Sigurd's matter-of-fact tone left Kiana speechless, but also made her feel a sweet warmth inside.
Did that mean, in Sigurd's heart, she was more important than the world itself?
"I... I want... want milk tea…"
Kiana buried her head in Sigurd's chest, her face flushed as red as a ripe cherry, mumbling in a shy, stammering voice.
The sudden shift in topic was jarring, but it was clear Kiana was flustered by her overwhelming happiness.
Staying in that blissful moment any longer made her anxious, though she didn't quite know why.
Sigurd chuckled softly as he glanced at her.
For someone who had been so bold in confessing her feelings, and who was always teasing him without shame, Kiana now looked utterly defenseless when he responded earnestly.
If not for the battlefield around them, and the faint scent of blood on her breath hinting at her body's distress, she really did seem like a regular love-struck girl.
Sigurd hoped that this illusion could one day become a reality.
But first, he had to save this broken world.
"How about some warm milk? It's better for your health."
"That works too…"
"Is your body in pain?"
"…It hurts so much!" \(QAQ)/
"Let's go back and heal."
"No! Let's walk a bit more. It's rare for us to be alone like this, it'd be a waste to go back so soon!"
"Overruled. Your health comes first."
"Ugh…"
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Patreon[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 284: The Herrscher… is Me!?[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-127448089[3]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/Strijder[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/c/Strijder
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-127448089
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-127448089
[4] https://www.patreon.com/c/Strijder