In the land of Siberia, ten years ago, the Second Herrscher—Herrscher of the Void, Sirin—was born. Siegfried, Cecilia, Theresa, and others from Schicksal, along with the leader of Anti-Entropy, the First Herrscher—Herrscher of Reason, Welt Yang, and Anti-Entropy executors Tesla and Einstein, joined forces to defeat her.
Schicksal claimed publicly that the Herrscher went berserk and they ultimately decided to launch a Honkai Fission Bomb. To buy time for the bomb's deployment, Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie, Cecilia Schariac, held off Sirin and perished with her.
But the truth was, Siegfried had briefly unleashed the power of the Kaslana stigmata and severely injured Sirin. In her dying moments, Sirin's loneliness triggered the Herrscher Core's rampage. A massive amount of Honkai energy instantly radiated across all of Siberia. If not stopped, it would have spread throughout Asia.
After learning the situation, Cecilia made a firm decision. She said a brief farewell to Siegfried, raised the Sixth Divine Key—Abyss Flower. Using it as an amplifier and her entire bloodstream as fuel, she activated "Sacred Blood Liberation: Pale Bloom." In an instant, she purified all the Honkai energy in Siberia.
Seizing the moment, Siegfried activated the final form of the Divine Key, Judgment of Shamash—"Armageddon," and sealed the rampaging Herrscher Core in one strike.
Otto, monitoring from headquarters, sensed that Armageddon posed a threat to him. Citing that Siegfried might go berserk and lose control, he forced Theresa to retreat and launched a Honkai Fission Bomb at them.
Knowing she couldn't survive, Cecilia ordered Abyss Flower to protect and restrain Siegfried, then held Sirin in her arms, sitting in a sea of flowers created by Abyss Flower's overflowing power.
Above them, the Honkai Fission Bomb screamed through the sky, closing in fast.
"Sirin, poor child. I saw your loneliness and pain in the illusion.
Back then, I truly wanted to be your mother, to make up for all you had lost.
Unfortunately, I couldn't change anything at that time.
At least, in your final moments, may you feel some warmth.
Ich liebe dich."
The light of the Honkai Fission Bomb engulfed the entire sky. Sirin and Cecilia disappeared into the light.
"So warm... If only..."
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Ten years later, under the influence of the Honkai Fission Bomb, Siberia still harbored many wandering Honkai Beasts. According to internal Schicksal sources, beneath the ice somewhere in this region lies a gravely wounded, dying Judgement-level Honkai Beast—Belarus. Schicksal Overseer Otto Apocalypse ordered the area sealed off but forbade anyone from retrieving Belarus.
(Honkai Beast rankings: Assault, Knight, Crossbow, Chariot, Temple, Warlord, Honkai Emperor, Emperor, Judgement, Endlaw, Planet-level, etc. The gap between ranks is vast. Endlaw-level is a special Judgement-level, power unknown but definitely unique—e.g., Vishnu, who evolves by constant devouring; Brahma, formed by the fusion of countless Honkai Beasts; the oceanic overlord seen only by Elysia, Daizaiten, etc.)
At this moment, Jiuxiao and Kiana were fighting two Assault-level Honkai Beasts. What luck—these beasts usually show up in packs, but Kiana recently only ran into lone stragglers.
Kiana shouted, "Kiana, deploy!" and dashed up to fight. Though she wielded twin pistols, she rarely fired them—preferring to bash with the butts or land kicks.
Jiuxiao, meanwhile, was just a chūnibyō (teen delusional type) with barely any real combat experience. However, his body and mind, enhanced by stigmata, kept him from completely embarrassing himself.
"Black Rock Exploding Fist!" "Crow Flies!" "Flame Burst!"—
Each time Jiuxiao attacked, he loudly shouted out his move names. Though they were basic punches or flying kicks, the energy was certainly there.
Before long, Kiana finished off one Honkai Beast. She turned and saw Jiuxiao wrestling with the other while still yelling his moves.
"This is it? After all that bragging, I thought you were strong. Can't even beat a grunt." Kiana laughed, raised her gun, and pressed it to the beast Jiuxiao had pinned.
"Careful." Then she emptied the clip, killing the weak but annoying Honkai Beast. She helped up the still-dazed Jiuxiao, brushed snow off him, patted his shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Weakling."
"Ahem ahem, how can you say that? Don't call me weak! I've just got massive room for growth and infinite future potential." Jiuxiao coughed awkwardly and then curiously asked Kiana,
"Hey, you just fired point-blank. Weren't you afraid of a misfire?"
Kiana twirled her pistols with a grin. "Misfire? What's that? No clue. I've always fought like this!
Dad said Honkai Beasts have minor Honkai force fields. Anything that loses momentum after passing through it barely causes damage. Only Honkai can fight Honkai, so you need specialized Honkai weapons.
Too bad I've only ever seen Dad's Judgment of Shamash. But if that old man were here, he'd blow these things away one by one."
"I see... So, can I try your guns?"
"For what?"
Jiuxiao pointed at the Honkai Beast corpse and said, "It's my first time seeing a real gun. Let me hold it and fire a few shots. Better to get used to it before a real fight."
Kiana didn't say much and handed over the guns, teaching Jiuxiao how to load and shoot.
Jiuxiao pressed the barrel against the Honkai Beast's corpse. The cold metal made his heart race. Though he'd played many games, this was his first time holding a real firearm. In his original world, guns were strictly regulated.
He looked at Kiana, and she gave him an encouraging nod. He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.
Bang—
Feeling bits and pieces hit his face, Jiuxiao didn't take much damage—but the emotional impact was immense. The humiliation was off the charts.
"Uh... was that a misfire?"
Kiana awkwardly walked over, brushed debris off Jiuxiao, then tapped her head and stuck out her tongue.
"Yeah, that's never happened to me before, ehehe~."
"Then you must be super lucky in gacha too. I thought the gun was modded, so you'd never misfire. But looks like even that depends on luck." Jiuxiao shook his hand—the misfire was way more intense than on TV. Who knows if it was the gun's fault.
"When I make a gacha game in the future, you're doing all my pulls."
"Sure!"