The crazed laughter of the townspeople, Elysia's cries, and the surrounding stench of blood woke the unconscious Kalpas.
Flesh and blood splattered everywhere. The entire base had turned into a human hell that induced physiological reactions, nauseating and unbearable.
The Old Sorceress screamed and tried to flee but was pushed and shoved by the crazed villagers, who thought they were witnessing the descent of a god, as they squeezed towards Volibear, only to be sliced into countless pieces by one of its claws…
But this cruel and bloody scene did not deter the people who came after; instead, their eyes grew even more fanatical.
The illusory god in their hearts became completely clear at this moment, taking on the form of Volibear.
If my god wants to kill me, then I must offer my head.
Kalpas watched as the scumbags who beat and cursed him daily rushed towards Volibear like madmen, one after another, and then, as if entering a meat grinder, truly turned into scumbags that fell to the ground.
For some reason, Kalpas didn't find this scene disgusting at all. It was as if those "scumbags" were what the villagers were meant to be.
It was just that in the distance of this disaster, a little girl with pink hair was crying and shouting for the ferocious and terrifying giant white bear to stop.
But a purple-haired youth beside her held her tightly, not letting her run over.
Kalpas stared blankly for a while, until his body, which had lost too much blood, finally recovered enough to move…
*Clank—*
The chains broke, and Kalpas fell from the cross.
He moved his body, which hadn't moved in years, and a series of cracking sounds rang out. Then he picked up the chains that had previously bound him and charged at Volibear.
His name was Kalpas, an alien from beyond the stars. Homeless, he longed for a home he could return to.
The people of the town took him in, and the town became his home… so even when he was later tormented by the townspeople, he willingly allowed himself to be bound, without struggling or resisting…
Kalpas hated the residents who had hurt him, but he couldn't accept them being slaughtered like weeds. Most importantly… Volibear's actions were destroying Kalpas's "home."
Volibear was covered in lightning, separating the filth from its body.
A single point of white in a sea of red. Kalpas didn't even need to look for the enemy; he just threw the chains in his hands towards Volibear.
With a powerful tug, the naturally strong Kalpas managed to momentarily halt Volibear's attack with this surprise assault.
Then Volibear turned its head to look at Kalpas in bewilderment. Still in the process of growth and evolution, its current intelligence couldn't figure out what was happening or why Kalpas was attacking it.
Not only was Volibear stunned, but Ryn was also stunned.
What was the meaning of this? Someone robs a bank, I rush in to kill the robbers and save the hostages, but instead of being grateful, the hostage comes up and tries to stab me?
"His brain was probably beaten silly. Volibear, discharge electricity. Shock him for me."
Ryn gave the order to Volibear without a second thought.
"Wai… wait…"
Elysia thought Ryn was going to kill Kalpas too and reached out in a panic to stop Volibear, but before she could finish speaking, Volibear had already begun to discharge electricity.
The current instantly traveled along the chains Kalpas had thrown around Volibear, conducting to Kalpas's body.
Kalpas's eyes widened, his face becoming exceptionally fierce and under the electric shock.
He didn't even have time to roar. Relying solely on his innate physical strength, he lasted three seconds under the current before falling straight to the ground, unable to get up again…
"…"
After Kalpas's little farce, Ryn told Volibear to keep an eye on him and not to kill him.
Then he dragged Elysia and left the place.
Elysia still hoped to stop this human tragedy, but Ryn couldn't care less about her.
These people who had drunk Kalpas's blood were essentially driven mad because his blood had tainted them with Honkai energy, causing them to lose their minds.
They were beyond saving, and not worth his effort to save.
Only after dragging Elysia out of the underground base did Ryn let go of the hand she had been trying to pull away.
Elysia stood there foolishly, her eyelids swollen from crying, her tear ducts dry and unable to produce a single tear.
"Why, why did it have to be this way… We could have just arrested them and handed them over to the police officers… Why kill them? These are all living, breathing lives!"
"I told you, because this is Honkai…"
Ryn sighed deeply, then teleported a few corpses from the base and placed them in front of Elysia.
The bodies, which should have been dead, at this moment, in front of Elysia, began to squirm as indistinct parts of their flesh and tissue tried to reassemble the bodies back into their original "human" form.
Elysia was so frightened she took two steps back, her small mouth agape in disbelief as she looked at the corpses that resembled "zombies" from a movie.
"This, this, this…"
"This is Honkai, an unknown disaster that doesn't even spare the dead.
From the moment they started drinking Kalpas's blood, they were already contaminated by Honkai. The so-called divine power they gained from his blood was just the Honkai energy strengthening their bodies a little.
Years of drinking Kalpas's blood only caused more and more Honkai to accumulate in their bodies. The town should be grateful that no one died in an accident all these years, otherwise, 'Honkai Zombies' would have been born immediately, spreading rapidly like in a zombie movie, until the Honkai was completely ignited."
"…"
Elysia fell silent, looking at the writhing mass of flesh, lost in thought.
She knew about Honkai energy because Mother Maheśvara had also taught her some ways to use it. But Elysia was too young at the time, only focused on playing, and didn't pay much attention or learn much.
It wasn't until now, having truly witnessed "Honkai," that Elysia began to take Honkai energy seriously.
Head bowed in silence, she pondered for a long time before looking up at Ryn and asking with a tremor in her voice:
"If… I'm just saying if… if one day, I could become very powerful and control a lot of Honkai energy. Could I draw the Honkai energy out of their bodies so they are no longer corrupted by Honkai…"
"You can, as long as you're willing, Elysia."
Ryn patted Elysia's head and didn't say much more, just took her hand and walked back towards the hotel.
Reality is so cruel and merciless. The naive and kind Elysia would sooner or later understand that some things can never be as beautiful as a dream.
Drawing out the Honkai energy from an area is simple, but to draw out the Honkai energy that has already entered a human body and become a part of it…
Perhaps only the "Holy Blood of Schariac's" ability to destroy Honkai and the authority of the Herrscher of Finality could do that.
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(The origin of the Schariac's Holy Blood was the original Kiana, which was the Power of Finality.
But obviously Honkai Impact 3rd retconned it, and then simply stopped talking about the Schariac Holy Blood.
The origin of the Holy Blood is obscure. I said in a previous chapter that the origin of Schariac was Elysia, which was pure bullshit. It was a short thesis I saw on Zhihu at the time, and now it's full of holes.
It would be better to say that during the Finality War, Fire Moth not only stole the power of Finality, but Dr. MEI also integrated this power into the Stigmata, creating the Schariac Stigmata.)