Her surname was Luo, her given name Cuilian, and her courtesy name Hao. She who stood at the pinnacle of martial arts, the Cult Master of the 『Five Peaks Sacred Cult』, the Martial King of Jiangnan, China, and the sworn enemy of Marquis Voban.
She resided in a small temple deep within the mountains of Mount Lu, a place she almost never left.
Among all the God-Slayers, her martial arts skill was unquestionably number one. Italy's King of Swords, Doni, could only be considered her near-equal in swordsmanship alone.
Her most outstanding skills were her lightness techniques and her palm arts, which, when amplified by her Authorities, were like something out of a video game with cheats enabled. She could even effortlessly neutralize Kusanagi Godou's divine speed incarnation, the [Phoenix].
However—
Her insanity index was also among the highest of all God-Slayers.
Even among the seven Campiones, Cult Master Luo Hao was considered the most fearsome fiend, rivaling the Marquis Voban of Eastern Europe.
If anyone saw her face, she would gouge out the witness's eyes. If anyone heard her voice, she would destroy their hearing. Her long-suffering disciple, Lu Yinghua, was nearly beaten to death just for trying to convince her to leave her mountain a single time.
Due to a system malfunction, the High Immortal had been unceremoniously dropped into Jiangxi, China...
And it seemed, just maybe, she had run afoul of the psychopath Luo Hao.
At this thought, Li Zihan's eyes began to shine.
He was extremely interested in Luo Hao.
Or rather, he was interested in every God-Slayer except for Kevin.
His interest in Ana was, naturally, the kind that involved tumbling in bed together.
His interest in the old wolf Voban, Luo Hao, and the husky Doni was, naturally, the kind that involved nailing them to the wall in his basement.
After all, every God-Slayer had one or two absurdly powerful, trump-card Authorities, didn't they?
The Black Prince Alexander's 『Flashing Lancelot』 and 『Vengeful Goddess』.
Marquis Voban's 『Tome of Maledictions』 and 『Legion of Servitors』.
Salvatore Doni's 『The Ripper's Silver Arm』 and 『Man of Steel』.
Luo Hao's 『A Dream of a Millet's Slumber』 and 『A Hundred Grasses and a Thousand Flowers in Profusion』.
Annie Charlton's 『Metamorphosis』.
And Madame Aisha...
The Empress of European Emperors. Unprovokable. Skip.
Although—
If he ever received another bugged gacha package, perhaps he could ask for her assistance in opening it. Who knows, he might just soar to the heavens in a single go.
Without a doubt, the God-Slayers all possessed terrifying Authorities with immense potential. If he could get his hands on them, it would be an enormous profit.
Now that the High Immortal and Luo Hao were fighting, it presented a perfect opportunity to nail Luo Hao to the wall as well.
After I take care of Susanoo, I'll go to Mount Lu and join the fun.
The boy, who had already scheduled Susanoo's demise, mused.
But then again, there's another Heretical God here in the Far East, isn't there? The Sage Ape King.
Hmm, a second God of Steel.
The probability of obtaining the Authority he desired had just doubled.
"Do you have something in mind?" Kevin asked, completely unaware of the fiendish thoughts brewing in his ally's mind as he watched the boy suddenly grow excited.
"Just thinking about how to earn a little extra cash," the boy replied with a gentle smile, though the "extra cash" he spoke of was, in essence, rather horrifying.
The "extra cash" Li Zihan mentioned was clearly something extraordinary. And for an outsider, the methods to obtain such precious things were most likely either trade or robbery.
Kevin, well aware of this, looked at the boy who was clearly contemplating something dreadful and stated flatly, "If you need help, you can contact me."
Li Zihan had already proven to him that he possessed the ability to traverse different worlds, making him the perfect executor of the Ark Project.
The Campione! world was not a very suitable world for establishing a colony. This was the conclusion Kevin had reached after wandering this world for a long time and, incidentally, slaughtering the Heretical God Michael.
Honestly, if he had more options, he would rather not establish a colony in his current world. There were too many governments and secret societies. Moreover, there were characters with transcendent combat power like God-Slayers and Heretical Gods.
For Kevin, whose mission was the continuation of civilization, a world where the saying "sitting at home, a god falls from the sky" was a literal threat was clearly not reliable.
Kevin's ideal colony was a world with a sparse population, abundant resources, and minimal danger. In other words, a low-to-mid-tier post-apocalyptic wasteland that had already experienced a major catastrophe.
If the Campione! world was his only option, Kevin would naturally choose to rebuild civilization here.
However—
Li Zihan clearly possessed the ability to find other, more suitable worlds for colonization. Through him, they could find a second home better suited for developing their civilization.
Li Zihan was an indispensable person for the better continuation of the Honkai world's human civilization. Therefore, nothing could be allowed to happen to him.
"Alright, if I need to, I'll come find you."
Li Zihan, who had sought out Kevin in the first place to find a heavy hitter, would naturally not refuse this offer.
With that, he cut the connection with Kevin.
Next, it was time to go back and get some proper rest.
The boy, who had spent one minute fighting Kusanagi Godou but nearly ten hours constructing his prison, stretched his back lazily.
He walked out of the basement, which had been twisted into an "otherworldly space," and looked up at the sky.
It was the dead of night. Soft moonlight gently cascaded from the heavens, draping the entire land in a hazy veil of light.
Stars twinkled in the night sky like jewels adorning a dark canvas, their shimmering light complementing the moon to form an incredibly beautiful scene.
It was very late.
It was time to go back and rest.
A slight smile played on the lips of the boy who had KO'd Kusanagi Godou in just one minute.
Before his battle, he had made a bet with Sirin and Ana.
"I bet five minutes."
That was what Miss Ana had said at the time.
"Three minutes."
That was the time limit Miss Sirin had given.
Unfortunately for them, Brother Kusanagi, with his heavily restricted Authorities, was thoroughly beaten down once his patterns were figured out, not even lasting a full minute.
Sirin and Ana had lost.
According to their agreement, he should be able to make a few requests now, right?
Just as Miss Sirin had suspected, Li Zihan decided, without any burden on his conscience, to propose some rather shameful requests.
For example, making Sirin wear cat-ear accessories and play the role of a pet cat, engaging in some master-servant interaction.
For example, having Ana wear an apron, and then cooking together in the kitchen or something.
Just the thought of such things was delightful.
Clearly having decided to completely let himself go, the boy walked with a light step toward Ana and Sirin's bedroom.
The night was indeed deep.
But there was still a long time until morning, wasn't there?
---o---
Author's note:
PS: Slammed on the brakes. Almost ended up writing with my d*ck again.