"Death is like the wind," Li Xuan said softly, his eyes closed as he stood on a rock in the ruins, his voice audible only to himself.
Not far away, Sol and Lucian clashed once again. The collision of lightning and fire created a fierce gust of wind that swept through the area, causing Li Xuan's shoulder-length black hair and slightly long bangs to dance in the breeze. "Always by my side!" Li Xuan's eyes snapped open, his gaze sharp as he spoke softly.
Alright, actually, he was just having a bit of a chuunibyou relapse. After all, Li Xuan had suffered from chuunibyou in middle school. Although he had become a bit more normal in high school, it still flared up intermittently. It seemed he was having an episode lately; chuunibyou wasn't exactly easy to cure.
Nearby, Sol and Lucian paused their fight again. Since their strengths were evenly matched, they were at a stalemate and had once again entered a standoff.
"Li Xuan-kun! Have they stopped?" Mei asked from the base of the rock where Li Xuan was standing.
"Alright, alright! They've stopped fighting for now," Li Xuan said, scratching his head as he jumped down from the rock. He had only gone up to confirm when Sol and Lucian would pause again so they could approach and stop the battle. Otherwise, forget the world—if even Nagazora City was destroyed, the consequences would be unimaginable. Who knew what would happen in the epicenter of a Honkai outbreak?
The group walked on the scorched and cracked ground, the intense heat palpable even through their shoes. Although it was already autumn, standing there felt like being under the scorching June sun, leaving everyone feeling uncomfortably hot.
Amidst the burning ruins, two young women knelt quietly, staring at each other.
"Sol, stop fighting!" Kiana, ever the impetuous one, shouted as soon as she saw Sol and Lucian.
"Huh?" Sol was startled and instinctively turned to look at Kiana, her blue twin-tails swaying with the movement. And in that instant Sol turned her head, the blood-red eyes of Lucian, who was opposite her, lit up.
"An opening!" Lucian crouched, then sprang forward like an agile cheetah. Her slender fingers were covered by spotless white gloves. She formed her hands into claws, and blood-red flames erupted from them, the dancing fire as bewitching as flames from hell.
"Boom!!" Lucian's full-power sneak attack accurately struck the unprepared and unreactive Sol.
"Ugh!" Sol only had time to barely raise her arms to block Lucian's attack. But it had little effect; Sol was injured. Her rosy complexion instantly turned pale, and her body flew uncontrollably, crashing into the ruins.
What a pig-headed teammate, Li Xuan thought, covering his forehead with his hand, trying not to look at the idiot Kiana, afraid he wouldn't be able to resist showing his contempt.
"Warning. The last strike has intensified the reality-warping field. Another dimension is beginning to overlap with our world," Bronya Zaychik stated with a deadpan expression.
"I don't think we need Bronya Zaychik to tell us that," Li Xuan said in astonishment, pointing a finger at the black hole that had suddenly appeared in the sky. "That's the other dimension, isn't it?"
"A castle appeared in the sky... so many bats!" Kiana exclaimed, looking at the dark, gloomy castle slowly emerging from the black hole. Countless bats with crimson eyes swirled around and above the medieval-style fortress, forming a thick, dark cloud that blotted out the sky and emitted piercing, unpleasant screeches.
"Is that... the Night Capital!?" Raiden Mei murmured, her face suddenly paling.
"Miss Sol! Miss Lucian! Please stop fighting! If this continues, our world will be destroyed!" Mei shouted anxiously. As a child, she had read myths and legends from various countries. If the Night Capital were to descend, the consequences...
"This is the long-cherished wish of my clan. A new era is about to dawn!" Lucian said, looking at the Night Capital in the sky, opening her arms as if to embrace it, a rapturous smile on her face.
Li Xuan looked helplessly at the approaching castle, a sense of powerlessness welling up inside him. This was a war of gods; he had no right to interfere. Power, I need power! Li Xuan clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white. Compared to their strength, which could even shatter the fabric of space, he felt as insignificant as a summer insect. How could someone so weak ever return to his own world? Would he ever see his parents and little sister again in his lifetime?
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind Lucian. It was Sol, who had leaped out from the ruins. Injured by Lucian's previous attack, she was now enraged. A powerful Honkai energy boiled within her, transforming into ferocious electromagnetic power. Azure lightning crackled around Sol, and the intense electromagnetic force even caused nearby stones and soil to levitate. Sol forcefully raised her giant hammer, Mjolnir, which, despite crackling with lightning, shone as brightly as the sun. "Dawn your head!" the lightning-wreathed girl roared.
Lucian's pupils contracted. Fierce blood-red flames erupted around her, forming a fiery shield.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!" In that moment, lightning illuminated the heavens and the earth. The ground seemed to cry out in agony. All light was swallowed by the flash of thunder, leaving nothing to be seen or heard. But amidst the brilliance, countless stones and debris were silently annihilated.
"Crack, crack~" Li Xuan suddenly dropped to one knee. The shield in front of him had faded from a brilliant blue to colorless, and it even began to emit cracking sounds. He had just activated the shield of his Xuanyuan Festive Garb to block the aftershock of the two gods' attacks, but he hadn't expected this "aftershock" to be so powerful, almost like a shockwave. As a result, Li Xuan had nearly lost half his life.
So, never act cool for the sake of it; you'll get struck by lightning. The phrase netizens often used came to Li Xuan's mind, seeming quite fitting for his current situation.
"Hey! Are you okay, Li Xuan-kun?" Among the group who had been unharmed behind Li Xuan, Mei was the first to notice him. She quickly ran over and helped him up, her eyes welling with anxious tears. For once, Kiana didn't make a jealous comment; she knew they had been saved thanks to Li Xuan blocking the aftershock.
Only after Li Xuan assured them he was fine did everyone relax. To them, Li Xuan was an indispensable member of their group, a partner they could entrust their lives to!
"Wow... one hit and the whole street is gone," Kiana said, standing up and looking at the flattened ruins in astonishment.
"Lucian's reality-warping field has dissipated. The spatial turbulence is stabilizing," Bronya Zaychik reported.
Everyone looked up at the sky. Indeed, the sky-blotting castle from before had vanished. It was all like a dream, but the burning ruins around them were a stark reminder that it had all been real.
On the ground, the figures of the two girls remained, facing each other in a standoff.
(End of chapter)