The mere thought of giving Mei a tour of the entire academy in her current state made Kiana's scalp tingle.
That bastard Ye Feng was truly inhuman!
Mei walked a step behind, watching Ye Feng in front of her. She couldn't help but feel that his walking posture was a little unnatural... was there some special reason for it?
However, that was certainly not the kind of thing she could ask about.
But Ye Feng took the initiative to explain, "I had a tiring day yesterday, please don't mind me."
"Ah, no, not at all."
Mei waved her hands hastily, a look of shame on her face.
Here he was, giving her a tour of the academy despite his fatigue, while she was thinking such rude things.
"Mr. Ye Feng, you should get some proper rest. We can do the tour another day."
"Compared to Kiana, my fatigue is nothing."
"Kiana?"
Mei tilted her head in confusion.
Hearing this, the little tuna, who had been on the verge of slipping off, scrambled back up. Beyond the haze in her sapphire eyes, a furious fire was blazing!
If it burned any hotter, the Herrscher of Flamescion might just descend ahead of schedule.
「You dog scoundrel Ye Feng!」
Kiana roared impotently in her mind, wishing she could shove a grenade in his mouth and blow them both up.
Ye Feng paid her no mind. He quickened his pace and widened his stride, causing Kiana's ponytails to bounce and sway.
Ye Feng turned his head to Mei and said:
"That's right. Kiana is such a good girl. Speaking of which, I've been trapped here for who knows how long. Seeing someone new come in makes me very happy. So, Mei, please make yourself at home here. There's no need to be so formal."
"...Okay, thank you."
Ye Feng led Mei through the grounds, introducing the unique features of this world.
A light rain began to fall, making the ground slick.
As Ye Feng walked, the sweat dripping from him quickly merged with the damp floor, leaving no trace.
First were the NPCs. The NPCs with their fixed trajectories were a must-see.
"Although Kiana told me about it, seeing it for myself is still a bit incredible."
At the Valkyrie training grounds, Mei stretched out a fair, slender hand and waved it in front of Teacher Himeko's eyes.
Himeko simply continued to explain the key points of fighting Honkai Beasts, and the students below all watched her, listening with rapt attention.
Mei found the sensation truly bizarre.
"Stop waving. Even if you were to fu... operate a mecha and fire a rocket launcher here, she wouldn't react at all," Ye Feng said with a smile.
Kiana seemed particularly sensitive to a certain word, protesting inwardly.
「You did that kind of thing to Teacher Himeko here!?」
「Of course not.」
「Heh.」
「But I have done it to my dear little tuna.」
「...」
Kiana didn't dare to think about it any further.
Continuing down that line of questioning would only bring her more suffering.
Just then, a purple figure walked past.
She had two horns on her head, an imposing aura, and a graceful figure. Her long purple hair fluttered under the dim sky, and arcs of subjugating lightning occasionally flashed around her body.
She strode past under the dark, heavy clouds.
Mei's pupils constricted. "This is..."
She recognized that form.
"The Herrscher of Thunder. Your other form is very beautiful too, Mei."
"Eh?"
"No need to be so surprised. There's also the adult Mei form."
"No, I mean... you said... beautiful?"
It was the first time Mei had ever heard someone use the word "beautiful" to describe a Herrscher.
Everyone else only felt fear and hatred towards Herrschers.
"Don't you think it's beautiful, Mei?"
"I..."
Mei's pale hand clutched at her chest, where a bomb lay hidden.
The moment the Honkai energy in her body surpassed the threshold for becoming a Herrscher, it would blow her to pieces.
For such an existence, how could Mei possibly—
"I think it's very beautiful. Especially those horns. Want to go touch them? They feel as warm and cool, as smooth as suet jade."
Mei didn't have time to react.
Kiana, however, immediately understood the implication.
「How do you know that?」
「At this point, why are you still asking such a question, little tuna?」
An image immediately popped into the little tuna's mind: Ye Feng gripping the two horns like a steering wheel.
What a bastard!
Kiana had been here so many times, but she had never brought herself to touch them!
She opened her mouth wide and bit down hard on Ye Feng's shoulder.
However, to Ye Feng, the damage couldn't be described as light; it was simply nonexistent.
With his state slightly adjusted, the little tuna's bite felt like nothing more than a cat's lick.
Kiana was annoyed.
Why does this guy look like he's enjoying it?
But her attention soon returned to Mei.
Mei was once again facing the nightmare in her heart—her other self, the Herrscher of Thunder.
Seeing it from a third-person perspective sent her thoughts into a turmoil.
Mei was a very kind and gentle girl. In the past, when she realized she might bring destruction to the world, she had even been willing to end her own life by jumping off a building to prevent the darkness from descending.
"Herrschers don't just bring destruction. They can also become a power that protects the world."
Ye Feng's words rang out at the perfect moment, echoing in Mei's mind. She couldn't help but murmur, "A Herrscher... becoming a power to protect the world... How is that possible?"
"Why is it impossible? Power itself has no right or wrong, only the person who wields it does. That's what a Herrscher is. If you can master this power and make it your own, what is there to be afraid of?"
Ye Feng summoned the "Herrscher of Thunder" over to them.
As Raiden Mei entered, her other consciousness arrived as well, but it was still dormant.
Whether this "other consciousness" was the Herrscher personality or the Stigma personality, or a combination of both, wasn't important.
What was important was that the one sleeping here was the majestic and incredibly chuunibyou Mei personality from the manga.
It was worth mentioning that Kiana's "Herrscher of the Void" consciousness was also dormant.
Although waking them up would be more fun for Ye Feng, if they woke up here, they would also wake up in the real world.
So, Ye Feng didn't do that.
Ye Feng stroked the horn on the Herrscher of Thunder's head. "How does that saying go again? Right... 'Resist the darkness, integrate with the darkness, understand the darkness, become the darkness—I will fall into darkness, in exchange for your return to the light.' It's something like that, right?"
"..."
"Want to come and touch your horns?" Ye Feng asked with a smile.
Mei stood frozen, staring at her "other self," speechless for a long time.
At this moment, even Kiana fell silent.
The existence of the "Herrscher of Thunder" had always been Mei's inner demon.
If, this time, Mei could even slightly overcome her psychological trauma...
That dog scoundrel Ye Feng was despicable, but sometimes, he could actually be quite reliable?
...
In the end, under Ye Feng's coaxing, Mei did touch "her own horns."
After waking up, Mei stared blankly at her own hand, as if the warm, smooth, and tingling sensation still lingered on her fingertips.
"Just what... is that world?"
Mei turned her head to look at Kiana.
"I almost forgot, Kiana was in there too, right? Why didn't I see her?"