"Where is this place?!"
After the blinding light faded, Kiana found herself in a place completely different from Senba Academy. It looked like… the seaside?
How did she get here?
She subconsciously looked at the familiar and reliable figure beside her.
At this moment, Takatsuki no longer had those purple Honkai Energy patterns on his body. It would be even better if he wasn't holding an unconscious Mei in his arms.
Meanwhile, Takatsuki had confirmed the current situation immediately.
The system, having absorbed a large amount of Honkai Energy, unlocked a new function: the Instance function.
Due to the excessive energy, even after activating the Instance function, the system still had too much energy. So, it used the surplus energy to unlock the Multiplayer Instance function, but it still resulted in an energy overload.
Finally, it directly sent all three of them into the instance, which finally consumed all the excess Honkai Energy.
And this so-called instance was actually another world.
The system's name was the Dimensional Codex. Takatsuki originally intended to create a game that was a pastiche of various anime and games, but now, it seemed to have become a real system capable of traversing dimensions.
The world and tasks for this instance were also displayed in the task system immediately.
After receiving the instance tasks, the daily main quests would temporarily not refresh.
Main Quest 1: Join the Stardust Crusaders. Reward: 50 Crystals.
Main Quest 2: Defeat Dio's Stand Users. Reward: 50 Crystals for each defeated enemy.
Main Quest 3: Participate in/Kill Dio. Reward: 200 Player Experience, 100 Crystals / 1000 Player Experience, 500 Crystals.
Main Quest 4: Please enjoy this journey happily. Reward: 0 Crystals.
This was a familiar world: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, specifically Jotaro's journey to defeat Dio.
"Don't worry, Kiana, I know what's going on, but let's wait until Mei wakes up to explain everything."
Standing up with Mei in his arms, Takatsuki surveyed the surroundings and used Crazy Diamond to heal Mei.
Although she wasn't injured, she still woke up under this abundant energy.
"Takatsuki…"
Raiden Mei hadn't completely lost her previous memories, but for her, the memories of her Herrscher period were like a fleeting dream.
However, seeing the bouquet of carnations in her hand, she realized it wasn't just a dream.
Countless people had died because of her touch, even Takatsuki…
Fortunately, Takatsuki was standing before her, safe and sound, and not entirely corrupted by Honkai Energy as in her dream.
"Mei, can you Stand?"
Takatsuki carefully set Mei down, and Kiana quickly rushed over to hug Mei.
"I'm fine. Where is this?"
Mei looked around. It was clearly not her school, and there shouldn't be a sea near Changkong City.
"This is also something I need to explain to you both."
Looking around, the system's drop-off location seemed good, with no one nearby.
"Actually, this is a special ability I possess. This ability has infinite possibilities, which is why I survived the Honkai Eruption despite having no Honkai Energy adaptability and why I wasn't killed by the Herrscher of Thunder's ability. It's all because of this."
"Hey! Takatsuki!"
Kiana quickly prompted Takatsuki when she heard his words.
Takatsuki shook his head: "Kiana, what's done is done. Hiding it won't do us any good. Besides, after this incident, we are now a community of shared destiny, Kiana."
"This is also why I chose to tell you what I've been hiding, because I hope you can trust me, completely and without reservation, because no matter what happens, I will be by your side."
"Even if you become a Herrscher, as long as I'm by your side, I won't let you harm anyone else."
Listening to Takatsuki, Kiana felt a bit strange. He should be talking about Mei, so why did he say "you all"?
"But Takatsuki… I don't want to hurt you even more."
Mei fell into deep self-reproach upon hearing Takatsuki's self-sacrificing words. She had wanted to escape, but Takatsuki's actions were like tearing open a wound, making it impossible to ignore.
However, sometimes a torn wound is for better healing.
"It's okay, Mei, I won't die. As long as I don't die, you can always trust me."
"This power of immortality was also granted to me by that special ability. Speaking of which, I should thank you, Kiana."
Kiana blinked: "Thank me?"
"Yes, I asked you to help me with gacha pulls, remember? That's my ability. Although it has infinite possibilities, this possibility is completely random. It was thanks to your strong luck that I drew this power."
"Eh? So that wasn't just a game?"
"You could say it's a game, because it indeed manifests in the form of a game. And our current predicament is also thanks to it. To absorb the excess Honkai Energy from Mei, it gained a new ability, which is world-traveling. You must have heard similar terms, right? In short, this is already a new world, and we will return to our original world after completing the tasks it issues."
Takatsuki's words contained too much information, leaving Mei and Kiana momentarily unable to react.
"So, you mean we're in another world now?"
Kiana took a long time to process it.
Mei: "So that means there's no Honkai in this world…"
"That's right."
"Then… if we just stay here and don't go back, will we not harm more people?"
Takatsuki didn't expect Mei to still be dwelling on that.
"But, Mei, there are people waiting for us in that world, aren't there?"
"Think of Raiden Ryoma."
Mei instinctively hugged her arms at the mention of her father's name: "Dad… but I might hurt Dad too…"
"It's okay, Mei, I'll be by your side."
Kiana quickly hugged Mei.
Taking a deep breath, Takatsuki also embraced them both.
"Listen, Mei, Kiana, don't fear Honkai, and don't fear Herrschers. In our world, Honkai is just a pure power. What we need to do is not reject it, but master it and turn it into the power to protect others."
"But…"
Takatsuki let go of them: "Although it's a bit late to say this now, I'll still explain what Honkai is."
"Honkai is a special energy that accompanies civilization. It can transform into any other energy, but because it is too powerful, people without sufficient adaptability will be corrupted and die, or turn into monsters. Herrschers are born because they have extremely high adaptability."
"Honkai carries immense negative energy, causing every Herrscher to be born with extremely strong negative emotions. Their cognition originates from the host's own memories, so it can be said that each Herrscher's personality is the other side of its host, merely having an intense desire for destruction due to Honkai's negative emotions."
"But they themselves are still human… Even if their negative emotions are strong, they are still human, possessing human emotions. Extreme rejection of them will only worsen their negative emotions, so what should be done is to accept them."
"They are like a version of oneself that has gone astray. Even if they become Herrschers, so what? Just as there are good and bad people, Herrschers are just more prone to turning bad, but that doesn't mean they can't become good. Communicating with them, embracing them, and guiding them onto the path of protection is a better approach."
Mei recalled what happened in her dream. The Herrscher of Thunder indeed chose to return by herself in the end, allowing Raiden Mei to wake up. Although her appearance caused the deaths of those around her, it was not her intention.
"But my power… even if I don't want to hurt others, people will still get hurt because of it…"