Honkai Impact: I will save everything alone

Chapter 99: Playing House

It felt good to be active in this world as the Herrscher of the Void, but she overlooked one thing.

As a "newbie," she actually does not have a good ability to conceal her whereabouts.

The good times did not last long. Soon, as the reputation of the Herrscher of the Void grew, Schicksal resumed its investigation into her.

The connection between "Sirin" and "Herrscher of the Void" was soon discovered.

After everything was exposed, she had to bid farewell to St. Freya Academy and began a wandering life.

The wandering life is not long, or rather, quite short.

In the end, the one responsible for catching up with her and dealing with her was the one she was most familiar with.

——The former strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal, Cecilia Schariac.

The final battle took place on a cliff. The girl had forgotten the exact location, but she only remembered that it was a bad day with wind and rain.

Below the cliff were surging waves, as if they could swallow up any living creature that fell into them at any time.

At this moment, the teacher she was familiar with was no longer wearing casual clothes but had changed into specially made combat Valkyrie armor for the first time in a long time.

"Cecilia..."

The girl looked at the adult woman in front of her with some pity.

"I'm sorry, Sirin, this is... my duty."

Even at this moment of life and death, the white-haired Valkyrie, who was already seriously injured, still looked at her with eyes full of apology.

Cecilia held the blood-stained white knight's spear in her hand. On it was her own blood as well as Sirin's blood.

"…I don't want to hurt you."

The girl shook her head hard.

In terms of combat power, Cecilia could not defeat her when she used her full strength.

As long as she wanted, she could completely defeat the opponent with a crushing momentum by just moving her fingers.

However, facing this gentle elder with whom she had lived every day, she had no way to use all her strength to wipe her out.

——Perhaps, the person who sent Cecilia to chase her also had this in mind?

"I don't want to hurt you either, but... I have no choice."

Cecilia sighed and stood up.

Her duties as a Valkyrie of Schicksal had long constrained her actions, and she must obey the direct orders from the Bishop of Schicksal.

The holy blood of Schariac that slowly flowed down from the Valkyrie's arm did not fall to the ground due to gravity, but floated up abnormally, surrounding the Black Abyss and White Flowers, forming a beautiful scene.

"...Black Abyss White Flower, Holy Blood Release, White Flower Bloodshed."

Cecilia sang softly, unleashing her trump card as a Herrscher Killer.

The blood-red spear condensed from the holy blood gathered in an instant and shot towards Sirin.

Its color was so bright, and Sirin, as its target, instinctively felt fear.

This attack would not harm her life, but it would restrict her on another level.

"...!"

The girl instinctively wanted to summon the Imaginary Gate to resist, but she was horrified to find that her ability to control the Honkai energy was rapidly disappearing.

The blood had already soaked the space around her, and the Honkai energy that originally gathered around her was rapidly disappearing.

——The power as a Herrscher suddenly seemed so far away.

She seemed to feel her former powerless self again after a long time.

[Holy Blood Liberation], this is a unique ability belonging to the Schariac family, or in other words, it is a unique ability that belongs only to Cecilia.

And this is another reason why Otto sent Cecilia to pursue Sirin.

Only by temporarily neutralizing Sirin through the special ability released by Holy Blood could he capture the Second Herrscher alive.

However, although this move successfully dissipated most of Sirin's abilities, Cecilia, the caster, was obviously not in much better condition. She knelt on the spot, almost unable to move due to the massive blood loss.

It can be said to be a dangerous tactic of "hurting the enemy by a thousand and hurting yourself by eight hundred."

Of course, even if Cecilia was unable to move, the other Valkyries who were on standby in the rear ready to support her at any time had already monitored the situation at the scene and were on their way.

"Ha ha..."

The girl barely managed to support herself and stand.

The process of releasing the power of the Holy Blood to eliminate the Honkai energy is not achieved overnight but requires a certain amount of time to take effect. Especially for a Herrscher like her, this time is even longer.

Therefore, before the power of the Herrscher of the Void completely disappeared, she still had a way to do something with her last bit of strength.

If Schicksal wanted to kill her, there were simpler and more direct ways than just sending Cecilia after her.

That Bishop of Schicksal... wants to capture me alive?

The girl's thoughts raced, and she soon recalled the days when she was an experimental subject in the Tower of Babylon.

That was a life she definitely didn't want to return to.

If she were caught here, she would surely be subjected to extremely cruel and painful torture.

If... the purpose of that Bishop of Schicksal was to capture her alive, then she still had a way to prevent that person from achieving his goal.

——She could leave here and hide somewhere where he could never find her again, never.

It's not about leaving St. Freya Academy, nor about leaving the Far East, but... leaving this world, leaving this planet.

Besides, as long as she leaves here, Cecilia won't have to be in a dilemma anymore, right?

In a sense, this was a "killing two birds with one stone" decision, and she was glad that she had come up with this idea.

Having made up her mind, the girl managed to support herself and walked to the shore step by step.

She looked down and saw the dark ocean below.

"…"

"Wait... Sirin...!"

The weak white-haired Valkyrie was too late to stop her actions and could only watch the girl's body fall straight backward.

Of course, the girl did not do something as foolish as committing suicide.

Before falling into the icy sea, she used up her last bit of strength to open a sub-sky gate in the direction of her fall.

That was a means to escape from this world.

——With the authority of the Herrscher of the Void, she opened the portal to the Quantum Sea.

......…

"Okay, this is what I know about Sirin's past. I dug it out from the depths of her memory. It's completely authentic."

Deep underground in the Tower of Babylon, Su released the finger that was pointing at Kirataka's head.

"After entering the Quantum Sea, Sirin created a world bubble for herself as a shelter, intending to recuperate and rest here, and then... she happened to run into me, that's it."

"…I think I understand."

Kirataka rubbed his head and answered while digesting the memories that suddenly flooded into his mind, memories that did not belong to him.

This Sirin's experience before destroying the Tower of Babylon was not much different from the story of the second eruption that he was familiar with.

The real difference is that after destroying the Tower of Babylon, she did not decide to immediately trigger a large-scale eruption to destroy Siberia and subsequently invite a siege from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, but instead chose to follow Theresa and return to the academy she mentioned.

Of course, she might have initially intended to follow Theresa and the others to cause trouble, but in the end, she was slightly influenced by Cecilia and the others at St. Freya Academy...

Based on this, Kirataka thought of many things in an instant.

——If Sirin had not caused the second Honkai in Siberia, Otto would not have found an opportunity to communicate directly with the [Will of Honkai] and obtain a method to truly realize his long-cherished wish of more than 500 years: to resurrect Kallen.

In other words, Otto in her world is probably still dreaming of reviving Kallen with the power of the Herrscher of Death.

Moreover, if Sirin had not died in Siberia, Cecilia would not have been killed by the Honkai fission bomb fired by Otto but would have worked as a teacher at St. Freya Academy with Theresa to realize their dreams.

If Siegfried hadn't betrayed, the real Kiana wouldn't have become such a silly goose...

'Hmm... I feel like the world line over there has changed to a great extent, so much so that I might not be able to recognize it at all.'

'However, just considering the fact that Sirin sneaked into St. Freya Academy...'

"…Why does it feel like it's 80% similar to the original experience?"

Kirataka sighed silently in his heart.

"How about it? Kirataka, do you want to work with me to find a way to solve the bubble problem in this world?"

After telling Kirataka everything about Sirin, Su once again asked him for cooperation.

She really wanted to get away from this world as soon as possible and live freely alone.

Kirataka thought for a moment, nodded, and said:

"I can help you, and we can both get what we need."

He wanted to rescue Seele, Su wanted to break free from the shackles of this world bubble, and at the same time, let Sirin no longer be immersed in this nightmare.

This was a three-pronged approach, and he really had no reason to refuse.

Of course, before agreeing to cooperate with Su, he had used time travel to confirm that forcibly destroying the [Ether Singularity] here would indeed cause quite serious consequences. Whether it was Su, Seele, or even Sirin, they would all be greatly affected.

She wasn't lying.

"Very good!"

Su clapped her hands happily and almost jumped up.

At this time Kirataka asked again:

"However, Seele also came here before me. Didn't you ask her for help?"

At least compared to himself, Seele must have been much easier to talk to for Su.

Well, or rather, much easier to fool.

If Su just needed an outsider's help, the girl should have been able to meet his needs.

"Well... it's not like I haven't tried, but her ability is indeed a little lacking."

The gray-haired woman said helplessly.

It was rare for outsiders to come to this world, so of course she had already sought out Seele once.

It's just a pity that her and Seele's attempt ultimately ended in failure.

"After the dream was reset, she forgot about it, and I never looked for her again. Well, the recurring dream would erase her memory of the previous reincarnation, leaving only the first time she came in."

After that, Su looked around Kirataka's body and said:

"By the way, I can see that you don't have the physique to survive in the Quantum Sea for a long time."

Whether one could survive in the Quantum Sea for a long time and resist its Corruption depended on one's own physical condition.

This was not entirely related to the individual's strength. For example, Theresa, an S-class Valkyrie, was repelled by the Quantum Sea. She felt uncomfortable all over as soon as she approached it, and it was difficult for her to enter.

"Yes, according to my own estimation... I can only hold out for a few more hours."

Kirataka nodded and said.

"I can see that you are a little afraid of me... So, as a final gesture of sincerity, I will help you adjust your body so that you can better adapt to the environment here."

The gray-haired woman raised her hand, and a green leaf with an illusory texture appeared in her palm. She then let it float to Kirataka's side.

"This is a temporary countermeasure. It can help you deal with the Corruption here. How about it? Is it good enough?"

"…"

Kirataka felt the faint fluctuations coming from the green leaf, which indeed made him feel a lot more comfortable.

The feeling of Corruption, like falling into the deep sea, had also diminished significantly.

But apart from this, the issue of the flow of real time must also be taken into consideration.

He expressed this concern to Su.

"Don't worry. Since I have merged with the [Ether Singularity] of this world, I can naturally affect the flow of time here. After all, everything here is just a [dream]."

Su said as a matter of course.

In the normal world on the imaginary tree, if you wanted to speed up, slow down, stop, or even reverse time, the cost you had to pay was almost infinite.

But in this chaotic Quantum Sea, things were exactly the opposite.

Each world bubble could have its own rules, and time loops were quite common.

With Su's ability to control this world bubble, it was quite easy to slow down the flow of time here relative to the original world.

Well, it was somewhat like the feeling of "one day in heaven is as one year on earth."

"..."

After hearing Su's words, Kirataka's eyes lit up.

This unequal passage of time always seemed like it had a greater purpose in other areas.

For example, it could function like a "Hyperbolic Time Chamber."

Of course, that was a story for later. For now, let's focus on things related to Sirin.

Kirataka thought for a moment and asked:

"Since you have been trapped here for so long, you must have a plan on how to solve the problem."

Compared to himself, who had just arrived, Su must have her plans.

What she lacked was someone who could help her carry out her plan and escape from here.

Su nodded gently, smiled, and said:

"Well, my plan is very simple. I will create a new consciousness space or illusion based on your consciousness to cover everything in this world bubble."

Even if it was just a clone, it would be easy for her to accomplish such a thing.

"In the new illusion, you just need to find a way to help her untie her knot. Then, I can resolve the nightmare I originally set and separate Seele, who is trapped here."

And as long as the nightmare ended, she would be able to get out of here.

"What is the content of the illusion?"

The environment they were in now was a reproduction of the Tower of Babylon. If Sirin wanted to get rid of all this, she had to change the scene.

'...Were they going to recreate the school life of St. Freya Academy here?'

Kirataka pondered silently.

"Well... although I'm not completely sure if I can make her feel an ordinary and happy family life, maybe that would work, right?"

Su said, tilting her head slightly.

Sirin, who had lost her family and everything because of the Honkai, still longed for an ordinary life before the Honkai.

——For someone as spiritually perceptive as her, it wasn't difficult to grasp Sirin's inner desire.

"…So what exactly do you need me to do?"

Kirataka didn't react for a moment.

By "family life," did she mean...

"To put it the way little girls do, it's... [playing house]?"

Su smiled and said as if she had a plan:

"Would you and Seele be able to play the roles of her parents?"

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