Honkai Star Rail: Corruption System

Daziel's gaze snapped back to Kafka, his voice edged with ice. "Why did you do that?"

Kafka sighed, a sound laced with helplessness. Her eyes lifted to meet Daziel's, a complex swirl of emotions within them. "Do you believe in destiny?" she murmured.

The question gave Daziel pause. He fell silent, considering.

As a transmigrator, privy to the original plot of this world, he'd meticulously navigated the Belobog and Xianzhou arcs.

Back then, everything had seemed solvable, a matter of simply following the pre-written narrative.

Coupled with elements like the Matrix of Prescience and Elio's script… in the Star Rail universe, destiny should, by all accounts, be real.

Yet, ever since the Reverse-Side System had materialized, his Trailblaze Path had veered onto an utterly unforeseen course.

Especially the Belobog debt incident – that had been a brutal jolt, shaking the foundations of his self-proclaimed righteousness.

Now, a seed of doubt was taking root in Daziel's mind. He was starting to question the very notion of destiny itself.

With a shake of his head, Daziel broke his silence, dismissing the thought.

Kafka observed his reaction, a flicker of understanding lighting her eyes. Softly, she said, "So, you don't believe in destiny. You lean towards the idea that the universe itself is free. I used to think that way too…"

Her voice trailed off, taking on a somber tone as she began to recount her past. "I was once a 'Demon Hunter'. I grew up on Tianyi Five—'Neo-Babylon'—a planet poisoned by a Stellaron."

"There," she continued, "humans were devoid of fear. The concept simply didn't exist. Without fear, people are consumed by desire and pleasure, twisted into… 'demons'."

Daziel nodded. "I know of it. So, you don't possess the emotion of fear."

Kafka's unique trait – Daziel was well aware of this established fact.

"Lacking fear isn't a gift. On the contrary, my hunger for desire, for pleasure… it's beyond your comprehension. I loathe that part of myself."

A touch of shy embarrassment colored Kafka's tone.

Daziel waved a dismissive hand. "Sorry, couldn't have guessed."

While Kafka's unpredictable, suggestive gaze often triggered certain doujin-inspired comparisons in Daziel's mind – images of modified sows – and her craving for pleasure was, indeed, a canon setting, ingrained in her profile, not even a system-induced alteration…

However, the story itself rarely, if ever, delved into these aspects of Kafka's nature.

Of course, a 12+ game couldn't explicitly depict such themes, only hinting at them within the dialogue.

Consequently, many players overlooked this rather… risqué detail.

"It's just that I'm usually very good at masking it," Kafka explained.

Changing tack, she continued, "So, when Elio found me, I was on a mission… and his offer intrigued me immensely. It was then that I began to truly believe in destiny."

Her voice softened, taking on a wistful quality, as if narrating a story from a distant past.

Daziel's brow furrowed with doubt. "Elio, the 'slave of destiny'? I'm curious what he promised you that swayed your perspective so dramatically…"

"Forgive me, Daziel, but that is something I cannot reveal. However," she conceded, "it's undeniable that Elio's script allows us to flawlessly execute every mission, time and again. We, the Stellaron Hunters, have been acting according to Elio's arrangements, right up until…"

"Until what?" Daziel pressed.

Her gaze drifted, becoming distant, laced with a subtle pain. "Until before this mission. Elio's script told me that to resolve this particular difficulty, I needed to find you. Only you could help me, and that was acceptable…

"But," Kafka's voice lowered, tinged with hesitation, "Elio also said that if I sought you out, and wished to resolve this matter, you… you had to do that kind of thing to me. Only by doing… that could this crisis be averted."

"Wait, hold on! What the heck? What are you even talking about?! What 'kind of thing' are we referring to?!"

Daziel's pupils constricted, his mind reeling. He felt like he'd just stumbled upon something utterly bizarre, unbelievable.

What did any of this mean?

Could the system's emergence have truly thrown off the destiny Elio foresaw?

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Kafka murmured, a hint of disbelief echoing in her own tone.

She fixed Daziel with a complex, searching gaze. "After hearing it myself, I was just as stunned. I simply couldn't fathom that the Daziel I knew – the one who used to trail after me, so innocent, so kind – would ever do… that to me…"

"But Elio's script is never wrong. I was torn… should I submit to destiny, or…"

"After much deliberation, I decided to push back against fate, just a little. I made a wager with myself. I wanted to test if I could control you with Word of Command, to ensure you wouldn't do anything too… extreme."

"If you hadn't woken up," Kafka explained, "it would have signified my victory against destiny. But you did wake… and well, then whatever you chose to do to me, I would cooperate, obediently accept my fate."

"However," she sighed deeply, a sound of resignation, "it seems I underestimated destiny's hold. I never expected you to shatter the hold of my Word of Command with such ease…"

Kafka lifted her head, meeting Daziel's gaze directly, a mixture of probing curiosity and shyness flickering within her eyes. "So now, tell me your choice, Daziel. Are you going to do… that thing to me?"

Daziel was utterly unprepared for Kafka's confession. He froze, speechless, his mind a blank canvas.

Just then, Kafka's voice, laced with a suggestive undertone, drifted through the silence. "Let me remind you, my focus and energy are entirely consumed by controlling Blade. My body is vulnerable right now, I am incapable of resisting. Whatever you choose to do, I am defenseless…"

A jolt shot through Daziel at her words.

Gazing at Kafka's pale complexion, her vulnerable and seemingly helpless state, a whirlwind of emotions churned within him, leaving him adrift, uncertain.

He drew a deep, shaky breath, attempting to regain composure, but Kafka's earlier revelations, and now her final, suggestive whisper, continued to resonate in his mind.

"I…"

Daziel opened his mouth, but found the words caught in his throat. He didn't know what to say.

Kafka observed Daziel's hesitation, a subtle upturn gracing the corner of her lips – a smile almost imperceptible.

She recognized the familiar flicker in his eyes. Once again, she had successfully seeded doubt, disrupted Daziel's mental equilibrium.

This was the crucial first step, the prerequisite for Kafka to effectively deploy Word of Command: psychological suggestion.

"It's alright," Kafka's voice remained soft, yet now laced with an almost imperceptible enchantment, "You can take your time to consider."

"However," she added, a subtle urgency creeping into her tone, "time is running out. Blade's Mara-struck could erupt again at any moment. I need your help… and outside," she murmured, "the Cloud Knights will be here soon."

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