Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

After that single sword strike, the world seemed to fall silent. The gaping wound in the thick cloud cover stretched as far as the eye could see. The sword had been truly massive, visible to everyone in the city.

At the shelter entrance, Yun Feng stared blankly at the sky, the census roster clutched in his hand.

"That was…" Chen Shicheng swallowed, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Even though they'd only glimpsed the tip, they knew it was a sword. And a sword meant it wasn't the monster's doing.

Could…could humans have done that?

A surge of emotion coursed through Yun Feng. Even when it was time to send out the next search party, he hesitated.

No one prompted him. Everyone lined up quietly behind the door. Those whose names were called stepped forward without a word, preparing to leave. No one pushed forward, no one held back. Everything was orderly, the survivors behaving like automatons, indifferent to their own fate.

In reality, they were all terrified. Did leaving early offer better odds of survival, or was it safer to wait? Even if they evaded the monster, what about the zombies?

Or another monster?

Then, they'd seen the giant sword descend from the heavens. That sword had cut through their fear, offering a glimmer of true hope—the hope they'd clung to in the darkness of the shelter.

Fire Moths… The name etched itself into their hearts.

"Ah, sorry…" Yun Feng snapped back to attention, looking down at the roster. "Next…"

Three more names. The chosen three stood, moving to the entrance, poised to run.

Chen Shicheng opened his mouth to give the oft-repeated command, "Go," when a raspy roar echoed from the distance.

Actually…not that distant. It seemed to be coming from inside the arena…

The arena…

Yun Feng's frown turned to shock. What was in the arena?

A concert, abruptly cut short. An independent power generator. And…

Sixty thousand concertgoers, transformed into zombies the instant the Honkai descended.

As realization dawned, a cacophony of roars erupted from within the arena, punctuated by the sounds of pounding, shoving, sending chills down everyone's spines. But still, no one spoke. They remained crouched, eyes fixed on Yun Feng.

Near the border between the inner and outer city, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya, who had escaped earlier, also heard the rising chorus of zombie growls.

"What's going on? Why are they suddenly so active?!" Kiana asked, wielding her pistol and baseball bat, fending off the zombies emerging from the shadows.

"Maybe they're rioting because that sword killed the Honkai Emperor," Mei suggested, decapitating a lunging zombie, then taking a deep breath.

No, the air smells like rotting flesh… She paled, slowing her breathing.

"Huh?" Kiana was confused. She'd been diligently trying to catch up with Mei and Bronya's knowledge, but they hadn't covered this yet.

"If you kill their boss, shouldn't they scatter?" she asked, bashing a zombie's face in, making it even more gruesome.

"At the train station, there were no lower-level zombies near the Emperor-class Honkai Beast. And there weren't any zombies around the other Honkai beasts either…they have territorial instincts," Bronya explained calmly. "The zombies were suppressed by the Honkai Emperor's presence. Now that it's gone, they're free to…"

A single word formed in their minds.

Horde.

"Damn…how many are there?!" Kiana gritted her teeth. Even if she could one-shot them all, she'd be exhausted before she finished. And…if they were struggling, what about everyone else?

At the train station, Himeko, having spent the day preparing the car, set the ingredients on the table, ready for a nap before testing if her "Teriri magic" would work.

She'd just lain down when a commotion startled her awake.

"What's going on?!" She bolted upright, rushing to the window, peering out.

In the distance, a small, slender woman in a business suit was running towards the station, gasping for breath, but not daring to stop.

Behind her, several zombies shambled in pursuit.

"Himeko! Someone's coming!" Theresa cried, grabbing the shotgun propped against the door and throwing it open. "Run this way!!"

Little Chen, near the point of collapse, heard the small voice and looked up to see a small girl in a white dress waving at her.

Huh? So that's what an angel looks like.

Bang!!

A deafening blast jolted her back to reality. The small girl held a massive shotgun, smoke still curling from the barrel.

Holy moly, that little angel packs a punch.

She glanced back. The zombies, already weak, collapsed after taking the blast, lying still on the ground.

After a moment of stunned silence, Little Chen stumbled the last few steps to the car and collapsed.

"Are…are you with the Fire Moths?" she gasped, looking up at Theresa.

"Fire Moths?" Theresa paused, about to help her up. "Wha…"

"We are. Are you from the city? Who sent you here?" Himeko's voice, calm and collected with a hint of playful teasing, came from beside them. She knelt, helping Little Chen up, while winking at Theresa.

"Ah…yes, we are. Is something the matter?" Theresa straightened up, adopting a serious tone.

"Thank goodness…thank goodness…" Little Chen repeated, then promptly fainted.