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

It wasn't just plummeting—it was being devoured by the deepest ocean, crushing pressure threatening to pulverize his bones and reshape his very essence.

The abyss wasn't absolute this time. Images assaulted his mind like a broken film reel, each frame a fresh wave of hellish memory:

[The wounded white-haired girl cradling her senior against the cold wall, her face etched with desperate tenderness. His hand still clutched a broken blade, a final act of defiance.

The black-clad mercenary standing guard, an unyielding shield. She held two small figures beneath her cloak, eyes closed in silent prayer, as if her body alone could ward off oblivion.

The silver wolf, teeth bared in grim determination, still gripping her empty weapon. Even in defeat, her spirit remained unbroken.

The bandaged girl lay still, peaceful as if in sleep. But beneath that serene mask lay an unspoken vulnerability, a storm waiting to break.]

He felt completely overwhelmed and terribly weak. He was dizzy and nauseous at the same time, and it felt like his mind was breaking apart and his memories were scattering everywhere.

One thought came through the confusion: "I can't hold on..."

And he couldn't. It was too much.

Then, suddenly, something unseen pushed him from behind, pulling him out of the darkness. With that push, his confused thoughts started to become clear again.

His feet hit solid ground hard, snapping him back to reality. He stared, his vision still blurry, at a field of strange, too-bright flowers. In the middle of the field, a cradle made of flowers swayed in the still air – it looked like a peaceful scene, but it felt wrong, like a fake kind of peace.

He reached out with shaky fingers, wanting to touch something real and solid. But in this dark place, his hand just closed on empty air.

He barely whispered, "Huh...?"

Then a terrible smell hit him - a thick, sickeningly sweet, disgusting smell that made it hard to breathe. He froze, with his hand still reaching out, like a statue in a nightmare.

Suddenly, pain and nausea crashed over him. His throat burned with bile, and dizziness made everything spin into an unpleasant blur.

All around him, only impenetrable darkness remained, pressing in from every side.

...

What am I supposed to do? Why am I here...?

Overwhelmed by the chaotic sensations and a mind that felt like a blank slate, he fought back the rising sickness, battling dizziness with willpower alone. He forced himself to stand still, surrounded by the encroaching feeling of madness.

His mind was eerily empty. Everything seemed to have vanished—his reason for being there, what he was supposed to do, even his own actions. He felt like he wasn't really there, a ghost inside his own body.

The ground beneath him began to shake, a deep vibration that went right through his bones. As if answering this tremor, his sight started to clear, pushing back the darkness like dawn arriving after a nightmare.

He started to remember—first small pieces, then quick flashes, until memories rushed back, putting the broken story back together in his mind.

Suddenly, dozens of disgusting tentacles burst from the ground around his feet, tearing through the earth. They writhed and twisted, reaching for him with a horrible hunger. A thick, throbbing web of living flesh closed in, trying to crush and devour him.

But as Shu's memories sharpened, his purpose came back to him in a rush, bright and clear.

The monstrous tentacles stopped moving, pulling back as if they'd hit something they couldn't see. Shu raised his hand, palm open. A faint, shimmering layer of golden light spread out, wrapping around him in a protective glow that buzzed with barely held-back power.

His eyes now burned with sharp focus, any hint of confusion completely gone.

"Why now? Why has it come back to me?" The thought flashed quickly through his mind, unimportant compared to what he had to do.

"Tsk..." He looked down at the disgusting monster twisting beneath his feet, his hand clenching into a fist.

Golden light exploded from between the wriggling tentacles—pure energy in a powerful burst. A bright blade of light cut through the darkness of the eleventh level, slicing through the unholy ground.

The tentacles froze, stopping their twisting, paralyzed by the raw power. A golden line marked the darkness, reaching to the cavern wall—like a divine judgment carved into the floor of B11.

Another burst of light, and with a wet thud, black fluid poured from the wound. The monster's blood stained the strange flowers underneath.

The cut tentacles fell in lifeless piles, dead flesh dropping onto the corrupted earth. Shu floated above the destruction, his "Flamescion Sword" raised high, its golden Crimson blade shining brightly. He had hit the monster's only weak spot with hard, precise force!

Pain shot through Shu's body. He wobbled in the air, pressing a shaking hand over his eye to stop himself from groaning.

Blood ran from his eye and nose, mixing with sweat and dirt. Dark bruises spread across his skin, and blood soaked his ripped clothes.

The strain had broken small blood vessels under his skin. One eye was completely red with blood, making his vision a scary red color.

He flicked a dismissive flame down at what was left of the monster. Then with powerful force, he smashed through the broken door and ripped through the elevator doors above, disappearing up the shaft before Pet's steady camera.

Ethics watched the video in shocked silence, his calm completely gone.

Was the Champion too strong, even for Shu? With his unbelievable speed, his terrifying power... How could this be?

His mind raced as he stared at the wrecked elevator doors and the burning wasteland beyond. Pet rolled forward, recording the scene after the destruction Shu had caused.

The scene in front of him was total ruin—burnt ground and glowing embers were all that was left of the fierce fight.

From those depths, Shu had come out, reborn in hell fire and endless anger.

Like a shooting star, he blasted out of Heliopolis, tearing across half of ARC City in a heartbeat. A burning comet of fury, he smashed into the ground in front of the Nest's vault door.

The instant his feet touched down, panic slammed into him. Terrified screams of children, their choked sobs, exploded in the air.

The wave of pure fear and sadness hit him like a physical punch, knocking him to his knees on the cold metal floor.

But he was up again in a blur of speed, a twisted, frightening smile stretching across his blood-streaked face. Pale as death, with one bloodshot eye burning with wild intensity, and his body soaked in blood, he held the golden blade high—a shining symbol of defiance.

"BOOM—!!"

The steel vault door blew apart, ripped off its hinges and sent flying into the room. The mangled metal screamed through the air with deadly aim, weaving between every terrified child to crash down on the massive monster in the center of the hall.

Silence dropped like a stone, broken only by the shaky breaths of the children.

Everyone froze, staring at the figure framed in the doorway—a furious angel wreathed in fire.

Shu's good eye, bloodshot and blazing with rage, locked onto a single person standing in the corner of the makeshift hospital room. He barely noticed Kiana and the others, their faces pale with shock and exhaustion. He saw only that one figure in the pure white coat.

He stared at the face burned into his memory forever—a face he'd know even in the depths of hell—and deliberately stepped forward onto the clean floor.

"Herrscher..." The word was a low, poisonous hiss that cut through the silence. "...hello..." A crazy laugh burst from Shu's chest, turning his face into a vengeful demon rising from ashes. [Vakh] stood frozen solid, eyes wide with utter shock.

"Long time no see... or maybe... is this even our first time meeting?" Shu moved slowly towards [Vakh]'s frozen form, the hot golden blade hanging loosely in his grip, crackling with threat.

"I... clawed my way back from hell!"