"What happened?"
Later that day, Acheron returned and noticed the laboratory had been almost completely emptied, a flicker of confusion flashing in her eyes.
She left?
Kiana, who had found the lost Acheron and brought her back, explained, "Ruan went to the Space Station. I helped her clean up the lab."
So she really left.
But...
"...Cleaned up?"
Looking at the spotless room, empty of everything, Acheron—who rarely showed emotion—revealed a hint of bewilderment.
This counts as cleaning up?
"I thought we might still need it later, so I moved the entire lab into my Phase Shuttle space."
Kiana looked at the now-empty lab and felt a little embarrassed herself.
"I see."
That meant Ruan Mei wouldn't be coming back anytime soon—otherwise, Kiana wouldn't have gone to the trouble of moving everything.
No matter what Ruan intended to do next, it was ultimately a good thing for Acheron.
Though she had reluctantly accepted this arrangement, being with the two of them always made her feel somewhat uneasy.
She and Ruan weren't familiar.
There wasn't even much to talk about between them.
"I met someone today..."
Acheron hesitated briefly, as if uncertain of the man's identity. "Someone who seems to be... the Masked Fool."
"The Masked Fool?"
"Mm. Meeting him probably wasn't by chance. He must've been secretly observing us for a while."
What seemed like coincidence was likely a calculated encounter arranged by that man, meant to establish contact with her.
"What do you mean?"
Kiana perked up immediately. The Masked Fool of Belobog? Without a doubt, the one Acheron spoke of had to be Sampo.
Acheron shook her head slightly. "I didn't get much useful information from him. That man..."
He wasn't quite like the Masked Fools she had met before.
So she couldn't be entirely sure if the man she'd seen today was truly the Masked Fool.
"Then, do you think we should try to find him and talk?" Kiana asked.
"He'll come to us on his own."
Though the changes brought by Honkai weren't very obvious, that Masked Fool seemed to have sensed something. So he would definitely appear again.
Months passed.
Belobog's greatest change wasn't the emergence of Honkai, nor the new crisis it brought.
Rather, it was the subsiding of the blizzards after the Stellaron's disappearance—and the halting expansion of the Fragmentum.
"She's gone. What do you plan to do next?"
Acheron turned the topic back to Kiana.
Before this, Kiana had spent her days cooperating with Ruan Mei in countless tests. Now that Ruan was gone, Acheron wondered what Kiana planned to do next.
Would she stay here?
Or...
"Next, huh..."
The question left Kiana troubled. She frowned slightly, thinking for a moment, before answering, "It feels like I've done almost everything I could."
She hadn't been idle these past months. Thanks to her previous experience in Izumo—and Ruan Mei's guidance and examinations—she had made plenty of progress.
She had explored nearly every point worth investigating. On Jarilo-VI, she'd even reached 20% progress.
But that seemed to be her limit.
For the past two months, she hadn't received any further notifications—no signs of advancement.
Only the last 30% of progress remained, yet she had no idea where to find it.
Change worlds?
But would other worlds' systems even recognize her?
She'd already tried spreading Honkai energy elsewhere by accident before—but those rootless, drifting patches of Honkai had achieved nothing.
"Wait..."
Kiana's expression suddenly turned serious. She raised her head sharply, as if seeing through the ceiling to the stars beyond.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Kiana's rare serious look, Acheron immediately tensed. Whenever Kiana made that face, it meant—
"Such powerful Honkai energy."
Kiana sounded confused and astonished. She grabbed Acheron's hand, and with a flicker of light, teleported them both through Phase Shuttle—appearing on the snowfields outside Belobog.
She still held her gaze upward, brows furrowed tightly, unease shadowing her face.
Honkai... a powerful Honkai creature.
How could that be?
If such a Honkai creature had appeared on Jarilo-VI itself, Kiana wouldn't have been so surprised—but no, this one was in outer space. Judging by its trajectory, its destination was almost certainly Jarilo-VI.
"You sensed Honkai energy?"
"From outside the world?"
Kiana nodded. "Yes. It's outside, heading toward Jarilo-VI. At this speed... it'll arrive in half an hour at most."
"Honkai energy from beyond this world?"
Acheron had traveled across countless places, yet she had never heard of such a thing. The only similar description she'd heard came from the Interastral Peace Corporation's Welt Yang.
It was almost certain that the Honkai energy Kiana used didn't belong to this universe.
So, upon hearing Kiana's words, Acheron instinctively thought of her homeland—Izumo.
"Did it come from Izumo?"
Acheron had guarded Izumo for a very long time. During Kiana's coma, she had even tried multiple times to brave the overwhelming Honkai energy there to find her.
She knew Izumo better than anyone. She had tried again and again.
And she knew—
After Kiana lost control, the surge of Honkai energy in Izumo had spawned terrifying Honkai Beast.
On her attempts to return, she had been stopped many times by that unknown entity born of that storm.
So when Kiana mentioned a powerful Honkai creature, she instinctively recalled those encounters. After all, she had truly been hindered many times.
Without that creature blocking her, she might have already found Kiana, who had been sleeping within.
"Izumo? Jyahnar?!"
Hearing Acheron say that, Kiana suddenly remembered the Planet-class Honkai Beast she had once tricked into staying behind to guard Izumo.
Her expression instantly turned strange.
"Jyahnar?"
"Jyahnar... yeah, that energy signature—if it's her, then it makes sense."
"What are you talking about?"
"...Didn't I tell you before? The Honkai energy in Izumo was too strong. It gave birth to a Planet-class Honkai Beast. When I went back there last time, I met her."
Kiana frowned slightly. "That's strange. If it's Jyahnar, she should've listened to me. She wouldn't just leave Izumo on her own."
She scratched her head, puzzled. "Could something have happened in Izumo, so she left to find me? But... how would she even know I'm here?"
The more Kiana thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
She couldn't even sense Jyahnar's movements—so how did Jyahnar know where she was on Jarilo-VI?
She called her a follower, yet the follower could sense her position while she couldn't sense the follower's?
That didn't seem right at all.
"Forget it. We can't just let her show up directly on Jarilo-VI."
Kiana shook her head and made a quick decision. "Let's intercept her along the way."
With a body like Jyahnar's... it was best not to let her appear here unannounced.
While Kiana went to intercept Jyahnar, she realized the creature's speed had increased significantly.
By now, Kiana had fully accepted what Acheron said earlier—that the powerful, unknown Honkai creature was, without a doubt, Jyahnar.
And the fact that the other side had accelerated only confirmed Kiana's suspicion.
It was her intuition.
Jyahnar must have sensed her presence, which prompted her to suddenly speed up. That was exactly the kind of behavior Kiana expected from her.
Back in Izumo...
"Can you tell me more about this Jyahnar?" Acheron asked curiously. She had seen many Honkai creatures, most of which had evolved from Kami.
The strongest of them...
Were, of course, the Twelve Kami.
But those Kami had been defeated before reaching their complete forms, so Acheron had never truly experienced what a fully evolved Honkai creature was like.
Yet Kiana had called Jyahnar a Planet-class Honkai Beast.
That alone spoke volumes about her strength.
Kiana's Jyahnar far surpassed any of the Twelve Kami they had once fought.
Thinking back to how many times she'd been blocked on her way back to Izumo, Acheron grew even more curious about the Honkai creature Kiana mentioned.
Still, because of those past experiences, she felt an inexplicable sense of dislike toward it.
"Jyahnar, huh? Did I really never tell you about her?" Kiana scratched her head, puzzled.
"...Maybe I just forgot," Acheron said after a brief silence. She'd never had much confidence in her memory. "Could you tell me again?"
"Of course!" Kiana thought for a moment, then began from the very start—how she had first encountered Jyahnar, what had happened between them, and how they eventually parted ways.
This time, Acheron listened attentively.
And she caught an important detail—the being that had repeatedly blocked her in Izumo was confirmed to be none other than Jyahnar.
She had suspected as much, but hearing Kiana confirm it left her feeling complicated.
If that Honkai Beast hadn't stopped her, she might have already reunited with Kiana long ago.
Instead of having to wait until now...
Thinking of all the commotion Kiana had caused in order to find her, Acheron fell silent.
Kiana also remembered that Acheron had been unable to return to Izumo because Jyahnar had hindered her. Seeing her quiet expression, Kiana immediately guessed what she was thinking.
She quickly began to defend Jyahnar in a low voice—she didn't want Acheron to hold any grudges against her.
If both of them had issues with each other, she'd be the one caught in the middle—and that would be miserable.
She wasn't stupid. Of course she understood that much.
"Mei, don't be mad at Jyahnar. She didn't know anything back then. When she was born, I was still asleep—no one was there to teach her right from wrong..."
"I won't trouble her over something like that," Acheron replied calmly. "Besides, you said yourself—she's your companion Honkai Beast."
No ordinary person would bother holding grudges against a beast.
That's what Acheron thought.
She did feel some resentment and unease deep down, but she wouldn't show it outwardly.
After all, Jyahnar was Kiana's companion Honkai Beast.
"Mm-hmm! I knew you were the best, Mei!" Kiana let out a sigh of relief, her tension easing. She happily threw herself into Acheron's arms, rubbing against her like a cat, eyes half-closed in bliss.
Not long after, as that powerful presence drew closer, Kiana's nerves tightened again.
She still didn't know why Jyahnar was coming here—and considering Jyahnar's massive size, she couldn't help but worry she'd cause some kind of trouble.
Hopefully Jyahnar would keep things low-key on her way here.
At least... not cause too much chaos.
But as they waited, the colossal figure Kiana imagined never appeared. She could feel the approaching energy growing ever closer, yet she saw no massive body on the horizon.
Just as confusion started to set in, she finally saw a figure.
It was the figure of a girl.
Dressed in a white ceremonial robe.
Her appearance was identical to the form Kiana had once imagined for Jyahnar in the spiritual world—no differences whatsoever.
The moment Kiana saw her, surprise flickered across her face. Naturally, she recognized Jyahnar instantly.
But... how did Jyahnar turn into a human? Judging by what Kiana sensed, it wasn't an illusion or a simple projection.
"That's the Honkai Beast you mentioned?"
Of course, Acheron also saw the girl. Her eyes narrowed slightly—this was far from what she imagined a Honkai Beast to look like.
How could this possibly be called a "beast"?
That was clearly a human.
Yet as the girl approached, Acheron's body instinctively sent out a warning. There was an undeniable sense of danger emanating from her.
It was obvious.
She was not ordinary.
Judging by the aura she gave off, her strength truly lived up to what Kiana had said—Planet-class.
"Kiana!"
Jyahnar had long noticed Kiana. Seeing her before even reaching her destination filled her with pure joy.
So...
Kiana must have come to welcome her, right?
She completely ignored Acheron standing beside Kiana. Though she recognized the woman, Jyahnar paid her no mind. Her eyes contained only Kiana.
Her calm expression softened into a bright smile the moment she saw her. In the blink of an eye, she appeared right in front of Kiana.
The look in her eyes was passionate—and also... strangely intense.
She remembered clearly what Kiana had once told her during their first meeting. Although her interpretation differed somewhat from what Kiana had actually meant, none of that dampened her happiness.
"Kiana, I did it."
Her speech rhythm was slightly unnatural, her tone uneven—as if she wasn't entirely used to using her body to speak yet, still learning.
But none of that could dim the fervor in her voice.
"Y-you... turned into a human?"
Kiana's mind went blank for a moment. Honestly, ever since leaving Izumo, she hadn't thought much about Jyahnar.
The idea of Jyahnar taking on a human form had never even crossed her mind. All she had planned was to return someday—to meet Jyahnar again and calm her emotions.
She had never expected her to actually become human. After all, who would teach her how? How could she even begin to change her form?
Even if it were possible... wouldn't it take hundreds, maybe thousands of years?
But how long had it been?
Jyahnar's progress left her utterly dumbfounded.
Could it be that in the Star Rail Universe, Honkai Beasts could easily take on human forms?
Maybe Jyahnar hadn't been able to do it before simply because she'd never thought to try?
The more Kiana thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Otherwise, how else could this be explained?
"You said that if I became human, I could stay by your side forever."
Jyahnar's gaze burned with emotion as she looked at Kiana, whom she hadn't seen for so long. "I did it."
Though she felt far less comfortable like this—and much weaker than before—that didn't matter.
She had done it for Kiana.
As long as she could stay by Kiana's side, even if she had to become completely human and lose all her power, she would do so without hesitation.
To be with Kiana, to help Kiana—that was her purpose for existing.