Before we actually start, i would like to express my thanks to those who are willing to give me thanks. After all, i would be giving more chapters 60 power stones. THEN i will give 2 chapters per 60 power stones, 120 powers stone 5 chapters for the head ups. Because i dont want to consume any more than this.
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Several days later...
Theater of Domination, Elysian Realm sector.
BOOM!
Scorching flames erupted across the pocket space in a violent explosion.
The earth violently quaked.
Up in the air, Kalpas—already in his Active Honkai Reaction state and completely wreathed in crimson hellfire—hurled himself at his opponent with a devastating flying kick.
And on the other side...
His opponent met the ferocious assault with a flying kick of their own.
It was a towering figure, fully clad in silver-gray mechanical armor.
Equally draped in flames. Equally devoid of any flashy, unnecessary tricks.
Leading up to this exact moment, the two had been locked in a bitter, unending brawl, relying purely on the most brutally simple methods of attack.
Straight punches, sweeping roundhouses... even grabbing random "bricks" off the ground to use as makeshift weapons.
Well, "bricks" the size of literal load-bearing pillars, anyway—complete with molten-iron visual effects and a massive fire damage buff.
But right now...
Wham!
Their flying kicks collided in midair. The stalemate lasted barely a split second before one of them was sent hurtling backward.
It was Kalpas.
Even as he flew through the air, he was laughing like a maniac—like some psychotic Uchiha who'd wandered onto the wrong anime set.
Still... the brief clash proved one thing. In terms of pure, unadulterated brute force, even Kalpas—one of the absolute strongest combatants among the Thirteen Flame-Chasers—was no match for that towering armored figure.
Crash!
Kalpas slammed into the side of a mountain, cratering so deep into the rock face you'd need a crowbar to pry him out. Well... actually, he didn't need any help. A few violent thrashings later, he shattered the surrounding stone and freed himself, completely unhindered.
The very second his boots touched the ground...
"Again!"
Kalpas roared, his bloodlust burning brighter than ever.
You'd expect nothing less from the MANTIS bearing the Signet of Decimation.
However...
"No more."
His opponent, the towering armored figure, simply shook its head, flat-out rejecting Kalpas's enthusiastic invitation to fight to the bitter end.
Too bad Kalpas wasn't the type to take 'no' for an answer.
Nor was he one to listen to reason.
If his opponent didn't want to fight, he would just beat them until they had no choice.
So...
Crash!
Skipping the pointless chatter, Kalpas shattered the ground beneath his heel. He launched himself forward like a roaring beast, closing the gap to the towering armored figure in a blink.
He drew back his right fist, aiming a lethal strike straight for their face.
But then—
Fwoosh—
A burst of fire flashed across Kalpas's vision. Astonishingly, the hulking armored figure had just completely deactivated their suit.
In its place stood a lovely girl with waist-length hair.
Faced with Kalpas's incoming strike, she didn't even flinch.
"..."
At the very last split second, Kalpas's fist stopped dead. Barely a millimeter from the tip of her nose.
The sheer gale force of the blow whipped her hair back, the wind catching the hem of her gradient skirt.
The girl instinctively brought a hand down to hold it in place.
Yet, staring down the lethal Flame Fist inches from her face, she remained completely unfazed.
"What are you playing at?"
Kalpas didn't lower his fist.
His voice practically dripped with irritation as he demanded an answer.
Clearly, if she was just going to stand there and take it, he had no interest in claiming a hollow victory. Or rather, winning or losing had never really mattered to him in the first place.
He just wanted her to fight back. To go all out.
Unfortunately for him...
"You're no match for me anymore," the girl said, her tone perfectly flat. "Too weak. You wouldn't even last a few seconds against me."
"..."
Kalpas's mouth twitched.
It was a good thing reality wasn't an anime. Otherwise, he'd definitely have a cluster of throbbing angry-vein symbols popping out all over his forehead right now.
Come to think of it, this whole scene...
"She really holds a grudge, doesn't she?"
A short distance away, a pair of spectators were watching the showdown unfold. One was a pink-haired girl—if you could call her that—with elf-like pointed ears, and the other was a mature woman with a faint, tipsy flush to her cheeks.
Elysia and Eden.
The whispered commentary had naturally come from the former.
It couldn't be helped. It wasn't just Elysia; anyone present who heard the Ex-Machina girl's deadpan mockery would immediately remember the exact insults Kalpas had hurled not too long ago.
"Weak. Far too weak."
"You don't even come close to the last Herrscher who stood here."
"At least she managed to last a few seconds longer against me."
Well, oh how the tables turn... though to be fair, it hadn't even been thirty days.
Now, he was the one getting his own words shoved right back down his throat.
Speaking of which...
Whoosh—
On the battlefield, the girl in the gradient skirt shimmered, seamlessly shifting back into the form of a black-haired young man.
Clearly, this was another new Game Character Template Ling Ke had just acquired.
[Game Character Template: Firefly]
[Origin: Honkai: Star Rail]
[Character Traits: Level System, HP System, Infinite Stamina, Indestructible Equipment, Form Switch, Fire Attribute...]
[Game Skills — Basic ATK: Order: Flare Propulsion / Fyrefly Type-IV: Pyrogenic Cleave. Skill: Order: Aerial Bombardment / Fyrefly Type-IV: Deathstar Overload...]
[Background Talents: Iron Cavalry of Glamoth, Synesthesia Beacon, Portable Storage, Entropy Loss Syndrome...]
[Related Intro: A member of the Stellaron Hunters with a bounty of 9,723,000,000. Fights in the mechanical armor 'Sam'. Born as a weapon to destroy the Swarm...]
The one standing there now was Ling Ke's true body.
Not the "Puppet of Domination - Firefly".
And so, once he deactivated the character template, he reverted back to being a seemingly powerless, ordinary guy.
He paid no mind to Kalpas's still-raised fist. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he simply turned his back and walked off the battlefield.
"Hmph!"
Kalpas seemed to lose his appetite for a fight as well. He dropped his stance and immediately stormed out of the space, clearly unwilling to stick around any longer.
That was when Elysia and Eden strolled over to Ling Ke's side.
"Um, can I ask you something?" the pink-haired elf ventured tentatively. "That super cute girl from just now... what's her name?"
"..."
Ling Ke gave her a long, profoundly weird look.
Truth be told, ever since the destruction of the Current Era had become a foregone conclusion, he and these Flame-Chaser Sim-Data had actually managed to hold a few decent conversations.
Ultimately, there was no real bad blood between them—just a few minor grievances.
Besides, the "next act" he had meticulously scripted happened to include a role for the Elysian Realm.
Because of that, Ling Ke didn't really mind exchanging a few words with the Sim-Data every now and then.
Though his attitude couldn't exactly be called *friendly*. "Mediocre" was probably the better word.
Just like right now...
"Is your old weakness for pretty faces acting up again?"
"Ehh~"
Called out so bluntly by Ling Ke, Elysia rubbed the back of her head in mild embarrassment. "I was just a little curious, that's all."
"Besides, isn't it just human nature to appreciate beautiful things?"
"Heh."
Ling Ke had no intention of entertaining the topic.
God loves the world, but she definitely prefers pretty girls... It wasn't like he was unaware of the running jokes about the Realm's resident yuri enthusiast.
In the original storyline, the World Serpent executive Raven entered the Elysian Realm multiple times without ever running into Elysia.
But the moment she pulled back her hood and revealed that gorgeous face... *oh boy.*
Those who know, know.
However...
"Elysia. As it stands right now, we aren't close, and we certainly aren't friends."
Ling Ke looked at the pink-haired girl. "So, if you want something from me, you have to offer something in return."
"And the terms of this equivalent exchange are..."
He didn't wait for her to respond, simply raising his right hand and pointing a finger straight at her. "For tomorrow's 'Elysian XP Pack' session, you're going to be the final boss."
"Huh?"
Elysia froze.