Chapter 205: The Will of the Honkai Causes Trouble
Raven's eyes seemed to glow red as she stared at the Seven Thunders of Retribution shamelessly showing off in Irene's hands. What the hell was this supposed to be?
You miserable piece of junk — you never pulled any of this with me.
Raven glared daggers at the Seven Thunders of Retribution and thought back over its track record. This weapon was a textbook case of non-compliance: uncooperative at every turn, never performing when it mattered.
There was even that one time it had transformed into a lipstick right in front of an enemy. If Raven's reflexes hadn't been as sharp as they were, she'd have been finished on the spot.
And that was just one incident among a long list of disasters, every single one caused by the Seven Thunders of Retribution's damnable transformation mechanism.
And just now, when she'd handed it over and it had zapped her with that jolt of current — she could feel a thick, unmistakable wave of disdain radiating from it. It was practically saying: stop calling me, I don't want Irene to get the wrong idea.
"Ahaha." Irene looked at the Seven Thunders of Retribution in her hand, thought it over, and decided she should pass it to Mei. However you looked at it, Mei was probably a better match.
Mei reached out and took it — but the moment it left Irene's hand, all those flowing visual effects immediately dimmed. The weapon began to shift, slowly reshaping itself into a long blade.
Irene looked at the long blade in Mei's hand and gave a small nod. Not too different from the one in her memory.
[Oh my, isn't that Sakura's blade?] Elysia's voice echoed in Irene's mind. [Though I suppose it makes sense — Miss Mei fights with blades too.]
[A pity that Miss Mei's swordsmanship is nothing like mine, otherwise I could impart a thing or two.] Sakura's voice joined in — clearly she had been paying attention all along.
Her blade style was built entirely on speed — a speed so pure it could freeze time. Mei's path was completely different, and by now it was so deeply ingrained in her that steering toward Sakura's style would be incredibly difficult.
Besides, it wasn't certain Mei's circumstances would even suit making that kind of switch.
Still, if the opportunity ever arose, a friendly exchange of notes would certainly be welcome.
"Uh, Sister Irene, this doesn't really seem any different from before." Mei looked at the Seven Thunders of Retribution, which had become a tachi in her hands. The power was admittedly a step above her current weapon — unsurprising, really, since it was a weapon forged from a predecessor's remains. One plus one would always be more than one, so a boost in power was perfectly natural. The problem was that she'd wanted to use the Staff of the Netherworld — and a long blade wasn't going to work for that.
"Also..." Mei stared at the Seven Thunders of Retribution in her grip, her expression going slightly strange. How to put this — she could somehow sense a feeling radiating from it: maybe you should just give me back.
"Maybe you should just keep it, Sister Irene."
"...Fine." Irene took the Seven Thunders of Retribution back, and immediately all those dazzling effects blazed back to life. Once Irene had the Staff of the Netherworld in her other hand, the Seven Thunders of Retribution very cooperatively transformed back into its sniper rifle configuration all on its own.
[Haha, it seems my masterpiece is quite taken with you, dear audience.] Vill-V's voice chimed in as well. [Though looking back, some of the templates I built don't seem to suit you very well.]
She had indeed programmed quite a few transformation templates into the Seven Thunders of Retribution — and it was precisely because of that effort that she understood none of those templates perfectly matched Irene's combat style.
Irene's fighting style was highly versatile, but it fundamentally depended on who she was transforming into at any given moment. A fixed loadout of preset weapons simply couldn't keep up with that.
Beyond that, Irene was the Herrscher of Death — what kind of weapon could truly suit that identity?
As the greatest magician, Vill-V refused to let her audience go into battle with outdated equipment. Once all of this was over, she would need to sit down and make some serious adjustments.
As for Raven, the weapon's previous owner — judging by the sheer seething hatred filling her eyes, she probably had no interest in ever taking it back.
"Useless piece of junk." Raven was completely speechless at this point. She waved a hand at Irene in disgust. "Take the damn thing and get out of my sight. Ugh — you, come with me. Let's go get people out."
Raven looked over at Chen Tianwu. She had no weapon on her now — just the backup bow she'd brought along, which was hardly going to cut it in a fight involving Herrschers. Given that, she might as well help Schicksal with the rescue operations.
Call it earning some good karma.
Chen Tianwu gave a nod. Just before they turned to leave, he looked back at Irene. "Miss Irene, if it's at all possible..."
"Don't worry — we don't intend to give up on any comrade who might still have a chance." Irene met his gaze and nodded. "So we'll..."
Before Irene could finish, a massive surge of Honkai energy erupted in the surroundings without warning. Everyone's heads snapped toward the source.
A colossal block of ice was slowly rising into the air.
"...Anna has awakened?" Kiana frowned as she watched. "Is she about to start attacking? Are there Schicksal personnel over there?"
"No — wait, that's not it." Bronya shook her head immediately. Her gaze dropped to the Star of Eden mounted on Project Bunny's arm, and her voice became somber.
"That's... the Herrscher of Rock."
Bronya was absolutely certain of it. That massive block of ice rising into the air was clearly the power of a Herrscher of Rock. But wasn't Anna a Herrscher of Ice? Who had turned into a Herrscher of Rock?
"Oh, for — there's trouble!" Irene let slip a very unladylike expletive, with Chen Tianwu still standing right there. How had a Herrscher of Rock just appeared out of nowhere?
And by the looks of it, it was clashing directly with Anna. This had the Will of the Honkai written all over it — Anna had been handed a dual-core awakening. What a mess.
[Ahaha, looks like things are getting quite lively over there.] Elysia scratched her head in Irene's mind. This was genuinely a situation none of them had encountered before.
Dealing with a single Herrscher was already an enormous headache — a dual-core was something none of them had ever faced. Well, except that Irene's own group happened to include one dual-core already.
And that certain lady had once been a Six-Core Herrscher, which was even more terrifying. Honestly, every time anyone looked at the records from that period, everyone agreed: the fact that humanity hadn't been wiped out back then was nothing short of a miracle.
Though these days she'd been reduced to a soft, gentle little Void Sprite, so there was that.
[Irene.] Wendy's voice surfaced in Irene's mind. [It's the ice-rock Herrscher. This isn't going to be resolved easily.]
[I know. But I'm still going to say: what a mess.] Irene stared at the floating ice mass with gritted teeth. There was no time left to stand around waiting.
"Move out — now. Something's pulling tricks behind our backs and we can't afford to wait any longer." Irene dropped all pretense, beat her wings once, and launched herself toward the floating ice mass. The others took flight at once, following her lead.
A tremendous chill condensed in the air, forming a platform. Through the power of the Herrscher of Rock, the entire structure had actually lifted off the ground and was hovering in the sky.
Everyone shifted into their Herrscher forms, eyes locked warily onto the jet-black block of ice in front of them. As Irene activated her own Herrscher armor, she pulled out Wendy's Role Card and pressed it against herself.
As the hurricane died away, another Wendy appeared on the field. Since the last Wendy had died at Anna's hands, this could also be counted as settling a debt.
And more than just that — the black mist and white light belonging to her Herrscher of Death identity surged around Irene once more. This was the skill she had acquired earlier: Bidirectional Link.
It didn't just allow her to access other Role Cards' abilities — her own powers fed into it too. That made her, in a real sense, a proper dual-core Herrscher in her own right.
As if sensing the threat, the massive block of ice shuddered violently — then exploded outward. An enormous dark silhouette emerged from the billowing cloud of shattered frost.
"Aaaargh!!!" Anna let out a howl of pain. A storm of ice crystals materialized instantly and came crashing down toward everyone — but with absolutely no real menace behind them, the group deflected them without effort, each using their own methods.
Seeing that her attack had done nothing, Anna immediately shot upward, climbing fast. Kiana called out at once: "She's trying to run!"
"No — she's trying to get away from us." Little Senti watched Anna rocket skyward and could sense the voice emanating from her faint remaining consciousness.
[Don't... don't come near me. Get away. Please, just get away.]
Her mental world seemed to echo with nothing but those words, an endless plea for them to keep their distance. Anna still retained some measure of awareness — but it was barely a flicker.
"Hold her. Weaken her by every means available. Give me an opening." Irene raised the Seven Thunders of Retribution, slotted the Staff of the Netherworld into it, then let the staff float in the air nearby using the Authority of Wind, ready to be drawn at any moment.
Then several wind blades, each wrapped in a coil of black-and-white crystal blossoms, flew toward Anna. When they struck close to her, the blades detonated the crystal flowers packed inside.
Countless fine crystal needles erupted outward, slamming into the thick layer of ice coating Anna's body and beginning to drain the Honkai energy within.
"Understood." A great fire ignited in Kiana's hands. The flames incinerated the surrounding air, and the superheated matter slowly solidified in her grip into a massive, tangible greatsword of molten rock.
This was a technique she had learned from Kalpas. Compared to her little pistol, she had always felt this kind of weapon was more her style — mainly because it hit like a truck.
Her originally blue left eye shifted to gold in that moment. Several Lances of the Void materialized around Kiana, and Sirin set down her game controller and joined the fight.
"Winds, bow to me!" Mei opened the engagement first, body wreathed in lightning. She closed the gap in a single explosive burst, and her slashing strike landed squarely on Anna.
Massive pillars of thunder appeared around her as well, crashing directly into Anna.
"Aaaargh!!" Anna's cry was cut short by a cannon shell shoved straight down her throat. Behind Project Bunny, a massive weapons rack had materialized out of nowhere.
Every piece of it was Anti-Entropy's finest: bullets, missiles, laser arrays, suicide drone swarms — and even a fist flying through the air. An actual flying fist, lovingly contributed by Tesla herself.
Behind Project Bunny, a layer of blue light was slowly rising into existence. Something was gradually taking shape within that pale glow.
"Heh heh — eat my blade!" Little Senti hoisted his enormous edgeless greatsword and brought it down toward Anna — but before it could connect, a layer of black gravitational shielding materialized around Anna.
"Oh? Fighting back, are we?" Little Senti watched his greatsword get bounced aside by the gravitational barrier, a red gleam flickering in his eyes. Several black-and-crimson feathers materialized around him.
In an instant, the feathers took the form of the Xuanyuan Sword, which pierced straight through the gravitational barrier and buried itself in Anna's body.
The moment the Xuanyuan Sword struck, the floating ice island convulsed violently — then began plummeting. Bronya's eyes snapped into focus. She thrust a hand upward, and the Star of Eden on Project Bunny's arm responded immediately.
It took over from Anna and held the ice island aloft. After all, if that thing were allowed to drop freely, what would become of Coral Island below?
Wendy came flying in from a distance, great sweeping wind blades shaving away the ice encasing Anna.
A golden light flashed in Kiana's eyes. A small, precise spatial rift opened behind Anna.
"Sister Irene!"
A spatial rift opened in front of Irene as well. Irene understood at once. She snatched up the Seven Thunders of Retribution, aimed it at the rift, and fired.
The Staff of the Netherworld passed through the rift and emerged behind Anna. It drove itself savagely into the now ice-free body — and in an instant, violet lightning flooded across every inch of Anna.
The lightning crept over the two cores inside Anna's body. The Staff of the Netherworld had been designed with a single-core Herrscher in mind, though — Anna's body began to falter and fall, but her Honkai energy was still not fully sealed.
Recognizing the opening, Irene blasted backward at full speed. A vivid blue-green light blazed in her eyes, and the wind wings at her back expanded by several hundredfold, blotting out the sky.
This was the ultimate technique of the Herrscher of Wind that [Wendy] had shown her in the consciousness space. Nothing in the real world — no typhoon, no hurricane — could come close.
Every gust within those wings was an impossibly keen wind blade, capable of slicing through iron like paper. Even one of Schicksal's warships caught inside would be reduced to scrap metal within seconds.
The Wendy who had been stabilizing the climate flew in as well, mirroring Irene's technique and expanding her own Authority outward, amplifying the power of every blade in the storm.
With Wendy taking over that role, Irene drew a slow, deep breath. In her deep crimson eyes, patterns of gold and violet blazed with brilliant light.
The black mist and white mist that had been swirling around her began to converge into her hands, extending outward like a long blade growing from her palms.
"The divine is the apex of transformation — marvelous beyond all things, beyond the reach of question; through heart, through sheath, nourish the blade's edge..."
As Irene recited the Taixuan Sword God's mantra, the black and white mist that had crudely formed the shape of blades began to sharpen into clarity.
"Irene's Taixuan Sword God?" Fu Hua stood motionless in the air, watching the twin blades of black and white gradually take form in Irene's hands. Without her even noticing, Irene had already learned to wield this technique.
Wendy and Irene's great spreading wings swept forward toward Anna like a moving wall. Even from a great distance, the explosive pressure of the air being pushed ahead of them was audible.
The tremendous force shattered the ice island entirely. The wind blades woven into the gale sliced the debris into powder, stripping away even the thick shell of ice covering Anna's body and exposing her dark form beneath.
At that moment, something seemed to reach Anna. The ice crystals that had been trying to re-form on her surface stopped. Anna spread her arms and turned to face Irene.
As if to say: do it.
"With life as the blade — death and life, turning without end..." Irene tightened her grip on the extended twin blades of black and white, then swung them in a single, devastating horizontal arc.
"Sever the Soul!"
The twin blades swept across in tandem with the surrounding walls of wind — like a pair of giant scissors — and cut straight through Anna's body. In that instant, Anna went limp as a cut kite string and plummeted.
Irene moved without a second's delay. She beat the wings behind her once and caught the falling Anna in midair.
"Phew... good thing there are so many of us."
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