"Flame-Chasers, open the door!"
Chen Li kicked open the great door to the Current Era.
After leaving the Honkai world and re-entering it, he was once again faced with the choice of which Herrscher to challenge. This time, he decisively chose the Herrscher of the Void.
The card, just as decisively, transformed into a portal.
As Chen Li kicked open the door of a civilization, all he saw was an immeasurable light.
"Wait, light? Wasn't I challenging the Herrscher of the Void?"
Chen Li's thoughts paused for a brief moment. But whether out of the need to get to the Current Era or simple curiosity, he decided to investigate.
However, as he stepped through the portal, just as he was about to take a breath of fresh, Current Era air, he was startled by something in the sky.
The setting sun was like blood. The entire sky was stained red by a single strike, as if the celestial river had fractured. Just the tip of a sword, slowly emerging from the clouds, filled Chen Li's entire field of vision. It gave off a feeling of being absolutely impossible for any mortal to resist.
The divine is the apex of change, the marvel that defines all things, it cannot be questioned by form.
It had no form, nor did it need one. This sword filled all of space; this sword was space. Therefore, it was omnipresent and ever-victorious.
The Fifth Form of the Sword of Taixu—God-Form!
Taixu Sword God!
"The Sword of Taixu is formless and boundless. This sword can pierce any physical barrier, striking directly at the imperceptible, unknowable parts of one's consciousness. Because it is unknowable, it is irresistible. It will reduce you to nothingness, from the inside out. Herrscher, this sword cannot be stopped."
After completely passing through the portal, Chen Li saw a figure standing not far from him, dressed in a red and white qipao, her face devoid of mercy.
In an instant, Chen Li understood everything.
When he subconsciously moved aside to look behind him, he saw a purple-haired girl with golden pupils, a look of utter shock on her face.
Oh, great. This is how we're playing it? I could tolerate you teleporting me anywhere to fight Sirin, but why did you drop me directly in front of Taixu Sword God? We're starting with a scene this intense and explosive?
"Your Majesty! I've come to save you!"
But within 0.0001 seconds, Chen Li had already devised a solution!
He stood tall, chest puffed out, shielding Sirin—who was equally stunned by both the sword ki and Chen Li's sudden appearance—behind him, looking for all the world like a hero ready for a noble sacrifice.
Although... it was hard to see what a "noble sacrifice" looked like on a giant, yellow Homu.
This was the livestreaming costume Chen Li had forged for himself out of Soulium! Though he hadn't started broadcasting yet.
"Get lost! I don't need you to block for me!" Sirin irritably shoved Chen Li, who was in the Homu costume, to the side. Then, with a grim expression, she looked up at the Taixu Sword God about to descend upon her.
Sirin had no idea what this suddenly appearing drab yellow thing was, but she sensed an aura similar to Benares's on it. (Chen Li had specifically sewn a scale from the material card of the Previous Era's Herrscher of the Void's companion Honkai Beast into the costume, and had it custom-made so it could only be unzipped from the inside).
Could this be one of my companion Honkai Beasts, too? God never told me about this.
But in any case, this drab yellow thing definitely couldn't block this attack.
To Sirin's surprise, however, the yellow figure once again stood in front of her, resolute and unyielding.
Stunned for a moment, Sirin didn't dare to think any further. The power contained within the sword ki above her was too immense to ignore. She could only immediately deploy an Imaginary screen, attempting to block it.
The sky-blotting greatsword passed clean through the drab yellow Homu costume, as if Chen Li's obstruction had posed no trouble at all.
Seeing a white seam crack open on the costume, proving that the creature inside had been split in two, Sirin didn't even have time to register her shock at its fragility before Taixu Sword God was upon her, smashing violently against the Imaginary screen she had erected.
Chen Li didn't know what happened next, because his vision had already gone black.
In truth, when Taixu Sword God passed through the Soulium-made Homu costume, it had taken Chen Li inside along with it. Although it was a mental attack, it could inflict physical damage—the completely pierced Tower of Babylon nearby was proof.
However, the Soulium costume had self-repairing properties, so it had already fixed itself before it could even split in two.
Fu Hua's sword was too fast. So fast the wound had already healed.jpg
Of course, Chen Li didn't need to understand the principles of the costume right now. All he had to do was watch a 30-second ad and then revive.
In that short span of time, Chen Li had decisively chosen the Herrscher faction over the Schicksal faction. And to show his loyalty, he decided to die for her first.
To this end, he had even deliberately disabled his [Friends Circle]. After all, if it had actually blocked Taixu Sword God, his cover would have been blown sooner or later. Because a Herrscher like Sirin, who had fully embraced her mission to destroy the world, could genuinely communicate with the Honkai consciousness.
At this moment, the Honkai consciousness resided deep within Sirin's own, acting as her personal "grandpa in a ring." Taixu Sword God couldn't kill Sirin because "God" would help her block this strike, but the price would be that Sirin could no longer communicate with this so-called deity.
That "God" was indeed omniscient. Which meant it was also a threat to Chen Li. So, it was better to have Sirin sever her connection with it as soon as possible.
"Robin's songs are pretty good..."
In a sea of darkness, Chen Li waited for his resurrection in 30 seconds, while also contemplating how to face Sirin afterward. His decisive choice to side with the Herrschers was not only to cause trouble for them, but also to get close to the Herrscher of the Void and diligently study her omnipotent use of her powers. Chen Li had already constructed the model for the Herrscher of the Void's authority, but his proficiency was still only at 5%.
"The worst-case scenario has occurred. I managed to pick the one opponent I can't beat under normal circumstances: the six-core Herrscher Sirin. Luckily, this Miracle Card only gives me an opportunity to face a Herrscher, it doesn't make the Herrscher lock onto me as their primary target the moment I appear."
When the 30-second ad finished, it meant Chen Li would awaken once more.
Why does life slumber? Because people are meant to awaken!
Chen Li hadn't expected his first death to be so seamless. So seamless that he barely felt a thing.
But in reality, he felt that he wasn't entirely incapable of blocking Taixu Sword God on his own. Since it was a mental attack, it was time for [Unbroken Mind-Mirror] to shine. As long as his mirror-like heart remained unshattered, Chen Li was highly immune to instant-death and mental-type attacks. The reason it was so seamless just now was purely because Chen Li had no intention of resisting, so the passive skill hadn't activated at all.
"But speaking of which, Taixu Sword God is so cool, right?"
As he was thinking this, he opened his eyes to see Sirin with one hand on his costume, transferring a strange power into him, while her other hand controlled the Lances of Longinus to beat up a gray-haired, gray-eyed woman.
"Hm? You actually managed to come back to life?"
When Chen Li sat up from the ground, Sirin was the one who looked surprised to see him truly alive. She stared blankly at her own hand, not expecting her authority as the Herrscher of Death to be so potent. Does this mean that as long as someone isn't completely dead, the authority of the Herrscher of Death can resurrect them?
"Your Majesty, that really hurts to hear," Chen Li said, wiping away a tear.
"Alright. Since the person I was waiting for has come back to life, your final use as a toy to pass the time is over." After Chen Li revived, Sirin withdrew the hand channeling the authority of Death and looked at Cheng Lixue, who was desperately blocking the lances' attacks, as if she were already a dead woman.
Cheng Lixue, Schicksal's strongest A-rank Valkyrie. Yet, in front of the Herrscher of the Void, she was nothing more than a tenacious ant.
"Your Majesty, please show mercy," Chen Li suddenly called out.
"Hm? Did you think I was only talking about her and not you? You'd better explain just what you are," Sirin said, hovering in the air. The lances attacking Cheng Lixue instantly transformed into two bands of sub-space, binding her tightly. Although Sirin's words were harsh, it seemed she was indeed willing to hear why Chen Li wanted to spare Cheng Lixue's life.
"Your Majesty, I am your companion Honkai Beast from 50,000 years ago!"
"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting?" Sirin looked at Chen Li as if he were an idiot.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask God directly! It can prove that what I'm saying is true! The world we live in is a cycle, repeating every 50,000 years! In every cycle, a Herrscher of the Void and her companion Honkai Beast are born. I am your companion Honkai Beast from the previous cycle!"
As he spoke, Chen Li used space transfer to instantly appear next to the Herrscher of the Void and hugged her leg.
"50,000 years, Your Majesty! Do you have any idea how I've spent these last 50,000 years?"
"...Let me ask God for verification," Sirin said, half-believing, half-doubting.
When a lie becomes absurd enough, the other party is forced to consider what they would do if it were actually true. What's more, Chen Li possessed an authority of the Herrscher of the Void similar to her own.
"Respected God, is this creature before me truly my retainer from 50,000 years ago?" Sirin asked the Honkai consciousness with reverence.
"God? God?!"
"Can you hear me? God, where are you? Why aren't you responding?"
Upon realizing that the deity who had always acted as her guiding 'grandpa,' teaching her how to use her Herrscher powers and destroy humanity, was no longer responding, Sirin admitted to herself that she was panicking.
Chen Li, safely inside his costume, smirked.
It'd be a disaster if you could reach it.
Foolish blowfish, your 'grandpa' has been disconnected. Now what will you do?
---o---