Here in the outskirts of Nagazora City, a black fog suddenly rose up on the once sunny and pleasant path, engulfing the road in front of Li Xuan and the others.
"Master, it's dangerous ahead! Liv senses a very strong Honkai energy reaction!" Maid Liv, holding her dual pistols, defensively aimed at the road ahead, her delicate little face etched with a grave expression.
"..." Seeing the scene before him, Li Xuan's heart was actually quite conflicted… He felt as if he were like that certain death god elementary school student from an anime in his original world, bringing death wherever he went… Of course, the elementary school student took others' lives, while he was the one whose life was on the line…
"Sigh~ So it's just bad luck again, huh?!" Li Xuan said, covering his face with his hand in lament. It seemed that every time some Honkai energy reaction appeared nearby, he would always end up getting hurt or something…
"? What did you say, Master?" Hearing Li Xuan muttering, Liv turned around and asked curiously.
"No, it's nothing… Let's get out of here quickly!" Li Xuan said to Liv beside him as he helped the silent Yae Sakura up from the ground. After all, he couldn't afford to provoke it, but he could at least try to avoid it.
"Sakura, let's leave first. The mechs in Nagazora City should be gone by now," Li Xuan said to Yae Sakura.
"There's something terrifying in there…" Yae Sakura said blankly, staring at the black mist not far from them. A black fox with red eyes materialized behind her. "A monster… no weaker than me…"
"Eh?! Master! That looks like…" Liv suddenly exclaimed, her slender finger pointing into the black mist ahead. "That looks like Miss Mei…"
"What?!..." Li Xuan whipped his head around to look into the black mist. A young girl had appeared in the black fog at some point. Her long black hair was tied up with a white silk ribbon, and her expression was obscured by her slightly long bangs. She wore white ancient samurai armor and seemed to be holding a katana… Although Li Xuan only caught a fleeting glimpse, he noticed that her height and appearance were more than eighty percent similar to Raiden Mei!
"Mei?!" Li Xuan cried out in disbelief. Could it really be the missing Raiden Mei? Then where were Kiana and Bronya? His mind was filled with questions.
"..." As if hearing Li Xuan's call, the black-haired girl in the fog paused her steps slightly. Her long hair swayed as she turned her head, but then she lifted her foot and continued walking forward, her figure slowly melting into the darkness…
"Master… that person looks like Miss Mei…" Liv said in surprise.
".Mm." Li Xuan stared intently at the ominous-looking black fog. Finally, he gritted his teeth, turned around, and said to Liv, "Liv, come with me and let's take a look!"
"Eh?!" Liv was taken aback.
"Sakura, it might be dangerous inside, and your injuries haven't fully healed yet. Why don't you wait outside for me to come back, okay?" Li Xuan said to Yae Sakura in a consultative tone.
"No! I'm going with you, Li Xuan-kun!" Yae Sakura said firmly, word by word, her azure eyes filled with determination. "And… Higokumaru wants to go see too…" Yae Sakura turned to look at the black fox behind her.
"Mhm… I wanna go see too," Higokumaru opened its blood-red eyes. Its previous injuries hadn't fully healed, so it had been sleeping recently. Now, seeing such a dense Honkai energy reaction, it thought there might be something that could speed up its recovery.
"...Alright!" Li Xuan hesitated for a moment, then agreed. After all, it was better to have them by his side. At least with the shield from his 'Xuanyuan Festive Garb,' not many creatures could harm them.
"Then… let's go," Li Xuan said, casually pulling a katana from his ring. "Huh?!" The feel of it was a bit off. The hand Li Xuan used to grip the sword felt different from the katanas he had held before.
"..." Li Xuan raised the katana he had casually grabbed from his ring and examined its style in the sunlight…
This, this… isn't this Mei's sword?! Li Xuan thought, staring at the ancient-style katana in his hand. 'How did I end up taking this out… Right, Mei had given her family's ancestral katana to me for safekeeping before…' After all, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya all knew about Li Xuan's ability to store items.
"Mei…" Li Xuan sighed softly. Where on earth had they gone?
"Let's go, everyone!" Li Xuan said, swinging the sharp katana in his hand. The snow-white blade glinted coldly in the sunlight.
On a small, overgrown path in the outskirts of Nagazora City, a young man and two young women walked into a stretch of black mist, their figures disappearing within.
............….
"Tch!~ Garbage!" In Nagazora City, with a wave of her hand, Murata Himeko's greatsword, which radiated a heat like the sun itself, sliced through the Anti-Entropy "Titan Mecha" that Li Xuan had initially been helpless against as if it were tofu.
"Bzzzt…" The Anti-Entropy mech, nearly cut in two, sparked violently at the gash. The immense energy, having lost its vessel, began to run rampant. Then, in the next moment… "Bang! Boom!" With a loud explosion, it erupted into a ball of fire.
"..." Murata Himeko shouldered her greatsword and gazed at the equally azure sky, surrounded by the wreckage of Anti-Entropy mechs… 'The sky that day was just as blue… but… everyone is gone…'
"Beep beep beep!~" The communicator on her wrist suddenly chirped, interrupting Himeko's reminiscence.
"What is it?" Himeko pressed the button on her communicator, opening the message. It was a message from the Hyperion.
"Sigh?!~" Himeko, after quickly reading the message, rubbed her red hair and sighed. There had been so much happening lately. Now there was a Honkai energy reaction in the outskirts of Nagazora City too…
"Alright, alright…" Murata Himeko muttered to herself. She stomped her foot on the ground, and using her Valkyrie armor and her own physical prowess, she quickly ran towards the outskirts of Nagazora City.
(End of Chapter)