In the boundless darkness, not a single star shone.
This place didn't feel like the universe—or even space—but rather somewhere completely swallowed by nothingness.
When Sora appeared, glowing faintly, he became the only source of light in existence.
Unfortunately, that lonely glow seemed utterly insignificant against the infinite black surrounding him.
"Don't tell me… I've been sent straight into Nihility's stomach…"
A grim thought crept into Sora's mind.
Pitch-blackness alone would've been bad enough—but this place had neither heroes nor books.
Because of that, the [Super Hero Senki's] power was drastically weakened.
Maybe it was only because Yuri had infused him with his own essence that the form of Saikou remained intact for now.
But that fact only deepened Sora's suspicion—he really might have fallen into Nihility's belly.
Inside Nihility, there was no meaning. Naturally, concepts like heroes or books couldn't exist either.
The more he thought about it, the more everything lined up.
"Didn't TERMINUS go a little too far this time?"
Panic began to rise. THEY had worked with him against the swarm not long ago—and now THEY had dumped him into Nihility? The shift was too extreme.
Could TERMINUS have been impersonated by AHA?
But that didn't make sense either. If it were AHA, THEY wouldn't have helped him travel through time in the first place.
And if it wasn't AHA… then who was behind this?
Sora didn't have time to figure it out.
Not because he planned to think it over later—something was approaching.
In absolute darkness and silence, even the faintest movement was magnified a thousandfold.
And right now, Sora was a hyper-sensitive sword-body.
He immediately detected faint ripples spreading through the darkness—waves of energy brushing against his blade.
Every sense flared to life.
He turned toward the source—and froze.
"What—the hell is that?!"
A colossal hand engulfed in platinum-white flames was reaching straight for him. The fire wasn't an illusion—he could feel every flicker of it reverberating through his sword-form.
In this endless void, such a sight was utterly surreal.
And its target was unmistakable: him.
"Damn it—I'm not letting anyone lay a hand on my body!"
Snapping out of his shock, Sora blazed forward in a streak of light, narrowly dodging the grab.
It wasn't that he'd never seen huge beings before—Skacarabaz could grow to planetary scale.
But this hand… it was made entirely of energy.
As it closed on empty space, Sora caught a clearer look.
The platinum flames surged violently, yet there was no flesh, no bone, no organic form—only raw energy molded into a hand.
"What the hell is this thing? And where did it even come from?!"
If he hadn't known where he was, he might've thought he'd ended up in the wrong world altogether.
Since when did this kind of thing exist in Honkai: Star Rail?
He mentally flipped through every monster he'd ever fought—nothing came close.
Neither the Antimatter Legion nor the True Stings resembled this blazing hand.
This was something entirely new.
As he pondered, the hand realized it had missed and lunged again.
"You just don't quit, do you?!"
Sora's patience snapped.
Even a clay doll had a temper—let alone someone already on edge.
First his body was stolen, then he was tossed into this nightmare, and now this thing was taking cheap shots?
Did it really think he was easy prey?
"Fine then—let me show you the true power of The Light Swordsman!"
Facing the oncoming flames, Sora didn't flinch.
He'd cut down monsters far larger than this before.
Titanironia had stretched dozens of meters, and he'd split both it and the planet beneath it with one swing.
Skacarabaz had been the size of an asteroid, and he'd smashed it to glittering dust.
And now a flaming hand dared challenge him? Laughable.
The moment it swept toward him again, Sora shot forward like a golden meteor, carving a burning trail through the dark.
The tip of his blade gleamed with razor brilliance—and then collided head-on with the flaming hand.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted as the blade of light crashed against the hand of fire.
Light and flame tangled together, briefly illuminating the endless dark.
"How about that? That's what you get for messing with me—" Sora started, then abruptly cut himself off.
Because from the wound he'd just carved open, countless shadows spilled out—overlapping, writhing, and clawing like tortured souls trying to escape.
Those fiery silhouettes scrambled outward in panic, as if fleeing from something far more terrifying behind them.
But in the next instant, the flames cloaking the massive hand flared violently, swallowing the scene whole once again.
Sora stared, stunned. He didn't fully understand what he'd just seen—but he instantly grasped one thing.
"Saikou's separation slash actually worked on this thing?!"
In the original series, Kamen Rider Saikou's attacks could separate a Megid from the human it had fused with.
Meaning Sora's current strikes could split apart entities fused into one.
The slash he'd dealt to that hand hadn't just injured it—it had triggered separation. Multiple separations, in fact.
Which led to one clear conclusion:
"This isn't just a hand made of energy—it's formed from countless things fused together!"
Whatever that meant, Sora didn't know yet. But one thing was certain—he'd just stirred up something massive.
Because as soon as the wound sealed shut, the hand came for him again—stronger, faster, and angrier than before.
"Damn it!"
He swung furiously. A golden wave of light burst from his blade, cutting toward the flaming hand.
Sensing danger, the hand jerked back, but didn't retreat. Just as his attack reached it, the enormous hand split apart into dozens of smaller ones, each unleashing blinding platinum fire to intercept his strike.
Smaller, yes—but quicker and deadlier.
Sora twisted through the torrent of flames, his sword-form weaving with impossible agility.
"You think cheap tricks like that can stop me?"
He shot forward again, a streak of golden radiance slicing through the storm. Every time his blade struck, he caught glimpses of that same eerie sight—those clawing, anguished shapes trying to break free.
"This… doesn't look good. Could this thing be a Devourer?"
Devourers—beings that absorbed traits from everything they consumed, said to be the origin of memory metals.
But Devourers were biological. He'd never heard of one made of pure energy.
The flaming hands swarmed him, morphing constantly—fists, claws, spears—each shift following a strange, rhythmic pattern. There was technique hidden in it, like some form of martial art.
Then, suddenly, he spotted an opening. Amid the swirling chaos, a tiny gap revealed itself.
"No matter what you are, you're not laying a hand on my body!"
He shot forward, accelerating his blade-form to full speed, slicing through the gap and along the length of the flaming arm.
Flames roared and surged all around him, but he didn't slow down.
Finally, something loomed ahead—something blocking his path.
"Break apart!"
With a fierce shout, Sora unleashed a burst of radiant power. His sword blazed like a miniature sun, tearing straight through the flaming hand.
BOOM!
Fire erupted. Fragments of the hand scattered, and tiny sparks drifted softly through the dark, like falling stars.
"Heh, is that all you've got? You're two millennia too early to try capturing me—"
But before he could finish gloating, the very air shifted.
An overwhelming force rippled outward, shaking the entire void.
And then—light. Endless, dazzling light burst forth before him.
His attack had awakened something that had been slumbering here, forcing it to reveal its true form.
From the depths, he finally saw it—the source of the countless flaming hands.
A towering figure radiating pure white brilliance, seated calmly amid the darkness.
Its fingers were folded in a tranquil mudra, the countless flaming arms stretching out from behind it like divine extensions.
And beyond that figure—Sora caught sight of devastation.
Ancient-style structures, familiar and ornate, lay shattered and broken in the background.
No mistake.
"Xianzhou?!"
The ruined buildings were unmistakably Xianzhou in design—the architecture of the Alliance that served under LAN, the AEON of the Hunt.
Everywhere across the galaxy, people knew the Seven Arbiter-Generals, supreme hunters who enforced LAN's will.
He remembered chatting with Jing Yuan once—how shocked the General had been to learn Sora resolved a Swarm Disaster in just a few days. Jing Yuan had praised him endlessly, even inviting him to visit the Luofu.
Even Tingyun, before she left, had promised he'd be treated as an honored guest.
He'd even started planning the trip. Once his body was restored, he'd visit the Luofu, take in the sights—and now, instead, he was staring at what looked like a destroyed Xianzhou.
Half-collapsed, half-erased.
"What the hell happened here…?"
Had he fallen into some far-future timeline where everything had already perished?
And that luminous figure before him—what was it?
As Sora watched, the radiant being slowly opened its eyes.
Twin golden pupils shone like suns piercing the void.
A crushing gaze locked onto him—familiar somehow, echoing the oppressive presence of TERMINUS, though weaker. Not even close to that level… but still leagues above Sora himself.
After a long silence, the being finally spoke.
"Another object swallowed by Rahu, Devourer of Worlds… Good. More materials to aid the restoration and reshaping of this shattered world."
As its voice faded, countless flaming arms unfolded from behind it—surrounding Sora completely.
"…This might be a little harder to get out of than I thought."
Sora muttered, half-despairing, as the circle of fire closed in.
...
"The Xianzhou Alliance is contacting us again—but why?" Fenille asked, puzzled. Hadn't the Alliance halted all operations after the Swarm Disaster ended?
"We're not sure. But this time, it isn't the Luofu."
Fenille and Jobs exchanged a look.
The Luofu had been their only contact before—so why was a different Xianzhou reaching out now?
"Don't answer it! So annoying! It's ruining my study time!" Titania grumbled, hunched over her coursework.
When she finished, she'd definitely make Sora pay for everything.
Fenille sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Well, maybe Titania-sama should answer," came a nervous voice from the comms, clearly overhearing Titania's complaint. "The caller is… a General."
A General? Then ignoring it wasn't an option.
Fenille quickly explained the situation to Titania—emphasizing that Sora had ties to the Xianzhou and was on good terms with at least one General.
Instantly, Titania's eyes lit up.
"Sora's got connections with a Xianzhou General? Then I'll have one too!"
So this was turning into another rivalry, huh…
Fenille sighed again but reminded her firmly to behave—one wrong word and she'd ruin everything.
Once the call was properly prepared, Fenille cleared her throat and accepted the transmission.
The connection opened—and both of them froze.
From the other end came a trembling, terrified voice:
"I-I-I'm terrified… I don't want to be in this position anymore!"
…Huh?
---
T/N: hmm IDK XIANZHOU LORE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
...
dont worry bonus chaps will be released on sunday
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say thank you to Girantina for that thoughtful message