Long silver hair floated in the air, as pure and flawless as the deep snow of the permafrost. Her rhomboid, cross-shaped pupils showed no trace of pity, sadness, or joy—only the fluorescent glow of disillusionment.
The beautiful figure that appeared not far from Siegfried was none other than the half-body that inherited the evil side of the Second Herrscher, the great Queen of the Void, she who swore to stain Fuli with the scent of Honkai, and while she was at it, bring endless madness and destruction to the world (though games, anime, snacks, and takeout would be spared)—Her Majesty, Sirin Ah Quan.
The lifting of the S-rank restriction made Siegfried realize this was no joke. Even though he had nearly solo-killed the Second Herrscher, who possessed multiple Herrscher cores, during the Second Honkai War, beads of cold sweat still fell from the man's forehead.
It was simple: the bastard before him was using his own precious daughter's body!
Look at her! The same silly face as Kiana, yet she wore a look of utter contempt. Her dazzling golden eyes were filled with boredom and disinterest, and the corners of her mouth were perpetually curled into a mocking, disdainful, and arrogant expression!
"Vermin, were you cursing me?"
"I said my daughter is a dummy. What's that got to do with you?"
The Queen thought for a moment and agreed, then continued in that same disdainful tone, "What a disgusting display, Siegfried Kaslana. Hiding your identity, deliberately dressing up like that useless bum. What's the matter? The man once called a hero now has to be sneaky just to appear before his adopted daughter?"
Siegfried's disguise was flawless; even someone like Fu Hua couldn't see through it.
However, as the personality that inherited Sirin's evil side, she harbored a soul-deep hatred for the man who had nearly killed her.
The moment the man appeared in disguise, the Queen had already realized who he was.
This was also the reason she rarely communicated with Kiana lately. She wasn't confident in dealing with the combination of an S-rank and the Key of Destruction.
"Sneaky? Heh, if it weren't for you, bastard, would I have to resort to this just to get a glimpse of my daughter from afar?"
Siegfried got angry just thinking about it. Originally, he and his daughter had been living peacefully in Siberia, with good neighbors and no shortage of supplies.
Just as they were preparing to send his precious daughter to school, the Herrscher of the Void had reawakened, not only severing one of his arms but also stimulating the reawakening of the Honkai Beast genes he had worked so hard to suppress.
Helpless, Siegfried, his mind filled with the singular thought of "kill the Honkai," had no choice but to leave after offering some words of encouragement. He didn't want to lose control and accidentally obliterate Kiana, the Herrscher vessel, with a blast from the Judgement of Shamash.
He had already lost one daughter; he absolutely could not lose another.
"Fool! If not for your carelessness, vermin, why would this Queen have made a move so early?"
Sirin's cold and beautiful face was also filled with mockery. If Siegfried hadn't been engrossed in his game of house, but had instead moved locations every now and then like he used to, Ragnhildr and her squad of Valkyries would never have found their small village and tried to forcibly snatch K423 away while Siegfried was absent.
The Queen, who possessed all the memories of the Babylon Tower experiments, would never let "herself" fall into the den of demons that was Schicksal again.
Moreover, faced with a little Kiana who didn't want to leave, the Valkyries, worried about Siegfried's return, had grown impatient, even reaching the point of using force—in other words, violent abduction.
Since they had used force first, the Queen naturally didn't need to be polite.
"Tsk." Thinking of this, Sirin clicked her tongue.
Back then, she had just awakened and had been able to annihilate an elite A-rank Valkyrie squad and sever Siegfried's arm in a sneak attack. But now, even though Kiana was being very cooperative, their progress was still "slow." They couldn't even compare to that mere Ah Li.
Little did she know, it was all Mei's fault. After receiving a warning from Su—"Until I find out the truth about the destruction of the parallel worlds, Miss Mei, please, you and your companions must not actively become Herrschers unless you are facing certain death!"—she had used the scepter of the Netherworld to distort the Imaginary Tree and seal the Herrscher of the Void core within Kiana.
At that time, Sirin was still trapped in the mental time room, and Kiana had 100% trust in her friend, so the seal was easily placed.
If not for that, Sirin, who was in complete sync with Kiana's thoughts, would have been able to restore her S-rank combat power as a sequence Herrscher upon her appearance.
In that case, she could have directly ambushed and killed Siegfried, an insider who could expose K423's identity as an experimental subject, instead of bluffing and threatening him like this.
Life is hard; the Queen sighs.
If only Benares were here, she thought.
Her condition was too poor; she couldn't even sense her companion Honkai Beast.
"Hey, crawler, do you know where my Benares is?"
"You think I'd tell you?!"
Siegfried scoffed. Of course, he knew Benares was frozen in the ice fields of Siberia, but did he have any reason to tell this bastard?
"'Won't tell me' instead of 'don't know,' huh." Sirin savored the words for a moment, a playful smile on her thin lips. "I see."
She raised her hand, and out of thin air, a phantom of Siegfried appeared.
"Wh-what is this?!" Siegfried's pupils constricted.
It's just a phantom from a parallel space, anchored to the subject. No need to make a big deal out of it.
Sirin, floating in mid-air, rested her chin on her hand and asked casually, "Bastard, where is my Benares now?"
The phantom replied with lifeless eyes, "On the border between the Abyysky and Momsky districts of the Sakha Republic in the Russian Federation, guarded day and night by Schicksal's mech troops."
"Get lost."
SNAP!
Having achieved her goal, the Queen snapped her fingers, and the phantom dissolved into starlight.
Then, her aura flared, and her expression turned cold.
"Siegfried Kaslana."
Rarely, she called him by his real name. "This Queen knows the purpose of your trip."
Actually, she didn't.
"Here's a piece of advice for you. If you want your stupid daughter to remain unharmed, don't appear before her in your true form."
Lest the lie be exposed.
"Otherwise—I won't hesitate to destroy everything she holds dear while I'm destroying K423."
"I do what I say."
Actually, she couldn't do it at all. Mei alone was more than enough to keep her in check.
But Siegfried didn't know that.
Staring at the spot where the Herrscher of the Void had been, the man, bathed in the bright moonlight, was lost in thought.
"Hah..."
Finally, a bitter sigh.
Meanwhile, in the lunar space simulated by Fenghuang Down.
Fu Hua rubbed her throbbing temples as she digested the large amount of information she had just received.
The first rated power of Fenghuang Down, memory erasure, was on a memetic level. Specifically, even if the person whose memory had been erased appeared before Fu Hua and described their shared past, she would not be able to recall a single thing.
Just as the girl could no longer remember her mentor, Himeko, even when holding a photo of them together.
Fortunately, as a fragment of the Honkai's will, Prometheus had some special authority.
With her help, Fu Hua not only recalled her past in the Previous Era, but even the parts concerning Cheng Lixue reappeared in her mind.
"In a sense, it can be considered a lifesaver, right?" Dr. MEI crossed her arms. "The price of using Edge of Taixuan is memory erasure, and those memories can be replenished here. The only condition is that you must have intimate contact with the little host to establish a link, but that's not a big deal."
Yes! It is a big deal! Fu Hua screamed internally.
Her chastity!
"Memories are not something to be trifled with," Prometheus shook her head. "Instead of relying on such unorthodox methods, you should focus on recovering to your peak state as a Sequence Grandmaster as soon as possible."
"A Sequence Grandmaster, huh..." Dr. MEI hummed.
In the Previous Era, because the Honkai had appeared so suddenly and quickly, they hadn't had the time or need to create a specific power ranking system. There were only a few MANTISes anyway.
"Hua."
"Hmm?"
"How do you, at your peak, compare to Kevin from the Previous Era?"
The girl thought for a moment and said tactfully, "I have a clear advantage in terms of skill. As for the rest... it's hard to say."
"I see." Dr. MEI understood the underlying meaning of her words, pushed up her glasses, and asked again, "Then in the current civilization, how many individuals can compete with you at your peak?"
"I'm not sure." Fu Hua shook her head. "The number of powerhouses in the main world has increased drastically three times, and as luck would have it, all of these events happened after my strength had greatly diminished."
Prometheus's eyes narrowed. "The Great Eruptions?"
"Yes."
A Herrscher-level Great Eruption would shake the spatial structure of the Earth, causing many bubble universes to surface and come into contact with the main world.
Who knew what kind of monsters were hidden in there? And with the various worlds in the Sea of Quanta gradually connecting, even with World Serpent's best efforts to keep a record, it was still a drop in the bucket.
"Let's not talk about that for now." Fu Hua's tone was calm, but there was an inexplicable hint of accusation in it. "Shouldn't you two explain what this 'host' business is all about? What's so special about my cousin—Fuli—that he's worthy of so much of your attention and indulgence?"
The lunar duo exchanged a look.
「Should we tell her about him being a reincarnator?」
「Better not. This honest kid Hua isn't as shrewd as Elysia. Plus, she's in Schicksal. That devious Overseer could easily trick the information out of her.」
「Make up an excuse?」
「That won't be necessary.」
Dr. MEI cleared her throat. "We've just discussed it and decided it's better not to tell you everything just yet."
"You!" The girl was furious.
She had told them everything she knew, including her mission to infiltrate St. Freya as a spy and her purpose here being to investigate the Peerless Nine Revolutions. She had practically told them the color of her underwear today was dark cyan.
And now, after exchanging a look, you decide to keep secrets from me?
Aren't you just bullying an honest person?
I can't stand it! I'll punch you both!
Seeing Fu Hua actually roll up her sleeves and prepare to fight, Dr. MEI quickly put on a placating smile.
"Actually, it's like this—"
She then recounted her entire silent conversation with Prometheus. The girl, who had just assumed an Inch Force stance, faltered, forced to admit that they were actually right.
If she were truly a smart person, she wouldn't have nearly been killed by those seven traitorous disciples five hundred years ago.
If Fu Hua had paid just a little more attention, the original Seven Swords of Taixu would never have had the chance to gather and plot against her.
But she was still so mad!
"Anything else?" she asked, her face grim. "If not, I'm leaving."
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Since they had slapped her, they had to offer a sweet date too.
"Hua, aren't you curious who taught the little host the Peerless Nine Revolutions?"
The girl, who was about to turn and leave, perked up her ears.
"It was 'you' who taught him. You taught him personally and even gave him the Garuda factor," Prometheus said without any suspense.
"That's impossible!" Fu Hua spun around. "I know the dangers of the Peerless Nine Revolutions better than anyone. Besides, I was the one who initiated the destruction of that technique. How could I... possibly..."
The lunar duo didn't argue, they just stared at her.
Their action made the girl realize that, at least this time, they weren't lying.
But why me?
She couldn't understand it.
No matter what the situation, no matter when or where, she had no motive to proactively teach this harmful technique to anyone.
The next day, the second of July.
Fuli, having had a good night's sleep, yawned and opened his eyes. He rolled around on the bed, feeling for something, but found nothing.
He lazily got up, walked to the window, and looked outside.
Oh, nobody.
The boy wasn't surprised. He got dressed, leaped out of the window, and after a few quick flashes, arrived at a birch forest several miles away.
"Hah!"
As expected, there she was.
There was a two-hour time difference between Xinjiang and Yingtianfu. Even though it was just past seven, the sky was still dark.
Morning exercises downstairs at this time would obviously disturb the other guests' sleep. His gentle cousin would definitely find a secluded spot.
Fu Hua stood on one leg on a green rock, her white training uniform fluttering in the mountain wind.
With a soft cry, she executed a move from Form of Taixuan: Sky Splitter. Her stance was like a crane's cry startling the sky. The force of her punch sent a shower of leaves fluttering down like rain, but as they were about to touch her brow, they were deflected by a neutralizing force. The kendama at her waist also moved with her Tai Chi gestures, drawing a half-moon-like afterimage behind her.
Fuli held his breath, carefully observing the girl's every move.
His swordsmanship was based on the Form of Taixuan and the Hokushin Itto-ryu. The former was an all-encompassing martial art, while the latter was a more unorthodox style.
Although he now often used the Blade of the Moment, according to Kallen, who had taught him, Fuli's Blade of the Moment no longer followed the teachings of the eighth Flame-Chaser and Yae Sakura. Instead, he had carved out his own path, becoming a grandmaster in his own right.
Even so, whenever he watched Fu Hua practice, the boy always felt like he had gained something.
As a martial arts grandmaster second to none, Fu Hua had sensed Fuli's presence the moment he arrived.
After completing a full set of the Inch Force technique, she retracted her aura and slowly exhaled a puff of white mist.
Then, she walked toward the boy.
"Morning."
"Good morning, cousin!"
The same enthusiasm as always.
Compared to her previous discomfort, the girl was much more composed this time.
She took the towel Fuli handed her, wiped the sweat from her forehead and nose, casually draped it around her neck, and asked nonchalantly, "The technique you're cultivating is the Peerless Nine Revolutions?"
"Yes~"
"Then, I'd like to ask, who exactly taught you this technique?"
Hilarious. Playing the riddle master, are we? Beating around the bush, are we?
I'll just ask him directly. Let's see you try to hide it now!
During their contact last night, the lunar duo had specifically emphasized that their current identities were Unit-01 and Unit-02 of the Terminal Co-processor System, and that Fu Hua must not reveal their true selves.
On the other hand, Fuli's attitude toward them still had a certain instability.
Fu Hua was different. She didn't know why her little cousin had such a high affection for her, but his trust was real.
Since you two are being unjust, don't blame me for being unrighteous!
A mere pair of concubines, trying to snatch the position of the main wife (crossed out) from me?
...