"For Mei, you can rest in peace."
Ryuga whispered softly, calmly watching the body before him disintegrate.
The body of the Herrscher of Thunder, which had been cut in half, was continuously consumed by layers of Shadow Flame.
The purplish-black flames coiled upwards, licking at her remains. The Herrscher's body silently turned to ash, scattering into the night sky.
She felt the flames were strangely... warm.
In the instant her consciousness was completely extinguished and returned to the Honkai, she vaguely heard the two words, 'Mei' (芽衣), ringing in her ears.
It pierced her soul with a clarity as if from another lifetime.
(Mei, who is that?)
The question churned in her remaining consciousness.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to find the answer.
Carrying malice, unwillingness, and confusion, just like her predecessor, the Herrscher of the Void, she turned to dust and faded into oblivion in a corner unknown to anyone.
The wind rose, and the ashes scattered. The night sky returned to silence.
"Fate has been changed."
Looking at the dissipating afterglow of the lightning, Ryuga's pupils reflected a long river of light and shadow spanning fifty thousand years.
Stars rotated, and civilizations rose and fell.
In the bustling Chiba Academy, the girl with the same face as Dr. Mei walked by with her head held high, as arrogant a little dummy as ever.
Ryuga's lips curled into a slight smile.
"This world doesn't need you to save it yet."
"This time, I'm here."
...
Ryuga smiled, his gaze returning to the four newly activated League of Legends cards.
"The Card Master" Twisted Fate, also one of the weakest heroes on the list, was discarded.
"The Uncaged Wrath of Zaun" Warwick.
Ryuga was speechless.
Are you seriously trying to make me choose the Wolfman again? You've appeared twice now.
Fine, at least give me a different skin, right?
I'm not asking for the Wrath of the Southern Sky skin, but you could at least give me the 'Prestige' Winterblessed one?
With crystal arms and crystal dragon horns, it would at least be easily mistaken for a descendant of the Vidyadhara and Borisin.
Emmmm, Vidyadhara cannot get pregnant.
So, where did the Borisin with 'Dragon Bloodline' come from?
Ryuga shivered instantly.
"Vampiric Scepter", an epic-tier weapon. He liked its appearance the most, and it suited Nasus well, further exaggerating the image of the Grim Reaper.
If the first weapon rolled had been this, Ryuga would have chosen it without hesitation. Too bad he got "Sky-Sunderer" instead.
Finally, there was the 'Yellow Chicken', "The Emperor of the Sands" Azir, arguably the strongest Ascended.
"Shurima, your Emperor has returned."
He decisively chose to activate it.
...
"We won."
"But... we're about to be finished too."
In the narrow alley, Kevin was panting heavily, swinging a metal baseball bat with both hands, shielding his girlfriend behind him.
He didn't know where these Honkai Zombies came from, but Kevin could at least confirm one thing: the woman who wielded lightning and the zombies appeared at the same time.
He glanced at the night sky. The woman was dead, and the man with the Divine Dog Phantom behind him had won.
But what did any of that have to do with him?
He only knew that if he kept fighting, he would be finished too.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A putrid stench assaulted him, and withered black claws tore towards him.
"Damn it!"
Kevin roared, putting all his strength into his arms and swinging the metal bat wildly, like a flailing amateur, without any technique.
He relied purely on the monstrous strength of the Kaslana family to hold his ground.
It was surprisingly effective. The dull thuds of the metal baseball bat smashing into the Honkai Zombies echoed repeatedly in the narrow alley, like the tolling of a death knell.
Bang!
One Honkai Zombie's head exploded, and its brains mixed with black, viscous blood splattered onto the wall like spilled ink.
Bang!
Another was struck diagonally across the neck, and its entire head spun out like a 'bowling ball'.
It hit the wall with a clang, and its black eyes blinked eerily.
Bang!
The third one lunged. Kevin swung horizontally, but the bat was stopped.
A large hand covered in black 'rock' had gripped it tightly!
"..."
Kevin's pupils contracted sharply, his muscles instantly tensed, and the veins on his arms bulged like vines. He pulled back with all his might.
Unfortunately, he couldn't budge it.
The current Kevin was just a high school student, and his stamina had been nearly depleted in the previous escape and struggle. His legs were shaking, and his lower back felt like it was broken.
His arm muscles ached as if they were being torn.
The monstrous strength the Kaslana family was proud of couldn't hold up anymore.
"Damn it!"
Kevin was furious. He kicked out hard, but it only made the Honkai Zombie stagger back half a step, and it still didn't let go.
Fortunately, this was the only one left in the narrow alley.
Just as he let out a half-sigh of relief, his girlfriend's trembling voice came from beside his ear.
"Kevin, be-behind... me..."
"DAMN IT—"
Kevin whipped his head around. At the alley entrance, shadows flickered.
Four or five Honkai Zombies were pouring into the alley.
The most despairing sight was the multitude of shadows moving outside the alley, like a tide of hungry ghosts.
They had been drawn by the sounds of the previous fight.
Kevin's heart sank, and cold sweat ran into the corner of his eye, stinging painfully.
Heaven wants me dead.
He gritted his teeth, gathering the last ounce of strength in his arms, ready to fight to the death, when suddenly, the ground beneath him changed.
The ground silently turned to sand.
"Sand...?"
Kevin looked on in astonishment. The sand suddenly surged out of the ground like a living thing, spinning and condensing. It gathered into human forms, instantly shaping into a dozen figures.
Sand Soldiers, appear!
They were entirely composed of fine golden sand, their forms clear and imposing like sculptures, with two vortexes of purplish-black flame in place of eyes.
Before Kevin could react, one of the Sand Soldiers suddenly lunged, its claw piercing the chest of the 'zombie' that was gripping his metal bat.
Hiss—
A bizarre scene unfolded.
Under Kevin's stunned gaze, all the moisture in the 'zombie' seemed to be instantly sucked dry.
Its skin rapidly shriveled and cracked, and its muscles withered like dead tree bark.
In the blink of an eye, the entire body turned into a grayish-brown mummy. Then, a gust of wind blew, and it crumbled into dust, vanishing without a trace.
The other Sand Soldiers followed suit, rushing towards the alley entrance.
They swung their arms violently!
Crescent-shaped Sand Slashes formed out of thin air, their arcs sweeping across like a cold moon, decapitating the zombies at the shoulder.
Without exception, all the Honkai Zombies dried up, turned to sand, weathered, and scattered into dust.
Inside the narrow alley, all the zombies were cleared out.
After dealing with the zombies in the alley, the Sand Soldiers did not stop. They surged out of the alley, treading on the sand, and rushed towards the shadowy horde of zombies outside.
A one-sided massacre began.
Absolute crushing power.
Kevin stood frozen in place. With a clang, the metal baseball bat fell powerlessly to the ground.
He felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body, and he leaned against the cold wall.
Watching the Sand Soldiers, who had become a tide of death, he felt his throat dry up and tighten.
Who saved him?
Then, he suddenly looked up at the sky.
"Could it be..."
"Him?"
...
[Director Fu]: "Wow, so powerful! Is that Ryuga's 'new form'? He killed the Herrscher of Thunder with one strike, and it felt like the sky was splitting open. He's even cooler than 'Doggy'."
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "Hehe~, I was startled too."
Elysia had been slacking off the whole time, live-streaming.
Occasionally, she would take a cheap shot.
With a powerful boyfriend, Elysia was happy to take it easy.
If she didn't have to exert herself, she wouldn't. Easy and effortless.
[Jingliu]: "Hmm, it looks very much like the 'Divine Might' bestowed upon the Cloud Knights Generals by the Aeon of the Hunt."
[Director Fu]: "Speaking of which, is Ryuga the strongest in the group now?"
[Istaroth]: "Not necessarily. Jingliu is the Sword Champion of the Xianzhou."
[Jingliu]: "..."
[13th Sect Master of Mount Yunjian]: "Speaking of which, what's the situation with Skirk?"
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "Skirk went to Shenzhou City. From the satellite images, she seems to be fine, but... she ran into a little trouble. She must be quite distressed, right?"
[Director Fu]: "What kind of distress?"
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "That Judgment-class Honkai Beast companion has a very strong recovery ability."
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf uploaded a photo.]
After clicking on it, the clamor in the chat box came to an abrupt halt.
The image was frozen in a somewhat absurd scene: one person and one egg.
Skirk, holding a sword, stood on the wasteland of Shenzhou City, which had been reduced to ruins. And right in front of her, a black and green 'giant egg' stood silently.
The surface of the eggshell was covered with fine snake scales, and black and green interwoven patterns coiled around it, glowing faintly in the night.
[Director Fu]: "What the heck is that?"
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "That's the Judgment-class Honkai Beast companion. Its resurrection ability is very strong. Minor injuries heal quickly, but if it's too severe, it will molt into an egg, and the eggshell is extremely hard."
[Director Fu]: "Oh, it can turn into an egg? That's cheating!"
[13th Sect Master of Mount Yunjian]: "It certainly looks like it has strong defense."
[Jingliu]: "???"
[Customer Service Miss Pink Elf]: "乛ω乛 Oops~, I accidentally exposed something. That's right, Jingliu, as you can see, Skirk is very similar to you."
[Director Fu]: "Huh? Jingliu and Skirk are similar? Oh, I get it, just like me and Klydelra. Wait—what is that? Look quickly, Ryuga seems to have taken out something incredible!"
Following Focalors's exclamation, the group members all looked at the live stream.
They unconsciously held their breath.
They saw a huge, golden, dazzling, mysterious disc burst forth from his 'palm'.
Like the rising sun, it suddenly soared into the sky with a blinding light.
The light, like molten gold, scorched the surrounding air, causing it to distort.
The disc shot straight into the clouds.
And as it continuously ascended, the disc's size expanded wildly. In just an instant, it had swelled to the size of a city.
The disc hovered over the sky of Nagazora City, looking exactly like a giant eye overlooking all living beings.
A god-like will pressed down on everyone's shoulders, heavy and immense.
The entire city seemed to have been paused, the clamor abruptly ceasing.
Even the Honkai Beasts and Honkai Zombies froze, staring blankly at the sky.
"..."
Kevin's mouth hung open, his eyes wide.
"Sun... Sun and Moon Eclipse?"
The scene before him was like a sharp knife, slicing through all his understanding, leaving only shock and disbelief.
The originally pitch-black night was illuminated as if it were day.
The silver glow of the crescent moon and the golden light of the great sun intertwined and flowed, like a cascade of starlight and a congealing of flame and frost.
The sun and moon were in the same sky, shining upon each other.
At the same time, the high-ranking members of Fire Moth who were also watching Nagazora City were all dumbfounded.
"Ryu, what is that?"
Elysia lightly tapped her toes in the air, her skirt swirling open like petals. Like an elegant pink stream of light, she flew into Ryuga's arms.
Ryuga reached out and embraced her, his palm resting on Elysia's slender waist, pulling her into his arms.
Then he lowered his head, found her soft lips, and bit down hard.
The group members frantically took screenshots.
"Mmm~~"
Elysia's heart trembled, her eyes instantly widened, and she lightly pounded Ryuga's chest twice with her small fists, as if protesting, yet also like a spoiled child.
After a long while, their lips parted.
Elysia's cheeks were flushed, her eyelashes fluttered, and her breathing was slightly ragged.
(Oh dear~, people saw that.)
"Elysia, my lucky star."
Ryuga burst out laughing.
Elysia, confused, tilted her head and blinked: "Oh? Is it a good thing?"
[Director Fu]: "Wow~, they kissed, they kissed. Ah, no, now is not the time for kissing. @Desert Reaper, the disc? Is it a new power?"
[Istaroth]: "I can feel that it seems to possess a special 'will'."
[Desert Reaper]: "Yes, this is called the Sun Disc. It is a sacred relic of Shurima. It can bestow power, allowing mortals to ascend into Ascended."
"As for the Ascended, you can simply understand it as Focalors turning into the powerful Pink Fairy Elysia in the blink of an eye."
Ryuga had never expected that activating the Azir template would also bring the Sun Disc along with it.
The Sun Disc, when superimposed on himself, directly boosted his power to the level of a star-system buster.
It could be said that he had one foot in the door of becoming an Emanator.
(The strength of Emanators also varies greatly.)
He knew that Azir's passive ability, 'Shurima's Legacy', could summon the Sun Disc.
But he never thought that in reality, this thing could also create Ascended?
In the game, the Celestial stole knowledge about the 'Sun' and 'Solar Creation' from Aurelion Sol and used it to build the giant Sun Disc.
With it, they drew upon celestial power to create immortal God-Warriors.
These were the Ascended.
After becoming Ascended, their appearance would also change into a hybrid of human and animal.
For example, Renekton (Crocodile), Nasus (Jackal), Azir (Hawk), Taliyah (Weaver), and so on.
Furthermore, the Ascended would have a longer lifespan than ordinary people, and their injuries would self-heal, but they could still die from severe wounds.
Ryuga's situation was different.
Because of the LoL card template, he was not the same as the Ascended in the game.
He had no way to draw on Aurelion Sol's power.
The Sun Disc would perform a Hero Inheritance based on the card template, bestowing a portion of the power.
For example, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven inheriting Kiana.
This was different from Ryuga's template.
His was complete. Some abilities would transcend the original skills, and he even possessed some 'conceptual' power.
In addition, Hero Inheritance was weaker (and more profitable).
And they would absolutely never betray him.
Most importantly, they wouldn't turn into a half-human, half-beast form like in the game.
Moreover, Ryuga could designate a 'Hero' for the Inheritance.
[Director Fu]: "Really!?"
In her palace, Focalors instantly couldn't sit still.
Who could understand her hardship?
Five hundred years of bitter power accumulation.
(＞﹏＜)
[Director Fu]: "@Desert Reaper, we're all in the same group, look..."
[Desert Reaper]: "Of course, but I have to run a test first to make sure it's safe."
When he first joined the group, Focalors was the one who gave the most in terms of food.
Seventy percent of the supplies were bought by Focalors with her private funds.
She even made small cakes by hand.
Ryuga had a grateful heart and was willing to help her out.
What's more, the Inherited would not betray him.
Of course, he wouldn't give it to just anyone.
At the very least, they had to be his women.
With the Sun Disc, his virtual universe company would have more experts to hold the fort.
There was also another point: because Mobius was gone, the Fusion Soldier project was cut short.
If it weren't for him, they probably wouldn't have been able to get past the Herrscher of Fire stage.
And Fu Hua.
Without her Garuda form, she would be free from the pain of her Super Memory.
But her relationship with the future generations was very close. She must have power.
[Director Fu]: "@Desert Reaper, Wuwu QAQ~, I'm so touched. Say no more, if you ever need anything, my life, Focalors's life, is yours from now on."
Ryuga chuckled. Your whole person is mine.
Only Elysia, in Ryuga's arms, was a little conflicted.
It was a good thing that Ryuga's strength had increased.
This meant that the Honkai might really be solved by him.
But how should she repay him?
It was a happy yet conflicted worry.
Should I just give him a little something tonight?
Like in those naughty books.
Thinking this, Elysia's face instantly turned red.
(Ptooey, Elysia, you're so shameless.)
"Ah~, right, Ryu, what about Skirk's side...".
To be continued…
Guys, as the chapter length has started to average around 2800-3000 words. I shall be posting 1 chapter on a daily basis and 2 Chapters on Sundays! Hope you guys are enjoying the series!
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