"But I am not the same person as that coward, human. Surely you can see that, can't you?"
"Of course I know. You are the great Thunder Queen, the messenger of Honkai, and this century's Herrscher of Thunder."
Noticing that the Herrscher of Thunder did not resist his embrace after her initial rejection, Takatsuki quietly let his entire body hang on her.
He used time stop to get behind her, and then, relying on the powerful strength of his Stand, he supported himself in mid-air with one hand.
Fortunately, the Herrscher of Thunder's flying power was considerable, otherwise, the two might have fallen.
And he also took the opportunity to quietly wrap his other arm around her while the Herrscher of Thunder was unaware.
"At most, it's just a dual personality. Even so, you are Raiden Mei. Even if others cannot tolerate you, I will always be by your side."
"…"
The Herrscher of Thunder had never experienced anything like this. Even with all of Raiden Mei's memories, being born with knowledge, this was still a first.
Most importantly, this man in front of her…
"Then your body…"
Looking at his almost dilapidated body, Takatsuki smiled: "Don't worry, I won't die. This is also why I can be here at this moment."
"In that case… human…"
The Herrscher of Thunder embraced Takatsuki: "Then I grant you the qualification to be by my side. Be grateful."
The two bodies slowly descended from the air, while Kiana, who had been treated as a third wheel, was already dumbfounded.
His body was eroded by Honkai Energy, yet he was unharmed under the Herrscher of Thunder's electromagnetic barrier, and then he confessed like that!?
Although it wasn't the first time she had seen Takatsuki confess with flowers, this time it wasn't some young girl, but a Herrscher! Could a Herrscher be conquered in such a way?
"But Mei… can you let your other self come back now? After all, your destructive power is too strong right now, and many people will come looking for trouble."
"Hmph!"
The Herrscher of Thunder snorted coldly: "Just now you said you'd stay by my side even if others couldn't tolerate me, and now you're scared?"
However, without waiting for Takatsuki's reply, she continued: "It's no longer something I can control. Honkai Energy is constantly surging into my body because I am a Herrscher. Even if I don't want to absorb it, I can't help it. And for the coward to wake up, I must stop absorbing Honkai Energy, unless I am defeated."
The Herrscher of Thunder looked at Takatsuki, wanting to know if what this man in front of her had just said was sincere, or merely a roundabout way to save that coward.
"Because of my Herrscher identity, huh…"
Takatsuki naturally wouldn't use a method that would harm Raiden Mei. Since it was because of her Herrscher identity…
"Although you are injured, I can heal you instantly, but your pain is my pain."
He took out a stack of tickets from his backpack, tore one off, and handed it to the Herrscher of Thunder.
"Here, once you have this, you should be able to stop absorbing Honkai Energy, but you still need to actively refuse to absorb it."
"What is this?"
The Herrscher of Thunder took the ticket, which was not affected by her electromagnetic barrier.
The moment it reached her hand, the ticket disappeared.
At the same time, the Honkai Energy continuously surging around her suddenly stagnated.
Instead, it began to surge into Takatsuki's body.
"Takatsuki! What are you doing! You'll die!"
Although Kiana didn't know what Takatsuki had done, she could see that Takatsuki was continuously absorbing Honkai Energy, including the Honkai Energy from the Herrscher of Thunder beside him.
But…
That was Herrscher-level Honkai Energy!
An ordinary person! And already eroded to this extent, there was only one outcome!
"What an interesting man… I will keep watching you."
Seeing Takatsuki begin to absorb Honkai Energy, the Herrscher of Thunder felt her power gradually leave her. She did not resist, but slowly closed her eyes and fell into Takatsuki's arms.
"Stop it!! Don't absorb any more!"
Kiana saw the greatest threat, the Herrscher of Thunder, fall. She quickly rushed to Takatsuki's side, trying to reverse-absorb Takatsuki's Honkai Energy with her own body.
"Don't worry… Kiana."
Takatsuki smiled: "Although I don't have Honkai Energy adaptability, I won't die because of this."
However, absorbing a large amount of Honkai Energy was not a good thing. Takatsuki was about to use the power of the Tiger Talisman to see if he could balance or split this Honkai Energy when a sudden prompt sounded.
[Detecting large amount of unowned special energy]
[Beginning absorption]
Takatsuki immediately opened his system panel and saw a progress bar suddenly appear on it.
The purple patterns on Takatsuki's body quickly faded, and this progress bar continuously increased.
"What's going on? Takatsuki, your body?"
Kiana also noticed this, but it was a good thing.
"I told you not to worry, Kiana, I have a way."
Although it wasn't the method he initially thought of, the result was good anyway.
[Energy fully absorbed]
[System energy overloaded]
???
What's happening? Are you that useless? Overloaded? It's not going to explode, is it?
[Dungeon mod unlocked]
[Energy overloaded]
[Dungeon activated]
[Energy overloaded]
[Multiplayer dungeon mode starting!]
[Teleporting in three seconds!]
"Huh? Eh! Wait…"
Takatsuki hadn't reacted yet when a dazzling light burst from his body.
"What is this…"
In the light, Takatsuki heard Kiana's scream and instinctively reached out to grab Kiana, who was right beside him.
After a flash of light disappeared, the three vanished from the rooftop of Senba Academy.
And at the same time…
"Mama, Bronya has reached the designated location."
Near Senba Academy, a girl with gray hair appeared on the rooftop of a building.
"Bronya, finally connected. How are things?"
Through the chip in her brain, Bronya finally contacted her adoptive mother, Cocolia.