READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 9: Chapter 9: The Third Honkai Eruption.
Lying in Kiana's arms, Fu Lin tried to say something, but his throat was blocked by blood, making it impossible to speak. His body gradually faded away.
"Fu Lin!!" Kiana tried to catch the glowing particles of Fu Lin's body, but they slipped through her fingers, disappearing before her eyes. All that was left was a black kite plushie on the ground.
Kiana picked up the black kite plushie, holding it close to her chest, tears in her eyes. "I couldn't do anything. Fu Lin still died in my arms, dissolving into light right in front of me."
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"Ah!" Kiana, who was lying on the bed, screamed as she sat up, looking around at the familiar surroundings of her room. She patted her chest, relieved, and glanced at the black bird plushie next to her pillow that was identical to the one in her dream.
"Thank goodness it was just a dream. There's no way Mei would ever kill the class monitor."
Kiana got up and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table, which had never managed to wake her up. It was only 5:30 a.m. Realizing it was still early, she lay back down, trying to go back to sleep.
But the dream had felt too real. Kiana tossed and turned, unable to fall back asleep, so she got up, put on her clothes, and tied her hair into a braid in front of the mirror.
"Where the hell is that old man? He used to do my hair for me. If I ever find him, I'm gonna punch him right in the gut."
Kiana bit her lip as the scene from her dream where Fu Lin was doing her hair resurfaced in her mind. Tears began to fall without her even realizing it.
She wiped away the tears from her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror, forcing a silly smile, returning to her usual goofy self.
"Alright, time to head to school." Kiana heard the alarm go off and hit the stop button for the first time in her life— and probably the last time.
"Hey! Class Monitor!" On the way to school, Kiana ran into Fu Lin and greeted him cheerfully, leaving Fu Lin somewhat stunned.
"Aren't we about to be late?" Fu Lin reached out to grab Kiana, ready to run, but she pushed him away with one hand.
"Hey! I woke up super early today! Aren't you going to compliment me?" Kiana stood with her hands on her hips, proudly puffing out her chest as she grinned at Fu Lin.
Fu Lin waved his arms and shouted, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"You shouldn't be so absolute! You have to believe in... me! Am I really that bad in your eyes?" Kiana puffed out her cheeks and stomped her feet, protesting in frustration.
"If you don't hurry, I'm leaving you behind!" Fu Lin called out as he started walking away, turning his back on Kiana.
Kiana stood there watching where Fu Lin had been standing, then looked at his retreating figure, a goofy grin spreading across her face.
"Why are you walking so fast? You didn't even wait for me to finish talking!" Kiana caught up and tugged at Fu Lin's shirt, but to her surprise, Fu Lin brushed her off, even though she thought she was acting incredibly adorable.
"Yeah, yeah, my bad. Now can you let go?" Fu Lin replied indifferently, keeping his pace steady.
"Can you give me a piggyback ride? Don't get the wrong idea. I just want to feel what it's like to be carried by someone." Kiana recalled how it felt in her dream when Fu Lin carried her, so different from when her dad did it, and she wanted to experience it again.
"You must've caught a fever and fried your brain." Wait, Kiana doesn't even have the capacity to think, so what brain?
Fu Lin turned around, placed his hand on her forehead, and gave her a look as if she were a fool.
"Just say if you'll carry me or not!" Kiana brushed his hand off, crossed her arms, and boldly demanded something absurd.
"You must be dreaming. With all the food you eat, who knows how much you weigh?"
With that, Fu Lin turned and ran, disappearing around the corner without looking back, leaving Kiana standing there in shock.
"Fu Lin, you jerk! I'll never forgive you!" Kiana shouted in frustration at the space where Fu Lin had disappeared.
Meanwhile, Raiden Mei, who had fainted the night before, was now walking dizzily to school. She had no recollection of when she fainted, but as she watched the people passing by, an overwhelming desire to destroy filled her heart.
Teetering on the edge of a breakdown, Mei pushed herself to keep going, finally making it to the rooftop of Chiba Academy before collapsing once again. (Well done, Mei. I respect your determination to blow up the school.)
The Third Honkai Eruption has begun!
Suddenly, the sky was covered with dark clouds, the sounds of car engines stopped abruptly, and the footsteps that had filled the streets a moment ago vanished. The whole world seemed to fall into silence.
Soon, the streets were filled with humanoid creatures, mindless beings that tore at humans like zombies. Some, however, possessed strange powers, as if they had acquired superhuman abilities.
These "zombies / deadwalkers" typically had female appearances, while males turned to ashes in the face of Honkai. Some animals transformed into massive creatures, their bodies glowing with white metallic light and purple lines coiled around them— Honkai beasts.
Standing in the hallway, Fu Lin smashed a deadwalker with one punch. It was only when he looked out the window at the scene outside that he truly understood the harsh reality of the Honkai Eruption.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Kiana, who had been searching around for Mei everywhere, anxiously spotted her floating in the air on the rooftop. Grabbing her trusty baseball bat, she fought her way through deadwalkers, heading toward the rooftop.
"Mother Cocolia, the Third Herrscher has awakened. Should we proceed with the retrieval plan?" From a distant building, a silver-haired girl, named Bronya observed the Third Herrscher through binoculars and reported the situation over the radio.
"No, wait a bit longer, Bronya. Now isn't the right time." Watching the scene through surveillance cameras, Cocolia's voice came through, stopping the silver haired girl.
She had spent a long time preparing to use the power of the Third Herrscher to save her daughter Seele, who was trapped in the Quantum Sea. She even went as far as to imprison Raiden Ryoma, another Anti-Entropy executive, and used vast amounts of Honkai crystals to awaken the Conquest Gem inside Raiden Mei's body.
Even with Bronya's Heavy Armored Rabbit for protection, it would be impossible to face the Third Herrscher directly. Cocolia couldn't afford to risk losing another daughter in her effort to save Seele, so she could only wait for the right moment.
"Bronya acknowledges the command. Continuing to observe from the shadows." Bronya, her face expressionless, continued to monitor the Third Herrscher through the binoculars, clearly placing great importance on Cocolia's plan to rescue Seele.
After a fierce battle, Kiana finally reached the rooftop and saw Mei transformed into the Herrscher of Thunder. Desperately, she called out to try and wake her up.
"Mei, snap out of it!" Kiana hurled her baseball bat at the Third Herrscher, hoping to jolt Mei back to her senses.
"Human, rid yourself of such foolish thoughts." The Herrscher of Thunder sneered at the incoming bat, summoning lightning with a wave of her hand and shattering it effortlessly.
Meanwhile, Fu Lin, who had been silently following Kiana ever since she entered the building, put on a white suit (a male version of Fu Hua's Valkyrie Accipiter) and donned the Fatui mask he had received from the Treasure Pouch, watching the confrontation between Kiana and the Herrscher of Thunder from the sidelines.
"What a shame. Looks like I won't get to witness the Third Herrscher's most embarrassing moment." Fu Lin shook his head, sighing in disappointment.
But when he saw Kiana throw the bat, he froze. Wasn't Kiana supposed to knock the Herrscher unconscious with one hit with the bat?
In Fu Lin's mental space, the Herrscher of Knowledge recalled the plan they had discussed the night before. She also had put on the mask representing the traveler's sister and was prepared to jump into action at any moment.
Kiana, now weaponless after her bat had been destroyed by the Herrscher of Thunder, stood frozen, not knowing what to do. She regretted throwing her only weapon and could only stare helplessly at the Third Herrscher.
"Human, are you ready to face death?" The Herrscher of Thunder, seeing Kiana standing still, assumed she had given up. She raised her hand, ready to unleash her thunderous judgment.
Seeing his chance, Fu Lin stood up, ready to make a grand entrance, stun the Herrscher of Thunder and Kiana, defeat the Herrscher, and then leave in style. Just imagining it made Fu Lin's lips curl into a smile.
In his mind, the Herrscher of Knowledge, thrilled by Fu Lin's thoughts, urged him on. But when she saw that the Herrscher of Thunder was about to kill Kiana, she shouted, "Hurry up! Kiana's about to die!"