Players who had been lightly stabbed by the opening voice line foreshadowing now felt an impulse like post-trauma stress reaction upon hearing that battle voice line they mostly couldn't hear during fights again.
It was one thing to get stabbed in the main story, but why bury pencil knives everywhere?
Although getting cut on the body wasn't a big deal, it would at least hurt.
Damn it… the writers definitely have something wrong with their psychology.
Fortunately, in the Golden and Mechanical DLC, Leon's related story didn't have any more knives.
More than twenty days passed, and the official released a brand-new video—
Honkai: Star Rail Thousand Stars Chronicle Journey PV: "One Night of Eternal Flame: Scene 33"
Ah Xian's livestream usually started in the morning, and she could always precisely catch the official release of new videos; the livestream chat would also give reminders.
She quickly opened the relevant webpage, turned off the video danmu, and clicked play.
A somewhat familiar-sounding voice rang out from the black screen.
"The star of the grand banquet, Penacony, the cradle where beautiful dreams sink, the dark side of the land for the cowardly…"
"The Family sets the banquet, guests come by invitation, the golden blood of Destruction will flow together, offering the grand sacrifice to THEM!"
"Children of the flames… this is your coming-of-age ceremony."
The scene of a large eyeball gradually zoomed in, and Ah Xian finally remembered whose voice this was.
Duke Inferno: Ifrit!
Duke Inferno continued speaking.
"Akash, my most emotional child."
"I ignited your eyes, taught you to pluck strings and make music. You shall play the banquet tune with a four-stringed instrument, silencing the choir of Harmony."
"That is exactly my intention, old man." A low male voice followed smoothly.
Duke Inferno: "Dubra, my most intelligent child."
"I ignited your body, bestowed upon you blades, saws, axes, and halberds. You shall temper the iron sickle with sulfur, grant Elation pain, and let the actors' blood and tears flow into the River of the Dead!"
"As you command, my father."
"Caterina, my bravest child, I ignite your heart and grant you a chest full of boiling blood."
"You shall use raging flames to chisel open the Preservation's treasury, smelt their gold, and forge statues for our benefactor!"
"No need to say more, old man!"
"Finally, Constance… my most ambitious child, my most outstanding child."
"I have nothing more to teach you, just remember—"
"You shall make Penacony's midnight wither and wilt, take away everything you love, and leave only the graves of memory!"
"Hahahahaha…"
Caterina let out a loud laugh.
"She doesn't need to take the stage; I alone am enough!"
"Caterina, it's better to be a bit more pessimistic…" The camera cut to Constance in white attire, whose race seemed like a succubus.
She wore a strange smile, her tone eerie.
"Maybe… we will all die?"
"Shush…" Akash made a silencing gesture. "When have the desperados of Destruction ever feared death?"
"But we should also plan ahead… Father." Dubra: "This journey is perilous; what is our escape route?"
"Escape route? As always, there is none."
Duke Inferno slowly swept past his children and stopped before the phantom of Penacony, raising his gaze.
"Destruction is a magnificent instant. If one seeks survival in a lowly manner, this life would be far too long."
"Enjoy Penacony, enjoy her invitation. Let this beautiful dream prepare itself to welcome its new master from Tofet—"
The camera gave a group shot of Duke Inferno's family, overall appearing full of majesty and oppression, as the final declaration sounded.
"—Duke Inferno: Ifrit, Eternal Flame Mansion!"
Ifrit took a bow, the Star Rail logo appeared, and the video ended.
After closing the page, Ah Xian's thoughts swirled.
"…It actually appeared in the Thousand Stars Chronicle Journey video. It seems Duke Inferno's role in Penacony might be quite significant, possibly one of the main antagonists?"
[That Dahlia Constance might be a playable character, you know.]
[Why?]
[There's a pattern right now: as long as the cover of the Thousand Stars Chronicle Journey video features a character or is related to a character, they'll enter the gacha pool.]
Ah Xian specifically opened the official Thousand Stars Chronicle Journey section and glanced through it.
"According to release order by time… Black Swan, Jing Yuan's Divine Lord, Kafka, Imbibitor Lunae Dan Feng, Leon, Jingliu…"
"Then the first company-introduction Thousand Stars Chronicle Journey with no characters."
"Then Huohuo and Ruan Mei, and finally this One Night of Eternal Flame, which used Constance as the cover."
"Gotta say, it really is a highly credible pattern."
"Although Black Swan appeared the earliest and only entered the pool in 2.0, the rest of the characters have already been released."
[But Constance is a villain; how would she enter the pool?]
[No rule says villains can't enter.]
[What's the rush? Phantylia's events on the Luofu already told you that characters can change. What if Constance is an undercover agent?]
[You know, the official released related images of Duke Inferno's children, and only Constance has a special purple border—unique.]
[miHoYo usually buries foreshadowing in the details; it's unlikely to be an oversight, so the probability is extremely high that it was intentional.]
After watching the direction of the livestream chat discussions for a while, Ah Xian thought for a moment and shared her own view.
"I actually think Constance probably won't come out that quickly."
[Elaborate.]
"Assuming Duke Inferno is a main antagonist, that means he won't get killed off too soon. If Constance is an undercover agent, her plot won't reverse that quickly either."
"If the reversal is slow, it definitely won't suit entering the pool too early. So I boldly guess there's no chance before 2.3."
"Black Swan and Sparkle, plus the 4-star Misha leading in 2.0. Currently announced are Acheron who is suspected to be Mei, and Robin."
"Sunday, Gallagher, Aventurine, Firefly, and… the special Stellaron Hunter SAM whose pool entry is unknown."
"A full 7 new characters. Even if 1-2 of them are 4-stars and SAM doesn't enter the pool, that's enough to cover at least three versions."
"Unless the Penacony plot is very short and ends before 2.3. Only then, once Constance reverses, would she have a chance to enter the pool."
"Also, don't you think her outfit is too plain?"
"As everyone knows, miHoYo's gacha characters have never had outfits that are almost pure white with not many added elements."
Upon hearing this, many people subconsciously agreed.
The clothing styles of Star Rail characters have extremely high differentiation—there's modern fashion, ancient styles, and even Leon's pure authentic ancient style at first glance.
But no matter the style, without exception they all add some magical modifications and new decorative and pattern elements.
They try their best to make the characters not look too plain and more dynamic.
Aside from the slanted bow tie at the collar and that hat, Constance's design was indeed relatively plain.
"So, right now I even suspect she might not enter the pool at all, since there was also that company non-character cover Thousand Stars Chronicle Journey PV."