They say a thousand-mile horse is common, but a thousand-mile beast of burden is rare.
In this instance, Siegfried was playing the role of that beast of burden, busying himself with the dirty work.
Not only did he have to secretly escort his daughter's group, but when danger arose, he also had to be the first to step into the trap, doing everything in his power to strangle the threat in its cradle.
Thus, facing the unscathed Great Khan, he raised the Greatsword of Shamash once more, meeting the man head-on.
Boundless flames gathered upon the Soulium blade, generating heat and light intense enough that even Judgment-Class Honkai Beasts would have to shun its edge.
"Judgment of Shamash—Unsheathed!"
He opened with the Zeroth Rated Power as a sign of respect.
Facing the torrent of light and fire surging toward the heavens, the monarch of the Mongol Empire did not retreat; he advanced.
The Stigmata of Death on his chest erupted with black and white energy that coiled around his body, while his eyes, sharp as a falcon's, shot forth beams of molten gold.
"Eight hundred years! I have waited a full eight hundred years for this decisive battle with you!"
"KASLANA!!!"
He drew his bow and nocked an arrow. The powers of Creation and Decay converged on the bowstring, transforming into an endless, rotating helix of genesis and destruction.
BOOM—!!!
In the epicenter where the torrent of flame clashed with the sky-covering rain of arrows, space itself looked like glazed glass riddled with spiderweb cracks.
The blazing red fire attempted to incinerate all things, while the Helix of Creation and Decay constantly generated new barriers within the flames, then used the power of Decay to decompose the incoming fire into nothingness.
The collision between the ultimate physical laws of the universe wove into a chaotic sphere hundreds of meters in diameter. Inside, annihilation and rebirth played out endlessly, the shockwaves piercing through the spatial barriers to reach the Proper World, appearing to Yanqing and Yunli as a pillar of flame piercing the heavens in the blink of an eye.
By this time, Fuli and the others had finished dealing with the battered Lake Saint tribe. The corrosive blood that should have polluted a large area of the water was collected by Bronya using the Water Dragon Chant.
This was a request from Mei, far away on the Hyperion, who stated that mutated Honkai derivatives held significant research value.
"The situation isn't looking great."
Standing atop the floating head of a monster, Fuli narrowed his eyes, assessing the flaming cross piercing through multiple layers of space in the distance.
The failure of the Famed Gun Abe-Slayer Tetsuya meant his guess was likely spot on. If so, the enemy Siegfried faced was far stronger than the Genghis Khan of history.
Now, they could only hope his prospective father-in-law was capable enough to handle the enemy before their group arrived.
Given past experiences, Fuli didn't hold out too much hope.
After all, who asked him to be born with a 'Sacred Body of Trouble Magnetism'—no, rather, it should be said that the protagonist is the one who shows up at the critical moment.
"Let's go. To the island in the center of the lake."
No one objected to 'marching to their deaths.' Fuli and Bronya cared about Kiana's feelings, and Dr. Zhou was of the mindset that 'if one hears the Way in the morning, one can die content in the evening.'
As for Fu Hua, holding a Blade of the Supreme (Taixuan Sword God) in reserve, she skimmed across the lake surface with the resolve to prevent the Honkai from spreading. In moments, they arrived at their destination.
The barren little island covered only a few hundred square meters; the kind you could see in its entirety at a glance.
Fuli looked at Kiana. The white-haired girl, housing the Core of the Void, understood immediately and stepped forward.
She extended a small hand and closed her eyes.
Accompanied by a light chuckle from Sirin, the Authority of the Herrscher activated. A gate leading to the unknown appeared out of thin air before them.
"The power to manipulate space is certainly convenient."
The boy clicked his tongue in wonder. In his previous loops, he had explored many ruins and had been stumped by various hidden entrances countless times.
Some had weird structural images where the better your vision, the harder it was to spot the issue—you had to force yourself to go cross-eyed to see it clearly.
Others used perfectly preserved heads of different races stacked into a Jingguan (pyramid of skulls) to form a bizarre 'QR Code.' It even had a time limit like a real QR code, requiring a 'scan' to pass.
It made one sigh with emotion: In the Honkai World, you can lose your life, but you can't lose the bit.
"I shall... hunt the stragglers!"
Kiana took the lead, stepping into the portal, with the others following close behind.
They protected Dr. Zhou, the only normal human, in the center. They adopted a formation with Kiana at the point, Fu Hua bringing up the rear, Fuli on the left flank, and Bronya on the right guard, ensuring they could intercept attacks from any direction immediately.
The effect was excellent... if you ignored the minor details. Like when they first encountered enemies and Kiana instinctively phased into Imaginary Space, leaving the old man to get stabbed in the waist.
Or Fuli activating Presence Concealment and Bronya using optical camouflage, causing the enemies to focus fire on the visibly weakest Dr. Zhou every now and then.
Or Fu Hua's supporting Sword Ki grazing the old man's skin as it flew past... just trivial little things.
There was no hair-raising fear—mostly because the hair had already been shaved off by the friendly-fire Sword Ki.
There were no complaints, either.
"He fainted again. Cousin, shock his heart one more time?"
"Already doing it."
In matters like this, the siblings' coordination was maxed out.
There was no need to worry about health issues either. The field kit Mei prepared contained a Defective Evolution Potion (Low Grade), which they had poured down the old man's throat during the earlier resuscitation.
He now possessed physical stats equivalent to a D-Rank Valkyrie. His poor performance was solely because he hadn't adapted to this power or adjusted his mindset.
Eliminating guards as they advanced, and relying on the 3D map built by Setsuna Blade: Winter River Reflection, they twisted and turned through the massive underground labyrinth. After hitting several dead ends, they finally arrived at a spacious underground palace.
This was likely the main hall of the mausoleum. Looking around, a five-meter-tall bronze statue of Genghis Khan stood towering and majestic, clad in cold iron armor, a dusty sword at his waist, his gaze piercing through time and space like a falcon.
Behind the statue, a curved mural unfolded like an epic scroll. The territory of the Mongol Empire was outlined in gold leaf, with warhorses and rains of arrows surging through the paint, as if the bugles of eight hundred years ago could still be heard.
In the west hall, nine faded war banners fluttered, surrounding a Sulde spear planted obliquely in a stone base.
In the shadows, rows of bronze-gilt silver saddles were displayed quietly. The wolf heads carved on the saddle bridges had red gemstones for eyes, burning brightly in the dim light.
"It is new budget!"
Faced with such massive wealth, Bronya, who controlled the Hyperion's finances, had eyes shining with light. She lifted a foot to charge toward them.
A hand grabbed the scruff of Duck-Duck's neck from behind.
"Don't forget the rules," Fuli warned solemnly, lifting his cat-like little sister.
The scale of the underground city was immense. After all, it buried the peerless King who trampled half the Eurasian continent, the veritable Scourge of God. Given his style of "defeat the enemy, seize everything they own," the majority of his plundered treasures likely slumbered here, waiting for someone to excavate them and bring them to light.
But that someone would not be Fuli's group.
Plundering artifacts openly within the territory of the Taixuan Front... how much did they drink to be this wasted?
"Oh ( ᗜ ‸ ᗜ )."
Dangled in the air, Bronya was still a bit unwilling. However, the moment she thought of the consequences of messing with these things inside Shenzhou, the girl's fiery heart cooled down immediately.
Dr. Zhou breathed a long sigh of relief upon seeing this. As a native-born son of Shenzhou, he didn't want to become a traitor nailed to the pillar of historical shame.
"Genghis Khan didn't just loot things from the ancient Shenzhou region, right?" Kiana sharply noticed a blind spot. "We won't touch Shenzhou's stuff, but can't we... 'study' the rest?"
She didn't think her smelly dad would lose to anyone other than Fuli. After the initial anxiety passed, she gradually returned to her usual lively self.
"The Orthodox Rome is East Rome, the Third Rome is Russia, the Orthodox Russia is Czarist Russia, the Orthodox Czarist Russia is the Golden Horde, the Golden Horde is Mongol... Bronya is Russian! Theoretically, I can take away the non-Shenzhou parts of the mausoleum!"
Bronya activated skill: Mental Gymnastics!
The white-haired dumpling bounced up and down. "And this young miss! Smelly Dad took me to live in Siberia for a long time; round it up and I'm an Honorary Slav too!"
As soon as good loot was involved, the girls' IQs instantly seized the high ground.
"That seems to make sense? Come to think of it, I'm an Honorary Knight of the British Princess. Did Genghis Khan make it to Britain?"
Fuli wouldn't admit he was tempted too. He looked inquiringly at Fu Hua.
The girl waved her hand, laughing despite herself. "Do as you please. Just remember to preserve them carefully."
"Yay!"
With the elder's permission, the three young ones scattered like birds and beasts. Fu Hua paced toward the central hall related to Shenzhou, preparing to secure the items and hand them over to the state later.
Maybe she'd even get a silk banner and 500 yuan in return. He really... I could cry.
Fuli activated Winter River Reflection to scan the area, finding that most of the Honkai energy fluctuations were in the northwest corner of the city.
They were scarce—he could count them on one hand.
Ancients usually wouldn't bury functional Honkai devices with miraculous powers. They would either bury a replica to make up the numbers, or if they did bury the real thing, someone would sneak it out later. It came down to simple pragmatism.
As the saying goes: The dead are gone forever, the living remain as such; High-tech is forever, one piece lasts for generations.
Burying such useful items in a grave never to see the light of day? No living person would be happy about that.
Fuli used Shunpo (Flash Step) a dozen times to reach the location. In just that short time, only one Western-style longsword remained among the artifacts present.
"Ah-Li, you're here! I'll leave the rest to you!"
Kiana, who had run ahead to loot, didn't forcefully seize it upon seeing him. Instead, she left to explore other areas.
"Giving me, the King of Hyperion, quite a bit of face."
The boy pulled out the Western longsword, grumbling internally that his Void Shunpo was lagging behind the visuals—the Paramecium's movement speed was actually faster than his.
"B-Rank or higher footwork... I remember Durandal's Sagittarius Astral fits the bill, or going a step further, learning Rita's White Moon Silhouette..."
While the gigolo pondered where to mooch a footwork technique better suited for himself, he activated the Third Rated Power of Jizo Mitama: Information Appraisal.
[Name: Holy Sword Armament · Joyeuse]
[Rank: A]
[Classification: Weapon]
[Effect: One of the Three Holy Swords of Europe. The saber of Charlemagne, King of the Franks and the Carolingian dynasty in the epic "Song of Roland." Also known as the Golden Sword, the Sword of Joy, and the Sword of Earth. Rumor has it the blade changes color 30 times a day.
Essentially, it is a First Generation Holy Sword Armament created in the Pre-Civilization Era. It is a sister weapon to the Holy Sword Durandal. While slightly inferior to Durandal, it possesses similar abilities.
Fundamental Particle Reorganization: The ability residing in Joyeuse and the truth behind the blade changing color 30 times a day. The wielder can use Joyeuse's power to reorganize all matter at a microscopic level, performing a series of inconceivable operations.
Activation requires massive energy, and the effectiveness depends on the user's own mental strength, knowledge, and technique. For example, to create Soulium Armor, besides knowing how the armor itself is made, one must also know the molecular composition of the Soulium used to build it.]
[Note: Fundamental Particle Reorganization is merely an ability. It does NOT give the wielder control precision at the fundamental particle level. Users, please do not argue this point.]
(Do you guys recognize this thing? Pu-bao? Mei-mei?)
Fuli called out to his 'System AIs' in his mind but received no response after a long pause.
"Tsk, almost forgot the setting where they can only communicate with me for ten minutes a day."
The boy grumbled, inserting Joyeuse into a makeshift alloy scabbard constructed from the blue bricks beneath his feet.
He had briefly tried using the Holy Sword's ability, only to discover that, as expected of an academic slacker, he couldn't make heads or tails of it.
I'll let Mei-aemon figure it out when we get back.
Thinking this, Fuli flashed to the rear hall where the monarch's coffin was placed.
In the gloomy bedchamber, a spirit tent covered in bright yellow satin lay quietly on a stone platform. Beneath the satin were the coffins of Genghis Khan and his wives.
On the altar, green smoke curled from a bronze incense burner, and the flame of the Ever-burning Lamp flickered, illuminating an ebony saddle in front of the spirit tent. The leather covering the stirrups had long since cracked, but the gold trim still gleamed with a cold light.
"Excuse the intrusion."
The boy took a deep breath, stepped forward, and used his sword to pry open the lid of Genghis Khan's coffin.
"Just as I thought..."
Gazing at the bleached bones inside and noting the scorch marks from flames upon them, he reaffirmed his theory.
After another round of looting, Fuli returned to the agreed-upon rendezvous point.
He was immediately startled by the round, human-sized bundle behind Kiana.
"Don't you have a four-dimensional skirt?"
"That tiny space isn't enough to hold anything!" Kiana waved her little fist to express her dissatisfaction.
"We still have to fight later, Idiot Kiana," Bronya said from the side, rolling her eyes.
"So, what did you find?"
"..."
Air Force. (Skunked).
Her luck wasn't as good as Kiana's, and her reconnaissance methods weren't as good as Fuli's Winter River Reflection.
This resulted in Bronya obtaining, at most, some foreign curios and gold jewelry, alongside a few materials and minerals.
Thus, she spoke with a straight face: "Bronya is not selfish like a certain someone, staring only at items useful to herself. Bronya's inventory is now filled with invaluable jewels and minerals. Upon return, they will be handed over to the Hyperion's public fund to replenish the treasury and avoid future embarrassments like 'budget depletion'."
"Ah, this..."
Kiana instantly broke into a cold sweat, her hand holding a prop shrinking back secretly.
She had originally planned to triumphantly gift the newly acquired B-Rank disc prop to Bronya, but after that speech, she felt too embarrassed to bring it up.
"Hmph."
Oblivious to the fact that she had just brushed past a treasure, Duck-Duck let out a triumphant snort. Her large, gray, expressive eyes turned to Fuli and the returning Fu Hua, as if asking what they had managed to scrape together.
...