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Seeing the future Kiana fall into her future self's arms, Mei collapsed to the ground.
Touching her chest, the indescribable pain continued to spread through her nerves.
This pain, this sadness, was all felt by her future self.
In the field, Mei hugged Kiana with sadness and anger.
A massive surge of Honkai energy erupted, and the Honkai energy shield with arcs stopped the lance from advancing further.
Outside the field, Mei, like her future self, also had lightning flashing across her body.
Snap.
Mei's hand was grabbed.
She raised her head and looked.
It was Kiana.
["Don't be like this, Mei."]
Kiana shook her head slightly, her expression complicated. ["I... don't want to see you like this."]
At that moment, the arcs gradually dissipated, and the oppressive feeling slowly faded away.
Kiana felt a weight in her arms.
It was Mei.
If this were in the past, she would feel overjoyed, but after what she saw earlier, she knew she should let Mei go.
Now, she couldn't feel happy at all.
["I'm sorry, Kiana..."]
Hugging Kiana tightly, Mei apologized through small sobs.
["But... seeing that scene... my heart hurts so much."]
She choked, tears welling up in her eyes as she whispered, ["It hurts so much that I can't control myself..."]
Although Mei had learned about this from a previous title, and though she had sensed something was off, she had prepared herself and didn't expect any major problems...
But she had forgotten that what she read before was just a line of text: [Kiana is seriously injured].
This was completely different from seeing Kiana fall to protect her.
The moment she saw it, Mei felt like her entire world had collapsed.
Her brain that was once sharp, now felt stunned.
All her previous resolve to stay calm vanished. She forgot everything.
["...I understand."]
Feeling the warmth in her arms, Kiana didn't try to comfort Mei, but instead held her quietly.
She wasn't good at comforting others. If she tried to comfort Mei in this situation, her clumsy words might have made things worse. Instead, she knew this silence was enough.
Thinking this, Kiana looked at her own form, cradled in the arms of future Mei.
To be honest, it felt a bit cruel to see Mei like this.
But Kiana wasn't surprised by the actions of her future self.
After all, even she would have acted the same way if faced with such a situation.
But...
The condition of Mei wasn't looking too good.
Kiana looked at Mei's future self, her expression now completely different—full of coldness and murderous intent. Mei, surrounded by lightning, seemed overwhelming.
Was this... the Herrscherization?
Though it was just an illusion, Kiana could sense the suffocating pressure by simply observing the scene.
Ah... so powerful.
The Templar-class Honkai Beast that had severely injured her future self was now engulfed in roaring thunder as Mei waved her hand.
The arcs wrapped around its body, and the massive creature made of Honkai energy crumbled under the power of the Third Herrscher.
"Disappear, scum!"
Watching the Honkai Beast scream in agony, Mei spoke with deadly intent.
As her words fell, the thick thunder split the sky and earth, completely annihilating the Templar-class Honkai Beast.
All the surrounding Honkai Beasts that had moved in due to the disturbance were affected by the thunder and turned to ashes.
After this, Mei hovered in the air, surrounded by electric arcs, her gaze fixed on Kiana in her arms.
"It's so ugly to get hurt just to protect that coward."
"Kiana."
Looking at Kiana gritting her teeth in pain while unconscious, Herrscher Mei's calmness turned to dissatisfaction.
"Wake up quickly. I won't allow you to die so easily." She spoke slowly.
"I'm the only one who can take your life."
["..."]
Hearing this, Kiana pulled the corner of her mouth. This was truly terrifying.
Suddenly, the sky was covered by a shadow.
Kiana looked up at the sky, startled.
["What is this?"]
Seeing the sci-fi ship overhead, she almost thought she was watching a science fiction movie.
["Look at the logo, it's the sky battleship of Schicksal."] Next to her, Bronya glanced back and spoke expressionlessly.
["Ah... I don't understand."]
Though her father had told her some things about Schicksal, Kiana still didn't know much about this aspect.
["By the way, what about the future you who got hit?"]
Suddenly remembering that the future Bronya had been overturned by a vehicle, Kiana felt a bit of happiness and curiosity.
That could've hit several buildings, right?
Even if she was attacked like this, she would likely be seriously injured.
["Not a big deal."]
Bronya sighed.
["Bronya asked Project Bunny to check. The future Bronya was protected by Project Bunny and was basically unharmed."]
To be honest, it was a good thing that her future self hadn't been hurt, but now, Miss Bronya felt a little hurt.
Because she was somewhat aggrieved.
Kiana though couldn't help but feel a bit of gloating.
No way. You, little one, didn't I enjoy tossing you around before?
Look at how long the future is. Why are you so late?
...
It's really useful.
If you get hit by a lightning column from Mei, you'd probably disappear even if you were protected.
Fortunately, Himeko had been a Valkyrie for many years, with rich combat experience.
As a Herrscher, Mei basically didn't know any other skills except for discharging energy.
Either a big electric ball or a lightning column.
Well... though it's a bit monotonous.
But as the old saying goes,
A good plaster is one that draws out the pus.
The things Mei plays with are much more useful than the iron egg that explodes in half and just makes noise.
At least Himeko was beaten to the point of wanting to curse.
"I have to praise you for holding on until now, but you're just a little stronger than the other bastards."
Seeing that Himeko's strength exhausted, Mei sneered.
"I'm getting a little fed up."
"Disappear!"
With this command, Mei, now fully transformed into a Herrscher, prepared to end this boring farce.
But...
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