(Retrieving the volume title. After more than twenty chapters of revival matches, the first female lead Ana is finally returning to the main track.)
In the end, Fu Hua still accepted Seele, though she had Seele call her Fu Hua-jie. Perhaps this was just an old person wanting to reclaim a bit of youthful feeling through titles.
"Shun, come with me." One day, Fu Hua suddenly and mysteriously called away Shun, who was in the middle of practicing Taixu Form aggregate.
"It's finally here? Master, I've waited for this day for a long time." Without Fu Hua needing to say it, Shun already knew why she was calling him away.
"No, there's still one more thing." Fu Hua said in an old-dad tone, shaking her head and shattering Shun's Taixu Sword God dream.
"Then what is it? It couldn't be that Clown Alpha has come knocking, right?" Shun felt a bit uneasy in his heart. To be fair, he really didn't want to be exposed in Otto's sights so soon. Though he wasn't afraid of him now, being targeted by such a schemer still made Shun uncomfortable.
"Earlier, someone called Gray Serpent came to find me. He asked me to tell you that a Great Honkai has erupted in Manila, Philippines, giving birth to a Judgment-class Honkai beast."
Fu Hua's words were like a heavy hammer smashing straight into Shun's head, instantly plunging his mind into chaos. His ears buzzed, and he could barely hear what Fu Hua said afterward.
Shun couldn't even believe what Fu Hua was saying was real. How could something like this happen so suddenly?
"Shun, Shun, can you still hear what your master is saying?" Fu Hua shook Shun's shoulders to snap him out of it.
"I... I heard." Only then did Shun recover. Manila Great Honkai? Didn't that happen in 2015? It was only 2013 now even the Third Honkai hadn't occurred yet. How could the Manila Great Honkai have come early?
No, Ana is still there. I have to go find her! Thinking this, Shun didn't hesitate for a moment and was about to take out the Cosmic Juggernaut but immediately after, he realized his body couldn't move at all, as if he'd been hit with sleep paralysis; he couldn't control his own body.
At that moment, a red feather drifted down. Only then did Shun realize Fu Hua had used Fenghuang Down to control the electrical signals in his brain. At this point, his mouth could just barely move, so he immediately spoke.
"Master, there's someone extremely important to me in Manila. I have to go there to save her. With her strength, there's no way she can defeat a Judgment-class Honkai beast!"
Slap. Fu Hua slapped Shun across the face. "This is the first time I've truly hit you, and I hope it's the last. I hope you can calm down. Right now, I've already pulled you into the illusion of Fenghuang Down. Here, there's still plenty of time, so..."
Five minutes later, Shun finally calmed down and said to Fu Hua: "Master, tell me what I should do."
Seeing Shun so indecisive, Fu Hua harrumphed: "You want your master to decide? Then I'm afraid you'll die there so don't go." Fu Hua said it in a moment of anger. Even if she didn't let Shun go, for the sake of her disciple, burning memories again to recover combat power wasn't impossible.
"Master, I have to go. I owe her my life." It was Ana who saved his life this was something Shun remembered every single moment. Without Ana's careful care that month, a memory-less idiot like him in Southeast Asia? His kidneys would probably have been harvested while someone else counted the money.
"I know, but I'm worried about you. Seele is worried about you too. Are you just going to run off without a word? What if something happens? Moreover, what I promised you earlier it's time to deliver."
"Yes... it was my fault." Only then did Shun realize he was no longer the lone wanderer he had been right after crossing over. In this world, there were many people who cared about him: the inexplicable godson Gray Serpent, the adopted little sister Seele, Su who entrusted him with Cosmic Juggernaut, Master Fu Hua who had just slapped him, Misteln who was both teacher and friend and was still looking for him, and his very first bond Ana, who was now in danger.
(Kevin: ? What about me?)
"I understand, Master. I'll go say goodbye to Seele." Shun bowed deeply to Fu Hua and walked toward the door. Fu Hua had already dragged the entire mountaintop into Fenghuang Down's illusion in other words, Seele was also in this illusion right now.
Entering the side courtyard where he and Seele had been living these past days, he saw Seele staring blankly at the plum blossom stakes in the courtyard.
"Big brother, you're back!" Hearing Shun's footsteps, Seele smiled, turned, and pounced toward him. "Just now the whole world suddenly changed. Does big brother know what's going on?"
"It's Fu Hua-jie's illusion. Meaning even if we stay here for a whole day, only one second will pass in the real world."
"Wow, Fu Hua-jie is so amazing." Right now Seele couldn't participate in high-end battles at all she could only cheer 666.
"By the way, big brother, what did Fu Hua-jie call you over to say earlier?" Seele's expression was exactly like Eru Chitanda's, leaving Shun defenseless.
"She didn't really say much just that a very important friend of mine is in danger right now, so I have to go save her. That's why I came to say goodbye to Seele."
"Eh? Is it very dangerous? Can Seele go too?" Ever since leaving the Sea of Quanta, Seele hadn't left Shun's side. Hearing that Shun was leaving now, she couldn't bear it and wanted to follow.
"It's precisely because it's very dangerous that I can't bring Seele along. Only with Seele safe here can big brother fight with peace of mind. Otherwise, even if I went, I'd feel uneasy." Shun gently patted Seele's head and refused.
"But..." Seele didn't want to be a disobedient child, but if Shun might be in danger, she couldn't care about being the good kid in his eyes anymore. A 14-year-old was at the rebellious age anyway.
"Seele, let me put it this way. If one day your Bronya-jie is in danger, and even I can't guarantee safety in that place would you choose to let me come along, or would you go save Bronya alone?"
The answer was obvious. Shun didn't want Seele to take risks, and naturally Seele wouldn't let Shun take risks for her.
Shun roughly ruffled Seele's hair again. "Just stay here obediently and wait for me. Don't worry I'll come back."
Looking at Seele, Shun delivered his victory declaration after receiving the news.
"I will win."