[Back to the Video.]
The scene shifts to Sky Dome City. Affected by the Great Honkai, even Sky Dome City, praised as humanity's last refuge, could not escape the invasion.
"A Honkai disaster is currently occurring in the northern urban district of Sky Dome City. Citizens in that area, please evacuate quickly and head to the nearest shelter..."
The broadcast repeatedly issued disaster warnings, and city residents, under the escort of the Sky Dome patrol, evacuated in an orderly manner.
Everything seemed orderly at first glance...
However, as streaks of purple-red light flashed, the Honkai arrived.
Under the invasion of the Honkai, order gradually disappeared, replaced by the deepest survival instincts rooted in human genes.
BOOM!
An explosion sounded. Honkai Beasts broke through the guards' defenses and charged into the crowd, beginning a massacre.
Explosions, flames, ruins.
Shouts, cries for help, weeping.
"Mama! Where are you!"
Amid the flames, a girl helplessly looked at the panicked, fleeing crowd, crystal-like tears glimmering in her eyes.
However, the response to the girl wasn't just her mother's voice, but also a nearby Honkai Beast.
Seeing no hope of escape, the mother could only tightly shield the girl in her arms, awaiting death.
At this critical moment, a white-haired girl swung a baseball bat and blocked the Honkai Beast's attack.
"Run! Don't look back. I'll hold it off!"
However, the mother and daughter who had already escaped did not know, the girl who saved them was already at the end of her strength.
Facing an overwhelming number of Honkai Beasts, Kiana endured the searing pain in her body and could only barely protect herself.
Just as Kiana prepared to retreat, the voice of the Herrscher of the Void suddenly rang out in her mind.
"Run? Why would you run?" The Herrscher's voice was full of temptation. "They are the prey. And you... are the hunter."
Feeling the surge of Honkai energy in her body, Kiana's left eye once again turned into the golden pupil unique to a Herrscher.
"Just hand your body over to me, Kiana~☆"
———
[It's you again, Herrscher of the Void!]
[Why won't you leave me alone!]
[Kiana won't be controlled again, right?]
———
[Back to the Video.]
Kiana had a dream.
She dreamt of a day like any other. She dreamt of herself, Mei, and Bronya going to school together.
She even dreamt of dozing off in class and being punished by Himeko to stand.
She also dreamt of that man, like an older brother, just as always, waiting for them with a gentle smile at the classroom door after school.
Looking at the man's warm smile, Kiana had just reached out to touch his face when she suddenly felt warmth in her palm.
Looking down, she was horrified to see burning hot blood flowing in her hand.
Panicking, she looked up, only to see that man lying in a pool of blood.
"Van!"
Kiana wanted to call out his name loudly, but the words that came from her mouth were...
"Die."
Swish!
A spear pierced the man's heart, and he turned to nothingness.
"That's right... Van... is already dead... killed by me... with my own hands..."
Looking at the pitch-black surroundings, Kiana felt that being pierced through by a Honkai Beast like this wouldn't be so bad.
To die in the same way she killed others, was that not a kind of release?
However, after a long while, the girl was surprised to find that the death she so longed for never came.
"Why..." Head lowered, the girl's tears streamed down her face. "Why let me live..."
Just as Kiana was sinking into despair, a fiery red feather once again floated down in the dreamscape.
———
[In the real world.]
Seeing the fiery red feather, netizens erupted in excited cries.
[Holy crap! Is it that man?]
[It is that man!]
[Vaaaan!!!]
[Vaan, I miss you!]
[My Emperor Van is still carrying!]
[Van: This home, without me, really will fall apart.]
———
[Back to the Video.]
"Kiana!"
The man's shout brought Kiana's consciousness back to reality.
At the same time, it made the netizens watching the video cheer with joy, because that man once again saved Kiana at a critical moment!
The darkness and dizziness temporarily faded. Before her was the same gloomy night.
Since waking on the beach three months ago and starting a life on the run, such nightmares had long become familiar.
"Another dream like this?" Leaning against a broken wall, Kiana gazed up at the dark night sky.
"Pull yourself together, Kiana. You almost lost control just now."
The man's gentle voice sounded again, but Kiana responded with silence.
"Kiana, your body is getting weaker by the day. To be safe, from now on you absolutely must not come into contact with Honkai energy again. You must not use Valkyrie powers in battle. In fact, it's best if you don't fight at all... You should find a place to hide and figure out how to contact Theresa and the others..."
"And then what? What if they cure me? Then one day I lose control again and hurt those around me?" Kiana mocked herself.
"Kiana, that wasn't your fault..."
"It was my fault! It was me!" The man's words were cut off as Kiana furiously interrupted him. "It was me who killed the person I cared for the most with my own hands!"
Kiana crouched on the ground, trembling and holding her head, crying out in pain.
"I'm clearly the one who killed you, why are you still like this? You should have abandoned me. You should hate me. You should let me rot away, not this..."
Kiana shouted angrily, saying words she didn't truly mean. She knew full well this wasn't what she wanted to say.
She wanted to say the words she hadn't yet spoken. She wanted to tell him how much she missed him. She wanted him to keep watching her, as she became the strongest Valkyrie...
But sadly, she destroyed all of it with her own hands.
At the age of twelve, "she" awakened for the first time and caused massive destruction. From that moment on, Kiana had been running away, pretending "she" didn't exist.
She dared not stay in any one place for too long, nor get too close to anyone.
She feared everything would repeat itself, until she met him...
Kiana first felt the warmth of a home, and the feeling of being cared for.
It made her want to stay, but that was just a naïve thought.
Because no matter where she ran, no matter how she struggled, the road beneath her feet always led to the same ending.
The voice of the Herrscher of the Void rang out again at the worst possible moment, like a vile curse.
"That man never would have imagined that with his sacrifice, he would leave an unhealable wound in your heart, a crack through which I could return again. That's why you can never truly escape me. So, just hand your body over to me~"
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