The wind outside the window suddenly died down.
Shigure Kira could hear her own breathing, like a feather falling into a deep pool—so light it was almost inaudible, yet it shattered the dreamlike reflection on the water's surface. It felt unreal, yet it brought an immense sense of peace.
"You're back. Looks like you had fun last month. The concert is about to start. Drink this, and don't you dare blink during the performance. Though... I have a feeling a guy like you won't be blinking anyway..."
"My Gloomy Guy~"
Shigure Kira propped her elbows on the table, cupped her chin in her hands, and gazed at Li Mo with a beaming smile.
Always the obedient one, her meaningful smile now held a newfound confidence, completely different from before.
"That's asking a bit much. How can a person not blink? I've already disabled my bizarre rules; they only trigger passively if I'm faced with something that would be judged as lethal." Li Mo's teacup paused at his lips. After a moment's hesitation, he didn't savor it, instead downing it in one gulp.
Hmm... I can't really get into it. This tea tastes weird.
Whatever. Today was the idol singer Kira-Star's concert in North America.
As the Valkyries' unanimously recognized Herrscher of Deadly Voice, Shigure Kira's singing possessed a destructive power comparable to a fission bomb, both to humans and Herrschers alike. But thanks to the "Reversal" wish Li Mo had made, this trait was transformed into a heavenly sound. The more awful her natural voice was, the more beautiful the reversed version became.
It was the kind of voice that could make your ears pregnant, allowing Kira's childhood dream to finally come true.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready backstage?" Li Mo asked.
Shigure Kira shook her head. She reached out and intercepted a beam of light slipping in through the window, the spot of light sparkling in her palm. The wind blew gently, making the treetops and the light sway together. The light in her palm flowed like water.
"No rush. Even if I'm a little late, everyone will forgive Kira-Star. After all, singing with the power of a bizarre rule is as shameful as cheating... isn't it?"
At that moment, Li Mo hadn't yet realized the girl's true intentions and criticized her bluntly, "Maybe so, but you're being a pretty unprofessional idol."
"Perhaps I was never professional to begin with. After all..." Shigure Kira suddenly climbed onto the table like a crawling mammal, approaching Li Mo in a very undignified manner. "There's something more important here. So important that I can't think of anything else right now. I just want to make him all mine..."
Her breath was warm, her cheeks were flushed, and her ears were burning.
Just as the distance between them was about to close to zero, Shigure Kira quickly hopped off the table, dusted off her sleeves, and turned her back to Li Mo, glancing at him over her shoulder.
"Just kidding. Make sure you listen closely, okay? To 'Shigure Kira's real song'."
With that, Shigure Kira left the room without a pause. The concert was less than ten minutes away.
Li Mo sat there expressionlessly, his fingers repeatedly rubbing the earpiece Shigure Kira had just put on for him, pondering the hidden meaning behind her words.
How strange.
Li Mo opened the curtains and saw the grand stage surrounded by a full audience. The night wind carried the dazzling glow of light sticks into the venue. All the light, all the cheers, all the gazes—tonight, they were for one person alone.
The moment white mist billowed from the stage lift, Shigure Kira stepped onto the stage in seven-centimeter-high, starry-sky stilettos. Specks of light from the magnesium lamps danced in her sky-blue hair, and the crescent-moon-shaped rhinestones pinned to her bangs trembled with each step.
The residual light on the stage was like a cluster of drowning stars, leaping gently upon the hem of Shigure Kira's dress.
The spotlight suddenly dimmed, and the stage floor lit up with a constellation map. Shigure Kira paused, winked at Li Mo, who was watching from the high-rise building nearby, and then kicked off her high heels.
With every bare footstep, a corresponding star emblem burst with blue light, as if she were walking on a path paved with stars toward the center of the stage.
"Hmph, hmph..." Shigure Kira made a silly face at Li Mo, but she instantly reverted to her normal, sweet idol persona when she turned to face the audience, as playful as a thief caught in a beam of light, quickly fleeing the scene.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting~" The end of her sentence carried a honey-like, seductive gasp.
The moment her bare foot touched the stage floor, sensor lights rippled outwards.
"Kira-Star! Kira-Star! Kira-Star!"
"Kira-Star! Kira-Star! Kira-Star!"
"Kira-Star! Kira-Star! Kira-Star!"
The screams from the audience erupted into a nebula of sound.
The cheers were deafening. Even from his perch a dozen stories high, Li Mo could hear them clearly.
"She seems even more popular than a month ago. An idol diva, huh..."
Every time she finished a concert, something insane would happen.
The city's power grid would crash from fans replaying the live performance en masse; the blacked-out skyscrapers would leave just enough lights on to form the outline of Shigure Kira's face...
Li Mo was suddenly reminded of the absolutely-not-safe-for-work scenes from the Mirror Lake on Mount Taixuan. If word of that ever got out, some of her more fanatical fans might do something crazy.
Although, that would be easy enough to solve. He could just create a "False Cognition" and spread it across the world.
For now... I'll just enjoy the show.
Li Mo closed his eyes. Unnoticed by anyone, a person appeared in the empty seat closest to the stage, yet no one found it the least bit strange.
"This next song..." Shigure Kira undid the second crystal button of her performance outfit, revealing her delicate collarbone. A strange, star-shaped pattern circled her neck, glittering in the night. "...is dedicated to the one I love most."
The stage lights crisscrossed like star trails. Her voice today was completely different from before.
"In the waiting room of the tenth-to-last dimension, you tuned the rain pooled in my vocal cords."
"The communicator leaked my heartbeat's Morse code, silence is the universe's most perfect remix..."
"..." Li Mo opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then he turned to look at the crowd's reaction. They were still as fired up as ever.
But this voice... it clearly lacked the aura of the bizarre.
In other words, this was Shigure Kira's real voice. But wasn't her singing notoriously abstract? How could she manage to sound almost identical to the heavenly voice created by the "Reversal"?
Li Mo's mind reflexively turned to bizarre-related explanations, completely missing the main point—the girl's bold confession.
Hmph, hmph... Kira-Star held the mic in one hand, a hint of resentment in her eyes.
I knew it! That guy totally missed my confession!
On stage, Shigure Kira's voice suddenly amplified, piercing through the roof of the venue. When the pre-recorded harmony kicked in, the melody humming from her throat was more real than any reverb, like a teardrop-diamond-encrusted nail scraping across a chest, with droplets of blood falling like the static of a first love's heartbeat.
"How many strangers must I walk past, for the confessions in my heart to reverse their course."
"When terrifying rules alter the path of reunion, will the you and I of parallel universes still meet..."
Her masterful technique, honed through blood and tears, masked the cryptic nature of the lyrics.
"...I thought she had forgotten," Li Mo chuckled softly.
In this concert of tens of thousands, only Li Mo knew what these lyrics truly meant.
The "waiting room of the tenth-to-last dimension" referred to Mount Taixuan, which was precisely the tenth world he had traveled to during his reincarnations. At the foot of the mountain, Shigure Kira had triggered the Drowning Ghost's rule and was on the verge of self-destruction when he saved her at the last moment.
And then... some unspeakable things had happened.
It was also then that Shigure Kira had given him her communicator, which allowed him to "come back to life" on the third floor of the haunted house. The price, however, was Shigure Kira's own life. Her soul was taken to the Soul-Crossing Passage on the fourth floor of the haunted house, where countless strange souls marched forward according to the rules.
With the help of MEI, Elysia, Hua, Pardo, and the Bizarre-Kiana, he had shed the rule of "Exterminating the Bizarre," giving up his "bizarre" nature as the price to fully regain his humanity and enter the Soul-Crossing Passage.
In that endless corridor, he had walked past countless strange souls before finally finding Shigure Kira and saying a whole lot of cheesy things...
But he didn't regret it.
Amidst the sea of light sticks, Shigure Kira threw her sweat-soaked hairband into the audience. The silk ribbon unfurled under the spotlight and eventually landed in Li Mo's hands.
"You said, if it's meant to be, then we are destined; if not, then we are the only one (unique)."
"An unnamed love folded into a Klein bottle, letting it travel through all the dates discarded by reincarnation."
"Even if all the universe's speakers are broken, you are still the universe inside my ears..."
"Every meeting is bound to have a vibrato—my truest song is sung only for the one I love most~"
The accompaniment and her voice gradually slowed. The venue fell silent for a few seconds, then Li Mo felt a sharp pain in his ears as the cheers returned in the form of roars. No other sound could be heard, drowned out by the terrifying wave of noise.
The "culprit" simply made a silly face, then quickly headed backstage, not forgetting to give a wink before she left, signaling for Li Mo to follow.
Just as Li Mo was about to teleport backstage, his attention was suddenly drawn to one person. A boy wearing an ita-shirt in support of the idol burst out of the crowd, climbed onto the glass stage that her bare feet had just graced, and knelt down as if worshiping a god.
Dude, there's no one on stage cosplaying as a Primogem (just kidding).
At the same time, countless phones were raised to film the scene. Fortunately, security reacted quickly, subduing him with a taser. Even as he was being shocked, the man was still screaming, "Kira-Star is the cutest in the world! Kira-Star is the cutest in the world!"
Li Mo's lips twitched. If this kid knew that the idol diva he so revered had already given her heart and body to someone else, would he have a complete breakdown on the spot?
Hiss...
Die-hard fans are terrifying...
Li Mo immediately teleported backstage. His teleportation came with a built-in perception filter, so no one would find it strange.
But this time, the filter wasn't needed, because the backstage area was completely empty, save for Shigure Kira.
"Why is no one here? Also, the concert isn't over. Isn't it a bit unprofessional for you to sneak backstage all by yourself?" Li Mo asked reasonably.
"Mmm-hmm~" Shigure Kira suddenly leaned in close to Li Mo. "Because this concert is a little special. Didn't you see the poster? Except for the first song, which I sang live, the rest are all pre-recorded."
"Irresponsible," Li Mo said with a straight face, criticizing her sternly.
However, Shigure Kira didn't seem to take the serious Li Mo to heart. Instead, she brazenly grabbed his wrist.
"How can you say that? I practiced for so long to be able to bring everyone joy with my real voice, without relying on any bizarre rules. Besides, this is the first time I've ever played recordings..."
"Why?"
Li Mo was curious. Shigure Kira wasn't the type to be irresponsible.
Not as a Valkyrie, and not as an idol diva.
As a Valkyrie, although she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed at first, she was definitely a qualified captain who was willing to take responsibility and would never run away.
As an idol diva, from relying on "million-dollar autotune" at the beginning to later using bizarre rules, she had never slacked off. Instead, she trained relentlessly until her real voice could also be loved by the masses.
A "irresponsible" concert like today was truly a first.
She must have known that doing this would stir up a lot of controversy online—things like "Kira-Star has gotten arrogant," "She looks down on her fans," "She's just going through the motions."
So Li Mo wanted to know what on earth was going through her mind.
"Are you wondering what I'm up to? Speaking of which, the potion should be taking effect by now. Can you hold it in? My Gloomy~ Guy" Shigure Kira took off the microphone and held it to Li Mo's lips. "Don't gasp, now. Otherwise, everyone will hear you. Shh"
With that, Shigure Kira knelt, swept the hair from her temples behind her head, and leaned forward until she had swallowed Little Li Mo whole, even if it made it difficult for her to breathe.
Li Mo: "???"
Wait, where did she learn this? Is this something an idol diva should be doing? Calling me backstage for this?
Li Mo was panicking. He had a feeling that after a month apart, Shigure Kira had become very strange.
He had been away with Kiana for a month after their wedding, with no contact with anyone else...
Which meant that Shigure Kira might not be the only one who had changed...
Wait, why can't I control my body? Why is it getting hotter? What did Shigure Kira give me to drink?
"Mmph... mmph..."
The woman who was an ethereal singer on stage, with an elegant and mysterious presence, was now letting out indescribable muffled moans, her head down as she "worked hard."
The backstage lights illuminated Shigure Kira's face clearly. Her delicate body trembled slightly, the hem of her dress fluttering like a butterfly's wings, shimmering with light.
Li Mo finally understood why the backstage was empty. It was all for this. She had sent all the staff away ahead of time.
With a series of convulsions and a dry swallow, Shigure Kira stuck out her tongue and licked her lips.
"It was an aphrodisiac."
"What, can't I have some excitement with you, too?"
"Don't worry, I've got the distance under control. As long as we don't speak into the mic, no one will hear us if we whisper. But... it's also possible some fan might hack in and save the recording locally. If that happens, I'll have to rely on my omniscient, omnipotent Gloomy Guy to get me out of trouble~"
"???" Li Mo wanted to speak, but with the microphone there, he couldn't make a sound.
Just as he was about to use his bizarre powers to warp reality, Shigure Kira shot him a fierce glare. "Oh, right. No using any bizarre-related powers. I like seeing you flustered. That look of being in agony but still trying your best to satisfy me... isn't that what you did to Kiana in the coffin? I'm jealous. Now, I want it too!!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Shigure Kira untied the silk ribbon holding her dress together at the back and tossed it aside. She melted into Li Mo's embrace, flesh against flesh, with no distance left between them...
If the large screen on stage were to suddenly go out, everyone would see the silhouette of a graceful, slender figure sitting on top of another, male silhouette lying flat on its back. The figure on top would throw its head back, long hair in a messy tangle, rising and falling with no discernible rhythm. Its body, overwhelmed by the stimulation, would arch its back into a crescent moon.
Finally, the silhouette's head would face the ceiling and, as if in an earthquake, its whole body would tremble violently before going limp...
---||---
---||---
Meanwhile, at St. Freya High School.
Cecilia was having dinner with her family.
Although she really wanted to gather everyone together, it seemed not everyone was keen on sharing a dinner table.
Unless... Li Mo was there.
Whenever Li Mo appeared, the reclusive MEI and her companions would surely show up as well.
But for now, it was just the Kaslana family.
Cecilia felt the dinner table was a bit quiet. She scanned the room: Siegfried was wolfing down his food, Theresa would occasionally grumble about the academy's budget.
Durandal was very proper, eating meticulously and observing the "no talking during meals" rule.
The usually lively Kiana was quiet because Li Mo wasn't there, her gaze not even turning toward them.
This won't do! The Kaslanas must be a loving family!
Cecilia decided to start a conversation. Kiana wasn't interested in most topics, so she chose one that would interest both her and everyone else.
"Kiana," Cecilia called out gently.
"Mom, what's up?"
"Did you have fun last month?"
"Mmm... I had a lot of fun. I was so happy... Mo is still the same Mo as before. I like him... I like him so much..." A dreamy blush suddenly appeared on Kiana's face.
This reaction stunned Cecilia. She had only mentioned it casually, and Kiana seemed to have completely drowned in an ocean of love.
Just how much does she like him...?
Cecilia quickly changed the subject. "Haha, it seems my son-in-law is quite outstanding. Whether it's Kira or Li Mo's other companions, they've all been deeply captivated by him."
Cecilia thought she had opened up the conversation, but when she looked up, Kiana was silent, a cold smile on her face.
"Heh, they should be glad I'm lucid. I'm grateful for what they've done for Mo, but... Hmph, forget it. It took so much to get here, I won't say anything too bloody."
"Even if one of my isomorphs tried to steal a bite, if Mo didn't protect them, even if I didn't act, the her dormant inside me, my other way of thinking, Bizarre-Kiana, would definitely make them die in the most painful way possible, piece by piece. She would chew every piece of flesh, rip out every nerve and blood vessel, and crush every organ..."
"I know what Mo fought for to get us to this day. Countless, countless times... I was by his side. Every single time, I watched him go from a gentle, smiling boy to a gloomy, melancholic man. The smile and life drained from his body until the next time, when it all started over again."
"No one can destroy what he has built with his own blood, not even me. If anyone tries to shatter this beautiful peace, I will kill them. No exceptions."
Kiana didn't look at Cecilia, and she certainly didn't add, "except for you guys."
Hearing this, Cecilia suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Kiana's obsession with Li Mo far exceeded anything she and Siegfried could have imagined, to the point where she was willing to disown her own family.
Perhaps—no, it was a certainty—if she and Siegfried ever became obstacles to Kiana and Li Mo's happiness, Kiana wouldn't hesitate... to strike down the people she usually called Mom and Dad...
As a mother, Cecilia was a little heartbroken. She didn't know what Kiana and Li Mo had been through.
As her mother, she had failed in her duty. Failing to guide Kiana back to the right path was a dereliction of her responsibility.
But... she had asked Shigure Kira about this issue before, and the answer she got was more or less the same.
Kiana being a test subject who had wandered since childhood, it was understandable that she would become so extremely dependent on Li Mo.
But Shigure Kira, who had undergone Schicksal's rigorous training and ideological education, why would she say—
"I'm sorry, Captain Cecilia, but I, Shigure Kira, have long been prepared to entrust everything to him. My responsibilities, my body, my soul, my faith, my dreams, my hopes, my blood and tears..."
"Don't mind that I'm a big star now, all warm and friendly to everyone. If one day, Li Mo asked me to kill everyone, including myself, I wouldn't hesitate."
"I will never fail his expectations, never defy his will, never betray his command."
"Ha, don't be nervous. I know that all sounds very heavy, but it's not actually possible. That guy cares more about ordinary people's feelings than you think. Even though he always says he doesn't care, in the end, he'll still pay some attention and lend a hand if he gets the chance. He's a classic tsundere."
—such treasonous words?
It was hard to understand...
Cecilia frowned. Unable to comprehend it, she decided to stop thinking about it.
Every outcome has its process and its reasons.
The "bizarre" described in Schicksal's archives was an almost hopeless "plague," unstoppable and unkillable. In the face of the bizarre, power was meaningless. Only by wading through blood and sinking into despair could one perhaps find a sliver of hope.
In the fight against the Honkai, however, most people at least had a chance to breathe. In the long course of history, people like her who fought the Honkai could even enjoy a decent life and develop a sound mind.
A love so obsessive that she wouldn't even spare herself—Kiana.
An unquestioning obedience and absolute trust—Shigure Kira.
An inferiority complex so extreme that she followed a rule of absolute equivalent exchange in her daily life—Raiden Mei.
Seemingly docile, but sometimes engaging in the kind of mischief only a delinquent girl would—Seele Vollerei.
And Hua, who she could barely remember, but whose gaze never left Li Mo.
What the children had experienced... must have been far, far more devastating than anything she and Siegfried had talked about. Otherwise, such twisted personalities would be difficult to preserve, let alone intensify, in this day and age.
Of course, there were still some seemingly normal people in the group.
For example:
The elegant and mysterious riddle-master, Irene Adler. Her speech was extraordinary, her aura unique, and from what Cecilia could recall, she had never expressed any extreme views.
The supremely rational genius, MEI. Cecilia had heard she was a monster who could even calculate her own date of death and the future, but she was a total shut-in. Li Mo always had to drag her out of her bedroom, and she had no extra social life whatsoever.
The beautiful, lively, and alluring muse, Elysia. Cecilia really liked this one. She was unbelievably pretty and very thoughtful, always giving gifts that perfectly suited the recipient's tastes on holidays. She loved to laugh and was easy to talk to.
The approachable, money-obsessed cat, Pardofelis. She had no real flaws besides her greed. Her pet cat was a bit strange, though; it liked to eat ketchup that looked like fresh blood and would always run back to its owner with a crimson mouth.
Except for Li Mo, those other strange kids, and Irene, the cat would enter "Spinosaurus mode" and bare its teeth at everyone else. But in front of Li Mo, it was unbelievably docile, rolling over like a puppy to let him rub its belly and play with it.
The understanding Yae sisters.
Another pair of perfect girls, practically born to be holy paragons of wifely virtue, capable of caring for someone until they became useless. The only thing was, they were always chanting "Mo-kun, Mo-kun," which made Kiana clench her fists every time she heard it. Apparently, the two sisters were from the Far East, which explained the honorific.