"Death is like the wind…" Li Xuan stood on a rock in the ruins, his eyes closed, whispering softly to himself.
Not far away, Sol and Lucian clashed again. The collision of thunder and fire created a fierce wind that blew past, making Li Xuan's shoulder-length black hair and slightly long bangs dance in the wind. "…Always by my side!" Li Xuan's eyes snapped open, his gaze sharp as he finished the sentence.
Okay… actually, it was just his chuunibyou acting up. After all, Li Xuan had suffered from it in middle school. He had become a bit more normal in high school, but it still flared up intermittently. It seemed he was having a relapse. Chuunibyou wasn't easy to cure, after all.
Not far away, Sol and Lucian stopped again. Since their strengths were roughly equal, they were evenly matched and now faced each other again.
"Li Xuan! Have they stopped?" Mei asked from below the rock Li Xuan was standing on.
"Alright, alright! They've stopped fighting for now," Li Xuan said, scratching his hair and jumping down from the rock. He had just gone to confirm when Sol and Lucian would stop again so that they could approach and end this battle. Otherwise, if the world… never mind the world, even if Nagazora City was destroyed, who knows what would happen. As the epicenter of the Honkai outbreak, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The group stepped onto the charred and cracked ground. Even through their shoes, they could feel the intense heat. Although it was already autumn, standing on the ground felt like a sweltering June day under the high sun.
In the burning ruins, the two girls knelt quietly, staring at each other.
"Sol, stop fighting!" Kiana, seeing Sol and Lucian, immediately shouted impatiently.
"Huh!" Sol was startled and subconsciously turned her head to look at Kiana, her two blue ponytails swaying. And in that instant Sol turned her head, the blood-red pupils of Lucian, who was opposite her, lit up.
"An opening!…" Lucian's body tensed, and she shot out like an agile leopard. Her long fingers were covered by spotless white gloves. She formed her hands into claws, and blood-red flames erupted from her gloved hands, the dancing flames as enchanting as if they were from hell.
"Boom!!" Lucian's full-power sneak attack accurately hit the unsuspecting Sol, who hadn't had time to react.
"Ugh!" Sol only had time to barely raise her arms to block Lucian's attack. But it was not very effective. Sol was injured, and her originally rosy face instantly turned pale. Her body flew out of control and crashed into the ruins.
What a useless teammate… Li Xuan helplessly covered his face, trying not to look at the idiot Kiana, afraid he wouldn't be able to resist scorning her.
"Warning, that last blow has intensified the reality-warping field. Another spacetime is now overlapping with our world," Bronya said with a deadpan expression.
"I don't think we need Bronya to tell us that…" Li Xuan said, pointing a finger at the black hole that had suddenly appeared in the sky, his face filled with astonishment. "Is that the other spacetime?…"
"There's a castle in the sky… and so many bats!!" Kiana said, looking at the dark, gloomy castle that was slowly emerging from the black hole. Countless bats with crimson eyes circled around and above the medieval-style black castle. The swarm of bats was like a thick black cloud covering the sky, emitting harsh, unpleasant 'screeching' sounds.
"Is this… the Night Capital?!" Mei murmured, her face suddenly turning pale.
"Miss Sol! Miss Lucian! Please stop fighting! This will destroy our world!" Mei shouted anxiously. She had read myths and legends from various countries as a child. If the Night Capital were to descend, the consequences…
"This is the long-cherished wish of my clan. A new era is about to dawn!" Lucian said, looking at the Night Capital in the sky, her arms open as if embracing the sky, a rapturous smile on her face.
Li Xuan watched the castle in the sky getting closer and closer, a sense of powerlessness washing over him. This was a war of gods; he had no right to interfere. Power, I need power! Li Xuan clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. Compared to their power, which could even destroy space, his own strength felt as insignificant as a summer insect. How can someone as weak as me return to my own world? Will I ever see my parents and my little sister again in this lifetime?
A figure suddenly appeared behind Lucian. It was Sol, who had jumped out of the ruins. She was injured from Lucian's attack and was now enraged. The powerful Honkai energy within her boiled, transforming into a violent electromagnetic force that surrounded her with azure lightning. The powerful electromagnetic field even made the rocks and dirt she passed by float into the air. Sol forcefully lifted her giant hammer, 'Mjolnir,' which shone like the sun despite the lightning. "Descend, my foot!!" the lightning-wreathed girl roared.
Lucian's pupils contracted, and a fierce blood-flame erupted from her body, forming a fire shield.
"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!!" In that moment, lightning lit up the heavens and the earth. The ground seemed to cry out in agony. All light was consumed by the flash of lightning, and nothing could be seen or heard. But countless rocks and debris were silently annihilated in the light.
"Crack, crack~" Li Xuan suddenly fell to one knee. The shield in front of him had faded from a dazzling blue to colorless, and it was even making cracking sounds. He had just stepped forward and activated the 'Xuanyuan Festive Garb's' shield to block the aftershock of the two gods' attack. But he hadn't expected this 'aftershock' to be so powerful, almost like a shockwave. As a result… Li Xuan nearly lost half his life.
So, never show off. Those who do get struck by lightning. The weakened Li Xuan remembered this phrase that netizens often said. It seemed to fit his current situation perfectly.
"Hey! Are you okay, Li Xuan!" Mei, who was unharmed behind Li Xuan, was the first to notice him and rushed over to help him up. Mei was so anxious she even had tears in her eyes. Kiana, standing beside her, surprisingly didn't make a jealous comment. She also knew that it was thanks to Li Xuan blocking the aftershock of the attack that they were safe.
After getting Li Xuan's confirmation that he was fine, everyone relaxed. To them, Li Xuan was an indispensable member of the team, a partner they could trust with their lives!
"Amazing… one blow and the whole street is gone…" Kiana said, standing up and looking at the flat expanse of ruins in amazement.
"The reality-warping field generated by Lucian's Secret has stabilized, and the spatial turbulence is returning to normal," Bronya reported.
Everyone looked up at the sky. Indeed, the sky-blotting castle had disappeared. It was all like a dream, but the burning ruins around them were a reminder that it was all real.
And on the ground, the figures of the two girls still stood, facing each other.