The sound of "tap tap tap..." echoed through the silent streets. To be honest, Honkai was very different from what Shun had imagined.
As a disaster, it was far too quiet. It arrived so quietly, and it left so quietly as well.
After leaving the city center, he did encounter quite a few Dead soldiers and Honkai beasts. As for why there had been none in the city center—
They had probably been siphoned away by that Judgment-class Honkai beast. But even after killing it, Shun still didn't know the beast's name.
Schicksal had likely already given it one, but Shun genuinely didn't know. He figured it was probably drawn from Indian mythology again.
With a casual lift of his hand, he bisected a scythe-wielding female Dead soldier at the waist, letting her cosplay as a 2.5 Gojo for a moment. Shun glanced at the locator on the communicator.
It was only a short distance away now the public square where Ana was waiting was just ahead.
For some reason, now that he was about to meet Ana, Shun suddenly felt his feet grow heavy. Was this the feeling of "homesickness drawing near"?
No, that metaphor might not fit perfectly, but it described Shun's mood better than anything else. The last time he had seen Ana, he had been that clueless, amnesiac fool who understood nothing.
And now what kind of mood and identity should he carry when meeting this lifesaver who had reached out to him in his darkest hour?
While Shun's thoughts were in turmoil, he finally reached the destination. In the open area of the square, he easily spotted Ana sitting on the ground, her eyes devoid of their former light.
It seemed this incident had dealt her a massive blow. On the way here, Shun had read the messages Christina had sent to Ana.
Sometimes, the person asked to live on requires far greater courage than those who die. Seeing Ana like this, all of Shun's earlier thoughts were cast aside.
Right now, he had only one thought go over and hug her.
Shun walked toward her with his usual normal pace, not deliberately muffling his footsteps. However, Ana's perception of the outside world had clearly dulled considerably at this moment. Combined with the light-footed habit she had developed from training under Fu Hua, Shun's steps became exceptionally soft.
As a result, when he slowly walked up behind Ana, she remained completely unaware, still lost in her own thoughts.
Standing behind Ana, Shun took a deep breath and called her name: "Ana."
Hearing her name, Ana jolted to her feet only to be immediately enveloped in a warm embrace.
"You are... Shun?" Realizing she had been hugged, Ana was momentarily dazed before recognizing who it was.
"It's me. I'm sorry, I didn't know you'd been searching for me all this time. I made you worry." Before Christina told him Ana had been looking for him, Shun had never imagined she had been searching nonstop.
"You? You're still alive? I couldn't find you anywhere in Manila..."
So she still didn't know he hadn't been in Manila at all. That made sense he had left through Gray Serpent's channels, naturally leaving no exit records. No matter how Ana searched, she couldn't trace a snake's trail.
"I'm sorry. I haven't been here during this time." As for where he had gone that wasn't something that could be explained quickly.
"How did you find me? Why did you come back here? This city is very dangerous right now no, I have to get you out of here." Because Shun had innate Stigmata, Ana wasn't surprised he had survived amid the Honkai.
But as a Valkyrie, her instinctive duty to protect civilians made her want to send Shun away immediately. She tried to break free from his embrace but times had changed.
An ant's pincers were still ant pincers, but a crab was a crab. The current Shun wasn't about to let Ana slip away so easily.
"Ana, listen to me. I've recovered my memories now. So for now just trust me, okay?"
"As for how I found you, I just met your captain. Look, the communicator." Shun handed her the bloodstained communicator.
"Captain... the Snow Lotus Squad... how are they?" The pain of losing her comrades enveloped Ana once more. Her heart twisted like a knife, and tears poured out like a bursting dam.
Though she had already guessed the answer, she still couldn't help asking the question she already knew the outcome to.
"I only saw your captain. But she was too deeply eroded by Honkai energy. By the time I left, she had already passed."
In truth, when Shun left, Christina still had one last breath. But the erosion from Honkai energy was simply too agonizing. To make things easier for Ana, Shun had no choice but to tell this white lie.
"I see." Ana wasn't surprised by the result otherwise, the captain wouldn't have ordered her to be the survivor who preserved the Snow Lotus Squad's designation.
"Then what about the battle's outcome?"
"When I arrived, that Honkai beast was already dead. It looks like the veterans of the Snow Lotus Squad gave everything to kill it."
Shun told another lie. He wanted to attribute the killing of the Judgment-class Honkai beast to the Snow Lotus Squad after all, the honor meant nothing to him.
"You're lying to me again. If everything could be achieved just by giving one's all, the captain and the others wouldn't have died, right?"
"The Honkai beast you killed it, didn't you? You have innate Stigmata, you've recovered your original memories, and having the strength to kill a Judgment-class Honkai beast isn't impossible. You did drop from the sky, after all."
Ana undoubtedly understood the members of her squad well. Against an Emperor-class Honkai beast, they might have had a chance but a Judgment-class...
Rather than believing the captain and the others had somehow powered up and killed that beast, it was easier to believe that this mysterious guy who fell from the sky Shun had done it. At least she knew nothing about his past.
As for how Ana knew Shun had fallen from the sky of course it was because the spot where he had appeared showed no footprints, only a dust cloud as if something heavy had crashed down.
Seeing Shun remain silent, Ana became even more certain of her guess.
"What a habitual liar of a man." But Ana also understood what Shun meant. Compared to a Snow Lotus Squad that had been completely wiped out in the fight against a Judgment-class Honkai beast, with only one survivor left to preserve the designation—
A Snow Lotus Squad that had perished together with the Judgment-class Honkai beast in glorious sacrifice, leaving only one to carry on the name, was far more deserving of being called heroes.
"Thank you. I feel much better now. Let go as a Valkyrie, I still have duties I haven't fulfilled."
What Ana meant, naturally, was searching for and rescuing survivors. In the original plot, Ana had also gone through a period of inner struggle before remembering her duty as a Valkyrie and saving many people during the Manila Great Honkai.
"I'll go with you." Shun was still a little worried he had never planned to leave just like that anyway.
Ana still had a death flag hanging over her. Given Honkai World's matching mechanism, Ana would likely end up becoming the Herrscher of Ice in the end. That was what "fate" meant.
Just like Hector knowing his kingdom would fall and Achilles understanding he was walking toward death yet both still stepped onto the battlefield without hesitation.
To break Ana's death flag, Shun had to lead her into St. Freya that demonic academy in japan, the Herrscher academy.
Only after blending into the main cast's circle would there be a chance to escape that death flag.
Hearing Shun's words, Ana gave a faint smile and said: "Alright. Together."