"Stop! I warn you not to come any further!" Just as Shun was walking deeper into Abyssal City while holding his blade, a girl with short hair that was half purple and half pink, golden pupils, and shark teeth that would hurt to look at blocked his path.
This was… Lord Sin Mal? Shun's expression under the mask froze for a moment. He hadn't expected to run into Sin Mal here, who also belonged to Cocolia's orphanage.
Shun didn't know much about Honkai Impact 2nd. The character Sin Mal basically amounted to a background character in Honkai Impact 3rd, only appearing in the Chiyou chapter of the Chronicle. This left Shun not very familiar with this character.
Was she currently following Cocolia? Or was this another butterfly effect brought about by his other actions that affected Bronya?
Although he didn't know much, Shun vaguely remembered that the person in front of him had an incredibly broken ability — time manipulation.
Moreover, the other party seemed to have innate Stigmata as well… otherwise why would people say Cocolia's orphanage was like Whampoa Military Academy? There were no more than two hands' worth of people with innate Stigmata in the Current Era civilization, yet two of them were in Cocolia's orphanage.
But after all, some settings between Honkai Impact 3rd and Honkai Impact 2nd were different. Shun only had a slight understanding of some of Honkai Impact 2nd's settings and wasn't very clear on them. Considering the other party's broken time ability, he didn't dare act rashly.
"Shun, be careful. She seems to have Stigmata too. I don't know her ability yet. Stigmata abilities can take countless forms. I don't know what hers is right now, so be cautious in everything."
In his mind, Misteln, who was residing in Shun's spirit, spoke to remind him.
Because before attacking Abyssal City, Shun wanted to have some fun with cosplay, Misteln had suggested she reside in another form of existence within Shun's spirit to increase his sense of immersion.
Just like that, Shun and Sin Mal, who was blocking him, fell into a stalemate. But the one whose heart was also stirred into huge waves wasn't just Shun — Sin Mal was the same.
Why, why was he human? Sin Mal desperately used her "Eyes of Sin" to observe Shun, but aside from seeing the figure of the other party wearing black clothes and a mask, she could no longer see any trace of a monster.
Impossible… this is impossible. Sin Mal desperately denied this result. Aside from Bronya, there were no other "humans" in this world.
It must be that under the other party's mask there was still a monstrous face hidden. It must be like that…
To verify her guess, Sin Mal liberated the Stigmata ability she had gained a certain degree of control over after participating in the X-10 experiment following Bronya's disappearance.
She walked step by step to Shun's front, stood on tiptoe, and removed the tiger skin mask covering Shun's face. But when she clearly saw the human face underneath Shun's face — exactly the same as when he was young, before he had encountered family misfortune —
Sin Mal could no longer control her emotions. At the same time, Sin Mal's Stigmata ability was also lifted.
"Careful, there are fluctuations in the Imaginary space nearby. She activated her Stigmata…" Misteln reminded.
"No… she has already come right in front of me." Shun lowered his head to look at Sin Mal, who was still standing on tiptoe after removing his mask. Although he didn't know what was going on, the other party had only removed his mask and then looked as if her Dao heart had collapsed, standing there in a daze. But right now it was undoubtedly a good opportunity.
Shun delivered a hand chop to the back of Sin Mal's neck, immediately knocking her unconscious. As a member of the Honkai Impact 2nd protagonist group, Shun naturally knew that Sin Mal couldn't possibly be a bad person. She was probably just a bratty girl.
Even if the other party had an ability that could threaten him, Shun wouldn't go so far as to slaughter the innocent and kill her on the spot.
"What… just happened?" After Shun knocked out Sin Mal, Misteln said with lingering fear.
"I don't know… but it seems to be an ability related to time." Shun only remembered that Sin Mal's ability was related to time; he knew nothing else.
"Time… truly wondrous and boundless. The profundity of Stigmata is unfathomable. I originally thought that as a natural archetype, I already knew Stigmata like the back of my hand. Now it seems I was only seeing a leopard through a tube." Misteln sighed deeply, her eyes full of reverence for the unknown.
Seeing this, Shun slightly raised an eyebrow and gently suggested, "If you want to discuss this issue, I suggest you go to the Elysian Realm and chat with Mobius. She is the inventor of Stigmata. Perhaps discussing it with her will give you new insights into Stigmata."
"I will try it." Misteln agreed. Before this she had never planned to go to the Elysian Realm, but after seeing the heaven-defying time ability Stigmata today, Misteln felt she once again had the desire to learn.
"Hmm, I also suggest you learn more. After all, a true master always has the heart of an apprentice." Shun added.
"Hmmph, I've been taught, Master Shun." Misteln replied playfully.
Shun picked up the unconscious Sin Mal and tossed her into the Cosmic Juggernaut. He also used Fenghuang Down to deepen Sin Mal's unconscious state. The other party probably wouldn't wake up for a while. After he finished dealing with Abyssal City's matters, he could hand her over to Bronya to handle.
If he remembered correctly, the other party was a twisted duck fan. He'd leave the headache to the Ganshina group. He, Shun, was just an outsider.
"Alright. I didn't expect it to really be… scaring myself!" Shun let out a long breath. Although he had the Abyss Flower and his vitality was stronger than that of Abundance abomination, having his head chopped off or losing limbs would still be quite miserable.
"However, since the mask was pulled off by Sin Mal, there's no need to wear it anymore." Shun looked up and saw a camera pointed directly at him.
"Cocolia, you're watching me, right?" Shun struck a classic DIO pose toward the camera.
Then, without hesitation, he flicked his wrist. The cold, sharp straight blade in his hand flew out like lightning, drawing a fierce arc through the air and precisely striking the camera. Accompanied by a crisp sound, the camera was instantly destroyed, fragments scattering everywhere.
"After all, compared to a convict doing hard labor, my face-breaking intensity is higher, isn't it?" Shun removed the mask and long blade. This made him look even more eerie.
Now it was time to continue looking for Cocolia. He hadn't expected dealing with this one jumping clown to take quite a bit of effort.
Shun was about to step forward when suddenly a pink light and shadow streaked down rapidly from high altitude. He looked up and saw a giant sword tearing through the sky. The sword body was a charming pink color. Carrying immense force, it smashed down heavily onto the ground in front of him. In an instant, dust flew everywhere and the ground was smashed into a shallow pit. Shun's footsteps therefore came to an abrupt halt.
Looking at the familiar color scheme, Shun couldn't help but rub his forehead. "No way. Are they coming one by one to deliver themselves? Is this the gourd children saving grandpa?"