I know where I am! It's that Genshin Impact thingy, right? Chapter: 12

***

Ever since I became an adult, I rarely remember my dreams. Most of the time, I remember basically nothing, only sometimes, when I am woken up early, I can recall some bits and pieces and marvel at how fucked up my subconscious is.

When I woke up, I did so hearing the low hum of the familiar engines, feeling surprisingly warm and comfortable.

But I still could sort of remember vague images of a dream. The oddly beautiful purple landscape, and a ball with a geometrical vagina or something.

Pretty sure there was also that girl with purple hair lying on the transparent/non-existant floor next to me, and I vaguely remember feeling like I had to protect her, and hugging her…

Man, what would good old Ziggie have to say about that? Little girls and cosmic pussies in my dream? In the mind of that schizo, it probably means I want to fuck my mom or something.

“Hey,” The pleasant voice made me snap out of the strange state of contemplation, completely dispelling the last remnants of my sleep, as I noticed a… well, a girl looming over me. “Did you have a nice dream?~”

Pink hair streaming down - check, boobies obscuring half of it - check, the pleasant flowery smell - check.

“Probably,” I offered, closing my eyes for a moment, before giving the girl a small grin, as I tried to recall how I ended up in this position. “Hard to have nightmares sleeping on pillows like those.”

A smile on her face was a bit odd, wide and honest, wholesome even. A bit too wholesome.

Instead of getting up, I relaxed, figuring out more or less that I must have passed out in the transport.

“How long was I out?” I asked Elysia as I brought my hands up and placed them under my head, my voice serious…

“Aren’t you going to get up?” She asked instead, raising a single, delicate eyebrow.

“Why would I waste your kindness? It’s comfy and you smell nice.” I answered instead, making the girl blink.

“Uhm, no fun,” She sighed a bit dramatically, which meant her chest obscured my view of her face for a moment, “But you slept for around an hour, we should be at the base soon.” Her eyes turned a bit worried, “Are you really alright?”

I took a moment to consider how I was feeling.

“Pretty much, never felt healthier,” I offered, “Kinda tired, like I just finished running a marathon, but aside from that I can keep going.” I shook my head slightly, “The better question is, are you alright? I am sort of a superpowered freak here, and obviously, you aren’t exactly normal either, but you’ve just been in a Herrscher no-fun-allowed zone that was also nuked.”

Elysia giggled but waved me off.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I feel perfect! A hundred percent, really!” She even jokingly flexed her biceps. “It’s not me who had a hole blown through their chest, you know?”

“Give it time, you are in the right line of work,” I offered semi-seriously, “That said, it’s my first time meeting a real superhero aside from Mobius. What’s your tragic backstory? How did you get superpowers?”

Elysia blinked, seemingly taken aback by the question a bit. Then, her smile shone even brighter, blinding really.

Good thing I am wearing shades.

Kamina is a real one, giving me the only thing he owns aside from the cape and the pants.

“Mobius-chan is a superhero?” She asked, gasping in over-exaggerated surprise.

I did a so-so gesture.

“I mean, what else do I call her? Though she has more of a mad geni…”  I cut myself short, glancing down at the mic in my collar. Then I glanced back at Elysia whose smile only widened, expectantly. Then her expression turned expectant, waiting for me to continue.

That gremlin.

“Never use this disgusting weeb-speak with me again,” I said instead, pointing my finger at her accusingly, “If we speak English, speak English.”

“Mou… Ack!” I flicked her nose when she tried it again.

The girl looked down at me fiercely.

I gave her my best shit-eating grin that I practiced in the mirror each day since getting here.

“You know that I can get back at you when you are in this position, right?” She asked, as if rhetorically. “You are in my power!”

I just smirked.

“Bring it. Let my head fall between those legs and crash it like a watermelon. Maybe I can even regenerate; if not, I shall accept this death.” This was a test of sorts to see if I could weird this one out.

It didn’t work; instead of responding like literally any normal female on earth, this girl giggled, as if I said something charming.

“Aha-ha, you really are something else!” She said, seemingly honestly happy for some reason.

…this is kinda weirding me out. Am I allowed to be weirded out by her not being grossed out?

“Also, can you really ask questions like this about a lady before telling me about yourself?” She asked, her eyes glittering excitedly as she looked down on me.

I simply raised an eyebrow.

“Didn’t you say you joined because of me?” Now that I say it out loud, it doesn’t make sense, does it? I mean, M.O.T.H. doesn’t hold my existence in secret amongst our ranks, but outside of M.O.T.H. I imagined I was only known to government spooks and country leaders. And whoever got this information through corruption or something.

“Mou, I initially only joined a medical and support division, you know?~” She answered back with a small smile, and I held my hand, electing not to flick this nose, “You are very inspirational, Mr. Knightmare, so I requested a transfer to a combat unit shortly before the eruption. Also, it’s not polite to deflect questions, you know?”

I stared blankly at the hypocritical woman for a moment. Peak fatherless behavior, that one.

But something in her eyes and demeanor told me I shouldn’t mess around too much; her questions and existence likely were genuine.

“I guess the full story isn’t widely known amongst our guys, though I never made much effort trying to hide it,” I offered, “Truth is, I am an interdimensional illegal alien. Lived a normal life back on my Earth, it’s practically the same by the way, only we don’t have a Mu continent or Honkai. I was a normal, boring, average Joe, went to sleep one day, and the next day I woke up in North Korea, in your world,” I see her blink slowly at that, “All of that is true by the way, catch Klein in a cafeteria when she goes to grab snacks for Mobius and ask her to confirm if you wanna.”

I closed my eyes. Hopefully, she will take my advice and won’t bother Mobius personally. I think with the two of us, the green-haired woman may start an HQ shooting.

“See, this whole Honkai business? Reminded me of hell of a lot of comics back home. Weird radiation that turns people into zombies? Seemed like something that would be a catalyst for a bunch of super-humans to show up. I also realized I was connected to something interdimensional, and it got me superpowers, so I figured I’d be ahead of the curve and try to make a name for myself as a hero. So I went out at night to fight crime, and apparently I underestimated how well things aremonitored. One day, I got flashbanged, tased, and woke up in M.O.T.H. labs.” I nodded to myself, still keeping my eyes closed, “They confirmed my power has nothing to do with Honkai, so I was given a job offer. I could’ve probably refused, but they also explained Honkai to me; not that sporadic damage-control bullshit from the media, but the actual danger it poses. So seeing that I was the only known superhero yet, I decided I may as well stick to the guys who are trying to stop the end of the world, and are sanctioned by literally every government on Earth to do that,” I explained simply, as I snapped my eyes open and smiled at the girl.

“Not really all that impressive or dramatic when you think about it. Your turn!”

Elysia blinked for a moment, slowly considering my words.

“Wait… you are a real alien?” She clarified.

“Interdimensional, no longer illegal, alien,” I stressed, as I was proud of getting my papers with the job offer. God bless the feds, now that I work for the glowies. “According to Mobius, genetically I am basically human… well, I used to be one, before the new power-up. I am now a half-demon or something, probably.” I focused on the shimmering lake of demonic power deep inside of me…

…clenching its power, trying to break free~
Gotta let it out, gotta let it out…~

Damn, I can’t believe I literally have powers from Devil May Cry now.

“In what universe is it not impressive or dramatic?!” The girl complained, before sighing, as she looked towards the far wall.

Suddenly, her hand was on my hair, stroking it.

“I guess it’s me who is a bit boring. I am not an alien or anything, just an orphan,” She explained softly, “I grew up in a small military city in Siberia. It wasn’t technically a military city, just had some of the nuclear infrostructure, I think? Off limits to most visitors, in any case.” Her smile turned a bit brighter at the memory, “I think I was always a bit special since I was a child. A bit stronger than other kids, and, well, I learned to do this,” She used her free hand, and a few pink sparks ignited over her hands.

Honkai, I sensed, and knew in my soul, immediately.

Elysia’s hand paused, stroking my head, and she looked down at me, intensely.

Judging by this intense stare and the tension that suddenly appeared out of thin air…

“That just… what… happens? People being able to control Honkai like that?” I asked, honestly bewildered. Why didn’t Mobius ever tell me?!

“I… I suppose?” Elysia awkwardly asked back, “I’ve been told my body is also a bit abnormal. When I was going through the M.O.T.H. check-up, they assumed one of my parents had gone through a super-soldier treatment.” Damn girl, don’t hit me with this protagonist cock on your way out. I know I am a fraud; you don’t have to flex this hard.

“Well, for one, I am happy you got here with us, instead of being recruited in some shady Russian totally evil black-ops squad out to dominate the world,” I offered, smiling at her. “Actually, your English is pretty amazing. Never knew random Siberian military towns had education like that. I figured kids would have more traditional upbringings, like wrestling bears and trying to speedrun alcohol coma.”

Elysia squinted down at me.

“Are you trying to get me mad?” She asked, almost musingly, as if considering a philosophical matter.

“Don’t get me wrong here, I love Russians, they are amazing. We nuked Japan together. Probably the brightest moment of my life,” I told her honestly, feeling the widest grin splitting my face. Honestly, now that I think about it, I kinda love the Japanese too, or at least one Japanese in particular. “I mean, I guess we nuked Belarus too, but I am pretty sure French involvement made it a threesome,” I vaguely remember something about them firing missiles too, during the briefing, “Which just makes it weird, but then again, the baguettes tend to be kinky, and get involved in things that aren’t their business.”

Due to just how exhausted I was, I just kept running my mouth, tying together the usual jokes without putting much heart into it. I only paused when I noticed the reaction of the girl.

Elysia's smile thinned quite a bit.

There was a pregnant pause.

For a moment, a pang of shame ran through me. Then, I shook my head.

“It’s fucked up, but I can’t deal with shit like this unless I make fun of it,” I said, my voice growing smaller, “Obviously, I wouldn’t say this in front of anyone from down there, and I know it’s not really a laughing matter. But if I allow myself to take it completely seriously...”

Clever wordplays, the sense of joking about unhinged shit and laughing at the absurdity of it, all of it peeled away, and made me remember what actually happened in Minsk.

How many people didn’t evacuate in time? What did the Second Herrscher nuke? I… don’t even want to think about it.

I know I’ll have to. But I don’t want to now.

I closed my eyes.

“Sorry if I killed any respect you might have had for me. If it means anything, I really am glad there is someone else who can fight in the field and win against those things.” I didn’t know exactly what Elysia could do yet, but even knowing that there seemed to be other superpowered people in the world was a huge relief. Like a weight lifted from my back.

Maybe I won’t have to fight it out alone after all.

To my surprise, the sense of my head being pated returned with a vengeance.

“There is nothing to apologize for. You’ve been through much more than I today. It’s only natural for you to be on edge,” She said. Genuine, almost painful empathy rang true in her voice.

From anyone else, especially from a therapist, it would’ve sounded fake. From her, it didn’t.

Her hand felt nice. I think I started to understand cats more now.

Wait, is this considered cheating on Himeko? Wait, are we even in a relationship in the first place?

“Attention, ETA two minutes.” The sudden electronic announcement from the pilot rang out.

I snapped my eyes open and carefully sat straight, flashing Elysia a thumbs-up.

“Don’t mention it, I should know better by now than to run my mouth,” Considering how many times I’ve been tased into submission for being way too cheeky, “I’ll have you tell me more of your hometown if you’ll be free later, and I can tell you some hilarious shit about my Earth, if you want?” I offered it as a peace offering.

Elysia beamed at me.

“I’d love that.”

I just nodded, standing up, and projecting a new set of shadow cloth over my bodysuit.

Not a shadowarmour, but instead something more stylish. An image of Dante flashed before my eyes, divine inspiration struck, and I made myself a trenchcoat, pants, and a cool shirt.

I must have looked like a cosplayer.

Good thing I was too exhausted to get a boner back when I was only in my bodysuit, or it would be standing proud for Elysia to see, as I was strong.

“Woah, woah, can you do me next!” The girl vibrated in her seat excitedly. “I’ve never seen a magical girl transformation before!”

I glanced at her.

…damn, I wish I could do her. But I probably should first figure out with Himmeko where the fuck we stand after last night.

“Sorry, pinky, this only works for someone close by,” I explained, shrugging.

The Shadow Armour wasn’t a spell anymore; before it was an ability I had to ‘slot’ into myself, because of how vast it felt compared to the skills or mutations I downloaded straight into my body. But it wasn’t like that anymore.

I mastered the shadows completely. I knew everything about the spell now. How to learn it from scratch, how to cast it, how to modify it, it’s as if I were an apprentice mage who learned it from nothing and became a master with it. I’d say I knew much more than the basic stuff, seeing that I didn’t even need a helmet anymore to provide me with the helmet’s protection.

“I can conjure something on you, but if you stray further than twenty meters, you’d probably get arrested for indecent exposure.” I teased.

The girl just sighed theatrically.

“Ah, shame that.”

…I genuinely wasn’t sure if she meant the clothes or getting arrested for going around naked. It’s a 50/50 mix-up situation. Fucking Kazuya vortex, leave me alone.

Suddenly, we slowed down, I could feel the deceleration, and I think we started to land. I nodded to Elysia.

“Let’s get debriefed and…” I fought down a yawn, “...see where we will be deployed next. I’ll try to ask HQ to let us stick together, so we can learn how to fight in a team against this chaff.”

Elysia blinked, looking a bit unsure, but nodded a moment later, giving me a reassuring smile.

This girl should be a mascot. Sorry, Dot, you’ve been replaced. I want her to sit on my shoulders now. Preferably with her legs around my face.

Then I felt as our transport touched the ground.


***

“...Knightmare, you are on time,” A woman who looked and sounded like a hardass, and who I wasn’t familiar with, met me outside of a tent where they had us decontaminated. Mostly by blasting with high-pressure showers and confiscating (Elysia’s) clothes and my bodysuit.

I am still mad that those fuckers didn’t shower us together. I wanted to see some bobies. I got nuked thrice today and killed a (demi)god, I fucked deserve this.

It wasn’t surprising, really; this was a standard procedure even with just Honkai radiation, so contaminated dust wouldn’t be inhaled, doubly so with both of us coming from a nuclear fallout zone.

The woman in question was blonde, had european features, a scar across her head, and a blonde, short haircut. I would’ve called her a quintessential Karen if she didn’t look this professional in the military gear and if her eyes weren’t this blue.

As is, it felt like I met an SS officer.

“...a flight back to Mu is prepared for you; HQ wanted you back ASAP, I am not cleared to know more, and frankly, I don’t care.” She gestured towards the airfield, “Go there, Jangish will show you the way.”

“Okay, listen,” I checked her shoulder pad, “Captain, my communication with HQ got damaged, and I need to have a word with them first. You guys could probably use my help.”

She paused, glancing back at me.

“I am not cleared to make those decisions,” She said simply, “But I was told getting you back is our number one priority. If you think you can argue against orders, do it from inside the speeding Skybolt on your way to Mu.” Was her brisk, and pretty reasonable reply.

I just outstretched my hand towards her.

“Phone, please,” I told her plainly. “I am not going anywhere right now, and I’d rather not cause a scene we can both avoid.”

The woman studied me for a moment.

Then she gave out a small sigh.

“Let’s go to the command post. There is a holo-transmitter.”


***

The part of the stand I stood at was relatively private, just me and Elysia. The call was organized in under five minutes, so when the holo-transmitter ignited and I saw Alexanderson’s face, I wasn’t too surprised.

“Knightmare, what emergency are you contacting me about? If it’s nothing too urgent, I will get it from the debriefing, once you get back.” He started immediately from the strong note, and I couldn’t really blame the man.

He was pretty busy.

“I think that returning right now will be a waste of my capabilities,” I told him plainly, “I’ve been told that we have waves of Honkai Beasts overruning what is left of the country, with tactical nukes being thrown around willie-nillie, and I wanted to inform you and Mobius that I am capable of assisting our ground forces.”

“Out of the question, Lab Rat,” The hologram flickered, before a familiar, annoyed face appeared on the screen, “I have neither the time to confirm what happened there on the ground, nor the opportunity, but your maximum exposure time near the Herrscher was exceeded, especially considering the last multiple spikes of honkai our satellites caught. The medical staff in camp Eta was on standby to provide you with assistance on the way back if you show signs of Honkai sickness.”

I simply shook my head.

“This is why I am calling, it was pretty clear you guys lost contact with what was happening on the ground halfway through, or you’d have someone attempt to debrief me on extraction,” I told her plainly, “Herrscher survived the nukes unscrtatched. I had to solo her. Got a new power. Sealed her into this.” I summoned the devil arm. “Also, I think I am not a human anymore, Jojo. So I’ve got all the power I need, right here, let me engage the enemy.”

I could tell by how Mobius snapped from some tablet she was working on that I had all of her attention.

“Sealed?! Not a hu…” Her eyes narrowed further, somehow. “Explain.”

I shook my head.

“No time for now, just trust me when I say Herrscher is a no-issue anymore. More importantly, our ground force is getting decimated by high-level beasts,” I dismissed the devil-arm, staring the hologram of Mobius in the eyes.

“This is clearly more important!” She disagreed, “I need to confirm everything. I need you in the labs yesterday!”

I shook my head.

“No one can do the things I can do here. I am not going back. Assign me to a target.” I told her plainly instead, to the frowning, stunning woman, who looked genuinely taken aback, and pissed beyond belief.

Well, future me's problem. Sorry, future me. Get fucked, LMAO.

“Knightmare, are you disobeying a direct order?” Alexanderson’s face appeared on the screen.

“I do. You guys don’t have the full picture,” I told them plainly, “Can we stop wasting time? I can guarantee you that I will be alive and well by tomorrow, or however long the cleanup will take, and you can do all the necessary tests then. The penal actions, too, if you’d find it necessary by then.”

The man seemed to consider my words.

“What if we force the issue?” His words were curt, not dangerous, just even.

“I killed a Herrscher single-handedly. What are you going to do, grab that guy who can stop me? What was his name…” I paused theatrically, “Ah, yeah, Micaeal Mc.Doesn’t exist?!” I glared at both of them, “I know I am not at my hundred percent, but I am so much stronger than when I started this mission, that it’s not even funny. If you guys won’t cooperate, I will fly to the battlefield myself and pick my own targets, but that’s clearly an idiotic idea, that’d be using a scalpel to hammer nails.”

I wasn’t actually sure if I could sustain the SIN Devil Trigger form long enough to fly anywhere. Right now, the form drained far too quickly and consumed way too much power.

It was better to use it like the two Sons of Sparda used it gameplay-wise, that is, for the short bursts of explosive power. And not like they used in the cutscenes, that is, whenever they felt like it.

For a while, no one answered me.

“We will find critical points where we can deploy you,” Alexanderson said, his eyes heavy, “You'd better have a good explanation and a reasoning, we are placing a lot of trust in your word.” The hologram winked out.

I just sighed, feeling even more drained.

“Damn, didn’t even have the time to ask them to deploy you with me,” I told Elysia awkwardly, as I turned towards the woman.

She just chuckled awkwardly.

“Ah, well, it might be for the better that you didn’t,” She said, fumbling with her fingers a bit, and glancing aside, “I may or may not have stolen a supply anti-gravity truck to get to you in time, and I may or may not still be a part of technical devision, and not authorised for deployment in the Eruption, te-he~?”

For a moment, I stared at the woman in utter bewilderment.

Then I shortened the distance between us in a blink, “Eh?” Placed both of my hands on her shoulder and bent my back a bit for my eyes to be level with hers, “...eeeh?” And confessed from my heart.

“Are you sure you aren’t a Russian black-ops KGB spy?” I asked her with a curated, calm, casual tone. I can’t prove it. I know, but I can’t prove it.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh~?!” Her eyes wide, she immediately huffed, “I have traveled across half the world before coming to M.O.T.H., just so you know!”

“...are you sure that’s what you want to use as your defence?”


***

“Commencing deployment!” An earpiece transmitted from the pilot, and I glanced towards Elysia, who was preparing her bow, to check that she was ready.

Seems like she was.

I summoned a spear and prepared myself.

The latch of the Skybolt opened, and before us there was a battlefield.

Though, to be more precise, it looked more like some apocalyptic scenery.

Burning and destroyed military vehicles, small swarms of Honkai beasts in the sky, and a tidal wave of them on the ground, rushing through mine fields, artillery, and tank fire.

Immediately, Elysia let go of a shot that thrummed with Honkai energy and caused my earpiece to release a short burst of static; the pink arrow split and started to pierce the closest flying targets.

I jumped. Not down, but into the fray.

Flying right over the positions of soldiers under makeshift cover, and into the first Chariot.

Now, I quickly realised, during previous deployments today, that I can’t use my demonic energy freely. Pouring it into weapons was fine and easy, and I just knew I would have no problems coating my revolver in it to fire without reloading. The trick was instinctively understandable on a level I can’t explain.

Kind of like operating the devil arm.

But pouring my energy into enhancing my body? I could, with great difficulty, but it fucking hurt. I also felt aversion to doing that. As if I just knew that while I could, it’s not right, at least not now. My body won’t be able to handle it, at least not for long.

Luckily, my body was different now. Faster, stronger, I had more stamina. And my shadow armour felt more fluid and powerful than ever.

So as I flew through the air, I let my body act almost as if by itself.

I twisted into the air, colliding with the chariot-class beast feet first, practically dropkicking it. The monster didn’t have the time to react when it started to fall, as with a single flick of my wrist, I beheaded it with the spear, then finished the salto, and landed on my feet, sweeping the devil arm wide, and striking four or so feline beasts around with enough power to throw them back into the approaching tide of monsters.

I was now in the way of the stampede.

Grinning widely, I threw myself forward.

Back in Japan, so many Honkai beasts, in such proximity, and with this density, would’ve been a real problem. While I could’ve escaped, fighting them out, or stopping them at their track would’ve been impossible.

It was another matter now.

Those things, the Honkai beasts of this level? Compared to a Herrscher, they were champs. In terms of speed, strength, precision, and even intelligence.

I could run circles around them without getting hit, I could overpower them without a weapon, and unlike them, I could see their attacks coming from a mile away, and I could leverage the newfound speed and power of my body perfectly, as well as wield my new weapon with a skill I knew I never had.

So I did as every respectable gentleman did in a fight. Abused the shit out of my superiorities and my opponent's weaknesses. 

The grin on my face felt predatory. This wasn't a battle, not for me as I am right now. This was therapy.

The first line of feline beasts, Prowlers, I think they were officially labeled, reached me. They were fast, leaping with claws extended, aiming to tear me apart through sheer numbers.

My danger sense was still there, so the number of enemies mattered little. I didn't even bother with taking the shield from the Skybolt. I just moved.

I sidestepped the first lunge, the beast's claws scraping the air where my throat had been. My spear, held in a reverse grip, snapped up, the purple blade catching the beast under the chin and emerging through the back of its skull. It was already disintegrating before I kicked it away, using its evaporating corpse as a launchpad.

I spun in the air, spear held low, and scythed through the legs of three more Prowlers that tried to surround my landing spot. They stumbled, legs severed, and I finished them with three casual, precise thrusts, one. two. three. Each strike produced a sonic boom, each attack completed in a heartbeat, before I returned to my ‘at rest’ stance. 

The spear was so sharp it felt like I was cutting through mist. Somehow felt even sharper than the monomolecular blade. Or maybe I just grew stronger. 

"Too slow," I murmured, spinning the spear in a flourish before slamming its butt end onto the ground.

A wave of shadow erupted outwards from the impact, solidifying into a dozen black spikes that lanced up and impaled the next wave of beasts, freezing them in place like grotesque statues before they crumbled to dust.

Call me Vlad, because I am coming for their assholes.

There was already a new volunteer. 

A Chariot-class beast lowered its head, its charge shaking the ruined earth. It clearly was aimed right for me.

I decided to try something new. 

A colossal black arm, easily twice my size, erupted from my back. It solidified instantly, shadow coiling into dense muscle and articulated fingers. As the Chariot barreled in, the shadow hand shot out, catching the beast by its horned head with a sound like a thunderclap. The beast's momentum was stopped dead. I watched, almost idly, as the shadow fingers tightened, crushing the creature's armored skull like a grape.

“How is that for a buster arm?” I mused to myself, grinning. 

With a thought, the giant arm threw the multi-ton carcass, sending it skidding through the horde like a bowling ball, clearing a wide path. Good thing the hardier honkai beasts take some time to disappear.

"Strike!" I whistled, somehow, I knew how now, throwing my hand up in a celebration with an artistic flair.

Then, in a moment, I shifted my stance, dashing forth. 

The ground cracked under my feet. Dismissing the spear, I spun the revolver from the holster and into my hand, feeding demonic energy into the cylinder.

Nero figured it out when he refused to accept that he was a demon; how was I any worse? Guided by an understanding of how to do it right, I didn’t think, just acted.

Then, I threw my hand with the revolver up, and towards the enemies.

Six golden comets tore through the air. One Prowler's head exploded. Another shot took a Chariot in the eye and blew out the back of its head. I didn't even watch the other four find their marks. Instead, I put the revolver back into the holster and summoned a spear again.

And then, once again, I cut into the enemy ranks.

Normally, Honkai beasts don’t assemble into thick, nice, target-rich groups. Those things were killing machines, each one superhuman; needless to say, they weren’t exactly a ‘swarm’ faction. But the group Elysia and I came to help was positioned here as bait. To make them group up, to attract as many as possible, just to buy time.

The Second Herrscher produced hordes of these things in each city it ‘visited’, and directed them towards the nearest human gathering. By positioning enough armed and dangerous people on their paths, we could make them focus on military targets, rather than civilians.

That also meant that the soldier boys behind me were on a suicide mission, but the truth was, if not for that, millions more would’ve died today.

However, here, clustered so close together, were the enemies who usually had an annoying habit of flying around and circling you.
In a way, it was the ultimate test.

Such enemy concentration is beyond humanity’s ability to fight directly; they were gathered to be nuked. It was up to me to prove that conjecture wrong.

I dug into the enemy like an obese kid into a basket of ice cream, cleaving, breaking whatever passed for their ranks in an instant.

Pink arrows flew overhead and impacted the cluster with deafening explosions, which made me feel a bit less lonely.

Duck under a limb here, thrusting just once through it and the beast, then somersault around a second one, forming three shadow blades to pin down the feline beast, tilt my head backwards, letting a spear from a familiar-looking knight pass right by my head.

Then I simply watched its own head explode from a pink projectile, before grabbing my spear with two hands, and sweeping it across, like a pole, throwing all the surrounding enemies backwards.

After all, no matter how strong they were, their mass wasn’t that impressive.

The clearing provided enough space to thrust into four separate beasts, killing each, before I had to backpedal, dodging appendages and strikes with ease from the incoming wave of white stone-like crystalline flesh, prompted by danger sense shifting in such a way that the beasts were in each other’s way.

“Wowie, you guys are terrible,” I commented playfully, spinning my revolver from a holster with my left hand, and without bothering to reload the empty magazine, shooting a couple of golden shots in the overextending enemies, before jumping backwards, far enough to make some distance.

A knight landed where I would’ve been if I didn’t suddenly accelerate, its spear piercing the ground.

“I know you are a fan, but…” I didn’t really give it time to react, simply conjured another shadow hand, grabbing it across its body, before lifting its struggling body up, and slamming the thing into the ground, and the bunch of beasts who tried to press me. “Give me some space, will you?”

I span the spear between my fingers so fast a human would’ve only seen a blur, and, in one movement, threw it through the crumbling bodies of the beasts in the small crater. The throw itself was perfect, ending with my hand extended and back bent, like an Olympic athlete.

The devil arm flew like a golden and violet comet, punching through everything in its path without resistance, and following the same instinctive understanding, I willed it back, and an instant later caught it in the last possible moment, spinning it again to bleed off the momentum.

“Now,” A few other pink arrows streaked across the sky, splitting up; some hit the seraphs flying above, some other honkai beasts on the ground.

I didn’t particularly keep track of what Elysia was doing, but I knew she was killing as many of them as I did.

She was good at this. She proved that much before, I guess.

Still, as I glanced at the spear, I felt that it could do more. But it was sleeping. Dormant.

I could pour demonic energy into it and make it perform some basic things, but I knew this was a far cry from what it should be capable of.

It made sense. I still didn’t completely recover from the battle. What is to say about the pair who became the devil arm?

I had a lingering suspicion for a while, but now I was sure…

…there was something wrong with it. A wisp of power around it that wasn’t honkai or demonic energy. A familiar wisp. Like…

I reached out, and felt myself ‘touching’ a ribbon around the spear’s shaft it… It felt just like a ‘string’.

That realization made me snap and ‘look’ towards the great Chaotic Realm that I drew my powers from. I already did it earlier, before the fight… it feels like I have the connection. But it is weak. Fragmented. Less of a usual ‘string’ I can pull, and more of a tiny spiderweb.

Wait…

“Did I somehow manage to make you only because of the string?” I mused to myself.

Somehow, deep down, I knew that this sounded about right. It wasn’t easy to turn a human into a demon; it wasn’t enough to just slap some demonic energy into a person and call it a day.

I mean, maybe it’s possible with a Rebellion, but not with your bare hands.

Why would a Herrscher be any different?

Meaning, the forced demonic transformation probably wouldn’t have qualified the Herrscher to become a devil arm. But I remember that I acted purely on instinct back then, and… well, I used a lot of what I had and what I could do.

Was it possible I somehow used up one of the strings to solidify the process?

I snapped out of my thoughts due to my danger sense warning and, in a single breath, channeled a lot of demonic energy into a sleeping spear and thrust it forward.

A literal torrent of purple energy was all around me a moment later, with a thundering, roaring sound. It drove me to my knees, with only the spear creating an ‘umbrella’, my body was hidden behind.

When the stream of energy ran out, I noticed the flying, familiar bastard who just shot a laser at me. All around me, except for directly under my feet, was a molten crater.

Thank you, Herrscher-chan.

This bastard looked just like the one in Japan.

They called those things Emperor-class now.

Mobius can be so chuni it hurts. Thank god she is not Chinese, or it would’ve been Heavenly Defying Jesus Satan Dao of Supermacy or some other asinine bullshit.

“Not very wholesome of you,” I said, standing up, and theatrically dusting off my trenchcoat, as I poured my demonic energy inwards, towards the ability slotted in my very being, “One may say pretty rude, even. You surely would get negative Reddit karma for that.”

It felt like pouring energy into a chalice, pouring some more, and then having so much in that you had to hold the ‘liquid’ down with your ‘hand’ for it not to burst.

A demonic outline briefly flickered around my body when the chalice was full, not that I noticed at the time.

“Hey now, you Lego factory angel reject, I’ve been told you are royalty!” I practically shouted to the beast, who was slowly flying towards us, and bowed theatrically, “I guess that would make the Herrschers like little godlings? Well, big guy, I just have to disappoint,” I said, bringing my finger up, even as I watched it charge the laser, “But your luck has run out.”

The demonic energy exploded around me like a vortex, and in a fraction of a second, the hundred meters between us ceased to exist.

All the while, I held the spear close, in this form, feeding so much energy into it that, for just an instant, I felt its awareness flicker, like someone briefly woke up from a sleep deep inside the devil arm.

“Die.”

The feeling of power, coursing through me and the spear both, the ocean of it, sucked all the creativity out of me.

I just wanted to unleash it.

It was a thrust, a forward movement. Space compressed and broke apart.

I didn’t see the Emperor anymore. I glanced back, only to see a dissipating, wide tunnel of violet and gold energies, spinning in a spiral, my trail. And the beast with a five-meter round hole in its center.

Without a sound, it collapsed.

I released the transformation, falling on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Fuck…” I muttered, shaking my head, as I turned myself around, before giving up, and just sitting down, “Definitely overdid it this time around.”

I could see some pink arrows flashing, and artillery starting to fire again.

In a few minutes, I saw Elysia dash from over the hill with a worried face, and visibly calming down, seeing me sitting there.

“Hey! You totally overdid it this time!” She said, placing the bow behind her back, her concern slowly disappearing as she glanced across my body, and probably found me unharmed, “You should be more thoughtful; having cute girls do all the extra work is just evil!”

I just chuckled, shaking my head.

She is lucky she isn’t a VTuber or an Idol. That would’ve gotten her bullied and molested as well. Some overwork is perfectly fine, I am a Japanese businessman at heart, you see. 

“This was the last chance to test new moves before I’ll get entombed in a lab forever,” I told her with a straight face, knowing that the satellite phone I used to have was broken, so HQ can’t hear me. And what Mobius can’t hear, can’t hurt me. “Let a man have some fun before his life ends. Besides, you needed a chance to shine too, didn’t you?”

The other encounters with Honkai beasts today were piss-easy. The only reason we were even allowed to engage an Emperor was because Elysia and I proved ourselves remarkably more powerful than anyone could’ve expected with other targets first.

This monster was planned to be glassed with ballistic missiles, until we showed, by example, that there is another option.

“That’s not the real reason you are sitting there, is it?” Elysia asked, her voice suddenly quieter, and her eyes much more piercing, “You don’t even have the energy to get up.”

…damn, and I thought I managed to stop the shaking of my hands.

“I just overextended a little,” I admitted, “But you know as well as I do, if I refused to come here, all those fellas would’ve died.”

Even as is, they likely got a hefty dose of Honkai, but due to how quickly we killed the high-level beast and cleaned out the others, most of them should come out of this without a sickness. Unlike M.O.T.H. operatives, those guys were normal military. They weren’t cherry-picked for Honkai resistance. Dragging this fight out wasn’t an option, and refusing to come because I felt exhausted wasn’t one either. That would literally be letting people die because I wasn’t feeling at one hundred percent.

Elysia studied me for a long moment before sighing.

“...I get it. But this is still not an excuse to pull something like that.” She looked at me, “If there was one more beast here, someone I didn’t see, would you have been able to protect yourself?”

I just chuckled.

“There wasn’t one, was there? Listen, I understand where you are coming from and what you are trying to say, but…” I pointed my finger up, towards the darkening sky, “The only way forward is to break straight through. That very much includes even the limits of freaks like you and me,” I told her seriously, “I have a feeling that things will get harder from here. Sitting around playing it safe? Forget it. I need to know my limits yesterday, and I need to push past them by tomorrow morning.” I lowered my hand and tapped the glasses on my face, “So I’ll keep being reckless, I’ll keep being stupid, and I’ll keep throwing myself into situations where the only choice for me is to either die or evolve past what I’ve been a moment before.” The grin on my face grew wider, even as I felt tremors running down my hands, “Do you think I’m wrong?”

The aggressively pink woman had an odd expression on her face as she looked at me.

Finally, she settled on something and, placing her hands on her hips, leaned down, her face serious.

“If you will do something like this again, I will tell Mobius~” She sing-songed.

I consider her argument for a moment.

“Sorry, ma’am, won’t happen again, ma’am.”

----

Author Notes; Halloween special. I am off for the next five days. I am a fucking printer this last week.