To create Honkai Impact 3rd in a world where Kallen exists.

A smug smile crept onto her lips.

There was a hint of malicious mockery in his words to Sakura.

...

In the Golden Courtyard,

"Hmph—this Herrscher of Corruption didn't inherit any of that pink woman's good qualities, but she did learn all of her skills, such as her incessant chatter during battle."

Qianjie snorted coldly.

From the very beginning of the battle with Mei and Sakura, their annoying chatter never stopped.

"Sigh, Qianjie, how can you say you learned it from me? When I fight... I only give final evaluations."

Alicia smoothed her bangs, and through Mebius's eyes, she found it amusing how he shyly avoided her gaze.

It's just... her feelings about the other person's vertical pupils always felt a bit off.

“Alice…you! Stay away from me,” Mebius muttered.

When the snake was face-to-face with Alicia at close range, it could no longer be arrogant and even tried to hide its body behind it.

"Evaluation? There seems to be a strange tale at St. Freya Academy that the training room has become much more difficult."

Upon hearing the other party's comment about liking to evaluate battles, Luo Mo seemed to suddenly remember something and said thoughtfully.

He vaguely remembered Theresa complaining to him about this, something that was left unresolved after the surveillance footage was reviewed.

"What kind of ghost story is that? I think... the difficulty should have been increased!"

Kiana stubbornly insisted.

"So... is this why Kiana came home late several times in a row for a while? She even..."

Mei couldn't help but complain, but then, as if realizing something, she immediately shut up.

She is the Herrscher of Thunder, not the Herrscher of Food!

This rumor must be clarified.

Her series of 'wonderful' performances in the game were good enough that finally no one really thought she was going to World Snake to help alleviate poverty and provide high-quality food.

"...So, what is the truth?" Bronya asked curiously.

"Oh, the phrase 've been used far too often.' You know, the Valkyries are usually not in the mood to evaluate the experiment after training, and that button is also somewhat... well, hidden."

"That's why Alicia's evaluation has been too high recently, so the system has automatically increased the difficulty."

Luo Mo explained that, thanks to Theresa's identity, although he didn't frequent the campus much and wasn't suited to do so, he was aware of the strange things that happened on campus.

Yes, the most frequent mentions are of the pink and blue twins, followed by comments about a certain Herrscher class course, and recently, a novel one is the appearance of a cute and charming character with long pink hair.

However, it wasn't exactly recent; the case was already solved when Paradise aired it.

No one really believed that the other person was that person.

"But the training is really very simple, isn't it?"

Alicia said with a wronged look on her face, but the smile in her eyes was not hidden at all, "Luo Mo, you know me, I never lie."

She bent down slightly, moving closer to Luo Mo.

"...If you find it difficult, then there's a real problem with the training room."

Luo Mo couldn't help but rub his forehead.

Evaluating the opponent after the battle... that's not a good habit either.

"uh-huh?"

Alicia blinked innocently, then smiled and said, "Sakura's praise made me very happy, although I already guessed she would say that~"

Of course she trusted her companions; what could be more trustworthy than a companion?

"Yes, even in real life, I would say that."

Sakura nodded gently in agreement.

The relationships among the heroes are generally mixed, but Alicia has good relationships with everyone, and in fact... she is quite familiar with everyone.

Even with the difficult-to-communicate Thousand Calamities and Kosmo, she had already written a book first.

All heroes will naturally reciprocate this affection.

...

The previous battles were merely warm-up matches, used to familiarize each other with their abilities... but in the real battles that determine life and death, the most important thing... is often just a single blow.

At this moment, without any communication, Mei and Sakura completed a combined attack.

Using illusions to deceive the Herrscher of Corruption's senses, Sakura arrived behind the Herrscher of Corruption, catching her completely off guard, and struck down heavily.

The power to freeze space solidifies here, sealing off the space.

But the seemingly inevitable strike... missed.

At that moment, the Herrscher of Corruption, who had escaped the attack range, patted his chest, still shaken, and smiled faintly.

She was on guard against Sakura's attack from beginning to end. Knowing her opponent's trump card, she wouldn't be affected by emotions. As long as she paid attention to the moment the space was frozen, escaping wouldn't be difficult.

And... in that instant, Sakura's arm was also grabbed by her.

Unlike Mei, contact with the memory was undoubtedly death.

If she's willing to delete it.

Sure enough, the dark green color on Sakura's arm suddenly twitched, attracting Mei's worried gaze.

Sakura, however, felt a pang of regret, realizing she had ultimately fallen short in the end.

But it doesn't matter... it's still within the scope of the plan.

"...Herrscher of Corruption, you may have forgotten one thing: creating illusions and deceiving your senses is not something my swordsmanship can do."

"Only the Eighth Divine Key... or a psychic-sensory fusion warrior can truly achieve this."

Sakura simply glanced down at her arm, not caring about the signs of corrosion on it.

She came here for only one purpose—to die.

A warm white light appeared on Mei's body. The next moment, through the Thousand Worlds Journey, she had left this space, leaving Sakura to fight the Corruptor alone.

When the Herrscher of Corruption deletes a sufficiently powerful memory, she will be forced to devote considerable energy, thus making it impossible to stop the activation of the Thousand Worlds Journey.

They diverted the buds away and delayed the erosion.

This is what they've been planning all along.

In retrospect, every step was indispensable. Sakura also acknowledged that every step of Su's plan was extremely important.

"I just wanted to get her out of here, was it necessary to act like I was trying to defeat her?"

The Herrscher of Corruption no longer smiled. She lightly drew her bow, stood atop the ruins, and looked down at Sakura with murderous intent.

She was always wary of the person who had always followed her, but suddenly he slipped out of her control.

How could I not make her angry?

Focused on Sakura's swordsmanship and eager to eliminate the threat... he allowed an even greater threat to take shape in the distance.

She did indeed misjudge the other party's intentions.

"If I were to be easily approached by you, you would surely become suspicious, wouldn't you?"

Sakura replied calmly, looking at the other person warily.

"But Sakura, do you really know what you're doing...?"

"Why did you choose to return here again, fight a fierce battle, only to sacrifice yourself?"

The Corruptor turned around and tried to persuade the other party, saying that since things had come to this point, she was more curious about the other party's reasons for doing so.

Why do all these heroes die one after another? Is there no reason for their existence?

Using life as a bargaining chip...

She couldn't understand, and couldn't comprehend it. She, who made survival her sole purpose, couldn't understand why life shouldn't be a person's everything.

At the very least, they shouldn't have been sacrificed in vain, right?

"It's alright, I've had this experience before."

Sakura gripped the hilt of her sword tightly and spoke softly, but there was little fighting spirit in her eyes.

She had already played all her cards.

Without a doubt, she has already played all her cards, and this will be her doom.

"Come on, Herrscher of Corruption, use your hands and my death to prove that she is right."

The scene from that night flashed through her mind, witnessing the other person's death... herself, and her own fate, seemed to have remained unchanged.

"It's because you've never changed that... I love you all so much."

She smiled, on her deathbed.

"...But before that, I have one more request."

"Sigh... Speak." The Herrscher of Corruption sighed, her eyes somewhat uneasy.

Did the fear before death make the other person start to feel afraid as well?

Although it was something she hoped the other person would do, she couldn't be happy if they actually did it.

But what the other person said made her open her mouth slightly, staring at them in a daze.

"If possible, please let me die in more agony."

She almost thought she had misheard.

"Do everything you can to make me feel despair, regret, and helplessness..."

"Only in this way can I realize just how incompetent I really was..."

Only then will I know how I ultimately... upheld my pride as the older sister.

Sakura was making her request, a request completely opposite to that of a normal person.