Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

"Boom—" Three solid shells, fired almost simultaneously, whistled through the short distance of a few hundred meters and struck the Titan captain's mech, which had entered overload mode. The violent explosion also caused the nearby high-rise buildings to tilt to one side, like building blocks with a foundation removed, crashing down on the Titan mech, which was almost incapacitated, stirring up a cloud of dust. Through this layer of smoke, it was almost impossible to see the figures around them.

"Enemy silence. Bronya requests retrieval." After confirming through the energy radiation reading device, even when it was out of sight, that the last shell had indeed destroyed the Titan mech that was the leader of this mining area, Bronya lowered her head and reported to Keng Huo on the communicator.

“Approved… The mule is on its way…” Keng Huo himself didn’t even notice that his speech had slowed down a lot, but at this moment he was concentrating on holding the portable remote control terminal, pushing the joystick with his somewhat weak hand, unaware that something was wrong with his condition.

Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared throughout the research lab. Red lights illuminated every corner of the lab, and a series of "Warning" messages sprang up like mushrooms after rain on the combat information screen in front of Keng Huo. The Honkai energy reading on Dandelion's energy detection device was rising rapidly at the speed of a rocket launch. Keng Huo stared in disbelief at all of this, his unease growing stronger.

The staff below the command platform seemed to be greatly frightened, frantically reporting various abnormal energy readings. Keng Huo was momentarily stunned by the chaotic sound, and his consciousness became muddled.

Keng Huo frantically searched for all the information in his chaotic mind, but at this moment his consciousness was like a lump of mush, and the suppressed feeling of exhaustion finally attacked him. He felt that his whole body was weak and powerless, and no matter how hard he tried to think, he could not extract any useful or even complete information from the chaotic and fragmented memories.

"Warning..." Keng Huo shouted into the communicator with all his might, but his parched throat burned as if it had cracked open from the middle.

Mei heard the alarm from the combat system and her body, which had just been about to relax, suddenly tensed up. She gripped her long sword tightly and scanned her surroundings warily.

Suddenly, she whirled around, pointing the tip of her knife at her back, but breathed a sigh of relief after seeing who it was and put her weapon away.

"You scared me to death! It was you..."

———————————————————————————————————

"Warning! The damage rate of the [Crimson] exoskeleton's transmission system has reached 46%, the damage rate of the anti-Honkai radiation suit has reached 35%, and the Valkyrie's vital signs are rapidly declining, teetering on the brink of death..."

Only then did Keng Huo manage to utter the second half of his sentence.

"...The abyss is watching you!!"

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Then I'll Die with Them

Bronya's unease was growing exponentially as she heard Mei's dull thud and painful groans over the public channel, as if she had been struck hard by something.

It felt as if something had pierced my heart.

The pain was as intense as it had been years before, when she had lost something more important than her life—a pain that felt like her entire being was being torn apart, a pain she never wanted to experience again.

Bronya's breathing quickened, and she practically ran towards Mei, who was shrouded in mist. But when she finally broke through the mist and reached Mei's side, she witnessed a scene that reignited the burning passion within her already extinguished emotional core.

She saw Mei, embedded in the wall by the powerful impact, spitting out blood in an exaggerated, theatrical manner.

In front of Mei stood a figure clad in white armor.

That figure was so familiar.

The figure slowly raised the revolver in his hand and pressed it against Mei's forehead.

"Kiana!" Bronya rushed over as if she had gone mad, forgetting to activate the spacetime fracture system.

Almost simultaneously, the heavily armored bunny behind her raised its right arm, holding up its shield as thick as a door panel in front of it. With Bronya's movement, it charged towards Kiana like a heavy truck.

But the opponent seemed to have anticipated this. Just as the Heavy Bunny was about to touch her, she nimbly flipped backward, dodging Bronya's attack, and then delivered a sharp spinning kick, bypassing the Heavy Bunny and striking Bronya in the back.

Bronya felt a powerful force coming from behind her, and her internal organs seemed to churn in that instant. She felt a sweet taste in her throat, and a mouthful of blood gushed out like water from a tap.

But she managed to hold back the blood, and with a forceful push of her hands, the heavily armored bunny behind her performed the same action as a nimble gymnast, pulling Bronya into her arms and rolling her over to absorb the impact.

But Bronya didn't wait for the impact to dissipate before abruptly stopping his rolling motion and charging forward like a madman.

She let out a roar devoid of any emotion, as ridiculous as a child forcibly imitating an adult.

The opponent's attacks rained down on her mercilessly, but she was completely unaware; at that moment, only one thing remained in her eyes.

Meiyi.

Mei, who is seriously injured, needs her protection.

When Bronya finally adjusted her posture to shield Mei from the other person, she felt a sense of relief.

But her opponent showed no mercy. She nimbly dodged left and right, her revolver flashing brilliantly, and her long legs, covered in white armor, were like two sharp and cunning blades, constantly bypassing the heavily armored bunny's defenses and striking Bronya heavily.

Bronya, who has always been trained as a sniper and long-range heavy firepower support fighter, has melee abilities that are far too rudimentary compared to Kiana, who specializes in close-to-mid-range combat.

Suddenly, Bronya felt an immense force, like an iron clamp, grip her neck, slam her against the wall, and slowly lift her up.

Bronya felt her consciousness fading, her ears filled with a deafening buzzing sound, and her legs could no longer touch the ground. In vain, she gripped the hand that was choking her neck tightly with both hands, trying to pry it off, but the hand seemed to be ingrained in her neck, with no separation whatsoever.

Bronya's eyes were already covered in large black spots due to lack of oxygen, and her lungs were struggling to squeeze out the blood seeping into her alveoli, but because her throat was tightly choked, it only increased her pain.

"Kiana...why..." Bronya squeezed out a few words with difficulty, as if squeezing out a tube of toothpaste that was almost empty. Two lines of warm tears flowed from the corners of her eyes and slowly dripped down her cheeks.

"Aren't we...family...?"

"Why……"

A profound despair spread through Bronya's heart, like a poison that seeps into the bones, like a whispering demon.

It was a despair and resentment she hadn't experienced in a long time, mixed with the shock and pain of being betrayed, which was slowly eroding her consciousness and memories.

The memories that had once awakened her from hell and given her a new life now, like a scene from a dark comedy, mercilessly mocked the meaning of her existence.

......

"I am Kiana Kaslana! Who are you?"

"You absolutely cannot get past me and hurt Mei! I promise!"

"So you're saying I can't possibly lose... Hmm? What? Awakening of self-awareness? Autonomous combat program? This guy... has been controlled by some program all along?!"

"Wake up! Don't give up! Don't lose to some inexplicable electronic program!"

"If there's no one left in this world who still has expectations of you, then let me take them! Please! Wake up! Live on! You have your own life! You have your own world! Don't entrust everything to..."

"What kind of damn program has absolutely nothing to do with you?!"

"You must still have things you want to accomplish, and there must still be people waiting for you! So... please! Please... wake up soon..."

"You're awake? You won't suddenly unleash your cannons on us again this time, will you?"

"My name is Kiana, this is Raiden Mei, what's your name?"

"Bronya? It's a rather strange name, but I'll reluctantly admit that it sounds a little bit nice."

"Of course you're coming with us. I won't leave you alone in such a dangerous place as Changkong City."

……

"We're a family!"

The last tear slowly rolled down Bronya's cheek, carrying with it the memories of home she had so painstakingly rediscovered, melting away into this desolate land.

But in the last moment before she lost consciousness, in her blurred vision she seemed to see another white figure fly out of the mist like an arrow and crash heavily into Kiana.

Kiana felt like she was going crazy.

Kiana was still basking in the glory of the successful decoy operation when she suddenly heard the sounds of battle coming through the communicator. It felt as if a sword of Damocles was hanging over her heart. An overwhelming sense of crisis urged her to quickly traverse the ruins that buried the Titan mech, rushing through the thick fog, and she saw a familiar-looking figure with one hand gripping Bronya's neck, pinning her against the wall.

Kiana felt a surge of heat rush to her head. Without thinking, her body moved on its own, bursting out of the mist and firing at her opponent as she charged forward.

Kiana felt as if she had crashed into an incredibly hard wall. The immense force of the impact made her rub her shoulder, but she stopped abruptly before she could finish the action and hurriedly helped Bronya, who was about to collapse to the ground.

"Bronya! How are you?! Bronya?!" Kiana looked at Bronya in alarm as her head drooped silently, but she dared not shake it too hard, for fear of shaking the already seriously injured Bronya even more.

But Bronya had lost consciousness, slumped against the wall like a broken rag doll. Even her ever-present Houmu doll had fallen to the side, its inner lining exposed, covered in dust and blood.

Kiana looked up in a panic, searching for Mei's figure. The moment her gaze finally fell on Mei, the flame in her eyes seemed to go out.

She saw Mei as a sculpture, embedded in the wall, with the dense cracks around her resembling the background of a mythological oil painting.

"Mei!" Kiana screamed, the scream reaching Keng Huo's ears through the public command channel, forcibly waking him from his dazed state.

Keng Huo gasped for breath as if waking from a deep dream, completely ignoring the throbbing pain in his heart, and shouted with all his might into the public channel: "[The Gaze of the Abyss]..."

Kiana, who was struggling to drag Bronya toward Mei, was struck dumb.

【The gaze of the abyss】is an important thing that Keng Huo reiterated to them every five minutes before leaving.

There exists a rule, or rather a phenomenon, in the Endless Abyss that resembles a self-protection mechanism. Whenever an outsider causes an impact beyond a certain level in the Endless Abyss, Honkai energy will spontaneously gather around the intruder, seemingly driven by some great will, without any warning.

Then, the Endless Abyss will peer into the hearts of these outsiders, projecting from their hearts a projection that is almost exactly the same as the one in their memories, formed by Honkai energy.

This "projection" can be almost anything—it could be a familiar relative of these outsiders, an enemy they once fought against, or even a giant mech they once piloted.

The mission of this [Projection], which possesses almost identical characteristics to the original entity in the memories of the outsiders, is to eliminate these outsiders.

It's like detecting macrophages that are invading foreign cells in the body.

However, this [projection] possesses everything that is far superior to the original body. Whether it is physical attributes, reaction speed, or even defense, it is completely incomparable. It can be said to be an enhanced copy.

At this moment, the Hunter Squad is facing Kiana, dressed in the White Comet combat armor, projected by the Endless Abyss after it has peered into their hearts.

These types of [projections] modeled after Valkyries have a collective name: Shadow Valkyries.

Kiana felt a sense of impending danger coming from her side and behind. She instinctively tried to dodge, but realized that if she did, Mei would be hit. Unable to safely remove Mei from the wall in a short time, Kiana had to turn around and hastily assume a defensive stance.

One foot was propped between her two pistols.

At this moment, Kiana finally saw the attacker's face clearly.

She had eyes that shone like sapphires, long white hair tied into two braids, and the [White Ribbon] combat armor she wore was almost identical to the one she was wearing.

Her face was exactly the same as hers, the only difference being that there was no emotion in her eyes, and she looked at Kiana as if she were looking at a dead object.

Kiana finally understood why Mei, who had been attacked, was so badly injured in such a short time.

“【Shadow Valkyrie】…” Kiana’s voice seemed to be filled with deep-seated hatred and anger, each word squeezed out from between her teeth.

"How dare you..."

"Never forgive... I will never forgive you!"

Kiana shoved the Shadow Valkyrie's leg away and lunged forward, attempting to exploit the opponent's unsteady stance to launch a suppressive attack.

But as if knowing Kiana's thoughts, the opponent immediately used a backflip to create distance, giving Kiana no chance to engage in close combat.

But Kiana did not give up her offensive. The muzzles of her two revolvers shot out brilliant flashes of light, and two bullets flew toward the enemy one after the other. She herself was not idle either. Almost the instant she fired, she rushed forward.

But the other party reacted exactly the same way she did. The muzzles of the two revolvers fired two bullets almost simultaneously, and the four bullets met in mid-air, bursting into a sharp sound and sparks.

If it wasn't that the other person's marksmanship was almost divine, then the only explanation for this is that the two people's thinking was unusually synchronized.

But Kiana didn't think too much about it. The moment she closed in on her opponent, she suddenly raised her right leg and delivered a knee strike like a bullet towards his abdomen.