The Infinite Journey of a Certain Flame

Hey! Why are you staring at me like that?!

"It's nothing, let's try not to upset her, okay?"

Sirin blinked and playfully bantered with Bronya, her lively expression far more amusing than when she dealt with Kiana.

It's like a fox trying to lie and deceive.

"Yes, I understand the situation now."

Bronya nodded, then turned her gaze to the hole in the garage ceiling.

“My team is nearby. After locating you, they received my signal and should be here soon.”

"Oh! You have companions? Great, great... Hmm..." Kiana nodded, slightly puzzled. "Are they people I know?"

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't, but until they arrive. We can't stand idly by, can we move around, team members?"

Bronya picked up her gun and strode to the door to stand guard.

“The enemy cannot ignore us. We have no way to carry out any operation unless we eliminate the threats in the vicinity.”

"Eliminating the threat, huh? Fine, I'm good at that. Should we split up? Or should we go together?"

"Let's go together. I don't feel comfortable letting you act alone. If you feel unwell, don't act impulsively, understand?"

After Bronya finished speaking, she took the lead and began the cleaning operation. Kiana followed suit.

However, before leaving the garage, the little one, Celine, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly leaned behind her and began to whisper:

"We finally managed to hide it from you, host. Aren't you going to praise me?"

"Mmm! Sirin is the smartest, Sirin is the cutest, so..." Kiana smiled and pinched the little guy's cheek, teasing him in an incredibly 'kind' tone, "Can you be a little more polite to your master in the future? You have such a cute face, why do you always look at me with such a long face?"

"Ugh! Uh... Ah! Stop pinching me!"

After being tormented by Kiana for quite some time, Sirin finally broke free from the clutches of her foolish master.

Upon gaining his freedom, the little guy immediately picked up the scissors, displaying a fierce expression that seemed to say, "If you bully me again, I'll cut you up."

"Don't always bully me! I'm not your toy, I'm your companion—no, your tool."

However, Kiana smiled and, while leaving the garage with her sword, offered a gentle explanation in response to Sirin's earnest monologue.

"No, although... you weren't like this before, I've always considered you my friend."

"Hey!"

Having received such recognition, Sirin's scissors inexplicably fell to the ground, only to reappear behind her in the next second.

It took her a while to recover from the shock, and she said, blushing slightly:

"Hmph, you're smart enough to know what's good for you. From now on, I'll be your travel companion. Hmm... hehe, cough cough! Anyway, remember, while illusions are useful, they're not a panacea. I've racked my brains trying to help you hide your identity, and if you're exposed... sigh, I've said it so many times, I'm tired. Now, just follow her closely, okay?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

After Kiana finished speaking, she leaped up and caught up with Bronya.

As a strong gust of wind swept in, the swift-moving captain slowly glanced sideways.

"Not bad, it seems you've almost fully recovered. Should I say my treatment was very successful?"

"I guess so. So... shall we just go for it?"

Kiana looked around but didn't find any trace of monsters.

It was as if the enemy had been completely wiped out.

However, this seemingly peaceful and tranquil town has not become safe as a result.

No one can say for sure what kind of monsters will appear later.

Passive defense is not what Kiana likes; she wants to get everything sorted out as soon as possible and then ask Bronya and Mei where they are.

Unfortunately, the other person seems to have become more mature and composed as their body has changed...

"Charge... a very decisive and efficient tactic, but it won't be approved. We are members of the Destiny Squad, and our actions must be carried out according to orders, otherwise we could be in danger at any time."

"Is that so? Okay, I'll do as you say."

Kiana scratched the back of her head, continuing to walk briskly alongside Bronya, but inwardly she couldn't help but think, "Has Bronya become this opinionated? No... if it were the old Bronya, she would have rejected me like this, right?"

Just as Kiana was marveling at this, Bronya suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"They're here. Prepare for battle, team!"

Why are we all so different now? (Honkai Impact 3rd): In Chapter 6, she was clearly in the same cohort as me, so why has she become such a reliable captain?

Strangely, those monsters seemed to be endless. Even when they were killed in large numbers by powerful attacks, they never seemed to retreat or flee.

On the contrary, it was able to sweep in from all directions, as if it had received some kind of death order to move forward.

Fortunately, these guys are generally weak and can't compare to those quantum and imaginary monsters. At most, they're at the level of Honkai Beasts.

What's surprising is that their structure contains mechanical elements, somewhat like the Titans created by anti-entropy, but unfortunately, these guys are no match for Titans in terms of size.

Even that strange enemy that looks remarkably like the divine machine Heimdall is at best comparable to a small Titan.

The true mechanical technology tree contains colossal Titans at the level of a Celestial Father.

Therefore, all things considered, these monsters cannot be considered particularly strong.

Therefore, even with room for maneuver, Kiana can still easily deal with these enemies, no matter how large their numbers are; they are no match for the burning and slicing power of the King's Sword.

Moreover, Sirin's spatial and fire-based attacks can lock onto and execute enemies, making the entire battle quite comfortable.

However, even in such a peaceful battle, there were still things that Kiana found troublesome.

Of course, this kind of thing does not originate from the enemy.

It stemmed from her long-lost best friend, the brat who used to bicker with her the moment she opened her mouth, Bronya...

"Teammate, come to my side."

"Team members, do not act rashly."

"Teammate, be careful with your Honkai energy usage, you'll get hurt if you do that."

"Team..."

"Okay, okay! I'm not a little baby anymore, you don't need to worry about me like that!"

This was the first time Kiana had the illusion of being cared for like a baby, and the object that gave her this illusion was...

It's that same sharp-tongued brat from before? That's something no one would have expected!

Hmm... why am I feeling inexplicably discouraged? She was so little back then...

Kiana stretched out her hand and gestured, only to discover that... Bronya was incredibly short back then.

Now he's not only grown tall and big, but he's even...quite mature?

No, no, no, should I say she was mature before? No, that's not right either. She always went against me before, how could that be considered mature!

However, when she's with Seele and Arlene... she does seem quite mature.

"So in the end, am I the only one still the same? I'm inexplicably feeling a bit depressed, what's wrong with me?!"

"Hey host, what are you babbling on and on about by yourself?"

Just as Kiana was getting stuck on her own thoughts, Sirin, who had been following behind her, couldn't stand it any longer and flew directly to the idiot's face, asking her with a wary expression.

Kiana was startled when the little guy got so close. She reached out as if to pat him, but Sirin quickly dodged her.

The two, still shaken, looked at each other in bewilderment, and then Xilin stomped her foot angrily.

"What's wrong with you?! Why did you hit him?!"

"No, no, no... I thought it was a fly."

"How rude! Never mind, I don't want to argue with you about this," Xilin tossed her hair, then opened her bright eyes and said seriously, "You still can't let go of the past, host."

"There's nothing I can do, it's just that she looks..."

Kiana reluctantly reached out her hand, only to find herself touching two unusually soft mounds...

Seeing the astonished look in Celine's eyes, she belatedly realized what she had just touched, so she quickly withdrew her hand and blushed with embarrassment.

"Cough cough cough, I didn't mean to..."

"Hmm, don't blame yourself. I bear some responsibility for not reminding you beforehand, but..."

Bronya touched her strapless bra, seemingly casually, then coldly stated:

"What are you talking about again? Why didn't you answer when I called out a few times?"

"No, no, we didn't talk about anything. It's just that sodium chloride..."

"I noticed an unidentified enemy approaching, but I wasn't sure if it was a false alarm, so I discussed it with her."

I have to say, that little rascal, Sirin, is absolutely wicked.

Lying and deceiving others is commonplace for them; they don't even blush with shame.

This shows just how cunning she is.

However, for Kiana, this guy's concealment was quite useful.

Bronya's doubts were dispelled once again.

"so?"

She stroked her smooth chin, then nodded to Kiana:

“Team members, if you have similar intelligence again, you can notify me directly. I am confident in distinguishing between the real and unreliable signals.”

“...Uh, Captain…”

"what happened?"

"You really seem...very opinionated!" Kiana smiled helplessly, feeling for some reason as if she were being controlled by Bronya. "It's like you need to understand exactly what I'm going to do next."

The reason she said those words was simply because Kiana had had enough.

Why should I let some little guy from the past tell me what to do? It's so infuriating!

Are you kidding me? This brat who was born in the same year as me has the nerve to act like a senior now?