The Infinite Journey of a Certain Flame

"Pretend? No, no, no, don't misunderstand, I just hope to make you feel more positive about your past memories."

"What do you mean?"

“What I mean is…” Mei smiled alluringly, then grabbed Kiana’s arm and whispered in her ear, “You are the most important person to me.”

"The most important person?" Kiana asked in surprise.

"That's right. She's the most important person to you. And I want to be your only one too. Just treat me like Mei, okay?" 'Mei' nodded firmly.

Kiana frowned, her eyes filled with doubt, but she didn't ask.

Mei continued, "Although the truth will make you feel sad, Mei is no longer here. Similarly, Alicia, Kevin, Mebius, and the others are no longer here either."

Kiana fell silent after hearing Mei's words, seemingly deep in thought, while Mei stood there quietly awaiting her answer.

After a long while, Kiana raised her head and looked at 'Mei', her eyes filled with determination. She slowly asked, "Why are you so sure?"

"Because they have all become one with me. Through erosion."

"Erosion... I had some suspicions from the beginning, but only now can I be sure... You are the Herrscher of Erosion who almost eroded Mei, right?"

Kiana finally uttered the other person's name slowly.

After a long game of guessing who I am, she finally figured it out.

This world is not Gretchen's dream.

Rather, it is the Pure Land of the Afterlife...

To be precise, it was Mei who failed to stop it.

Stop all, the paradise of the afterlife.

Hehe~

The Herrscher of Corruption touched her red lips, then winked playfully: "Isn't this wonderful? I am them, and they are me. As long as you open your heart to me, you will gain everything, right? This is eternal happiness."

"Why would you wake up if you liked Mei so much? I was completely immersed in it. Oh right, maybe it's because you're fickle? Which face do you like best?"

With a turn, the Herrscher of Corruption transformed from Mei into Bronya.

Is it her?

"..."

"Hey, why are you making that face?" The Herrscher of Corruption deliberately puffed out Bronya's impressive chest. "You know, this is data that I went through a lot of trouble to get from you."

"I didn't expect you to ask such a question."

Kiana stared at the imposter in front of her, who was wearing the appearance of her old friend, and said calmly.

At that moment, she felt a chill run down her spine.

This Herrscher actually has the ability to corrupt me? And by extracting only a portion of it, I can create a Herrscher of Reason, Bronya, that is indistinguishable from the real one...

If I were to truly open my heart to her, what would the outcome be?

"If you think I simply like their looks, then I can assure you you're wrong. Don't try to fool me anymore, Herrscher!"

"Oh?" Seeing that her olive branch had been rejected so decisively, the Herrscher of Corruption's smile froze. "It seems you need more happy memories? Very well."

"First, let's take a look at your old friend, the Herrscher of the Void."

As the Herrscher of Corruption gently clapped her hands, Kiana sensed waves of killing intent approaching from behind.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: She and I have become one, inseparable.

Someone is behind me!

Realizing this, Kiana suddenly turned around, only to be met with a face that was all too familiar to her.

Another version of myself...

Or rather, your past self.

She floated in mid-air, legs crossed, chin propped up, with an arrogant expression.

Several spears floated beside her, seemingly ready to be launched at any moment to annihilate any enemy who dared to offend her.

However, at this moment, this version of myself is merely floating in mid-air, gazing at me with arrogant eyes.

There were no words, no emotions, only simple stereotypes.

This is definitely not the Herrscher of the Void.

"Is this the data you stole from me?"

"Yeah, how about it? You miss it, don't you?"

With a single turn, the Herald of Corruption moved the familiar rooftop to a different location.

The surrounding scenery changed instantly, eventually resembling the deck of the Hyperion.

High in the sky ahead, the illusory Herrscher of the Void still floats.

The Herrscher of Corruption stood quietly to the side, clapping her hands gently: "Kiana, have you thought it through and accepted me? If you are willing, then open your heart to me now, otherwise... perhaps you would like to play around with her."

Open your heart...

Although the Herald of Erosion speaks in a nice way.

But Kiana soon realized that her true intention was not to befriend her.

Or is it about gaining oneself?

Ahem! No, to be precise, they want to get the data for their entire share.

The timeline of this world is the timeline in which the Herrscher of Erosion successfully erodes Paradise.

Here, the data of the heroes was swallowed up, and Kevin Mei was also trapped in it.

For humanity in this world, defeat seems inevitable.

However, it is too early to say anything before a winner is decided.

Moreover, the final Herrscher has not yet appeared, and the Honkai God still needs to make a considerable effort to achieve her ultimate goal.

However, things are different now, because I've arrived...

If the Herrscher of Corruption achieves further merit, she will corrupt me, a traveler who has traversed numerous worlds and possesses data from many world lines.

For humanity in this world, this would truly be a death sentence.

Kiana would never condone allowing the Honkai to destroy humanity.

What's more, she genuinely loathed this person who looked down on her companions.

"Herrscher of Corruption, I think you may have misunderstood."

"what?"

"Should I say it's because you haven't obtained enough data, or is this just your purest stereotype?"

Kiana silently raised her sword, aiming it at this arrogant fellow.

A single action is enough to express one's attitude.

The smile on the Herrscher of Corruption's face froze once again.

Presenting herself as Bronya, she now displayed a hint of harshness on her face that Bronya had never shown before.

Kiana quickly noticed this subtle change.

"In your eyes, will she always be an arrogant Herrscher?"

"Hehe... Kiana, it seems you want to have some fun with your old friends."

The Herrscher of Corruption clapped her hands, no longer bothering with Kiana's words.

She had assumed that after revealing her true identity, this unexpected variable would choose her.

After all, you can have everything if you choose to be yourself, right?

Why is she unwilling? It's truly disappointing.

Hmm, it must be because she doesn't understand herself well enough.

So let her experience the beauty of the world more!

'bump! '

Just as the Herrscher of Corruption was lost in thought, the Herrscher of the Void launched the first attack.

Although she is a fake, her abilities are almost identical to those of the real person.

As the spear pierced through, Kiana faced her past self for the first time outside of her consciousness.

'Ding ding ding!'

The Spear of Subspace shot forth, clashing fiercely with the Blazing King Sword.

Its power was exceptionally strong; the aftershocks alone left the fake Hyperion deck in ruins.

At the same time, many black holes in space began to explode and distort.

A powerful offensive, worthy of the name of a Herrscher.

"Was this the same person she faced back then? No, perhaps even stronger..."

Kiana silently wields her sword and unleashes the power of her gems to fight off her enemies.

And during an attack lull, he leaped into the air.

"Ready, ignite!"

'Snap!'

With a slash of blazing sword, the fake Herrscher vanished into thin air.

This process was extremely brief, so brief that it didn't resemble a battle between two Herrschers at all.

'Slap...slap...slap'

The sound of slow, leisurely applause came from the side.

"Played well."

The Herrscher of Corruption strolled over, her expression full of surprise, as if she had just witnessed a spectacular duel.