Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

"Would you believe me if I said it was just out of curiosity?"

Alicia blinked.

"I heard you're quite interested in Melutina, why is that?"

"Mebius asked casually."

"I really care about cute girls."

"That child is indeed very cute, but are you sure she would care about that?"

"Mebius said, frowning."

"That's why I'm trying to find a way to let her know that I'm a lovely girl too."

Alicia said with a smile.

"What you see as beautiful is poison to her... Children who walk in the shadows get along better with scum like us than with beautiful and noble people."

"But I don't think she dislikes me at all?"

"The beautiful and noble people I just mentioned were Eden and Sue. You are different from them. You may look beautiful, but you understand the meaning of cruelty better than anyone else."

Mebius sneered.

"Don't think I'm praising you, Alicia. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Alright, alright, Mebius, but anyway, we can agree on this Melutina thing, can't we?"

Alicia shrugged.

"I won't betray her... I still have that much credibility, don't I?"

"Humph."

Mebius snorted but didn't refute. She didn't believe Alicia would go and tattle.

“Alice, I also have a question to ask you.”

"Hey, what's the problem?"

"I heard that Qianjie and Melutina have both been mobilized. What about Sakura?"

"This one……"

Alicia looked troubled, unsure of what to say.

"kindness?"

"If we look at the outcome, Sakura has been caught."

"?!"

Möbius gasped.

Are you kidding me?

"If only it were a joke..."

Alicia said with a wry smile,

“Aquila seems to have a trick up his sleeve, but one thing is for sure: this trick won’t work on Melutina. If they try it again, they will pay the price.”

"...Is Sakura dead?"

"No, after all, Sakura was a former comrade of Aquila, and she's a girl, so he wouldn't be that cruel."

Alicia shrugged.

"However, it is clear that he knows neither Qianjie nor Melutina."

"Alicia, in your opinion, how strong is Meltina right now?"

"Hmm? If we don't count the man-made collapse, then the Fire Moth is fourth, or third if we do."

As she spoke, Alicia held up three fingers.

"After all, Qianjie is not a fusion warrior yet and cannot perform artificial collapse, while Aponia is completely restrained by our lovely Melutina."

(According to the memories of the characters in Paradise, Qianjie became a Fusion Warrior after the Tenth Law, but he already had power comparable to a Fusion Warrior before that, which seems to be related to his special heart.)

"The first and second places are you and Kevin?"

Mebius didn't mock her. This ranking was almost a given. Even if she was optimistic about the Honkai Beast fused with Meltina, she didn't think that Meltina could beat the guy in front of her at this moment.

"Yes, if her combat skills could be improved, she should be able to defeat Qian Jie even without using that fierce artificial collapse."

Alicia nodded.

"Her potential is unimaginable, so I recommend she team up with Qianjie. After all, there are things Qianjie possesses that I cannot teach her... So, isn't the lovely Alicia very dutiful? Praise me, praise me!"

"If it weren't for that last sentence, I wouldn't mind praising you."

Mebius said calmly,

“But you’re right. Compared to her life, that child’s potential is far too great… so great that it’s worrying. She’s not like Kevin; she’s not someone who should be a hero.”

"That's good. If she's strong enough, then she'll have plenty of time to change herself."

Alicia's smile was genuine.

"Constant encounters and partings make people more mature and stronger."

…………

Desert Eagle Base

"Well……"

Sakura awoke from her slumber and instinctively reached for the hilt of the sword, but the heaviness in her hand told her that she was bound.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked up. Her hands were bound by heavy shackles and she was hanging in mid-air. Her feet were also bound by heavy shackles. She was suspended in mid-air and could hardly move.

"Let's talk about it next."

Sitting expressionlessly on the table was that familiar face of Sakura.

“We have nothing to talk about, Aquila.”

Chapter Thirteen: Assault

"...Hmph, no wonder he's one of my classmates from the same period."

Aquila coldly stared at Sakura, who had been interrogated for over two hours and was covered in wounds but refused to utter a single word.

"...Using...such a pointless method...it would be better to kill me..."

Sakura, suspended in mid-air, said with difficulty.

"I initially thought that even though she was a fusion warrior, she was still a woman, and after an hour of torture, she would reveal some information..."

Aquila couldn't help but show a hint of admiration.

"But I must apologize, Sakura. I'm sorry, my thinking was too shallow, and I actually underestimated you."

"..."

Sakura kept her eyes closed and completely ignored him.

"There will definitely be other fusion warriors coming next. Now that I have captured you, I can't possibly send some nobody."

Aquila didn't seem to mind; Sakura had been tortured by him for two hours, so it was no wonder she wouldn't give him a friendly look.

“I know that my victory was somewhat unfair, but our fight was never a fair duel. If there were any fairness in this world, our families wouldn’t have lost their lives because of this.”

When he mentioned "family," Sakura's eyes flickered slightly. Although it was fleeting, Aquila did not miss this change, which made him suddenly understand the true nature of the female assassin in front of him.

"Ha, so Sakura, who claims to have a heart of stone, is actually no different from us?"

Aquila shook her head, abandoning her original idea.

"Good luck, Sakura. If I die in front of the next assassin... you can go back to your family."

...............

"Hey, what's that?"

"Black Dragon? Honkai Beast?"

"Monster... Monster!!!"

……

Above the base, the sun was suddenly obscured. At first, everyone thought it was yellow sand, but when they looked up, the golden vertical pupils stared at them like a death god.

It was a "man-made collapse"!

This also alerted the fusion warriors in the base, who quickly realized what they were facing.

"Everyone, prepare for the attack!"

Meanwhile—

"Senju, I'm about to land... I'll handle the feint attack. You need to make sure Sakura is in position and don't let her get caught in it."

Melutina's deep voice rang out.

"Don't worry, I've known that guy for a long time... I don't want that woman to die in a place like this."

Qianjie licked his lips.

"If she's going to die, at least let me kill her with my own hands. I'm quite surprised you don't plan to make a plan? Isn't that what you so-called 'captains' love to do most?"

"There's no need... that's not my style. Their attacks won't work on me, or is it that the lack of a plan is making you uneasy?"

Melutina retorted sarcastically without hesitation.

"Hahahaha, that's more like it, otherwise how could you be my partner?!"

A thousand tribulations of laughter,

"Go, Melutina! We only need to fight, we don't need plans!"

"...You don't need to tell me."

Melutina flapped her wings, and her massive body swooped down towards the base on the ground.