Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

—The twelfth, Gretchen of the Stars

"People always lack luck at crucial moments. If only I could share my luck with others... But in the end, I might lack luck myself. Thinking about it this way makes me feel much better."

—The thirteenth, Padofilis of the Empty Dream

...

This is the story of thirteen people who failed to become heroes; none of them became the heroes the world expected of them.

But each and every one of them is a true hero.

………………

The hidden story behind the Remembrance Plate made me cry. This is just a feeling I had to express, sob sob sob (╥ω╥`)

Chapter Twenty-One: Padofilis

"This is Salome. The monitoring and automatic positioning missiles are in place."

"This is Lewis. The trigger bombs for the Emperor-class Honkai Beasts are in place."

"This is Lixue. The infrared sensor and infrared cutter are in place."

"This is Su, Susana. The heat sensor and automatic machine gun are in position."

"Received. This is Adam. To reiterate, the enemy is very likely an extremist. Safety first. Initiate all trigger attacks as soon as the enemy shows hostility."

"Li Xue received it, but Vice Captain Adam, are you sure this is a safety priority?"

"This is Adam, so of course our safety is our priority."

"Susana received. Vice-captain, you're becoming more and more like the captain..."

"Lewis received. I brought half a warehouse full of bombs. If that's not enough, you can get more."

“Salome received. Lewis, please don’t talk about it like it’s a drink refill. We are a legitimate organization, not terrorists.”

“This is Lewis Salome. We’re obviously a bit more extreme than terrorists.”

…………

Midnight

Dusk Street

"Wow, that boss was really generous, he gave me so much money! Are those things really that valuable?"

A girl with bangs almost completely covering her eyes walked down the street, happily counting her money.

"Those dark, murky things actually have such a market, hehe, am I going to strike it rich?!"

"Da, da, da."

Suddenly, the girl's ears twitched as she looked into the darkness ahead.

There are no lights on this street, so for people who walk around this area year-round, hearing is the most important way to find their way.

"Footsteps, footsteps? They're walking so in such unison..."

It was probably the sound of high heels, but compared to the sounds girls used to hear, this sound was too light and rhythmic.

Based on her intuition and experience, the girl understood that this was a very light person who was used to walking silently. The overly rhythmic footsteps indicated that the person was an extremely calm person.

But this creates a contradiction: if she's used to not making a sound, why would she wear high heels?

"Da, da, da."

Crisp, yet sharp.

Before she even saw the person, the girl wanted to run away, but her intuition told her that if she dared to turn her back on this person, she would die a terrible death.

They came for her!

Although the girl was trembling, she was quite certain of this, even though she desperately hoped the other person was just passing by.

A purple flash of lightning appeared in the darkness, illuminating the newcomer—

A black girl, with black hair, black pupils, and black horns.

As the girl expected, she was indeed wearing high heels. Although she was dressed like a trendy girl on the street, her aura was like that of a vengeful grim reaper.

The evidence was the gun, crackling with purple electricity, that she held in her right hand.

His overly cold gaze and the crackling of the gun in his hand amplified the sense of oppression the girl felt to the extreme.

And her first words—

"Okay...okay...okay..."

"Okay? I heard there was a trade in Soul Steel around here, so I came to check it out. Looks like it's you. You said okay? Interesting, this is the first time I've heard someone say okay to me."

Melutina slowly raised the Divine Key in her hand and aimed it at the girl.

"Hero, spare my life!"

The girl finally managed to utter the second half of her sentence, and then almost without hesitation, she prostrated herself in worship.

"..."

The lightning suddenly stopped, and then Melutina looked utterly astonished.

"...Huh?"

"Have mercy, sister! I really don't know anything. I'm a law-abiding citizen... At most, I might steal a few things to sell, I'm not a bad person..."

The girl clung to Melutina's leg with teary eyes, looking utterly pathetic.

"..."

That's true...

I don't know how to do anything with Melutina.

.........

"This is Lewis... Vice Captain, what's going on?"

"This is Adam. Um, the original plan was to break one of their arms as long as they didn't immediately kneel down and beg for mercy..."

"This is Salome... but she's really kneeling down begging for mercy..."

"This is Su, Susana. We, have we made a mistake? Should we remove the weapons first... This doesn't seem like the legendary boss at all."

“This is Ritsuki… I think Susana is right.”

"This is Adam, permission is granted."

.........

A moment later, to the girl's astonishment, five people emerged from the darkness and pulled out all sorts of dangerous-looking things from the ground, houses, and bushes.

She also saw what appeared to be missiles and machine guns inside...

The most outrageous thing was that a strong, dark-skinned woman dug several kilograms of bombs out of the ground near her.

"Wait, Lewis, you guys go first, don't remove the bomb yet."

Melutina waved her hand.

"Yes."

Lewis nodded and went to help Susana move the machine gun.

Melutina sat on the bomb to the shocked look of the girl with bangs, crossed her legs, and used her shoe to lift the girl's chin.

"Name."

“Pa, Papa…”

The girl started stuttering again.

"Don't be afraid, this won't explode. Of course, it depends on whether you cooperate or not."

Melutina said calmly.

"I...I...my name is Padofilis."

"I can't believe it," said Dalphilis honestly.

"Hmm, very good. Are you a local from Twilight Street?"

"Yes, it is."

"Profession?"

"No, no job..."

"kindness?"

"Really, really! I don't have a formal job! I just follow the cats around to find some canned food... steal things to sell, help people find things, etc... just to make a living."

"……ha."

Melutina sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"So, you stole those soul steels?"

"Soul Steel? Is that thing called Soul Steel?"

Padophilia instantly understood why, and she was filled with deep regret.

"Big sister, those are your things... If I had known they were yours, I wouldn't have dared to steal them... I... I was blind, I'll never do it again... Please forgive me, you are so kind."

"You want a next time?"

Melutina raised an eyebrow.

"No, I wouldn't dare! There will absolutely be no next time!"

"May I ask you this: how did you manage to steal such a large quantity of soul steel?"

"Well, that's right. Someone wanted this thing, so I secretly smuggled it over little by little when the delivery people weren't looking."

"Okay, I shouldn't have trusted those good-for-nothings' business acumen... What's up with the boss? I heard there's a mysterious boss around here."

"That, that..."