Honkai Impact 3rd: The Girl Who Chases the Flame

Nino looked up and gazed into the distance, towards Australia.

"My student days were full of lies, but actually... I don't hate this world that much."

Even if you have to live this way, as long as there are always some people who are there for you, the world isn't so bad.

Her words were somewhat repetitive and not particularly eloquent, which was quite unusual for Nino, who was usually very articulate.

"In high school, I met a girl who did something brave. She was very pretty and brave. The boy next to her was funny, but he was also a good person."

Nino suddenly smiled and continued,

"Actually, the time I met her, I was there to do a good deed... Isn't that hard to imagine?"

"……Yes."

Qian Jie answered briefly, then hesitated for a moment before adding a sentence to show he wasn't just giving a perfunctory answer.

"It's hard to imagine."

"Yeah, but back then, there was this girl who thought she was my friend, crying and crying, saying she was being bullied and that she was so sad..."

Nino couldn't even remember what the girl looked like, only that she was crying.

"I was so annoyed, and in a fit of anger, I climbed over the wall to get revenge for her. Later, the credit went to that brave girl, though I didn't really care..."

However, the girl who claimed to be my friend had an expression that was even more terrifying than those thugs when she heard that the group was arrested. She said they deserved to die a horrible death and were utterly depraved... I won't go into anything more nasty than that.

I actually wish she had said those things before those thugs were arrested; it would have looked more respectable that way.

"Humans are inherently fickle, and the weak who lack ability can only mock and curse."

Qianjie nodded, not surprised.

"This is what everyone looks like behind their mask."

Nino gave a mocking look.

"It's not beautiful at all, is it?"

"Scumbags are everywhere."

Qianjie snorted coldly.

"But there are still good people in this world, and shouldn't good people be rewarded?"

Nino said quietly,

"At least one good thing... good people should be rewarded. But that's not realistic. I studied law and worked as a freelance journalist. I've met many good people, more than you can imagine, but their endings were all tragic."

There's an old saying that goes, "The good are wronged to death, the thief is laughed at." A heart of gold, yet living in a world of filth.

"Everything you said is right."

"The person who brought me to the beach, you call her the Seventh Herrscher."

Nino turned around and looked at Qianjie.

"The girl who acted bravely, you call her the Ninth Herrscher. The boy who was with her was killed by her own hands."

"...It's them."

Qianjie remained silent for a long time before replying in a muffled voice.

"And the person you see now is—the Tenth Herrscher himself."

Nino said, enunciating each word clearly.

"Qianjie, all the tragedies you see in this world are caused by me. I am not them, I am not a good person. I am worse than any bad person in the world. I control them, deceive them, and enslave them."

After their deaths, I will draw upon their power and use it for my own purposes. I made Klein betray her beloved Möbius, I made Immel betray you, and I made John betray the Moth of Flame.

I took away their most important things, one by one.

"..."

“You win, Qianjie. Kill me, and this farce will be over.”

Nino looked at him calmly, opened his arms, and offered no resistance.

"Are you finished speaking?"

However, Qianjie simply said it calmly.

Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Song of the Actor Nino II

"Are you finished speaking?"

After listening to Nino's long-winded explanation, Qianjie pursed his lips and asked this question.

"...That's all."

Nino froze on the spot; she hadn't expected this reaction.

"In other words, nobody knows you're the mastermind behind it all."

Qianjie said calmly.

"you……"

Nino was stunned. After a long pause, she managed to stammer out a sentence.

"So it was idealism all along?"

"Huh? What's that thing?"

Qianjie snorted coldly, walked up to Nino, flipped her over, and carried her on his shoulder like a cat.

"What...what do you want to do? You...a man, men and women shouldn't touch each other!"

Nino felt the world turn upside down and was immediately dumbfounded.

"Get out of here now... but you won't leave even if I say that, so I'll take you with me."

Qianjie curled his lip.

"You...do you know what you're saying?! I'm a Herrscher, I'm a Herrscher! Are you insane?!"

Nino struggled fiercely, but her strength was no match for Qianjie.

"I'm not crazy, I'm perfectly sober this time."

Qianjie snorted coldly.

"You have no idea about the situation of the Thousand Herrschers. There are very few people you can control on your own. Otherwise, with your skills, you wouldn't have been able to develop it to this point."

"you……"

"You want to take advantage of the fact that the thousand Herrschers are all dead to launch an attack on Mei and the others, but you know that place is the deepest part. Even if you kill Mei, you can't win."

Qianjie said coldly,

“You don’t care about me; you care about the so-called ‘good people’ in the world in your own eyes. The moment you saw that the final result would be the lifting of the deepest restrictions, you abandoned the plan yourself… I was just an object you used.”

"You...you really are Qianjie?"

Nino noticed that the man in front of him had suddenly calmed down. In his mind, this man was more like a child, carefree and reckless.

"You think I really can't tell you're going easy on me during the game?! You hateful woman!"

Qianjie let out an irritated sound and continued speaking.

"You are the most skillful actor; you've fooled yourself... You are not worthy of being called an enemy of humanity. How could an enemy of humanity possibly speak so eloquently about the kindness of others?"

You are innocent. You're just a little girl so immersed in your role that you've even fooled yourself, yet you've portrayed yourself as the mastermind behind everything.

"I am the mastermind!"

Nino struggled and roared. If the Herrscher she had seen a thousand kalpas ago was a lion, then she was nothing more than an enraged kitten.

"Qian Jie! Don't you understand?! I gathered a thousand people! I chose them! If you don't kill me, this drama won't end! Humanity will surely perish!"

"Huh? Without you, there would be no Tenth Herrscher?!"

Qianjie loudly questioned,

"Even an idiot like me understands this! A thousand people would be born regardless of whether you're there or not! You're just the unlucky one who was chosen!"

"me……"

Nino got stuck.

"You want to cry out, don't you?! You're furious, aren't you?! Your anger, your doubt, your despair..."

Qianjie took a deep breath and roared loudly.

"Which one is for yourself?! You stupid woman! You've been lecturing me for so long!"

Isn't it all about your benefactors?! What selfish and self-serving law enforcer would constantly talk about other people's misfortunes?!

She claims to be a Herrscher who destroys humanity, so why does she fight for the dead?! This isn't how a villain lives!

"I...I...you and I..."

"Shut up! You liar! You even lie to yourself!"

The wrath of a thousand calamities had reached its peak.

"What madman, what villain, what Herrscher... You dare call yourself a Herrscher?! At least if you call yourself a Herrscher, think about yourself a little more, okay? Huh? What are you so self-satisfied about?!"

"I...I...I...Waaaaa..."

Nino held back for a long time, unable to say a word, and suddenly burst into tears.

She suddenly felt very wronged because she realized that she had actually said she couldn't overcome a thousand tribulations.

"Why...why are you crying?! Shut up!"

Now it was Qianjie's turn to freeze.

"Shut up, why are you crying?"

"You...you're being unreasonable!"

Upon hearing this, Nino not only didn't stop, but cried even louder.

"Me? You mean me..."