Honkai Impact 3rd: Catching the Herrscher of Sentience at the Start

Mei looked at Kiana, her face flushed, trying to push her away, but with her current strength, there was no way she could do it.

"Stupid Paramecium, just take care of yourself first." Bronya outside the door saw Mei's reluctant look, so she summoned Heavy Armor Bunny 19C to take Kiana away.

—————Back to the present timeline—————

"Hmm! Eating and drinking well, this is the life I, Kiana, want to live!" Kiana patted her belly, contentedly lying on Mei's lap.

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The three of them strolled leisurely along the path to the school, smiling at the passing Valkyries in greeting, but were soon stopped in their tracks.

Kiana instinctively wanted to step back at the sight of Fu Hua but was called out by Fu Hua.

"Kiana, the principal wants to see you in her office," Fu Hua said, adjusting her heavy glasses.

Upon hearing that it was her aunt calling for her, Kiana reluctantly pulled her two companions closer.

"The principal said you should go alone," Fu Hua added, casting an apologetic glance at Mei and Bronya.

With a sigh, Kiana bid farewell to Mei and Bronya, following Fu Hua down the hall.

When Fu Hua knocked on Theresa's office door, a sound of shattering glass echoed from inside.

"Wait a moment!" Theresa quickly tucked away her comic book into a drawer, accidentally knocking over a half-finished bitter melon juice that spilled onto the floor.

"Ah! My bitter melon juice!"

"Are you okay, Principal?" Fu Hua pushed the door open to check on Theresa upon hearing her exclamation.

"I'm fine, just accidentally knocked over a cup. I'll have Himeko clean it up later," Theresa said, trying to appear calm while internally lamenting the loss.

"Oh, I brought Kiana here. I'll take my leave now," Fu Hua said, turning to leave Kiana alone in the office.

"Aunt, did you call me for something?" Kiana asked, curiously eyeing the green puddle on the floor.

"Do you want to know where your father is right now?" Theresa set aside her troubles and asked Kiana seriously.

"I don't want to."

"Huh?" Theresa was taken aback, unsure of how to respond.

"Ahh, can you really tell me where my father is?" Kiana's mind caught up, and she quickly grabbed Theresa's shoulders, her heart racing with excitement at finally having a lead on her father.

"Of course, but you'll have to become an A-rank Valkyrie first."

"This is a piece of cake! Just watch, I'll pass the assessment within a month," Kiana declared, her determination ignited by Theresa's challenge.

"Then it's settled," Theresa replied, a smile creeping onto her face as she watched Kiana leave. Whether she could actually pass was still up to her to decide.

...

At this moment, the Herrscher of Sentience was calmly slurping noodles, while Fu Lin seemed a bit distracted, feeling like he had forgotten something important.

After some careful reflection, he remembered there were two pseudo-Herrscher candidates in Nagazora City, one of whom was quite the handful!

With a bit of luck, he might free Higokumaru and even get his hands on the Yae Sakura's Soul.

Thinking of this, Fu Lin yanked the still-eating Herrscher of Sentience along.

"I haven't finished my noodles yet!" Fu Shi complained, glancing at Fu Lin with a pout.

"Forget about the noodles! We can talk about them later in Nagazora City," Fu Lin said, excitement evident on his face.

"Deal!" The Herrscher of Sentience didn't hesitate, lifting Fu Lin as they flew toward Nagazora City.

"You two haven't paid for your noodles yet! Just because you can fly doesn't make you special!" the noodle shop owner shouted, waving his rolling pin as the two figures shrank into the distance.

Suspended in midair by the Herrscher of Sentience, Fu Lin looked down at the dilapidated Nagazora City and couldn't help but sigh.

The area, which Fu Lin had previously purified, was now again filled with a horde of Dead Soldiers and Honkai Beasts.

However, the Herrscher of Sentience sensed that there wasn't any strong concentration of Honkai Energy in the vicinity.

"Could it be that the pseudo-Herrscher Yuna hasn't shown up yet?" Fu Lin pondered for a moment but couldn't come up with any explanation. All he remembered was that, according to the comics, the rise of pseudo-Herrscher happened a few days after Kiana had entered St. Freya Academy, in Nagazora City, though he wasn't sure exactly how many days!

"However, the Honkai Energy is gathering towards Chiba Academy, but I can't pinpoint its exact location; it might be too weak to be sensed" the Herrscher of Sentience reminded.

"Let's check out Chiba Academy. The pseudo-Herrscher Yuna was found by Theresa there," Fu Lin decided.

As they entered the school, they saw the wandering Dead Soldiers. Fu Lin snapped his fingers, prompting the Herrscher of Sentience to take action without him needing to lift a finger.

Searching room by room, they quickly found a girl in a coma, entwined by plants, slowly absorbing the surrounding Honkai Energy.

'Indeed, the energy is weak; that's why the Herrscher of Sentience couldn't sense her' Fu Lin observed with an appreciative gaze at the girl bound by the plants.

As Fu Lin and the Herrscher of Sentience approached, the previously unconscious girl slowly opened her eyes, murmuring soft sounds from time to time, along with tears flowing from the corner of her eyes.

"Tsk, no wonder even Theresa had trouble," Fu Lin thought as he watched the girl's helpless state. If he hadn't read the comics, he might also have fallen for it.

Noticing Fu Lin not moving from his place, the girl couldn't help but command the nearby plants to attack him.

"Be careful; the plants are toxic," the Herrscher of Sentience warned, recalling their poisonous nature from Fu Lin's memories, and handed him a weapon.

"Thanks!" Fu Lin took the weapon and shattered the attacking plants with ease, then turned his attention back to the girl.

"Damn it! How could you find me so quickly?"

"I knew you were here to eliminate me."

"Why does misfortune always fall on me? My mother has always hated me; I get scolded for even the smallest of mistakes."

"My classmates have always distanced themselves from me and bullied me... just like you!"

As the girl expressed her grievances, the surrounding plants began to writhe, and the Honkai Energy surged.

"But those annoying people are all dead now, and I've gained power that surpasses everyone, so die!"

The pseudo-Herrscher summoned a mass of plants to encircle Fu Lin and attacked him, but he cut through them effortlessly.

I must... I must escape!

Seeing she couldn't deal with Fu Lin, the pseudo-Herrscher Yuna commanded the plants to hold him back and quickly jumped out the window to flee.

"I need more energy!" In a frenzied state, Yuna drove the plants into the bodies of nearby Dead Soldiers and Honkai Beasts, extracting the Honkai Energy within them.

As the nearby Dead Soldiers and Honkai Beasts disappeared, the crystals within the pseudo-Herrscher Yuna began to undergo transformation, coming one step closer to becoming a Herrscher.

However, her thirst for power only grew stronger, as the energy within the Honkai Beasts was insufficient for her transformation.

Fu Lin stood from a distance, watching silently, letting her find the black box buried deep underground that sealed the Herrscher of Corruption from the previous era.

After all, if the pseudo-Herrscher could absorb the Honkai Energy from the black box, she might truly become a Herrscher. This kind of energy was not something she would overlook; perhaps the entity within the "black box" thought the same.

Watching as the pseudo-Herrscher Yuna suddenly dashed toward a specific location, Fu Lin decisively followed behind.

Before long, he spotted a figure with cherry blossom-pink hair, azure eyes, dressed in a shoulder-baring shrine maiden outfit with a black underskirt, adorned with a sacred rope at her waist. She wore a plaid skirt, white thigh-high socks, and wooden sandals, with fox ears that had emerged from the corruption—Yae Sakura.

(Are those really fox ears? They look way too slender to be fox ears.)

"Here comes the woman who even dared to give Otto a green hat" Fu Lin thought, observing the standoff between the pseudo-Herrscher Yuna and Yae Sakura.

"It's time to make a move. Yae Sakura can't handle Yuna; let me down, Fu Shi!"

The Herrscher of Sentience followed Fu Lin's command and dropped him down, landing between the two creating a deep crater.

Seeing this, the Herrscher of Sentience mumbled to herself in the sky. "Oops! Looks like I didn't control my power well."