Honkai Impact 3rd: Yumeji Satsuki's lies

Kiana's POV

"Uh...uh..."

'My head hurts so much... What on earth just happened?'

Her body felt powerless, and her consciousness was incredibly hazy. She sensed that her surroundings were engulfed in darkness and emptiness.

As her awareness began to sink into the shadowy void, a faint sound pulled her back. At first, it was almost inaudible, but gradually it became clearer.

"Kiana..."

'Who's calling me?'

"Kiana..."

'That voice... Sister Mei? That's right, I...'

Just as her consciousness seemed to rise, like a bubble floating toward the surface, an abrupt and intense jolt forced her to awaken more quickly.

The jolt came close to her face, followed by a sharp sting shooting through her brain, bringing her fully awake.

But before she could fully regain her senses, another stinging blow landed from a different direction, making her let out a soft groan.

By this point, she was aware enough to realize where the pain was coming from and its source.

As she was about to get up, another strike landed on her face.

SMACK!

Indeed.

The pain she had been feeling all came from ruthless and relentless slaps delivered to her fresh, youthful face by someone utterly detestable.

As the filthy hand of the assailant prepared to deliver yet another slap, her brain quickly commanded her hand to move and block it.

WHACK!

"Oh, whoops, sorry! I've got two hands, you know."

Just when she thought she'd stopped the assault, another slap followed, smacking her face.

"That's six in total—aren't I considerate? Heh, heh~"

That scoundrel beamed a cheeky grin at her, his obnoxious face and the pain radiating from her slightly swollen cheeks igniting an intense fury within her. Her anger rose to the point where she felt like she was seeing stars.

Enraged, she sprang to her feet and lunged at him for revenge, shouting:

"You disgusting horse-nosed jerk!!"

"Whoa, whoa! I'm so scared~~"

He laughed mischievously and spread his arms wide, daring her to attack.

'Oh, so you've chosen death, huh?!'

She completely lost her temper and prepared to charge at him, determined to fight, but just as she made it halfway, she was stopped.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me at him, Sister Mei, I'll make him pay!!"

Indeed, just before she could unleash her barrage of punches on him, Mei had intercepted her with a grappling move.

"Calm down, Kiana. This isn't the time for this. And you, Yumeji, don't take your jokes too far!"

Kiana glared at the guy, who simply shrugged and smirked. Clearly, he had no intention of apologizing.

But she was helpless under Mei's restraint. If it weren't for the fact that she owed him a favor, she definitely wouldn't be tolerating this humiliation.

Damn it!

****

These people really know how to play their roles.

In fact, everyone had a hand in those six slaps. If I remember correctly, Bronya was the first to start this game.

She slapped and pinched Kiana's nose, then encouraged Mei to join in. At first, Mei hesitated but eventually gave Kiana a light slap.

When it was my turn, I went all out and slapped Kiana four times—two on each cheek, with a bit more force.

Why did I do that, you ask? Payback for what happened on the ship earlier, of course! Honestly, I'm feeling pretty satisfied right now. Hehehe~

Back to the main point: this little game was Bronya's idea to lighten the tense atmosphere we've been dealing with.

And I swear, I saw Bronya discreetly snapping pictures of Kiana's red, swollen face with the tiny camera on her suit.

Yet she managed to act like nothing happened as she continued scouting the area. Unreal.

With her deadpan expression, she's practically the god of poker faces.

Alright, enough chatter. If I recall correctly, we're currently inside Chiyou's stomach.

Sounds gross, right? But in reality, what should've been the creature's stomach turned out to be an enormous space that felt strangely out of place.

Based on the game, I think Chiyou's stomach contains a microdimension not entirely separate from the outside world.

As for why, I have no clue.

Just as I was pondering this, Kiana—sulking in the corner and nursing her sore cheeks—started taking in her surroundings and looked confused.

"What kind of weird place is this now?"

In response, Mei also scanned the area, assessing the situation.

"If I'm not mistaken, just now, a giant Honkai beast emerged from the sea... Wait a minute, could this place be...!?"

As Mei began to grow tense upon realizing the situation, a golden light appeared before us again. Unlike the corrupted glow from earlier, this one felt pure, though tinged with melancholy.

The figure who emerged from that light was the same girl in the ochre dress we had seen moments ago.

While everyone else expressed their surprise and speculated about the girl's identity, I silently took a few steps back to observe the situation.

I narrowed my eyes at the girl in the ochre dress—no, at the spirit of Queen Xuan Yuan—while feeling an inexplicable sense of unease.

"....."

I raised a hand to cover one of my eyes, a contemplative expression crossing my face.

'So that's how it is...'

My turquoise blue eyes seemed to grasp the strange sensation that had been gnawing at me all this time.

Several hypotheses ran through my mind, but I quickly shook my head, dismissing them as too far-fetched.

'Maybe I'm just overthinking things?'

**********

While Yumeji was busy analyzing the situation and overcomplicating things with countless bizarre hypotheses running through his head, the others, including Kiana, were beginning to focus on the girl floating before them.

The spirit of Queen Xuan Yuan hovered midair, her sorrowful gaze resting on the young warriors before her. Amid their astonishment, she began to speak in a voice that was both pure and tinged with melancholy.

"Young warriors, the place you now stand is inside Chiyou. I apologize for dragging you into a battle that should have been mine to bear. Now, I will entrust what remains of my strength to you..."

As her words trailed off, the image of the Xuanyuan sword dissolved into four small beams of light, granting power to the four youths before her.

The radiance of the Xuanyuan sword dispersed in all directions, gifting each of the young warriors strength to address their shortcomings.

"Please, seal Chiyou for me, once and for all."

Having said her piece, the queen's gaze swept over the faces of those she had entrusted with this great responsibility. These young women were undoubtedly remarkable, but when her eyes fell on the last of them, she seemed slightly startled, even moved.

For a long moment, she stared at the boy among them, her expression carrying a hint of nostalgia as if she were looking at someone familiar.

Gracefully bypassing the girls, the spirit of Queen Xuanyuan floated closer to examine the boy's face.

The boy—no, Yumeji—though still burdened by unanswered questions, locked eyes with the queen's spirit and raised a thumbs-up.

Being an ancient spirit from a bygone era, Queen Xuan Yuan didn't quite grasp the meaning of his gesture, but for some reason, it brought her a peculiar sense of reassurance. She chuckled softly, her smile warm, before flitting between the young warriors like a bird, leaving them with one final message before fading into the void.

"The rest is in your hands, warriors of the new age."

Her words left the group momentarily stunned, frozen by the weight of her departure, until Kiana blurted out, breaking the silence.

"What just happened? And who was that girl anyway? A hologram?"

Still wide-eyed and reeling from the strange chain of events, Kiana darted her gaze around, unable to process it all. Something felt off, though—something was missing. She looked around, sensing an absence, but before her brain could catch up, Bronya's calm voice captured her attention.

"Hologram? No. Based on Bronya's analysis, that girl was far too real to be a three-dimensional projection. While I cannot confirm due to insufficient time for observation, it would be more logical to call her a ghost."

Bronya's explanation made Kiana jump, her voice rising in alarm.

"What!? A ghost!?"

To put it bluntly, Kiana wasn't afraid of much—be it opponents in battle or impossible odds, she'd either fight or flee without hesitation. But ghosts? That was another story entirely. You can't fight them, you can't outrun them, and they can curse you—what's more terrifying than that!?

Kiana shuddered at the thought, prompting Mei to speak up in an effort to calm her down.

"Relax, Kiana. I don't know if she was a ghost or a divine being, but I'm certain she didn't mean us any harm. And if you'd paid attention, you'd notice that when that golden light passed over us, our weapons changed."

Kiana quickly pulled out her dual pistols.

"You're right! Their appearance has completely changed, and the energy inside feels incredibly powerful."

She inspected her new weapons with fascination. Since they now carried a fragment of the Xuanyuan Sword's power, perhaps she should call them the Xuanyuan Twin Guns?

The golden carvings and violet gems embedded in the pistols gave them an otherworldly and mysterious elegance, bringing a delighted smile to her face.

"Let's see, let's see... This energy is electrical, isn't it? A lightning-enhanced weapon? Amazing!"

Kiana's excitement stemmed from the fact that lightning was tied to Mei, someone she adored deeply.

As for the spirit they had just encountered, none of the girls said a word but collectively turned their gazes toward Yumeji.

Honestly, unless they were blind, they couldn't have missed how the spirit had acted unusually upon seeing him.

Yumeji, the boy now under the scrutiny of all the girls, simply shrugged and shook his head. Though he remained tight-lipped, his mind was already forming a hypothesis—one he found ridiculous yet impossible to ignore.

Lost in his thoughts, he absentmindedly touched the sword in his hand, which had been imbued with wind attributes. Its aquamarine core gem, golden accents, and hilt now bathed in a golden hue were noticeable changes brought by the infusion of the Xuanyuan Sword's power.

He glanced at the wounds on his body that were gradually healing and sighed in mild annoyance. Accelerating his recovery came at a cost, as it essentially burned away a few years of his lifespan—a price he preferred to avoid paying whenever possible.

Shaking off those thoughts, his gaze shifted to Himeko, who was still unconscious. Judging by her breathing, she'd likely wake up in another 10-15 minutes.

At that moment, Kiana suddenly cried out.

"Wait! The class rep is gone!"

'Looks like their brains are finally back online,' Yumeji thought with a hint of exasperation.

To prevent further chaos, he stepped forward and began explaining the situation.

*************

Fu Hua's PoV

Back to the moment Chiyou descended into the world, everyone was shocked.

Fu Hua was no exception, she was staring intently at the giant monster, its appearance caused a tsunami tens of meters high, just as she was seriously preparing to strike a punch to break the wave...

Swoosh!

A red flash of light suddenly appeared, and instantly her body was lifted up and thrown 3 nautical miles (~5.5 km) away.

Her body shot out at high speed, and it was estimated that she was flying a flight that exceeded the speed of sound, to be exact, about Mach 3 or more.

Normally, she would have to endure a huge G-force that was enough to crush a normal person to the level of a piece of meat salad in a hamburger, despite Fu Hua's superhuman body, this impact was still very terrifying.

It's no exaggeration to say that she was like a cannonball that had just been fired.

-Boom!!

As soon as it hit the water, the shockwave caused a column of water to shoot straight up.

And caused a relatively deafening explosion.

So was she safe? The surprising answer was yes.

Was her body that amazing? If Fu Hua were asked this, she would quickly deny it.

In fact, during the entire flight, she was protected by a layer of red Aura, which burned the air to slow down, had to slow down

This Aura acted like the shell of a spaceship, it kept her almost absolutely safe after that deadly flight

Shortly after sinking nearly ten meters under the sea, Fu Hua finally surfaced and swam back to shore.

After reaching shore, she looked at the work of the Honkai Chiyou beast.

A large rock had been crushed, leaving giant teeth marks on the remains.

Glancing around, she noticed that both the enemy and her group had disappeared.

Just by looking, she quickly understood the situation.

She brushed her wet hair back and looked at Chiyou. Her eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.

"What an impolite disciple."

After muttering, she dived into the water again and swam towards Chiyou.

With a speed like a torpedo, Fu Hua headed towards Chiyou to start a fight to force it to spit out the people inside.

And of course, she didn't forget to report the situation through the communication device on her ear.