Honkai Impact 3rd: Yumeji Satsuki's lies

After explaining everything, Yumeji was still met with skeptical stares from the group. However, they unanimously agreed that they needed to get out of this place as quickly as possible due to the extremely high concentration of Honkai energy in the area.

At that moment, the group found themselves overwhelmed by the eerie surroundings.

A deep, bottomless abyss stretched out below, the atmosphere dark and bleak. Long, winding paths disappeared into the distance, flanked by the ruins of ancient Chinese-style cities. There was even what appeared to be a ghostly imperial capital.

If someone called this place the underworld, they'd likely all believe it without hesitation. As with any area with such dense Honkai energy, what awaited them was none other than enemies.

Countless Zombies began emerging from that ghostly capital. Hundreds of them, sprawling across nearly every path, made it feel as though they had stumbled into a labyrinth with no exit.

"Bronya has completed the calculations. Estimated enemy numbers: approximately 245,"

Bronya announced, deactivating her Honkai energy sensor after assessing the situation.

"245... so that's about 60 to 61 for each of us," I muttered, doing the math aloud. But someone quickly spoke up to correct me.

"No, it's 49 per person," said a voice that drew everyone's attention, especially Kiana's.

Hearing that firm, familiar tone right beside her, Kiana's face lit up with joy as she shouted,

"Aunt Himeko! You're awake!"

Himeko lifted herself off Kiana's shoulder and gave her a flick on the forehead.

"It's Himeko-sensei, not 'aunt,'" she corrected with a smirk.

"Ow!"

Kiana yelped, rubbing her forehead while pouting. But her lips betrayed the faintest hint of a smile, as if she was holding back laughter. It seemed Himeko's recovery brought her immense relief.

The tense atmosphere lightened as smiles broke across the group's faces. But they quickly steeled themselves again, preparing for the battle ahead.

Weapons were raised, and after a quick exchange of glances, the group charged forward like arrows, splitting into five attack formations to pierce through the horde of Zombies

The army was divided into four types: scythe-wielders, archers, ninjas with dual blades, and summoners.

The distribution was chaotic, with no discernible order, but the summoners typically stayed at the rear to bolster their forces. In other words, they were the priority targets and capable of ranged attacks as well.

There was only one person suited to dealing with them.

A barrage of enhanced firepower rained down across the battlefield, accurately targeting the enemy's rear lines.

The summoners tried to defend with shields and counterattacked by releasing Honkai beams, but a significant portion of them was wiped out by the bombardment.

Bronya, peering through her targeting system on the bunny mech, muttered,

"When it comes to ranged combat, Bronya won't lose."

"Nice one, Bronya!"

Himeko shouted, her fiery battle spirit igniting. She charged into the fray like a berserker unleashed.

Scythes came at her from all directions, but she parried them effortlessly with a simple sword block. She deflected the attacks, spun 180 degrees, and drove her massive blade deep into the chests of the Zombies, shattering their cores with each strike.

Kicking one of the enemies before her, she used its body as a springboard to launch herself into the air. Spinning like a whirlwind, she descended with devastating force, obliterating swaths of foes.

When archers released a hail of arrows at her, she grabbed a nearby Zombies and used it as a shield before launching it into the enemy's ranks, breaking their formation.

"Powerful" and "relentless" were the words that best described this red-haired warrior.

"Whoa! Aunt Himeko's on fire! Are you hyped up, Auntie?!" Kiana teased.

"Focus on the battle, Kiana,"

Mei interjected, reprimanding her teammate while readying her stance.

With a flash of her blade, Mei unleashed a series of rapid, crescent-shaped slashes that froze the movements of the Zombies.

As their motions slowed, their scythes were swiftly severed.

Slash! Slice!

In the blink of an eye, countless cuts rained down on the enemy, dismembering them. Once immobilized, Mei's finishing strikes decapitated them with precision, sending heads flying in a surreal spectacle.

Without pausing, Mei adjusted her breathing and propelled herself forward at high speed, delivering a storm of slashes that sent enemies plummeting to their doom.

When a volley of arrows from the archers filled the sky, she calmly sheathed her blade, controlling her breathing.

In an instant, she unsheathed her katana with blinding speed, slicing through the incoming arrows mid-flight.

But the ninja-type Zombies gave her no respite, rushing in to intercept her.

Mei responded by releasing another freezing slash, slowing their movements, then used a fallen enemy as a springboard to launch into aerial combat.

"Mei-senpai's on fire! I can't fall behind!"

Kiana exclaimed, steeling herself for the fight ahead.

****

The rhythm of battle filled Kiana with excitement as she charged headlong into the fray, her spirit ablaze.

Armed with her twin pistols, she was ready to put on a spectacular display when—

-Boom!!

An explosive attack tore through, accompanied by a powerful gust of wind that sent a large number of zombies sprawling dozens of meters away.

Just as she heard the sound of slicing wind, Yumeji leapt into the air, dashing past her with a playful smirk in his eyes.

"....."

With countless wind-slicing strikes, he cut down hordes of zombies, following up with close-range combat. The whirlwinds created by his blade deflected incoming arrows, allowing him to punch, kick, and slash at the zombies with impunity.

He closed in with a body slam, swept the legs out from a zombie with a low kick, and then grabbed its head for a knee strike directly to its face.

As he let it go, he launched into a spinning kick, sending the zombie flying to the side. Using his mastery of the winds, Yumeji enhanced his agility, enabling him to dodge and weave through enemy ranks, delivering precise and decisive blows with his fists and blade.

Against the ordinary zombies, this was sufficient. However, when dealing with ninjas, he resorted to underhanded tactics. The moment they approached, Yumeji threw a handful of sand into their faces.

As their vision was obscured, the sand clinging to them exploded, obliterating half their faces. Not stopping there, he slammed his sword into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and creating an air current to launch himself into the air. From above, he beheaded them one by one with a single, fluid motion.

Yumeji's skill in combat was unparalleled—almost too impressive. This infuriated Kiana to no end.

"That bastard is stealing my spotlight!"

Indeed, Yumeji was covering both offensive positions at once, his flashy moves making Kiana seem like a mere statue standing still.

Fixing her gaze forward, the flame of competition burned brightly in her eyes. She raised her foot high and slammed it down with force.

"Neko-Charm!"

Honkai energy coalesced into a massive cat paw that stomped down on the battlefield, causing a significant quake.

It landed right next to Yumeji, startling him enough to glance back briefly.

Immediately, Kiana launched herself forward, tearing through the battlefield with reckless abandon. She kicked zombies in the face and sent them flying while using her Neko-Charm to turn the battlefield into chaos.

-Bang!

When Kiana unleashed her twin pistols, electromagnetic rounds ripped through the air. Minor hits blew off zombie arms, while stronger shots tore through their torsos. Even the ninjas who blocked her shots with dual blades were paralyzed by the electric shocks, making them easy prey for her follow-up Neko-Charm strikes.

When zombies came at her with scythes, she bashed them in the face with her pistol, kicked them away, and finished them off with a point-blank electromagnetic shot.

Attacked from two sides, she leapt into the air, delivering a double kick to knock out one zombie, then blasted another with her Neko-Charm as it approached.

Kiana never stopped running. As she rushed past zombies, she flipped onto their backs and snapped their necks before moving on to the next.

Finally catching up to Yumeji, she kicked away a zombie in her path and charged forward with determination.

Yumeji, meanwhile, delivered precise sword strikes, each one taking down three to four zombies simultaneously. However, the intensity of battle was wearing him down, especially with his existing injuries. After cleaving a zombie in half, he found his head pressed down by a hand as a girl vaulted over him, using his back as leverage to kick another zombie away.

Out of breath, he looked up to see Kiana smirking back at him.

"I'm ahead of you now."

Yumeji shrugged, casually tossing a stone that flew past Kiana and exploded, blowing the head off a zombie.

"No, you're still a step behind me."

"Why you—!"

Seeing Yumeji rush forward without waiting, Kiana hastily gave chase.

"Get back here, you bastard! Stop getting in my way!"

As she pursued him, any zombies daring to block her were promptly kicked aside like trash. Yumeji, on his end, sliced through wave after wave of zombies without pause.

The two were locked in a race, neither willing to concede. All the while, they hurled insults at each other.

"I told you to stay put and watch! Why are you even following me, granny?"

"Excuse me?! Say that again! A sickly corpse like you with that pale face has no right to talk. Go take a nap—I've got this handled!"

Yumeji paused briefly to slice through another zombie before retorting.

"Who's sick and dying? I'm as strong as an ox!"

"Yeah? Then whose sword hand is shaking?"

"Why don't you look at yourself? You're sweating buckets! Out of energy already?"

"That's rich coming from you!"

Fuming, Kiana delivered a high kick with her Neko-Charm, sending a group of zombies flying into the air. Yumeji followed up with a wind blade, shredding them apart.

""And these damn zombies too! Can't you see we're trying to have a conversation?!"" both shouted simultaneously, before turning their attention back to the fight.

In perfect synchronicity, Yumeji stabbed his sword past Kiana to pierce the throat of a ninja zombie attempting to ambush her, while Kiana fired an electromagnetic shot that obliterated a summoner zombie aiming a Honkai blast at Yumeji.

"I didn't need your help; I could've handled that."

"That's my line."

Back-to-back, the two panted heavily.

Though trying to hide it, fatigue was quickly catching up with both of them.

"This horde just won't end! Got any fight left in you?"

"Haa… Don't worry, I'm not going down that easily."

Standing back-to-back, they faced the endless swarm of zombies encircling them. By now, they had taken down over 92 zombies, 49 of which were slain by the duo alone.

From afar, their comrades watched with mixed feelings.

Mei sighed inwardly.

"Those two may reconcile a dozen times, but it always ends up the same. Truly destined rivals."

Even so, she couldn't deny their incredible teamwork, so synchronized it was hard to believe they were constantly bickering.

'Their coordination is amazing. I'm a bit jealous.'

What Mei didn't realize was that, aside from Fu Hua, no one understood Yumeji's combat style better than Kiana—and vice versa. This deep understanding allowed them to push each other to their limits, creating an unparalleled synergy in battle.

Setting her thoughts aside, Mei readied her katana, prepared to join the fight.

Elsewhere, Bronya and Himeko had similar thoughts. They quickly cleared their respective zones to provide support.

Bronya unleashed a massive incendiary bombardment, incinerating dozens of zombies in an instant. Meanwhile, Himeko lowered her stance, her greatsword charged with amplified Honkai energy, its blade extending over 5 meters. With a few casual swings, she eradicated another large group of zombies.

Together, the group had eliminated 112 of the 245 zombies. Now regrouped, they devised a plan for an all-out attack to wipe out the remaining enemies in one decisive strike.

Once the plan was set, Mei drove her katana into the ground, releasing a massive wave of cold air that froze the battlefield and immobilized the zombies. Their feet trapped in ice, they were easy targets.

Yumeji then summoned a whirlwind, dispersing fine dust across the field. Isolating the air with precise wind manipulation, he created a closed environment conducive to a dust explosion. When the dust ignited, a chain reaction of explosions tore through the battlefield.

The heat generated by the blasts turned the ice into vapor, rising into the air. Kiana fired electromagnetic rounds into the sky, attracting the cold vapor into a vortex.

Yumeji threw a stone into the vortex, manipulating the surrounding winds. The resulting thermal pressure transformed the cold vapor into a cumulonimbus cloud, triggering an artificial storm.

The storm swept across the battlefield, pulling the remaining zombies into its vortex.

Bronya, having charged her energy, unleashed a devastating bombardment. The heat from her attack condensed the storm's energy into a 3-meter plasma sphere.

Himeko then leaped into the air, using her greatsword to hurl the plasma sphere forward. Everything in its path disintegrated into atomic particles.

In a single combined attack, the group obliterated the remaining zombies and cleared all threats within a 300-meter radius.

After the battle, the team regrouped to rest and prepare for the final showdown against Chiyou.