Cultivating in Honkai!

Otto Apocalypse has a tight schedule.

The second eruption thirteen years ago dealt a devastating blow to Schicksal. Their strongest valkyrie, Cecilia Schariac, died. A number of A Rank Valkyries also died. It created a power vacuum in which Schicksal's forces got stretched thinly.

It gradually stabilized from the emergence of the prospective S Rank Valkyrie, Theresa Apocalypse. Though she declined the said rank, her prestige is on-par with the past S Rank Valkyries.

Now, there is also the prototype of the Immortal Blades led by the potential S Rank Valkyries, Bianka Ataegina and Rita Rossweisse.

After the duo returned from their "adventure", they swiftly cleared one missions after another, thus reaching the S Rank status.

All of these are contributed by Schicksal's current overseer, Otto Apocalypse.

"What a pie in the sky."

He could not help but smile. He had just finished yet another run of Kallen Fantasy VIII. He is still short of defeating Cecilia's legendary record.

"I did not have to do anything. She defeated the Second Herrscher on her own."

Otto did his research in the past year. The strange honkai eruptions caught his eyes.

First, England.

Second, Siberia.

Third, Shenzhou.

The appearance of Kiana Kaslana in Shenzhou while the third incident occurred is enough to spark suspicion. A simple backtracking revealed that she is in every place where it happened.

Over the course of this year, this phenomenon happened more consistently. At some places, he did not see anything strange. At some, there are strange warped spaces.

That was when it dawned on him:

Kiana has control over her Second Herrscher Core.

The extent of this statement is still questionable. Nevertheless, it is a very pleasant surprise for Otto.

He relaxed the surveillance over Kiana since Siegfried brought her out. He did not meddle with her nor Siegfried's movements.

Otto is self-aware of his lacking information. Project Sirin began with the notion of using the Imaginary Tree to further his plans.

For that, he must get the Second Divine Key of the Previous Era. Bianka's adventure and Kiana's journey occurred alongside his search for it. When the time is right, that is when he would strike.

Knowing when to interfere is one of Otto Apocalypse's talents.

"Chiyou. The strange spatial distortions. The foreign power found in the cities."

He did not dislike the appearance of new possibilities.

After all…

It will contribute to fulfilling his greatest wish.

*****

The Chiyou escapade ended peacefully. The honkai beasts that spawned around are dealt with my [Life Extending Heavy Water].

In a sense, it is saving lives by killing honkai beasts.

Kiana brought me to a house in America. It is two cities away from Salt Lake City.

Looking at the two-storey modern house, I saw semblances of my previous world's architecture.

Kiana did not speak along the way.

I know this is the day of reckoning.

I have a lot of things to tell… to explain.

My attention is drawn to her unstyled hair. She does not have her braids. She looks good in it.

My thoughts are filled with all sorts of random stuff. It ended when she offered me a seat in the living room.

A sense of unease and heaviness spread all over the place… literally. It was further strengthened by Kiana's relentless gaze on me.

High-level cultivators can change their surroundings based on their mental state. The hug from before is an example. Both her physical strength and mental state got reflected in the real world.

…

I swallowed my saliva. My mind worked fast on how to explain things.

Just then, she spoke first.

"Sorry. It's my fault."

I let her continue.

"I caused trouble… and almost killed you."

Her solemn, borderline pensive look is a far cry from the Tuna I knew.

"It's partly your fault. I have a part in it." I said. "I… haven't told you very important things."

"Hm..?"

"I knew… this would happen."

I came up with this.

Instead of letting Kiana take all the blame, I should take mine, too.

"I felt an impending disaster solely for me. I let you proceed with your breakthrough so that I can help you before it strikes. Everything that happened next is my own catastrophe."

I want to make sure she will not feel guilty about it.

"I did not tell you. I also have a part in it."

I uttered my final words.

"Sorry."

Kiana did not speak until a minute later.

"You are not consoling me, are you?"

"No."

I shook my head.

Her eyes did not move away from mine. I can see her seriousness from the heavy pressure around the living room alone. I can disperse Kiana's subconscious act but choose not to.

"I am uber smart now. You really can't trick me."

To my surprise, she began to cite the things she had learned.

She finished it off with one statement.

"Mister Yang told me I can be a top scorer at universities!"

"..."

Damn.

Immortal Cultivation is one hell of a hack.

Never had I expected to return with this Tuna having university-level knowledge.

I saw through her wanting to break this serious atmosphere. She wanted to test me and break this depressing atmosphere around us.

"So, what happened to you? Your bloodstains and ring had me worried!"

"I wanted to move away from you because…"

A small amount of honkai energy is mobilized. A block of ice emerged out of thin air.

"...I turned into a Herrscher."

The long story-time began.

*****

'God has chosen the wrong person.'

Sirin is trapped and powerless inside the Second Herrscher Core. The film of aurora constricting her cut off any chances of controlling Kiana's body. It also cut off her connection with the Herrscher Core.

This open spot was instinctively taken advantage of by Kiana, hence her full control of the Second Herrscher Core.

All she can do inside is to watch the world with Kiana's senses.

Sirin's senses, in a sense, have a one-way connection with Kiana's body. Kiana's senses are passed to her, but her senses are isolated from Kiana.

Prior to the [Sword Light Refraction], Sirin saw the world like this. She can actively choose when to compete for the body's control. Therefore, she was used to it.

'That boy…'

Kiana is unconscious during Shi Tian's incident, but not Sirin. She saw and felt the two opposite powers inside him.

Shi Tian himself is like a container. The cultivator's mental power and IX's mental pollution is stored in a small box, and then placed inside the container.

What Honkai did was to destroy the box and cause everything to leak to the container.

As the person beside him, Sirin was scared by these two powers. They are just as terrifying and boundless as god.

It did not just scare her. It shook her faith in the Honkai God (Will of Honkai).

A year later, the boy returned. He no longer gave off that terrifying feeling. He did become stronger, however.

What's more, he bore the gifts of Honkai and turned into a Herrscher, one that supports humanity.

Sirin is numbed by these events.

Every bad thing turned to good with Shi Tian around.

She thought of Kiana… K-423, another ego born from her will. Her experiences up to now doused her in cold water. It gave her time to mull over things.

Contrary to Sirin's life, Kiana lived well. At least up to now. She experienced all the happy things Sirin could never reach. Every good thing in this life went to Kiana. Only Sirin remained stuck in her past, burning in vengeance towards the one man that destroyed her everything.

Soon, Sirin came to realize one thing:

'Have I… fulfilled my wish?'