Honkai: Star Rail — Kamen Rider!

A searing white curtain of light burst open before their eyes, stealing away every trace of vision.

Every sensor on the ship was rendered useless in the face of such an overwhelming surge of energy.

At the very front, even the ship's outer shield cracked in an instant under the violent shockwave.

The hull began to melt in places, molten iron dripping from the sky like dark raindrops.

[Warning: Ultra-high-energy explosion detected ahead. Please take evasive action.]

The alarm blared without pause, the voice of the ship's AI hammering into their ears, tightening every heart aboard.

Everyone strained to see what was happening beyond that blinding curtain—

Because whatever lay beyond decided whether they still had a chance to live…

and whether they could ever leave this cursed planet.

But now, sight and sound alike had been stolen from them. They could not tell what was unfolding ahead.

Even peeking through the cracks between their fingers yielded nothing but pure, suffocating white.

In the crowd, Yingzhu had her eyes tightly shut—when she suddenly felt a light tap on her shoulder.

"Sorry. From here on… you take these ordinary folk and get them off this place."

The words at her ear instantly brought to mind the man she had been secretly watching, studying, these past days.

She tried to turn to see him—only for the glare from outside to stab at her eyes.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

Some kind of shattering sound rippled through the air. And then—

The sound they had been praying for, the breaking of that barrier, finally rang out.

It took a long time before people dared to open their eyes.

And what met them… was darkness.

The moment they saw that darkness, everyone on deck rushed together, cheering, clinging to one another.

Because speckled across that dark expanse were scattered points of starlight—

A sight they had never missed so desperately in their lives.

Those distant stars meant one thing:

They had finally escaped that damned planet.

"Wuhu! We're out—we're really out!"

"Unbelievable… we actually pulled it off!"

"This ridiculous plan actually worked—this is insane!"

Joy boiled over everywhere. Yingzhu, once she caught her breath, began scanning the crowd for that man.

But no matter how she searched, left and right, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Robin-san… did you see Hoshigaki Sora?" Yingzhu asked the woman at her side.

Robin's expression held a trace of exasperation.

"As I thought… this guy again."

Of course Sora had a way to slip off the ship. And chances were… he was already gone.

"Did he tell you anything before he left?"

Yingzhu couldn't understand why Robin was so calm. By rights, with Sora missing, shouldn't she be worried?

Still, since Robin had asked, she repeated the words she had just heard.

Robin only sighed inwardly. Yep. Exactly the kind of thing he'd do.

Before, and now again—always disappearing without a sound.

"Just do as he said…"

Yingzhu blinked, not quite believing. "Shouldn't we be turning back right now?"

"And bring all these civilians on the ship back with you?"

Robin looked straight at her. "If Sora was still here just now, it was probably because he was worried you wouldn't be able to break that curtain."

"Now that it's open, he's satisfied. That's why he left."

"But—" Yingzhu began, only to fall silent under Robin's gaze.

That look carried a feeling so simple, so clear, it needed no words:

Trust him.

Trust? Easy to say. Hard to do.

Yingzhu took a deep breath, then began coordinating with the other ships to guide them through the breach and outward.

At the same time, she sent another message on a separate channel.

And so, hundreds of ships carrying over twenty thousand survivors began their slow, steady flight away from the planet.

Except… one tiny craft, barely able to hold a few dozen, quietly broke formation—turning back toward the planet below.

---

Shing!

Sparks leapt and scattered in front of Sora. The dark green glow on his blade showed no sign of fading.

Before him, the nearly solid barrier had already been cut open by the smallest of slits.

Normally, such a thing might not be much.

In the galaxy, weapons that could cut through energy weren't exactly rare.

But if you added one word to that—

Aeon energy—

Then everyone would suddenly find themselves at a loss, unable even to imagine how it could be done.

An extra character. The difficulty, though, shot straight through the sky.

It was a question to which almost no one living had an answer.

Breaking an Aeon's creations? That was still within the realm of possibility.

After all, Qlipoth's crystal marrow was a wildly sought-after commodity across the universe.

But if you asked someone to dismantle Qlipoth's power itself—

Even the brightest minds of the Intelligentsia Guild would only give you vague theories, never a concrete method.

That was the oldest Preservation Aeon, after all—whose contact with sapient life stretched far beyond the Amber Era itself.

And still, no civilization had found a truly effective way to divide an Aeon's power.

Yet here, on a planet where an Aeon of Divination was about to be born—

It was happening.

True, Titanironia was still an unawakened larva, not yet having walked the path to godhood.

But difference in divinity meant difference in impact.

Even among those who walked the Destruction path, the havoc a Nameless one could wreak compared to a Emanator… was like earth to heaven.

An Aeon, no matter how weak, was still an Aeon.

Not something ordinary beings could simply take a swing at.

And yet, here it was—enough to shake anyone's worldview.

An Aeon's defense being physically cut apart… and not by accident.

Even now, Sora kept widening that breach, bit by bit.

Clad in black, he faced the white-and-gold-marked Titanironia.

Between them, the tip of his blade inched steadily forward through the opening, closing in on her.

You've been playing me all this time. Don't you dare flinch now.

His expression was set, his movements deliberate.

Then, from behind him came a flurry of whooshing sounds.

He could hear them clearly: in the span of a breath, at least a dozen units were attacking him simultaneously.

And every strike aimed for his vital points.

Obviously, the copy-army he had cut down earlier was back again, this time in even greater numbers.

Under the influence of the Propagation Aeon's power, their regeneration and replication speed had already far surpassed anything normal.

In moments, they could grow from a sprout into a complete human body, organs and all.

Running, leaping, breathing, working—everything a human could do.

And now, their attacks were sharper, more vicious.

"Leave it to us! You just focus on your job!"

A sudden voice rang in his ear.

From above, Fyrefly-armored warriors wreathed in dark-red flames came diving down—straight into the swarm.

In seconds, they were locked in battle with the copies, breaking their assault pattern.

"You…?"

Sora stared in disbelief. Weren't all the Glamoth Iron Cavalry supposed to be aboard the retreating fleet?

Then they must be—

The thought hit him.

"Someone stole our job," Chenyu called out while dodging an enemy strike. "If we went back without finishing, it'd be a wasted trip—so we stayed for overtime."

Of course.

The Iron Cavalry aboard had already been scattered—no way they could regroup so quickly.

So the only ones still together here… were the batch who had once been ready to burn themselves out for the Chaos Doctors' treatment.

[Cannot comprehend. Why? Why do you resist me? Were you not born of my body—my companions?]

For the first time since this fight began, Titanironia's voice wavered as she looked at the Fyrefly-armored warriors, her genetic kin.

Sora's only answer was to drive his sword deeper into the breach.

"Who's your companion, huh?"

With those words, he plunged the blade straight into her chest.

At last, Titanironia's composure cracked. She looked down at the weapon buried in her heart—and fell silent.