I Am Honkai

Chapter 910: "Star" Falls Upon Fontaine

"Hey, hey, hey, can you hear me?!"

"Former Fire Moth Supreme Commander calling the executor of Project ARK. Hey, hey, hey, if you receive this, respond! I don’t care if you’re a living person or a metal shell—answer me if you can hear this. Tsk..."

The vast, boundless depths of dim space were pitch black. Only the faint starlight and the weak glow from spatial rifts triggered by supernatural phenomena barely allowed one to distinguish direction. With her hands cupped around her mouth like a megaphone, the flat-chested madwoman attempting to cruise through space with her physical body stood atop the Taixu Greatsword, hopping about the asteroid belt of shattered stellar remains while shouting.

"Senti, when did you become the Supreme Commander? And according to the records, Fire Moth never even had such a position, did it?"

The Authority of Sentience linked your consciousness together. Within the range reachable by the wielder’s authority, no communication device was required. Kiana’s puzzled voice sounded beside Senti’s ear.

"Ah, it’s all the same. Fire Moth is already gone anyway, so I can rename it however I like. Who told that old antique to be so useless? Her rank was too low—it doesn’t sound impressive at all when you shout it. I can’t exactly call myself Fifth Squad Combat Operative, can I? That’s way too small-time..."

In deep space, at the coordinates where the Ark had been not long ago, inside a kilometer-class planetary governor’s exclusive shuttle, Fu Hua, who was examining star charts and spatial rift analysis instruments, could only shake her head at those words. Childish as ever.

"So? Did you find anything?"

"No!" Completely unjustified, yet utterly confident.

Beep, beep—

Raiden Mei instructed the Valkyrie operatives in the shuttle’s central control room, along with her personal guards and intelligent servants, to continue tracing the Ark’s signal. Since this was a private mission to find an old friend after returning home, Kiana’s group had set out with a single vessel. There were no planet-destroying fleets or nation-erasing legions accompanying them.

"The intelligent servants have analyzed residual energy in the surrounding space. There are traces suspected to be Honkai energy, but it more closely resembles an artificial composite energy like soulium. The characteristics of Honkai have been greatly suppressed—it is ’Old Honkai.’ The Ark passed through here."

After reviewing the compiled data displayed on the screen, Raiden Mei turned to Kiana. "Not long ago, she entered that spatial rift."

The central display promptly switched and magnified. Based on the elemental particles dispersed into space when the Ark activated, an increasingly distinct flight path appeared before them.

"Tsk... why did that kid suddenly turn tail and run? Did we scare her?" Kiana rubbed her temples.

It was certain that this was where the Ark had once roamed. Yet for some unknown reason, it had left in a hurry, even plunging headfirst into a rapidly shifting spatial rift.

"Because of our aura?" Kiana glanced at Fu Hua.

"Most likely." Fu Hua nodded, pressing a hand to her forehead.

...

Thinking about it, that made sense. Though the highest-ranking among them—Durandal—had already disembarked on the homeworld with Rita and Bronya and many others, those who remained were still formidable: Raiden Mei—the Herrscher of Thunder; Kiana—the Herrscher of the Void; Fu Hua and Senti—the Herrscher of Sentience.

Perhaps within the Empire there was no longer any official term like "Herrscher." They were all Apostles of the Divine Empress, gifts of the Divine Empress... but aura did not lie.

Moreover, the Empire’s machinery and energy supplies were powered by high-purity Honkai cubes. The ship carried numerous combat automatons and a considerable number of Valkyrie warriors. As for Fu Hua herself, though she bore no Herrscher title, after years immersed in the Imperial Capital and undergoing various ascensions and metamorphoses through Honkai, the balance limit of MANTIS had long been broken.

If scanned by instruments from the Previous Era’s Fire Moth, they would likely be indistinguishable from Honkai Beasts.

Especially Senti. Upon reaching the approximate coordinates reported by earlier resource probes, she refused to remain aboard the ship and insisted on flying on her sword. And since she was searching for someone, she made no attempt to conceal the Authority of Sentience, rampaging recklessly through the starry expanse...

The dissipated Honkai energy had probably triggered micro-detectors the Ark had released along its route at some unknown time, causing them to be mistaken for Honkai.

Uh... weren’t they basically Honkai now?

After a simple analysis and some perspective-taking, everyone’s expressions turned a little strange. The good news was that the Ark could still move, and the damage was not severe. Griseo was most likely still alive. The bad news was that Griseo had been frightened away by them—who had now effectively become "Honkai" themselves.

"A spatial rift... Kiana, it’s yours." Fu Hua pointed at the jagged fractures of spacetime before them. They had to hurry. If she went too far, it would be a long chase.

"Got it."

Just as Kiana mobilized the Authority of the Void to trace the Ark’s trajectory—no sooner said than done—Senti suddenly let out an excited cry.

"Wait! Wow, look what I found—the stench of that fox bitch..."

Crack!

The massive blade, rendered intangible, struck an asteroid belt with overwhelming force. Celestial debris ranging from hundreds of meters to dozens—even hundreds—of kilometers in diameter shattered instantly. Amid flying rubble, Senti landed on a pitted protruding rock.

"Honkai Beasts, Herrschers, MANTISES... no. The Sea of Quanta? Quantum lifeforms?"

Senti sniffed a few times. The playful expression on her face immediately turned serious.

"Hey, old antique, something’s up. Did little Griseo’s super-evolution surgery include quantum biological components? Or is someone else involved? Friend or foe..."

"Could it be that gloomy Dr. MEI secretly added something we didn’t know about?"

Fu Hua shook her head. Dr. MEI was certainly capable of secretly carrying out some hidden plan, but Fire Moth’s involvement with the Sea of Quanta had never been particularly deep.

"Or maybe Griseo was simply killed outright, and the Ark was seized by force."

The Empire’s military style was always to assume the worst of others without hesitation. Fu Hua found herself somewhat influenced by that mindset.

"Kiana." She looked toward Kiana, whose expression had grown solemn. They had come to find someone. If the original owner had been killed and the Ark forcibly taken by some unknown extraterrestrial civilization... that would truly be absurd.

"Understood. Then no more holding back. I’ve already locked onto the Ark’s trajectory. Hah... the power of a Herrscher—I haven’t used it in a long time..."

Her sea-blue diamond-shaped pupils flared brilliantly in an instant. Blazing dark-gold light shone through her eyes, illuminating the chaotic and shattered void. Kiana extended her hand, thumb flicking against her index finger—snap!

Crack, crack, crack!

Like a kaleidoscopic mirror shattering into countless fragments, layers of broken glass-like reflections appeared directly before the shuttle. With a frosty command, Kiana declared, "Find the Ark. If she’s alive, bring her to me. If she’s dead, bring me her body."

The next moment—

Vvvvvv—

Beneath the shadow of the physical universe’s curtain, imaginary energy churned. Countless pink-white aberrant beasts began to take shape, materializing, activating, glowing, surging as they roared and poured into the spatial rift.

"Rooaaar—!!"

...

The continent known as Teyvat.

Mondstadt, Windrise.

Wind and pastoral song... a most fitting description. The ceaseless breeze washed over the vast open plains.

Beneath the towering tree left behind by a hero of old, a bard dressed in baroque-style attire and draped in a green cloak sat leisurely upon a weathered stone, gently plucking at his lyre. "Fly, fly—like a bird in the sky. See the world on my behalf... To the heavens may you fly..."

The androgynous youth sang in gentle rises and falls amid the wind, the lyre’s melody drifting lightly along with his nimble fingers.

On such a rare and beautiful day, beneath the pleasant midday sun, with the breeze, flowing water, rustling treetops, crystal butterflies, drifting dandelions, and small birds and beasts all around... it was like a painting—carefree, natural, warmly tranquil.

At last, the song came to an end.

The bard stilled his fingers, set down the lyre, and opened emerald eyes as vibrant as Mondstadt itself. He inhaled the breeze softly, a mysterious smile forming on the youth’s lips.

"The wind tells me the Traveler has encountered many interesting things in Fontaine. The fifth nation—ah, the land of Hydro and justice—the prophecy of the end... what a grand symphony indeed... hm?"

Suddenly—whoosh—

Like a frigid gale unleashed from the sheer cliffs of the heavens, the bard’s eyes sharpened, his expression turning solemn in an instant.

Around him, the finches, wild ducks, rabbits, and little boars drawn by his singing were startled awake and scattered in all directions.

"A blank Constellation... an outlander..."

The bard leapt down from the great rock and faced the darkening sky, murmuring softly.

"A new Descender.."

From the edge of the horizon, a roaring meteor shower streaked across the sky. Each meteor trailed a long tail of flame. In that instant, the distorted shadow nearly covered the sky. Amid thunder and lightning, a vast, winding fissure rolled open across the firmament.

The crimson cloud of burning light vanished in the blink of an eye, sweeping across the heights above Dragonspine in Mondstadt like an elongated arrow of light. It shot past Dihua Marsh and the Chenyu Vale of Liyue, piercing toward the center of the continent of Teyvat—the nation known as Fontaine.

...

Liyue Harbor, Chihu Rock.

Bustling crowds, blazing stoves—within Wanmin Restaurant, where countless aromas and lively chatter intertwined, "Coming, coming! One plate of stir-fried sliced meat! Here’s your Mora Meat. And yours—special fried radish balls. And also Wanmin Restaurant’s boiled fish!"

The energetic young chef with ringed braids carried plates in and out with boundless vitality.

"Look, what’s that?"

"Whoa, a meteor shower! That’s a rare sight. Aren’t you going to make a wish? It might even come true..."

"Ha, that’s just something to fool children. You believe that?"

"Just a little hope, eh? Hey, Chef Xiangling, why not take a short break and have a look? It would be a shame to miss such brilliant meteors."

Amid clinking cups and savoring delicacies, diners noticed the strange phenomenon in the sky, pointing and whispering among themselves. Some even teased the young chef as she set steaming dishes upon their tables.

Clink!

At a corner table near the entrance, a slender, upright man dressed in slightly flamboyant attire blending styles of Fontaine and Liyue slowly set down his teacup and lifted his gaze. Beneath bangs that shifted in gradient from black to brown to amber was a composed and dignified face, framed by sharp golden eyes.

"The heavens split open... an outsider descends."

The handsome man silently observed the fleeting transformation of the sky, his brows knitting ever so slightly.

"A variable."

"Hm? Consultant Zhongli, a variable? What kind of variable?" Across the square table, a twin-tailed girl wearing a hat adorned with the Bagua symbol instantly showed keen interest. "This kind of celestial change—could it be like the tidal shifts of sun and moon recorded in ancient texts? Will it cause ley lines to surge, yin energy to fall out of balance, demons and spirits to lose control and attack the living, and so on?!"

"Does that mean our line of work is about to see better days..." Her bright plum-blossom eyes widened in anticipation.

"Hard to say. Perhaps." The young man known as Consultant Zhongli rose with an air far older than his appearance suggested, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed toward the direction of the falling object. "Director Hu Tao... I may need to request a few more days off."

"Ah? Again? What are you going to do?"

"Fontaine."

"You’re going to Fontaine? Wait—wait, Consultant Zhongli, the dishes aren’t even all served yet... no, that’s not it! You ordered them—you haven’t paid!"

Inazuma City, Tenshukaku of the Raiden Shogun.

"..."

A tall woman clad in a purple kimono adorned with gentian patterns stood within the thunderstorm atop the palace roof beams. Under flashes of lightning, her dark violet hair, braided and trailing behind her, whipped wildly in the raging wind.

"The Heavenly Principles slumber... the crimson calamity returns..."

"No. It is too early to speak of calamity." Another clear and steady female voice sounded. The tall woman turned, looking at the figure nearly identical to herself—or rather, the one who had created this body, the true owner of its form and appearance.

Boom!

The Narukami stepped through the air amid thunder.

"Then how should we respond, Beelzebul?" Lightning illuminated her figure—and the faint mechanical patterns upon it. The puppet turned slightly, not insisting upon her own blunt judgment.

"Another possible ’Disaster of Khaenri’—is that your conclusion?"

Though dissatisfied with the Raiden Shogun puppet’s simple and direct categorization of calamity, at the mention of the ’Disaster of Khaenri,’ the Electro Archon’s eyes carried an uncontrollable trace of pursuit—and a hint of pain. Because of that disaster, she had lost her twin sister.

The puppet did not answer, merely gazing toward the place where the foreign streak of light had fallen.

"An anomaly... Traveler or outlander... perhaps calamity is not their intention. But facts are facts." The puppet stated her view plainly.

"...I understand my duty." The Electro Archon looked toward the nation of Hydro. A faint silver radiance began to shimmer around her. "Fontaine—the land of that little one who danced with dragons and performed a solo for five hundred years. Will a new calamity rise upon the territory of the Hydro Archon?"

"We shall know if we go and see."

"Then let our next scheduled meeting be held in Fontaine. As one who witnessed Khaenri, I wish to see their choice."

...

Sumeru City, Sanctuary of Surasthana.

Within the natural nation of flora and vegetation, the petite young goddess fixed her gaze upon the northern reaches of the Great Red Sand Sea. "The Traveler must already be composing his own legend of adventure in Fontaine by now."

Recalling the many adventures she had shared with the Traveler—the confrontation with the Fatui’s Second Harbinger, "The Doctor," the man-made false god, the Akademiya’s abandonment, meeting everyone at the Zubayr Theater... it all felt like a tense and thrilling dream, as though it had happened only yesterday.

The young girl shook her small head, her side ponytail swaying. Concern filled her pale green cross-shaped pupils.

"Will this new nameless traveler be the Traveler’s blood relative? Do they know each other? Or... a hostile guest from beyond the heavens... an external ’forbidden’ existence."

As the words left her lips, an inexplicable palpitation gripped her heart.

Things from beyond might be harmful or harmless—no one could say for certain. Yet she vaguely sensed that around the falling object that had shattered the firmament, there lingered an ominous aura that sent chills down her spine.

It was not clearly good or evil.

Just cold.

Silent.

Heavy with the stillness of decay.

Like something long dead.

Natlan.

A rugged land filled with hot springs and molten lava. Scorching magma surged from the planet’s core like a fire dragon racing across heaven and earth. A divine silhouette charged through the blazing inferno, shining with a fearsome radiance.

Snezhnaya.

An eternal frozen land glittering with dazzling brilliance, like a sea of diamonds. Within the Zapolyarny Palace, the figure upon the icy throne lifted her head, gazing through the pure and flawless polar night sky at the blazing meteor visible even from the northern frontier.

...

Fontaine.

Court of Fontaine.

"What exactly is the crisis of the Primordial Sea?!"

"The disaster of Poisson, the dead, the prophecy of Fontaine dissolving into the waters—this must all be made public!"

"The Hydro Archon must be hiding something!"

...

Listening to the discussions of passersby along the street, the blond-haired young man known as the Golden Meteor exchanged a glance with the floating, elf-like companion at his side.

"Um... ’putting the Hydro Archon on trial’... Even if it was to prevent Fontaine from sinking as the prophecy foretold, wasn’t that still too much?"

The floating companion looked around cautiously, lowering her voice with a small hand cupped by her mouth, speaking to the blond youth with a trace of guilt.

Although the riot and upheaval of questioning a god at the Opera Epiclese had already ended, rumors had only continued to ferment. Along the way, more and more citizens had begun to question their own deity—something they had rarely seen in Mondstadt, Liyue, or Inazuma.

Though the Hydro Archon’s behavior was admittedly rather mascot-like, placing a god on trial... Even the Dendro Archon’s abandonment by the Akademiya in Sumeru had seemed pitiable enough. But openly judging a god in court—that was unprecedented.

And since they had helped push events along, the floating "little fairy" felt increasingly uneasy.

"Isn’t this too cruel to Furina?" she asked.

Just as the blond youth shook his head, about to reply—

Rumble—!!

The sky darkened.

"What?"

Before the little fairy could cry out, the blond youth quickly ran to the middle of the street where no tall buildings blocked the view and looked up at the dimming sky.

"Wait for me—huh?! What is that?!"

Whoooom!

As a blazing shadow spread rapidly across the stone architecture of the Court of Fontaine, the little fairy who hurried after him opened her mouth wider and wider.

"Another Jade Chamber falling from the sky?" she muttered.

"That’s... a ship?" The blond youth’s eyes widened.

Rumble—!

The disintegrating fireball seemed to scrape just above the Court of Fontaine as it descended. Countless pedestrians screamed and crouched to shield themselves.

The continuous roar of tearing air drowned out the shouts of the Melusine patrol officers and the sirens of the clockwork security mechanisms. The fiery cloud trailing behind covered more than half of the Court. The rolling flames seemed to raise the air temperature in an instant.

Then the fireball curved away, spiraling past, and the residents of Fontaine finally let out a breath of relief.

"That direction... Erinnyes Island—oh no, the Opera Epiclese!" the little fairy suddenly realized.

The next moment, an enormous column of smoke erupted from the meeting point of horizon and sea, spiraling upward into the sky. In that direction, the once-clear blue heavens had turned murky black and crimson. Billowing smoke and writhing tongues of flame painted a deeply unsettling scene.

Crash—! A deafening boom followed, accompanied by tremors like an earthquake.

"Come on, Paimon. Let’s go take a look."

Without hesitation, the blond youth broke into a run.

—

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