I Am Honkai

Chapter 914: The Hydro Dragon Laments the Honkai, Vita Encounters Senti

Rain poured down in torrents. The sea churned violently, waves surging like collapsing mountains, swallowing the entire bay of Erinnyes Island in an instant.

Just like in Fontaine’s fairy tales—when the Hydro Dragon King was enraged.

Boom—!

Amidst the towering waves, the tsunami surged like a furious beast, clashing against Temple-class Honkai Beasts wielding spears and shields.

"Fontaine is not a place for you to run wild, beasts. Get out of the Nation of Waters. You are not welcome here!"

Thus declared Fontaine’s Chief Justice.

Rumble—!

The erupting tides obeyed his command. The entire inland sea of Fontaine pulsed like a living water elemental being, overturning one Temple-class Honkai Beast after another, smashing them violently against the shore. The reefs shattered into gravel under grinding force that set one’s teeth on edge. Their massive bodies tumbled in the waves, and even the coastal cliffs cracked apart.

Unfortunately, the pure power of the Hydro element—even carrying traces of Pneuma and Ousia—was still too weak against Honkai Beasts.

Even in the old Schicksal era, anti-Honkai manuals stated that dealing with Honkai Beasts under ten meters required anti-air missiles and medium-caliber autocannons. Anything above ten meters demanded heavy weapons like 270mm or even 430mm railguns.

And the gentle, profound nature of Hydro—compared to other elements—was not known for destructive force.

Especially against creatures like Honkai Beasts, whose physical bodies were immensely durable, resistant to blunt force, and unaffected by weaknesses common to living beings such as oxygen dependency or fragile organs.

"Roar—!"

The roar thundered like a storm. The tides spiraled violently.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!

At the periphery, supporting fire crisscrossed continuously. Explosions and the rapid staccato of automatic weapons echoed through the air. One Honkai Beast after another—Assault-class—descended like hunting eagles from the sky.

Caught off guard by anti-Honkai ammunition and energy cannons, the beasts howled in pain. Their glowing eyes turned blood-red as energy beams burst forth.

They fired toward ranks of pre-civilization mechs and intelligent control robots mixed among the clockwork units—sparks exploded, debris scattered everywhere.

Perhaps the experience and technology of anti-Honkai warfare... this is the most direct and effective gift Griseo has given us. It saves us from paying the heavy price of starting from scratch...

Watching as the pale pink-white shells of the Honkai Beasts were torn apart under the anti-Honkai weaponry unloaded from the Ark—flesh and armor raining down in chunks—Neuvillette thought silently.

Boom! At the same time, he did not stop moving. His cane struck the ground heavily.

"Tides, heed my command."

Griseo had made it clear. The technology she left behind was one thing, but the ready-made equipment unloaded from the Ark was limited. They could not allow the Honkai Beasts to destroy it. Once attacked by anti-Honkai weapons, the beasts would immediately change targets and prioritize destroying them.

Splash—splash—splash—!

Waterfalls surged like blossoming manifestations of water spirits rising from rivers and mountains, clashing violently with violet-red beams. Steam billowed as vast quantities of scalding water splashed outward.

Countless water cannons fired, their sonic booms alone shattering everything along the shore. Trees were uprooted...

When struck, Honkai Beasts were sent tumbling hundreds of meters like artillery shells. The beach was flattened. Exposed rock layers shattered like brittle biscuits. Coral reefs crumbled like toy blocks, offering no resistance.

In a single outburst, dozens of twenty-meter-class Honkai Beasts were pushed into the deep sea. Countless smaller ones below ten meters followed.

Yet Neuvillette showed no sign of relief. Instead, he grew more cautious.

He watched as fifty-meter-class Honkai Beasts—after being driven into the seabed trenches by ocean currents—still smashed through layers of coral and burst back onto the surface to continue fighting.

This... was troublesome.

Strictly speaking, they were not living beings. They could not drown, nor could water pressure easily crush them.

Some things—you cannot truly understand without experiencing them yourself.

Now, he finally understood the desperation and pressure faced by the people of Griseo’s homeland when confronting hordes of Honkai Beasts.

After reviewing some of the footage she had provided, Neuvillette had admitted that in terms of civilization, Fontaine fell short of her world. Yet Teyvat had its own advantages—gods, adepti, demons, spirits...

If the Seven Archons, the Seven Nations, and even the remaining Dragon Sovereigns could unite, if the master of Celestia could be awakened, and with the aid of Griseo—bearer of a civilization’s legacy and the remnants of a fallen world—they might have a chance to withstand the "trial" of Honkai.

But after fighting them himself... he realized he had been too optimistic.

Whoosh—!

Neuvillette instinctively tilted his head.

Shhk—! In that fleeting instant, an energy beam pierced through the Sourcewater shield before him, leaving a long streak of blood across the dignified face of the Chief Justice.

Not a single moment to relax.

"...Furina."

His heart grew heavier as he looked toward the opera house.

Never before had he wished so urgently for Furina to recover—to return to the divine authority she held five hundred years ago, when she first invited him to become Chief Justice.

If the number of Honkai Beasts continued to increase... even with the advantage of home ground, he was not the Hydro Archon. He was incomplete.

At that moment—

Rumble—!

The cliffside breach where the Ark was stationed exploded apart.

The Honkai Beasts attacking Fontaine’s forces suddenly halted, turning toward it almost simultaneously—then charged.

Because... the Ark had taken flight.

"So it begins..."

The pressure on Neuvillette instantly lessened. Even the fifty-meter-class beasts ignored him, rising into the air by some unknown method and rushing toward the Ark with visible urgency.

"Lady Griseo..."

He understood her intent.

Her conclusion was that the Honkai Beasts were pursuing her—the last remnant of her civilization. She would use her life as bait, drawing the Honkai army away from Teyvat, buying time for this world to absorb the "legacy" she had left behind.

As Fontaine’s Chief Justice, even if he felt sympathy, he had neither the reason nor the right to refuse.

He had a duty to Fontaine.

"...Thank you."

Neuvillette spoke sincerely toward the rising, battered Ark.

Roar—!

Planting his cane into the ground, he summoned surging tides. Waves crashed like torrential rain, restraining and battering every Honkai Beast within range. Those he could not strike directly, he disrupted.

It was the last thing he could do.

...

At the same time—above Fontaine, in the direction of Celestia, outside the suppression field maintained by the Heavenly Principles.

"This is bad... really bad. Sa, I’m starting to think following along might have been a mistake."

"The aura of Honkai is getting stronger. Is that ’Finality’ really so vindictive and narrow-minded? Even something born in the Previous Era isn’t spared—once discovered, it’s annihilated?"

"Sigh... a ’trial,’ huh? Just a theory, right? Can anyone really pass it? Our civilization failed. Theirs failed too. And this one..."

The tall woman with gray hair and crimson eyes sighed, her expression heavy as she watched the cracks opening in the sky, from which viscous violet-red mist seeped into the world.

"...I’d say it’s already entered its countdown to destruction."

"Sa... let’s leave. Forget about Griseo. As long as we survive, there’s always another chance. Judgement-class Honkai Beasts have already appeared. Who knows if Herrschers will follow? I’m not interested in dancing under Finality’s gaze like a clown. Better to leave early."

As she spoke, she turned away, no longer observing the continent—as if its destruction were already inevitable.

Even though she could see streams of six-colored light converging toward Fontaine from all directions.

"There’s always a chance..."

Before she could finish—

"A chance? What chance?"

She froze.

In the next instant—without hesitation—quantum energy from the Sea of Quanta condensed into a spear and was hurled behind her.

Boom—!

"Hey! What the hell? Attacking without warning?"

A suffocating pressure solidified space itself. Her wine-red eyes gleamed with manic excitement.

Clang! The sound of a blade leaving its sheath rang out.

"Oh, I get it now. That ’mother fox’ aura we sensed near the Ark’s route... that was you."

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