The battlefield fell into a momentary silence before the storm of that brutal war erupted.
At that moment, I had no idea that the battle would be far more ferocious than I could imagine, and I certainly did not know that its conclusion would influence my later decisions more than I ever anticipated.
---
Kiana's POV
Silence.
That was the most tangible feeling she had at this moment. The space around her was so silent it felt heavy, as if no sound could resonate in the air. Meanwhile, an invisible pressure weighed down upon the entire space, growing increasingly oppressive.
A drop of cold sweat slid down her forehead, tracing along her chin and falling to the ground without her noticing, as she was too tense, her nerves stretched taut with anxiety.
Plop.
However, the faint, almost imperceptible sound of that sweat drop hitting the ground was like a tolling bell announcing the beginning of the battle.
Boom!
With a sound like thunder, she saw Mei-senpai dashing forward like a lightning bolt tearing through the night. Simultaneously, Bronya unleashed the full firepower of her cannons.
Mei-senpai ran parallel to the explosive energy waves from Bronya without looking back or hesitating for even a moment. She advanced with a single intent: to defeat the enemy before her.
Creak!
With the sound of metal grinding, the black knight moved her hand slightly, sweeping it horizontally as though swatting away a fly.
Yet from that simple gesture, a blade of wind was released, slashing straight toward Mei.
Thanks to her sharp instincts and speed, Mei twisted her body and leapt to evade the strike. However, a few strands of her hair were severed, sliced cleanly by the edge of the wind blade.
The wind blade continued its trajectory, colliding with Bronya's energy cannonfire and detonating.
Boom!
Although the explosion was powerful, no one present had the luxury to pay it any mind. All eyes were fixed, shocked, on the black knight.
"She… she didn't even need to use the Xuanyuan sword?"
Kiana murmured in disbelief, her words betraying the anxiety gripping her heart.
Under normal circumstances, no one would bother to explain why. But for the strong, it's different. They often explain, thoroughly, to drive despair and fear into their enemies.
And the opponent before them was precisely such a figure.
"You're wondering why?"
Perhaps it was the distortion caused by her helmet, but the eerie voice sounded even deeper and more terrifying than before.
"It's simple. Listen carefully, you brats. Because this armor itself is the Xuanyuan sword—or you may call it the integrated form of the Xuanyuan sword fused with those little 'toys.'"
A chill ran down their spines. It had to. Such a simple truth was enough to send shivers through them all.
Because their current enemy was, in every sense of the word, a living weapon.
"…I don't care if you're some demon-forged being or an evil knight from fairytales. But, oh revered former hero, with such heavy armor, your movements must be sluggish, right?"
Refusing to succumb to despair, the chained beast charged forward with a battle cry, her steps fierce and decisive.
"…What a foolish woman."
The black knight shifted slightly, observing Himeko dashing toward her at blinding speed, as if she were stretching her muscles before the fight truly began.
Raising one finger forward, the black knight initiated her attack.
"Bang."
With that single word, an electric wave shot toward Himeko, who simply blocked it and deflected the bolt aside.
"Is that all you've got? That's not even enough to scratch me, oh former hero!"
"…Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang… Bang!"
In response to Himeko's taunt, the black knight merely kept her finger pointed forward, firing a barrage of electric waves as though they were bullets from a pistol.
Countless bolts of electricity surged toward Himeko simultaneously. Knowing she couldn't block them all, she parried a few and narrowly dodged the others, accelerating and darting wildly around the battlefield.
Even so, Himeko managed to gradually close the distance between herself and the enemy.
"Now I've got you, former hero."
Once she was close enough, Himeko leapt into the air, preparing to strike down with her blade from above.
"…Foolish. You're the one who fell into the trap, redhead."
Crackle!
With the crackling sound of electricity sparking, Chiyou raised both her hands high.
"Lightning Web."
From her ten fingertips, a wave of electricity surged forth, ensnaring Himeko in a deadly trap.
"What the—"
Before Himeko could react, Chiyou crossed her arms, causing the electric wave to form a web that fully captured her.
Crackle! Crackle!
"Aghhhh!!"
Caught in the electric web, Himeko cried out in pain as the shocks and heat burned her flesh.
"HIMEKO-SENSEI!"
Kiana screamed and rushed forward, but she was unaware that someone had already attacked silently, catching everyone off guard.
"Yumeji!"
She shouted the name of the person who had somehow circled around to stand right behind Chiyou, swinging his sword straight at her neck.
Clang!
However, the strike failed. It didn't even leave a scratch on the pitch-black armor.
*********
"Damn it, this armor is absurdly tough."
Even though I aimed my strike at the gaps in her armor, it was futile. My sword ended up getting firmly wedged inside.
Chiyou tilted her head to glance back at me after my failed attempt to cut her down.
"You're using the same old, pathetic trick again? How utterly foolish."
"Is that what you think?"
I quickly released my grip on the sword hilt and reached out, trying to touch her armor.
Although I couldn't turn her armor into a bomb—even when I targeted suitable contact points—it seemed that unless I could completely grasp an object in my palm, I couldn't activate the explosive property of my Van Viem. However, if I could heat her armor with my flames, I might still be able to cause some damage to her body inside.
At least, that was my plan. But every move I made had already been anticipated by the enemy.
"Did you think I wouldn't know how dangerous that hand of yours is?"
As she spoke, a surge of Honkai energy burst forth from the surface of her armor, blocking my hand before it could make contact.
"What the—Guhhhh!"
The momentary shock from the unexpected development left me frozen, and in that split second, her elbow slammed into my stomach.
Despite the pain, I redirected my hand, attempting to grab her arm. However, she twisted her body, adding force to her elbow strike and throwing me off balance. Then, in one smooth motion, she fully turned and seized both of my arms while I was suspended mid-air.
"Should I snap them, I wonder?"
Ignoring the pain, I took advantage of the moment she held me to grasp her arm with my palm.
"You stubborn brat!"
Seeing this, she yanked me forcefully toward her and delivered a brutal knee strike to my abdomen.
"Ughhh!"
Gritting my teeth to suppress the nausea overwhelming me as my stomach churned and twisted from the blow, I risked cutting my hand against the sharp edges of her armor, letting blood spill from the wound in my palm. Although the contact was brief, the blood had been fully within my grasp before splattering elsewhere.
"Driven mad by pain, are you?"
A small amount of my blood splattered onto her armor, but Chiyou merely ignored it.
Please explode, just this once!
Though it took far longer than usual compared to direct contact, the blood adhering to the black armor finally began to sizzle as flames ignited. And then…
Sizzle! Sizzle! BOOM!
The explosion echoed right before my eyes, ripping through the space like a wild beast breaking free of its chains. While the blast wasn't overly powerful, it was enough to force Chiyou to release her grip on me. I was swept into a chaotic vortex of heat and violence.
In that moment, I couldn't hear anything except a piercing noise, like the desperate scream of my own soul.
Both of my hands, which had barely grazed the edge of the explosion, now felt as though they were being burned from within. The pain was indescribable, like thousands of sharp needles stabbing every nerve and spreading through my body. Though I couldn't see any blood, the sensation of my skin melting made it clear I had paid a terrible price for my fleeting freedom.
The shockwave hurled me across the battlefield, and my back slammed hard against the unyielding ground. My breathing became so labored that even drawing a breath felt excruciating, as though my chest might burst.
In the haze of pain and disorientation, I realized how foolish I'd been to use such a reckless method to escape the enemy's grasp. The price I paid felt far greater than I had anticipated.
My vision blurred from the dust and smoke, leaving me unable to distinguish the sky from the ground.
I lay there, curled up in agony. Every slight movement I attempted caused my face to contort in pain.
Up until now, I had always relied on tricks to avoid and distract myself from the pain I endured. My mind was now so exhausted that I couldn't even muster the strength to use Boost as a mental shield to block out reality like before.
And that harsh reality, which I had always avoided, was now consuming my mind with waves of unbearable agony, leaving me writhing and wanting to cry until my voice gave out.
But there was something else creeping in, burying itself deep within my already clouded mind—a primal emotion that all humans possess.
Fear.
While part of me felt relieved to have escaped Chiyou's terrifying grasp, it didn't stop me from facing the undeniable truth: the battle was far from over.
Even now, I could feel her sharp gaze bearing down on me, pressing my mind under an invisible weight.
That cold, piercing stare left me breathless. The sound of her light footsteps grew closer, each step becoming more distinct, causing my trembling body to shake even harder in terror.
This was a fear born of instinct, a primal fear of being prey in the face of a predator.
Of course, my reason—like a fragile anchor—was the only thing keeping my mind from collapsing, the only thing preventing me from crawling away like a coward.
But even so, my fear didn't fade. It simply changed form, like my mind was trying to build a flimsy wall to create an illusion of safety, giving me just enough strength to stand and keep fighting.
What I needed to stop my body from trembling and rise again was a little courage.
And then—
"What the hell are you doing, looking so pathetic right now, you idiot!?"
Kiana stood right in front of me, her back turned to me, wielding Himeko-sensei's sword to deflect the ice spears Chiyou had launched to finish me off.