Honkai Impact 3rd: Will Of The Universe

(S2) Death

"What the hell?" Shiro opened his eyes to see their back outside the temple.

The light didn't fade into a gentle memory this time. It shattered like glass, leaving the trio standing in a void where the sky was the color of a fresh bruise and the ground was a mirror of black water.

In the center of this fractured realm stood a temple—not the grand, ancient structure of Mt. Taixuan, but a skeletal, twisted version of it. And there, standing on the steps with her back to them, was the figure they had been chasing.

"Is that you Hua?" Shiro asked the familiar figure in front of them.

The figure turned. It was Fu Hua, but the stoic, calm Sage was gone. Her hair was stark white, streaked with crimson at the tips, and her eyes—usually a sharp, disciplined teal—were a burning, chaotic gold. She wore a black and red variation of her martial arts attire, radiating an aura that made the air feel heavy enough to crush bone.

"Took you three long enough, I was wondering when will you arrive." She said very bored as she did her best for the trio to find her despite the shortcuts she took care of earlier.

"Subject Fu Hua... is different," Bronya whispered, her stabilizers whirring as she calculated the Honkai energy levels. "The readings are off the charts. This is not a memory. This is a Herrscher-level presence."

Shiro has not let his guard down and silently tapped in to his demonic power waiting if she will be hostile to them.

Kiana and Bronya could not speak they can sense that there is a miss to there class monitor in which Hua smiled. "Ah... got spooked?"

"Sorry, this was meant to be a surprise, Guess I overdid it." She scratched her head feeling sorry like a little kid pulling a prank.

"Who are you?" Bronya asked as she and Kiana stepped back feeling cautious as Shiro switched to be their vanguard.

"Too much have already happened to me lately." She sighed annoyed. "Why, I'm still Fu Hua. It's not like I had a plastic surgery to begin with."

"Everyone is giving me too much Bullshit." She cussed as Shiro manifested thorns, pointing the handcannon to her.

"That's my line to be fucking honest." Which she smirked and crossed her arms hearing his words. "A lot has happened when we first met. The corrosion I felt back then is the same too."

"You look like Fu Hua, but not the actually one, you are... different." Kiana said in which Hua sighed and came to a decision.

"Fine, fine! Stop looking at me like I'm some kind of monster," she huffed, waving a hand dismissively. The oppressive gravity in the room suddenly vanished. "You want the 'Old Timer'? You want the silent, brooding Sage who keeps all her secrets in a locked box? Have at it. But don't say I didn't warn you—she's not exactly a ray of sunshine."

She snapped her fingers.

The bruised purple sky cracked open, and a pillar of pure, incandescent white light descended. The black water at their feet turned into a sea of red maple leaves, swirling upward in a warm gale.

From the heart of the whirlwind, a figure stepped forward. This wasn't the Class Monitor in her grey Valkyrie uniform, nor was it the cynical shadow they had just fought.

This was The Phoenix.

Her hair was a cascade of flowing crimson, glowing at the tips like embers caught in a breeze. She wore the Azure Empyrea raiment—a majestic, high-collared hanfu of pristine white and deep ink-black, trimmed with gold filigree that shimmered with an ancient, celestial light. Her long sleeves trailed behind her like the tail feathers of a divine bird, leaving faint traces of white smoke in the air.