Honkai Impact 3rd: Will Of The Universe

(S2) A heart denied

​"How about it, Kiana?" Hua? asked, her voice rising with a sharp, impatient edge. "Isn't that enough? Don't you see the difference now?"

​Kiana stood her ground, her expression unreadably calm, a stillness that seemed to grate on the Herrscher's nerves. "Hmmm," Kiana hummed softly. "Now I finally understand seeing your tough side."

​Hua? paused, her brow furrowing. "...You sound weird." The newly born Herrscher narrowed her eyes. Kiana was too composed, her heartbeat too steady for someone witnessing the truth of a god. "What are you plotting?"

​"But like you said, you two are different," Kiana continued, ignoring the suspicion. "The tough one is the fighter... the warrior. But what about the everyday Fu Hua? The Class Monitor? The student of St. Freya who worried about our grades and our training?"

​A faint shimmer passed through the air, a memory of Arc City. Kiana recalled those three agonizing months where a flickering spirit, stripped of her body and nearly all her power, had been the only thing keeping her from falling into the abyss.

Kiana leaned forward, her gaze piercing. "What would you have done if you were put in her shoes? No body. No Herrscher core. Just a fading spirit."

​"Of course I'd help you with everything I've got!" Hua? snapped back, her ego reflexively flaring. She crossed her arms, looking away with a scoff. "...But I gotta say, it's hard to picture myself without my body. Though I doubt something like that will ever happen again. After all, I am strong."

"​I can recreate the scenario for you. If you'd like."

​The voice of the real Fu Hua cut through the mental space like a blade of ice. The Herrscher jumped, spinning around as if she could physically strike the spirit.

"You again! You just won't give me a damn break, huh?" Hua? groaned, throwing her hands up in exasperation. She felt the surge of resolve coming from the plume, the same resolve Kyo had just reignited. "Whatever! I guess it won't hurt. Fine, have it your way!"

With a jagged sigh, the Herrscher flicked her wrist, tossing a fragment of her vast power toward the flickering Phoenix.

The Schicksal laboratory dissolved into the high-tech, obsidian-and-neon aesthetic of Heliopolis, the front company for the World Serpent. The air was cold, humming with the sound of patrolling drones and heavy security protocols.

​"Where are we now?" Hua? asked, looking around the sleek hallway with a critical eye.

​"Heliopolis," the real Fu Hua answered, her form stabilizing within the illusion.

"The World Serpent's front. Kiana infiltrated this place to intercept critical intel." She paused, her eyes drifting to a phantom terminal. "But she could not have done it alone. Shiro was here too, acting as the overwatch, guiding her through the blind spots."

Hua? let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Ha! Infiltrate? No one knows how to do that better than me! With Fenghuang Down, nothing can stop me. I can walk through this place like a ghost. I don't need overwatch or luck."

​She pointed toward a squad of security robots rounding the corner, their scanners sweeping the area.

​"This is just a piece of cake!" the Herrscher boasted, her confidence returning in full force. "Let's go do our thing, Kiana. I'll show you how a real expert handles a few toys."

Hua? Used the divine key just as she intended to bypass the robots patrolling the perimeter, what she did not know that the results are not what it seemed she wants to see.

The screeching of the alarm was a jagged blade, cutting through the silence of the Heliopolis hallway. Red emergency lights bathed the obsidian walls in a rhythmic, bloody pulse. The robots sleek, bipedal units that looked uncannily human at a distance didn't hesitate. They didn't blink. They simply pivoted, their optical sensors locking onto the heat signatures that the Fenghuang Down couldn't mask.