248 My dear principal, this is normal.

Kiana woke from a dream of emptiness, surprised to find the pain in her body gone.

She blinked, disoriented. Nothing but blinding white surrounded her; a thick mist obscured her vision.

It felt like a dream within a dream, and for a moment, she wondered if she'd ever truly awakened.

Then, a figure emerged from the fog. Through the haze, she recognized the familiar smile of Teacher Himeko.

"What's wrong with me?" Kiana looked at her hands, unable to distinguish her situation for a moment.

White skin is on the back of her hand; that's what she should look like.

—but not what she saw in her last conscious moment.

"I was in Nagazora City just a moment ago."

She pursed her lips, and a wave of calm washed over her body. The fiery burning sensation faded as if she'd been pulled from the depths of hell back into the land of the living.

"And...Teacher Himeko, what are you doing here?" A brief silence hung in the air.

She pinched herself hard, a childish hope flickering in her eyes.

Maybe this was a dream, like in those stories where pain shakes you awake.

But reality refused to bend to her will. It would be too easy and too good to be true.

"It hurts so much." She jumped in pain, frowned, and shouted softly.

There was no point in hiding her embarrassment; no one was around to see her anyway.

Might as well let the pain out.

A sense of helplessness washed over her. There didn't seem to be any way out of this.

Her only clue was the figure ahead of her.

Frustration rising, she stomped forward.

She needed to see who this was! If they were impersonating Teacher Himeko, they were going to get a piece of her mind.

But when the figure turned, the gentle smile on their faces was a perfect mirror of Teacher Himeko's.

Confusion replaced her anger.

"Who are you? Why do you look exactly like Teacher Himeko?" she demanded.

"Oh? Himeko? ♪" The figure tilted her head, a playful smile replacing her initial confusion. "You've got the wrong idea!"

Kiana bristled, crossing her arms. "Don't try to fool me! Why are you pretending to be my teacher?" She already knew this wasn't Himeko, but some sick imposter.

"Now, now, Kiana," the figure replied, still amused. Her voice held a hint of teasing. "Tell me, why do you think you've found me here?"

Oops, it's a rare time to talk face-to-face with a beautiful girl, and she doesn't mind wasting a little time at all.

Such an opportunity was quite strange to her.

Honestly, this whole situation is so strange. If everything went according to plan, this girl should be at Herrscher's camp. So, what's she doing here? Hmm...well, whatever.

No matter what, it doesn't seem to stop her from teasing the other person.

"Do you miss me that much, Kiana? Could it be that you see me as just another possibility, like in those games you play?"

" Uh..." Kiana was stunned.

What the other party said was not something that was completely impossible; on the contrary, it was very possible.

Because she also knew that the time when she dreamed of Teacher Himeko was not too little but too many.

She had repeated that destructive scene too many times, and because of this, she fully understood the sadness it would bring to herself if that happened in reality, so she didn't want to experience it even more.

"If...if this is all just a dream..." Kiana whispered, desperate hope flickering in her eyes.

"Of course." Himeko's voice was soft, almost soothing. "Here, in your dream, you can completely rely on me. No one knows your weaknesses here. You can lean on me with everything you have."

The smile at the corner of Himeko's mouth became thicker and thicker, even with a kind of narrowness.

Kiana wasn't sure, because she had only seen that expression on her boss's face.

"Kiana, it's time for you to take a break, just for a little while, okay?"

Kiana hesitated. "This isn't a dream, is it?" A moment later, two guns materialized in her hands, her eyes fixed warily on the figure before her.

As expected, those earlier hints of kindness and temptation had been a trap, making it impossible to accept this with any peace of mind. She could only blame this imposter for their clumsy attempts at deception.

"Are you...that Herrscher personality our boss warned us about?"

"boom--"

Halfway through her words, she fired a shot at the opponent, but unfortunately, even the sudden attack was easily dodged by the opponent.

"Well, from a certain point of view, yes," the figure admitted, brushing at her chest as if shaken by the near miss. "It seems like Kiana's all grown up now."

"Don't insult me! I am Kiana Kaslana, and I'll never be your puppet." A fierce determination burned in Kiana's eyes. If this was the enemy's scheme, she'd smash it to pieces. She would never betray the memory of the real Himeko.

"Hmm? Is that so, Kiana? Then let's have a little chat." Himeko was smiling from beginning to end, but her image in Kiana's eyes had turned into a blurry shape with only an outline.

The figure raised her hand slightly, and a shadow of a bow and arrow appeared in her arms. She pulled the string, activated it, and shot out. A pink arrow shot straight over at a straight angle, but there was no time to dodge.

"Consider this—your first lesson as a Herrscher."

The figure had a point. That gem always brought a single image to mind: a fiery presence, bold and unstoppable. Just like her, the flames themselves seemed to radiate Himeko's spirit.

"Eat this!" Kiana shouted. Her own flaming bullets met the pink arrows head-on, explosions rippling between them.

As a result, a consciousness that was originally intended to protect started classroom teaching for the new Herrscher, using... the identity of the Herrscher personality. Of course, from a certain perspective, it was not wrong.

It's just that it's not the identity of the Herrscher of Flame's personality either.

...

That battle within her own mind ended in a heartbeat—a decisive victory.

When Kiana's awareness returned to the world, the storm had passed.

The dark clouds had surrendered to a clear sky. Azure stretched across the horizon, its gentle light bringing a strange sort of peace.

Her own eyes mirrored that calmness.

Here, in Nagazora City, everything would reach its conclusion.

Destruction would give way to rebirth.

of the Herrscher of Fire naturally ushered in a considerable amount of Honkai Beasts, but with the advance preparations of Schicksal, it was difficult to complete the act of clearing the battlefield under the eyes of the world.

The price, of course, is that the incomplete Nagazora City becomes even more incomplete.

However, everyone knows that there will be a new beginning here.

Instead of the desolation after the Great Honkai eruption, it was natural and harmonious, and the air was filled with the smell of freedom again, which made her a little uncomfortable.

She was a Herrscher, after all.

Places thick with Honkai energy felt like home, surging with an endless power that matched her own.

Well, Kiana actually had no real feelings at all. As for the pain, it didn't seem to be as painful as she imagined.

Although she didn't know why she was at a disadvantage in the final battle with the phantom, that phantom still judged herself to be victorious and released her.

She looked around, and her friends around her looked at her worriedly.

The corner of her mouth curled up, and she raised a smile, as lively as ever—maybe now with the passion of fire?

"Hey, I did it! Mei, Big sister, I did it!" Her voice rang out, joyful and with a hint of relief. She wanted them to see and know that, despite everything, she was okay.

"Ha-ha, it seems that in Kiana's heart, Miss Mei has a higher status."

Rita was still in the mood to joke.

But it really shocked her just now. Who knows what suddenly happened to Kiana just now?

Who could blame her? Seeing Kiana absorb all that Honkai energy, then fall silent... It had been terrifying.

The unspoken fear had chilled them all. What if their closest friend woke up as their enemy? The closer you were to someone, the more that possibility hurt.

"As long as you're fine,"

Durandal didn't care about Rita's jokes, or, in other words, she didn't care about which topic was more important to Kiana, her girlfriend, or her sister.

Her only thought was to protect the people around her. If Kiana was fine, that would be the best outcome.

Of course, Luo Mo was another story.

He couldn't help but compare the newly transformed Kiana to Mei, studying her fiery hair and those horns.

Wait, weren't those horns? And her skirt—was it actually more of a cape? No, no, he shouldn't be distracted by those sorts of details! A Herrscher's appearance could be unpredictable.

Right, back to the important stuff. "I've been thinking...what if there's, like, a clash between the Herrscher of Thunder and the Herrscher of Fire?"

"Thunder fire overload? What if it explodes when the two of them are making out? Wait, did you think about it a little too early?"

Moreover, will thunder and fire overload really happen?

Luo Mo was very curious about this, and he suddenly planned to go back and do an experiment.

But, in fact, if he asked a question at the scene, he would get the answer quickly.

Could Honkai Impact be such an inconvenience?

In the final analysis, it is just an external form of energy.

Whether it explodes or fuses, doesn't it depend on the user's wish?

"Welcome back, Kiana." Mei's voice trembled slightly, tears of relief blurring her vision. Her gentle, tearful smile spoke volumes.

Her prayers had been answered.

The person most precious to her was here, safe and sound.

That was all that mattered.

"Mei!" Kiana's own joyful reply echoed Mei's warmth.

...

"Although I know the nature of this operation, I still want to ask..."

On the dark side, half of the child-like cheeks are exposed.

As if to create a certain atmosphere, the other person's elbows are on the table, and her chin is placed on the palms of her two palms together.

The huge lenses forced into her blue eyes sparkled slightly, but there was no smell of wisdom.

"Luo Mo, does it feel like there's nothing but Herrschers around here? Like, more than there ever were in the game? Because honestly, this is starting to feel a bit hopeless." The sweet voice couldn't hide its confusion and a hint of despair.

Luo Mo pondered her words, then smiled. "My dear principal, as you've observed, this is perfectly normal."

"..." The girl lowered her head, her face completely hidden in the darkness.

It was obviously just a few shadows, but no matter how Luo Mo stood on tiptoe, he couldn't see clearly.

The storm is coming, but that does not mean that it has stopped. It may be accumulating stronger power.

" Normal? ——, Luo Mo, "

Sure enough, unexpected energy will burst out of this small body.

"That's not a big deal at all, right?" She was originally angry, but she had no choice but to stop mid-sentence, which turned into a helpless question.

"Theresa, if saving the world is a sin, then you're practically a career criminal. But obviously, it's not." Luo Mo tilted his head, wondering what this dwarf wanted to do.

My group had just gotten off the plane and planned to report on their work, but it turned out that she looked like this when they entered the villa.

If Theresa's aura hadn't been so obvious, he would have thought that a foreign enemy had invaded.

As for Theresa's question, well, wasn't she asking for another pep talk? He could almost hear the inspirational music swelling.

"Theresa, raise your head and hold it high. You just want to give all the girls who have been harmed by Honkai a home. What's wrong with that?"

"For their sake, for the sake of this world...can't you even bear this weight?" Luo Mo's voice wasn't harsh but carried a gentle strength, a plea for her to see her own courage.

Theresa was stunned, then raised her head with some kind of hope in her eyes, and the flash echoed in the girl's heart.

She couldn't help saying affectionately, with some deep-pressed grievance,

"Grandma, did you see this? This guy's always deceiving me like this!"

"Ahem——, Luo Mo, you are really... surprisingly eloquent."

With a snapping sound, the lights of the villa lit up, along with the stargazer with a normal expression in the villa and Luna, who took a bite of a tomato.

She (Luna) seems to be very fond of this kind of fruit that is similar to the color of blood, sour and sweet. Regarding this, Luo Mo's evaluation is that it is better than the bitter melon that Theresa chose.

Back to the present, Kallen looked at Luo Mo with some embarrassment.

Her granddaughter's adorable outburst and her determination to expose Luo Mo's "trickery" had softened her heart.

She'd staged this little scene, hoping to show how St. Freya's growing Herrscher population wasn't entirely Theresa's fault.

And perhaps it had worked.

When Kallen looked at Luo Mo with a scrutinizing look, she deeply realized that something was wrong.

Luo Mo was a little embarrassed with so many people watching.

Therefore, he decided to fight back: "Theresa, are you even unwilling to accept your niece? Thank you for her recognizing an aunt like you!"

Unexpectedly, Luo Mo was more excited to make more comeback.

"Including your niece, Kiana, you must have more than half of the Herrschers here. In this case, wouldn't the name of the Far East Demon Cave be completely fulfilled?"

Kiana nodded thoughtfully. "The Far East Demon Cave... yeah, I kind of see why that name would stick."

Given how things are going for Kiana, it wouldn't be a surprise if she's deliberately messing with Theresa.

Obviously, she was not satisfied with her aunt's preoccupation with her.

"More than half? Is there that much?" Mei frowned, seeming to be calculating the number.

"It's okay, Captain; isn't there still half of it?"

At this moment, only Theresa's number one sword came to comfort the other party.

Each one has to look at his loyalty to the principal.

Theresa's eyes lit up with a glint of manic hope. "You mean...our next mission is to take down a Herrscher? Together?"

Luo Mo gave her a reassuring smile. "Nah, what I mean is, we gotta work together and focus on getting all those missing students back to St. Freya safe and sound!"