Honkai Impact 3: Deadwood

"Wha…wait!"

Upon realizing that the other party had already fallen into the sea, Sirin transformed the Sub-Sky Spear behind her into a ribbon and shot it at the girl who was falling continuously, wanting to catch her and take back the "Conqueror Gem" in Mei's body. However, she was distracted by the panic caused by the unexpected change.

Several weapon blades suspended outside the bridge quickly passed between the two of them, cutting off the ribbon shot by Sirin. The rest of the weapon blades surrounding the captain also flew straight towards the "Hersher of the Sky" in the distance under the captain's control.

Seeing that there was no hope of recovery, Xilin dodged and retreated while shooting down those very annoying but not threatening blades. However, those weapon blades that attacked repeatedly from all directions were just feints deliberately launched to make Xilin think that the other party just wanted to force her back.

Along with several weapon blades that were easily dodged by Xilin, a boomerang made of two short blades mixed in. After being dodged by Xilin head-on, the boomerang made a strange arc and quickly detoured. When Xilin realized something was wrong, the boomerang had already accurately hit the golden Honkai energy block next to her.

"Oh, no!"

A strong purple light immediately lit up in the Honkai energy block that was successfully cut by the boomerang. The crystal pendant that was bound in it broke through the block and returned to its owner's collar almost at the same moment the crack appeared.

The double torture brought by the many injuries suffered by the body and the erosion of the "Honkai consciousness" made the captain's body and soul, which had already reached the limit, cry continuously.

But even this extreme torture that was enough to drive an ordinary person crazy or faint on the spot could not occupy any place in the captain's consciousness at the moment. What was reflected in those dark pupils was only the poor girl who was falling to the sea along with the tears of the sky.

“Mei——!”

Without any hesitation, the captain gritted his teeth and forced his body, which was swaying from side to side, to jump down from the edge of the third air port in the heavy rain, desperately trying to get closer to the falling girl who was about to meet the end of her life.

"My gem!? Human, forget it!"

Xilin, who was being entangled by several weapon blades, saw that the core that was about to be obtained was about to be snatched away by Zhi. Just as she was about to make a move, the captain seemed to have expected it and took the initiative to call back the weapon blades. Then, without even turning his head, he shouted at the communicator with his bloody throat: "Chiyuan, hold her!!!"

In response to the old friend's desperate cry, three golden swords flew out from the rainstorm at high speed according to their master's order, passed by Xilin who was unable to defend herself, and left several obvious cuts on her body.

"What!?"

The Herrscher, who was thrown off balance by the sudden attack, turned around and saw the warrior in black armor had already approached her with the high mobility brought by the armor: "Death Power - Split the Sky!!"

Without paying attention to the flashes of light from the battle between the two people in the sky, the captain who recalled the blades immediately manipulated the blades to surround himself and transformed them into silver armor covering his entire body.

After receiving some energy from the "Key of Space", Moon Blade immediately restarted the power module. The boy controlling the armor stretched out his hand and pushed the girl below at full speed: "Mei————!!!"

The girl who had almost lost consciousness seemed to hear the voice of the person who made her feel at ease calling her. Her dazed eyes opened slightly. She was not mistaken. The person was really right in front of her at this moment, approaching her with all his strength.

"Captain... Sir... No... Don't..."

So cold…

My body is so cold...

Honkai energy... is not under my control...

The countdown of the explosive device on the arm armor is still going on. In a few seconds, I will die here because of the explosion of the bomb on my heart...

Mei is not afraid of her impending death. If this is her fate, she can calmly walk towards death. However, she does not want important people to get hurt in order to save her. If the bomb explodes like this...

The joy of seeing the person I trusted turned into complete fear and worry in an instant.

"At least, I must not let the Captain get hurt because of me..."

Such a thought suddenly flashed through the girl's blurred consciousness. However, before she could take back her hand, her hand was firmly grasped by the captain, and she was immediately gently embraced by the armored boy.

The fear and coldness that filled Mei's body were completely dispelled the moment she was protected by the captain into the warship. Then, she heard a reassuring whisper in her ear: "It's okay, believe me, Mei..."

"Captain...Sir..."

Along with this sound, a strange feeling came from the girl's back, which was similar to the first time when the "Hersher of the Void" who wanted to take away the core of her body forcibly invaded her body, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

But there seemed to be some kind of strange magic in that person's voice, which gave Mei courage from nowhere. She stopped worrying, closed her eyes quietly, and snuggled in the captain's arms. Her hands unconsciously climbed up and wrapped around the captain's waist.

Be it her body, her life, or her future, she chose to entrust everything she had to the young man who was hugging her at this moment.

The girl's most sincere feelings for the boy turned into absolute trust in him at this moment.

The two of them fell into the surging dark waters of the Mediterranean together, and then, a dull roar came out from under the water, and the explosion that followed set off huge waves.

"Xiaozhi!?"

The eyes hidden under the armored mask clearly saw the explosion on the sea through the holographic image that was stretched dozens of times inside the mask. Fu Hua, who was fighting with Xilin, couldn't help but call out in worry. The next second, her arms were entangled by strong white ribbons, and the "Herrser" also appeared behind her:

"Damn human, is now the time for you to look around!?"

"!!!"

She turned around and kicked away the left hand of the Herrscher that was trying to reach into her chest. While keeping some distance, Fu Hua removed the melee weapon called "Nuada of Light Breaking" from her arm armor, freeing her hands from the restraints of the ribbons.

The three golden swords hovering beside Fu Hua immediately filled the vacant space left by the armor under her control. After merging into a ray of light, they wrapped around their master's arms and turned into a pair of golden boxing gloves. The two then fought again.

Somewhere in the third airport, the captain, holding the girl in his arms, knelt down and gently put her down, checking on Mei's condition.

At the last moment before the countdown for the bomb on Mei's heart ended, the captain used the power of the "Key of Space" and, with all the attention he could concentrate at that moment, he took it out with his bare hands, and escaped from the sea area through space transfer almost at the same time as the device exploded, allowing the two of them to escape in time.

In order to seek the only hope, the captain had almost exhausted all the energy of the "Key of Space" when launching the "first rated power" to leave the Quantum Sea. Without enough energy to drive the "Key of God" with the power of "Space", it is naturally unable to resist the impact of "reversing time".

Because of this, the "Key of Space" will appear in the form of being sealed in the Honkai Energy Cube by Sirin just like that time, instead of appearing directly next to him.

Fortunately, thanks to the particularity of the power itself, the energy reserve limit of the "Key of Space" is slightly higher than that of other "Keys of God". This is why the captain chose to take back the "Key of God" from Xilin as soon as he woke up. He had already calculated all the possibilities.

Even if he only has a tiny bit of energy left, as long as he has the help of the "Key of Space", he has enough confidence to save Mei.

The rain that was still falling from the sky was hitting the captain's body, but the girl in his arms was no longer hit by a single drop of rain because of the protection of the "Key of Space" he had exerted.

The captain knelt in the heavy rain, staring silently at the girl who was still gasping in his arms, motionless.

Enjoying the warmth in the captain's arms, the girl opened her eyes slightly. Even though she was exhausted and her vision had become blurred, she could still clearly see the tears rolling down the boy's eyes.