Honkai Impact 3: Deadwood

"Xiaozhi! Are you okay?"

“Haah, haah, uh… uh… no, it’s okay, I’m fine.”

The captain, who was about to reach the limit of the physical and mental torture, gritted his teeth and tried to stand up by supporting the weight of his body with his sword.

At an angle where the Herrscher wouldn't be able to detect his sight, the captain had to work hard to see the Allied Fleet and Hyperion in the sky far away, which had already begun to retreat along their own routes.

The world in his eyes switched back and forth between black and white. Without the treatment of his armor and the injection of painkillers, all five senses including his sight were about to be completely stripped away from him.

"Twig..."

He was dying, covered with wounds... Looking at the old friend behind him who was almost falling down but was trying hard to stand up, a strong sense of guilt quickly grew in Fu Hua's heart.

Just because I didn't believe the sincerity of the old friend, I chose the blond man's words...

A single mistake has led to the disastrous consequences that are now irreversible...

"Xiaozhi, quickly retreat with Theresa and the others. I will help you hold back the Herrscher!"

"Do not…"

The captain, who was resisting the erosion of "Honkai" with his remaining will, stood up while squeezing out the last bit of his voice after hearing the words faintly coming from his ears:

"Stay alive... Chiyuan, I want you... to stay alive."

"…What?"

"Lend it... lend it to me..."

"Yu Duchen? No, but..."

"Believe me... Chi Yuan..."

"..."

Looking at the old friend's eyes that were about to completely lose their spirit, Fu Hua couldn't help but fall into unprecedented hesitation. For some reason, she felt an inexplicable fear in her heart that she couldn't dispel no matter how hard she tried.

The source of that fear lies in the old friend's request and her current hesitation.

She didn't dare to make a decision easily.

The reason for this fear was not because she didn't know what her old friend wanted to do with "Yu Du Chen", but something closer to intuition...

But her intuition was telling her all the time that she couldn't agree to Zhi's request just like that.

However, before Fu Hua could make a decision, Xilin, who was already completely overwhelmed by the urgency of someone's impending death and the anger of someone blocking her way, once again launched a slightly crazy attack on her.

Countless Sub-Sky Spears rushed out from the hole behind Xilin, and flew towards the direction where she and her old friend were while ensuring accuracy.

Seeing this, Fu Hua immediately took a stance, tightly grasping the golden sword in her hand and continuously knocking down the sharp spears that she thought wanted to hurt someone behind her.

"Red Kite!"

"I reject!"

"!?"

The captain did not expect that in response to his slightly emphasized call, what he received was the girl's unexpected rejection.

"I trust you, Twig, but I can't give it to you!"

"..."

"I... I don't know why, but I'm scared. I can feel that you must want to use Yu Duchen to do something dangerous! So no matter what, I won't let you... at least not now, take risks alone again."

"Red Kite..."

This is a truly unexpected development...

Looking at the back of the old friend who was still shooting down the spears, the captain realized that maybe he was too impatient and forgot to take into account the guilt that should have filled her heart at this moment, as well as her already keen insight.

But... he really didn't have time anymore.

He desperately needs the power of his old friend and "Yu Duchen" to fulfill the necessary conditions and defeat the "Herrser of the Void".

In his calculations, this was the only way he could think of at the moment to protect the future of Fu Hua, Ji Zi... and even Kiana, without being interfered by Otto.

He used the power of "Yu Du Chen" to burn everything that was left in his soul, and with that "only that" blow, he completely defeated the consciousness named Sirin that was controlling Kiana's body.

"Yu Duchen...!"

"Xiaozhi, do you think... that child really wants "destruction"? "

Along with this question came a huge pain that instantly crushed the captain's remaining will...

Do not…

Do not……

I can not……

Just hold on a little longer, my body...

The captain didn't know when she had this non-existent conversation with him, and didn't know when she had asked him such a question...

The captain begged this body to give him a little more time. In order to resist the great pain, he had already used all he could, but his body... was still falling forward uncontrollably...

My vision was completely dark, and my ears were filled with wailing...

In the end, with nothing left and even the last bit of willpower completely exhausted, the human being finally fell behind the old man who wanted to protect him, fell in the heavy rain, and stepped into his own death.

"Twig!!! Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!?"

A moment of distraction brought about the worst consequences. The sharp spear pierced the girl's right leg, making her instantly lose the ability to use all her mobility.

Fu Hua gritted her teeth and maintained her standing posture, still showing no intention of retreating, while the "Herrser" opposite her attacked her like crazy, with no intention of taking a breath.

"Get out of here, you bastard! Get out of here now!!!"

The expression on Xilin's face, who was still launching an attack on Fu Hua, became more and more anxious as someone fell completely. She began to try her best to drive Fu Hua away from him with a deadly attack.

At the same second when the next wave of Sub-Sky Spears was fired, Xilin sank into the hole behind her and flashed behind Fu Hua.

Seeing the opponent's claws reaching out to the fallen friend behind her, Fu Hua ignored the severe pain in her leg. After blocking several spears that were sure to cause fatal injuries to her, she supported her body with her right leg that was pierced by the sharp spears. She kicked Xilin's arm away with a backward kick, and at the same time swung a sword horizontally, directly cutting Xilin's snow-white skin protected by her skirt, leaving a deep wound on her chest.

"Ugh?!"

Xilin, who was slashed by Fu Hua, immediately covered the blood foam spurting out of his chest due to the severe pain and stepped back, while Fu Hua's body was also cut by several spears that passed by the edge of her body, leaving several horrifying cuts.

"It hurts... cough! cough!! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"

Xilin was forced to distance herself from the two men again, screaming. It seemed that she was seriously injured by the sword, but under the protection of the power of "Death", the wound on Xilin's chest healed completely in the blink of an eye, and even the clothes were repaired.

"Kill you! I must, kill you!!!"

Completely enraged by Fu Hua's persistence, Xilin roared in the heavy rain. The Sub-Sky Spears behind him turned into ribbons stretched to their limits, cutting through all the raindrops they touched in the path and then slashing towards the girl in the rain.

"!!"

In order to protect the unconscious boy behind her, Fu Hua, whose right leg was no longer under her control, swung the sword in her hand desperately. Dazzling sparks followed every time Fu Hua blocked it, and the impact of the rain mixed with her own blood turned into mist and burst in all directions.

Faced with the deadly cuts launched time and time again by the Herrscher of the Sky, the black armor on the girl's body became more and more damaged, and the wounds continued to increase.

The remaining strength gave her a chance to try to escape, but in order to protect the young man behind her, she never took a step back and never avoided any attack from the "Herrser".

Finally, as the tactical mask on her face was cut in half and fell to the ground, Fu Hua's right arm holding the sword was almost completely cut off by the ribbon that passed through the air at high speed, and she was no longer able to continue defending.

Then, a sharp light danced wildly in the rainstorm, flashing past Fu Hua's eyes and leaving countless wounds on her body. The girl, having exhausted her last bit of strength, fell down in the crimson water of rain and blood.