"That Kali girl is really causing a lot of trouble!"
In Namba City, Ling Ke watched the disaster-stricken areas expand and thought to himself.
After careful observation, he realized that the Impostors, whom Kali collectively called her "Spawn," were not destroying the city aimlessly.
Instead... it seemed they were pursuing and ambushing something.
Precisely because their target kept moving, the Impostors followed along, causing Namba City's other districts to suffer in succession.
After all, attacks that were dodged did not simply vanish.
Reality is not a game where many influencing factors are simplified for the sake of fun.
Just like *Genshin Impact* next door, the scenery is immune to destruction, and NPCs are immune to damage.
So, even if you went crazy controlling a character on the screen to release elemental power on a roof or swing a sword and spear in a crowd, it would all be nothing more than playing around.
Perhaps the local residents would even clap their hands beside you, cheering and laughing.
But at this very moment...
Buildings collapsed.
People were knocked off their feet.
During this process, the amount of economic loss and the number of casualties within Namba City were both skyrocketing.
Even Ling Ke himself had a dozen or so people around him who, simply because of bad luck, were crushed like garlic by a billboard that had flown from a distance.
It landed just a few meters in front of him.
Those broken bodies all fell into pools of blood, making the others nearby scream in horror.
Feel heartache? Feel pity?
Ling Ke knew he wouldn't experience those emotions right now.
He could only sigh in admiration.
"This is what the eruption of disaster and calamity looks like from the perspective of a 'passerby' in this world!"
Indeed, being personally involved felt completely different.
This was something that couldn't be experienced when watching the "live broadcast" through the "Omniscience" Light Screen.
Suddenly...
"Emergency evacuation alarm! Emergency evacuation alarm!"
"Citizens in the Namba Metropolitan Area near Umeda-cho, please immediately leave the area centered around the Blue Sky Building and travel as far away as possible for evacuation."
"Repeating, please..."
The delayed broadcast echoed all around the streets.
Among the panicked crowd, some people had previously been playing "unlicensed war correspondents" by taking videos of the chaos. Now, they all ran even faster.
At this moment, they really wished they had two more legs.
*Whump, whump, whump...*
Fresh movements echoed from the sky in the distance.
Several tiltrotor aircraft appeared, their design very similar to the professional crashing machines in Ling Ke's memory... Ospreys.
At that moment, he looked up toward the source of the sound.
"Speaking of which, in most stories, when a uniquely shaped thing like this comes streaking through an empty sky, its purpose is probably..."
*Boom!*
Several fireballs shot up from the ground in quick succession.
These attacks, launched by Fire-type Impostors, were incredibly fast and struck the airborne vehicles that couldn't dodge in time.
"..."
*Well,* he thought, *they really are just professional crashing machines here for the sake of a good explosion.*
Fortunately...
*Whoosh...*
*Whoosh...*
The air tore open as figures continuously leapt out of the fireballs.
Looking closely, though they looked rough, not a single person had even a minor injury.
Each wore a set of highly advanced Mobile Armor. It not only came with an individual energy shield but also a short-range flight module.
One of them...
*Thud!*
She landed right next to Ling Ke.
The woman, her hair as red as fire, yelled out to him sternly, "Hey, kid! Didn't you hear the broadcast? Get to shelter, now!"
When Ling Ke didn't say a word and simply started "fleeing," she assumed the gray haired youth was just slow to react.
With that, she stopped worrying about him and turned her attention to the scene ahead.
With a gun in her right hand and her left adjusting her headset, she reported, "Initial situation report: A large number of Alien Monsters have appeared within Namba City."
"Fifth Squad is about to engage. However, initial estimates show we are heavily outnumbered. Requesting backup! Requesting backup!"
As the red haired beauty reported, she also shifted into a combat stance.
The good news was that the "Alien Monsters" hadn't noticed her yet.
The bad news was that the monsters' target seemed to have changed their escape route.
And now, the monsters were swarming this way.
A short while ago...
"Why the hell are these things targeting me?"
In the sky above Namba City, Sirin teleported again in a flash of golden-orange light.
She had lost count of how many times she'd done it, and could only curse furiously in her mind.
She still had half a caterpillar bread left to eat.
It wasn't just that she hadn't finished it...
It was because of these bastards' surprise attack that she had almost choked on it.
Now she didn't even have time to find a glass of water to soothe her throat.
Looking back, when she was the Queen of the Void, she had Benares by her side and hundreds of thousands of Honkai Beasts at her command, sweeping across all of Siberia with overwhelming force.
How could she be chased around like this now by a bunch of Alien Monsters...
Uh...
It seemed she had actually... been this pathetic back then too?
"..."
She was already pretty pissed off.
"Tsk~"
Recalling that only made her angrier.
Suddenly...
"Sirin, wait."
The voice of another consciousness, Kiana, echoed in her mind.
Perhaps because she had talked with Ling Ke before, blue-eyed Kiana, when communicating with the golden-eyed consciousness, had now gotten used to calling her "Sirin."
Strictly speaking, they were both born from the former Herrscher of the Void, Sirin.
But this did not stop Kiana from addressing the golden-eyed consciousness this way.
Right now...
"I told you, don't keep chatting with me and distracting me at a time like this..."
"No."
Kiana's tone sounded somewhat anxious.
"Please, you need to escape in a different direction... flee this city."
"Huh?"
Sirin was a bit confused.
At this moment, she had already shrunk her body, hiding under a water tower, next to a rusty screw nut.
With her body crouched low, she was warily watching for any sign of movement around her.
Just now, the very first one to launch a surprise attack was a stone that had suddenly transformed and swiftly lunged at her.
Who knew what other weird things would suddenly appear now?
Those monsters that could transform and disguise themselves were simply impossible to guard against.
And right now...
"You're actually saying 'please' to me?"
Sirin was a bit surprised.
Her focus was completely locked. Even as she was communicating with the other consciousness within her, she still did not let her guard down.
In recent days, she had become even more proficient with her teleportation ability.
By shortening the teleportation distance, she could further increase its activation speed.
In this state, the moment any abnormality appeared around her, she could immediately teleport and escape the danger zone in an instant.
In short, as long as she took it seriously like this...
These monsters wouldn't catch her.
Their attacks wouldn't even hit her.
They were just—annoying!
After all, being chased by Kevin was facing the strongest MANTIS.
Yet right now, this group of underlings, relying on their numbers, actually managed to force her into such a wretched state...
Sirin was in a very bad mood now.
But just then...
"Eh?"
Before Sirin even got a response from Kiana, her gaze swept over a certain commercial street below, and she saw a familiar face.
Of course, calling it familiar was only because the appearance was similar.
The red-haired woman below looked very similar to another fiery-red figure in Sirin's memories.
Sirin did have some impression of that person from her memories, and even a bit of respect.
But that was all.
She held no affection for that woman.
After all, it was that very person, Murata Himeko, who had forced Sirin back into a slumber just as she was about to awaken again.
She remembered it vividly.
The one who was actually close and familiar with Murata Himeko was Kiana.
As for the red-haired woman below, she was nothing more than a mere doppelganger.
Sirin instantly understood.
She understood why Kiana's tone was so urgent, and why she had said "please."
And precisely because Sirin understood all this, and saw the woman who looked so much like that familiar figure...
"I think that side over there is quite spacious."
A wicked smile appeared on Sirin's face as she prepared to teleport in that direction instead.
"You..."
Due to the rules set by Ling ke over the past few days, Kiana and Sirin had been forced to remain awake for long periods, staying together at zero distance.
Because of this time spent together, Kiana seemed to have subconsciously ignored a very serious problem.
She...
She and Sirin had never been friends.
There was no room for reconciliation between them.
They were even rivals who would compete for the Divine Throne of the Herrscher of Finality in the future.
So, it was obvious...
Sirin would not miss any opportunity to destroy, crush... or even just weaken Kiana's inner defenses.
Even if the red-haired woman below was just a mere doppelganger who looked like that fiery-red figure.
Even if Kiana's reason had already recognized this fact...
It was still the same.
Sirin knew very well that as long as it was that face, it would definitely affect Kiana.
Her emotions had a weakness in this regard.
Sure enough...
"Sirin, if you get any closer to that side, I will start interfering with your control over the body," Kiana said, stating the only threat she could use against Sirin at the moment.
Hearing this...
"Heh~"
For once, Sirin wasn't frightened in the slightest.
She sneered and taunted, "Go ahead, try it."
Kiana: "..."
Seeing her silence, Sirin continued, "It's strange. With so many people around, why not run somewhere else?"
"Do you think the others who get caught in our crossfire will still be innocent?"
"And didn't you resolve to hold out until the end, defeat me, and then save the world?"
"We might always have a chance to settle this between us, but that's only if this body survives the Twelfth Honkai Eruption."
"Only after that will the victor have the chance to inherit the Authority of Finality."
"But now, are you going to fight me to the death, give up on becoming the God of Earth, and give up everything?"
"In an era that doesn't even belong to you, are you really going to drag me down with you for some mere shadow?"
"Fine!"
Sirin...
She struck Kiana right where it hurt.
"If you try it, then just as that god-ascending person, Ling ke, said..."
"You're nothing but a hypocrite!"
"Come on, let's see if you actually dare!"
With those words, Sirin actually locked onto the red-haired woman and used her teleportation ability.
The next moment, a flash of golden-orange flame erupted.
!!!
Sirin had even canceled her "shrunken" state.
She sneered, appearing before the red-haired woman...
Himeko.
—-
But how was it? Like it? Gimme power stones.