The battle that broke out over this absurd farce finally ended with most of the Flame-Chasers lying stiffly in the street.
Thanks to Kyuusyou's new First Cycle action plan, "capture the thief's king first": beat down Kevin, who could flip the table, first, and then deal with the others.
The overall situation could still be considered stable. Through the friendly exchange just now, Houraiji Kyuusyou and Kevin and the other Flame-Chasers had reached a certain consensus:
Right now, I, the invincible Savior Houraiji Kyuusyou, am still the strongest.
"It's just a pity there was no cheering, which is a bit of a shame."
Brushing the dust off her clothes, Houraiji Kyuusyou complained with some dissatisfaction... then she heard cheering from the ground...
"Boss is awesome! Boss, are you still taking in underlings?"
Unlike the other Heroes, who were purely lying on the ground playing dead and had been spared, Pardo-cat raised her head and spoke with a flattering tone.
"Ha? Call me Lady Kyuusyou—"
"Boss Kyuusyou!"
The sound of a cat licking.mp3 was played.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, in that case, Pardo-cat—go find four people for me. Um, they can be divided into two groups, and the members of each group should look like they were carved from the same mold."
"Then one group should have gray hair, and the other group should have blue hair—bring them to the Fire Moth building, and I'll meet you there."
Glancing at Pardofelis, who was trembling and about to run away, Kyuusyou rolled her eyes and looked back at the young, pitiful, weak, and helpless cat.
"Speaking of which, this Kevin is a bit weak... He doesn't seem to be on the same level as the one I fought head-on in the first act...?"
"Does this World Bubble still have a dynamic difficulty setting?"
Kyuusyou gave a strange kick to Mr. Kevin, who was sprawled on the ground and posed as if asking her to continue... she muttered in confusion... and at this moment, Miss Muninn, having finished writing her Onion News report, came online again...
"Um? Lady Kyuusyou? There's something I need to tell you—"
Muninn's voice, calm but with a hint of gloating, sounded in Kyuusyou's ear.
"Ha? What is it?"
"Among the Heroes you just beat up... only Kevin is real... Yes, the actual person."
"You just brutally beat up your theoretical grandfather-in-law."
"Shit..."
"That's not right, then why is he so weak???"
Recalling the Kevin who had been beaten down without putting up much of a fight, Kyuusyou's expression turned even weirder...
—So weak. Old Ancestor, you're really weak right now.
"Um, well... because Mr. Kevin is in a sense always starving...?"
Muninn's voice carried a hint of uncertainty... as if it were somewhat incredible.
"Starving? Imhotep told me this bastard... I mean... this grandfather-in-law of mine, ever since she saw him, he's been slurping noodles without stopping. How can he still be starving?"
Kyuusyou grabbed Kevin, who was lying like a corpse on the ground, and shook his shoulders violently, trying to shake him awake.
"Move, Kevin! Why aren't you moving?!"
"...My Lady, Mr. Kevin didn't get knocked out by you after a few hits because he's starving in the conventional sense..."
"He stayed in the World Bubble for thousands of years... the kind that doesn't eat, drink, or even rest. Honkai energy basically sustains his body's basic functions."
"You mean he doesn't have enough Honkai energy??? Hasn't this guy been back in the Intrinsic Universe for a long time? He could have just found a Honkai Reactor or taken a wilder route and grabbed a Honkai Beast to eat raw to replenish himself long ago..."
Kyuusyou rolled her eyes, gave up on the idea of shaking the man awake, and looked at him, feeling troubled...
"Well... it seems Lady Imhotep is just too capable... so Mr. Kevin has been thoroughly slacking off? After he came out, he never went back to the World Serpent Headquarters, just traveling all over the place..."
"To use the words of those World Serpent members who sneaked back from Schicksal... we've been toiling for so long, hiding for so many years, and now we've even brought back Chiyou's remains... only for you to tell me the Sire is out slurping noodles without even eating a meal?"
"I get it now... that old bastard not only burned the clothes of pretty girls to rob them of their money and bodies back in the day, but now he's even exploiting the labor of his subordinates and descendants, eating and drinking for free."
Kyuusyou wore an expression of 'so Kevin was this kind of person,' and kicked him again.
"But staying unconscious isn't a solution either... a Honkai energy amount roughly equal to one Chiyou... where can I get that—"
Houraiji Kyuusyou performed an Inspiration check, and it was a Critical Success! Miss Kyuusyou turned a not-so-kind gaze toward Miss Muninn, who was hiding in the shadows managing this World Bubble—
-
"My Lady, please speak nicely... Wait—what are you trying to do...???!"
"Beating the audience is against the rules, against the rules—!!!"
The purple-haired Valkyrie reached into the void and pulled out a silver-haired little girl by the scruff of her neck.
"LMAO, have you heard the saying?"
"What saying?"
"B E C A R E F U L O F T H E A U D I E N C E."
Kyuusyou stared at the Raven-spirit she was holding and began to think about how to make her cough up the Honkai energy in her body for that old rogue Kevin, who was being punished for slacking off.
"I am an Apostle created by Lady Snow... which means I'm basically Lady Snow's daughter! And if you round that down again, Lady Kyuusyou, you're my dad—!"
"You can't do this to your daughter—the man over there is my great-great-great-grandfather's generation, fifty thousand years old, you can't do anything to him!!!"
Muninn, who saw exactly what Kyuusyou was trying to do, began her death throes—LMAO, trying to make a Herrscher cough up her Honkai energy? No way!!!
"What kind of weird thing are you saying? Don't lump me in with those ghost-fathers who force their daughters to do things they don't want to do—what's wrong with just breaking off a little Honkai energy for Kevin???"
"Then why don't you break off some of your own?"
Muninn widened her eyes, her small red eyes filled with immense distress.
"Good question. You said it yourself—I'm your dad."
Miss Muninn completely broke down.
"But..."
"But what?"
Kyuusyou's eyebrow twitched as she looked at Muninn, who was fidgeting and even blushing...
Did this bird get some filth in her brain? .jpg
"It's just... Mr. Kevin, who is passed out, can't actively absorb a large amount of Honkai energy, you know? Lady Kyuusyou, do you want me to kiss him?"
"...???"
"Crap, is this bird stupid... You can just liquefy the Honkai energy and pour it into his mouth! Are you trying to give Mei a green hat that transcends history and time?"
"Liquefied Honkai energy... That... that's just saliva, isn't it?!"
Muninn's face turned bright red as she realized something.
"Huh??!"