"H-Help! D-Don't come any closer!"
Hearing the girl's cry for help, Fu Hua bolted forward without a second thought.
When someone was in danger, it was her duty to step up.
Following the voice, she quickly found a girl backed against a wall in a panic. She had a slightly tan complexion and was wearing the same school uniform as Fu Hua. The girl looked vaguely familiar; perhaps they were in the same grade.
And standing before the energetic-looking girl was a… "zombie."
Fu Hua didn't know that these creatures, corrupted by the Honkai, were called Deadwalkers. She had recently overheard others talking about zombie-like creatures appearing in the city.
But she was no stranger to them. Half a month ago, it was this very type of monster that had attacked her father.
If Big Brother Otto hadn't been there, her father would have been seriously injured and hospitalized.
Fu Hua's gaze sharpened. She leaped into the air and kicked the Deadwalker square in the head, sending it flying.
But as her foot connected, it felt like she had kicked solid steel.
So hard!
Without wasting another moment, Fu Hua grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her into a run.
She might not be able to win a fight, but she could definitely run and call the police for help.
In that respect, she wasn't completely inflexible.
However, the girl's legs had turned to jelly, and Fu Hua could barely pull her along. This was, after all, how a normal high school girl would react—utterly incapable of resistance when faced with a monster.
"We have to run, now," Fu Hua said in a low, firm voice, looking at the terrified girl who had lost her wits.
The girl, however, lifted a trembling hand and pointed behind Fu Hua. Puzzled, Fu Hua turned around, and her eyes widened in shock.
A white demon was looking at her.
The Chariot-class Honkai Beast, previously hidden in the shadows, was now staring down at the two tiny insects before it.
"ROOOOAR!!!"
It let out a deafening roar. The massive shockwave sent Fu Hua flying. She instinctively pulled the other girl into her arms, shielding her with her own body.
Her body rolled violently across the ground several times before her back slammed hard against a wall.
"Ah!"
Fu Hua cried out in pain as she crumpled to the ground, a searing agony spreading across her back.
"Run…"
She struggled to push the girl who had fallen beside her. Having acted as a cushion, the girl shouldn't be too badly hurt.
"But what about you…?"
The girl scrambled to her feet, her eyes red as she looked at Fu Hua with a trembling gaze. Unlike those who would only think of themselves in a disaster, she tried to pull Fu Hua up, but she wasn't strong enough.
"Just run. I can't," Fu Hua said, fully aware of her condition. She had likely broken several bones. Not only could she not lead the girl to safety, but she was now a burden.
But Fu Hua had no regrets. She pushed the girl again, urging her to leave.
Still, a pang of reluctance filled her heart.
Dad… I really did want to inherit the dojo.
"But…" The girl Fu Hua had saved was about to say more, but a massive shadow fell over them both.
The Chariot-class Honkai Beast had leaped into the air.
It was about to crush them.
As Fu Hua looked up at the Honkai Beast descending upon them, despair flashed in her eyes. Even if she were uninjured, she couldn't possibly escape the impact of this colossal monster.
The aftershock alone would be enough to kill her.
Am I… going to die here?
Fu Hua's right hand squeezed the girl's, which was still trying to pull her up. Her gaze fell upon her own long hair, splayed out on the ground. The hair ornament had fallen off during the impact and now lay right in front of her.
Looking at the ornament, shaped like a vermilion bird, she didn't notice a faint, pink feather-like phantom appearing deep within her eyes.
And that phantom was gradually becoming solid.
At that very moment, a voice Fu Hua found somewhat familiar rang out.
"You know, 'hero saves the damsel' is a bit cliché."
"But I probably won't get a chance like this for the next fifty thousand years."
"Might as well enjoy it."
The man's flippant voice echoed through the air.
"Heh."
"My SP bar is full."
The laugh was laced with disdain.
"The gods grant me a sharp sword, wreathed in immortal flame, a spark to set the world ablaze—King of Pestilence!"
Fu Hua's vision was consumed by red.
A giant hand of fire seized the Honkai Beast mid-air.
"ROOOOAR!!!"
The Chariot-class Honkai Beast was grasped like a toy in the fiery hand. It let out a wretched scream as inextinguishable flames consumed its body.
Fu Hua stared, dumbfounded, at the scene.
She realized that the laugh she'd heard earlier was one of utter contempt for this monster.
"Laevateinn!"
The giant hand tossed the Honkai Beast into the sky, where it was immediately swallowed by an unstoppable torrent of fire. The massive creature, as tall as a building, couldn't even manage a final scream before it was incinerated into ash.
Then, the giant hand of fire exploded into motes of fluorescent light, like fireworks blooming in the sky.
They were safe.
Fu Hua and the girl beside her let out a collective sigh of relief. The pink feather in the depths of her eyes, which had been on the verge of solidifying, dissipated into nothing.
And through the scattered fireworks, a figure walked towards the fallen Fu Hua.
The golden-haired man looked down at her, the corners of his mouth turned up in a handsome arc.
So the great Celestial has a day like this, too. Getting so beaten up by a single Chariot-class Honkai Beast, looking just as helpless as that paramecium I used to bully.
"Little Hua, are you alright?"
Otto's eyes crinkled with laughter. A hero saving the damsel might be old-fashioned, but the one he was saving was the invincible Fu Hua.
Once she got her memory back, he could use this to tease her relentlessly.
Haha, the Celestial was straying further and further down the path of social suicide.
"Big Brother Otto?"
"What are you doing here?"
Fu Hua's eyes widened, red-rimmed with emotion. She had even forgotten to correct his use of her nickname.
It was the thrill of surviving a near-death experience.
She never would have imagined that the impossibly lazy Big Brother Otto would appear here.
And what's more, could the person who had just instantly annihilated that monster be him?
"Yes, glad I made it in time. Are you hurt?" Otto said with a smile. Of course he'd made it in time; he'd been secretly following her for days.
He then turned to the girl who looked strikingly like Carole. Perhaps this was Carole's Previous Era counterpart. He wondered if her mother was still the true Valkyrie, Lewis.
"Is this your friend?" Otto asked. Before Fu Hua could answer, the still-shaken girl beside her nodded vigorously.
She had clearly accepted the Fu Hua who saved her as a friend.
What a friendly girl.
But only a girl like this could pull someone as withdrawn as Fu Hua out of her shell.
Otto thought to himself, but he maintained a friendly smile.
"In that case, I'll have to ask you to look after our Little Hua. She's a bit introverted, and her father was always worried she wouldn't make any friends at school."
He put on the air of a concerned guardian.
"Oh, oh, of course!" the girl replied, snapping a playful salute.
Otto then looked at Fu Hua, who was still struggling to stand. He bent down and carefully scooped her up in a princess carry.
"Ow!"
But the moment his hand touched her back, Fu Hua cried out in pain.
Her injuries looked serious.
After all, the current Fu Hua didn't have the constitution of a MANTIS.
"Let's find a place to treat your wounds…" Otto said, before his expression froze.
He'd spent the last few days sleeping in trees, exposed to the elements. He didn't have a place to take her.
At that moment, the girl beside them raised her hand.
"Do you want to come to my house? It's here in Sapphire, and it's pretty big."