Chapter 270: The Curtain Falls on the Second Honkai! Players Driven Mad by the "Knife"!
["Shamash... Piper Down!!"]
The raging flames raised by the Might of An-Utu seemed to cleave heaven and earth apart! This terrifying power momentarily stripped the world of its color, leaving only black and white!
Rumble—!!!
Viewed from space, that blinding fiery glow resembled a small planet being ignited, as the clouds ahead were split in two by that single strike!
"To protect the ones I love, I am willing to offer my life..."
Siegfried stared blankly at the screen, watching the power of the Judgment of Shamash in the game animation, and muttered to himself.
"Exhilarating, this is absolutely exhilarating!!"
A moment later, Siegfried began to laugh wildly, as if he had lost his mind.
"This is it! This is the scene I've been waiting for! I endured so much criticism and grievance just to wait for this moment!!"
"Judgment of Shamash, Piper Down!"
"It's so cool, too cool! I'm asking you, who else is there? Who else—!!"
Watching Siegfried cry and laugh simultaneously, everyone was caught between laughter and tears.
But it was understandable. Siegfried had been frustrated for so long; finally having a dashing highlight moment made it natural for him to be this happy.
Moreover, it had to be said that Siegfried's strike was truly shocking!
This unparalleled destructive power and exaggerated visual performance immediately sent a shiver of excitement down the spines of the audience in the livestream!
That one Shamash strike left the viewers' brains trembling even now!
To achieve this visual impact, Su Mu hadn't hesitated to spend a fortune. Under his strict requirements, Hanabi Studio had made three versions before finally finalizing this one!
From the visual tension to the sound design, everything had been meticulously selected by Su Mu!
All for this one "Shamash" strike that would blow everyone's minds!
"Haha..."
Seeing Siegfried's jubilant appearance, Sirin had completely lost the will to speak.
Her dad was indeed cool—cool beyond limits.
So cool that he had literally incinerated her into ashes with one sword strike.
Who could understand the pain in her heart?
It was hard not to feel that this Second Honkai plot was specifically targeting her, Sirin.
Looking at the story, what had she even done? She was purely the "Pufferfish Herrscher"!
At this moment, Sirin looked outside the livestream room. She suddenly wanted to know how Otto, who had faced so much criticism in the previous plot, felt while playing this game.
Otto's gaze met Sirin's perfectly. In the next second, Otto's body trembled, and he burst into tears.
Ah.
He knew it too well.
He knew that look of resentment, helplessness, and the feeling that "human joys and sorrows are not shared, only noisy" all too well!
She was simply another version of himself in this world!!
A comrade! A true comrade!!
At this moment, Otto gestured to Sirin through his tears, and Sirin nodded back in respect.
Though no words were spoken, everything was understood.
And so, Otto Apocalypse, Overseer of Schicksal, and Sirin Kaslana, the youngest daughter of the Kaslana family, established a strange friendship in a bizarre way.
Their friendship would be recorded by future generations as:
"The Su Mu Old Thief Victims' Mutual Aid Group."
Otto was the group leader, Sirin was the administrator, and Siegfried, who had knelt on a keyboard all night, was a regular member.
"Siegfried is way too cool! With that strike, everything must be black and blue!"
Senti, watching the stream, couldn't contain her excitement. She grabbed a nearby broom and began to mimic Siegfried's "Shamash, Piper Down."
"To protect the one I love most, Shamash, Piper Down!!"
Looking at Senti, whose "chuunibyou" soul was burning brightly, Fu Hua wiped the sweat from her brow.
"I say, who exactly are you trying to protect?"
"Do you even need to ask? To protect you, Old Timer, of course!"
"Ugh—"
The brat's unintended words made Fu Hua pause. A hint of redness appeared on her face. Normally, a martial artist shouldn't have their mind disturbed so easily...
But it was because the words were unintended that they were so pure and real. Senti's words came from the heart.
"You... Hmph. Don't say things about 'offering your life' so lightly. After all, if you die, nothing remains."
Fu Hua reached out and patted Senti's head.
"Besides, if such a time ever comes, it should be me protecting you."
Senti felt that Fu Hua's tone was exceptionally gentle. She didn't know why it had suddenly become like this. Although she usually disliked being patted on the head—even by the Old Timer—for some reason, she didn't resist this time.
The animation cut back to Schicksal HQ.
Otto, fearing Siegfried's power, ordered the launch of Honkai Fission Missiles at Siegfried's location, intending to kill him along with the Second Herrscher in Siberia.
This familiar scene reminded the audience of Otto's actions in the Anti-Entropy visual novel.
This guy hadn't changed at all. Once something disadvantageous or beyond his control appeared, his first thought was to eliminate it!
If it weren't for Joyce, the entirety of London would have died at Otto's hands!
And now, he was trying the same trick again... The audience, who had been immersed in the shock of Siegfried's strike, finally snapped back and began to denounce Otto as a "beast"!
Otto even intended to block all information and claim to the world that Schicksal had dealt the blow to the Second Herrscher!
While Siegfried lay exhausted and unable to move, he saw Cecilia again through his haze.
Cecilia held his head, letting him rest on her lap.
["I'm sorry, Siegfried..."]
["I lied to you. This time, I can't go back with you."]
["Take good care of Kiana. Let her grow up healthy."]
Cecilia's tears dampened Siegfried's cheeks. He widened his eyes in utter disbelief.
["There's still so much I want to say to you. Unfortunately, my time is running out."]
Cecilia gently laid Siegfried down and stood up, a white light glowing behind her.
["Wait, Cecilia!"]
Siegfried reached out with all his strength to grab her, but that tiny distance was an eternity to him.
["I love you, Siegfried."]
White light swallowed Cecilia's body, and Siegfried's consciousness finally cut out.
After bidding farewell to her lover, Cecilia gave her final command to the Black Abyss White Flower: protect Siegfried.
Vines from the Black Abyss White Flower wrapped around Siegfried, carefully guarding him.
["Now, the Overseer has launched the fission missiles. Before they arrive, there is... one last thing."]
In the endless darkness, Sirin felt as if she were drowning, her body helplessly falling.
She could see nothing.
She could grab nothing.
["Mom, it's so cold... I can't see anything, I'm scared..."]
The cold almost froze Sirin's soul.
But in the next moment, she felt herself being held tightly by a warm body.
["Sirin, you poor child."]
Amidst the white Cecilia flowers, Cecilia embraced Sirin.
["In the illusion, I saw your pain and loneliness. Back then, I truly wanted to be your mother and make up for what you lost."]
["Unfortunately, at that time, I couldn't change anything."]
Amidst her whispers, Sirin slowly opened her eyes.
Before her was the firelight of the fission missiles in the sky.
But behind her was Cecilia's warm embrace.
["At least, at the end of your life—let me give you some warmth."]
As the fission missiles exploded, white light instantly consumed everything.
In the blank screen, only Cecilia's final words remained.
——[Ich Liebe Dich]
Amidst the blood-red petals, the symptoms of those infected by Honkai energy completely vanished.
People looked on in disbelief, staring at where the petals fell, immersed in the joy of survival.
However...
The owner of those petals would sleep forever in this land.
A narration surfaced.
[The Honkai energy released by the Second Herrscher exposed over 100,000 civilians to radiation.]
[They could only wait helplessly for death to arrive.]
[But a blood-red petal falling from the sky saved them.]
[Ultimately, fewer than 3,000 people died. The Second Honkai came to a close.]
Watching the final narration, everyone in the livestream fell silent. They hadn't expected the Second Honkai to end this way.
Though they knew Cecilia would die in this battle... witnessing her final moment, where she still wanted to give warmth to the lonely Sirin, left a bitter taste in everyone's hearts.
This warmth was beautiful but tragically brief.
It left one with endless sorrow.
And Su Mu didn't plan on letting the audience go just yet. At the end of the animation, the music he had produced with Eden began to play. Over the music, scenes of Cecilia and Siegfried's first meeting appeared.
They ate sweets together, played games at the arcade... Scenes that had been mere text in the game were now fully animated.
But the warmer the memories, the more they pained the people in the livestream.
The beautiful, happy memories turned into a bloody knife, stabbing into the hearts of every viewer.
[The pain, it's too much!!]
[Su Mu, I could kill you a thousand times and it still wouldn't be enough!!]
[At this point, why did you have to animate Cecilia and Siegfried's first meeting?! Are you even human!?]
[A beast, a pure beast! Do you want to kill all of us players with these "knives"? If you kill us all, who's going to play your game!!]
[Hahaha, it's sugar! No! This is sugar, it's sugar! Waaaaah!!!]
[It's over, another Honkai 3rd brother has gone mad! Call an ambulance!!]
[Haha! Sirin and Cecilia died together! Dying together is sugar! It's too sweet, way too sweet!]
[Wait, what are you talking about?! Are all you Honkai 3rd players lunatics?!]
The livestream chat was in total chaos. Clearly, Su Mu's "flavoring" of this plot had pushed the "lethal knife" to its limit, causing a massive reaction.
"That's it! That's it! This is what I wanted to see!!"
Seeing the heartbreak in the chat, Hanabi's grin nearly reached the sky!
"Su Mu, you're smiling too, aren't you! You must be very happy! Working with you is too much fun. In the future, never leave Master Hanabi out of things like this!!"
The "joy-seeker" felt for the first time that she truly clicked with someone. She and Su Mu were surely destined to be soulmates!
In the livestream, Cecilia was already weeping.
"Sirin, my poor daughter, my poor Sirin..."
She hugged Sirin, her guilt and sorrow nearly overflowing.
In the end, she hadn't been able to save Sirin, only able to give her warmth in her final moments.
This made Cecilia feel both sad and deeply self-reproachful.
Maybe there were other possibilities... a chance to save Sirin... but it was too late now.
The Second Honkai was already history, a story long settled and unchangeable.
This feeling of powerlessness made Cecilia very sad.
"Su Mu, you... you brat..."
Siegfried clutched his chest, his vision blurring from pure anger!
Is this how you treat your parents-in-law? He had spared no effort to set Su Mu up with Kiana, and this is how the brat repaid them?
How could you be so cruel! Are you even human? Do you have to send your parents-in-law to the hospital?!
Siegfried, who had always tried to play matchmaker for Kiana and Su Mu, now had a very different thought.
Maybe Kiana should stay away from this brat.
Siegfried felt that if he really became Su Mu's father-in-law, he would definitely live a short life!!
Definitely!!
END OF CHAPTER
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