Chapter 17. Fairy Miss, There Are Blades Ahead—Run!

Ein and Tesla shifted their attention to Elysia's livestream.

The viewers in the stream gradually calmed down from the earlier excitement of Queen's Arrival.

After all—

Mei had personally said that Chapter 9 of the main story would be even more exciting!

Although... they didn't seem to notice that Mei had said it as a question.

That uncertain tone—no one seemed to catch it. Or maybe, even if they did, no one cared?

Back on track, after a brief break, Elysia officially entered Chapter 9 of the main story: Journey for Tomorrow.

The main story begins as a continuation of Queen's Arrival, with Raiden Mei and Bronya Zaychik battling the Herrscher of the Void under Theresa's command.

There's even a scene where Theresa attempts to rally but is immediately defeated at lightning speed.

It's worth noting that—possibly to entice players to spend crystals pulling for the Queen—this section where the protagonist team gets thoroughly beaten—

The player actually controls the Herrscher of the Void.

[miHoYo is truly devious, making us control the Herrscher to beat up Theresa Dumbas.]

[Why does my world's cutest Theresa always get crushed? …Oh, wait, I'm the one doing it. Never mind then.]

[Based on current story logic, S-rank Valkyries have power on par with Herrschers. The Herrscher of the Void clearly surpasses the average Herrscher, so Theresa losing isn't surprising.]

"..."

"It really is a bit hard to go through with it."

As Elysia said this, the energy gauge filled, allowing the ultimate to be activated—she immediately clicked it.

In-game, the Herrscher of the Void floated into the air, spatial rifts swirling behind her.

With a voice full of majesty, the Queen spoke her iconic line: "Now is the time… for judgment~☆"

The next moment, an intense barrage of cannon fire erupted from the rifts.

Upon seeing this, the comment section—previously mocking Theresa—immediately changed tone.

[That's the move! Snap + ultimate! It's exactly like the CG!]

[The level of fidelity… Honestly, this is the first time I've seen a game company take it this seriously.]

[In short, miHoYo is incredible!]

...

As the viewers chatted away, the plot continued.

The Herrscher of the Void's power was beyond what Theresa and the others could resist.

One after another, they fell—Mei even had the Gem of Conquest, which housed Herrscher of Thunder power, forcibly extracted.

Of course, throughout the whole sequence, as the infamous "Herrscher of Sentience"—

The Herrscher of the Void naturally kept spouting endless trash talk.

It was like she was the Gilgamesh of Honkai Impact 3rd.

Then Fu Hua descended from the skies and joined the battle.

At that point, a segment of Chapter 9 ended.

The scriptwriter clearly understood the art of cliffhangers—always ending at the most tantalizing moment—

Forcing players to keep playing, one stage after another.

"I told you, even though Hua sometimes seems dense, there's no way she's a bad person."

Elysia referred to Fu Hua simply as "Hua," but the audience, immersed in the plot, didn't notice.

"Come to think of it…"

Both Hua and Mei had become characters in the game. It felt like they were living alternate lives.

Very interesting. It made her a little curious.

If she became a character in Honkai Impact 3rd, what kind of character would she be?

She really was curious.

But Hua and Mei were miHoYo staff, so they could put themselves into the game. As for her…

At that moment, since Elysia hadn't clicked anything, the stream was flooded with question mark comments.

"Elysia? What's wrong?" Mei stepped in to prompt her on behalf of the viewers.

"Ah~~ let's continue the main story~~"

Elysia brushed away her drifting thoughts and focused on the plot.

Although Fu Hua had come to rescue Theresa and the others—

The Herrscher of the Void was simply too powerful. Even with Fu Hua and Theresa teaming up, they were still no match.

However, what shocked everyone was that Otto suddenly appeared and rescued them all.

Considering how, in earlier plotlines, Otto had been a definite antagonist—he was even the one who awakened the Herrscher of the Void—

"Otto doesn't seem like someone who'd be that kind. I suspect he's plotting something."

Elysia made this judgment.

But she didn't expect the plot to completely defy her expectations.

With just one line—

"Immortal Red Kite, I did not lie."

Bang!

Fu Hua, who had just been redeemed, was shot in the head by Otto.

Elysia: ???

[The class monitor was just killed by Otto like that?!]

[Otto! Show me your HP bar if you dare!]

[I've figured it out. In the entire main story, Otto basically never does anything remotely human! Stop calling him Otto—he's Dogto from now on!]

Player rage toward Otto was practically spilling from the screen.

[From my experience, with the way Otto is written, there's no way he dies without at least dozens of chapters of setup.]

[Dozens of chapters is fine. If Dogto doesn't die, I'm not quitting! I'll wait for the day Dogto gets crushed. I'll pop champagne to celebrate!]

[+1 to popping champagne]

[+10086 to popping champagne]

Fortunately, the perspective shifted to Himeko, and Fu Hua reappeared, calming the viewers somewhat.

After pushing through another segment of the main story—

Himeko acquired her latest battlesuit, launched alongside this update: Vermilion Knight: Eclipse.

By now, players had started speculating about the upcoming plot.

[This new suit must be really strong. It's going to crush the Herrscher of the Void and bait players into spending crystals.]

[Hmph, I see right through you, miHoYo!]

[GKD! As a Himeko simp, I need to see her shining moment!]

The story did seem to be going just as that player had predicted.

The previously unbeatable Herrscher of the Void was wounded by Himeko, empowered by Vermilion Knight: Eclipse.

They even fought on equal terms, and in the end, the Herrscher of the Void was forced to retreat after being struck by the Moonlight Throne under Einstein 's control.

Just as everyone sighed in relief, thinking the battle was over—

One final cutscene played.

The sorrowful BGM gave an ominous feeling.

Himeko held a serum capable of treating her body and reflected on her time as a Valkyrie, with countless emotions in her heart.

"This time… things really went too far."

The blaring alarms added to the unease.

"Well then… time to get some fresh air."

Himeko straightened up and walked against the crowd's flow.

"Even though they're a bunch of kids who won't grow up… I do like them. There's still a long road ahead, right…?"

"Good luck to you all."

The screen gradually darkened.

Finally, Himeko's voice came through: "I really… want another drink…"

And the scene ended.

[Fairy Miss, don't watch the next CG!]

Suddenly, a flood of players who had just cleared the main story rushed into the stream.

[If it were any other streamer, I'd egg them on—but Fairy Miss, you're different. Please, take my advice—don't watch it!]

[To hell with 'healthy, sunny, and uplifting'—I really bought miHoYo's lie!]