Chapter 58. Kiana: I Am the Finality!

"If Kevin is Kiana's ancestor, then if Kevin's gone, wouldn't that make Kiana the rightful heir to World Serpent?"

Kiana suddenly had a wild idea.

Hokuto had once told her that having sudden bursts of inspiration was a crucial skill for a writer.

Otherwise, it'd be hard to come up with interesting and fun stories.

She'd been actively training her associative thinking lately.

"I've already got it all figured out. In the final battle between the protagonist group and Kevin, Kiana strikes down Kevin, but gets eroded by Honkai energy, loses control, becomes Finality, ascends the throne of World Serpent, and becomes the ultimate, final villain who imposes the last and cruelest trial upon the current civilization."

"Huh?"

Himeko's expression was exactly like this: Σ( ° △ °|||)︴

But the live chat was unusually enthusiastic.

[Gray Serpent: Kevin is dead, the paramecium shall rise. In the year of Finality, the world falls to Honkai!]

[So slick, so slick. As expected of World Serpent's top literary talent, Mr. Gray Serpent. Effortlessly doing what we could never achieve.]

[Our paramecium cries out, and World Serpent bows its head. Down with the old king Kevin, long live the new queen!]

Kiana continued progressing the main story.

On screen, Kiana and Fu Hua were still talking. Fu Hua reminded her that Arc City was far too dangerous and advised her to leave.

However...

The current Kiana was no longer who she used to be.

She had run for three months.

Struggled in pain for three months.

Terrified, retreating, curling up in a corner—three months passed like that.

Did she escape in the end?

Everyone knew the answer: of course not.

Therefore—

She didn't want to run anymore. She didn't want to look back one day and realize every choice she made had been an escape.

Seeing this moment of Kiana's self-reflection, the smiles on everyone's faces gradually faded.

The paramecium was now so mature and rational, it hurt.

Fu Hua, seeing persuasion was futile, dropped the topic. The two then discussed the disaster in Arc City.

They realized they still didn't know enough.

To gather more intel and uncover the full plan, Kiana decided to sneak into the industrial zone again.

But before she moved out, she checked on Rita—who had fainted earlier—and confirmed she was fine, then left the base alone.

What she didn't know was that, just as the door closed, a pair of eyes opened.

Rita, who had been pretending to sleep and eavesdropping, woke up. After wondering for a bit why Kiana was talking to thin air, she also left the base...

And began contacting Kiana's friends.

As for who was coming—you could guess.

Bronya was still in the Sea of Quanta, so it could only be Mei.

In other words, Kiana and Mei were about to reunite!!

Meanwhile, in the Shenzhou Pharma Industrial Zone.

Raven took a call from Jackal. In their conversation, Jackal decided to accelerate the experiment schedule. Though Raven was reluctant due to certain reasons, once Jackal invoked the name of the "Sovereign," Raven could only obey.

So, in the upcoming plot, Kiana confronted Raven.

But the most shocking part was—Kiana actually made a plan before the operation!

[My god! The paramecium actually planned ahead!?]

[Even the paramecium has plans now! My youth is officially over!]

[Our paramecium is brave and clever—how could she possibly lose now? There's no way she'll lose!!]

As expected, the story proceeded just as the viewers predicted.

Kiana, piloting [Void Drifter] Kiana in the game, wreaked havoc.

World Serpent was utterly powerless.

Viewers filled the chat with "Cool! Cool! Cool!" and "Hyped! Hyped! Hyped!" to cheer her on.

To them, it felt like Kiana had finally emerged from the dark tunnel, her protagonist halo shining brightly, ready to crush all in her path.

But unexpectedly—

Just as the hype peaked, the story took a sudden nosedive.

Raven reused an old trick, making Kiana lose control of her Herrscher powers. Raven, having injected herself with the antidote, took advantage of this to subdue Kiana.

Then handed her over to Jackal, who wanted to experiment on a Herrscher.

Rita, watching from afar, decided to retrieve the serum antidote—only to bump into the just-arrived Mei.

The scene then shifted to Kiana, who had been captured by Jackal.

At that moment, Jackal was torturing Kiana in a truly inhumane manner.

As Kiana's gut-wrenching screams rang out, everyone watching felt their hearts clench. Smiles vanished from every face.

Except for those furiously typing "Jackal must die."

Some didn't understand.

[The paramecium's been through enough! Can't she just rise up and be a proper power fantasy protagonist? This is infuriating!]

[Why must she constantly be tormented, forced to grow, made to endure such pain? The writer must be insane!]

[This is clearly a deliberate nerf to my Kiana! She's got Herrscher powers now and is using her brain—why is she getting captured and tortured?!]

The audience was screaming, "This makes no sense," "I don't accept this," "This plot is garbage and illogical."

But the miHoYo writers seemed to anticipate their thoughts—

In the next moment.

The situation flipped instantly.

Kiana baited Jackal into talking, then shattered her disguise and revealed it was all an act.

A few punches shattered the reinforced glass of the containment pod.

This twist shocked not just Jackal, but the players too.

They realized they were still too naive—completely played by miHoYo's scriptwriters.

[My mom just asked why I'm watching this while kneeling.]

[Damn, the paramecium is so cool! I misjudged the writers.]

[LOL~~ I'm going to grab my friends who haven't caught up with the story and watch their faces go from rage to awe. This will be good.]

[I've achieved enlightenment. The writers play us... but we can also... hehehe~~]

[Hehehe~~]

[Hehehe~~]

...

Some players had opened the door to a whole new world.

On screen, Kiana stepped out of the pod. Alarms blared all around. A giant insect-like monster stood in her way, released by Jackal.

Although the narrator said it was insect-like, it looked more like a lobster to the players.

While Kiana fought, Fu Hua voiced concern: "Kiana, your body..."

"Strangely enough... her torture didn't hurt at all."

Meaning, Kiana hadn't felt even the slightest pain.

Real-world Kiana was touched: "How rare for the boss to go easy on Kiana. I'm so moved."

Beside her, Himeko nodded in agreement.

The viewers were equally relieved, sighing in gratitude that the miHoYo writers had finally shown some mercy.

The only one who knew the truth—Hokuto—just stood there, smiling faintly.

The players smiled because they didn't know what was coming next.

He smiled because he did know what was coming.

Once the "Sweet 'n' Spicy Curry" arc hits, you'll all stop smiling.

In the story, Kiana broke out of the lab and was ready to face a new enemy—but the person who appeared caught her completely off guard.

"Kiana...?" Mei stared at Kiana in shock.

Their reunion came so suddenly, so unexpectedly.

Kiana had imagined thousands of scenarios for reuniting with Raiden Mei. But none like this, at this moment, in this place...

[Ohhohohohoho~ Ohhoho~~]

[Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet.]

At this point, the players still had no idea how "beautiful" their ending would be.

The sudden development made the mature Kiana flustered—she even reverted to her familiar paramecium-like demeanor.

Mei, however, didn't hesitate and hugged her tightly.

Holding her, Mei trembled as she spoke, saying she never wanted to be separated from Kiana again.

But in the face of the audience's desperate hopes—Kiana chose to refuse.

Many players wanted to jump into the screen right then and there to press Kiana's head down and force her to accept.

Just as Mei was stunned by Kiana's refusal—

Fu Hua appeared and interrupted the reunion. Oddly, she was blushing, and even had floating hearts above her head.

[Class Monitor, why are you blushing? You're a 50,000-year-old immortal, haven't you seen everything?]

[Fu Hua: We ancients were more conservative. This really is a first for me.]

[Hua! Don't interrupt them~~ Why'd you interrupt them~~ Let Kiana and Mei catch up properly~~]

That last message's sender was obvious.

Miss Pink Elf♪ couldn't possibly resist in a moment like this.

The story continued. Fu Hua reminded Kiana that enemies were converging and they should move first before talking more.

Mei solemnly told Kiana: "Kiana... I want you to know that everyone on the Hyperion will always wait for you."

These words would become one of Kiana's enduring sources of strength.

And later, she would say those same words back to Mei.

On the way, Kiana explained the conspiracy in Arc City to Mei. From the suddenly-appearing Rita, they learned where and how World Serpent might act.

The two headed toward the target, only to be ambushed by Raven.

Though they defeated her, they had still lost time—and might now be too late to prevent the disaster.

At this critical moment, the always-reliable Fu Hua stepped up once again!

"Kiana, use the full power of the Herrscher of the Void. Awaken all her powers within you. We still have a chance to reach the engine before it explodes and stop everything."

"I know what you're trying to do... and I know it's the only way. But you... you're already so weak."

To fully unleash the Herrscher of the Void's power, Fu Hua would need to suppress the Void's will.

But...

Fu Hua's consciousness was already on the verge of collapse.

If she forced it any further—she would vanish completely.

"Do what you must."

Fu Hua softly said her final goodbye.

And then she burned the remaining Fenghuang Down.

Transforming into the strength that would carry Kiana forward—to save it all.

And then—

Break the darkness! Greet the dawn!