"What exactly is this thing?" Raiden Mei couldn't help but ask after directing Chen Luo to the kendo club.
"This is the key item I use to cast magic. Without it, I can't use spells at all. In fact, it's the most precious thing I own. Master, please protect it well. Of course, in critical moments, it's meant to protect you—don't get the priorities mixed up."
So far, Chen Luo only had one 5-star item—the Midnight bar. Other than that, his Vision was indeed the most valuable thing on him.
"Mm, thank you."
Hearing how important the object in her hand was, Mei tightened her grip on the Vision.
This Vision is important… I must protect it.
Strangely, she felt something inside her gradually fading away, yet her mood seemed to lighten as a result.
Meanwhile, sensing an extraordinary influx of Honkai energy rapidly transforming the Vision, Chen Luo felt quite pleased.
As expected of a Herrscher—this modification speed is insane.
Ever since the Vision entered Mei's hands, its evolution had visibly accelerated.
I can only say she really deserves to be called a Herrscher.
Moreover, Chen Luo speculated that if the Vision continued absorbing Honkai energy from Mei, it would significantly delay her awakening as a Herrscher.
The longer we stall, the better.
The Third Honkai Impact had been triggered by Cocolia using ME Corp's Honkai reactor, all to force the Herrscher core implanted in Mei to fully awaken.
Had Chen Luo not intervened, Mei would've likely become a full-fledged Herrscher soon.
But now, with the Vision constantly draining her Honkai energy, the Herrscher core's activation was being suppressed.
As for why the Herrscher of Sentience hadn't caused the same effect when holding Chen Luo's Vision? Simple—she barely had any Honkai energy left in her at the time.
"Wind Blade!"
Spotting two scythe-wielding zombies blocking the path to the kendo club, Chen Luo summoned razor-sharp wind blades around him. With a command, the blades shot forth, cleanly decapitating the enemies.
Against these simple-minded, low-tier zombies, Chen Luo had no trouble securing instant kills.
Even though the Vision was in Mei's hands, undergoing continuous Honkai infusion, Chen Luo could still wield Anemo.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I could control wind even if this Vision got smashed.
Is this the true power of a gacha-acquired Vision?
After eliminating the zombies, a warm surge flowed through Chen Luo—clearly, the system recognized them as enemies and rewarded him accordingly.
[Zombie slain: 5 Primogems]
[Zombie slain: 5 Primogems]
As slightly stronger Honkai grunts, zombies could easily overpower ordinary humans. However, being mass-produced cannon fodder with negligible intelligence, they were only worth 5 Primogems each.
Primogem rewards seem tied to enemy strength and intellect… though I'm not entirely sure.
"..."
Hearing the notifications, Chen Luo gradually slowed to a stop.
Damn. So many Primogems!
Even if it was just 5 per kill, his gacha-addicted heart couldn't help but race.
"What's wrong?" Mei asked, concerned as she noticed him halting.
Even those trapped in darkness yearn for light—especially those who once basked in it.
Both of Chen Luo's titles—'Saint Chen' and 'Friend of the Non-Humans'—were actively affecting Mei.
The 5-star title 'Saint Chen' worked on all living beings, even animals without sentience.
As for 'Friend of the Non-Human'… Mei was already practically a Herrscher, just not fully awakened, so the title applied perfectly.
Combined with Chen Luo's earlier straightforward approach and words that struck a chord in Mei's heart…
Let's be real—when your imagined "prince falling from the sky" actually appears, calls you "Master," and defends you, who wouldn't feel their heart flutter?
It's like being chased by a certain blue spearman into a shed, only for a golden-haired swordswoman to materialize and pledge herself to you.
Wouldn't that make your heart skip at least one beat?
Especially when it happens at your most vulnerable moment.
[Raiden Mei]
[Herrscher of Thunder Core]: 7,600 Primogems (originally 10,000)
[North Star One-Sword Style] (Full Mastery): 1,520 Primogems (originally 2,000)
[Katana Proficiency]: 912 Primogems (originally 1,200)
A 24% discount is pretty solid.
"Master, can you use a sword?" Chen Luo asked solemnly, gripping his Dull Blade.
Though he already knew the answer, formalities mattered.
"A little." Mei nodded modestly.
For someone with Full Mastery and Sword Proficiency, that was one hell of an understatement.
"Then, Master, I leave my back to you." As he spoke, Chen Luo handed the Dull Blade to Mei.
"Oh… this kind of sword?"
Chinese "swords" and Japanese "swords" weren't the same—Japan's were technically katanas.
Honestly, Japan was the only country that insisted on calling them "swords." Everywhere else just said "blade."
"Is there a problem?"
"No, it's fine. It might feel a bit awkward, but I'll protect your back. Though… what will you use?" Mei accepted the sword firmly, unwilling to disappoint her first genuine friend.
"Don't worry. I'll use a bow."
After passing the blade to Mei, Chen Luo summoned a green, stringless bow.
Placing his fingers where the string should be, he pulled lightly—a wind-formed string materialized, along with two Anemo-infused arrows.
The arrows shot forth, narrowly dodging incoming projectiles from zombie archers. The wind-wrapped arrows veered off course, but the Anemo arrows struck true, piercing the enemies' heads.
[Zombie slain: 5 Primogems]
[Zombie slain: 5 Primogems]
"Divine Archery techniques are terrifying." Chen Luo marveled inwardly as the zombies collapsed.
This Divine Archery was the skill he'd obtained from Venti.
As the Anemo Archon, Barbatos might've been a slacker, but no one could deny his prowess.
Even if archery wasn't his main focus, millennia of practice had elevated it to godly levels—literally.
Admittedly, Divine Archery sometimes required some Anemo support.
But with his Anemo Vision and the Elven Bow (which boosted wind affinity), Chen Luo's synergy with the skill was near-perfect.
This combo—Elven Bow + Divine Archery—rivaled a 4-star weapon in power.
"Your archery is incredible." Mei couldn't suppress a small gasp of admiration.
"But Chen Luo, aren't you a swordsman?"
"Master, you don't understand. Nowadays, Archers are all cheaters. If Sabers don't develop some special abilities, no one would want to summon them anymore. This is what we call 'internal competition.'" Chen Luo sighed.
Since ancient times, Archers have been full of hacks.
This made the Saber class—the supposed pinnacle of the Seven Servants that everyone wanted to summon—seem a little awkward in comparison.
"Then... are we not going to the kendo club anymore?" Raiden Mei asked again.
"No. Why bother with the kendo club? Today, I'm going to slaughter every single Honkai beast and zombie in this entire school!" Chen Luo declared firmly.
"Honkai beasts and zombies? What are those?" These were terms Mei had never heard before.
"Simply put, the mutated beings holding weird weapons are called 'zombies.' You can think of this incident as a 'Resident Evil' scenario, where zombies are the equivalent of infected. They're beyond saving."
"As for Honkai beasts... when you see a massive, grotesque monster with a smooth exoskeleton, you'll know what a Honkai beast is. Think of them as the 'Lickers' from Resident Evil."
Zombies were easy enough to explain, but Honkai beasts were trickier due to their wildly varying forms.
"But why do you want to kill all the zombies and Honkai beasts? If we just want to survive, wouldn't escaping be enough?" Unconsciously, Mei had already aligned herself with Chen Luo.
"I am sworn enemies with the Honkai! No matter the cost, humanity will triumph over it!" Chen Luo proclaimed with conviction.
Then he felt a phantom hammer slam into the back of his head.
"Uh... except for Herrschers," he hastily added.
Petty Herrscher of Sentience.
"What's a Herrscher?"
"If we're comparing the Third Honkai Impact to Resident Evil, then Herrschers are the final bosses of this outbreak."
"You hate the Honkai... so does that mean you hate Herrschers too?"
For some reason, as she asked this, Mei felt an inexplicable pang of sadness.
She didn't know why, but it hurt—as if this newly made friend was about to abandon her.
"No, I love Herrschers!" Drawing his bow, Chen Luo loosed an arrow, sniping a distant zombie while answering Mei.
[Zombie slain: 5 Primogems]
I freaking love Herrschers—especially when they give me discounts.
Preferably a 90% off sale, so I can buy a Herrscher core for just 1,000 Primogems.
"Huh? But didn't you just say you were sworn enemies with the Honkai?" Though Mei still didn't fully grasp the concept of the Honkai, she could sense the contradiction in Chen Luo's words.
"The Honkai is the Honkai, Herrschers are Herrschers. While Herrschers act as its executors, the ones in this era are... complicated." Chen Luo sighed.
Honestly, the Herrschers of this civilization were anything but orthodox.
The previous era's Herrschers were single-mindedly dedicated to humanity's destruction, but this era's?
Some were busy with romance, others were on their way to romance.
The only one who tried to get things done, the Second Herrscher Sirin, turned out to be illiterate[1]—and got humbled by every god and demigod after getting too full of herself.
As for the Fourth Herrscher? What? Who? Never heard of her.
And every single Herrscher in this era ended up rebelling against the Honkai itself.
If the Will of the Honkai could speak, it would've flipped the table by now.
[You are the worst batch of Herrschers I've ever had! No competition!]
"Then where are we going now?" For some reason, Mei felt a little reassured by Chen Luo's words.
She even felt like cutting down a few zombies to liven things up—until she realized there weren't any within 50 meters.
Chen Luo had already headshotted every single one.
"Now, we're going to sweep the entire campus for survivors," Chen Luo said.
And kill more zombies along the way.
But hopefully, we don't run into any Honkai beasts.
The difficulty gap between killing zombies and Honkai beasts was massive.
In games, Honkai beasts were roughly human-sized, but in reality?
Even the weakest Chariot-class Honkai beast—supposedly cannon fodder—was as tall as a building.
Their lore literally described them as having "armored vehicle-level destructive power."
For Chen Luo right now, they'd be tough to handle.
Hearing Chen Luo's words, Mei's gaze softened further.
Even in this situation, he still wanted to save other survivors.
This inexplicable traveler who fell from another world was a good person.
No one could dislike a genuinely good person.
Unless they were a hypocritical do-gooder.
But even those had their fans, didn't they?
Following Mei's directions, Chen Luo moved toward areas where survivors might be, headshotting zombies along the way with his Elven Bow.
The bow was ideal—long-range, silent, and efficient.
Zombies were simple-minded creatures that gravitated toward noise, a universal weakness of all undead.
Using the bow minimized commotion, preventing swarms from converging.
Also, it prevented Mei from stealing kills.
With melee weapons, there was always a chance she might take one.
And every zombie was worth 5 Primogems!
That's like snatching a loli's lollipop!
Of course, Chen Luo hadn't forgotten his original mission—finding Kiana.
A 1,000 Primogem quest wasn't something to overlook, especially with the potential Stigmata reward.
Which Stigmata would it be?
"Schrödinger (T)"?
"Beach Party (M)"?
"Newton (B)"?
This was where the Small-Range Tracking Talisman from his earlier gacha pull came in.
[Small-Range Tracking Talisman]: Write the target's birth details, attach an item (clothing, hair, etc.), or even a photo to locate them within a limited area.
Though Chen Luo didn't know Kiana's birth details or have any of her belongings, he could draw her portrait.
With Painting Mastery, this was trivial.
Combined with the name "Kiana Kaslana" and the hand-drawn image, the talisman gradually activated, guiding Chen Luo in a specific direction.
Thankfully, she's still inside the school. Otherwise, this would've been a pain.
This was also why Chen Luo had chosen to land near the academy in the first place.
TL Note:
[1]: A sarcastic jab at her lack of strategic wisdom and overconfidence