Honkai Star Rail: Make Honkai Great Again

Given Herta's abilities, the chances of her losing to the Honkai in a direct confrontation were slim. Coupled with the things she had said when they first met, a guess gradually formed in Acheron's mind.

"Honkai isn't important. What's important is how to clear this trial?"

"Pretty smart." Herta nodded and reminded her, "Before you think about how to clear it, you first need to figure out what the conditions for clearing it actually are."

"The conditions for clearing it?"

Acheron frowned. It was impossible that Herta hadn't tried. Yet she had failed, and had not even figured out the conditions for success.

Clearing this trial would not be simple.

"Can you share some of your information with me?"

"It doesn't matter if humanity goes extinct."

In other words, whether humanity defeated the Honkai had nothing to do with this trial?

But if it had nothing to do with humanity at all, why was the trial world set up with such a background?

"Kiana's sacrifice won't end it either."

Acheron froze for a moment, then her brows knitted tightly together as she looked deeply at Herta. For her to say that, her situation back then must have been similar to Acheron's now. She must have encountered Kiana as well—and Kiana must have died.

Only then could she have reached such a conclusion.

"If you die, you'll probably become like me," Herta said. "But after both of us die, this world will begin to change in ten-thousand-year increments, until a new human civilization emerges."

Humanity went extinct first. Then Kiana died. Finally, Herta herself. Was that what had happened in the so-called Previous Era?

Acheron fell into thought.

Herta had denied every direction Acheron had guessed for this trial, leaving her somewhat troubled. "Could it be that this trial is related to the source of Honkai Kiana wants to find?"

"I previously turned the entire planet upside down and even went to the moon. I never found any so-called source of Honkai."

"Then what exactly is the purpose of this trial?"

The question circled back once more. Herta spread her hands and said simply, "No idea."

After all, this wasn't her stage anymore.

And she truly had no leads. Without even a hint, she had tried everything she could think of and still failed to find the conditions for clearing it.

"Could it be about restoring Kiana's memories?"

"Her memories have been severed. No matter what you do, she won't recall anything from the real world."

This wouldn't work, that wouldn't work—so what exactly was the correct answer?

Acheron had no clue.

"In that case, just accompany her in searching for that so-called source for now. Maybe the situation you encounter will be different from mine."

Herta was thinking of the Kiana she had met. The one she encountered had suddenly appeared at the site of a Honkai Eruption—a mysterious Herrscher.

But what about now?

Kiana had a missing father and an aunt who ran a school. She was no longer a Herrscher born of Honkai.

The battleship returned to St. Freya.

Acheron followed Kiana and the others to meet her so-called aunt. She looked about the same age as Bronya—white hair, blue eyes, and indeed somewhat resembling Kiana.

The small doubt in Acheron's heart dissipated.

Perhaps in this setting, Kiana truly was a human with parents and family, rather than a Herrscher born from Honkai.

"Of course I'll take responsibility for my decision!" Kiana refused to back down, arguing with Theresa. "But I absolutely won't give up searching for the source of Honkai. Even if none of you are willing to say anything, I'll find it myself!"

"...The danger there isn't something your current strength can handle," Theresa tried to persuade her.

"Then can you give me a clear answer? What kind of strength do I need to have before I'm qualified to know about the source of Honkai—and my dad's whereabouts?"

"S-rank." Theresa looked at her and said word by word, "When you've grown strong enough to single-handedly defeat a Herrscher, I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Kiana's face lit up. "You're not lying to me?"

"If you don't even have that level of strength, you might as well give up on finding Siegfried."

She hadn't answered directly, but this was an open challenge. And if Kiana trained hard, the one who would grow stronger was herself. Even if Theresa deceived her again, at most she would waste a couple of years.

Thinking this through, she clenched her teeth. There was only one choice.

"I'll trust you one more time!"

"If there's nothing else, take your friend back and familiarize her with the academy," Theresa said.

Kiana pulled Acheron away. Bronya did not go with them but was taken to the infirmary by Himeko.

St. Freya Academy was vast. The more Acheron looked around, the more it resembled the ruins she had seen during her previous trial.

"She may act like that, but she's actually acknowledged you," Kiana said. "Don't worry. No one else will know about your Herrscher identity."

"What exactly is the source of Honkai?"

Kiana's smile stiffened before she let out a sigh. "I don't know either. Is it the culprit behind the emergence of Honkai? Or something else? I don't have any clues at all."

As if thinking of something, she looked at Acheron. "Mei-senpai, you're a Herrscher. Do you know..."

"I've never heard of it."

"...Alright."

After all, Acheron wasn't a conventional Herrscher. Unlike others, she couldn't even command Honkai creatures. It was normal that she didn't know.

"But I can help you."

Kiana didn't refuse. With a bright smile, she said, "Then thank you in advance, Mei-senpai."

"Just call me Mei." Acheron paused, then added, "We're enrolling, right? We should be together?"

Kiana readily corrected herself and led her to a dormitory. It seemed she had lived there for a time in the past.

But after being away so long, the place needed a thorough cleaning. So Kiana dragged Mei into a full-scale cleanup and bought everything they might need afterward.

By the time they finished tidying up, the sky outside had already grown dark. At this hour, the cafeteria was long closed.

Kiana washed some fruit and brought it out.

"Let's just make do for today. Tomorrow I'll show you around. Classes start in a couple of days."

She handed a freshly washed peach to Acheron, receiving a quiet thank-you in return. But it seemed she heard something and glanced to the side.

Just as Kiana was about to pick up an apple for herself, she paused thoughtfully and placed it in the direction Acheron had just been looking.

"What's this?" Acheron's eyes showed obvious surprise as she looked at her.

There was surprise—but no confusion.

Which meant she hadn't placed it in the wrong spot.

Kiana flashed a radiant smile. "It's for your friend."

She wanted to use this method to tell Acheron that she already knew about her so-called dissociative symptoms—so she shouldn't feel pressured.

Acheron's expression changed. She looked strangely toward that direction, then back at Kiana, and asked,

"You can see her?"

Acheron's question made Kiana grumble inwardly. If she could see what Acheron saw, wouldn't that mean she was crazy too?

And probably worse than Acheron.

"I can't see her," Kiana said.

Acheron looked puzzled. "Then you—"

"Even if I can't see her, I can feel that she's there," Kiana replied with a smile. "So I can't just ignore her."

As she spoke, she looked again in the direction of the apple, trying to cooperate with Acheron so she wouldn't feel too pressured. She believed that one day, these so-called dissociative symptoms and hallucinations would get better.

"She's your friend, right?"

Acheron hesitated for a moment. "...Yes."

Were she and Herta friends?

The word friend had a broad definition. Since Kiana asked that way, she would treat it as such for now.

The hesitation—was it because she knew she was different from others?

The two of them were on completely different wavelengths, thinking about entirely different things. Kiana wanted to ease her psychological burden, while Acheron did not deny it—perhaps that itself meant she trusted her.

Thinking this way, Kiana's desire to help Acheron only grew stronger. After all, Acheron was a Herrscher. If a Herrscher were under too much mental strain, there was a risk of losing control.

She had vouched for Acheron and promised Theresa she would keep an eye on her. That meant she had a responsibility to reduce the risk of her going out of control.

"Can I know her name?"

If she wanted to build a closer relationship and get Acheron to open up, starting from her hallucination seemed the simplest approach.

After all, Acheron did not seem to resent her doing this.

"...Her?" Acheron hesitated again, but still said the name, carrying a faint intent to test her. "Her name is Herta."

"Herta?"

What Acheron had in mind were Herta's earlier words. She wanted to see whether, even without memories of reality, Kiana might retain so-called memories of the Previous Era.

But Kiana merely nodded, then smiled toward that direction. "Miss Herta, good evening. Please take care of me from now on."

Herta, who had been somewhat stunned ever since Kiana placed the apple in front of her, remained silent.

She clearly couldn't see her.

She didn't even remember her now.

And yet she was saying things like she couldn't ignore her, wearing that kind of smile. This girl was really...

"You don't have to do that," Acheron said when she noticed Herta's continued silence. "You can't see her, and she can't touch you. Just pretend she isn't there."

"What do you mean, pretend I'm not here?" Herta frowned and couldn't help retorting.

"How could I do that?" Kiana shook her head and said to Acheron, "Besides, aren't you here? Mei, you can see her and hear her voice. If she's willing to be friends with me, you can just pass along her reactions and whatever she wants to say."

"But speaking of it, the name Herta..." Kiana's expression turned slightly odd. It was the same name as that archaeologically unearthed scientist from the Previous Era.

"It's a good name."

She didn't ask whether it had been chosen after hearing that earlier conversation or if it was just a coincidence. Instead, she changed the subject and offered a compliment.

Life afterward grew somewhat dull, because they officially enrolled in this academy that trained Valkyries.

While accompanying Kiana to classes, Acheron continued searching for a way to clear the trial. But her efforts yielded little. She found nothing particularly noteworthy.

Time passed little by little.

After half a semester at school, Kiana and the others began participating in various missions. Though they were small-scale operations, all of them were related to Honkai.

Kiana was exceptionally enthusiastic.

In her view, any Honkai incident might be connected in some way to the source of Honkai she was searching for.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Acheron showed no signs of losing control. In fact, her combat ability was remarkably high. Even without drawing on Herrscher powers, she could exchange blows evenly with Himeko.

Aside from her mental condition—frequently speaking to someone no one else could see—there were no other issues.

It was at this time that a sudden incident occurred, prompting St. Freya to dispatch them.

Since they had enrolled at the same time and both had somewhat special identities, the academy simply formed a squad of the two of them along with Bronya.

This mission would be carried out by them.

"I've arrived at the operation site."

Kiana stood atop a heavily damaged high-rise, gazing at the massive azure tornado in the distance. Her eyes were grave.

Only half a year had passed, and a new Honkai Eruption had already occurred. Anti-Entropy's shadow once again loomed behind it.

It seemed inextricably linked to the Honkai Eruption from half a year ago.

Their target this time was the newly born Fourth Herrscher—as well as Anti-Entropy, who had orchestrated everything behind the scenes.

Her gaze shifted downward.

Focusing on the base of the building beneath her, listening to the voice in her earpiece, she leapt down without hesitation.

Her body dropped in free fall. As she passed a certain floor, she suddenly exerted force, kicking off sharply and leaping through a window that had long since been blown away by violent winds.

Her arrival was too sudden. The two individuals monitoring the Herrscher had no time to react before Kiana struck—knocking them unconscious with swift blows.

Her objective was clear.

After incapacitating the two, she immediately activated a jamming device and removed the electronic equipment from their bodies.

Using her terminal to hack into the devices, she extracted data. Although the information began self-destructing after the breach, she still managed to retrieve some useful intel.

After tying the two up, she hurried to the next location without pause.

As for the Herrscher at the very front—

Someone else had already gone to handle it.

The mission tied to this Honkai Eruption—one that required facing a Herrscher directly—seemed not especially difficult. The tornado that had destroyed half a nation was quelled before long.

Kiana was still some distance away from achieving her goal of single-handedly defeating a Herrscher. But Acheron had long since possessed that level of strength.

She didn't even need to rely on Herrscher power.

On the return voyage, Bronya—who had also been carrying out operations against Anti-Entropy—organized the information she had gathered.

"It's the same as our previous speculation," Bronya said. "Behind this Honkai Eruption, it's still her—Cocolia."

The head of the orphanage where Bronya had once lived. The woman who had personally pushed her onto the operating table.

"Did you find out why she's doing this?" Kiana asked.

Bronya shook her head. "She has a strong obsession with Herrschers. But the reason... remains unknown for now."

"What is she trying to do? Research Herrschers and then replicate the artificial Herrscher technology of the Previous Era?"

Kiana couldn't help speculating. But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't understand why half a small country had been used as a 'sacrifice.'

To fight Honkai?

Yet the casualties from the two man-made Honkai Eruptions far exceeded those of the previous two natural ones combined.

This didn't look like fighting Honkai.

It looked more like she had gone mad—defected to Honkai, and become its accomplice.