Hello it's me again. I really appreciate that some of you have favorited the prologue chapter, I hope you will like this one too...

Disclaimer here: I don't own Honkai Impact.

And Now, I present you with the first chapter of the Nagazora arc:

"Looks like the Honkai energy outbreak from the previous chapter was affecting the whole story. It kept disappearing then reappearing again, sometimes even being unavailable for reading… " - A mention from the Journal of Cake.

Chapter I - The Beginning of The End -

"Get out of our way!" Running through the city of Nagazora were two girls dressed in school uniforms.

For anyone passing by it might have looked like they were just trying to not be late for their lessons.

And perhaps that could have been the case, if one of them was not carrying a tactical grade shotgun while the other used a pair of pistols to blow holes through the heads of strolling undead. Especially when chasing them was a golem like creature, which was fully prepared to smash them into pieces.

"These monsters won't stop following us, Mei-chan it seems to me that they really like you," the silver haired girl teased as they ran past another street. "It makes me jealous..." she added with a pout.

"D-Don't say it like that!" Mei yelled with a blush. Pointing her weapon at the monster, she fired a couple more rounds at it. Unfortunately they had simply bounced away.

"Kiana, I don't think our bullets are even scratching that thing!" Mei said with a hint of worry in her voice as she dodged a hand that tried to crush her.

"Well, she said she will take care of it when we reach the place we had agreed upon." Her friend had answered, loading a new magazine into her gun.

"And don't worry Mei, I'm here and I will protect you!" Kiana exclaimed as she shot down another undead that came into their way.

'Even if it takes my life to do so.' Even though she acted brave, what they had experienced just after their discussion with Bronya still filled her with dread...

An hour ago:

"Subject Mei and subject Kiana are to reach the location displayed here" a little girl dressed in some kind of uniform used her Homu phone to display instructions about their next meetup point.

"And what about you Bronya?" Mei asked, still quite concerned about the fact that their companion would be heading alone.

"Yes! What about you?" An accusing finger was pointed towards Bronya's head.

"Are you planning to use me and Mei-chan as a meat shield, while you will be hiding somewhere out of sight?" Kiana had said it so blatantly as if she fully believed it to be the truth.

"Subject Kiana is acting irrational, The Bronya will scout the area up ahead to allow clear passage for the group." The response came with an impassive tone as Bronya didn't even bat an eye to Kiana's accusation.

"O yeah?! Who are you calling irrational, you little brat!" Kiana was fuming, she clearly was not pleased with the girl's reply.

"If subject Kiana will continue with her current behaviour, The Bronya will terminate her protection routine for subject Kiana." Her brows furrowed but otherwise Bronya did not change her expression.

"Like I wou-..." Kiana was about to say that she had no need for Bronya's help, but a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Kiana, I do appreciate your concern, but you don't need to go so rough on Bronya, she is just trying to help us, even if we didn't really do anything for her." Mei tried to reason between the two before their quarrel would turn into a fight.

"But Mei-chan... Alright I'll trust your judgement. But that doesn't mean I will try to be friends with her." Kiana had glanced at the girl who was clinging to her Homu doll as if her life depended on it "You say if we run into Honkai beasts, you will take care of them?"

"When Subject Mei and Subject Kiana will reach the designated location, The Bronya would eliminate any following Honkai." was all that she said as she was walking away.

"I will keep you to that!" Kiana had yelled to the retreating form of the girl...

After they had split up. The two of them were walking through the abandoned streets while taking down any undead they had encountered.

"Mei-chan! Why would you trust her so much? Not only have we just met that girl, she even tried to abduct you!" Kiana had voiced her irritation about their new companion.

"I know that Kiana... But right now she is our best hope of getting out of here alive." Mei said, still thinking about that floating mech... As the girl told them, it was always following her around, even if they could not see it. It meant that of the three of them, Bronya was the most equipped for the current situation.

Mei looked down at the weapon she had received from the girl. At least they too were armed now… 'Then why am I still worrying?'

"Hey, what is that supposed to mean? I can prote- Whoa!" Suddenly the ground around them trembled. As they turned around, they saw a giant pillar of light rise skywards in the distance behind them.

"What the hell is that?!" The panic in Kiana's yell was evident. Even from this distance they were able to spot the large chunks of buildings as they were rising up into the air.

"I don't know... But it looks just like back then..." Mei muttered, a shudder ran down her spine as she recalled the events at the school.

"Are you saying it's another one!? Right aft- Kyaaagh!" Kiana was about to say something about the incident, but a searing pain had surged her head, forcing her to collapse to her knees.

"Kiana!"

Mei rushed to help her friend as Kiana had clutched her head with both hands in an attempt to get rid of the headache.

After a couple seconds that had felt like eternity, the pain had finally subdued. Allowing Kiana to rise back to her feet, but something that she had noticed just before the pain became unbearable left her utterly confused. 'I could swear someone else had called my name…'

"I… I'm alright..." She released her head before looking at her hands. For some reason expecting them to be covered in burns, yet found them perfectly fine just as they were moments ago. 'Huh?'

"Are you sure?" Mei asked worriedly. She was still holding Kiana in attempts to keep her from falling again, and the look in her friend's eyes was not giving her reassurance.

"Yeah! With knowing that Mei-chan cares for me, I'll be unstoppable!" Kiana had dismissed the strange feeling as her imagination and instead tried to soothe her friend's worries, by clinging closer to her.

'She's back to it again...' Mei thought as she averted her gaze, her friend's closeness was making her a bit uncomfortable.

She still was not convinced, but she won't push it. And so, trying to find something else to look at, she turned her attention back in the direction of the pillar that had already begun to dissipate.

'There is something about it that feels familiar...' For a reason she could not explain, looking it gave her a strange sensation, yet she couldn't point her finger on it… But when the feeling returned again, it had finally dawned on her to what exactly she felt. And the realization had made her stiffen.

"Kiana… we should leave now. As far away from here..." Mei slowly released her friend as her anxiety began to rise. She could not stay here anymore.

Because what she had felt when she had looked at that light, was the pull of something that resided deep within her.

"Yeah… let's go." Seeing her friend's worry Kiana had replied with a nod as they rushed away from the anomaly...

As they were running through the streets again. A sudden thud had made them stop abruptly, drawing their attention to one of the intersections before them. It soon was followed by others as an unnatural creature slowly walked out to the street.

Suddenly it had stopped in the middle of its step, before its head turned on Mei.

There was a pause...

"RUN!" Then Kiana had screamed as they darted in the opposite direction.

Because the monster had charged on them with a Roar!

The present:

The bridge they had passed mere seconds ago was breached through, sending chunks of stone and armature everywhere. As the Honkai beast that they had encountered was still hot on their heels.

"Stop following us, you perv!" Kiana had yelled at it while clearing the path from the undead with her guns.

They had already arrived at the agreed location, supposedly where Bronya would reunite with them and kill the annoying thing.

But there was not a sight of the girl...

'Where is she?' Kiana thought, gritting her teeth. They were running for hours now, and she could already tell that there was not much time left before she would collapse from the exhaustion.

Glancing at her friend, Kiana had noted that she was in an even worse state. Mei was panting heavily as beads of sweat were rolling down her face. 'Seems like Mei too is at her limit…'

But they could not stop now, as both of them knew that if they did, the monster would kill them.

Jumping aside, she barely avoided the fate of being crushed to death, as the beast had landed on the spot she was moments prior. Its attack had destroyed the ground upon impact, which raised dense clouds of dust everywhere.

"We have to get rid of it…" Kiana muttered, looking for any place to throw off their pursuer. Some kind of alley or building... She noticed an entrance to a mall. 'Perfect!'

"This way!" Taking advantage of the dust that acted as a smoke screen, she dragged Mei towards the building while the beast could not see them.

Yet that assumption was proven wrong when soon the entrance they had passed into was smashed into splinters.

'How did it notice us?!' Kiana scowled as they ran through the hallway. She could hear the walls behind them crumble as the monster was trying to follow, but fortunately it had a hard time doing so.

Taking a turn into the first narrow passage they came across, they had finally lost the sight of the beast. Yet they did not stop.

To make sure it won't find them again, the girls made a couple more turns inside the building before they got away though a fire exit, leaving the beast to tear down the building in its search.

Now that they were out of danger, Kiana could no longer contain her ire.

"That little brat! she had left us to die Mei. I'm telling you, if I ever see her again, grrr!" She had made a strangling gesture with her hands.

But Mei didn't say anything, she still tried to catch her breath from their escape. More so, the anxiety from the fact that the being inside her had reacted to that light was yet to leave her.

She just hoped that Bronya was alright...

An indescribable sound of a reality tearing apart had boomed through the streets of an abandoned city as a ball of swirling energy began to manifest in the air, occasionally emitting streaks of purple lightning while it slowly grew in size.

As it continued to expand, anything that came too close to the formed event horizon, began to defy gravity and rise into the air, no matter of its weight.

The unbelievable sight had lasted for a couple of minutes before suddenly the black hole hadn't ruptured outwards. Releasing an enormous amount of energy that destroyed everything it came into contact with, forming a giant pillar of light that rose skywards.

Then just like the anomaly had appeared, in a blink of an eye the energy had dissipated. Leaving a person laying on the ground surrounded by the devastation.

At first, the only sign that she was alive was a steady rise and fall of her chest. But soon the sounds of falling debris made her stir. Furrowing her brows from the loud sound, she opened her eyes.

The first thing that her golden gaze had encountered was a towering plate of concrete that was hanging mere meters away from crushing her. Fortunately it got stuck on another chunk of stone before it could reach her...

Quickly getting out from under the thing before it decided to collapse, she finally got a better view at her surroundings.

As she looked around, she noted that the place she had found herself in was completely ruined, as everything around her was either destroyed or slowly crumbling down...

"Kya ha ha ha ha!" Suddenly a laughter travelled across the area.

Because Sirin could not help but laugh. Right now she did not care about what had happened to this place. For all that mattered to her, was that they had survived the explosion and that she was finally in control again!

Yet something felt off… Her laughter died down as she pinched her brows, trying to keep the rising headache at bay.

After the discomfort had lessened, she tried to recall what exactly had happened before they had passed out. But all that she remembered was the blinding light before everything went black…

An involuntary shudder ran down her spine.

Deciding to focus on something else, she began to look herself over for injuries. As even with her powers, the body still could die. And she was not about to try her luck.

Thankfully except for some minor cuts, there was nothing she had to concern herself with. She was even surprised when she discovered that her hands had healed from the streaks of erosion that were caused by that stupid piece of junk...

While she was accessing the damage, Sirin had discovered that her outfit was missing it's usual long tails, leaving her in something resembling more of a battle dress. That was not the way she had preferred to have it, but right now she won't complain.

Looking up, she had to cover the blinding lights of the sun with her hand as it was shining at her from above. 'It's daytime…?'

Now that she was thinking about it. wasn't it a night when they had saved the city?

Then for how long was she out, and how is it that nobody had found them while she was unconscious...?

'Maybe that reckless idiot will know something.' Sirin thought as she decided to check on one she was sharing the body with.

"Any ideas on where you landed us?" She asked disdainfully, still mad about Kiana's last moment decision to blow them up.

…

'Did she not hear me?' Sirin raised a brow. In her time as The Void Queen, even her closest subjects had never dared to disobey her when she addressed them.

Yet Kiana was different... Somehow the girl became somebody Sirin could be more open with, up to the point that occasionally she began to share her opinion on the different matters. Well, except for the times when she was clearly displeased with the girl's antics.

"When I said you will not be the one in control anymore, I didn't mean that you would not be talking to me." Sirin once again had tried to get her attention, as annoyance was slowly creeping up her features.

Silence…

'I'm getting tired of this...' Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes as she dived into her subconsciousness. Reaching for Kiana's presence so she could stir it awake and perhaps give the girl a long talk about that reckless decision.

Yet her eyes widened when she came up with nothing.

Trying again had brought the same result. Her annoyance was immediately replaced with worry when she realized that she could no longer find any other presence in her mind.

"Kiana...?" She had asked out loud.

Back when she had forcefully taken over for the first time. She was still able to sense Kiana's will, even if it had been dormant while she was in control. But right now there was nothing except her own thoughts… And it could mean only one thing.

That Kiana was no longer with her...

The realization had made her feel something she believed she could not feel anymore… That thought had halted as she felt something wet run down her cheek. Bringing up a hand to her face, she let it roll upon her fingers before she brought them in front of her to get a better look.

It was a tear...

Even if most of the times the girl was a pain, she had been the only company that Sirin had in a very long time. And though she never had said it out loud, to her Kiana became someone she considered a friend...

And now that she was gone, the long forgotten emotions were tearing at her heart.

[Like all those years ago…]

Sirin was still staring at the small drop of water in her palm, when a faint whisper had passed by her mind.

Her hand clenched into a fist, crushing the tear away.

If she truly was alone again... a memory from long ago had surfaced in her mind...

Her expression darkened, as her sorrow bled into boiling rage.

Then the first thing she was going to do is find those vermin that were directly responsible for what had made her friend take that choice. And when she will find them...

Tear out their hearts would be the least of what she will do!

With a golden glow in her eyes, The Second Herrscher went forward. Towards the path of her vengeance…

[To bring judgement upon the insects that had dared to take from her again... ]

- Author Notes -

That should be it for this chapter, and wow it took a while to remake.

Originally I made it to be a 5K chapter, but for some reason I was afraid it became too wordy and vague. So I decided to split it up and upload this part while I'm reworking the second one.

For now please let me know what you think about this part in the reviews. I would appreciate it.

I'll Be Back, in the next part.