A Frigid Conflict
"Why are we here?"
"A mission."
"You don't say. What I meant was, why are we the only ones here!"
A teenage boy with white streaked brown hair and a mid-twenties woman with long scarlet hair could be seen wandering through what might have been a beautiful meadow in the spring. However, it was currently bathed in the glistening white of a fresh coat of snow that blanketed the area. A forest could be seen along the edges of the meadow a few kilometers away. The two had been walking for nearly an hour and the boy was bored out of his mind.
"Well, I usually go on these missions alone, but I thought you would be up for the task with your recent power up." Was Einar's reply as he gave an exceedingly lackluster answer.
Himeko gave the boy a blank stare, "And how, pray tell, did you get me, your captain, to come with you on this mission without my permission?"
"If I said Yasuhiro, would that make any sense to you?"
A sigh could be heard in response, "That does sound like him, going along with your stupid ideas for reason that escape me."
"Hey! My ideas are amazing I'll have you know!" The boy retorted with indignance.
"All of them?"
Einar withered under the woman's gaze, "Yes?"
Before Himeko could point out the many holes in that argument, her proof came roaring to greet her.
The soldiers' guts shook, as though they were listening to a man play the drums into a loudspeaker. Suddenly, the trees parted and a beast that heavily resembled a T-Rex burst forwards, bounding towards the two Fire Moth members at speeds that contradicted their expectations.
The beast's name was Vishnu, an emperor-class Honkai beast that could regenerate at rapid speeds. It lacked both offensive power and defense as a direct result of the amount of Honkai energy needed to sustain the regeneration. The creature had taken out several squads of Fire Moth scouts as they attempted to monitor its abilities.
Similar to most emperor-class beasts, this one held a strange color scheme compared to its brethren. It was a jet black with a translucent purple flowing through the chinks in its carapace. Its maw was opened as royal purple energy spewed forth like a dying flame.
The two soldiers instantly readied their weapons and took an evasive stance, ready to dodge at a moment's notice.
"Remind me never to go along with you unquestioningly ever again!" Himeko yelled over the noises made by the creature's movement.
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad!"
"I'd like to see you try and see you say that to Hua!"
She's more likely to kill me for this, come to think of it, the boy thought in fear. His squad mate held their mutual captain in high regard after all, so if she found out that he put her in danger she might not be all too pleased.
"I could just have you run damage control!" Was what Einar ended up saying to the woman.
Any more conversation was paused as the beast finally closed in on their location. The boy decided to meet the beast head on, sprinting towards it as it crashed through the snow.
Einar was right in front on the massive beast before he slid underneath it as it ran overhead. It passed by in the blink of an eye and the soldier quickly stood up before tossing his blade towards the creature with blinding speed.
He used the wind to propel it forwards at a blistering pace. He wasn't the most accurate in terms of anything at range, which was his main reason for using swords over a gun, but he could bypass that handicap with a little thinking.
Right before the sword broke the flesh of the creature, it took on a translucent orange hue as it went through the beast for just a moment, as though the massive Honkai didn't even exist. A moment later a roar of pain echoed throughout the meadow, nearly deafening both soldiers.
Himeko, who had wound up a small ways away, spoke in confusion, "When could you do that?"
A satisfied smirk formed on the boy's face, "I read through the battle logs of the fight with the 2nd Herrscher and wondered if I could replicate some of the things she did."
Einar had stumbled across the records of previous Herrscher fights that he had not participated in thanks to Yasuhiro mentioning their existence to him during one of the two's interactions. The older man had stated that the boy had access to them and that they might assist him in discovering some new abilities that he could imitate.
While he could use most of the powers of the 2nd Herrscher he was realizing his limits a bit more as he contrasted their strengths. The Herrscher was able to make herself momentarily intangible and create an entire space separate from the real world. He was rather jealous, if he was being honest.
All Einar could do was turn objects intangible and at best create an imaginary space that encroached on reality, resting on top of it rather than being a separate space. It was helpful nonetheless, as he was discovering.
The woman opened her mouth to ask a question but was cut off by Vishnu charging at her position.
"My turn then!" Himeko roared at the beast as her large greatsword was suddenly set ablaze with crimson flames.
After Mei's experiment, the captain had her ability to manipulate Honkai energy catapulted far beyond that of the average Fire Moth soldier. She could not generate it, but she could use the energy that was exuded by Honkai beasts and Herrschers for her own abilities. She also seemed to have a certain affinity for fire, something that Einar chalked up to her being a pyromaniac, much to her chagrin.
Vishnu was not swayed by the sight in the slightest and kept charging, crushing everything in its path.
Himeko readied herself, placing her legs far apart, as though she was getting ready to sprint, and lowered her blade at her side.
When the beast appeared before her a moment later, she swung upwards at the beast's head with an inhuman force and caused Vishnu to become elevated for a brief moment before slamming into the dirt below. The sheer force of the blow created a ripple of wind that blew back many of the flowers in the immediate vicinity.
Panting, the captain used her blade to prop herself up as she took several large breaths.
Whistling appreciatively, Einar called out to his companion, "While that was wildly impressive, I don't think it's dead yet." Despite the force of the attack, Vishnu was known for its survivability, a mere two attacks would not cause its demise, no matter the power involved.
True to his words the beast stood up shortly thereafter, black smoke pouring off the injured body parts as the gashes in its body filled with newly formed flesh. The only way to kill it would be to exhaust its supply of Honkai energy, which seeing as how that was what the thing was made of, would be rather difficult.
It was a battle of endurance and the deck was stacked in the Honkai's favor.
Einar grinned, "Well if this thing thinks it's going kill us, lets beat reality back into it. You up for that captain?"
A rhetorical question but she gave a response none the less, "We're already this far, so might as well."
The two sprinted towards the beast.
Himeko charged with her blade slung across her shoulder as Vishnu's mouth began pouring a violet smoke from its gapping maw.
Einar diverged, flanking left to dodge the oncoming attack.
Himeko also flanked the creature, but in the opposite direction. Her blade was aglow with a crimson flame that seemed to attract Vishnu's attention, judging from how it fired a violet beam of mist at the woman.
Meanwhile, Einar had closed in on the creature, utilizing the newly created distraction.
When he was a few meters away he created a large cone of ice from beneath him that vaulted the boy above Vishnu's back.
He coated his blade in electricity before ramming it into the beast's back, causing it to roar in pain and trash about.
The boy leapt away from the creature, leaving his blade stuck in its back, which sporadically released bolts of lightning into the regenerating abomination. As long as the blade remained lodged in the beast's carapace it could not heal that location and the lightning might be able to stun it.
Einar was not particularly sure about that last part, as he didn't know if Honkai beasts had nervous systems to fry, but it wouldn't hurt to try right?
The attacks from the soldier led to Vishnu ceasing its onslaught towards Himeko and giving her an opening. She took it and proceeded to carve a large gash on the underside of the creature, as she moved underneath it, cauterizing the wound. It was still a wound that could still be regenerated but now it would be delayed due to the burns, albeit only a small amount.
As soon she finished her swing, she was enveloped by a small portal that brought her near to her companion's location.
"I could have handled that myself." She spoke with no real venom in her words.
The boy shrugged, "Perhaps, but I could do something, so I did."
He continued, asking, "Any plans for how we kill this thing? It doesn't look to be slowing down and we can't keep this up forever."
Himeko pondered for a moment. The question was how to kill a beast that can regenerate?
Can we even do that with just the two of us? The answer was probably not as they had no way to rid it of its regeneration.
The answer hit her like a truck.
"We don't kill it at all."
Einar looked at her as though she had lost her mind, "I don't think trying to bring a live Honkai beast back to base is such a good idea."
"But it can't regenerate a part of its body if it still has something in it right?"
The boy gained a look of realization as her plan dawned on him.
He gained a smirk, "You divert its attention then and I'll handle the rest."
A nod was given in response as the two proceeded to carry out their plan.
Himeko bolted towards the beast with a speed impossible for that of a normal human.
Vishnu roared in rage at seeing one of those that had caused it pain and swung at the woman with his massive tail.
The woman responded by digging her sword into the ground and vaulting over it as the beast's tail was swung at her. Himeko gripped her sword tighter as the force came crashing into her blade.
The result was mostly favorable.
While her intent was to fully slice off its tail, she did manage to injure it rather significantly. The cost was her getting flung several dozen meters away, but the goal was reached.
Whenever a Honkai beast is injured, it releases Honkai energy in a particle effect. That energy either disperses into the atmosphere or is reclaimed by the creature if it is strong enough.
Himeko's plan was to rid the beast of some of its energy while allowing that energy to be used by someone else. Namely Einar.
Speaking off the boy he looked a bit different compared to normal. Both of his eyes were gold and his hair was entirely white.
He spoke in an echoey tone, reminiscent to that of a Herrscher, "Thanks Himeko! I'll take it from here."
The world was enveloped in a bubble that bathed the world in shades of blue. Everything shared the same color and seemed to blend together into a single object. The real world could be seen looming in the distance, white snow shaded blue, as though looking through tinted windows.
Not much time was given to admire the scenery, however, as thin rectangular pillars immediately protruded from the ground and pierced Vishnu's hardened carapace.
The monster roared in agony as the objects pined it to the ground.
The wounds ejected more Honkai energy for the soldiers' use. Einar created a multitude of blades that hung in suspension above the creature and Himeko ignited them with a blood red fire.
Neon purple energy was ejected from the beast's flesh as it was wounded yet again. It thrashed and fired a pillar of mist from its maw.
Einar gasped from breath as he maintained the bubble around them. The moment he let go of his control over the area around him, then Vishnu would come charging towards him and he wouldn't be able to avoid it.
A bolt of lightning struck the beast at the behest of the boy, the metal in the creature's body conducting it like a well-practiced choir.
Himeko, who had moved in front of the beast, clutched her flaming blade and swung.
Space itself seemed to distort under the intense heat from the sword and its target faired no better. It screeched in abject pain as the flames burned its jaw to cinders.
As the flames died down, Vishnu fell.
Its limp body hung aloft only by the pillars Einar had formed.
The azure world around them faded away, along with the changes in Einar's appearance.
Himeko relinquished her control of the flames that enveloped her greatsword and sent a message through her comms. Any Fire Moth personnel in the area would be there soon to take what was needed back to base.
"Are you alright captain?" A male voice echoed.
"Just peachy. You do these missions alone?" Himeko asked incredulously.
The boy mustered any energy he had left and chuckled, "Yeah well, usually they can't heal so it's not nearly this difficult most of the time."
"I really hope a Herrscher that can do the same never appears."
The boy groaned, "Now you've gone and done it. At least three are going to pop up now that you said that."
The captain smiled exhaustedly, "Why three?"
"Because it's always three of something isn't it?"
"I'm going to ignore what you just said for the sake of my sanity." As Himeko spoke the quite sounds of an engine could be heard amidst the winds of the snowy field.
Einar formed a staff a used it to prop himself up off the ground, "Sounds like our ride is here."
"Yeah, sounds like it. Can you help me up, I'm exhausted?"
"I can keep myself on the ground let alone help you up!" Einar spoke with as little energy as required.
Himeko looked shocked, "You would leave a woman on the ground to fend for herself?"
"If I'm tired enough? Yes." Was the boy's curt response.
"What if I ordered you to help me up as your captain?" Himeko revealed her trump card.
"Then I would immediately disobey your orders and go take a nap."
The two continued to argue until the aircraft came to take them back to base. If anyone was asked what they made of the argument, they would say, "A bought of friendly banter."
And so, with smiling faces, the two finished their fight against the Honkai beast, confidant they could face whatever came their way.
"..."
The smell of sulfur filled the acrid air.
Corpses littered a vast field under a blood soaked sky, the sun held just above the horizon.
The clashing of metal had long since ceased and the only movement that could be seen was a young man roaming the bloodied field.
"..ak...u..."
A noise penetrated the silence. Vultures, scavenging on the flesh of the fallen.
The man held a gleaming silver sword that reflected the dying rays of the sun. It might have been a beautiful sight if it was not coated in a layer of crimson liquid that fell from the edge in thick droplets.
He was covered in a dark red liquid. His clothing contained numerous cuts in many places that revealed the pristine muscle that lay underneath.
The man was known only as the Immortal Demon.
"...Wak...p..."
Most thought of him as simply a myth, a story to keep children in line.
Those who faced him on the battlefield thought anything but.
What he was, let alone what he fought for, was a mystery to all but the man himself. A single promise is what kept him moving forwards, towards the fading light of that fiery red orb.
"WAKE UP!"
The world exploded into a white light as Einar's eyes jerked open.
"What? Did something happen?" The boy questioned in a rather groggy tone. No amount of time could increase his awareness after waking up. Something he was doomed to live with, he supposed.
Contrary to his expectations it was Fu Hua who was standing above his prone form, looking none too pleased.
"Oh, something happened all right."
Is she about to do what I think she's about to do? Einar thought while putting on the best apologetic face he could manage.
"You took the captain on an extraordinarily dangerous mission with no backup! Not even telling me where you guys were going!" Hua began her tangent, intending to have the boy in front of her see things from her point of view.
Einar was, unsurprisingly, not paying any attention at all.
Don't get him wrong, he found Hua very enjoyable company but her...overprotectiveness of sorts, towards Himeko was worrying to say the least.
At the very least, it's nice to know that she isn't even slightly fearful of me. While several members of Fire Moth, mostly rather high up members, had no particular fears of him, the same could not be said of many of the lower ranking troops.
It made sense given the fact that he shared so many characteristics with that of a Herrscher. Mei could make a detailed report with several hundred pages about the differences, but it would do nothing to assuage their fears.
It wasn't something he was terribly fearful of though, he was more than capable of defending himself if worst came to worst and more than that he understood their positions. Fear isn't rational after all. It did mean that he himself would probably be far scarier than any Halloween costume he could come up with.
Though that isn't much comfort now that I think about it, Einar though with a mental chuckle.
Meanwhile, Hua seemed to finally be wrapping up her rant that Einar still had not paid a single word of attention to.
The girl ended with a question, "...so do you understand Einar?"
As he wasn't that much of an idiot the boy responded with, "Of course Fu Hua." With as much confidence as he could muster. He even kept up the apologetic look to further convince her.
"Okay, then let's go."
Einar froze. Maybe I should have at least paid a little attention to what she was saying. He had most likely just signed up for something that he would have otherwise refuted.
Hua turned around and gave one of the most terrifying smiles the boy had ever seen, "You are coming aren't you."
Einar gulped, "Yes ma'am."
She totally knew didn't she.
Whoever said 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' was wise beyond their years.
Well, whatever she was going to subject him to couldn't be that bad, right?
Right?
Forget eating his own words, he needs to eat an entire dictionary.
As it would turn out the punishment was to spar with Fu Hua.
With a weighted jacket.
Using his bare fists.
Every attack he gave was deflected by the girl's metal gauntlets. Since he also wasn't allowed to use his Honkai powers there was almost no way of him winning.
"You're a demon you know that?" Einar stated as he failed to land a blow on his partner yet again.
In stark contrast to Einar's pain ridden expression, Hua giggled her response, "Why thank you."
"I wouldn't feel so accomplished beating a swordsman in martial arts with these handicaps." The boy tried to bring the girl back down to Earth before her confidence ballooned ever further.
"It's not about beating you and more just about punching you to get some anger out." Hua proclaimed with an innocent smile.
Seeing this new side of Fu Hua took the boy aback for a moment, halting his movement.
And giving time for the girl to knock him square in the face.
The boy fell flat on his back and said his words of surrender, "Okay okay, you got me. Can we end this torture now please?"
A chuckle was given as she extended a hand to help him up, "Alright, I think this valuable lesson was taken to heart."
"Don't make you angry?"
"That should have been something you followed from the start."
The boy rolled his eyes as he took hold of her outstretched hand, the bruises on his forearms rapidly shifting colors before fading away entirely.
"How long have you been able to do that?" Hua asked using her hand to motion in the direction of his wounds.
The boy shrugged, "I believe it's been as long as I've had this power of mine but I'm not a hundred percent sure. It is the only power that I've never had to concisely use so that's something."
"Can I ask the limits or is that a secret?" The girl was certainly curious, but she didn't want to pry if her companion wasn't willing to reveal how to kill him.
"I don't mind sharing with you. There are defiantly some I would be hesitant with, but I trust you." The girl wouldn't be aware, but it was the first time Einar had uttered those words aloud in quite some time. He wasn't so naïve as to trust everyone on sight or simply because they were in the same group.
He continued after a second of thought, "It's really just like my other powers, use it too much and I turn into golden mist. Not much else to it."
That doesn't seem like something you should just gloss over, Hua mussed silently. Quite literally disappearing would be something she would take a with a bit more seriousness, but she surmised that he was used to it at this point.
Einar clapped his hands together, regaining Hua's focus, "All of that aside, where's Himeko? I didn't see her when you woke me up and we've been preoccupied for the past little while."
"She was headed towards the infirmary last time I checked. Dr. Mei wanted to see if there was anything that went wrong with her during the fight." She accented her words with a glare in Einar's direction reminding him that he was the reason she went at all.
The boy sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, that's my bad, sorry."
Hua sighed, "As long as you understand." After saying that and putting up her equipment, she left the training room leaving the boy alone in the relatively large room.
Hope Himeko's okay, he thought. He did not want to cause the death of another friend.
Not again.
Meanwhile a certain red head was laying on a bed like machine. A woman with black hair was standing over her pooling over various information on a small screen in front of her that was reflected back in the lenses held aloft on her face.
"Everything check out Doc?" The woman on the machine questioned.
"Other than the fact that you currently have enough Honkai energy in your body to kill a normal person? No, nothing."
Himeko chuckled sheepishly, "Guess I overdid it a bit, huh?"
Putting down her device, Mei responded, "Not as much as you might think. You were far from level that would be dangerous to you but certainly at a point to be of minor concern."
Himeko wasn't a Herrscher after all, her body was not made to carry vast quantities of Honkai energy. It would eventually leak out and affect the other soldiers. A quirk that would need to be fixed should this process be used on anyone else.
The scientist continued, "Regardless, the only reason it got this bad after a single mission was because you though it would be a good idea to use the ambient Honkai to further increase your own body's capabilities."
Mei didn't raise her voice, but the heat in her words could be felt with extraordinary clarity by the one to whom they were directed.
Himeko gritted her teeth, "And if I don't do something like that then how can I hope to match Einar?"
Perhaps the easiest way to view the woman's relationship with Einar was that of an aunt and nephew. She sought to help him if she could but wasn't the one who raised him. The thought of a single boy carrying the fate of the world was something that Himeko sought to rectify as soon as she could, by any means necessary.
With an astounding bluntness, Mei spoke, "You can't."
She quickly held up a hand to stop the inevitable protests, "At the very least not yet. We don't even have the technology to differentiate Einar's core from that of a Herrscher's by more than a few percentiles. That's even with the knowledge of how we can see they effect their host."
Mei looked disappointed as she continued, "I don't want to rely solely on a single soldier either, for both moral and practical reasons. But right now, we don't have much of a choice, you have to accept that, at least for now."
Himeko said nothing. She knew that anything she would say would be in defiance of the facts in front of her. The cold truth was simply that she was powerless to do anything to stop the current course of events.
"Damn it!"
Himeko smashed her fist into the side of the machine. The echo of the impact against the hollow metal rang throughout the room.
Mei said nothing, which the other woman took as silent agreement.
It was time to go to work. For humanity and for those they held dear.
Only time would tell of their results.
Rain poured from the heavens, as though the sky itself was weeping.
A young man trudged through the mud and water, walking without rest to an unknown location.
"Hey! Mister!"
The man stopped and turned his head to the side, his eyes leisurely following suit.
A young boy stood under the awning of a large structure, the rain leaping off the roof, forming a curtain of water separating the boy and the man.
The boy was dressed in wealthy clothing, vibrant colors decorated his robes as he ran over to greet the man dressed in muddied garb.
"What are you doing out in the rain? You'll be attacked by bandits if you wander around during the rain!"
The man said nothing as the young boy gripped his sleeve.
"Come on, we can at least shelter you for the night if you have nowhere else to go." The boy's face showed only worry, not the slightest hint of malice was hidden amongst his innocent features.
The man spoke for the first time, "Bandits don't concern me." His voice so quiet it nearly faded into the backdrop of rain.
The boy was having none of his arguments, however, and proceeded to drag him towards the house.
"I have a feeling that we'll be great friends mister!" He spoke cheerily.
"Why?" Was the simple question asked by the man.
"Because my mom said that if we help people then they will help us back!" The boy spoke his naïve opinion.
The man knew that humans were not nearly so kind. And yet, the smile of the boy seemed far too innocent to corrupt with the evil truths of the world.
"What's your name kid?"
"Takeru! Kusanagi Takeru! My father is the lord of the area, Lord Kusanagi. I'm planning to be as good a lord as him when I grow up!" The boy spoke of a common desire amongst boys of an era, to be like their fathers.
The boy, Takeru, continued, "What's your name Mister?"
The man hesitated for a moment, before answering.
"Einar."
And with that a friendship was formed on a cold day of rain and blood.
The Immortal Demon and the Sacred Lord.
And all the while, a girl watched.
Author's notes: So, this took a while huh? *laughs nervously* I've been really trying to improve my writing as of late, so I hope the increase in quality was worth it. It was also longer than any of my other chapters which is something I'm proud of!
This chapter was packed with a ton that I plan to use later. I mean, I packed in character interactions, fights scenes with new powers, and even a flashback sequence! I'm actually really proud of the flashback sequence. I wanted to contrast who Einar is with who he was in his life, this chapter explicitly put out in the open that Einar is far older than he seems but not exactly how old. I'll get to that eventually. The idea for the flashbacks came from a really good Fire Emblem: Three Houses fanfiction called Love in the Dark by GirthJohnson. I recommend you go check it out if you want a really good romance.
One thing that I've had hammered home when writing this was how much emphasis Honkai Impact 3rd places on its characters and those relationships rather than the action scenes. I think it's why Honkai is still undefined and yet the story is still really good. Of course, I'm not nearly that good so I've been busy trying to come up with a lot of background stuff. I'm sticking to cannon for the most part for things like Herrscher powers and Divine Keys (Including the recently revealed 2nd and 3rd ones) but I have had to make a couple ideas for some that I might throw into the story. Those are only weapons though and there is currently only plans to add one more OC that will have a supporting role.
Vishnu is an actual Honkai beast that is mentioned in cannon (the Honkai that makes up part of Theresa's genome) but i gave it the form on the "Cutie" from the Odd Drifter event in game. Random fact; Vishnu is the Hindu preserver god. His domain makes sense when you compare it to the regeneration of the Honkai Impact Vishnu, it "preserves" itself by regenerating injuries. I might make a few more original Emperor-class Honkai beast but I will only use the forms of Honkai beast that show up in game, like a chariot or templar.
But shoutout to a reviewer by the name of dragonngo! He (Or maybe she, I don't know) has been helping me out of bunch by letting me bounce some ideas off of him to see what might and might not work. So, thanks friend!
Last thing to mention is the next chapter. I'm going to try and get it out before Christmas, but with me going to visit family and all that might not happen. I'll do my best!
And with that, see you in the next chapter and Merry Christmas!
Sayonara,
The Slow White Guy