It was a literal hell on earth.

No matter where you looked, fire was the only thing you could see.

What might've been once a glorious castle was now nothing more than a smoldering ruin.

I tried to make sense of it all from where I had been previously buried under a pile of rubble, somehow miraculously surviving an entire castle being brought down.

I looked to my left to see my partner, who also had survived the castle's collapse. However I noted how they were clutching their chest, it seems that they sustained injuries far worse than I did.

I tried to look around for our third member amidst the devastation but to no avail. I could only pray to the gods and hope that they had not perished.

"So you survived even that," A voice cut through the sounds of flames ravaging the ruined castle. "Alas you have only delayed the inevitable!" The voice roared as a figure emerged from a pile of rubble in a glorious burst of fire.

/ Amon, False Demon Of Fire /

The imposing behemoth that had once been a king stood over us, its visage full of burning hatred. "You dare come into my kingdom, ruin my plans for greatness, destroy my castle!" The behemoth lifted its hand to conjure a ball of fire.

"Not even death will spare you from my wrath!" I cursed knowing that I didn't have enough health points to tank that attack, not even my partner had enough. To make matters even more worse he couldn't even heal us as he had used up all of his mana in the throne room fight.

Curse this boss's bullshit mechanics, no wonder my partner said this was one of the worst bosses to fight.

"Now you wi-," The king's rant was cut short when a figure burst forth from a pile of rubble, a knightly figure floating behind the lone figure.

"Judgement," The figure blankly said as the knight behind them unsheathed the massive sword on its back before pointing it at the boss. A blue ethereal light surrounded the sword as the skill was used.

"Wait, what are you-!" A bright blue beam shot forth from the blade, enveloping the demon in a ray of blue light. He roared in pain as his health bar was all but being annihilated. I stood in awe as I saw the absolute power behind the attack as it vaporized the king into dust.

|| DUTY COMPLETE! ||

As the completed mission prompt flashed on my computer's screen, I couldn't help but sigh. It was around 9 in the night as I found myself playing a new game, courtesy of Keji's personal recommendation.

"Keji what the hell was that?" I questioned as my video game character was pulled back into the main hub of the game, the familiar looking hub was teeming with other online players as people were getting ready to grind out the content in the game.

"I did warn you beforehand, there are just some players like that," Keji's online character walked up to mine. "Though I didn't expect a max level character to join our dungeon at the very end." If his online character could do it, I would've seen it shake the back of its head sheepishly.

The first hectic week of Chiba Academy had come to a close, and with it the first school weekend of the year. Keji had suggested to me that we play one of his favorite games of all time when we were in the clubroom as a way of getting closer.

The first day of the chess club wasn't anything eventful, well if you could call getting absolutely curb stomped by Ishigami-sensei in a game of chess eventful. Keji wasn't joking about how good the teacher was at the board game.

His title of Grandmaster wasn't just for show after all.

I wouldn't say that I was that good at chess but I felt that I was proficient enough that I could at least have a semblance of victory against our teacher. Yet I was so soundlessly crushed by him that I realized that there was a lot I needed to learn in chess.

Strangely however the teacher only played one game with each of us before he dismissed u for the day, not offering any explanation to why he only played one game with us and not taking full advantage of time allotted for the club.

I just went along with Keji's recommendation and agreed to play the game he wanted me to try out around nighttime, after I had finished up with some of my assignments and chores.

Imagine to my surprise what the game he recommended to me was.

Homu Fantasy Online.

You take the classic elements of any MMORPG and add in some Honkai inspiration and you get Homu Fantasy Online

It astounded me how I never realized the connections to Honkai Impact when I saw this game before coming to Nagazora. Kallen Kaslana herself was one of the main characters of the game's story. The Valkyrie was a carbon copy of how she looked in the game.

She even had the Oath of Judah as her weapon for crying out loud!

"So you're telling me that a max level character can randomly join a beginner's dungeon and one shot the final boss?" I questioned into my mic as I struggled to process who even thought that was a good idea.

Keji already had a max level character, a testament to how much he played this game, but made a new one just so that I could properly enjoy the game.

Minus the fact that I had just been absolutely carried through that last dungeon, this game was pretty fun.

I had to give it to Otto, even if he was someone with questionable morals, he knew how to make a great MMORPG.

"Huh looks like you got a message from that person." Keji pointed out as I looked at my messages icon to see that I indeed got a message from the person that had recently joined our dungeon.

[Messages: One New Message]

[Sender: Haxor Bunny]

"Haxor Bunny?" I said the user's name out loud in confusion.

"Huh!?" Keji's alarmed voice emitted from my mic as I could hear him slam his hands on the desk, "No, I refuse to believe that you of all people got a message from the Haxor Bunny!"

"What's all the fuss about?" I confusedly asked. "Is this Haxor Bunny person some kind of celebrity in this game?"

From my mic I could hear Keji make what I presumed to be something along the lines of a dying fish, "Celebrity?! More like the celebrity! Haxor Bunny is Homu Fantasy Online's number one ranked player!"

I couldn't help but give a shocked look at the message that I had received from the game's number one player, and on my first day as well. "Dang, this must be something special then."

"Well what are you waiting for!" Keji's voice was filled with excitement. "Open the message already!"

"Hold your horses, I'm opening the message right now." I answered as I clicked on the message, not sure what exactly a high ranked player like Haxor Bunny would put in a message for a new player like me.

[Haxor Bunny: Friend Request]

[Accept?] [Decline?]

"It's a...friend request?"

"HUH!" Keji was probably going through the equivalent of a mid-life crisis in his house. "I've played with them multiple times and never received a message from them, let alone a friend request!"

"I guess I'll accept the friend request then," I shrugged as I had nothing really big to lose. I mean it was just a video game, what's the worst that could happen?

I clicked on the 'accept' button of the friend request and officially added Haxor Bunny as my first Homu Fantasy Online friend.

And a few seconds after I had accepted the friend request, my notification bell rang as I received a message from them.

[Good Evening LordChaldea]

[Good evening to you as well Haxor Bunny. What could Homu Fantasy Online's number one player want with a low level player like me?]

[I was bored]

Even if it was just words in a digital message, I couldn't help but wince at how blunt their words sounded. They really didn't have a problem speaking what was on their mind.

[The Haxor Bunny is bored of her character, so creating a new character is the most logical step]

[Friend Request has been sent]

My game rang a bell as I received another notification.

[Homu_Bunny: Friend Request]

[Accept?] [Decline?]

This player really liked to keep the bunny theme with their names.

[Will you accept?]

I just shrugged as my mouse hovered over the friend request. Already less than a day into this game and I've already made two friends! Well it was technically one but still!

Two friends made!

[A friend request has also been sent to your friend.]

And not a second later from when that message was sent, Keji's scream was so loud that I had forcibly jerked my head away from my computer. The cord connecting my headset to it came off and my fellow club member's scream briefly echoed in my room.

Woken up by the loud noise, Kuro brought her head up to glare at me, not appreciating the fact that her nap had been ruined by Keji's screaming.

I mouthed an apologetic sorry to the feline before as I reconnected my headset back into the computer. Kuro wasn't the kind of cat that would go and proceed to rip up my belongings because of something like that.

But she would demand that her next meal be fancier than normal. Who would've thought my cat would have such a demanding palette.

"Can you believe this Haruto!" Keji still could not wrap his head around the fact that he had gotten a friend request from Homu Fantasy Online's number one player. "Me, Keji Furutu, has just gotten a friend request from Haxor Bunny!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes Keji, you've told me for what feels like the umpteenth time."

"But still!"

"C'mon Keji, quell your fanboy screams." My eyes trailed up to see that Homu Bunny had joined our team, surprisingly around our levels. "Look alive fanboy, you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of your idol now do you?"

"HARUTO!"

I couldn't help but smile as our newly assembled team got ready for the next dungeon in Homu Fantasy Online. But as our team teleported to the new dungeon, which suspiciously looked alot like the ruins that surrounded the Eye of The Deep.

However my mind was occupied on something else that I didn't give too much thought to the underwater palace.

Why did the name Haxor Bunny sound so familiar?

Morning came to the citizens of Nagazora, a lazy atmosphere filled the air for many as the start of the weekends meant a much needed respite from their lives. Many chose to stay indoors and spend most of the day on the couch, reveling in the ease that their houses gave.

But for me and Keji, there was something that we needed to do today.

"So you're telling me that Ishigami-sensei sent you this right after our gaming session yesterday?" I asked in disbelief as the two of us walked side by side to wherever our destination was.

There weren't a lot of people out considering it was 9:00 AM so we didn't have to worry about bumping into someone on accident.

"Yeah man, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me but it was really him." He showed me his phone so I could see the text message he had received from our sponsor. "Look for yourself."

"Keji-san, tomorrow I want you to take Haruto-san and yourself to the Nagazora Plaza in the morning. Take a seat at separate tables and wait for further instructions. This is your first assignment as members of the Chess Club".

"That's...super vague." I admitted as Keji took his phone back "What is even at the Nagazora Plaza?"

Keji was just as confused as I was. "Nothing really much, I mean no one really visits the plaza as it's part of the old part of Nagazora." He shrugged his shoulders. "You know, before all the big corporations like Massive Electric came and put the spotlight on the business district. The only people that still go there are old folks."

I was intrigued by whatever reason Ishigami-sensei had in telling us to go to this at all what I expected as our 'first' assignment as club members but surely there was a good reason for this.

He was a Chess Grandmaster after all.

My phone beeped in alarm as I took it out of my pocket to see what the notification was about. A smile formed on my face when I saw that it was Mei who had texted me back.

Why did she text me back? Well when we had consolidated our friendship in the gymnasium, I shared the fact that I was caring for a cat now.

To which the heiress all but demanded that I send photos of my cat to her. I remember the shocked stare I gave her as she began to gush about how cute cats were. It was such a far cry from the normally composed heiress that I couldn't help but laugh at how she was acting.

"You really love cats don't you?" I teased as Mei was broken out of her ramblings.

"I-It's just there so cute," She hotly argued, a tinge of pink in her cheeks. "With their little paws and how they meow so adorably."

My smile only grew as I saw a side of Mei I never knew existed. Here they were , characters who had sides to them the game never showed. "If the opportunity ever arises, you'll be the first person to get a picture of Kuro." I promised her.

And true to my word the moment that I was able to get Kuro in any adorable pose, I would be sure to snap a picture of her and send it to Mei.

The first picture that I sent over was when I was able to catch Kuro sleeping in her playset tower. The black feline had wrapped herself in a pink blanket, the only part peeking out was her head.

She looked like a super adorable cat burrito.

As I smiled at Mei's reaction to the first of many Kuro pictures that I would be sending her, a thought suddenly hit me.

Didn't Kiana have a move called "Neko Charm"?

Meanwhile in a random restaurant, sitting alone at a table with a pile of dirty plates that didn't seem to end anytime soon, a certain Kaslana sneezed.

"Well looks like we'll have to see what our teacher has in store for us." Keji interrupted my thoughts as I looked up my phone to see that we had arrived at the Nagazora Plaza.

The plaza itself was...not very remarkable.

A Torii gate stood before us, its once bright red paint had all but faded with the passing of time. Past the Torii gate were a string of tables with chess boards built into them. Just as the gate, the boards and pieces had clearly been there for more than a few years.

Other than the fountain in the middle of the plaza, that was it. Nothing too out of the ordinary here. I could see why people never really frequented the place at all, there was just nothing special.

"It feels like I'm stuck in the past," I remarked as I was seeing what Nagazora was before the corporations moved in. My sentiment was only reinforced seeing how the only people present were the elderly.

"Yeah no kidding," Keji agreed beside me.

"Have you gotten a text message from Ishigami-sensei yet?" I asked him.

"Let's see," He brought up his phone to check if anything new had come in. "Nope, nothing has come in yet."

I looked around to see if I could spot our teacher, that was if he was even here in the first place. "Unless he's a master of disguise then I don't think he's even here."

"Then if he's not here then what are we doing here in the first place?" Keji asked as he readjusted his glasses from slipping off his face. I looked to the any of the nearby windows of the building surrounding us to see if our reclusive teacher was watching us.

To which I could not find any sight of our lab coat wearing teacher.

"Well he did say to sit at one of the tables." I patted my friend's shoulders. "C'mon it wouldn't hurt to see what happens."

With no other options available, the both of us made our way to the tables. Taking a seat at a separate table from Keji, I took out my phone and began to browse the internet to pass the time as I waited for whatever was supposed to happen to happen.

"People these days," The sound of a new voice brought my head up to see an elder looking at me with disappointment. "Always having their heads glued to their phones, never appreciating what's happening around them."

"Sorry," I quickly put my phone away. "I was waiting for...something or someone." I explained as I looked to see Keji having his own discussion with a different elder.

"You don't even know what you are waiting for?" The elder asked with raise of his brow,

"You could say that."

"Well seeing as you have a lot of free time on your hands right now," The elder pulled out the seat opposite from me and sat in it. "I do hope you could spend some time with this old man."

"It would be my honor," I smiled as I placed both of my hands on the table to show my full attention.

"You have manners?" He joked. "There might be some hope for this generation after all."

We both laughed at that. The old man in front of me sorta reminded me of my grandmother. They both weren't afraid of saying what was on their mind and I had the feeling that they were both avid drinkers.

"So say young lad, what do you think of this ancient piece of Nagazora heritage?" He asked me.

What did I think of this place? I looked around the plaza and thought about how I felt about this place.

"It has its own charm," I admitted. "It reminds me of my hometown. The suburban vibe, the elders walking around the park early in the morning, it's a place that so different from the rest of Nagazora."

"You're not from around here?"

"No, I attend the Chiba Academy on a scholarship." I thought back to that fateful meeting with the principal of my old school. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here. "My family can't afford to move so I'm currently staying with my grandmother."

The old man looked at me, "Let me guess that you're Hana's brat aren't you?"

I looked at the old man in shock. "You know my kaa-san?"

The old man cracked a large smile at that. "Know her? Boy, I practically raised her. I used to babysit your mother when she was just a child living in Nagazora." He pointed a finger at my red hair. "After all, that red hair runs deep in your family. I'd be a fool not to recognize it."

Who knew my mother originally grew up here. I had always wondered why my grandmother lived here when she could've lived near us back in our hometown.

"Enough with this talking about your family, you're gonna make this old man start to go down memory lane." He looked down at the set chess pieces on the board. "Hey, why don't we play a game?"

Chess? A game of that...wouldn't be so bad right now. I needed some practice anyway. "Sure, I'm down for a game ojii-san."

"Now none of that ojii-san bullshit, you keep calling me that and you'll be reminding me that I'm no longer the spry young-self I once was."

I laughed at that, he definitely acted like my grandmother.

"This is the knight right?" He asked me as he pointed to the bishop piece.

My mind came to a stop as I registered what I had just heard. "No it's the piece next to it, that's the bishop." I could not tell if he was joking or being sincere about his confusion. "Have you ever played a game of chess?"

"Eh, I'll learn on the way." He nonchalantly waved as I just shrugged. If he wanted to play this game with no experience, be my guest.

"You can have white then." I offered.

"White's the one that gets to go first right?" He asked me innocently to which I nodded in confirmation. "Are you sure about that? He who goes first, strikes twice."

Huh maybe he really was a fast learner after all. "Consider it a handicap, you did say that this was your first game after all."

The old man across from me took a pawn into his hand, before placing it forward with no hesitation on the board.

"Rule Number One," He smiled, this time with a dangerous edge. "Never be fooled by what your opponent says."

My smile dropped as I realized what I had gotten myself into.

This was going to be a painful game wasn't it?

"That was a fun game, we should play sometime soon." The old man smiled as he stood up from his chair and left. I only offered a small wave of my hand in return as I was too shocked at the result of our match on the board.

A menacing white queen towered over my King, a white rook in position to cut off my king's escape route. Off to the side my only two pieces remaining, a knight and a rook, were both blocked off by two pawns. My king was all but ensured checkmate.

I massaged my head at the intense game that I just played. Ever since he moved his first pawn, I had been forced on the defensive. I couldn't push forward or anything. All I did was move my pieces as best as I could to defend my king but clearly it wasn't enough.

"Damm you did better than I did," Keji walked up to my table. "At least you had two pieces remaining, all I had was my king left at the end of my game."

"Yeah," I absently said as my mind was still processing what had just happened. "You choose Black or White?"

"White, not like it helped me." He sighed as he remembered how his match went. "White you're usually the one on the offensive but it felt I was on the defensive the entire time."

"Was this what Ishigami-sensei wanted us to do?" I had a feeling that this was the entire reason why he wanted us to come here in the first place."

"I guess so, still my pride still kind of hurts of how I got absolutely curb stomped by an old man."

I looked at him with the raise of my brow. "Didn't Ishigami-sensei absolutely crush you yesterday in your game of chess?"

"Yeah but he's a Chess Grandmaster!" He argued. "Forgive me for not assuming that an old man knows how to play chess like a pro."

I looked at my phone to see that it was roughly around noon, and judging by how there weren't any more elderly walking around, it was safe to assume that they had all gone home or somewhere else.

"Hey wanna grab lunch?" I asked Keji. "I don't think we'll be playing any games anytime soon."

"Yes please," Keji pleaded. "I don't think I could handle another game right now." With the new plan, I stood up from my chair as we then proceeded to go grab lunch.

"Hey Haruto, wanna get on Homu Fantasy Online later?"

"But I got homework to do."

"Actually if it's not too much trouble, could I come over to your house tomorrow so we could do the work together? I need some help with Ishigami-sensei's homework."

"You admire the man but have trouble with his assignments?"

"I think you're the only person in the entire school who doesn't have trouble with his assignments, Haruto."

"Fine you can come over, but you need to bring a peace offering to Kuro. She only accepts the finest cuts of salmon."

"Hah nice one, you say that like the cat is the ruler of your home."

"..."

"You're joking right? Right?!"

"You just wanna play with Homu Bunny don't you?"

"You didn't answer the question Haruto!"

"Hmm looks like this subject failed." In one of the many hidden laboratories that the World Serpent possessed, Jackal was pondering over the failure of one of her experiments.

"Perhaps the cybernetic modifications were too much for its body," She glanced over to the giant test tube that contained the unidentifiable remains of the person that was once submerged in the green fluid. "Or maybe I put too much honkai energy at a single time."

She typed the potential errors into her tablet. "Or perhaps the subject's health was the leading cause of her demise, she wasn't in the best shape when Raven hauled her in here." She remembered the bloody smear that the Valkyrie had left when Raven had dragged in here.

Blood was always the hardest stain to get out of the floors.

"Another failure Jackal?" Gray Serpent's synthetic voice broke through her thoughts as the masked hacker stepped out of the shadows. "It has been some time since we have seen any successes with your research."

"You downplay my research yet your entire plan hinges on the success of one of my creations?" She scoffed as she put away her tablet. "Not to mention that you're almost an hour late."

"There was a...hindrance in retrieving the package. Raven is currently disposing of the last remnants of that problem." Walking up to the table, the hacker placed the briefcase on it before unlocking it.

"And there it is," Opening the briefcase, Jackal marveled at the Gem of Conquest nestled within the container. Even if the core was inactive she could feel the raw power stored inside the gem. "So this is the Gem of Conquest, one of the 4 gems that Honkai bestowed upon Sirin."

"And the catalyst that will awaken the Herrscher required to free our master."

"How were you even able to get this Gem out of the hands of Anti-Entropy?" The scientist questioned him. "Even if Anti-Entropy was only able to get their hands on one of the four gems, I would've assumed it to be under heavy protection."

"Cocolia is not the only ally we have in Anti-Entropy. She is just the only one I see potential in becoming a serpent. The rest are just power-hungry pawns who cling to us because we have the resources for them to be strong."

The World Serpent had many allies, however not all of them shared the same views that they did. Even some of their most powerful allies only joined them because they could accomplish things that they couldn't in their positions.

So the World Serpent tolerated them, for no sacrifice was too great in the quest of defeating the Honkai.

However should any of them decide to get any big ideas, ideas that would jeopardize the future of the World Serpent.

They would simply cease to exist.

"Has the delivery method been procured for the gem Jackal?" Gray Serpent asked.

Lowering her hand to the bottom of the table, the scientist lifted a cylindrical case onto the table. It was quite hefty, but what laid within it was more than enough to guarantee the gem got to wherever it was supposed to go.

"Just simply download the building's schematic into the container and the place where you wish to go and it will take care of the rest." Gray Serpent closed the briefcase containing the Gem of Conquest and slid the cylindrical case over to his side.

"But the gem is useless without a proper Honkai charge, how do you plan on charging the gem without having every person in the building without every Honkai sensor getting triggered?" She asked him.

"He has assured me that he will take care of the core once it's in place, I must simply get to its designated location without detection."

And there it was, the one part of Gray Serpent that Jackal could not fathom. "Blind faith is a dangerous thing Gray Serpent, you of all people should know that."

"You do not believe his words Jackal?"

"Oh don't take it the wrong way, I know that he is the best option to defeat the Honkai. To stare down God itself is no ordinary feat." Leaning on the table, Jackal's mask stared at Gray Serpent's mask. "However what I simply do not understand is how a man like you, someone who lives his life around logic rather than emotion would follow our leader without hesitation."

It made no sense to the scientist. If their leader told them to jump off a cliff, she was sure that Gray Serpent would be the first to gladly follow through.

"It is because of who he is that I follow him without hesitation," The Gray Serpent thought back to when he had first met their sire. Even without knowing him at the time the hacker could feel his sheer power. Even with a mere look into his blue eyes he knew that this was no ordinary human.

For no ordinary human could hold being both the witness to unimaginable miracles and unthinkable tragedies.

Even trapped in a realm with no escape, their sire had found ways to make an impact in the world. Found ways to temporarily manifest his body through sheer ways that he could not even fathom.

For Gray Serpent, Kevin Kaslana was the only one worthy of leading humanity against the Honkai.

"That blind faith of yours will get you killed one day," Jackal said as the hacker grabbed both the case containing the Core of Conquest and the cylindrical case that would deliver the core to its rightful place.

"Death is but the beginning-"

"Of a new deal, yeah I know." Jackal just shooed him off as the hacker was beginning to exit the laboratory.

With the Gray Serpent finally gone, probably off to catch his flight to Nagazora, she could finally work uninterrupted.

"Faith huh?" Jackal crossed her arms as she brought her tablet out, her fingers swiping through the many files that were stored on the device. However she was looking for one in particular.

"What a preposterous ideal," Faith was for fools. Only through science could humanity move towards the future, a future where Honkai had been eradicated. A smile grew behind her mask as she saw the surprisingly positive results of a project that she had believed to be set up for failure.

Yes it was only through science that humanity would be saved.

"Isn't that right Project Prometheus? For just as Prometheus gifted fire to humans, you will give humanity the means to fight the Honkai."

In another hidden facility, a child with black hair opened their eyes. Their light hazel eyes scanning the room that he called home. A bright red stigma emblazoned on their back.

Sorry this took so long, I had to write so many papers for college that it took me way longer to get this chapter made and I was so mentally exhausted that I didn't have the energy to write for two days.

All right let's talk about this chapter, but more specifically BRONYA! You all thought the next girl that Haruto would meet was Kiana but it was Bronya instead!

So I had always wanted Bronya's introduction to be like this but much later into the story but had to change it cause I changed how Kiana was going to be introduced. I had always assumed that since Kiana always called Mei-senpai I had originally planned for her to be a first year student when Mei and Haruto would be second years.

However, I realized that was going to take awhile to get to that point and that Kiana's age is closer to Mei's then I realized when I looked it up so Kiana may take awhile to be introduced, but much closer than originally planned.

This chapter was more setting up for future chapters as I have plans to do with the old man who beat Haruto in chess and Project Prometheus, which will be for a much later arc into the story.

Kudos to whoever can guess what Project Prometheus is, I think it's fairly obvious but we'll see.

The next chapter will be different as it mostly will be in the eyes of a certain...black feline of ours.

Be excited for the next chapter.

Someone approached me about the idea of opening a up a pat reon. To be honest I've never done a pat reon up so the idea is iffy with me but if there's alot of people that support the idea I will probably do it.

I know that I should offer some kind of perks if it does get set up but for a fanfiction writer I'm not exactly sure what I should exactly offer if you guys want a pat reon I'm thinking for people just to have early access to chapters, like 3-5 days earlier but then again; this is all up to debate.

Welp that's all for this chapter. If you enjoyed, drop a fav/follow/kudos as they really help me out with creating great chapters. Reviews are deeply appreciated and if you got a question or a really interesting theory I am more than happy to reply.

Peace!