Disclaimer: Honkai Impact 3rd doesn't belong to me. This is just a project of my own for the fun and stuff.
Also, thanks for the ones who left a review.
"Hey, dad, do you not mind if I go to Erica's place while you are chatting?"
Richard Miller, a brown-haired middle-aged man, nodded to his daughter while taking a sip from his morning coffee.
"Thanks, dad! By the way, try to not bore him to death with your tales." She said while leaving the kitchen.
"Don't' worry girl," Richard's guest said while giving a short chuckle. "Your old man had tried before and failed!" Richard's daughter's laugh could be heard from the main door as it got close.
The guest took his cup and resumed to drink its content.
"While my daughter finds amusing the fact that you joke around with my profession, I do not." The guest shrugged while drinking. He put down his cup and turned to see Richard.
"Come on man, learn how to take a joke."
"The last time I took the joke from someone, I almost died. Twice."
The guest raised his hands in surrender. The guest tried to not look at the eye patch on the left side of Richard's head and the missing right leg of his side.
"Almost Richard, but at least-"
"Siegfried," Richard interrupted him. "Tell me what do you want?"
"Well, would you believe me if I said that it was for old time's sake?" Siegfried slurred while he scratched the back of his neck.
"Siegfried…!" Richard yelled with restrained anger in his voice. He was about to take the cane at his side when his arm stopped abruptly. He started to pant in urgency. Siegfried immediately rushed at his side. He put his hand on Richard's shoulder.
"Richard! Where are your pills?!" Siegfried asked worriedly. He answered in a lethargic tone. "Cupboard…left door…two pills…"
Siegfried quickly went for them. He came back with the two pills and a glass of water. Richard took them hastily. Siegfried stayed at his side, waiting for his old friend to get a hold of himself. After some seconds, that felt like minutes, Richard's breathing calmed down.
"Are you all right, Richard?" Siegfried asked awkwardly worried his friend.
Richard nodded slowly as he leaned heavily on the kitchen table. The movement of his body was somewhat awkward. Siegfried didn't know what to say in this kind of situation. The last time he saw Richard having an attack was in the company of his wife, who knew how to cope with the situation while he remained silent watching from a distance with a pair of binoculars.
"Siegfried, honestly, tell me, why did you come to see me?" Richard asked lethargically.
Siegfried moved his hand to one of the pockets of his coat. He took out a cell phone. He opened the photo gallery and selected a particular album.
"For several reasons, I could not send you these photos. Seeing that I was passing through the area, I decided to come to show you." Siegfried handed Richard the cell phone. He zoomed in to take a closer look at the photos.
"This type of typography seems a mixture between Sumerian and ancient Chinese." Richard shifted image after image until he saw all the photos.
"Although these images intrigue me, I imagine that you not only visited me to show them to me, after all, this time just because." Richard left the cell phone on the table while looking seriously at Siegfried, who had a stoic expression on his face.
"Richard, I need you-"
"You have big balls to ask me something after the shit you made me go through." Richard's tone was dangerous. Siegfried's stoic mask was replaced by a face of sorrow.
"I…"
"I almost didn't survive with the number of fractures I had in my entire body," Richard's tone began to rise. "I lost my left eye and my right leg because of your damn stubbornness. I can't afford some mechanical prosthesis because my nerves at the end are completely burned," Richard clenched his knuckles until they were completely white.
"I can't dance with my wife or carry my daughter like I used to, I wake up twice a month with grotesque nightmares and I have to take damn pills every time my pressure goes up. I am only 40 years old Siegfried, but I have the health of a 70-year-old man!"
Tears began to sprout from Richard's eye. He brought his hands to his face, cleaning the salt drops. Siegfried moved his gaze to the floor in shame. Neither said anything. It was a solemn silence. A primitive part of Siegfried wanted to defend himself and argue that Richard knew the risks and consequences. But he could not deny that his friend had supported him even against all odds and danger.
When Richard had left the operating room alive, Siegfried immediately left the hospital and made sure he never had contact with Richard again. He had tried to convince himself for many nights that it was for Richard's safety, but not even several drunken nights would hide the fact that he had decided to flee because of shame and cowardice, he could not face his old friend again without feeling like a piece of shit.
After what seemed like an eternity, Richard spoke again.
"I will help you this and last time, Siegfried." He looked up in surprise. Honestly, he expected Richard to refuse. In the best scenario, Richard might send him to a colleague of his to fulfill his request.
"After this, I don't want to hear from you again. If I find out that you are approaching my wife or daughter, I will contact the Schicksal to take your sad ass out of my sight." His gaze was inquiring. "Understood?" Richard barked as he raised his left arm. He showed his hand to Siegfried.
"Understood," Siegfried responded by giving Richard a sad smile as he shook his hand.
"It's what you at least deserve after the shit I made you go through those years ago." Siegfried thought resignedly as he had to say goodbye to an old and good friend.
Both men released their hands and Siegfried proceeded to make his request.
As soon as the sheet being devoured by the flames touched the ground, Adam and Kiana threw themselves at Mei (or the Herrscher), who quickly proceeded to throw lightning. Despite the damage suffered by the attack moments ago, Adam was able to easily evade the Herrscher attacks. Kiana demonstrated the same ease and great skill by jumping or crouching at the right time. Both began to close the distance. Adam waited for the opportune moment to approach by evading the shots, while Kiana kept her distance shooting at the Herrscher, who used her left wing to protect herself from the bullet safe.
"Stay still!" The Herrscher exclaimed angrily. Despite her efforts, she couldn't hit either of them. While the duo evaded the piercing attacks, Adam noticed that several of his attacks were beginning to fail by several meters, although this did not make them less lethal, as an innocent tree was split in two when one of the rays suffered. Using her frustration as a distraction, Adam went on the offensive.
"Well, here I go!" Quickly Adam closed the distance between the two. Surprised by this, the Herrscher tried to create and launch lightning bolts as soon as possible, but it was too late. Adam threw a punch in the direction of her stomach. Surprisingly, the Herrscher proved to have swift reflexes, blocking the blow with both arms in a clumsy way, even so, she managed to block his attack. Seeing this, Adam mobilized tendrils to his legs, creating crimson combat boots, and kicked her hard in the face.
Or, rather, he almost succeeded in kicking her, if not for the rapid movement of her wing that blocked the blow before making contact by a few millimeters. Adam felt an unpleasant sensation running down through his blocked leg and hand. Seeing Adam's position, Kiana pointed towards the Herrscher legs and shot. As soon as Adam heard the detonations, he jumped to the side. The bullets made contact, but to the displeasure of both, they bounced off the Herrscher. She only hissed in distaste.
"My turn." She said in a condescending tone.
Feeling a chill, instinctively, Adam and Kiana jumped back. This proved to be the right thing when the Herrscher used her wing and threw electric spheres in their direction. As soon as they touched the ground, the spheres exploded, creating holes three meters wide.
"Shit!" Adam cursed in surprise. Kiana said nothing, but she looked a little shaken to see the powerful attack a few moments ago. The two were grateful for their battle instincts. The Herrscher smiled.
The most advisable option would be to withdraw and plan a strategy to stop, if not to lose the Herrscher, but the circumstances were not in their favor. It would be a matter of time for the Herrscher power to grow, to find and pulverize them. She also had under her command an army of zombies and Honkai creatures. The worst-case scenario would be for Nagazora City to be swept from the face of the Earth if Schicksal decided that it was best for its interests. Siberia, or what was left of the region is proof of that.
In short, the situation was extremely screwed.
Without saying anything, Adam got up and leaned on his knees. Several tendrils gathered around his legs. The tendrils were trembling like gelatin. He lifted one leg, giving the impression that he was going to stride forward. When his leg touched the ground, it burst into shatters, throwing dust everywhere. The Herrscher raised her arms, hoping to block a direct attack. She didn't expect a powerful ax kick to come from above. The Herrscher felt Adam's heel break her left shoulder. There was a sound similar to static and that of an exploding focus. Adam jumped back to Kiana. The Herrscher fell on her knees, the pain barely bearable.
"Did you like that?" Adam spat with sarcasm. The Herrscher looked up. She refused to scream in pain, her pride prevented her. Her eyes were full of contempt and seemed to want to convey the most painful ways to kill him.
"Bastard!" She exploded angrily. Despite the pain inflicted, the Herrscher suddenly stood up and bolted at Adam, leaving a trail of furious rays behind her. He could barely raise his arms when a strong kick hit his left side, followed by a series of punches and kicks towards his torso and face. Despite the great speed, the impacts lacked the expected strength of a Herrscher, although this didn't make the experience less painful. The Herrscher ended her attack by giving one last kick in his stomach, throwing Adam several meters away.
"ADAM!" Kiana shouted.
Taking advantage of the last sequence, she saved the guns and ran to the Herrscher and began attacking her. Kiana kicked her in the abdomen, followed by a pair of kicks and shots. The Herrscher managed to recover and counterattacked with her wing, trying to slice Kiana in two. She just bent down, avoiding being cut by a hair. Using the movement of her wing, the Herrscher turned and kicked Kiana hard, throwing her meters behind.
"You are persistent to be-" the Honkai messenger was interrupted when she was thrown violently against a classroom building creating a hole on it, courtesy from a red blur. The pair heard how she broke furniture on the way.
Kiana stood up with a jump and turned to see Adam standing. His clothes were dirt after he rolled by the ground. She spotted some cuts and bruises on his face that started to heal quickly to her amazement.
"That bitch packs a nasty punch." Adam spat blood on the ground.
"Adam! Are you alright?"
He turned to her and nodded.
"Yeah. I feel like I have dozens of stings over my face, but nothing that would kill me." He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to recover the feeling on his mouth. After no feeling anything, Adam manifested little tendrils on the lower part of his face. The tendrils apparition and the partial whiteness on his face startled Kiana. The tendrils and whiteness retracted after some seconds.
"That's much better." He said while touching his jaw. He noted that Kiana kept staring at him like she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"What?" He asked with a deadpanned face. Kiana blinked a couple of times before she started to ask. "Where are those things coming from?! And how the hell did you summon that shield?!" She hollered in confusion.
Adam raised an eyebrow. "You are just asking me this, right now, when we have a Herrscher trying to kill us and after I saved your life?" Kind of late, don't' you think?" He commented.
"You have t-tentacles, just like those in that pervert-mangas!" She ignored him.
Adam's eyes got wide with such declaration. "That's what you are worried about?" He asked in disbelief. He was expecting this scenario. Ok, no. No this kind of scenario, but actual questions about his powers and why did he have weapons with him. Especially about Omen and the grenade.
"Y-you are thinking about u-using those tentacles to make lots of pervert things to me and her, don't you?!" She said in alarm while slowly motioning her gun towards him. He just kept looking at her, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. It took a couple of seconds to Kiana's statement to sink in his mind. He scowled in distaste. He turned to see the hole where the Herrscher disappeared a few moments ago.
"Kiana, I hope you are just acting this way due to the pressure, because it is not funny," he chastised with a cutting voice. He didn't turn to see if she acknowledged what he saw. There was the sound of furniture moving coming from the building. He dodged a lightning bolt coming on his way, yet, he didn't take his eyes off the hole. From there, the Herrscher came out. She sported some bruises and cuts on her arms and legs. Like him, they started to heal at a quick speed.
"So, want round two?" Adam asked with a mock voice. The Herrscher answered with raising a hand. From it, sparkles appeared on it until it formed an electrical long blade.
Adam smirked. "Finally decided to take off the kid's gloves, bitch?" The Herrscher gritted her teeth in contempt.
While he could summon his claws and even use Omen, he decided that it wasn't the best course of action. He didn't want to kill Mei after all, so that left him with a less-lethal option.
He went to his harness and drew Gungnir in its first form. He gave her a bloody thirsty smirk.
The Herrscher was about to lunge at him when she started to spam and fell again to her knees. The blade disappeared and her wing started to glitch for a moment. She hugged herself, trying to stop the trembling on her body.
"N-no! I don't want to kill them!" Mei's soft voice took place before it was shoved back. "Shut up pathetic girl!" The Herrscher commanded. "You wanted this, did you forget that? Did you forget the loneliness we felt when your 'so-called friends' left you behind? The bitter taste in our mouth when they spoke in distaste behind our back?! The passivity with which you acted when they started to dilapidate our things and how you didn't raise your hand when they even started to call us a thirsty whore for money?!" At this point, Adam and Kiana were sure that the Herrscher was ignoring them in favor of discussing with Mei.
"You are weak, pathetic. You cannot even face the world because you lack the courage and determination to do what needs to be done. You are not even worthy of the term 'human'. Far from it, you are just sub-human. So now, do us a favor and sleep for eternity while I fulfill the task given to me, sub-human" Adam lost his smirk and Kiana scowled as they listened to the Herrscher berating Mei.
Mei's stopped moving. The Herrscher sighed in satisfaction. At least her host stopped moving. "N-no! I am strong. I am strong!" Mei's voice shouted again. "I didn't want everybody dead!" A few tears started to appear on her face. "I-I just wanted them to stop! I didn't want to k-kill everybody. I-It was you!" She accused. Despite the tears falling through her face, the Herrscher smirked.
"Oh? You are wrong, girl. I was-"
"Just a bitch."
The Herrscher and Kiana turned to see Adam. He kept looking at the Herrscher. She was upset at his interruption, but above all, she didn't like the look in his eyes.
It was like he was looking at something truly disgusting.
"No, sorry, I was wrong," he corrected himself. "You are not a bitch, you are worst. You are a parasite" He said while grimacing in disgust. The Herrscher made a perplexed face before frowning in fury. Rays of lighting started to manifest around her.
"What. Did. You. Call. Me?" She asked, barely containing her fury. His grimace disappeared as he gave her an innocent smile. It didn't' get along with his next words.
"A. Parasite. Do I have to spell it to you?"
Sharpened battle instincts made him deploy Gungnir's shield before he was pierced by the Herrscher electric punch, who teleported in front of him. The rays of electricity around her were hissing in ire. His smile was a little strained at the force he was countering, but he didn't stop smiling. "What's wrong? Angry that I'm telling the truth, parasite?" he dared.
"Don't call me that, worm!" she screamed in rage. She pushed him, trying to throw him, or at least tried. She would have succeeded if it weren't for the tendrils on Adam's legs and Gungnir endpoint, holding him to the ground, moving little by little.
"Son of a bitch! This is tiring!" He thought in irritation. Despite this, he was going to make his point. He gave her a strained chuckle.
"You Herrschers believe to be above everything. Seriously, it's like watching a bunch of idiots measuring their dicks." The Third Herrscher started to apply more pressure. "You can kill anybody with a simple snap of your fingers and burn cities to the ground without giving a shit." There was a tint of anger in his voice. Some tendrils set him on the ground, but even with them, he was being slowly dragged from his spot, leaving marks on the soil. "Despite you are a being who can bend laws of physic, you need a 'pathetic' human body to carry your damn ass like a mule." By now, he bent his knees and put pressure on the ground. More tendrils formed around his legs and arms, forming thick gauntlets and boots, augmenting the pushing force; reaching a stalemate in strength with the Herrscher. She was surprised by this.
With Kiana, she didn't know what Adam was planning. She decided to standby and look at what happened, ready to enter in action in the case he needed her. She was also paying close attention to Adam's words. She was surprised at the venom that started to leak in his voice as he spoke. He started to look menacing.
"The girl you are using as a vessel is a person who experienced the shit that comes after being surrounded by hypocrite people in her most time of vulnerability." His skin paled and his sclera turned black. "You Herrschers need vulnerable humans to possess if you want to cause mayhem in the world." He put both hands on Gungnir's handle and shield and applied force. Some of the red vines climbed up the spear and surrounded it. The barrier in Gungnir got stronger He smirked at seeing actual stress on her face when he was starting to push her back.
"You take pride in being the strongest when in reality you are the weakest if you can't overtake a person with a strong will and mind!" He growled as his voice started to distort. "You are weak. A PATHETIC parasite that nEEDs to feed on the heLPLEss. You cannot even PREY because you are too WEAK!"
The Herrscher roared in anger and was about to slice at him using her wing. Adam felt a slight change in her posture and decided to finish this. He smirked and loosened his standing. Due to the sudden loose of the pushing force, the Herrscher came directly at Adam. He grabbed her arm and kneeled her on the stomach. No giving her time, he released his hold, stepped aside and with Gungnir backhanded her at her side.
"Ahhhh!" She cried in pain as she went rolling on the ground and came to a stop near Kiana. The Herrscher tried to stand up, but she couldn't at the great pain in her ribs. She panted in stress while Kiana watched in surprise. The Herrscher struggled to get up again, barely standing in one leg. Adam walked towards her at slow pace. Almost as if it was on purpose.
"How fitting for a pathetic parasite," he thought in dark amusement as he saw the Herrscher struggling to stand and breathe. He was sure that he cracked some of her ribs, making the experience painful. But there wasn't something as painful as a wounded pride after being bested by an opponent that you underestimated.
The red in his gear started to pulse a sick crimson"{It would be so easy to kill her right now}"The rasping voice said with a dark glee inside his head. Adam didn't see the growing preoccupation in Kiana's eyes. His sight was focused on the strained and hateful face of the Herrscher. "{We have a mission to fulfill. Humanity must survive. Remember that.}". The voice ordered.
"Y-Yeeess" Adam drawled.
A long and thick blade formed on his left arm. It had serrated teeth. The blade pulsed quickly, almost in eagerness to taste blood.
"{Do it}"
He was five steps from her.
"{Do it}"
Four
"{Do. It.}
Three.
"{D-o. I-t!}"
He raised the blade, ready to strike down his foe.
"{Do it! Do it! Doitdoitdoitdoittheirdespairwillbeourfeasttheyshouldbetheyshouldbe!}"
One.
"{Doitdoitdoitdoitmakethempaymakethempaymakeitpaymakeitpaymakeitpay!}
The blade-
BANG!
His mind barely registered the bullet impacting on his arm. He turned to face who interrupted him, but a strong roundhouse kick in the face made him tremble and trip back. He recovered his step with Gungnir before he could fell on the ground. The blade on his left went undone. He locked his gaze on Kiana, who now assumed a defensive posture in front of the Herrscher. The Honkai envoy was turning her sight between Adam and Kiana, trying to understand what the hell was happening.
"Adam," Kiana's voice gained a serious tone, "Step back. Now."
His facial expression was stoic. Not giving away the slowly rising anger directed towards her. He leaned, ready to pounce at her for daring to interrupt in his path to exterminate the Herrscher. Seeing this, Kiana pointed her guns and tensed her legs to move at any moment. He was about to launch when a terrible pain ran from the base of his nape to the forehead.
"AAAGH!" Adam screamed in pain. He felt as if his brain was being boiled inside his skull. The pain was strong enough for him to fell on his knees while he grabbed his head, letting Gungnir fell on the ground, deactivating the barrier and enter in its standby mode. The vines retracted back to Adam. The Herrscher slowly stood up. She kept her hand where Adam hit her. She could feel how they were being healed, but at a slow rate compared to her previous injuries.
"Human," she called Kiana. She took a couple of steps back, allowing her to keep Kiana and the worm screaming his head off incoherently on her line of sight.
"Why did you…why did you intervene?" Damn the day she would admit that she just received help from a puny human.
Kiana moved her eyes from Adam to her. She gave her a happy smile. For a moment, somewhere deep in her heart, the Herrscher found the smile…easy to the eyes.
"Because it's my oath as a Kaslana to defend the innocent and protect the weak." The Herrscher found the idea amusing, but with the sincerity and confidence she said it, the Herrscher decided to not comment on it.
"So you just intervened because the worm was about to kill this weak girl?" Kiana was sure she wasn't the brightest person, but even she couldn't miss the condescension on her tone.
"Nope!" Kiana empathized the 'p'. "I got in his way because we, well, I said that I will save you, Mei."
The Herrscher frowned at this. "She and her, we are not the same person, human."
Kiana shook her head. "You said that you felt the same. To me, it means that both of you share the same body but with a different attitude." Kiana gained a curious expression. "I think there was something called multiple personalities or something like that." She brought her hand to her chin while thinking this.
The Herrscher blinked twice. "Is she calling me a person with a dissociative identity disorder?" She shook her head. "And is she exposing herself to me? I could kill her easily at distance" Surprising to her, there was someone who answered her
"Because she is nice…" It was Mei.
"Humans are treacherous creatures."
"But not her…" Mei responded to her.
"Then what about him!" She motioned to Adam, who stopped screaming and grunted in pain still on the ground. Mei didn't say anything for a few seconds.
"To be honest, we tried to kill them first…"
The Herrscher was about to say something else, but again, she was interrupted.
"Y-you know…" it was Adam, who seemed to finally get a hold of himself. The Herrscher narrowed her eyes and Kiana relaxed her stance a little. "T-that trusty attitude of yours," Adam got up and rested his hands on his knees while panting a little. "R-really comes from your old man." Adam wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked exhausted. He picked up Gungnir and saved it. Before he could catch his breath, Kiana was over him, holding him from his shoulders while shaking him from back to front.
"How do you know the stupid old man?!" She incremented her force on her holding. "Do you know where is he now? How do you know him and where the hell is he?!" She roared her last question.
"Well, shit,"yapped mentally Adam. He sighed. "At least she turned away from the Herrscher." He was curious as to why the Herrscher didn't strike Kiana when she got the chance.
"And what the fuck just happened? I rarely lost control and I almost tried to attack Kiana." It was worrying to him. He knew that when he overused his powers, he would eventually start to lose control over his mind, but to have two painful headaches in a row and give in to the sinister voice…
"It has something to do with the output Honkai energy from the Herrscher?" He was starting to feel dizzy from Kiana's shaking. "I will call Hestia once I am out of this place." He decided. Adam grabbed Kiana's hands and got them off him.
"Yeah. I know your old man," she was about to say something else but he beat it to her. "And I would like to answer your questions, but I believe this is not the time."
Kiana narrowed her eyes. "Like hell this is not the time. You are going to answer to me. Right now!" She disagreed.
"Are you forgetting that we have a Herrscher situation behind you?" He asked rhetorically. She widened her eyes and turned around to look at the person he was referring to. The Herrscher was standing on her legs. Like him, she looked exhausted. She kept a hand on her ribs. While the damage was fixed, the phantom pain lingered a bit.
"Oh crap. You are right." Kiana realized. "But after we get out of this, you will tell me about the old man." For a moment Adam could swear that her right eye was a sick yellow. "Everything."
Adam just sighed in resignation. "Better him than me." Then he took note of something.
"Hey, Herrscher, tell me, why you didn't attack Kiana when you got the chance?" It was a pretty valid question. Kiana was pretty much exposed to the mercy of the Herrscher and she didn't attack her.
She looked offended. "I don't find honorable to strike down an enemy when they have their backs exposed to me or when they are not in the condition to fight. Unlike you." She spat the last part.
Adam would have laughed if he had the energy for it. "A Herrscher talking about honor and respect these days. How odd." He also would have called off her bluffing. Technically, she tried to kill them first when they were on the roof when they thought that she was just a catatonic girl from the situation she found herself in but decided against to say nothing. As she said, both were exhausted. It should be added that Adam didn't want to push himself too much with his powers given his instability.
"If it was just me and her, I wouldn't mind letting loose. But Kiana is here and I don't want to explain to Siegfried that I killed his daughter." The last part gave him a sour taste.
The Herrscher raised both arms. There was an option that normally Siegfried would use when the two (mainly him), got in deep shit.
Talk your way out and compromise (gamble).
"Hey, how about we make a deal?" Adam proposed wearily. Kiana and the Herrscher widened their eyes on response.
The Herrscher kept staring at him for a long moment. "What are you talking about?" She asked reluctantly.
Adam grinned mentally. "As you can see, both of us are pretty much worn down from our previous…dispute."
Sparks started to appear on her arms. He quickly added. "You say that you didn't find honorable to kill Kiana when she had her back to you. So…" Now came the difficult question. "How about we postpone this until both of us are at top form?"
The Herrscher raised an eyebrow. "You really lost your mind with that headache," she said in an incredulous tone, although the sparks on her arms disappeared. Adam was at ease. She was interested in his proposal.
"Tell me worm, why I should accept?" She inquired while raising a hand and creating a ball of electricity. "I am also sure that you can continue fighting," she collapsed the ball.
"Yeah, but I would lose my mind and I could kill Kiana for mistake!" He thought exasperated. "True, but she," he motioned with his head to Kiana. "She wouldn't allow it." The Herrscher looked at her and then to Adam. Meanwhile, Kiana pouted and frowned at him.
"You say it as if it was a bad thing!" He ignored her. He really needed to pull this off.
"Look, we could do it your way. We fight, destroy half of the city in the process and one of us would kill the other. Fine by me, but take note that Kiana would get involved and killed." Kiana widened her eyes. "Considering that she saved your life, that's a low way to pay someone else back, even for someone like me."
The Herrscher wanted to disintegrate him until only his memory remained when he mentioned 'saved', but he had a good point. It would be in bad taste to kill the girl that helped her. She was an envoy of the will of the Honkai. Someone above the concepts of ungratefulness and deceive.
Fine, she would spare the girl's life, just this time. If she came looking for a fight in the future and ended her life in the process, so be it.
"Assuming that I accept your proposition, how I can be sure that you will keep your word?"
"I may be above the concepts of deceit, but not him, a human."
At hearing this, Adam's fist pumped mentally. "I could say something like you have my word, but I'm sure that won't like you, right?" he inquired. The Herrscher nodded in response.
"Well, time to compromise then." Adam took his hand to grab Omen. Instantly, the Herrscher raised her arms to battle. "Wait! I'm going to take my sword out, slowly, and drew the blade. There is a reason." He waited for her approval. She kept her arms lifted for a moment before retracting them. She didn't lower her guard at all, she kept an arm lifted, ready to strike in the case of.
As he said, Adam took Omen slowly and drew the blade. "What are you thinking?" She was starting to suspect that this was a trap.
Adam faked a cough to gain her attention. "I think that you can feel that there is something off about this blade." The Herrscher nodded. When his blade sliced her skin, there was a strange sensation, like shivers and cold fire on the blade. She couldn't shake the feeling that something felt wrong about the blade.
"I don't know all the details, but Omen can do more things than just cut and kill stuff."
He moved the endpoint of Omen towards his left hand.
"I, Adam Alighieri, under the sharpness of the blade and the true in the blood, I swear that if I say a lie in the next three minutes, may the blade pierce my left hand and made a hole on it." Then Adam barely pinched his hand with the blade and set it on the ground. He walked some steps away from it, confusing the girls.
"Herrscher, ask what is the color of the sky and what surround us."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Just do it." Adam sighed in exasperation.
She frowned her lips in irritation but decided to concede. She sighed. "What color is the sky?"
"Blue."
"What time of the day is?"
"Morning."
"What's the color of the grass here?"
"Green."
"Do you have more weapons with you?"
"Clever". He thought. "In a way, yes." He confirmed
"Who gave you those weapons?"
"Playing around could fuck this off, better end this soon before I spill too much," He thought seriously.
"Hestia. She is…someone important to me.
"Does she know where my dad is?" Suddenly Kiana got in. Adam tried to not show the panic on his face at the question.
"Shit!" He cursed. "I think so. But she didn't' tell me where he went to."
"Come on! Finish already!" Adam was getting anxious. This was backfiring at him in the worst possible way.
"Then, do you know how-" "Are you even human?"
Kiana and Adam were surprised at the Herrscher question. Although he got surprised at this, he wasn't going to waste this chance.
"I am human," barely finishing his sentence, he felt a powerful stab on his hand that made him fall to his knees. It didn't matter if he possessed a high pain tolerance, Omen's feedback was horribly painful.
"Son of a bitch!" He cursed while holding his bloody hand. Both females were surprised at the gaping wound on his hand bleeding profusely. Kiana went to Adam to check the wound while the Herrscher stood astonished. She was taking his peculiar method as a charade, but seeing it with her eyes…
"As... you can... see..." Adam said between snarls. "I wasn't… bluffing…" Barely above a whisper, he said. "I accept the pain as my punishment and offer my blood as compensation for this offense." The wound slowly stopped bleeding, though the gaping hole was still on his hand.
"Freakish…" It's all Kiana said when she saw the sudden bleed stop. Adam didn't mind the words; his attention was centered on the Herrscher. He held the need to summon the tendrils to close the wound, the least he wanted was the hostility and distrust from the Herrscher.
He got up and went to grab Omen, while the Herrscher kept her stare on him. He grabbed it and walked closer to the Herrscher. He pointed down the end of the blade while leaning a bit the handle to her. "Do we have a deal, Herrscher?" She kept staring at him for what felt like hours until she grabbed the handle. Touching the weapon made her feel wrong.
"Don't think for a moment that I will risk my life to hold the end of this deal." Her tone was serious. Adam shook his head. "I wasn't even to suggest that." Then, he had an idea. "How about something for the one who breaks this promise?" He asked.
The Herrscher raised an eyebrow. "What do you suggest?" She queried.
"A deep wound on the base of the waist and column?"
"Adam!" Screamed Kiana in astonishment. She wasn't the only one. "Have you lost your mind?!" She chided and dropped her hold. "That kind of wound is not a problem for you." She gritted her teeth. "I saw you heal your wounds at a great rate." Sparks started to form around her. "You were lying."
"While you also have great healing, and I can also get up from something like that, a wound caused by a broken promise hold by Omen means serious business." He motioned seriously with his eyes to his wound. "It would take me a great time to heal something caused by Omen. Giving you a handicap in case I decide to not hold the end of our bargain. And I'm being honest when I say I don't want something like that on my back." He offered the handle again. "So you do too."
The sparks disappeared. Kiana and Adam noted that her wing started to glitch. The Herrscher massaged her temple. She started to feel sleepy. "I can't believe I am agreeing with this." She took Omen's handle again. Flames of ire appeared in her eyes. "If you dare to hurt my vessel, I swear-"
"I won't/He won't," Adam and Kiana said at the same time. The two turned to see at each other before going back to the envoy.
"He won't. I will make sure of that. Promise." She said with a smile. He rolled his eyes. "What she said."
She looked at the pair sighing. "How do we do this?"
"Repeat after me." She nodded.
"I, Adam Alighieri…" "I, the Third Herrscher…"
"…under the sharpness of the blade and the true in the blood, I swear…" "…under the sharpness of the blade and the true in the blood, I swear…"
"…that I will not attack the Third Herrscher…" "…that I will not attack Adam Alighieri…"
"…until the two of us are ready to fight with all our might…" "…until the two of us are ready to fight with all our might…"
"…if not, may the blade pierce the middle of my lower back and made me seethe in pain…" "…if not, may the blade pierce the middle of my lower back and made me seethe in pain…"
As soon the two finished seeing this, they felt a sudden tremble running through their bodies. The red blade of Omen glowed and disappeared. Adam and the Herrscher fell on their bottoms tired.
"Don't you…dare to… die on me" She said in a quiet voice. "If anyone is going to kill you…" She looked at Adam, and briefly to Kiana before she fell on her back. "It's me…" Her conscience faded away.
"We will see…" Adam laid off while looking at the morning sky. He released a little chuckle. Then he started to laugh.
"Hahahahaha! Sweet son of a bitch!" He moved a hand to his eyes while he continued to laugh. He couldn't believe what he just did!
"I bargained with a fucking Herrscher! Hahaha!"
He was sure that he just made history. A shame that no one else, except for Kiana, was going to believe him.
"I will rub this on Siegfried's face when I saw him again. Damn son of a bitch!"
While laughing was natural in this situation, it started to freak Kiana.
"A-Adam? Are you alright?" She was starting to get concerned for him. He stopped laughing and looked at her. "Shit. I still have to bullshit my way out if I don't want to comprise the mission" Slowly, he put his good hand on the ground and got up. He summoned some tendrils on his hurt hand. It will take a while for his hand to heal. He wasn't lying when he said that Omen was serious about promises. "No pain, no gain." He thought.
"Yes. I am fine, Kiana." He assured with a nod.
Kiana was trying to comprehend what just happened moments ago. "A-alright." She looked towards the deactivated form of Omen. Adam followed her gaze. He picked it up and saved it in its sheet.
"Was it true what you said about fighting with all your might?" She questioned.
"Would you get on our way?" he challenged. "It's a promise between foes, you know."
"Of course! I say that I will save, Mei. I don't care if it's a promise between foes or whatever you say!"
Adam turned to see the fainted girl. "I hope you don't." Kiana was about to add something else when the girl started to wake up.
"Mmm… Where… is this?" She said groggily while rubbing her eyes. Kiana beamed. "Mei!"
Mei Raiden, the host of the Third Herrscher, was hugged to the grounds by an enthusiastic Kiana.
"W-what, what is this?" Mei was trying to process was happening. Adam raised an eyebrow at seeing the overenthusiasm happiness from Kiana. He decided it was a Kaslana trait.
"Mei! It's really you. You came back!" Kiana grinned while continuing hugging her.
"K-Kiana?" She asked. Kiana nodded. "So you remember me, that's good!" Mei nodded. "Yes. I remember you and…" Mei paused and turned to see him. She showed a bit of distrust towards him.
"Given the circumstances, I won't hold it against you if I were in your place." He waved his hand. He gave her a little smile. "By the way, welcome to back to Earth, Mei Raiden." Mei nodded slowly.
"How did you? How did I get back?" She asked in concern. Adam sighed and released a short chuckle. "Hell if I know. Cunning and perhaps tons of luck worn out for a lifetime." Adam resisted the urge to take out a cigar from his pocket.
"If it's right that I wake up?" Her voice tone was unsure. Kiana stopped hugging her and gave her some space. Adam made a neutral face. "After all…the things I did to the others…to the people I killed… is it alright for me to live?" Mei made a depressed face as she said this.
"Of course it's alright!" Kiana piped while embracing her again with little more force in the hug. "It wasn't your fault! It was the Honkai that used you to kill all those persons. Mei, this isn't your fault." Kiana declared firmly "It was the Honkai who used you, just like it is using the people's body as cannon fodder."
"But I…it felt so addictive...I felt like nothing mattered anymore…all that power… all that anger…" Tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.
"Mei…" Kiana whispered in sympathy for her.
"Did you really wanted everybody dead?" Adam chimed in. Kiana turned and Mei raised her head to look at Adam. He had a neutral expression on his face, but there was a serious air around him.
"Tell me, Mei Raiden, did you, you," he emphasized you. "Did you really wanted to kill everybody in this city after all the shit that happened to you? Did you wanted to turn everybody into a zombie just for the kicks and why not?" Mei flinched at hearing this while Kiana cringed.
"Did you wanted to unleash havoc because someone ordered you?"
"N-no! No! I never wanted any of this! I-" Mei moaned in sadness. "I just wanted the pain to stop." She started to cry. Adam growled to Adam at seeing Mei crying.
"Adam! Shut up! You are not making things better!" She complained. He wasn't fazed by Kiana's statement. "Then, Mei. This isn't your fault. Kiana just said that, and I just say that. But you have to convince yourself that this wasn't your fault." He didn't know what to say with delicacy.
"Fuck it." Deciding that he deserved a little reward, Adam took the cigarettes pack and lighter out from his jacket pockets. He shook the pack and took one with his mouth. He saved the pack and light it up. He saved the lighter don't minding the incredulous stares from the girls at seeing him smoking.
"We are in a zombie city and just survived a Herrscher, and you are surprised at seeing me smoking?" He scoffed mentally. He took deep puffs.
"Cheering you up is not my thing, Mei. That's Kiana's. But what I am trying to say is, you are not the one to blame. You were the ideal tool for the Honkai." Adam took the cigar out of his mouth and blew a cloud smoke to the side. "Given the shit that the Herrscher said, it was bound to happen that you blow up. After all, you are just human."
"B-but, I wanted to hurt them! All of them!" She cried.
"Being ostracized, deal with shitty rumors and even being called a whore," Adam snorted. "Honestly, I would have killed all of them in…peculiar ways." His eyes shined red for an instant. It unnerved the two girls for a moment He didn't mind their reaction at all. He took another couple of puffs from the cigar. "But that's my method, not yours. What I'm trying to say is that you were the ideal host for the Herrscher."
"Because I was weak." It wasn't a suggestion; it was a fact for Mei. Kiana rubbed her hand on Mei's back in a form of consolation.
"Yeah, you were weak. And before you say something, Kiana," he raised his hand when Kiana opened her mouth. "You were weak because you were slowly worn down. I can't imagine the shit you had been trough for so long."
"Almost for eight months," Mei commented. Adam was surprised at this. "How long ago since you heard the Herrscher's voice in your head?" He inquired. Her answer surprised him. "Two months ago, I think."
"Then, I commend you, Mei." She raised her eyebrows in curiosity. Kiana too. "The Herrscher manifests when the psyche of a person is at its lowest. And, since you have been harassed for eight months, that means that you dealt with the constant bullshit for six months before you were the ideal host for the Honkai."
"But why me? I wanted them to stop, but not like this." She gave a short sob.
Adam took a deep puff and exhaled. He took out the cigar from his mouth and turn it off by crushing it with his boot. "Hell if I know. I have met people with really shitty lives who moved on and others that gave up." He heard some grows in the distance. "But sitting here and question yourself the reason will get you nowhere." He sighed. "You are the host for the Third Herrscher? Sorry about that. Do you have powers that only happen in your dreams? Cool for you. You will have to deal with this shit. But there is a big difference between now and eight months ago." Adam offered his hand while smiling. "Hello, I am Adam Alighieri. Do you need help, Mei?"
The mentioned girl just looked at him for a long moment before her eyes started to water with long tears. Adam's smile strained a little. "I am sorry?" Mei smiled and shook her head. Kiana got off of Mei, allowing her to stand up with the help of Adam.
"That was pretty nice. A little rough, but still nice from you." Kiana commented.
"Everybody is a critic." He sassed while rolling his eyes.
Kiana showed her tongue and Mei gave a short chuckle while cleaning her face. Once she finished, she asked. "What now?"
"Well, now…" he started.
Argh!
The three turned around and saw that a big group of zombies started to form around them.
"Now we have to avoid being torn apart by these bastards." Adam groaned. "Shitting fantastic!"
"Can we beat them?" Mei asked with uncertainty.
"We can take them on!" Kiana crowed while preparing her guns.
The zombie group started to pile up. Seeing this, Adam concentrated and felt how the tendrils started to appear around his extremities. They were bulkier. There was a constant buzz ringing inside his head. He was near his limits before he could pass out and lost control over his powers.
"I better move fast!" He picked up the two girls from their waists, ignoring their protests and blushes. He started to run towards the main gate while evading the walking corpses.
"{You made the right choice!}" Cheered the infant voice inside his head. "{Indeed. They smell and bodies felt so good}"Chuckled the sinister whisper.
"Fuck off guys!" He groaned internally while running.
I hope that you enjoyed it, guys!
See ya!