My days as a Simulation Herrscher since the Honkai Impact

"Although they look very angry, they haven't used their true abilities." Bai Chen observed the flow of Honkai energy. Although the fight seemed intense, both sides had been using physical strength the most so far, and hadn't used much Honkai energy.

For these two, this level of combat was merely a contest. It's unclear whether they were observing their opponent, not wanting to reveal their true strength so quickly, or simply wanting to conserve their power.

“You said this ball will last for seven days, and today is just the beginning. People who are skilled in combat will not use their full strength on their first meeting,” Fu Hua said in Bai Chen’s mind.

"More importantly, both of them are probably focused on Otto right now, and they both have a lot of questions they want to ask him."

Fu Hua explained calmly that she was not Fu Hua's original consciousness, and therefore did not know that her original body had been shot by Otto and was in a state of death. Her still-warm body was kept in a petri dish, waiting to be revived.

"What a sinful man! He's attracted the attention of so many young girls, even his wife." Bai Chen rubbed his chin and said with a smile.

He shifted his gaze from the two fighters in the ring, who were locked in a fierce battle, neither gaining the upper hand. After glancing around at the smaller platforms, he noticed that Mei was now alone on her platform.

"Hey Kiana, look over there. Mei is all alone right now, and there are still plenty of seats around the ring. Don't you want to take this opportunity to have a good chat with Mei?"

Bai Chen drew Mei's attention away from Cecilia and pointed to Mei in the distance, speaking to Kiana.

Sakura, who should have been with Mei, found herself on another platform without realizing it. Standing on that platform were the mercenary Nata Sassiola and Gretchen, whom she had summoned.

Sakura is now standing in front of Gretsch. She immediately recognized the person riding in Gretsch's painting the moment it appeared. She had been wondering if other familiar faces would be summoned, but she never expected it to be Gretsch herself.

Seeing a familiar face again after a long era is certainly something to be happy about, especially when it's Gretchen, the beloved little Gretchen from that era.

"Gresh, are you still there?" Sakura hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask directly. Although she was one of the last remaining fusion warriors from the previous era, Gresh was still alive and well in the last base when she sacrificed herself.

The girl with short blue hair was wearing her well-fitting white dress, but at Raven's insistence, she had put on flat beach sandals instead of her usual bare feet. Holding a paintbrush still smeared with paint, she leaned happily against Sakura: "It's so nice to see you, Sakura. I'm still in my hibernation pod, waiting for someone to find the device Sister Velvet left behind to pull me back from space."

Velvet is a unique figure among the Thirteen Heroes of the Flame Chaser, a highly skilled mechanical inventor. At the end of the previous era, Gretchen boarded a cryogenic hibernation pod launched from Earth to escape the calamity brought by the final Herrscher of the End. Velvet was involved in the initial construction of this pod, and to facilitate the retrieval of its inhabitants after the disaster, she designed a return system and communication equipment.

For some reason, the designed return system did not seem to have been activated, Gretchen was still drifting in space, and the communication equipment connected to the cryogenic hibernation pod was nowhere to be found.

“Project Ark? You were the one who ultimately decided to carry it out… Hmm, that’s fine too. If only one person can survive, it would be good if it were you.” Sakura ruffled Gretsch’s hair.

"You can go find the Herrscher of the Void. According to the information I have, he will be very willing to find a way to bring you back from space."

Here, the two heroes entered into a reminiscing mode, while Kiana, urged by Bai Chen, came to Mei's platform.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground with a long sword across her knees, Mei was recalling the battle that had just taken place and healing the injuries inside her body, while also slowly savoring the power she had obtained from the core of the Herrscher of Thunder.

P.S.: Theresa didn't have much screen time later on; the writers basically didn't pay much attention to her. It's hard to say, though, since fanfiction wouldn't make her a major character either...

Speaking of which, I was waiting to pull for Velvi; I thought there was an update today, but I was wrong...

Chapter Fifty-Four: The wind is unusually noisy today.

Purple lightning flashed between her horns. Unlike Kiana, whose organs did not change significantly after becoming the Herrscher of the Void, Mei, who became the Herrscher of Thunder, grew a pair of short horns on her forehead.

The purple horns on the girl's head looked unusually cute, and for some reason, Kiana felt an urge to touch them after seeing them.

But she managed to control herself and didn't actually touch it.

"You've come, Kiana." Mei, who was sitting on the ground, opened her eyes.

"I never imagined that the last time I saw you was after school. It's only been a month or two, and now we've both become Herrschers," Kiana said softly.

Although she can no longer defy reality and has to accept the truth of becoming the Herrscher of the Void, and that she was an experimental subject born in a laboratory, and that her awakening has brought immense disaster to the world, Kiana still hopes that Mei will not become a Herrscher.

"Mei, you...you really can't go back?" she asked.

Kiana is one of the few people in the world who least wants Mei to become a Herrscher, because she had seen Mei's pain and disappointment after becoming a Herrscher, and Mei's determination to ask Himeko for death when she knew she might become a disaster that would harm humanity.

If possible, she hoped Mei wouldn't get involved in the huge controversy surrounding the Herrschers, nor suffer any further harm from them. Ideally, she should stay at St. Freya Academy, or be in a safe place with Headmistress Theresa.

"No, I will never go back. I was indeed afraid of this power before, but now I realize that it is precisely because I possess this power that I can protect... those I want to protect."

Mei looked at Kiana, whose face, which used to always have a bright smile, a cheerful and sunny expression, and even a bit of carefree attitude, now revealed an unconcealable weariness and exhaustion.

She had no idea what hardships Kiana had endured or what she had gone through during that time. Every night, she had to stay up late to do homework and practice tests, learn knowledge she had never understood before, and memorize formulas that were beyond Kiana's comprehension given her current level of knowledge.

In short, she's no longer the smiling Kiana she used to be.

"And look over there. Bai Chen is looking at us. He wants to see all the Herrschers of this era, and he will never allow me to abandon my identity as a Herrscher."

“That’s not important. He once promised me that if I could win this battle and achieve final victory, he would not only return Himeko-sensei, who still had a chance of survival in the imaginary space, to me, but also grant me one other wish.”

This was indeed Bai Chen's promise to Kiana, because Himeko's life was still technically intact. In the Honkai world, both the Black Abyss White Flower, who possessed the ability to create life, and the Herrscher of Death, who would appear in the future, undoubtedly had the ability to revive Himeko.

Although Bai Chen hopes to become the Herrscher of Death in the future and then rescue Himeko, having Durandal or Cecilia fully activate the Black Abyss White Flower should also be effective in saving Himeko.

Although Himeko probably won't be of much use in the upcoming Herrscher War, it's not bad to consider it a reward for the student, is it?

"He also promised me that if I can defeat you in this battle, he will strip away the consciousness of Sirin, as well as the power and core of the Herrscher of the Void, from your body. Kiana, that way you won't have to face the danger of being corrupted by the Herrscher's will anymore, you won't have to become a Herrscher anymore, and you won't have to face the hostile gazes of others anymore. You can be the happy and cheerful you again." Mei stared intently at Kiana, unmoved by her words.

Although Bai Chen was eccentric, he didn't seem like the type to break his word. Mei believed that if she became the powerful Herrscher he hoped for, she could protect both Himeko and Kiana with her own hands.

By then, Kiana won't have to suffer any more damage, nor will she be forced to fight against the Herrscher of the Void's corruption as she is now. According to the speculations of Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla, although the Godslayer Spear has suppressed the Herrscher transformation process, Kiana can only hold out for a few months at most.

In a few months, Kiana's personality will completely disappear, leaving only the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, in the world.

Although it was a long-awaited reunion, in just a few words, the two girls realized that after such a huge change, they were no longer the same as before. Although they still cared about each other, they were about to embark on completely different paths.

Bai Chen stood at the edge of the platform, admiring the disagreement that he had arguably brought about.

“If people want to grow, they always have to lose something. If Kiana stands with Mei, she can only gain the power of 100 people at most. But if Mei chooses to stand on a different side, then in order to catch up with Mei, Kiana can gain the power of at least 1000 people.” Bai Chen said with a light laugh to Fu Hua’s projection.

“Although I cannot agree with your approach, from some perspectives, what you said is not entirely unreasonable,” Fu Hua replied seriously.

Bai Chen shrugged, while the atmosphere between the two girls in front of him grew increasingly tense. It seemed as if lightning was flashing between them, and domestic violence was about to erupt at any moment.

"Of course, if it were the Kiana of the past, with the pitiful amount of power she possesses now, she wouldn't be able to fight the Herrscher of Thunder at all. But since she has been trained by me, if she still performs so poorly, then she would be too disappointing to her teacher."

Bai Chen recalled the cramming-style teaching methods he had used during this time, along with his understanding of the Herrscher of the Void's powers, and the practice questions and mock exams he had personally compiled. He made Kiana do these exams one after another, forcibly instilling methods and formulas for using abilities that could save energy but achieve greater results into Kiana's mind.

If Kiana used to only have a big hammer, she has now at least transformed it into a mechanical arm armor. Although she can't create Gundams or Iron Man suits yet, she can at least unleash a few hand cannon shockwaves.

On the arena, Cecilia and Karen continued their one-on-one, true-woman brawl, which had even escalated to a physical combat contest. Meanwhile, two young women whose fates were intertwined were about to clash.

P.S.: This new Diluc skin is amazing! I'm not complaining, but after buying it and playing for a bit, looking at my wallet made me incredibly upset. Just thinking about buying skins for Snake, and then there's Velvet, the next version's Herrscher of the Void, and the cumulative sales... Ughhhhh!

It's decided! I'm going to find the editor right now. I'll update like crazy for the next two days and get it published immediately!!!

Chapter Fifty-Five: A wise man does not take advantage of others in their time of need.

"Kiana, I will not back down."

Mei got up from the ground, her wounds, which Cecilia had just healed, still scabbed over. Although the Black Abyss White Flower possessed strong regenerative abilities, a Herrscher's body was inherently stronger than that of an ordinary person, making regeneration much more difficult. In the short time that had just passed, Cecilia had only stopped the bleeding for Mei and filled the bloody hole that Bai Chen had ripped into her chest.

Although these wounds appear to have healed on the surface, don't forget that the injuries Mei just suffered were only part of the damage; the greater part involved the compression and traction damage to her internal organs, bones, and muscles.

"Cough cough." She sat on the ground to recover her strength and suppress the injuries in her body. But now, as soon as she stood up, she couldn't help coughing and spitting out several mouthfuls of blood.

Kiana hurriedly took two steps forward and reached out to help Mei up, but a bolt of lightning flashed between her and Mei. The girl, who was holding a long sword, burst into electric light, forcing Kiana away.

"If you don't back down, Kiana, I'll use my own methods to make you listen to me properly." Raiden Mei wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and looked at her friend in front of her with an unquestionable voice.

As the former eldest daughter of the Raiden family, Mei, who received aristocratic education in her childhood, possesses a hidden pride and a tenacity that is imperceptible to ordinary people.

Since she was determined to free Kiana from the control of the Honkai and keep her away from the danger of being corrupted by it, she would stick to it no matter what, even if Kiana didn't understand.

"Mei...no, this is my own business, an inevitable fate I've faced since birth. I won't drag anyone down, especially not you. I will resolve my own problems myself." Kiana displayed a different kind of stubbornness. Perhaps the reason she and Mei became best friends was because they were the same kind of people.

Two stubborn people standing together are like two calves butting each other's heads with their horns.

"Then let's settle this once and for all."

Mei pointed her long sword at Kiana. As a top student at St. Freya Academy and the last successor of the Hokushin Ittō-ryū school, Mei had never lost to Kiana in their competitions at the academy, whether in academic performance or practical combat.

Now, Raiden Mei is the complete Herrscher of Thunder, while Kiana, although possessing the powers of the Herrscher of the Void, is constrained by Sirin's consciousness and cannot unleash much power.

Despite his injury, this one is in the bag.

This is what Mei was thinking.

All we need to do is defeat Yana, and then defeat the rest. With Sakura's help, we can easily win the whole match, and then everything will go back to normal...

"Ding--!"

Suddenly, a stringed instrument rang out on the platform.

Spatial ripples bloomed behind Kiana, and a Void Spear appeared in her hand. Star-shaped pupils appeared in her eye, which was dyed golden by Honkai energy.

The Void Spear was merely the most basic manifestation of the Herrscher of the Void's abilities, which was not unexpected for Mei. What truly surprised her was that Kiana, after gripping the Void Spear, pressed its tip against her own blade with unimaginable speed.

It's not that Kiana is very fast; it's just a strange feeling, like watching a movie where there are 60 frames, but 30 frames have been removed. Although you can still see the continuous movements, it feels like there are many missing segments in those movements.

This is one of the skills that Bai Chen tailored for Kiana. Although Kiana's omnipotence and Honkai energy are insufficient to successfully interfere with others, Kiana can interfere with herself. Her modified body is very compatible with the Honkai energy of the Herrscher of the Void.

This doesn't change time, but rather allows Kiana to briefly traverse dimensional spaces while acting. Different dimensional spaces have different time flows, and when she travels through these dimensional spaces, her actions produce strange sensations different from the real world due to the changing flow of time.

At the same time, since they are no longer in the real world, it is difficult to harm Kiana if an attack lands on her. The only way to deal with her is to seize the moment she appears from another dimension.

This move combines offense, defense, evasion, and dash, and Bai Chen named it "Three Years of Void Law, Five Years of Simulation - Chapter One, Section One, Dimensional Walk".

"This power... it seems you've learned quite a bit from Bai Chen." Mei was somewhat surprised, but she didn't back down; instead, she continued to advance.

"Ding!" The string vibrated again, this time from the change in space, composed into a fixed melody, creating intoxicating notes.

A nail appeared at Mei's foot, driven into her shoe. The nail wasn't driven in by external force, but rather seemed to have been there all along, shifting through space.

Three years of empty law, five years of simulation - Chapter 2, Section 1, Coordinate movement.

"If we must fight, I will wait for Mei until tomorrow night. I will wait for Mei to recover from her injuries by the river behind the Shencheng Pharmaceutical Factory in Tianqiong City, by the garbage dump where waste is stored, and we will have a fair duel."

Kiana was surrounded by all sorts of odds and ends: strings of nails, pistol bullets, round metal objects containing unknown contents, and even several empty soda cans.

They appeared during a spatial transfer, and Kiana somehow managed to store them in some other dimension. Although she didn't know how to use them, it at least made Mei realize that the power Kiana wielded was not as simple as she had thought.

Sheathing her longsword, Mei looked at her friend in surprise: "Is this the result of Bai Chen's special training for you?"

"No, if we go by what that guy said, it's called the weight of knowledge, the depth of learning." Kiana couldn't help but shudder as she recalled the sets of test papers she had done and the practical courses she had been forced to take.

"It was wrong of me to underestimate you. Kiana, see you tomorrow."

Mei took one last deep look at Kiana and Bai Chen standing behind her, smiling and gently clapping his hands as if applauding Kiana. Lightning surged, and Mei transformed into a bolt of lightning and disappeared from the platform.

She landed on the platform where Sakura was, interrupting Sakura and Gretchen's conversation. Seemingly after telling Sakura about her injuries, Sakura took Mei's hand, and the two of them jumped off the platform, heading towards the outside of the imaginary space.

As the first person to arrive, Mei, who was seriously injured, was also the first to leave after her duel with Kiana.

At this very moment, Cecilia and Karen, who were fighting in the arena, were finally about to determine a winner.

P.S.: Great! Wan Ye is truly invincible. I tried it out in the Abyss, and what used to require some skill now requires no positioning at all; just using skills is enough to clear it. The key point is that it's incredibly fast, and the monster-gathering is so satisfying! It's truly invincible!