Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

……

……

The Temple of the Soul.

Countless water droplets of chips merged into one, collectively transforming into a dazzling golden metal sphere.

A tiny flame ignites on the other side of the scales, silently telling the story of the price of the contract.

To gain something, you must give something in return.

This is reality, and this is the truth.

The golden chips fell to the other side of the scale.

Here, a magnificent flame burned fiercely.

……

……

[Power] The Third Herrscher's consciousness was momentarily silenced from a distance of ten thousand meters, but it quickly became completely useless.

Sato Yuno's soul is linked to the power within the core of the Herrscher; such grandeur simply exists here, enough to render this intimidation meaningless.

Su Qing'an was naturally unaware of the Herrscher's special abilities, but out of caution regarding the need for [Power] to transmit coordinates, and also because this move was of little significance in such an extremely distant battle, he had not revealed any clues about soul suppression.

An invisible rope has already been attached to the Third Herrscher; everything is ready.

Now that the contract has been signed and the costs have been fully paid, aside from the fact that emotions have returned to normal and are no longer being used as bargaining chips...

The dark flames within the Hall of Souls flickered eerily, concealing a profound and unwavering hatred and resolve.

The boy thus launched a true declaration of war against a god whose true nature was unknown.

The overlapping soul flames existing in physical and imaginary space ignored the distance and variables of space and time, and suddenly struck the chain linked to the collapsed consciousness and Sato Yuno along the road signs left by [momentum].

At the instant the orbit was formed, the scene that came into the boy's view made him notice a subtle sense of strangeness.

But this strange feeling was fleeting. Su Qing was intently observing this silent war, ready to exchange for new chips as fuel for one last bet.

This was a situation that neither the broken consciousness nor Sato Yuno, who was in a state of chaos, could comprehend; the ever-burning flames carried extremely complex emotions.

The deepest hatred and anger are eroding the link itself, while sorrow and pity are trying to resonate with Yuno Sato herself, so that both sides can drag the collapsing consciousness down from the throne.

effective.

This was the only good news for Su Qing'an, meaning that when the Honkai consciousness was on the verge of collapsing above the Herrscher's body, the two sides could indeed stand on a gamble and engage in a game of strategy.

But there's also bad news.

The link of the collapsed consciousness is like a lake that is difficult to dry up. No matter how much it evaporates, it cannot be completely annihilated in an instant. This is not a good thing for Su Qing'an, whose power is limited.

The endless forbidden zone of the Thunder Pool vanished in the blink of an eye. Before severing her broken consciousness, the flames of her soul seemed to briefly obscure the link between Sato Yuno and her powers, causing her to lose control over them.

The Third Herrscher crouched down fearfully, like an ignorant and naive child. She seemed to be in a long, silent night, awkwardly hugging her knees, trying to give herself a sense of security.

One of Sato Yuno's eyes faded to a turquoise green, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. In a soft, sorrowful voice, she said in a daze:

"Give me back my mom and dad..."

The boy slowly walked to the island and stood there. The [Thousand Stars] paused, temporarily stopping the signs of Honkai energy erosion. His limbs and bones continued to spasm, and the blood seeping from his skin made his ancient clothes a beautiful crimson.

Even so, his steps toward Sato Yuno remained firm.

Su Qing'an carefully embraced the girl who was trembling with fear.

Just like that day at Senba Academy, he overcame countless difficulties and obstacles, and despite being covered in wounds, he was still able to reach the seemingly hopeless other side.

Su Qing'an did it again, at this cost.

The boy whispered a lie in her ear:

“I will make Him return it to you.”

The girl's consciousness was still hazy, and she whispered aggrievedly:

"It's so dark here, I don't like it."

Su Qing'an offered a soft word of comfort:

"It's okay, it'll be over soon."

The pitch-black flames continued to erode the links of the Honkai consciousness, and His words could no longer reach Sato Yuno's consciousness.

“I will make Him get out of here, and then Yuno will be able to come out.”

Like a child tattling to her parents about the teacher, Sato Yuno pouted and said:

"He said I was a monster."

“He said no one would accept me.”

Su Qing'an shook his head in denial; he was already very, very tired, his voice soft as if he were talking in his sleep.

"I assure everyone that Yuno is a good girl."

"I will make them accept it."

Half of the power exchanged for the chips remains, and two-thirds of the link to the Honkai consciousness continues to be maintained.

On the scales of the soul, the corresponding chips have already been laid out.

Sato Yuno continued speaking earnestly about her rambling, aimless remarks:

"Can I still sleep in the clouds?"

"Okay, I'll wake you up."

"Can I watch movies, play games, and eat delicious food on the weekend?"

"Okay, I'll have Hua go with you."

"Won't humans cut me into eight pieces and turn me into raw materials?"

"No, that would be making an enemy of me."

The girl looked up at the boy's blood-stained face, his crimson eyes tinged with an impure darkness. She, with eyes that too were slowly fading in color, parted her lips and whispered:

"I believe you."

At this moment, the pitch-black flames of the soul were completely extinguished.

With these words, Sato Yuno's revived will severed most of the remaining links again. The chips placed on the scales also returned to her soul on their own. The remaining links no longer needed to pay a price, and the troubles could be eliminated once she became more lucid.

This is a good thing.

But Su Qing'an did not laugh.

My honed intuition, developed over time, allows my instincts to understand everything ahead of time, as if foreseeing the future.

In that instant, without being able to think about what had happened, the soul, squeezed by the violent pressure and inexplicable anger, briefly eliminated all fatigue and forcibly maintained [Feather Crossing Dust O-Critical] to its peak state.

Ignoring future lifespan and physical deterioration, [Thousand Stars] pulled Su Qing'an directly beyond the bounds of recklessness, and Su Qing'an, carrying Sato Yuno, began a hopeless escape.

Humanity launched a massive amount of Honkai fission bombs, intending to wipe out the entire Canghai City along with the Third Herrscher.

Before the Honkai Fission Bomb even arrived, Su Qing'an's intuition had already sensed it, causing him to grab Sato Yuno and run for ten seconds in advance.

The boy said to Sato Yuno, who had begun to regain her senses:

“Prepare to use your power, Yuna.”

"As long as we use my [Stigmata] and your power, we can survive even the most desperate situation."

"No matter what kind of mess it is, you can use electromagnetic force to decompose and erase it all."

Sato Yuno was stunned as if she had been revived, and all the memories of her blank personality were incorporated into her soul.

So much has happened without me even realizing it.

Teacher Su is such a strange person.

Upon hearing this, the girl carefully examined her exquisite dress, gently twirling the white hem with her fingertips, and softly said:

"I can't do it, Teacher Su."

"He won't let me use it."

Su Qing'an understood the current situation; the lingering, obliterating consciousness of the collapsed group could no longer interfere with Sato Yuno's own will.

However, even with the last breath of the link remaining, He can still prevent His power from being used by the Herrscher's original body.

This ability is easy to understand; the Honkai consciousness itself is the true master of power, so achieving this is extremely simple.

Even after the link was severed, it would take Sato Yuno a tremendous amount of effort and time to regain control of this power.

However, the current reality clearly does not allow for such a timeframe.

The Honkai consciousness's actions are easy to understand. Given that the Third Herrscher clearly cannot control it and is even bound to betray and oppose the Honkai, it would be completely impossible for her to show mercy and continue to give it power.

The best course of action would be to let Su Qing'an, who can sever his own connection, and the free Third Herrscher die together, following the Honkai fission bombs dropped by humans.

Su Qing'an gently comforted him:

"It's alright, Yuno."

"I will take you and escape."

The girl didn't answer those words; she stared at the boy's face in a daze.

why?

I feel like I know Teacher Su very well.

Canghai City was far too vast. Before the boy could even reach a safe area, the Honkai Fission Bomb, carrying the aura of death, was already falling towards the city from an altitude of ten thousand meters.

The entire city of Canghai was transformed into an abandoned island, and the boy was thus imprisoned, his fate sealed.

He was in the core sniping zone from the very beginning, even including the ten seconds of early detection and the ten seconds it took for the Honkai Fission Bomb to reach the detonation point and explode.

However, even this twenty-second gap was not enough for Su Qing'an to get away from Canghai City.

His normal Mach 3 speed has long been surpassed by his current speed, but even so, such extreme speed loses its meaning in the face of a tonnage that exceeds all expectations.

The Honkai Fission Bomb detonated completely at a height of 600 meters.

Amidst the deafening roar that shattered eardrums, Su Qing'an had already established himself on the edge of the city.