A black-and-white magdragon roars, flapping its wings to whip up a hurricane, assaulting the warship named Hyperion. On its deck, Valkyries can be faintly seen battling Honkai beasts.
But whether it's the magdragon or the Valkyries aboard Hyperion, their focus lies above, in the skies, where the true battlefield deciding victory or defeat unfolds.
In the dim, cold imaginary space, the Queen of the Void gazes down at the crimson figure with her supremely noble golden eyes, her expression grim.
The fiercest flames burn, their terrifying heat posing a threat even to her.
Eyes of the same radiant gold, yet not noble but brimming with valor, hold a warm gentleness deep within.
"Kiana, when you awaken, everything you see will have changed."
The crimson knight drags a blazing inferno, her voice soft as silk. "You'll find this world is no longer beautiful. Those ordinary days will never return."
In an instant, the torrential flames incinerate the incoming subspatial spears.
"But don't give up. Never give up!"
Even the Queen of the Void, perched atop her lofty throne, can't help but feel a thread of panic at this scene.
"Stop—acting so smug!"
The Queen of the Void swings her left hand, wreathed in intense Honkai energy patterns. A dark purple cube, cloaked in the bleak, desolate power of imaginary space, descends from the void!
She is a Herrscher! The Queen of the Void! And a transmigrator!
How could she possibly lose?
Yet, the crimson figure's blazing intensity only grows fiercer.
The crimson warrior burns everything she has as fuel, wielding the Godslayer Greatsword to carve through obstacles. Even if she's battered and burned to ashes, she presses on without regret!
"Kiana! Lift your head! Keep moving forward!!!"
Ferocious flames coil around the majestic greatsword, Honkai energy manifesting as two pairs of wings that pierce through her body, burning the sky to cinders, as if the entire world is ablaze!
"Turn this imperfect story into the one you desire!"
This is her final swan song, the "last lesson" a teacher can impart to her student.
No!
Don't!!
Teacher Himeko!!!
Another consciousness within the Queen of the Void watches the crimson figure, wielding radiant wings, descend from the heavens. Her heart fills with grief and desperation.
Damn it! Void Herrscher! Sirin! Shiraki! Stop!!!
The girl fights desperately to wrest control of the body from the Void Herrscher, but against the Herrscher's power, she is utterly helpless.
She has many identities: test subject K-423, the vessel for the Void Herrscher, Siegfried's daughter, Kiana Kaslana.
And one name no one has ever known: Shiraki.
Yes, Kiana is a transmigrator!
Or rather, "Sirin" is a transmigrator!
But something went wrong during the transmigration. Her soul remained intact, but the data it carried was damaged.
If a soul is like a disc, memories are the data burned onto it.
When the disc is severely scratched, playing it in a DVD player causes glitches and freezes.
Of Shiraki's 25 years of memories, what remains for Sirin—fragmented, scattered pieces—amounts to roughly seven or eight years.
That's already plenty!
How many people can clearly recall their early childhood?
Shiraki's condition is similar to Fu Hua's, the difference being that Shiraki's memories were eroded by temporal barriers, while Fu Hua burned hers with the Fenghuang Down to gain power.
To be clear, neither Kiana nor Sirin has any memories of Honkai Impact 3rd.
Shiraki started playing the game at 21 and followed it for four years, but he wasn't glued to it 24/7.
A few hours a week was generous, and he spent more time watching fan-made videos on Bilibili than playing.
Memory erosion is completely random. "Sirin" can only vaguely recall a few scenes from fan videos.
When Shiraki transmigrated, Sirin had just been strapped into the Babylon Tower. Amid the agony of Honkai energy experiments, when did Sirin have time to sort through jumbled memories?
With an adult's mindset, the malice Shiraki faced on Earth and the torment in the Babylon Tower made the Second Honkai Eruption far more devastating!
Under the influence of the Honkai Will, the Void Herrscher personality formed, amalgamating Shiraki's loathing and hatred for the world.
With adult reasoning, Sirin's use of her powers was unimaginable to the original, uneducated Sirin. The Second Honkai Eruption was a true civilization-level crisis!
Wielding six Herrscher cores, Shiraki's Sirin had the power to destroy civilizations!
Yet, she still failed.
For two reasons.
First, the Herrscher personality, a collection of negativity, severely impaired her rationality and judgment.
Second, Sirin held back at the critical moment, because of Saint Cecilia.
After the Second Honkai Eruption, Otto enacted the Sirin Project. Kiana's personality emerged from Sirin's hopes, inheriting the last shred of kindness from Shiraki's Sirin.
The split between positive and negative meant a division of memories, further fragmenting the already scarce Earth memories between Void Herrscher Sirin and Kiana.
Negative memories went to Sirin, positive ones to Kiana.
Kiana remembers she was once called Shiraki, recalls her traditional, stubborn Chinese-style father, and vaguely thinks she was probably, maybe a boy.
This last point is the root of Kiana's unconventional orientation.
Though her concept of gender has been eroded, and she's forgotten her male appearance, her former male instincts are rooted in her soul, making her unable to feel romantic attraction to men. Instead, she loves clinging to beautiful girls.
In other respects, as Kiana's personality embodies Shiraki's kindness, combined with experiences mirroring the game's plot, her character is much like the original Kiana.
The warm, peaceful life at St. Freya Academy gave Kiana a long-lost sense of home, but fate doesn't pause for her attachments.
Sirin awakened!
Unlike the game's plot, even as a civilization-destroying Herrscher, Sirin's essence is still Shiraki. She wouldn't harm Kiana, who shares the same soul.
Because Kiana is Sirin, and Sirin is Shiraki.
So, Sirin didn't crush Kiana's psyche through dreams, as in the game.
Instead, she revived directly by absorbing massive Honkai energy.
During her revival, Sirin only acted against Kiana when absolutely necessary. Once fully awake, she suppressed Kiana's will deep within their soul, lulling her into slumber.
Perhaps the battle with the crimson knight drained Sirin, or maybe the teacher's words, filled with tenderness and resolve, stirred something. At the final moment of the "last lesson," Kiana awakened.
She saw her teacher raise the flame-wreathed sword named Surtr, diving downward!
Get back!
The ornate, radiant blade extended into a blaze that consumed the sky, reminding Sirin of that fiery sword from long ago.
Kiana's awakening forced Sirin to divert energy to maintain control, giving the crimson knight an opening.
Yet, the Godslayer Sword only grazed the Queen of the Void's temple, piercing the ground. The teacher restrained its apocalyptic power to a pinpoint, merely shattering the earth beneath them before vanishing into the far reaches of imaginary space.
The Void Herrscher's golden pupils contracted sharply as the God-killing Spear was injected into her body.
At the cost of her life, the teacher taught her student her final lesson.
She fell, plummeting toward the endless depths of imaginary space.
No!!!!
Watching her teacher fall, tears streamed from Kiana's now-blue eyes, her soul trembling with indescribable anguish.
In that moment.
The world quietly stilled.
Time froze eternally.
Kiana's perspective began to rise, and after an incomprehensible process, a kaleidoscope of nebulae filled her vision.