Ming Yu felt as if he had been having a very, very long dream.
In the dream, he had crossed over into that world called Honkai, entered St. Freya High School, and become some inexplicable male Valkyrie, fighting an endless battle against Honkai Beasts and Honkai Zombies.
The end of the dream was a boundless red, as vibrant and... viscous as blood.
He didn't know what this dream meant, yet he couldn't wake up.
He hoped that when he woke up, he would see the smiling faces of the Valkyries on the bridge, and hear their voices that he would never tire of, no matter how many times he heard them.
He hoped that when he woke up, he could continue grinding the Abyss and the Arena, saving up Crystals for some gacha pulls, and maybe even escape his bad luck and strike gold.
He hoped that when he woke up, the "dream" was just a dream...
That way, he wouldn't have to fight that war whose ending was already written, wouldn't have to scheme around complicated people and matters, wouldn't have to see all that bloodshed and...
Despair!
Within the boundless sea of blood, a flicker of fire suddenly shone in, slicing through the thick red like a sharp sword and pulling him out of the crimson sea.
Slowly opening his eyes, he glanced at Fu Hua in her Phoenix form before him. Without a word, Ming Yu lay back down on the surface of the red sea, letting the bloody water submerge half of his body.
Seeing the listless eyes of the young man, anger sparked in Fu Hua's heart. To think she had gone through so much trouble to break in, only to be met with such a scene.
She had expected Ming Yu might be dejected, but she had never imagined he would be this despondent!
Or perhaps, if he hadn't been this despondent, he wouldn't have been unconscious for half a month.
Although it was understandable, as an elder seeing a junior she had once approved of become like this, she couldn't suppress the anger in her heart.
"Is this how you greet me?"
Her words filled with anger, Fu Hua demanded with a cold face.
Ming Yu didn't even turn his head, merely shifting his eyes in Fu Hua's direction for a casual glance. Looking over the 'tip of a budding lotus' that posed no obstruction at all, he could clearly see the frost on the Celestial's face.
Normally, faced with a maxed-out anger gauge from the Celestial, he would have been terrified. But now, he felt not the slightest ripple in his heart.
"Perhaps…"
After a long silence, Ming Yu finally felt he shouldn't ignore the Celestial. He opened his mouth and spoke faintly.
Seeing such a downcast Ming Yu, Fu Hua quickly calmed down, speaking in a slightly gentler tone, "I've heard about what happened to you. An Emperor-class Honkai Beast is not something you can handle at your current level. The sacrifice of your comrades has nothing to do with you!"
Although the Far East Branch's report on this mission was brief, with hardly any mention of Ming Yu, even with her A-rank Valkyrie clearance, it was difficult for her to find anything useful.
After all, on paper, Ming Yu was still a rookie. And it was common knowledge that a Valkyrie's strength was related to time. The more combat experience and the more Honkai Energy one could control, the stronger one became as a Valkyrie.
Therefore, it was usually hard to have high expectations for a newcomer like Ming Yu. Could Schicksal really expect every newcomer to be a monster like a certain white-haired nun?
But Fu Hua, who knew the boy's true strength, was well aware that such a brief description was reasonable for an ordinary person. For Ming Yu, who possessed a Divine Key, it was far too simplistic. Although he wouldn't be a match for an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, he certainly wouldn't be a mere "battlefield reporter."
Combining this with the state of Ming Yu's injuries, Fu Hua understood that something must have happened to cause the current situation.
"Nothing to do with me... hehe..." Hearing Fu Hua's words, Ming Yu let out a few cold laughs and said loudly, "If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have died!"
Seeing Ming Yu's sudden emotional outburst, Fu Hua's brows twitched slightly in surprise.
Before she could ask anything, Ming Yu continued, "If I hadn't been so reckless, they wouldn't have died…"
As he muttered, two streams of tears flowed from his eyes.
Guilt, or perhaps remorse.
These were tears that should have been shed that day, and after being delayed by half a month, they were finally released.
Encountering an Emperor-class Honkai Beast was an unexpected event, an uncontrollable factor. But a person's actions are up to them, something that can be controlled.
Therefore, on a rapidly changing battlefield, every person's judgment and actions can lead to changes, big or small, in the outcome.
As the captain of Squad 16, Saori believed the beast horde and the Emperor-class Honkai Beast were unbeatable. So she chose to stay behind to buy time for the other two members of her squad.
But the high-spirited Ming Yu felt the beast horde and the Emperor-class Honkai Beast were nothing special, and resolutely decided to follow Saori, wanting to retreat with her.
Perhaps he understood that the beast horde and the Emperor-class Honkai Beast were strong, enemies that needed to be treated with caution. But subconsciously, he didn't think he was much weaker.
The pride of being a transmigrator gave him courage, making him choose to face them head-on instead of turning to flee.
Deep in his heart, he still believed he was extraordinary and special.
His status as a transmigrator, the cheat called the System, and the prescience of knowing the plot all gave him immense confidence.
Even after parading right in front of the Overseer, the master of Schicksal, he had ultimately passed through the danger unscathed, which gave him the illusion that he had Otto wrapped around his little finger.
Although the process could be described as treading on thin ice, the pleasing result was enough for him to ignore how nerve-wracking it had been.
This smooth-sailing journey had finally caused his ego to inflate.
Even if he didn't show it usually, deep in his heart, a mysterious confidence of being able to do anything had taken root.
When he charged into the beast horde, he still felt he could get through this danger safely, bring his squad back intact, and even kill an existence on the same level as that Workhorse Pig.
But, cruel reality shattered his confidence and pride to pieces!
It made him understand deeply that even if he was a transmigrator, a cheater with a system, a prophet who knew the future, in the face of the Honkai, he was still so powerless.
If he had followed Saori's orders and chosen to retreat immediately, perhaps the captain's sacrifice would have been unavoidable, but the deaths of Lia and the two other logistics Valkyries could have been completely prevented.
But, there are no ifs…
Even if he killed that Emperor-class Honkai Beast at the cost of his own body's Zombification, the result would not change in the slightest.
The spilled blood would not return to their bodies, and his dead teammates would not come back to life.
It was not until the Spirit Blade was stained with his comrades' blood that he understood what reality was!
A reality called Honkai...