Honkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Herrscher Authority

Bronya gently clicked the door to her room shut. The faint sound of running water from the bathroom, a sign of Lucian’s morning routine, was muffled as the latch engaged. Leaning her back against the cool wood, she closed her eyes and drew in a slow, steadying breath.

The memory of yesterday’s dream still clung to her, a disquieting film that even her stoic composure couldn’t entirely shake. She saw it again with perfect clarity: that other version of herself, a woman who had grown so much, so different.

With an expression of unnerving seriousness, that other Bronya had asked if the present her had “taken down” Lucian yet.

Witnessing that alternate self, so confident and possessive, had caused something inside the quiet, reserved Bronya of this world to fracture. She couldn’t fathom it, no matter how many times she replayed the scene in her mind. How could the girl whose heart was filled to bursting with the image of Seele ever become… that?

She had posed that very question to the dream-self yesterday.

The answer she received was as baffling as it was direct: “Because he is Lucian. He is the one who pulled the Bronya from a world of darkness and into the light.”

She didn’t understand. She couldn’t.

In her life, there was only Seele. Only by rescuing Seele could she ever hope to feel true happiness again. But this other self claimed it was Lucian who had saved her? Even if he did help in Seele’s rescue, that wouldn’t be enough to make her become so completely obsessed with him, would it?

In any case, the Bronya of this world deeply distrusted the entire experience. She suspected Lucian might have tampered with her dream, a suspicion that only grew stronger when he had casually asked her about it this very morning.

‘…’

After a long moment of silent deliberation, a new directive formed in her mind. Bronya would begin covert observation of the subject: Lucian.

——————

Lucian remained in the bathroom, his gaze fixed on his own reflection. complex, glowing patterns swirled within the iris of his right eye, a captivating dance of latent power. He could feel that same power coursing to his fingertips, a tangible, electric hum that was becoming increasingly familiar. With a focused thought, it coalesced, condensing in the air above his palm into a solid, complex crystal of pure Honkai energy.

He held the crystal, feeling its slight weight. As he did, a wave of innate knowledge seemed to wash over him, an instinctual understanding of the object he had just created.

His eyes flickered. At his silent command, the crystal began to shift and elongate. Its form stretched, refined, and solidified, finally settling into the shape of a sleek, carefully designed key. Its essence remained unchanged—it was still a construct of pure Honkai energy, merely forced into a new shape.

“Hmm…?”

Another thought crossed Lucian’s mind. The key in his hand dissolved and reformed, this time into a long, single-edged blade. It wasn’t forged from metal; it shimmered with the cold, dangerous luster of purplish-black crystal. Within its translucent depths, complex energy patterns pulsed with a faint, inner light, seeming to beat in time with his own will.

‘…’

Lucian frowned. His initial intent had been to create a sharp, conventional steel longsword. The result, however, was a longsword-shaped Honkai energy crystal.

He tried again, attempting to will the energy into a liquid state, but the effort met with immediate failure. The energy simply refused to hold a fluid form, dissipating before it could cohere.

It seemed his ability was limited. He could convert Honkai from its raw, energetic state into a crystalline one, but he couldn’t yet take it a step further.

“The ability to transform raw Honkai energy into a crystalline state, and to control it,” Lucian murmured to himself, his voice a low whisper in the quiet bathroom. “Is this my ‘Herrscher Authority’?”

He channeled more Honkai energy into the crystal sword held in his palm. As the density of the energy and the complexity of its internal structure increased, he could feel the blade gain a satisfying heft.

Then, Lucian released his grip. The sword didn’t fall. It hung suspended in the air, held aloft by his will alone. He could feel a distinct, obvious connection to it, as if the blade were a phantom limb, an extension of his own body. Every thought, every intention, was translated into motion instantly—precise, swift, and without a hint of delay.

“This is… rather interesting.”

With a final command, Lucian willed the longsword to revert to its energetic state. It instantly dissolved into motes of light that vanished into the air, only to solidify once more in his hand the very next second. The process was impossibly smooth. The raw Honkai energy returned to his body through a pathway in Imaginary Space, ready to be condensed again in the blink of an eye.

He couldn’t resist the novelty of it, cycling the blade between form and formlessness a few more times, lost in the sensation of control.

Knock, knock.

The sound wasn’t loud, but it was sharp enough to shatter his concentration.

Lucian’s movements froze. The crystalline blade hovering before him instantly dissipated, its energy flowing back into his body like a silent, indrawn breath.

“Just a moment,” he called out, quickly running a mental check on his condition.

His right eye ached with a faint, tell-tale strain. His mental reserves felt about a tenth lighter than before. The flow of energy within his body was stable, however, with no signs of backlash or disruption. It seemed he couldn’t wield anything truly powerful just yet.

He turned on the faucet, splashing his face with cold water one more time to chase away any lingering traces of his experiment, then walked over and pulled the door open.

Bronya was floating silently in the hallway. She had already changed into a set of casual clothes, and her calm, expressionless eyes were fixed on him.

“BOSS,” she stated, her gaze lingering on his face for a fraction of a second too long, as if searching for something. “The Bronya is merely reminding you that you have been in the bathroom for two minutes.”

Her voice remained perfectly flat as she added, “You are going to be late for school.”

Lucian nodded, offering a slight smile. “Sorry. I was just thinking about some things.”

——————

After a simple breakfast, Lucian slung his schoolbag over his shoulder, ready to head out.

Bronya had already drifted over to the living room sofa. A holographic screen hovered in the air before her, and she appeared to be deeply engrossed in some kind of investigation.

“I’m heading out,” Lucian said as he slipped on his shoes at the entryway. “Try not to go outside. If you need anything, just message me on Homu Chat.”

“Be careful on your way, BOSS,” Bronya replied without turning her head, her fingers dancing rapidly across the projected keyboard.

The door closed with a soft click.

The moment he was gone, Bronya’s fingers flew, switching the holographic display to a new interface. A live surveillance feed from a camera outside the apartment building filled the screen.

Soon enough, Lucian’s figure appeared, walking out from the ground floor. Carrying his single-strap bag, he quickly blended into the morning tide of students making their way to school, looking for all the world like any other ordinary high schooler.

Bronya’s eyes remained glued to the screen until Lucian’s figure turned a corner at the end of the street and vanished from view. Without hesitation, she pulled up another feed.

This one showed him from a different angle, further down the road.

Following his path, Bronya smoothly switched from one surveillance camera to the next, her expression unreadable as she observed his every move on the way to the academy.

Her tracking continued until, just before he reached the gates of St. Freya, he ducked into a convenience store and remained inside for several minutes.

‘?’

On the screen, Lucian finally walked out of the convenience store.

But that wasn’t what made Bronya’s fingers freeze above the console.

The critical detail was his right hand. It was now holding the hand of a petite, silver-haired girl with distinctive twin braids.

Kiana.

Mother Cocolia had warned her to pay special attention to this girl, whose surname was Kaslana.

And that other Bronya, the one from her dream, had warned her to be extremely wary of Kiana, the one who had supposedly stolen Lucian’s first kiss.

She still didn’t understand. Why did her other self care so much about Lucian? Theirs was a relationship of mutual convenience, a temporary alliance. How could she possibly abandon her quest for Seele and fall for him?

She, Bronya Zaychik, had never once wavered from her true purpose: to rescue Seele.

Her gaze fell upon the screen, upon the image of their intertwined hands. A quiet, disbelieving thought echoed in the silence of the apartment.

“How could the Bronya… ever fall for this guy?”

——————

“Kiana, you’ve been staring at me without blinking for three minutes now.”

Lucian’s voice, laced with a hint of helpless amusement, finally broke the quiet, charged atmosphere hanging between their desks.

The first bell hadn’t rung yet, and classmates were still trickling into the room, their chatter filling the air. But Kiana had been gazing at him with a soft, affectionate look that was starting to make him feel just a little self-conscious.

It wasn’t that he minded her looking at him. The issue was the sheer, unblinking intensity of it.

“Huh? R-Really?” Kiana blinked, as if waking from a trance.

“What were you thinking about?” Lucian asked gently.

Kiana’s face suddenly bloomed with a faint, rosy blush. She quickly turned her head away, staring at the wall as if it held the world’s most fascinating secrets. After a moment of thought, she turned back, her expression hesitant.

“I heard…” she began, her voice barely a whisper, “that a kiss every day… can deepen your feelings for each other…”