Honkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 40

Chapter 40: A World-Famous Painting: Kiana Sleeps

“Huh? Confidential?”

Kiana’s brow furrowed. The teasing glint in Bronya’s eyes was unmistakable, and a prickle of unease stirred within her.

Who was she? She was Kiana Kaslana, Lucian’s one and only, official girlfriend. And this little shrimp was refusing to tell her something about him?

Damn it, I’m so mad. My eyes are practically shooting daggers.

She huffed and took an aggressive step forward, her face nearly pressing against Bronya’s.

“I’m Lucian’s girlfriend. What secret could there possibly be that I’m not allowed to know?”

The air in the room fell silent for a beat.

Lucian pressed a hand to his forehead, a weary sigh escaping him. Bronya’s placid gray eyes shifted, her gaze flicking between the bristling Kiana and the faintly helpless Lucian before finally coming to rest on his face.

A wicked little smile curled at the corner of her lips.

“Of course, Bronya is aware. Bronya also has recordings of every time you two have kissed.”

As she spoke, a stream of data materialized in her hand, coalescing into three or four semi-transparent virtual screens that hovered in the air before her.

Each screen played a different scene, but they all shared one thing in common: a man and a woman, locked in a passionate kiss.

The rooftop at noon. An alley after dark. The school entrance. A stolen moment between classes.

Staring at the impossibly high-definition videos, Kiana’s brain predictably short-circuited.

“St-Stop playing them!!!”

Her shriek echoed through the room, her cheeks flushing a shade of crimson so deep it looked like they might actually start bleeding. A visible plume of steam seemed to rise from the top of her head.

She lunged at the virtual screens, her hands flailing frantically as she tried to disperse them, only to pass straight through the holographic images.

“—Waaah! How do you even have these?!” Kiana’s voice was warped by a potent mix of extreme shame and panic as she stared at Bronya, who now wore a smugly satisfied smile.

“Bronya is a professional,” she stated calmly, her fingers tapping lightly in the air. Not only did the screens refuse to disappear, but they began to loop, now with the considerate addition of soft-focus filters and romantic background music.

“Waaaaahhhh! Bronya! You’re so dead!”

Utterly furious, Kiana launched herself toward the hovering girl, claws metaphorically bared, but Bronya easily dodged the clumsy attack.

Her facial expression remained mostly unchanged, but the mischievous glint in her eyes had grown significantly brighter.

“Alright, alright… Kiana, calm down. Bronya, you too. Stop teasing her…”

Watching the chaotic scene unfold, Lucian shook his head with a helpless smile and finally intervened.

Kiana was the first to react. She huffily retracted her “claws” but continued to glare daggers at Bronya.

“Hmph! I’ll let you off this time!”

She tossed out the less-than-intimidating threat, then scurried over to Lucian’s side, grabbing his arm and hugging it tightly to her chest as if to declare her sovereignty to the world.

Bronya simply watched, her expression unreadable, showing no particular reaction.

Time passed, and night fell over the ruined city. The sound of the wind howling outside the temporary base became a constant, mournful presence, occasionally punctuated by distant, inhuman roars.

The rolling shutter door was pulled down tight, blocking out most of the light and sound from the desolate world outside. Only the pale, sterile glow of emergency lights provided any illumination.

Having exhausted herself both physically and emotionally throughout the day, and after confirming that Mei’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, Kiana had finally succumbed to her fatigue. She was now fast asleep on a simple folding bed.

Bronya had originally intended to stand watch, but when Lucian proactively took on the duty, she didn’t argue.

Lucian sat on a chair beside the folding bed where Mei lay, his back to the rest of the room.

He felt no trace of sleepiness. His gaze was fixed on the faint glimmers of light that occasionally flickered through the cracks in the shutter door, his thoughts a tangled mess.

The emotions he had so carefully suppressed during the day—the self-blame, the powerlessness, the gnawing anxiety about what was to come—began to unfurl and expand in the oppressive quiet.

He knew what the future held, yet he was terrified that when the time came, he would once again be completely useless.

He possessed no real combat skills to speak of. His physical fitness was that of a normal student, and his Honkai resistance wasn’t much better. The only reason he wasn’t a corrupted mess was because his Authority allowed him to manipulate Honkai energy, bending it to his will before it could erode his own body.

In the dead of night, every sharp edge of his self-doubt was amplified.

Lucian’s gaze drifted past the metal door, as if he could see through it to the burning, weeping, dying city beyond.

‘Can I really do this?’

He couldn’t deny it: the future Kiana had bestowed upon him an unimaginable gift—the Authority of a Herrscher. But it still wasn’t enough. Right now, his power was barely enough to handle common Honkai Beasts. He had to become stronger. So much stronger.

A small, volatile sphere of Honkai energy flickered into existence at his fingertips before he willed it to dissipate into nothing.

He replayed the path to power that the future Kiana had laid out for him.

Establish deep emotional bonds with the Valkyries, thereby deepening the connection with the Cocoon of the Finality.

‘In other words,’ he thought with a grimace, ‘I’m supposed to actively become a scumbag.’

Every time he considered it, a humorless, resigned smile touched Lucian’s lips.

‘The cosmic scriptwriter must be running out of ideas, forcing drama on me just to justify a harem… What ‘getting stronger’? If you want me to conquer their hearts and build a collection, just say it outright…’

Lucian sighed, the sound swallowed by the silence. But at that moment, a faint noise stirred from beside him.

The rustle of fabric, followed by an extremely soft, pained groan.

Lucian turned his head immediately. On the folding bed, Mei’s eyes had fluttered open. She was staring dazedly at the ceiling.

“How are you feeling?” Lucian asked, his voice a low murmur. He leaned forward slightly but was careful not to get too close.

Mei’s body went rigid. She turned her head toward the sound of his voice.

When her eyes focused and she saw it was Lucian, the initial panic in her gaze seemed to subside. She tried to push herself up, but a wince of pain crossed her face as her sore muscles protested.

Lucian reached out, gently placing a hand on her shoulder to support her, helping her lean back against the head of the bed.

“Is the discomfort bad?”

Mei rested against the simple headboard, taking a few deep breaths. Her gaze lingered on Lucian’s face for a long moment before darting away to scan her surroundings.

“…Lucian? What happened? I… I think I…”

She spoke, her voice growing softer and softer as a torrent of memories crashed back into her mind.

The gunshot on the rooftop… Lucian’s body falling… her own mind-shattering rampage… the destruction of Changkong City… holding Lucian… kissing him with a desperate, savage intensity…

“…I seem to have…”

Mei’s voice died in her throat. A visible flush bloomed across her cheeks, spreading with alarming speed all the way to the tips of her ears.

She abruptly ducked her head, looking as if she wanted to bury her face in the blanket and disappear. Her hands unconsciously clenched the thin fabric covering her legs.

Lucian watched her, not immediately offering comfort or explanations. He simply sat by her bedside, giving her the time and space she needed to process the horrific deluge.

After what felt like an eternity, Mei barely managed to lift her head. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Lucian, her gaze drifting unsteadily until it landed on the dark, dried bloodstains on the chest of his shirt.

“Did I… do something terrible? To you… and to this city…?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

Lucian nodded, his expression somber. He made no attempt to refute it.

“Mei, you became the Third Herrscher. You destroyed Changkong City. That is the truth.”

His voice was unnervingly calm, devoid of accusation or exoneration. He was simply stating a cold, hard fact.

Mei’s body trembled violently, as if those words had drained every last ounce of strength from her.

Her head, which had been hanging low in shame, slowly lifted. The deep blush on her face had vanished, replaced by a ghastly, sheet-white pallor.

“Yes… it’s the truth…” she murmured to herself, her voice trembling.

“I destroyed everything… I hurt you… I destroyed our school, destroyed so many people’s homes, destroyed this entire city… I…”

Her breathing grew ragged and shallow, her chest heaving violently.

The moisture gathering in her eyes quickly coalesced into large, crystalline tears that began to roll silently down her pale cheeks.

“A monster like me… I should just disappear…”

“Mei!” Lucian’s voice was sharp, his brow furrowed in a tight line.

But Mei didn’t seem to hear him, lost in the depths of her own despair. The tears were gushing now, a dam of self-control completely broken.

“No… The destruction I caused… it’s irreparable. If I stay alive, I’ll only bring more disaster…”

Lucian watched her, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. The Mei of this world hadn’t endured the same degree of bullying and isolation. To her, the world was still a place worth loving, a place full of kindness.

Which meant that when she learned of the devastation she had wrought, her guilt would be magnified a hundredfold. She was still just a gentle girl who held tender hopes for the world, now suddenly burdened with the power of a god and the irreversible consequences of a demon.

Just as Mei’s sobs began to quieten, her eyes growing vacant and unfocused, Lucian finally moved.

He didn’t say another word. He just stood up abruptly.

Under Mei’s astonished, tear-blurred gaze, he gently cupped her face with both hands.

Then, before she could even begin to process what was happening, Lucian decisively leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

“…Mmph?!”