Honkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Unruly Hair

The Pseudo-Herrscher was dead. Her end had been swift, almost anticlimactic.

A deep silence descended upon the ruins, broken only by the mournful sigh of the wind as it ghosted through shattered concrete and twisted steel. Lucian remained rooted to the spot, his gaze fixed on the fallen figure. The situation had been so desperate just moments before that he had acted on pure instinct, striking her down the instant she appeared without a shred of hesitation.

Only now, in the quiet aftermath, did a chilling recognition dawn on him. He had seen her before. They were classmates…

She was that girl, the one who always sat silently in the corner of the classroom, a perpetual shadow who never seemed to draw anyone’s attention.

Her name was… Yuna?

Lucian couldn’t be certain of her surname. He only recalled the way she always kept her head bowed, seemingly detached from the vibrant, bustling life of the class.

‘This part of the plot… I’d almost forgotten…’

Lucian’s lips tightened into a thin line as he looked at the girl’s body. Her eyes, hollow and vacant, held the last vestiges of ashen decay, reflecting nothing of the world they could no longer see. She was utterly, irrevocably gone.

“Lord Lucian, is something the matter?”

Rita’s voice, smooth as silk, cut through the silence. She slowly lowered the scythe in her hand, positioning herself a respectful step behind him. Her gaze, however, was not on the deceased; it was fixed squarely on Lucian, observing the deep changes rippling through him.

He looked entirely different from the person he was just moments ago. It wasn’t merely the startling shift in his hair and eye color, but an indescribable aura that now emanated from his very being—a presence that felt ancient and overwhelmingly powerful.

Hearing Rita’s question, Lucian slowly turned his head. Silver strands of hair, luminous in the dim light, slid over his shoulder with the motion. His golden eyes, swirling with a complex storm of emotions, met Rita’s.

“It’s nothing,” he said, his voice a low murmur. “Just a sudden moment of reflection.”

“Reflection?”

Rita’s brow lifted, an almost imperceptible motion. The answer was… unexpected. On the battlefield, especially when facing individuals so thoroughly eroded by Honkai that their consciousness was extinguished, Valkyries were taught to see them as mere “manifestations of disaster.” Eliminating them was a duty, a grim necessity. While a flicker of regret was not unheard of, such deep emotional turbulence was rare.

Her gaze followed his, settling on the body on the ground. The girl’s life force was visibly draining away, the ashen corruption on her skin growing more pronounced. The St. Freya Academy emblem on her tattered uniform, however, remained starkly clear.

“Did you know her?” Rita asked softly.

“A classmate,” Lucian confirmed, his voice tight. “I just realized it.”

“I see…” Rita nodded, a flash of comprehension in her wine-red eyes, quickly followed by a quiet sense of resignation. “To be eroded by Honkai Energy to this extent, her consciousness likely dissipated long ago.”

She chose her next words carefully, her tone both professional and consoling. “What you faced was merely a shell controlled by the Honkai. Eliminating it was a necessary act. You shouldn’t feel guilty about it.”

Lucian nodded, once again reaching up to tuck an unruly lock of silver hair behind his ear. The movement was awkward, unfamiliar. “It’s just a moment of reflection,” he repeated. “If I had been better prepared, perhaps things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

His voice was soft, laced with a melancholy that Rita found difficult to parse. This wasn’t the simple sigh of regret she had expected; it felt deeper, heavier… like remorse. A deep sorrow over being powerless to change a fact that was already set in stone.

“But the mission is complete,” Lucian said, his tone shifting as he straightened up. “Let’s go.”

With that, he turned away, refusing to cast another glance at the body that was now growing cold on the ground.

At the same time, a subtle change began. The roots of his silver-white hair started to darken, an inky blackness spreading rapidly upward like a rising tide. Within seconds, his hair had returned to its original jet-black. The brilliant gold in his eyes receded just as quickly, revealing the deep, familiar violet of his irises once more.

The transformation occurred in silence, yet it was impossible to miss.

Rita quietly observed it all. She also noticed that Lucian’s hair had not returned to its original length.

And he had noticed it too.

“Huh?”

Lucian stared blankly, grabbing a handful of his hair. The shoulder-length strands, far longer than they had been that morning, slipped through his fingers.

“Lord Lucian, it seems the parts that grew longer haven’t reverted,” Rita’s voice sounded beside him. She stated the fact with her usual calm, all while carefully observing his reaction.

A corner of Lucian’s mouth twitched into a helpless grimace. He tried to gather the overly long black hair and tuck it behind his ear again, but the motion felt clumsy and foreign.

“…It seems so.”

He tried to mobilize the Honkai Energy within his body, searching for the godlike sensation from before—the feeling that he could bend reality to his will. It was gone. All that remained was the usual smooth, controlled flow of energy. The explosive state had clearly ended.

‘Is it a state I can only enter when the surrounding Honkai Energy concentration is dangerously high…?’

The thought flickered through his mind, but on the surface, he merely shrugged. For the third time, he pushed the troublesome long hair from his face. “Forget it. I’ll just get it cut when we get back.”

“Perhaps keeping it like this for now isn’t so bad, Lord Lucian.”

Rita’s voice held a hint of barely perceptible amusement. Watching the usually composed Lucian in this state of mild dishevelment was, she had to admit, quite interesting.

Lucian’s hand paused mid-air. He looked up, meeting her gaze. Her wine-red eyes reflected his own slightly flustered appearance, and the effortless elegance in her posture created a subtle, amusing contrast with his current awkwardness.

“…Miss Rita seems quite pleased with this development,” Lucian noted, his tone laced with resignation.

“My apologies,” she replied, though the genuine hint of mirth dancing in her eyes told a different story.

Seeing it, Lucian felt the last of the melancholy in his heart begin to fade.

“Let’s head out,” he said, finally giving up on taming his hair. A few of the longer black strands fell across his forehead, partially obscuring his vision, but he let them be.

——————

Aboard the transport aircraft on the return journey, the atmosphere was even quieter than it had been on the way to Changkong City.

Lucian leaned back in his seat, resting with his eyes closed. His newly lengthened jet-black hair cascaded softly over his shoulders, accentuating the pale tone of his skin.

Rita sat opposite him, calmly observing his appearance. At this moment, apart from the conspicuous length of his hair, he seemed no different from when they had set out. But Rita knew better now. She understood the astonishing, world-altering power that was concealed beneath that calm exterior.

Looking up through the window, she saw the lights of St. Freya Academy gradually growing clearer against the night sky.

“Lord Lucian, we’re about to land.”

“Mm.”

Lucian responded without opening his eyes, then slowly did so. His violet irises reflected the familiar scene outside. He hadn’t been asleep, merely cataloging the novel sensation of his long hair brushing against his forehead and the nape of his neck.

The transport aircraft touched down smoothly on St. Freya’s landing pad, the landing gear absorbing the impact with a slight vibration. The hatch hissed open, and a rush of sea breeze carrying the night’s chill swept into the cabin.

Lucian stood up, his black hair swaying with the movement. He instinctively raised a hand to tidy it but ultimately let it fall loose.

The two of them descended the ramp. Bathed in the bright lights of the landing pad, a small figure stood waiting, arms crossed, her brow furrowed in a tight knot of concern.

It was Theresa.

Her iconic white nun’s habit fluttered in the night breeze. Clearly, she had been waiting here for some time.

As Lucian and Rita stepped onto the tarmac, Theresa’s gaze first swept quickly over Rita—a sharp, assessing look to confirm she harbored no ulterior motives—before locking firmly onto Lucian.

More precisely, it locked onto his noticeably overlong black hair.

“Lucian… what happened to your hair?” she demanded, her voice sharp with worry. She raised a small hand, looking as if she wanted to tug on a strand to confirm it was real, but ultimately restrained herself.

Lucian looked down at the diminutive principal and offered a wry smile. “Well… let’s call it a side effect of using my abilities at full power? I’m not entirely sure about the specifics myself.”

At just the right moment, Rita stepped aside, giving a slight, perfect bow to Theresa.

“Principal Theresa. The Pseudo-Herrscher in Changkong City has been confirmed eliminated. The mission is complete. I must also return to Schicksal Headquarters now.”

Her tone was steady and professional. Her gaze flickered briefly between Theresa and Lucian, a hint of barely perceptible amusement still lingering in their depths.

“…You’ve worked hard, Rita.” Looking at the maid’s impeccable composure, Theresa simply nodded, not saying much more. Truthfully, she wanted Rita to leave sooner rather than later. If this woman stayed, Theresa wasn’t sure she’d get a peaceful night’s sleep.

“Then I shall take my leave, Principal Theresa.” Rita bowed elegantly once more, then her gaze turned to Lucian. A meaningful glint sparked in her wine-red eyes. “And Lord Lucian, I look forward to working with you again.”

Lucian returned a polite nod. “Goodbye, Miss Rita.”