Honkai Impact: My Power Grows When Valkyries Fall For Me — Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Mei: It’s Too Soon to Smile; We’ll Declare Victory in a Moment

“You told me… that I wasn’t allowed to die before you did.”

“You said that if I died, there would be no one left to walk the path of atonement with you.”

Mei’s lips curved into a gentle smile, one so soft it seemed to carry all the weight she had finally set down. She looked at Lucian, her expression blooming into something genuinely sweet, suffused with relief.

“I am a Herrscher. I nearly killed you, and I laid waste to all of Changkong City.”

“But after I woke up, the first thing you said to me wasn’t an interrogation, but…”

She paused, her gaze drifting downward as she recalled the moment.

“You look like you’re about to break.”

“…” Lucian’s Adam’s apple bobbed, a hard swallow in the sudden silence.

He had always known that a deep well of guilt resided within Mei, but he never imagined that the simple words of comfort he’d offered while her consciousness was a chaotic storm would be etched so deeply into her memory.

“At the time… I just didn’t want to see you actually shatter.”

“But do you have any idea how I felt in that moment?”

Mei suddenly leaned in, erasing the space between them in an instant. They were so close their noses almost brushed, and her faint, clean fragrance enveloped him, making Lucian’s breath hitch in his chest.

“It’s a bad habit, you know, Lucian. Flirting with someone and then running away.”

She leaned closer still. Her fingertips, cool and delicate, came to rest on his wrist. The chill sensation seeped through his skin, a stark contrast to the heat rising in his own body.

Lucian’s entire frame went rigid.

With his wrist captured by her light touch, that coolness surged up his arm like a gentle electric current, freezing him in place.

His Adam’s apple bobbed again. His voice came out a little dry. “I didn’t… flirt and run.”

Mei tilted her head, her purple eyes, now just inches from his, sparkling with a sly, knowing light. “Is that so?”

Her tone was a playful whisper, the last word rising in a teasing lilt.

“Then tell me, why did you say those things back then?”

“Why did you hold me when I was on the verge of breaking down?”

With every question, she drew a fraction of an inch closer.

Finally, the tips of their noses did touch.

Mei’s fingers began a slow, deliberate journey up from his wrist, tracing a line over his forearm before coming to a stop on his chest, right over his heart.

“You’re always so good to everyone else, but you never seem to think you’re doing anything remarkable.” Her voice was a murmur, yet every word landed with perfect clarity in his ears. “When you helped me, you just thought it was the right thing to do. When you comforted me, you thought it was just instinct. And when you kissed me…”

She paused, a flash of pure mischief dancing in her eyes.

“Did you also think you were just going with the flow?”

Lucian was utterly speechless. He opened his mouth, but his throat felt as if it were clogged with cotton, and not a single word could escape. Mei’s hand was still pressed against his chest; through the thin fabric of his shirt, he could feel the distinct, radiating warmth of her palm.

He knew, with absolute certainty, that his face must be an incredible shade of red.

“I, that…”

Seeing him stammer and flounder, Mei finally failed to contain her amusement and let out a soft, melodic laugh. She pulled back slightly, creating a sliver of distance, but her eyes, curved into beautiful crescent moons, remained fixed on him.

“See? It’s always like this,” she said. “In your mind, I’m supposed to be the gentle one, aren’t I?”

“You think I won’t suddenly pounce and hug you like Kiana.”

“Or be as direct as Bronya and just ask if you like me.”

“You thought I would always stand at a safe distance, patiently waiting for you to be ready before I ever dared to approach.”

“That’s what you were thinking, wasn’t it?”

Lucian’s throat worked, but he couldn’t deny it. He was thinking that.

He didn’t understand why Mei was on the offensive today, a force of nature he hadn’t anticipated. He didn’t know where this mischievous, teasing expression had come from. But looking at her face, so close to his, and seeing the irrepressible smile playing at the corners of her lips, he realized one thing with dawning clarity.

Mei hadn’t come here for a heart-to-heart talk.

She was here to deal with him.

Before his thoughts could fully catch up to the situation, Mei’s hand was already pressing lightly against his chest, a gentle but firm push that sent him tumbling backward onto the sofa.

His back sank into the soft cushions. The world narrowed until the only thing in his vision was Mei’s figure leaning over him. Her long, deep purple hair cascaded from her shoulders, draping down on either side of his face like a silken curtain, isolating him from the rest of the world.

“Mei, Mei…?” His voice was laced with an obvious panic. His hands instinctively came up to prop himself up, but she simply pressed down on his shoulders, her touch light but unyielding.

“Don’t move.”

Her voice was soft, but the tone carried an authority he had never heard from her before—an unquestionable command.

Lucian froze. He had never, ever heard Mei speak like that. It wasn’t gentle, it wasn’t shy. It was… a sense of absolute control.

‘…When did Mei become like this?’

Logically, he thought, Mei’s assertive side wasn’t supposed to emerge until much later, after the events of the Lament of the Fallen. How had she completed her character development arc here, a mere two months after they had escaped Changkong City?

Lucian’s mind was a chaotic mess. He remembered the original story, where the Mei of this period was a gentle, patient girl who kept all her turbulent emotions locked deep within her heart.

But the girl in front of him now? The one who had him pinned to the sofa and was looking down at him with such confidence? Who was she?

Her deep purple hair fell around them, the tips brushing against his cheeks and sending a faint, ticklish sensation across his skin. There was no retreat in her violet eyes, only the unwavering certainty of a predator that had its prey cornered: ‘I’m going to conquer you today.’

“Mei, Mei…” he called out again, his voice sounding thin and airy even to his own ears.

“Hmm?” Mei responded with a soft hum, but the pressure holding him down didn’t loosen in the slightest. He couldn’t break free.

She lowered her head, leaning in even closer, so close that Lucian could count the individual strands of her long eyelashes.

“You’re wondering why I’ve suddenly become so assertive, aren’t you?”

Lucian’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He was, but he never expected her to just ask him directly.

“Yeah…”

“Because I don’t want to wait anymore.” She lowered her head the rest of the way, her forehead coming to rest against his. Their noses touched, their breaths mingling in the small space between them. “I’ve waited for too long.”

“Waiting for you to look back at me. Waiting for you to speak up. Waiting for you to be ready.”

“I’ve been waiting this whole time.” Her voice was incredibly soft, like a feather drifting down to kiss the surface of a still pond. “But Lucian, if I keep waiting, will you ever truly be ready?”

“You won’t.”

Mei’s voice was a whisper against his skin. Her forehead was still pressed to his, their noses touching, their breaths intertwined. In the deep purple pools of her eyes, Lucian could see his own reflection—pathetic, panicked, and utterly at a loss.

He never thought the term ‘high attack, low defense’ could be applied to him, but it was the obvious truth. He had always fancied himself the one controlling the rhythm of his relationships, a suave playboy who was perfectly at ease.

But the reality was, without the ability to use his powers to hurt them, he was just a weakling who could only be pinned down and teased.

“What are you thinking about?” Mei’s voice drifted from above, tinged with curiosity. Her fingers were still resting on his chest, the warmth from her palm seeping through the thin fabric and making his heart flutter.

“Thinking…” Lucian’s throat felt dry. “Thinking that I seem to have been… completely outplayed.”

Mei was stunned for a moment, then she burst out laughing. It wasn’t a reserved, polite laugh, but a heartfelt, joyous sound that made her shoulders shake.

“Outplayed?” she repeated the word, the laughter in her eyes threatening to spill over. Her deep purple hair swayed with her movements, the ends tickling his cheeks.

“I always thought you were the… incredibly powerful type,” she said, finally managing to rein in her laughter. She looked down at him, the mirth in her eyes not yet faded. “Able to survive in Changkong City, able to control Honkai Energy, able to kill an Emperor-class Honkai in an instant.”

“I thought you could do anything and weren’t afraid of anything.”

Her fingertips lightly traced the line of his collarbone, drawing lazy circles there.

“But now it seems…” She paused, the smile in her eyes becoming impossibly gentle. “You’re… much easier to push down than I imagined?”