Honkai Star Rail: I Played the Villain, Now the Heroines Want Revenge — Chapter 231

Chapter 231: The Stellaron Hunter Family

Days passed one by one.

Then months. Then years.

Jiang Li, Neergul, Feixiao, and Stelle, they continuously executed Elio’s scripts within the Stellaron Hunters.

Their formidable reputation, a new generation of hunters, quickly resounded throughout the cosmos once more.

The Interstellar Peace Corporation, finding its assets disrupted and its trade routes thrown into chaos, issued sky-high bounties for all of them, particularly for the “reborn” Trailblazer, Stelle.

Many more years passed. An unknown number.

Jiang Li could no longer remember how many missions she had completed.

She had grown from a resurrected girl into a seasoned hunter, her medical skills and Foxian wisdom becoming invaluable to the team.

Every time a mission ended, when she returned to the base, she would subconsciously look towards the hangar entrance, hoping that figure would be waiting for her there.

But each time, her hopes were dashed.

The hangar would be empty, save for Blade cleaning his sword or Kafka sipping coffee.

Yet, she never grew disheartened. She still believed in her brother, believing he wouldn’t abandon her.

He had a promise to keep.

She often searched the intergalactic web for news about “Gui Zhong.”

He… had been hunting Aeons.

One by one, ancient and powerful beings, the fundamental laws of the universe, met their end before him.

Elation. Abundance. Enigmata. Voracity.

The universe was being rewritten.

Every time the Interstellar Peace Corporation live-streamed another chaotic, reality-bending battle, Jiang Li would watch, her hands clasped tightly.

Silver Wolf would provide commentary: “Whoa, look at those particle effects! He just deleted Aha’s entire avatar! Total ownage!”

Feixiao and Neergul would watch in silence, their hearts aching with a mixture of pride and fear.

Jiang Li would just silently cheer him on.

“Brother, you can do it…”

She hoped that the promise her brother made to her in a dream—that dream Yaoshi had granted her upon her resurrection—that he would return to accompany her after completing his mission, would come true.

She always, always believed and hoped for this.

Finally, that day arrived.

After Gui Zhong, the Aeon of the End, assimilated the Path of “Finality,” he confronted the last Aeon in the universe besides himself.

“Memory” Fuli.

[Inorin’s Note: Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance. Their Path is to observe and “remember” everything, preserving it from the end. They are the conceptual opposite of Gui Zhong, who seeks to bring the end.]

After that divine battle, which no one could fully comprehend and which seemed to set the entire universe ablaze with shimmering, crystalline light, “Memory” fell.

The universe’s past was erased.

Finally, a scene that would be eternally unforgettable for everyone in the cosmos unfolded.

After slaying the last Aeon, Gui Zhong, the being who had ended the era of gods, hovered alone in the empty void.

He began to self-destruct under the gaze of all!

His ash-white divine body transformed into specks of starlight, dissipating into nothingness.

Regarding this scene, the cosmos was filled with various discussions.

Some said that Gui Zhong had achieved his goal of hunting all Aeons, and the final Aeon was himself; thus, by killing himself, he completed his Path.

Others said that the continuous divine battles had taken too great a toll, and he ultimately could not sustain himself and perished.

However, when Jiang Li witnessed that scene on the broadcast, a smile appeared on her face.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she was smiling.

She knew.

Her brother’s mission was complete.

His Path, the “Restitution” for all the errors in the universe, was fulfilled.

He had ended the Aeons. He had ended himself, the final error born of hatred.

He was free.

He was coming back.

She was so excited that she couldn’t sleep for days and nights.

She waited, and waited, at the Stellaron Hunters’ base.

She waited for a very, very long time.

She waited until her hope, which had burned so brightly, was almost extinguished…

The universe had moved on. Years had passed since the “Great Ending.”

Still, he didn’t come.

Finally, on a certain extremely weary afternoon, she lay slumped on the table in the lounge, having fallen asleep while cleaning her medical kit.

She fell into a deep sleep.

In her dream, she vaguely heard an incredibly familiar yet distant voice calling her name.

“…Xiao Li.”

Brother?

She suddenly woke up with a start!

Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on the bed in her room, though she didn’t know when she had moved there.

A soft blanket was draped over her.

And by the bedside sat a white-haired Foxian youth.

He wore simple black clothes, not the armor of the Yaoqing Royals or the divine robes of an Aeon.

His face bore a trace of fatigue that had traversed eons, but his dark eyes… his human eyes… were full of the tenderness she knew so well.

He was reaching out a hand, his fingers hesitating slightly, as if wanting to ruffle her hair as he used to when she was little.

That was…

It really was…

“Brother!!!”

Jiang Li could no longer control herself. She lunged into his embrace, sobbing loudly, transforming all her longing, her grievances, her fear, and her joy into tears.

It was him. He was solid. He was warm.

You gently held her, your own eyes closing as you buried your face in her hair.

“I’m back, Xiao Li.”

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Jiang Li’s crying quickly alerted the entire ship.

“Xiao Li? What’s wrong?!”

The first to rush into the room, their footsteps thundering down the hall, were Firefly and Neergul.

They heard Jiang Li’s desperate sobs and thought something terrible had happened, running over with anxious expressions.

However, when they saw the scene in the room, both of them froze at the doorway.

They saw the person Jiang Li was hugging.

That white-haired youth with pure white fox ears.

That figure who should have only existed in memories, in news broadcasts, in their dreams.

That was not the gray-white god, Gui Zhong.

That was…

“Orion… Mo…?”

Firefly covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes instantly blurred with tears.

It wasn’t an illusion. It wasn’t a dream.

It really was him.

“Orion…”

Neergul was even more choked with sobs; like Jiang Li, she had been rescued by you from the clutches of death.

She no longer knew how to thank you for your kindness; perhaps only by offering herself…

“Firefly. Neergul,” you looked at them over Jiang Li’s shoulder. “Long time no see.”

Next to arrive were Feixiao and Stelle.

They were followed by Silver Wolf, who was still muttering about “lag” before she saw what was happening.

Feixiao just stood there, staring blankly at you.

She didn’t cry like the others, but her eyes were frighteningly red.

After a long, silent moment, she finally walked over with somewhat stiff steps.

Before you could react, a wind-laden fist struck your shoulder, hard.

Thwack.

“Bastard…”

“You bastard… you finally came back, huh?”

“Mm,” you responded with a smile, wincing slightly. “You’ve waited a long time, Feixiao.”

The three original members of the Yaoqing Four Royals were reunited.

Stelle stood at the back, her expression the most complex.

In her golden pupils, there was the joy of reunion, the lingering resentment of his betrayal, the grief for her lost crew, and also… an unspeakable, deeply buried love.

She didn’t step forward. She only watched you from afar, watching you surrounded by everyone.

You met her gaze.

And you nodded. A simple, silent acknowledgment. An apology.

Stelle seemed to understand your look. She turned her head away, and quickly, angrily, wiped the corner of her eye.

“Hey—! You guy!”

The last one to burst in was the boisterous Silver Wolf.

She was probably engrossed in a boss fight and was the last to react.

With one hand on her hip and the other pointing at you, she complained indignantly:

“What’s going on?! My Shiny Dragonite already cleared over a dozen new versions! What about the online battle you promised me?! Do you have any idea how impatient I’ve been waiting for you?!”

Though she complained with her mouth, her feet were honest. She rushed over, pushed her way into the group hug, and wrapped her arms around your waist.

You smiled and ruffled her hair. “Alright, alright. I’ll play with you in a bit.”

Finally, Kafka and Blade appeared at the doorway.

Blade leaned in the shadows, his arms crossed. But his usually gloomy, dead eyes now seemed to hold a faint glimmer of… something.

And Kafka had a genuine, soft smile on her face.

She looked at you, surrounded by everyone.

At the man she had personally pulled back from Finality’s gaze.

The man she watched embark on the path of god-slaying.

And the man who had finally, finally, returned to the human world.

She nodded to you.

“Welcome home, Orion.”