Honkai Star Rail: I Played the Villain, Now the Heroines Want Revenge — Chapter 245

Chapter 245: Interrogation of Kafka

Welt was about to explain, his voice calm and reasonable. “Master Diviner Fu Xuan, there’s more to this matter than meets the eye; we also came to…”

“Tingyun,” who had been standing by, seemingly uninvolved and forgotten, suddenly moved.

She stepped forward, bowing respectfully to Fu Xuan, and then her face showed an expression of panic and self-reproach.

“Oh dear, Master Diviner Fu Xuan, please see clearly! This is all my fault!”

Phantylia’s voice was filled with the perfect amount of terrified sincerity.

“I was the one who provided information to the Astral Express’s benefactors, which caused them to be embroiled in such a dangerous situation. I will go report the full details to General Jing Yuan immediately and testify for our benefactors!”

She thought, Since the plan to sow discord has failed, I can at least pretend to do the Astral Express Crew a favor and gain their trust. This little diviner is suspicious of them… perfect.

Before Fu Xuan could respond, “Tingyun” turned to the Astral Express Crew. “Everyone, I will be back very soon. Please trouble our benefactors to first accompany the Master Diviner.”

Then she turned and, with a flurry of her cloud-brocade skirt, left, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Divination Commission, Matrix of Prescience.

The massive, humming array was in full operation.

Orion and his group were “invited” to wait at the edge of the array, surrounded by a detachment of tense Cloud Knights.

Kafka, her smile never wavering, was led to the center of the Matrix of Prescience.

Fu Xuan stood before her, her expression icy.

“Is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?” Kafka smiled, rattling her energy-dampening shackles. “Didn’t I say I would cooperate with you?”

“Stellaron Hunter, your petty tricks of bewitching people are useless before me.”

Fu Xuan’s voice was cold.

“I won’t believe a single word you say, but the Matrix of Prescience will tell me everything.”

She raised her hand, and the divine eye on her forehead, the physical manifestation of the Matrix, suddenly opened!

“Is that so?”

Kafka still smiled. She looked up, meeting the all-seeing divine eye without a trace of fear.

“Then I’ll trouble the Master Diviner to divine my future fortune.”

“Activate the Array!”

With Fu Xuan’s command, the entire Matrix of Prescience burst into brilliant, jade-colored light!

Streams of data, looking like a waterfall of light, cascaded from the array in the sky.

They converged at its center, completely engulfing Kafka’s figure.

Fu Xuan closed her eyes, her consciousness connected to the Matrix of Prescience, and began to calculate.

I will see your every sin, your every intention…

However, a moment later, she abruptly opened her eyes, her face pale and filled with shock!

“This… how is this possible?! The result of the divination…”

It… it points to…

“But, the Matrix of Prescience can never be wrong…”

“What about the result?”

“Yeah, what exactly did you see?”

March 7th and Stelle asked, sensing the sudden shift in the room.

Fu Xuan’s gaze refocused from her daze. She didn’t look at Kafka.

Instead, her gaze snapped to the Astral Express Crew, finally fixing her stare on Orion.

“She… has no direct connection to the Stellaron’s appearance.”

“Instead, it’s you… The source of this disaster… the focal point of the entire incident… it actually points to you!”

“Absurd! This is utterly ridiculous! How could such a thing be…”

“No, what exactly is going on?”

Faced with their questions, Fu Xuan seemed to have received a great shock. She was visibly trembling, her composure shattered.

She abruptly turned around.

“Go ask her yourselves.”

“I… I have matters to attend to. I need to re-calculate. I’ll excuse myself first!”

And with that, the Master Diviner of the Luofu fled her own interrogation room.

“What’s going on…” March 7th looked at Fu Xuan’s retreating back, utterly bewildered. “Why did she run off in the middle of talking?”

Welt pushed up his glasses, his expression serious as he looked at the woman in the center of the array, still restrained but composed.

“It seems all our questions can only be answered by her.”

His gaze turned to Stelle and Orion. “Especially you two. I feel… Ms. Kafka seems particularly interested in you.”

However, before they could step forward, Kafka spoke first.

Her gaze swept over everyone, landing directly on Orion.

“Orion, could you come here for a moment?”

Her voice was soft, an invitation, not a command.

As soon as she said this, March 7th and Stelle immediately looked over with alert, suspicious expressions.

Orion, however, was unfazed. He gestured for his companions to remain calm, then slowly walked forward, stopping a few steps away from Kafka.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to get closer to you. To get a good look at you.”

Kafka tilted her head, observing Orion with genuine, undisguised interest, admiring him.

“Orion, do you believe in past lives?”

She suddenly asked an irrelevant question.

Orion raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Or, to put it another way.”

Kafka chuckled lightly, a sound like velvet. “Do you believe in parallel universes? In another universe, there’s a different you, and a different me.”

“In that world, perhaps we are strangers who don’t know each other… or perhaps… we are family, friends, or…”

She deliberately drew out the end of her sentence, leaning forward as much as the shackles would allow, and ambiguously, seductively, uttered the last two words.

“…lovers.”

As soon as she said this, Stelle and March 7th, who were in the distance, instantly bristled!

“Lov-lovers?! What nonsense is she spouting?!”

March 7th stomped her foot in anger.

Stelle’s face had already turned dark; she felt as if smoke was rising from her head.

This bad woman! She dares to seduce my good brother in broad daylight!

Orion’s expression, however, remained unchanged. He merely found it amusing.

First past lives, then parallel universes… this trope is a bit too old.

“What exactly do you want to say?”

He and Kafka didn’t know each other at all, so why was she always so concerned about him?

And why was she saying such inexplicable things to test him?

Could it be… that she had seen through his identity as a Finality Emanator?

No, that shouldn’t be possible.

Even Elio, her direct superior, couldn’t see through him, so how could she?

“Don’t be nervous.”

Kafka smiled.

“I’m just giving an example. After all, you are a variable even Elio can’t see through, so who knows what your past and future will be like?”

“But perhaps, we truly were very familiar once. So familiar that… we could entrust our backs to each other.”

As she spoke, she raised her shackled hands and brushed her fingertips across Orion’s chest, tracing the lapel of his coat.

“You…”

Orion instinctively wanted to step back, but Kafka’s movements were faster.

Her fingers trailed up, lightly, ghosting over his neck.

“Orion, you… have a scent that I find very nostalgic.”

Her words were full of fatal temptation, a whisper meant only for him.

And this scene completely ignited the powder keg in the distance.

“Ahhh! I’m so mad! How dare she!”

March 7th looked like she was about to go crazy.

Stelle could no longer hold back. She charged over aggressively!

“Let go of him!”

Stelle roared.

She rushed up to Kafka and Orion in a few steps.

Kafka’s fingers lingered on Orion’s Adam’s apple. She didn’t even turn to look at Stelle, merely watching Orion’s reaction with interest.

“Oh? Your ‘good brother’ seems to be jealous.”

“I’m not!”

Stelle’s cheeks instantly flushed, and her momentum weakened by three points.

“You… you bad woman! Take your hand off him now!”

“Heh heh…”

Kafka finally deigned to move her gaze from Orion, glancing at the fuming Stelle.

“Are you… that concerned about him? Do you… like him?”

“You! Don’t talk nonsense!”

Stelle was so angry at her calm, teasing attitude that she almost couldn’t speak.

Orion watched the scene before him with a slight headache. He felt that if he let them continue, the conversation would stray ten thousand miles off topic.

He reached out and gently grasped Kafka’s wrist, the one that was still “messing” with his neck.

“Alright. Enough with the jokes. Let’s get to business.”

Kafka’s body stiffened at his touch. A ripple of an unknown emotion flickered in her eyes, but she quickly returned to her usual demeanor.

She allowed him to move her hand away, still smiling.

“Alright. Since you’re in such a hurry, I won’t tease you anymore.”

She turned her head to look at Stelle, who was still glaring at her.

“Stelle, you, come here too.”

Stelle was momentarily stunned, pointing at her own nose. “Me?”

“Yes, you.”

Kafka nodded. “What I’m about to say concerns both of you.”

Stelle hesitated, glancing at Orion beside her, then at March 7th and Welt.

Welt nodded at her, signaling her to go over.

Only then did Stelle reluctantly move closer.

“Hmph, I’d like to hear what you, a Stellaron Hunter, actually want to say!”

March 7th also moved closer. Although she didn’t dare to get too close to Kafka, she still bluffed:

“I’m warning you! If you dare to do anything to Stelle and Orion, our Astral Express will absolutely not let you get away with it!”

“Don’t worry, little girl.”

Kafka couldn’t help but chuckle at their wary expressions, as if facing a formidable enemy.

“I am a prisoner now, unarmed. What can I do to you?”

She rattled the shackles on her wrists.

“Moreover, what I am about to say will benefit you, the Astral Express, and even the entire Xianzhou Alliance, with no harm whatsoever.”

“The first thing I want to talk about is my objective.”

Kafka surveyed the crowd, finally fixing her gaze on Welt.

“Mr. Welt, I imagine you’re very curious why I went to such lengths to lure you to the Luofu, and what for.”

Welt said nothing, merely watching her quietly, awaiting her next words.

“Many people assume that the Stellaron Hunters’ goal is to seek out Stellaron and spread disaster. But this time, you’ve all guessed wrong.”

“I have no interest whatsoever in the Stellaron of the Luofu.”

“What?” March 7th couldn’t believe it. “No interest, yet you caused such a huge commotion? Then why did you come to the Luofu?”

“I came to the Luofu to facilitate something.”

Kafka’s gaze swept over Stelle and Orion, her eyes lingering on Orion’s face for an extra second.

“I hope that the Astral Express can form an alliance with the Xianzhou Alliance.”

At this, everyone present was astonished.

Even the usually composed Welt showed a surprised expression.

An alliance between the Astral Express and the Xianzhou Alliance? This was simply preposterous!

It was well known that while the Xianzhou Alliance wasn’t as xenophobic as the IPC, it had always been proud and never easily formed alliances with external forces.

And while the Astral Express enjoyed considerable fame in the universe, it was ultimately just a group of free Trailblazers. Compared to a behemoth like the Xianzhou, its scale was far too small.

“Alliance? Why?” Welt frowned.

“To fight a common enemy.”

Kafka said, her smile fading, her voice becoming serious.

“One that can threaten the very existence of the entire universe.”

“Who?”

“Destruction.”

“More precisely, the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook.”

Upon hearing this, March 7th, Stelle, and Welt were all stunned.

“My ultimate goal,” Kafka said, her voice now a low, serious whisper, “is to, with your help, unite all forces that can be united…”

Kafka took a deep breath and spoke a sentence that shocked everyone:

“To kill Him.”

“Kill… kill an Aeon?!”

March 7th was so startled by the phrase that she stammered.

She widened her eyes, looking at Kafka, then at her companions, to confirm if she had misheard.

“You’re not joking, are you? That’s an Aeon! An existence that governs a Path, like a law of the universe! How could it possibly be killed?”

Stelle was equally shocked. Although she didn’t know much about Aeons, she knew they were supreme, god-like beings beyond the reach of mortals.

She instinctively looked at Welt, seeking an answer from this knowledgeable elder.

Welt’s expression, however, was very solemn.

He fell into a long silence.

“Mr. Welt, it seems you also know a way, don’t you?”

Kafka said, prompting him.

Welt looked up and pushed his glasses.

“In the legends of the universe, there are indeed… records… of Aeons falling.”

“Exactly.” Kafka nodded.

“Aeons are not immortal. While powerful, they are ultimately just higher-dimensional life forms, and as long as there is life, there must be its weaknesses, its ways of ending.”

“Then… how do we do it?”

Stelle couldn’t help but ask.

This was also the question in everyone present’s mind.

Kafka smiled:

“There are many ways to kill an Aeon…”

Then, Kafka told them three methods:

The first was the assimilation between Paths.

Narrower, similar Paths would be assimilated by broader, more powerful Paths, and the Aeon would fall with it.

The second was a divine war.

In a war between Aeons, beings of the same dimension, one side could kill the other.

But when she spoke of the third method, Kafka suddenly stopped.

“…But I’m sorry, time’s up.”

She flexed her wrists, and the special, energy-dampening shackles simply… fell off.

Clang.

Welt frowned, “What do you mean?”

“It means…”

Kafka gave everyone a sly, charming smile.

“I’m leaving.”

The moment her words fell, she leaped backward!

“Stop!”

“Don’t run!”

The Cloud Knights closest to her reacted immediately, their array blades all slashing towards her!

However, Kafka, with impossible, inhuman grace, easily dodged them.

The moment she landed, her toes lightly tapped the very edge of the Matrix of Prescience platform!

She leaped, directly jumping from the Divination Commission’s floating structure!

Below was a bottomless sea of clouds!

“She… she jumped down?!”

March 7th ran to the edge of the platform, looking at the figure instantly swallowed by the sea of clouds, too shocked to speak.

“She’s…”

Orion walked to her side, looking at the churning sea of clouds below, and shook his head.

“She ran away.”

The entire Divination Commission was in a panic.

The Cloud Knights looked at each other, no one having expected that this most wanted criminal would escape in such a manner.

“She… she really ran away?”

March 7th leaned over the edge of the platform, straining to look down, but saw nothing but the churning sea of clouds.

“Jumping down from that high, she really won’t fall to her death?”

“No.”

Welt walked over, his expression grim.

“The Stellaron Hunters’ abilities far exceed our imagination. Since she dared to jump, she must have been confident of getting away unscathed.”

“I think someone must be waiting to meet her below.”

“Darn it!”

March 7th stomped her foot in anger. “That bad woman called us over, said so many inexplicable things, and then just ran off like that! What exactly does she want to do?!”

“Perhaps, everything she said was true.”

Orion, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.

Everyone’s gaze focused on him.

“Orion, you believe her words?” Stelle asked.

“Not entirely.” Orion shook his head. “But she has no reason to lie about something like this.”

“Killing an Aeon… While that goal sounds crazy, for her, for the Stellaron Hunters, perhaps that is the meaning of their existence.”

As everyone’s thoughts were in turmoil, a lazy voice suddenly sounded from behind them.

“It seems I missed some good show.”

Everyone turned around to see a projection, which had appeared behind them at some point.

“General Jing Yuan!”