Honkai Star Rail: I Played the Villain, Now the Heroines Want Revenge — Chapter 253

Chapter 253: Belobog, Underworld, Seele

My stomach felt empty and anxious.

No, not just anxious. It was gnawing. A hollow, aching void that felt like it was trying to digest itself from the inside out.

My belly ached in waves, a sharp, acidic cramp that stole my breath.

Orion curled his body into a ball, his small frame shaking.

The cold was everywhere. It wasn’t just a temperature; it was a physical weight, a presence that seeped through his thin, tattered clothes.

The wind drilled into the seams of his clothes, chilling him to the bone.

He was back. Phantylia’s attack hadn’t just shown him a memory; it had plunged him back into it.

It had been three days.

He hadn’t eaten a proper meal in three days.

When he got too hungry, he’d rummage through the trash cans by the road, but lately, there was less and less edible stuff inside.

Newer, bigger orphans had claimed this territory.

Today, he only found some breadcrumbs, which he’d licked from his filthy fingers.

The hunger remained.

Orion moved his aching, weak body, trying to struggle to his feet. He pushed against the cold, rust-covered wall of the alley, but he couldn’t muster any strength.

He slid back down, his vision tunneling.

No… not like this. I was just… I was just an Aeon…

The memory of his power felt like a cruel joke.

The illusion… it’s so strong.

Just then, the faint, gray light at the end of the alley suddenly dimmed.

“Yo, isn’t this that foreign kid who begs everywhere? What, not going to pick through trash for food today?”

Three half-grown figures blocked the alley entrance, their shadows falling over him.

The one in front, bigger than Orion, was ‘Tiger’, a notorious troublemaker in the area.

He was tossing a black and green object in his hand.

On closer inspection, it was a piece of moldy bread.

Tiger’s face was plastered with a malicious grin, revealing a mouthful of yellow, uneven teeth.

“Starved silly, haven’t you? Look at you.”

He deliberately dangled the bread under Orion’s nose.

That sour, acidic smell went straight to his head, and Orion’s stomach cramped violently.

But his attention was focused entirely on that object.

Food.

He could eat it.

If he ate it, he could live.

“Give it to me,” Orion whispered, his voice raspy.

“Hahaha! Give it to you? What do you think you are?”

Tiger laughed, a harsh, barking sound.

“You, in this state? Still dreaming of leaving the Underworld every day? In your next life!”

“Trash from the Underworld should just stay put in the trash heap!” another scrawny guy with a high-pitched voice echoed, nudging the third, a large, quiet boy known only as “Fatty” (Pang Dun).

Orion clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

An emotion, a mix of cold, burning anger and deep humiliation, clogged his chest, burning uncomfortably.

This is the feeling… the one I buried…

This is what Phantylia wants me to feel.

She wants me to remember being weak.

“Hmph! You want to eat it, huh?”

Tiger casually tossed the bread disdainfully onto the filthy, snow-dusted ground.

Then, he lifted his heavy, torn boot to step on it, grinding it into the muck.

“You dog. Eat my foot dirt first!”

That muddy, torn boot grew larger and larger in front of his eyes.

Orion used his last ounce of strength, his body screaming, trying to dodge.

But his limbs felt like they were filled with lead, utterly unable to move.

He could only close his eyes in despair, bracing for the impact, for the final humiliation.

However, the anticipated sharp pain did not come.

“Bang!”

A dull, metallic thud, followed by a crack of bone.

Tiger let out a sharp cry of pain.

Orion opened his eyes.

He saw a small, thin figure appear in front of him.

Short, dark blue hair, tattered clothes, but in her hand, she wielded a rusted iron pipe, half her height.

It was Seele!

Just now, she had used that iron pipe to strike Tiger’s calf with full force, with all her weight behind it.

“Seele?! You goddamn bitch! You dare hit me!”

Tiger clutched his leg, grimacing in pain, his expression ferocious.

“I hit you because you deserved it!”

Seele’s gaze was as fierce as a wild wolf protecting its cub. She pointed the iron pipe at Tiger.

“Try touching him again!”

“Damn it! Get her! Kill this stinking bitch!”

Tiger roared.

The other two thugs, Scrawny and Fatty, exchanged glances, then flanked Seele from left and right.

The alley instantly descended into chaos.

Seele’s movements were far more agile than Orion had imagined.

She was a blur, a “butterfly” of the Underworld.

She relied on her small stature, darting around the narrow alley, using the walls to kick off, swinging the heavy iron pipe in her hand in wide, desperate arcs.

But she was ultimately a girl, and she was outnumbered and at a disadvantage in terms of strength.

Before long, Tiger, ignoring his injured leg, lunged and kicked her hard in the stomach.

Seele gasped, the air driven from her lungs, and she fell to the ground.

The iron pipe clattered from her grasp.

“Damn it, you little bitch!”

Tiger snatched the iron pipe from the ground.

He grinned ferociously as he raised it high, aiming for Seele’s head as she lay on the ground, gasping.

If that blow landed, Seele would be severely injured, if not killed.

Orion’s heart, which had been cold and numb, suddenly felt like it was in his throat.

No!

Not her!

You can’t let him hurt her!

This thought overwhelmed everything else. It overwhelmed the hunger, the cold, the illusion.

He burst forth with his last reserves of strength, like a dying beast.

He didn’t stand. He pounced, launching himself from the ground, clinging desperately to Tiger’s calf!

He sank his teeth into the thick fabric of his pants, biting down hard.

“Gah! Get off me!”

Tiger hadn’t expected this half-dead brat to still have the strength to resist.

Losing his balance from the sudden weight, he cursed angrily and fell backward.

The iron pipe slipped from his hand and clattered to the ground, skittering away.

“You dare touch Brother Tiger!”

Seeing this, Scrawny and Fatty immediately stopped bothering Seele and lunged at Orion, who was already exhausted from his one, desperate act.

They began raining down punches and kicks.

Orion could only curl his body, protecting his head and vital areas, enduring the heavy, dull thud of their boots.

Pain. This is real. This is what she feels.

I can take it.

But his actions had bought Seele time.

A cold, dangerous glint flashed in Seele’s eyes. She scrambled, grabbing the iron pipe from the ground.

She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t aim for Scrawny, who was kicking Orion.

She swung it fiercely, with all her strength, at Fatty’s knee, who was charging at the front!

Crack!

The sound of bone snapping echoed, sharp and wet, through the alley.

Fatty’s scream was heartbreaking, a high-pitched shriek that cut off.

His calf folded inward at an unnatural angle, and he writhed on the ground in agony, clutching his leg.

Scrawny was terrified by this scene.

He looked at Fatty, who was rolling on the ground clutching his broken leg.

Then he looked at Seele, who held the iron pipe, her chest heaving, her eyes as cold and merciless as knives. He finally broke.

He shrieked and scrambled out of the alley, tripping and falling as he fled.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Tiger, who had been tripped by Orion, also struggled to his feet at this moment.

He glared viciously at Orion and Seele, his face initially showing anger.

But then, seeing his main companion with a clearly broken leg, he knew he had lost.

He knew he had met his match today. This wasn’t a girl; this was a monster.

“You… you two just wait for me next time!”

After thinking for a moment, he still pulled up his wailing, heavy companion and limped away, dragging him out of the alley.

The fight was over.

Seele stood still, her small chest heaving violently, gasping for breath.

She dropped the heavy iron pipe in her hand and walked over to Orion.

“Hey. Are you still alive?”

Orion struggled, pushing himself up against the wall to sit. Every part of his body ached.

“…I won’t die.”

Seele scoffed, turning her head away.

“Useless fellow. Always like this.”

Although she said that, she still bent down.

She picked up the dusty, moldy bread from the ground.

She looked at the dirty boot print ground into its surface.

She carefully, meticulously, tore off the dirtiest outer layer, and then, without a word, handed the remaining half to Orion.

“Here. Eat it.”

Orion looked at the bread she offered.

Then at the impatient, angry expression on her face.

His heart warmed.

He didn’t stand on ceremony. He took it and wolfed it down.

It was sour, and hard, and tasted of dirt and mold.

It was the best thing he had ever eaten.

Seele watched him, looking like a starved ghost reincarnated, and frowned.

She let out an annoyed sigh, and then offered him the other half she had been holding for herself.

“Eat slowly, you idiot. No one’s going to snatch it from you.”

From then on, Seele, to protect Orion, became inseparable from him.

The two struggled to survive together in the Underworld.

Seele was responsible for fighting and claiming territory, protecting Orion and their small living space—a rusted-out shipping container.

And Orion, with his adult mind, his memories of strategy, and now, a burning desire to protect her, strategized for their survival.

Life remained difficult, a day-to-day struggle against cold and hunger.

But being together was always much better than being alone.

They were no longer lonely stray dogs.

They were wolf cubs, huddled together for warmth.