Honkai Star Rail: My Death Feeds Their Madness — Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Fate, and a Curse

The entire explore of the Cangcheng was collapsing.

Buildings crumbled in massive, deafening swaths, and deep, bottomless fissures violently split the earth. From these jagged chasms, countless writhing masses of dark-red flesh surged upward like a living, breathing nightmare, striking an icy terror into the souls of all who bore witness. This grotesque flesh spread with the rapid, unstoppable malice of a virus, devouring everything in its path. Those swallowed by the crimson tide were dragged into the depths, never to break free again.

High above the carnage, three figures stood balanced atop flying swords, darting frantically through the airspace of the ruined architecture, not daring to let their feet touch the cursed ground. Within the unseen, suffocating darkness of the sky, incredibly violent waves of imaginary energy continuously bombarded the encroaching mass of Rahu, a desperate attempt to save the devoured Cangcheng.

Kagashi knew that General Sha Feng had rushed back to the front lines. But he knew even better, with a quiet, sinking certainty, that it was already too late.

“Guard Kagashi, what on earth is this thing?!” Qinghan’s voice trembled, her usual composure shattered by the apocalyptic scene below.

“A living planet. An Abomination of Abundance,” Kagashi replied, his brow heavy with suppressed emotion, his voice a steady anchor in the storm.

He hadn’t expected Shuhu to have such a catastrophic trick up his sleeve; there had been no such terrifying entity during that brutal battle at the Yuque years ago.

“Before I rescued you two, I encountered the fallen Cangcheng Sword Champion and the Yaoqing Sword Champion,” Kagashi continued, his tone somber. “They likely charged directly into that writhing flesh to save the trapped civilians, only to become one of the countless agonizing faces trapped within its mass, never to emerge again…”

Hearing Kagashi’s words, a flash of absolute disbelief crossed the sisters’ eyes. Those were the strongest warriors of the Xianzhou Alliance outside of the Arbiter-Generals themselves. If even they couldn’t contend with Rahu… no wonder Kagashi kept them moving on his sword, refusing to let them touch the ground.

Currently, Rahu had enveloped the entirety of the Cangcheng, devouring the ship bit by agonizing bit from the outside in. No one knew when the ground would be completely assimilated by Rahu’s pulsating flesh. Flying on his sword consumed a tremendous amount of his energy, but Kagashi couldn’t afford to stop. The closer they got to the interior of the ship, the more survivors there were, and the harder the evacuation efforts became. Time was slipping away like sand through his fingers.

The three arrived at a star skiff port that hadn’t yet been fully devoured. It was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with terrified, weeping civilians. Hordes of grotesque Denizens of Abundance were charging the perimeter, and the Cloud Knights stationed at the barricades were simply unable to hold back the endless tide.

With a mere thought from Kagashi, a thousand flying swords materialized in the air, sweeping down into the crowd of Abominations like a torrential rain of steel. The blades slaughtered the monsters at will, tearing through flesh and bone. Supported by the covering fire of the star skiff reinforcement units, the immediate threat was quickly wiped out.

“Take them and go. Fly to the highest point,” Kagashi instructed the sisters, his eyes scanning the horizon. “General Sha Feng is continuously attacking Rahu from above to keep our final evacuation route open.”

However, misfortunes never come singly.

Countless Denizens of Abundance began crawling out of the writhing crimson flesh, scouring the various explores like a plague of locusts. The Cloud Knights and the Sky-Faring Commission’s combat fleets were already struggling to maneuver, and the efficiency of finding and rescuing survivors plummeted as a result.

Fortunately, General Sha Feng was still able to provide long-range support, frequently summoning gale-force winds from the heavens to pick up the rampaging Abominations and tear them to bloody shreds. But the General couldn’t use his full power; if his area of effect was too wide, he would inevitably slaughter his own people.

Kagashi felt a conflicting knot of relief and deep anxiety. He was relieved that the Qingyun explore hadn’t been fully devoured yet, but a gnawing worry ate at his heart. Had his mother and his friends met with disaster? Calculating the time, Yu Huai and his wife, Hui Yu, should have just returned from Pier Point not long ago.

The Jade Abacus communication frequencies were completely jammed by the encroaching imaginary energy, making them entirely useless for contact. If the Cloud Knights didn’t have alternative methods of signaling, they would have lost contact with central command as well.

With the heavy weight of duty on his shoulders, Kagashi could only fight his way through the endless swarms of Abominations, rescuing civilians where he could, while gradually pushing his way toward the Qingyun explore.

After an unknown amount of time spent drenched in blood and sweat, he finally returned to the Qingyun explore. But the scene that greeted him was a vision straight out of hell.

Several massive armies of the Denizens of Abundance had invaded Qingyun from different directions, and the level of sheer devastation here far exceeded the outer sectors. The sky was stained with Rahu’s sickening crimson hue, the ground was a muddy, bloody mess, and hardly any living people could be seen. There was only the thick, nauseating stench of gore and the foul aura of the Abominations.

Kagashi’s heart slowly sank to rock bottom.

“Kill!!”

A thunderous roar echoed from behind him. The Sky-Faring Commission’s combat fleet arrived through the blood-red air, their cannons sniping every Abomination within sight. A cold, murderous aura suddenly surged in Kagashi’s usually calm eyes. Without a word, he charged alone into the front lines, his blade becoming a blur of death as he slaughtered the enemy.

These lesser Abominations posed no real threat to him. In less than ten minutes, Kagashi, fighting alongside the Cloud Knights and the fleet, had cleared most of the Qingyun explore and begun moving the few remaining survivors.

He rushed to his neighborhood. His home, and the Academy where he had once taught, were both reduced to smoldering ruins. There was no sign of his mother, nor of his friend’s family.

No news might be good news, but in a massacre like this… it could also be the absolute worst.

Kagashi’s grip on his hilt tightened until his knuckles turned white, his expression shifting rapidly as he forced down his rising panic.

Just then, a sharp, piercing, and intimately familiar sword intent soared into the crimson sky.

Kagashi reacted instantly, snapping his head around to lock onto the distant signature. That sword intent belonged uniquely to his mother!

…

Elsewhere in the ruins, Qiu Zhiyan held her longsword. She looked like a woman possessed by a frenzy, tirelessly slaying every Denizen of Abundance that dared to lunge at her, her body acting as an impenetrable shield fiercely protecting the little girl, Jingliu, cowering behind her.

She didn’t know how long she had been fighting. The wounds on her body were multiplying, blood soaking through her uniform, but she felt no pain. She only knew one absolute truth: she could not retreat.

Behind her was a child. Yu Huai and Hui Yu had risked everything, sacrificing their own lives to lead the pursuing Abominations away from the devouring flesh, holding the line just long enough until Qiu Zhiyan arrived. At the very moment Qiu Zhiyan had grabbed Jingliu’s small hand, the girl’s parents were completely swallowed by Rahu, dying a gruesome, agonizing death right before their daughter’s tear-filled eyes.

Afterward, there was only the endless tide of the Denizens of Abundance. Borisin, Wingweavers, Serpent Descendants… they were countless, a sea of fangs and claws.

“Come on!” Qiu Zhiyan roared, her voice tearing her throat as she slayed dozens of Borisin with a single, desperate strike.

The eyes of these bloodthirsty beasts were filled with a feral hunger for slaughter and plunder. Qiu Zhiyan’s sword forms had long since lost their elegance; they were no longer the orthodox, disciplined Cloud Knight swordsmanship of the Xianzhou. Instead, they had devolved into something far more primal, violent, and desperate. Every strike was laced with madness, hacking the Abominations into gruesome pieces.

But there were simply too many of them.

A massive Wingweaver flapped its grotesque wings, lunging from her blind spot. Its razor-sharp talons raked across Qiu Zhiyan’s left shoulder with lightning speed. The flesh was violently torn open, exposing the gleaming white bone beneath.

She let out a muffled groan, her eyes flashing with savage defiance. Dropping her stance, she grabbed the creature’s embedded claw, using its own momentum to slam it brutally into an oncoming Serpent Descendant. With a flurry of maddened strikes, she hacked them both into mincemeat.

Jingliu hid behind her against a crumbling, ruined wall, clutching her own arms so tightly her nails dug into her skin. Her red eyes, wide and overflowing with absolute terror, didn’t dare to blink as she watched Qiu Zhiyan fight this bloody, hopeless battle.

“Don’t be afraid, child. I’m here.”

Qiu Zhiyan could sense Jingliu’s paralyzing fear. She tried to comfort the girl, her voice gentle, yet it carried an eerie, hollow undertone that sent a shiver through the air.

Another massive wave of Abominations surged forward, their howls shaking the rubble.

Qiu Zhiyan’s consciousness began to blur. Something ancient and dark, buried deep within the very marrow of her Long-Life body, fully awakened, violently seizing control of her mind.

In an instant, the grievous wounds on her body began to knit together and heal at a terrifying, unnatural speed. The longer she slaughtered, the more the rational light in her eyes faded. Her pupils bled into a luminous, piercing blood-red, releasing a terrifying gaze that was even more brutal and murderous than that of the Borisin surrounding her.

As the Abominations converged from three sides to tear her apart, Qiu Zhiyan threw her head back and let out a guttural, beast-like howl.

The longsword in her hand erupted with a world-shaking, apocalyptic sword intent. She took a massive stride forward, crouching incredibly low, and delivered a single, devastating horizontal slash.

An invisible, crescent wave of pure sword qi swept across the battlefield, instantly slicing all the charging Abominations in half. The ruined buildings behind the monsters were not spared either; their stone pillars and steel beams were sheared through, the severed surfaces left as smooth as a mirror.

Most of the Abominations within a several-mile radius fell to this devastating strike, their bodies raining down in pieces.

…

Kagashi rushed toward the epicenter of that terrifying sword intent at top speed, his boots barely touching the debris. The few remaining Abominations along the way tried to block his path, but they were cut down without a second thought.

His heart beat faster and faster against his ribs, a cold, suffocating premonition coiling tightly around his mind.

Rounding the last massive pile of rubble, he saw everything.

His mother stood in the center of the clearing, drenched from head to toe in blood. She was surrounded by a mountainous pile of Abomination corpses, severed limbs, and mangled flesh.

She was still alive.

Kagashi felt a deep pang of relief hit his heart. He opened his mouth, about to call out to her, but in the very next second, his blood ran entirely cold.

Qiu Zhiyan turned around to face him.

Her eyes held no recognition, no warmth—only a hollow, bottomless desire for slaughter. Her gaze was murky, frantic, and entirely alien.

Golden, wood-like patterns had aggressively spread across her face, glowing with a sickly light, and thick, branch-like protrusions were faintly visible writhing beneath her pale skin.

The Mara-Struck.

It was the inescapable fate of the Xianzhou’s Long-Life Species. And it was their ultimate curse.