Honkai Star Rail: Saving the World with a Mobile Game — Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Showcasing Skills, the Dragon Lord DescendsYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

“Combat? We’re going into combat right now?”

Guinaifen’s voice pitched up an octave, her thumbs hovering awkwardly over the edges of her phone. “Wait, how do I even fight?!”

Suddenly thrust into a battle sequence, the energetic streamer was completely caught off guard. She built her brand on outdoor acrobatics and street performances, not hardcore gaming. Faced with a sudden shift in mechanics, a rare flash of genuine panic crossed her face.

However, the brutal, high-difficulty action combat she braced herself for never materialized.

Instead, a web of digital cracks spread rapidly across her screen. With a sharp, sustained shattering sound effect, the overworld melted away. The environment abruptly snapped into a rigid, one-team-per-side tactical formation.

Stelle stood at the vanguard, the protagonist’s baseball bat resting casually over her shoulder. Beside her, Dan Heng held his signature spear at the ready, the tip gleaming under the artificial battle lights.

Guinaifen stared at the screen for two full seconds before her brain processed the UI layout. “Uh…”

“This… this is a turn-based game?”

It was a massive curveball. The mysterious developer had crafted such a breathtakingly grand main storyline and a carefully detailed overworld map, yet the core combat loop… was turn-based?

She had fully expected a punishing Souls-like experience, or at least a fast-paced hack-and-slash. How else were they supposed to properly showcase the raw, kinetic power of the Trailblazers?

The livestream chat shared her whiplash.

【No way, that’s it? A turn-based game?】

【I thought it was something revolutionary. All this hype for a menu-clicker.】

【What’s so strange about it, folks upstairs? Turn-based is perfectly normal. What kind of crazy action mechanics were you expecting from a fan-made Astral Express game anyway?】

【Exactly! The dev isn’t an actual Trailblazer. How could they possibly know how the Express crew fights in real life, or gauge their actual power levels?】

【True. Nobody even knows if the Author is a solo dev or a whole studio. How much high-quality action content could they realistically produce?】

【Sigh, major buzzkill. Maybe I’ll just lurk a bit longer…】

The moment the turn-based UI settled into place, the electric anticipation in the chat deflated like a punctured balloon. Dozens of viewers who had been eagerly waiting for a download link suddenly went quiet. The active viewer count in Guinaifen’s stream visibly ticked down by several hundred.

But then, a sharp chime rang out.

Guinaifen leaned closer to the screen, her eyes widening. A new player tutorial prompt had just popped up, pulsing gently in the center of the display.

“Wait, family, don’t leave just yet! This game… it doesn’t seem to be your average turn-based setup!”

Behind the screen, miles away, Ash watched quietly as Guinaifen handled the menus.

Following the glowing tutorial arrows, she tapped the ‘Re-pair’option, bringing up the character inventory page. To her absolute astonishment, Stelle’s character portrait featured a distinct’Switch’ button glowing in the bottom right corner.

She eagerly tapped it. Instantly, three distinct, switchable forms fanned out across the screen.

Each form was clearly labeled with its specific Path and combat attribute, making Guinaifen’s eyes light up with renewed excitement.

A Fire-attribute Preservation Main. An Imaginary-attribute Harmony Main. And the original, bat-wielding Destruction Main!

Each splash art looked more explosive and dynamic than the last.

But the surprises didn’t stop there. Dan Heng’s profile had a switch button, too.

Guinaifen tapped it. The screen darkened, and a stunning new animation played. Dan Heng stepped forward, his entire aura transformed. Ethereal water flowed around him, and a pair of majestic, translucent horns crowned his head.

【Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae (5-Star, Destruction) has joined the party】

Guinaifen froze. “???”

First came the utter shock. Then, an unmatched wave of pure, unfiltered joy spread across her face.

So incredibly cool!

Stelle and Dan Heng actually had hidden forms? And this specific design for 【Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae】? There was absolutely no way Guinaifen wouldn’t recognize it.

As a resident of the Xianzhou Luofu, she knew the lore. While the dark history of the Vidyadhara wasn’t exactly casual dinner conversation, it wasn’t a completely sealed secret either.

Wasn’t this Dan Feng? The legendary Dragon Lord of the Xianzhou from centuries past?!

More, the base version of Dan Heng was only a 4-star character. The moment she switched his form, his rarity instantly shattered the ceiling, upgrading him to a premium 5-star unit.

Simultaneously, the Xianzhou natives lurking in her livestream chat completely lost their minds.

The moment Imbibitor Lunae’s majestic splash art appeared, a tidal wave of frantic text flooded the screen, scrolling so fast it blurred.

【Dragon Lord! Dragon Lord! Isn’t this our Xianzhou’s Dragon Lord?!】

【What does this mean?! Why can Dan Heng, a nameless guard from the Astral Express, switch forms into the High Elder?!】

【Dan Heng… Dan Feng… Holy crap, I think I just stumbled onto a terrifying secret. The more you think about it, the scarier it gets!】

【Now that’s a real mind-bender… This game Author has massive guts. Do they have a death wish? How many powerful figures are they planning to offend?】

【If the dev is a Xianzhou native, don’t they know the Dragon Lord’s history is a massive taboo? They’re going to get a midnight raid from the Cloud Knights!】

【Calm down, folks upstairs! The download speed is crawling!】

【But seriously, the game Author isn’t a Trailblazer. How do they know such insanely detailed, classified information? They even accurately labeled the Trailblazers’ Paths!】and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

【Isn’t this just made-up nonsense?!】

The Dragon Lord!

Ignoring the spiraling conspiracy theories in her chat, Guinaifen rubbed her hands together, her gamer instincts fully ignited.

In reality, only ancient statues of the Dragon Lord remained on the Luofu. No living person in her circle had ever witnessed the High Elder’s true power. She desperately wanted to see what kind of apocalyptic abilities this character possessed.

“Family, don’t leave! Nobody touch that exit button!” Guinaifen yelled, her streamer persona firing on all cylinders. “I, Little Gui, will test the Dragon Lord’s abilities for you right now!”

With a few quick taps, she locked in the Imaginary Harmony Main and Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae, dragging them back to the combat screen.

Grasping the mechanics of a turn-based system was second nature, and Guinaifen quickly figured out the skill point economy.

She tapped Imbibitor Lunae’s skill button three consecutive times. The UI flared with power as his basic attack enhanced to its absolute maximum limit.

She selected a single-target attack against the opposing Titan’s minions.

The water currents swirling around Imbibitor Lunae’s feet grew dense and violent. A massive, translucent water dragon surged around his body, roaring silently as the camera angle shifted dynamically.

“Torrential deluge, the shadow of the sky dragon emerges.”

His voice was cold, echoing with ancient authority.

Imbibitor Lunae thrust the glowing orb in his hand forward. The water dragon violently coiled around the enemy ranks, crushing the Titan’s minions in a vortex of heavy, kinetic pressure.

Then, placing one hand smoothly behind his back, he raised two fingers of his right hand toward the heavens.

“Divine serpent soaring upon the clouds, arise!”

A colossal pillar of roaring water shot up into the sky, tearing through the enemy formation with a deafening crash!

Guinaifen and the thousands of viewers watching the screen collectively lost their breath.

Is this real?

Is this kind of animation even legal in a turn-based game?!

【What the hell?! THIS is a turn-based game? Look at those special effects!】

【So cool! Dragon Lord! The voice lines, the water physics—it’s ridiculously epic!】

【There’s no way this character is free, right? The dev just hands you a 5-star right after the tutorial, and it’s the freaking Dragon Lord?!】

【Quick, quick, Little Gui! See if there are any other skills!】

Guinaifen didn’t need to be told twice. Her heart was hammering with sheer excitement.

Next in the turn order was Stelle. Her ultimate gauge was fully charged.

As Guinaifen mashed the ultimate button, the camera zoomed in on the Harmony Main. Stelle smoothly tossed her fedora aside, and a cartoonish Clockie materialized out of thin air, catching the hat with a cheerful spin.

“Time for a joint performance!”

After a dazzling, theatrical dance duet under stage lights, a massive buff icon flared above Imbibitor Lunae’s head: 【Backup Dancer】!

Guinaifen quickly read the tooltips. “Family, Stelle’s ultimate is definitely flashy, but look at the stats. I’m guessing this is a massive damage amplifier or a break-efficiency buff.”

Her eyes darted to the bottom of the screen. “Perfect timing. Imbibitor Lunae’s ultimate is fully charged too. Let’s nuke them!”

Without a second of hesitation, she triggered the Dragon Lord’s ultimate.

The screen darkened into a cinematic cutscene. Imbibitor Lunae tossed his orb high into the air. A magnificent water dragon soared skyward, its massive body weaving through the clouds, painting the screen in the stunning strokes of a traditional landscape painting.

“Hidden moon, world-cleansing dragon!”

The next second, Imbibitor Lunae glanced back over his shoulder, a lethal, faint light flashing in his azure pupils.

The dragon plummeted from the heavens. It crashed into the Titan’s minions with a catastrophic series of heavy, percussive boom, boom, boom sound effects. The screen shook violently as blinding, super break-style damage numbers exploded across the UI.

With just that single, devastating strike, dealing well over a thousand points of damage, the entire enemy wave was completely washed away.

The screen faded, and the golden ‘Battle Concluded’ text stamped itself across the display.

In that fleeting moment, the thousands of skeptical viewers in the livestream were utterly and completely conquered by Ash’s creation.

【I lack the vocabulary for this. A single Xianzhou expletive will have to do. Just how insanely cool is this game?!】

【I thought a turn-based game from an indie dev would be a clunky mess, but the combat impact is unexpectedly explosive.】

【The dev nailed the Dragon Lord! Even the real Dan Feng would probably be shocked by this!】

【Quick, quick, quick, I can’t wait anymore! I want to play Honkai: Star Rail right now!】

【Honkai: Star Rail.】

【Launch the game—!】You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.