(HIATUS) Valkyrie Traveler (Honkai Impact 3 x Genshin x Kiana Reader)

Chapter 26

You've met loads of people recently. They're all really good friends for you and Lumine.

You're also glad that Bronya and Fu Hua can meet them too.

Just a few days ago, you and Lumine met and dragged Arataki Itto through a weird...journey. Honestly, you really can't tell what it was.

You, Bronya and Fu Hua were doing a commission given to you by Katheryne. Lumine and Paimon were doing something else that's important.

The Rifthounds were closing in, but then...

"Torn to oblivion!"

You hear a familiar voice.

"Sh-Shogun? Wait, no...could also be Ei..."

"...It's you. Greetings, Y/n...and company. It has been a long time. We have not seen each other since the resolution of the Tenryou Commission crisis."

"Okay, sounds more like Ei...it is you, right?"

"Huh, you sure made short work of them. Impressive."

"...What are you doing here, Subject Ei?"

"I'm making early preparations for what is to come. Y/n, last time we took a walk around Inazuma together with Lumine and Paimon, yes? On that day, I witnessed the way the world is today. I was finally able to comprehend some things that I had never understood in the past. Since then, every time I encounter an obstacle in my thinking, I find myself having the urge to spend some time in the outside world."

"Makes sense. You must get super bored being stuck in there all the time."

"...Might I remind you that I am not here to amuse myself. Recently, I have observed a number of changes in the external world from the Plane of Euthymia. The most serious of these being the attack on the Sacred Sakura by numerous rifthounds. I considered this matter worthy of my attention. So I pursued them, and they led me here, where I happened to run into you."

"But the Commissions and adventurers can deal with monsters. It doesn't seem like a matter needing the archon's attention..."

"If the Shogun rather than I were to discover them...yes, perhaps she would have left the situation alone."

"Why? Because she's just a puppet?"

"Precisely. According to the rules I designed for her, matters of this nature are to be delegated to the Tri-Commission. But rifthounds attacking the Sacred Sakura...it brings back bad memories of that terrible disaster..."

"Disaster?"

"Yes. Five hundred years ago, a great catastrophe befell Inazuma. Everything was engulfed in a pitch-black fog and monsters ravaged the land...countless lives were lost, and this homeland that the people had worked so hard to build barely escaped being obliterated entirely. The monsters committed many atrocities on Inazuman soil. And the rifthounds were always their advance guard. Their duty was to tear open a passage through space with their claws and teeth, and then call in even more powerful beasts."

"Five hundred years ago...that sounds like Khaenri'ah."

"Hm. So you've heard of it, too. That's an episode of history that I am loath to recall. Maybe to you, it seems like my response to these creatures was an excessive one. But an excess of caution is not unwarranted in this case."

"Guess you can't argue with that..."

"Since we are here for the same reason, let us work together. From the traces they've left in the surrounding area, there should be many more monsters nearby. All of them must be eliminated."