"Then where is Li Wu now? Is he in danger?"
Raiden Mei's question interrupted Raven's train of thought.
Raven scratched her head in frustration and shook it vigorously. Finally, her gaze settled on a certain forest on the outskirts of Nagazora City.
Before the mission started, she had met with the leader of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps there to discuss things.
He was a ruthless man of the highest order. Falling into his hands, death would be the easiest outcome.
Those who offended him were usually either dismembered and stuffed into jars to be made into human sticks, or handed over to other members of the corps for various forms of humiliation.
People who lived in the gray areas for years were all somewhat psychologically twisted. Their fate would definitely not be much better than death.
"If he really did all this, he should be going to find the leader of the mercenary corps now. It is indeed a bit dangerous," Raven explained.
"Take me to find him...!"
"Fine, fine. I also want to see if Li Wu really did it."
Raven picked up Raiden Mei and once again leaped between the high-rise buildings of Nagazora City.
At the junction between the city and the outskirts, Raven saw a fresh trail of blood. It hadn't dried yet, indicating it had appeared not long ago.
"Is it his?" Raiden Mei bit her lip and asked in a small voice, so soft it was blown away by the night wind as soon as it left her mouth.
Raven was silent for a moment. "I don't know, but we'll find out if we go forward."
Following the blood trail, the two entered the forest, passed through the undergrowth, and finally arrived in front of a tent.
The entrance to the tent was open. Faint light shone from inside, and a human shadow swayed continuously within.
Raven stopped outside the tent and gestured for Mei to stay behind her. "Stand behind me. I know the leader of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps. If he tries to torture you, I'll stop him and give you a quick death."
Raiden Mei nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at grain.
The two lifted the flap and slowly peeked inside.
Then, both of them froze at the same time.
Especially Raiden Mei. Upon seeing the figure in the tent, her frozen, dead blood began to boil. Her eyes widened, but her pupils contracted continuously until they were the size of needle points.
Great...
Great...
He's still here...
He fulfilled his promise...
He didn't betray my trust...
He is the person I've been looking for!
Raiden Mei's eyes grew brighter and brighter. Her heart, which had withered, bloomed once again.
The cold moonlight and the orange lamplight intertwined on Li Wu, illuminating a person who looked as if he had walked out of a pool of blood.
His Chiba Academy uniform was in tatters, full of holes and soaked in blood of various colors.
A strong smell of blood surrounded him. Every breath felt like pressing one's nose directly into bloody water.
Raven was dumbfounded. This was not at all the traitor she had envisioned hiding in a corner waiting for time to pass.
Li Wu looked like he had just crawled back from hell!
"Don't move. If you dare move, I'll kill you."
Hearing a slight noise, Li Wu turned and raised his hand reflexively, the muzzle pointed directly at their foreheads.
"Not enemies. You are...?"
Li Wu searched his memory and took some time to finally recall. "Is the time up? Looks like I won this game. The matter is resolved. If there's nothing else, I'll go back first. Remember to help me clean up the mess, Natasha Cioara."
The moment her real name was spoken, Raven's pupils shrank suddenly. Her whole body bristled, and the black raven feathers on her clothes trembled incessantly.
Li Wu, however, very naturally tossed the firearms aside and walked past Raven casually.
"W-Wait!" Raiden Mei grabbed Li Wu's wrist, her eyes rippling with brilliant starlight.
"What is it?" Li Wu tilted his head and asked.
"Let's go back together. I want to go... home with you, Master..."
Faced with Raiden Mei's charming and passionate invitation, Li Wu had no reaction, as if the person speaking wasn't a beautiful JK girl but a talking rock.
"Never mind. I want to be alone for a while. Let Natasha take you back. I've killed off the Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps. With her around, you're safe. You don't need to hide behind me anymore."
"Eh?"
Li Wu shook off Raiden Mei's hand. His eyes, expression, and tone were as calm as if he were meeting her for the first time.
Raiden Mei was confused. She froze on the spot, reaching out again to grab Li Wu: "Did I do something wrong? Did I not do well enough? I've been listening, listening to Master's words and hiding properly!"
"Is that so? Did I say that?" Li Wu quickly put distance between them, taking several steps back. "But it's fine now. You did very well. It's just that I'm a bit tired and need to rest alone. See you at school tomorrow. I'll take the black card."
Li Wu took the black card from Raven's hand and walked out of the tent without looking back. Raiden Mei tried to chase after him but was firmly held back by Raven, preventing her from leaving.
After Li Wu had walked far away, Raven revealed a grave expression and said very seriously, "He's very strange right now, and very dangerous. Although I haven't spent much time with him, I'm certain that something must have happened to him in the last two hours... Chasing after him now will only be counterproductive."
"How could that be... Why?" Raiden Mei bit her lip hard, hesitating at the tent entrance, watching Li Wu's retreating figure blur into the distance. Her heart felt like it had been pricked by a needle. "Why did it turn out like this? It wasn't like this two hours ago... Raven, tell me, what on earth happened to Li Wu?"
"Who knows? This is the first time I've seen a situation like this, but I do have a guess."
"What is it!?"
Raiden Mei's voice broke as she asked almost the instant she heard there was a guess.
Raven lowered her head. Her wine-red eyes under the hood dimmed, as if recalling unbearable past events.
"A Herrscher. Similar to your situation," Raven said. "Only this scenario fits such a drastic change in his personality and abilities. Didn't you say it yourself? After the Herrscher Core was implanted, you would occasionally lose consciousness and say things about exterminating humanity. That was the subconscious behavior of the Herrscher personality occupying the body."
Raven continued to explain to Raiden Mei, but the more she narrated, the worse her expression became. In the end, she almost had to close her eyes to get the words out.
"I shouldn't be saying these things, but since you're a Herrscher too, it doesn't matter if I say it."
"Any Herrscher will be seduced by the Will of the Honkai, resulting in the birth of another twisted personality on top of the original ego, also known as the Herrscher personality."
"Most Herrscher personalities are evil, aiming to slaughter humans and destroy civilization. However, there are extremely rare exceptions, like Li Wu right now—"