Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 340 Only the Stars Still Shine

[I implore you, please help little Leiera, help her get out of this, don't let her drag this star into eternal darkness...]

The dragon Nahera spread its enormous wings, creating a strong gust of wind that tousled Qiong's hair and nearly blew Nana away. Before Qiong could answer, the dragon's body soared into the sky, flying away without looking back and gradually disappearing into the horizon.

"Has Nahera left? Sora..."

Seeing Nahera leave, Nana flapped her wings and flew to Qiong's chest, poking the totem with her little paws, her tone revealing worry.

"what happened?"

"Qiong, just listen to what Nahera says. Let's take a quick look at her from afar and then leave, okay?"

"why?"

Qiong has an idea: It seems that Leiera is the source of the "Great Collapse" and the Great Shadow Disaster on Mars. If we can solve her problem, wouldn't Mars be safe?

There's a possibility that it could alter and affect Earth's history... I'll discuss it with Kiana later.

"Because, woof~"

The little dragon seemed to want to make Qiong nervous, so it pretended to be fierce and struck the pose of an adult evil dragon—of course, Qiong wasn't buying it.

"From the very beginning, I saw parts of Nahera's memories! Little Leiera is amazing! If she gets angry, you definitely can't beat her!"

"Oh, I know."

Qiong looked in the direction where Nahera disappeared, but did not immediately accept Nana's suggestion.

"Although I don't have a good impression of either her or Nahra, since your past life begged me so much, let's go and take a look first—don't worry, I have a way to escape. Let's go, let's find the pine sparrow first!"

Qiong and Nana didn't delay and immediately headed towards the exit. After they left, the curtain shattered, and a figure in black robes stepped out from behind the curtain to the front of the stage, watching them disappear from sight.

"They're gone..."

Yes, they've already left.

The dragon that had vanished into the sky reappeared silently beside the man in black robes.

[Lithost, our bet is a tie. I don't think you'll break your promise, right?]

Nahera still seemed uneasy, and gently breathed a small ball of blue flame at Lithost. The flame merged into the body formed by Lithost's shadow, and a warmth unique to immortal dragons seeped into his non-existent marrow, once again suppressing the dissipation of his shadow.

"Why...?"

Litost shook his head with a wry smile.

Because dying alone is perhaps the cruelest thing in the galaxy.

Lithost was amused by Nahera's antics.

"Are you going to make Leiera throw me a grand funeral? And since he didn't accept immortality, you've still lost, Nahera. But I haven't won either... Don't worry, since I promised, I'll definitely keep my word—but actually, it doesn't matter if I disappear, I've already arranged everything. If I had to say, his refusal to accept immortality and become a knight surprised me, the biggest problem is that if we're all gone, Leiera might have no one to use..."

Nahera slightly raised her dragon head, which can be regarded as acknowledging Lithost's statement: Sinadia is gone, she is also a bitter remnant of the past, and Lithost has even deleted his existence. With Little Leiera's ability to make friends, won't she feel lonely?

Although she had asked Sora for help, even if Sora managed to stabilize little Leiera, she would still leave. Nana might even be summoned to another planet by Sora's totem and become so engrossed that she wouldn't want to leave—this was understandable, after all, Nana wasn't her, she had the right to decide her own fate… It just meant that in the end, Leiera might be left alone as the only god on the planet Luo. Thinking of this, Nahera, like any mother, became worried. She was just about to ask Lithost for his opinion when she happened to see Lithost's serious face.

"Nahera, the sun has set, and the two moons will fade away; only the stars continue to twinkle..."

Nahera followed Lithost's gaze, but there were no stars in the night sky of this trial ground.

Lithost, I don't understand what you mean...

“What I mean is that Little Leiera is like this star. My original intention in holding the Ten Arts War was to find other stars so that they could accompany Leiera and become her allies…”

But I'd say it was a complete failure, wouldn't you say?

"..."

Litost chuckled twice, forcing himself to twitch the corners of his mouth into a standard fake smile.

"Nahra, I have something very important to discuss with you."

Calm down, calm down... Don't let Nahera lead you astray!

"We all know that shadows have great plasticity and can even transform into a physical body..."

Do you want to be fully resurrected?

Nahera's golden eyes showed interest.

I do have another way, but—

"No, no, no! I want to use the power of the shadow, combined with your immortal life force, and add it to the blood of the extraterrestrial visitor to create a little star that can watch over Luo Xing in our place and help Leiera."

Hearing Lithost say this, Nahra's massive body froze—she had never considered this possibility, but it seemed... theoretically feasible?

"You, will you create life?"

A thoughtful glint flashed in Nahra's enormous eyes.

[A soul that walks on the path of immortality might be feasible, but there are too many unknown variables involved, and the life force required to create such a child is probably... Lithost, is it worth it? I could easily resurrect you, and I believe little Leiera would prefer a new companion...]

"My mind is made up. This is good for Luo Xing, for Immortal, and for her."

Lithost's voice was unusually firm.

“This is worth a try. Leiera is currently in a state of confusion. Even if they succeed, the future of Luo Xing will need a guardian—God cannot do everything personally, and I can no longer appear before her. This may be the only way.”

Seeing Lithost's unwavering resolve, Nahera remained silent for a moment before slowly nodding. A small dragon scale flew from her massive chest, radiating a soft light as it drifted towards Lithost. Lithost reached out and caught the scale, which shimmered with seven colors in his hand.

"Take it, Lithost. This is my last power. It is the 'legacy of immortality,' and also the 'curse' of the Star Dragon... I still hope you can use it to achieve the immortality that Sinadia sees..."

"Thank you, Nahra."

Lithost felt the immense power contained within the dragon scales and was filled with gratitude. He closed his eyes and began to merge his shadow with the dragon scales, not forgetting to throw in the blood-stained scale, using the life force of the dragon scale to "feed" the almost dried-up blood.

[One last question: What kind of star do you hope this child will become?]

Calmly facing her slowly fading away, Nahera asked the last question of her dragon life.

"What kind of star..."

Lithost, who was wholeheartedly devoted to shaping this child, began to ponder this question: Based on his impression, the direction for nurturing this future "star" should be to cultivate a companion with full execution ability, like Qiong, who is quite reliable and loyal—if possible, it would be best if he were quiet, otherwise he might embarrass the gods...

Oh no, I can't be distracted! This blood has a really big appetite! Lithost has never seen anything that can siphon so much of Nahera's life force. Even with the Dragon Scale Life Contract, Nahera has never used so much life force... But fortunately, the life force of the dragon scales that Nahera gave was so abundant that it could be wasted, which allowed Lithost to continue to advance his shaping.

……

After an unknown amount of time, a small embryo began to take shape in the very center of the shadow he controlled. To Lithost's relief, it exuded the same aura as immortality—after all, the foundation was from outer space!

He succeeded. Whether the seed he had placed his hopes on was a "human-dragon" or a "dragon-human," or a pure dragon or a gray-haired human, he had gained another student in the future. As long as he taught him carefully, he wouldn't have to worry about having no one to use or accompany him after Leera—of course, there was still little Sera.

"Nahera, we did it!"

Lithost, whose figure was somewhat illusory due to excessive use of shadows, looked at the egg and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"It went so smoothly! Nahera, all thanks to your dragon scales. I can feel that this star will become the hope of Luo Star... Nahera?"

Lithost looked towards where his old friend should have been, but her enormous dragon body had long since vanished: when she handed over the dragon scales, which she considered her "immortal legacy," the already deceased Nahera lost the pillar she had relied on. She returned to dust completely.

“Nahera…”

The dragon's aura vanished; she was gone—how ironic, the immortal star dragon had departed before him, who had always longed for death. Even more ironic was that he, who sought death, was not only still alive, but he couldn't even immediately follow them, for he still had responsibilities to bear…

He carefully put away the embryo, and dragged his weak body alone towards the outside of the trial grounds—of course, because of Nahera's dragon flame, he definitely wouldn't die.

[Li-To-S-T! How dare you!]

As soon as Lithost, wearing a hood, stepped out of the Trial Grounds and appeared somewhere on the streets of Ramu, he heard the angry roars of the gods from all directions.

"Leira? How is that possible?!"

Lithost stood frozen in place, cold sweat streaming down his back. His heart, which had just recovered, pounded wildly in his chest. The roar of the god made his eardrums ache, and his throat tightened.

"No, this can't be, this can't be! Nahra clearly said she had erased everything about me..."

Lithost tried to grasp something, but only managed to clutch the tiny embryo. Shadows materialized and loomed over him from all sides, carrying something silent and suffocating—something staring at him, and he didn't even have the courage to turn around and confirm it.

It's all over, the gods are furious.

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"Where are you? Where are you... my darling, please come out! Our happiness for the rest of our lives depends on you..."

Wearing a black bodysuit she'd spent a fortune on, the fleeing sparrow didn't forget to search this abode of the gods. She left no corner unexplored, no artifact overlooked (aren't all implements used by gods divine artifacts?).

Although it's dangerous to do this (it's daytime in the abode of the gods?) and you might get bitten to death by a shadow monster that suddenly appears out of nowhere (why would there be a shadow monster in the house of a god?!), you still have to keep searching for the sake of your happiness in the second half of your life.

Song Que made up her mind that unless the sky fell down and crushed her to death, no one could stop her from getting rich!

"Squirrel?"

Oh no, she's been discovered! Hearing someone call her name, the sparrow knew she was doomed and immediately raised her hands, ready to beg for mercy and seize any chance to escape.

"We didn't steal anything! We just wanted to take a look!"

The sparrow kept her eyes tightly shut, awaiting her punishment. However, the expected capture didn't happen. She cautiously opened one eye and turned around to find Qiong and... a flying mutated lizard standing behind her?

"You've got some nerve, trying to steal from the gods? Do you want to die or not?"

"Qiong? You, you, you, what are you doing here?"

"Because I won."

"Haha, congratulations..."

Feeling guilty for having done something wrong and being discovered by an acquaintance, Song Que's face quickly became so hot it could fry an egg... She subconsciously touched her tight-fitting clothes and tried to explain herself dryly.

"Don't get me wrong, we didn't steal anything! We, the esteemed Master Songque of Langqiu, are living a very comfortable life lately. Why would we come to this god's house to steal? What kind of person would be so stupid as to give up a comfortable life to do something so suicidal? Only those money-grubbing idiots would come here, and we're not like that! You agree, right? Hahaha..."

"But Nana just heard you say 'Baby, come out quickly!'"

"You can talk too?"

Why do you say "also"?

Nana flew to the pine bird and curiously looked at the "man in black".

"You clearly wanted to steal Leiera's things, didn't you?"

The sparrow could not meet Nana's pure gaze.

"W-Can that be called stealing? The gods have everything, what's wrong with us taking a little 'divine artifact'? Um... this should be considered a divine artifact, right..."

The sparrow's voice grew fainter and fainter. Although she hadn't been killed by the shadow monster, she was only one step away from certain death...

……

Based on the principle that they couldn't ignore it, Qiong pulled Songque along, and the two of them and the dragon strolled around the abode of the gods. Qiong planned to take Songque out after the knight-conferment ceremony was completed.

"Qiong, look what that is?"

Following Nana's grasping hand, the two discovered a colossal statue of a goddess standing prominently in the very center of the space. The statue was solemn and imposing, radiating an awe-inspiring aura, yet also evoking a sense of sorrow…

Beneath the statue, kneeling... were devout believers? They appeared as insignificant as ants against the backdrop of the statue, yet they prayed fervently again and again, begging for a divine response.

"God, please answer us..."

Unbeknownst to them, this was the umpteenth time these victors of the Ten Arts War had prayed beneath the idol. Having neither eaten nor drunk anything (though they had nothing to eat and no need to), they regularly made sure to remain perfectly still during their prayers. But it was all in vain—the gods had never answered them, not in the past, not now, and perhaps not in the future…

Oh, probably, because the gods promised to appoint new Shadow Riders today, which is why they prayed again.

It's not just about showing etiquette to new brothers and sisters, but also about welcoming the gods.

【My devout people, I have come.】

"It's so bright, we can't see anything!"

"Nana too!"

"Both of you, close your eyes!"

Just as the three were about to approach the motionless worshippers to communicate, the enormous statue suddenly erupted with a light as dazzling as the sun, forcing them to close their eyes. This sudden miracle caused all the worshippers to excitedly raise their hands and jump for joy.

"It's the gods! The gods have finally, finally answered us!"

Qiong and the other two opened their eyes, and a tall woman appeared before them. She exuded a breathtakingly pure and holy beauty and an effect of exposure compensation. Her long, black hair flowed smoothly down her back, between a black crescent moon behind her. A gentle smile appeared on her perfect face, which resembled that of a female college student without glasses.

"My people, today I have answered your call! And from now on, I will also—"

Before Reyella could finish speaking, her followers—or rather, the first thirty-two victors—began to applaud their leader.

"She's Leera?"

Qiong surveyed the deity surrounded by believers: she wore a long, off-the-shoulder black dress that reached the ground, and her overly prominent curves clearly indicated that she was the Martian Goddess who had intervened in the second trial, but...

Either he's gone mad, or the god on the other side is faking it—how could the god who's obsessed with Xenadia be so gentle with him?

Noticing Sora's gaze, Leiera even gave him a kind smile, which was truly...

So weird!

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Why did Lao Gu Shi want to destroy Bo Shi Zun?

Because he is Zandal (meaning "the eldest son is killed").