The mission was so unexpected that Fu Lin couldn't help but curl his lips into a smile, a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
But immediately after, a thought flashed through his mind—since he was to raise Kiana☆, wouldn't that mean he could instill the right values in her?
That had been his intention from the start. Thinking of this, a strong sense of duty welled up within him, and he couldn't be bothered to think about the age-old paradox of time travel.
Seeing Fu Lin seemingly lost in thought, Kiana☆ reminded him again,
"What are you smiling at? Are you even listening? It's really dangerous here right now—Honkai beasts could appear at any moment... I'm not going to save you then."
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Just as Kiana☆'s words had barely left her mouth, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted in the distance, sending countless startled birds flying in all directions.
Fu Lin, standing nearby, couldn't help but glance over, a hint of amusement flashing across his face as he muttered in complaint,
"I mean, are you some kind of jinx? You just said it, and a big one really shows up. You better protect me..."
Kiana☆ rolled her eyes, gripped the Heavenly Fire in her hand tightly, and stared in the direction of the sound as she said,
"I told you, if a Honkai Beast appears, I'm not going to look after you."
As the Honkai Beast that caused the loud noise approached, the ground began to shake violently.
The once still red pines started to sway.
The thick snow piled on the trees could no longer withstand the tremors and came cascading down, forming a white curtain of snow accompanied by a rustling sound.
Next, a few tall and robust red pines were instantly destroyed by an immense force. Their thick trunks snapped, branches and leaves scattering in all directions.
A Honkai Beast as tall as a three- or four-story building appeared before them, its body covered in rock-solid white armor. In one hand, it held a massive lance, and in the other, a heavy shield.
Faced with this temple-class Honkai Beast, well-equipped for both offense and defense, Kiana☆, who had just sworn not to protect Fu Lin, stepped forward without hesitation, resolutely standing in front of her.
Kiana☆ tightly gripped the blazing Heavenly Fire in her hand, her gaze firm and serious as she stared at the Honkai Beast and shouted loudly,
"I'll distract it—run now!"
Hearing these words, Fu Lin was stunned, staring dumbfounded at the petite and cute Kiana☆ before him, a surge of indescribable emotion rising in his heart.
Even though she didn't even know his name, and they were essentially strangers who had just met—
At this moment, Kiana☆ could step forward without hesitation, using her slender body to block danger, just to give a stranger a chance to survive.
She really... I'm crying to death.
Yet even though he had just teased Kiana☆ about protecting him, Fu Lin knew very well that even if Kiana☆ held the Heavenly Fire, Sacred Judgment, she couldn't unleash its power. There was no way she could defeat the powerful Honkai Beast before them.
"Ahem, actually I—" Am terrifyingly strong...
As Fu Lin stepped forward and opened his mouth to say something, Kiana☆ had already launched a fierce attack.
While moving around, Kiana☆ fired continuously, but the bullets rained down on the Honkai Beast's body without leaving a single mark on its hard shell.
Seeing this, Kiana☆ bit her lip tightly, at a loss for what to do. But when she looked at Fu Lin, still standing frozen in place, she suddenly shouted loudly,
"Hey! Why are you still standing there like an idiot? Run, now!"
But in that fleeting moment of distraction, the Honkai Beast's razor-sharp lance had already been thrust forward, roaring straight at Kiana☆.
Kiana☆ stared wide-eyed at the incoming lance, wanting to dodge, but her body wouldn't budge, as if frozen in place.
Realizing she couldn't escape the blow, Kiana☆ slowly closed her eyes, as if accepting her fate, waiting for death to arrive.
At the critical moment, Fu Lin moved swiftly—one hand suddenly wrapped around Kiana☆'s slender waist, the other clenched into a fist, ready to strike.
But then, noticing a rapidly approaching figure from the distance, he immediately released his clenched fist and dispersed power, instead pulling Kiana☆ into his arms, turning his back to shield her from the lance.
At that moment, Kiana☆ snapped out of her trance, eyes flying open in shock as she stared at Fu Lin in disbelief.
She then saw with horror that bright red blood had stained Fu Lin's clothes, trickling down his arm like a crimson plum blossom blooming in the snow, quietly dyeing the pure white ground with a jarring shade of scarlet.
Kiana☆'s eyes widened, staring at Fu Lin's pierced shoulder, her heart flooded with terror and panic, her pupils involuntarily dilating.
As the Honkai Beast raised its lance for another strike, a furious shout rang out, and a figure appeared before the creature, grabbing the blood-soaked tip of the lance and slowly applying force.
"What do you think you're doing to my daughter!"
With a crisp "crack," the massive lance shattered into countless fragments in his hand.
Hearing Siegfried's voice behind him, Fu Lin's lips twitched slightly. He had been hoping Siegfried would arrive in time so he wouldn't have to reveal his true strength and risk arousing suspicion or mistrust.
But things didn't go as planned—Siegfried only arrived after his shoulder had been completely pierced.
As a result, Fu Lin had to forcibly suppress the regenerative powers of the Garuda gene in his body, preventing the wound from healing.
In this situation, Fu Lin's heart was a jumble of emotions—bitterness, frustration, resignation—and more than a few curses he wasn't sure he should say aloud.
In the end, he decided to just fake passing out, letting his body go limp and collapsing to the ground.
Kiana☆ looked at Fu Lin lying on the ground, his face pale and clearly having lost too much blood, and shouted anxiously,
"Hey, wake up!"
Not far away, Siegfried, having defeated the Honkai Beast, walked to Kiana☆'s side and crouched down, gazing at Fu Lin's face, murmuring in his heart,
"A person from Shenzhou, huh."
He then tore open the blood-stained clothing on Fu Lin's shoulder and began examining the wound.
A moment later, Siegfried pulled a small first aid kit from his pocket, poured some liquid on a bandage, and roughly wrapped the wound.
After confirming Fu Lin would be okay, Kiana☆ looked up at the silent Siegfried, her face full of sorrow and guilt. She bit her lip and said with difficulty,
"I'm sorry... Dad... I just didn't want to see you get hurt again... I... I wanted to protect you too, but... I couldn't do anything. I even got an unrelated person hurt because of me."
As she spoke, Kiana☆ looked toward Fu Lin, who was lying on the ground, his face slowly regaining some color. Her eyes were filled with guilt.
Siegfried silently watched Kiana☆. When he heard her explanation, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then a gratified smile appeared on his face. Yet at the same time, a single tear silently slid from the corner of his eye.