It was like someone emerging from a long confinement in a dark cave; eyes accustomed to the gloom couldn't bear the sun's warmth.
Having suffered before, Seele kept her eyes tightly shut, wary, then cautiously squinted them open just a fraction.
To her surprise, she didn't feel the searing, stinging pain that usually accompanied exposure to light.
It was as if… she had always been under the sun, never accustomed to the dark.
It wasn't just her eyes. Her body also lacked the heavy, waterlogged sensation of struggling up from the deep sea. Instead, she felt light, warm, comfortable—like being reborn.
The girl mustered her courage and opened her eyes fully.
A flood of brilliant light surged forward, erasing the last vestiges of darkness in her vision, revealing a figure haloed by the radiance.
Due to the height difference and the backlighting, she couldn't clearly make out the face of the young man looking down at her, yet his presence shattered the desolate silence of her world.
What surged in Seele's heart at that moment wasn't an ordinary emotion.
After drifting for an unknowable time in the endless crevices of the Sea, this young man was the first human she had seen!
Her ocean-blue pupils seemed to ignite, shining with the brilliance of longing, hope, and salvation.
Seele tilted her head up.
Fine strands of hair shifted slightly across her forehead, like uneven grey curtains veiling her eyes.
Even seeing only the lower half of his face, the sharply defined lines of his cheeks hinted at the young man's handsome features.
So... so handsome!
The instant the thought arose, a blush like rouge spread across Seele's cheeks.
She shyly lowered her head, only to see a hand hovering in front of her chest. Seele instantly panicked, scrambling backward to create distance.
"P-please... don't hurt Seele..."
Her voice, tender yet laced with fragility, trembled as she clasped her hands before her chest, her thin shoulders hunched.
Even the most hard-hearted person would soften seeing such a sight.
Caelus, however, seemed oblivious, raising his hands to grip the girl's shoulders.
"AI! My AI?"
The young man's trembling voice stopped the little rabbit's shaking. The timidity clouding the girl's moist eyes gradually gave way to confusion.
AI?
What's that?
It seems like Sister Bronya mentioned that word before...
Caught in this baffling situation, Seele hesitated for a few seconds before speaking softly:
"...Big Brother, are you talking to Seele?"
"Seele..."
The grey-haired young man's eyes remained hidden beneath his bangs, his expression unreadable.
"You're saying you're Seele?"
"Mhm, Seele's name is Seele Vollerei."
This time, without waiting for its host to ask, the System proudly took credit.
[The most suitable 'AI' for automatically controlling the character in combat is, of course, the body's original owner~! Ehe~! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧]
Aren't I amazing, your big bro System~!
Damn it!
Caelus felt his blood pressure bungee jump.
But, he had to admit, the System actually had a point.
Amidst the silence, a soft, sweet voice echoed in his mind, leaving Caelus even more stunned.
It wasn't his mind, but the mind of the body's true owner, currently in the 'background'—the mind of Miss Seele, whose mental core was temporarily Caelus.
[Other me, what happened? Where are we? Why are there living people inside this World Bubble?]
Caelus & Seele: "...?"
Dark Seele: Damn it! Something's wrong!
[This isn't a World Bubble, nor is it the Sea of Quanta.]
After a few seconds of silence, Caelus-Seele replied mentally.
[Not a World Bubble? We... left the Sea of Quanta?]
Seele, who absolutely trusted her 'other self', had an irrepressible flicker of joy in her eyes upon hearing this.
She discreetly surveyed her surroundings. Metal walls filled with what looked like advanced technology were everywhere, yet they made young Seele's face pale slightly.
It was in a laboratory full of metallic instruments that she had suffered the most painful moment of her life.
But more pressing than her current environment was something else weighing on Seele's mind.
[Other me, what's wrong? Are you unwell?]
Seele asked with concern.
There was a strange sense of dissonance; she felt her 'other self' was acting oddly.
But her 'other self' didn't reply, throwing Seele into an immediate panic.
Anxious cries echoed repeatedly in her mind. Seeing Seele on the verge of tears, Caelus maintained a faint smile as he questioned the System.
[So, you're planning to let this soft, cute little Seele—who'd probably cry all day if I punched her—handle my combat for me?]
His tone doused the System's good at self-satisfaction like a bucket of cold water, jolting it awake.
[Wait! This isn't right!]
[I clearly pinpointed the Seele from a timeline parallel to the current Star Rail one!]
The Seele from the A Post-Honkai Odyssey era was definitely a dependable S-rank Valkyrie, the best pilot for the 'Seele' vessel.
Belatedly realizing something was amiss, the System quickly started debugging the auto-combat system's code.
[Found it... Gack.]
Its words cut off abruptly, followed by silence.
[Spit it out.]
Caelus was concise.
[Er, the auto-combat system encountered a tiny operational hiccup when entering the Sol System...]
The System stammered, evasive.
[The Cocoon of Finality's shielding of the Sol System got bypassed, and the three phases of time—past, present, future... got tangled and chaotic because of this bug, causing the 'pointer' to deviate to a few years prior, to the Seele still adrift in the Sea of Quanta.]
"..."
Caelus's expression was a picture.
Just before transmigrating, he had searched for lore related to the Honkai Impact 3rd and Star Rail connection, recalling the conversation between the Emissary of the Garden of Recollection and Kiana. The photo.
Damn it!
So you were the culprit all along!?
But wasn't I supposed to have transmigrated?
Worldline convergence?
The doubts spiraling in his mind tangled into a messy ball of yarn, but there was no time to get to the bottom of it.
Even Seele's questions had to wait. He needed to provide support immediately!
[Seele, it's complicated. I'll explain in detail later. For now, just give me back control of the body.]
As he said this mentally, Caelus-Seele took control of the body back from Seele.
[You need the body? O-Okay... Eh!?]
Seele naturally didn't mind lending the body to her 'other self'.
In those collapsing World Bubbles, they often encountered Quantum Shadows devouring worlds, and during those times, it was always her other self who emerged to protect her.
What stunned Seele was that 'other me' had taken over the body even though she hadn't explicitly relinquished control yet.
Simultaneously, Seele felt she had completely lost control of her body.
Forget fighting for it; without her 'other self's' permission, she couldn't exert even the slightest influence!
It was as if this body had never been hers from the start, but belonged entirely to her 'other self'.
Why? How could this happen?
Seele was lost in confusion.
With no time to explain to Seele, Caelus-Seele equipped the Badge of the Master Martial Artist and, wielding the Obsidian Cutter, dashed towards the battlefield.
Just as he exited the cabin door, Caelus-Seele suddenly stopped, turning his head to look towards the other end of the corridor.
Gazing intently at a specific spot in the hallway, his narrowed, beautiful eyes held a hint of contemplation.
Then, the young woman smiled brightly at the empty corridor, an unusually radiant expression.
Turning back.
Quantum power surged within the body, a sense of strength never experienced before causing the corner of Caelus-Seele's lips to curve into a hint of wildness.
Once the body finished quantizing, he stomped hard on the ground.
Jump!
...
Inside the cabin passageway.
"This thing hits hard!"
Stelle forcefully held her Galaxy Baseball Bat horizontally, bracing it in front to block the Trampler's iron hooves.
Yet the Trampler, pinning the bat down, still had strength to spare.
Its humanoid upper body held a long, silver-black bow, aiming at March 7th. Arrows formed of negative particles collided with and neutralized March's Six-Phase Ice arrows.
If this were Stelle after embarking on the Path of Destruction, dealing with the Trampler alongside March 7th wouldn't take much effort. But right now, she was practically newborn.
Her first battle.
Moreover, a squad of Voidrangers eyed them menacingly.
And March 7th also had to guard the corridor entrance to prevent the Voidrangers from rushing towards Caelus.
While Stelle blocked the Trampler's attack, a Reaver, dual-wielding blades glinting coldly, dashed behind the grey-haired girl, intending to deliver a righteous backstab.
"Stelle! Watch your back!"
March 7th had just frozen a Distorter aiming at Stelle when she spotted the Reaver closing in.
At this distance, she couldn't shield Stelle in time.
"This guy has no martial virtue! Using tricks, launching sneak attacks on me, a baby less than a year old! Is this really okay?"
Stelle complained while bracing against the bat, turning her head at the warning.
The blade piercing the air reflected in her contracting pupils.
This brief distraction allowed the Trampler to seize the opportunity. Its hoof-like forelimbs kicked down hard, forcing Stelle to turn back and face it.
"Crap!"
Stelle's heart sank.
Just then, she suddenly heard a delicate shout seemingly appear out of thin air.
"Disappear among the butterflies! Illusions of the past!"
It was a girl with deep blue hair, flying towards them as fast as a human cannonball.
________________________________________
I have a little challenge for you! For every 100 POWER STONES, I'll release ONE EXTRA CHAPTER!