Bizarre Honkai, a Wife-Chasing Crematorium

A memory from long ago flickered for a moment.

Li Mo's gaze grew even colder. He stood motionless before the corpse. After a long while, he slowly raised the cursed blade, pressed it against Elysia's heart, and muttered in a daze, "Then why… did you choose to die in this dress?"

"It doesn't look good… at all."

As he finished speaking, the sharp blade pierced through the fragile flesh and blood. It paused for a fraction of a second, then continued its thrust until it impaled her entire body.

The pause was because the tip of the blade had touched her heart, a different sensation.

Li Mo pulled the cursed blade from Elysia's body, blood dripping down the blade and onto the ground. He looked down, his clouded eyes fixed on the blood dripping from its tip.

The only thing he could do was continue forward, to Schicksal HQ, to find his remaining companions.

Along the way, the cursed blade glowed with a faint pink light, manifesting as stars that swirled around Li Mo, as if their master were still accompanying him on his journey.

"…"

"…"

Elysia's smile was one of her trademarks.

When she smiled, her eyes would sparkle with a joyous light that drew people to her irresistibly. She loved interacting with people. Whether with comrades-in-arms or strangers, she could quickly find common interests and create a lighthearted, pleasant atmosphere.

Yet when someone tried to get closer, she would take a small step back, playfully teasing them with a bit of mystery, always maintaining a hazy distance.

She did as her heart pleased, free and unrestrained. She only spent time on people she liked, yet everyone liked her; she only put her mind to things she found interesting, yet she made every matter interesting.

She was just that kind of innocent girl, one who embraced each day with sincerity and passion.

Her wardrobe was the largest in the entire house, spanning more than one closet. It was filled with all sorts of clothes, and her outfits would change with her mood. Most of the time, she chose vibrant, bright colors and added cute accessories, making her stand out as a uniquely dazzling presence in any crowd.

Such trivial memories…

After all—

Elysia was already dead.

How long had she been dead?

Perhaps before he came to this Main world. Or maybe just yesterday.

He didn't know. He wasn't sure.

He didn't want to know. He didn't want to be sure.

Li Mo tried desperately to block out these thoughts, but his mind replayed the memories against his will.

Was the power of the Herrscher of Ego truly effective against Ghosts?

Could Corruption truly vanish into thin air?

Were the gifts he received truly without a price?

Or perhaps, this moment… was the time to pay that price.

Why had the Bizarre corruption suddenly spread through the Main world? What… what had he missed…?

"…"

Li Mo tilted his head back, his eyes empty, staring blankly at the pitch-black sky. He recited, word by word:

"The Herrscher of Ego's power is ineffective against Ghosts."

"Corruption cannot vanish into thin air."

"All gifts… come with a price."

As the last word fell, Li Mo lowered his head. His human vision focused on the ground at his feet, while his Ghost's vision enveloped half the world.

Li Mo placed Pardofelis's body next to Elysia's, hoping Elysia's residual Bizarre power would suppress the resurgence of the Khorne Bizarre. As for himself, he moved forward like a tightly wound mechanical doll, stiff and slow.

Every action, every thought, did not come from his own free will.

His Ghost's vision captured the surrounding corpses, equally cold and shriveled, devoid of any sign of life.

In the theater of life, so much is beyond one's control.

Pardofelis had become a Ghost and could never turn back into a human. Dr. MEI was dead, reduced to a pile of blood and gore. Elysia was on the verge of becoming an Bizarre, devoured by the cursed blade, with no chance of survival…

Who else… was there? He'd forgotten. It seemed only Bizarre Mei's whereabouts were unknown in this world, but he didn't have much of a connection with her. They were merely fellow travelers…

But at least—

Shigure Kira had returned to her own world.

The Bizarre corruption needed time to spread. Even if he died, it would take at least several decades for it to reach other worlds. That way, Shigure Kira could live out her life in peace. Singing, holding concerts… becoming a Valkyrie after work to fight monsters and save people, living a full life.

As long as she didn't get involved with the Bizarre, with her abilities and personality, she would surely live well. She wouldn't be bullied, wouldn't be wronged…

In a daze, Li Mo arrived at Schicksal HQ. Like the other cities, it was littered with corpses and ruins. Not a single living person could be found.

Strangely, Li Mo didn't find the bodies of Otto or any of the Valkyries at Schicksal HQ.

Li Mo expanded his perception. Not a single sound, not a whisper of a living person's breath nearby could escape his senses. After becoming an Bizarre, this was no longer a fantastical feat. On the contrary, searching for traces of the living felt like an innate instinct for any Ghost.

The only questions were whether they had the consciousness to trigger it and a rule that allowed it.

"..."

"There."

Li Mo arrived at St. Freya High School. A faint trace of living breath still lingered within.

But strangely, this place shouldn't have possessed any Bizarre items capable of repelling Ghosts. The safe zone had been able to shelter so many people in this living hell teeming with terrifying Ghosts because of Elysia's power, which transferred… or rather, absorbed all incoming Corruption.

So what was St. Freya High School relying on? This place didn't have… the special properties of Kira's Bizarre World.

Li Mo's expression remained unchanged as he quietly approached the academy gates. Once upon a time, opening a door like this had triggered a death rule, and his head had fallen from his neck.

Now, he was fearless.

After vaulting over the wall, Li Mo saw the ground littered with the corpses of Valkyries, along with the Bizarre items that should have been in Dr. MEI's possession...

Using these items required the ultimate price—one's life. They were filled with powerful Corruption, offering no hope of a turnaround. Most Bizarre items were like this. Items like the thermometer and the Bizarre Pistol, which required almost no cost, were incredibly rare.

Even the cursed blade, Akazome Sakura, was built on the sacrifice of one person's life, condemning Sakura to an eternity of solitude and pain, wandering a world of despair, as the price for its temporary, cost-free use.

Ruin and collapse were only a matter of time.

If a living person were to use a Bizarre item, their fate was sealed. There were no happy endings.

The sea of bodies and blood before him didn't slow Li Mo down. He stepped over one rotting Valkyrie corpse after another. Severed fingers lay scattered on the ground like dead twigs fallen from a withered tree. Their eyes were empty sockets, or crushed eyeballs clinging to maggots by their optic nerves.

Their bodies were sliced open, their innards crawling with flies and white maggots. The gray-brown floor was more vibrant than a bride's red silk.

The overwhelming stench of blood was like the rotting carcass of a hyena, spreading in all directions. Even though the blood had long since dried, the smell lingered.

A brutal battle had taken place here. A battle that… had cost the lives of every Valkyrie.

From the moment they accepted the forbidden-class Bizarre items, their fate was sealed, whether they were killed by Ghosts or by the items themselves.

Perhaps some of their souls had not yet vanished, but were being tortured by the twisted rules of the Bizarre items, without end. It was a world even more desperate than that of the cursed blade.

"..."

Li Mo remained silent the entire time, walking straight towards the St. Freya High School auditorium. Along the way, he stepped over the shells of countless Valkyries.

His human vision only allowed him to see the path ahead, but his Ghost's vision showed him every detail: every fallen ID card, their tormented expressions, the look on their faces as they died… He could even see their final moments of despair.

He couldn't block it out. Even closing his eyes couldn't shut out his Ghost's vision.

The way each of them died was deeply seared into the depths of Li Mo's memory.

This scene was all too familiar…

In Kira's Bizarre World, the Valkyrie squad she had brought with her hadn't used Bizarre items. And their opponents hadn't been a sky-blotting horde of Ghosts with unknown rules and varying levels of Corruption.

"All the Bizarre items we collected over the years… why are they all here?"

Li Mo looked down at the ominous Bizarre items scattered on the ground. Even in his current state, he didn't dare to casually touch these now-awakened items.

"I'll find out once I find the living people inside."

Li Mo continued forward. Unlike the doorless auditorium in Kira's Bizarre World, the doors to this one were shut tight, seemingly to block the entry of the Ghost horde. This auditorium was protected by a Bizarre item.

It took Li Mo a full ten minutes to walk from the academy gates to the auditorium. In those ten minutes, he could have traveled from one end of the Earth to the other.

As he reached the auditorium doors, Li Mo stopped, standing perfectly still, all signs of life ceasing as if he were one of the dead.

His Ghost's vision saw it, and his human vision saw it too.

Those familiar twin pistols, that sky-blue hair he had praised so many times, and… the person who should not have been here—

Shigure Kira.

"..."

"..."

"..."

A gray-black miasma covered most of Europe. Even during the day, the sun was no longer visible. The line between day and night began to blur, their distinction fading. Just like the definition of the living and the dead, it was becoming increasingly ambiguous.

Some people were still alive, yet they were already dead.

Some were already dead, yet they seemed to be alive.

If the living carry the will and faith of the dead, are they living? Or dead?

If the dead are forever remembered and commemorated by the living, are they dead? Or living?

Li Mo didn't know. He didn't know. He didn't know anything…

The body on the ground was already cold and stiff, covered in large patches of livor mortis. Her once-clean, sky-blue hair was stained with blood and grime. Shattered limbs, unfocused pupils.

Shigure Kira's left hand was slightly open, a stark contrast to her right hand, which was tightly gripping her weapon. It seemed she had been holding onto something in the final moment before death descended.

...

His eyes, as still as a frozen pond, fell to his living right hand. It had been a habit between them. Li Mo would never hold Shigure Kira's hand with his Bizarre Mei left hand, afraid of passing on the Corruption. So they always had a tacit understanding: her left hand would hold his right.

In the decades they had been together, there had never been an exception.

...

...

A light rain began to fall from the sky, but it did not wash the stains from Shigure Kira's face.

Li Mo knelt on the ground, reaching out with his right hand to slowly wipe away the dirt and dried blood from her face.

Minutes and seconds ticked by. The stains that he could have cleaned instantly with 「Usurp」, Li Mo spent two full hours wiping away.

An Bizarre has no concept of time. The more one loses their human consciousness, the less they can perceive its passage.

When did he meet her?

It was in the auditorium of St. Freya High School.

Back then, he hadn't thought anything of the girl. He did as he pleased, handling the Bizarre with the most reliable methods. He needed manpower for the process, and Shigure Kira, an A-rank Valkyrie, was the perfect tool. That's what he had always thought. He assumed that once the mission was over and the ritual complete, they would go their separate ways, never to cross paths again.

But the ritual on Mount Taixuan, as if fated, brought them together again by a twist of chance. It was no different from the first time; he wasn't fully human when they met, and he was always cold to her, ordering her to do many dangerous things.

And Shigure Kira never complained. She was dedicated and diligent, willing to sacrifice herself even for a plan that meant certain death.

So when did it start? When did their relationship become more than just simple friends…?

Was it at the Mirror Lake? Or even earlier…

An idol, a Valkyrie, a stage bathed in flashing lights.

Her dreams, along with her life, vanished into the silent darkness, leaving no trace.

"..."

After he died in the haunted mansion, his soul had unexpectedly traveled to her world. He had only briefly explained the situation, and Shigure Kira, without a second thought, had come to his side. On the third floor, she used the power of Kira's Bizarre World to turn back time at the cost of herself.

When he awoke, he was human again. He rushed to the Soul-Ferrying Passage on the fourth floor, wanting to hold on to Shigure Kira's fading soul. Fortunately, they were reunited on the other side of the world, and lived the relatively happy life of a normal married couple…

But every time, their sacrifices were never equal.

Whether at St. Freya High School, Mount Taixuan, or the two worlds of the haunted mansion… one of them was always giving unconditionally.

At St. Freya, she gave her loyalty and trust. On Mount Taixuan, she gave her body and her life. In the haunted mansion, she gave her passionate love and her ordinary love, taking on the burden of supporting the family for him, a man with a congenital illness.

"Hey! Is anyone there? Everyone! Mr. Gloomy!"

"We can finally end this nightmare. I'm so happy. Why aren't you smiling? I bet you'd look really handsome if you smiled."

"Why aren't you saying anything? Huh? Why are you touching my hair? Oh, well, I guess I'll just consider it your reward for saving everyone."

"My name is Shigure Kira, but I have a little secret wish... you can call me Kira Star in private. It feels a little embarrassing to say it out loud, but... I'm an idol! Well... I'm a little tone-deaf, hehe."

"If I were going to die tomorrow, I'd want to be with you."

"Li Mo! Li Mo! Don't die! Please don't die! Don't go... Don't leave me alone..."

They had faced life and death countless times, each separation nearly irreversible. Both had fought desperately to pull the other back from hell, at any cost.

But this time…

It felt like a true, final parting, with no hope of reunion.