Starting as Cipher-The Flame-Chaser Identity System(Honkai Star Rail)

At noon, Lucien arrived at the location specified in the Black Knight's letter, accompanied by a massive Flesh Golem. The creature was essentially a giant constructed from a mountain of flesh, standing nearly four meters tall and lacking skin, its entire body a dark crimson color.

The Flesh Golem lumbered behind Lucien, its stooped posture causing its thick arms to nearly drag on the ground like colossal siege hammers. Each step sent a faint tremor through the earth—the footprints Cipher had seen earlier were undoubtedly left by this monstrosity.

This abomination was undoubtedly a creation of Lucien's Necromancy. His plan was simple: have "Meatball" (the Flesh Golem's nickname) keep the Black Knight occupied, giving him a few precious seconds to cast a decisive spell and end the battle.

However, upon arriving at the designated location, Lucien found only a desolate, featureless plain. His first thought was suspicion: Could the Black Knight be hiding somewhere, preparing an ambush?

The problem was, the desolate landscape offered no cover whatsoever. Unless the Black Knight had dug a hole on the spot and buried himself, which seemed utterly absurd.

As Lucien pondered this, he suddenly noticed seven or eight corpses scattered on the ground. Most were clad in leather armor, clearly guards or attendants, but one figure wore tattered, bloodstained robes. If Cipher were here, she would have immediately recognized him as Pieck Braun.

Pieck's right arm had been severed, but Lucien, drawing on his extensive "killing experience," could tell that Pieck had been killed first, and his arm chopped off afterward.

This meant the Black Knight had never intended to leave any survivors or claim the compensation. The entire charade had been a lie. So, what was the Black Knight's true motive for sending the letter?

The answer came easily: a classic diversionary tactic to lure them away.

Remembering Viscount Braun's promise of a generous reward for returning his son safely, Lucien extended his right hand. After reciting a complex incantation, he pointed at the corpse before him.

One of the Necromancy School's most classic spells: the Third-Level spell, Animate Dead!

The next moment, Pieck's corpse twitched violently, then slowly and clumsily rose to its feet. Its head lolled to one side, mouth agape and tongue lolling out.

A gruesome gash nearly severed Pieck's neck, leaving only a few strips of flesh connecting his head to his body. It wouldn't be surprising if his head rolled off at any moment.

Lucien nodded in satisfaction at the sight, intending to bring Pieck's reanimated corpse before Viscount Braun. After all, the Viscount had only specified a safe return, without mentioning anything about maggot-infested corpses.

Indeed, swarms of flies buzzed around Pieck's wounds with a nauseating drone. It was only a matter of time before maggots began to breed in the decaying flesh.

Just as Lucien was about to leave, he suddenly sensed something. The magical trap he had set up in the "laboratory" had been triggered!

-

The perspective shifted back to Cipher, who stood before four cabinets crammed with bottles and jars. Some were tiny, barely the size of a finger, while others were large enough to easily hold a watermelon.

The smallest bottles contained only a mysterious red liquid of unknown purpose. The largest jars, on the other hand, were uniformly filled with a murky dark-green liquid, within which various objects were submerged.

The dark-green liquid was so opaque that even when Cipher leaned in for a closer look, she could only make out vague outlines of the objects within.

"Are these some kind of specimens?" she murmured, picking up the most conspicuous jar from the top shelf of the first cabinet.

Well, he's a necromancer. It's normal for his house to have things like this, she thought. But the question is, what use could these alleged specimens possibly have for someone who isn't a necromancer? Should I even bother taking them?

Just then, a blue magic circle materialized on the stone floor a few meters in front of the stone table. A projection slowly emerged from within, and Lucien roared, "Where did you come from... you stray cat?! How did you get in here?!"

"Damn you! Just wait until I get my hands on you... I'll skin you alive!"

As Lucien spoke, he ordered Meatball to crouch. He climbed onto the creature's shoulders and commanded it to run at full speed. In his haste, he seemed to have forgotten Pieck, who was limping behind with his head cocked to one side. The wounded man was quickly left in the dust.

Cipher had been startled at first, but when she saw the translucent Magical Projection cursing her furiously and rushing back, she realized the magic was likely only for communication. This meant the real Lucien wouldn't be back for quite some time.

Feigning terror, Cipher took a step back. "Eek! How terrifying! Am I... am I really going to be skinned alive?"

As she spoke, her tail accidentally brushed against a nearby cabinet, knocking several jars onto the floor.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

A cacophony of shattering glass erupted as the jars shattered into countless shards.

Lucien nearly choked with rage at the sight. "You... you... you!"

Cipher pursed her lips and whispered apologetically, "I'm so sorry! I'm just a scaredy-cat. When I get startled, my tail starts flailing uncontrollably."

Just then, her tail "accidentally" knocked over several more jars.

Smash!

These things probably wouldn't be useful anyway, she thought. Might as well destroy them all. They belong to bad guys, so I don't feel bad about it.

Seeing this, Lucien hurriedly cried out, "No! Wait! It's my fault! I won't flay you alive! Just... stop your tail! Stop swinging it!"

Cipher tilted her head. "Really?"

"Yes! Especially the one you're holding. Gently... gently put it down!"

Cipher suddenly remembered the jar in her hand. Judging by Lucien's tone, it seemed important. "So... what exactly is this?" she asked.

Incredibly, Lucien actually began to patiently explain, a hint of pride creeping into his voice. "Oh, that's a long story. It all started when I first began studying Necromancy. My teacher said I had a natural gift, but my brother and... my mother strongly disapproved. They thought I'd be better off staying home and tending the fields."

"In the end, it took a tremendous effort to convince them to accept my path in Necromancy... and stay by my side forever!"

As he spoke, Lucien patted the massive creature beneath him, which he affectionately called "Meatball." "Not only that, but my brother... became my greatest ally!"

The Magical Projection didn't show the full picture, but Cipher could clearly see Lucien sitting atop a massive monster. If this "monster" was indeed his brother, then the jar she held—which he cherished just as much—must contain...?

The "mother" who had also opposed his study of Necromancy in Lucien's story?

The moment Cipher realized what was inside the jar, her hand involuntarily trembled. Her grip slipped, and the jar crashed to the floor with a smash, shattering into pieces. The dark green liquid splattered across the floor, finally revealing what was submerged within.

It was a human head.

Good grief, she thought. He turned his own brother into a monster and keeps his mother on a shelf? Isn't that taking things a bit too far?

"No!!!" Lucien roared as the jar containing his 'mother' shattered on the floor. "You killed my mother?! You wildcat! You're... you're dead! Dead meat!"

His anger was palpable; he barely stuttered at all.

If Cipher had deliberately swept the previous jar off the shelf with her tail, this accident was genuine. Or rather, she was so shocked that she had momentarily frozen, the cat equivalent of being stunned into silence.

Watching Lucien's anguished wails, she felt a flicker of guilt—just a tiny flicker, mind you.

Cipher ducked her head, silently retreated, and turned to leave. She picked up the books and scrolls she had just set down at the entrance and, within a minute, found Aria and the others still searching for the cave entrance.

She announced to the trio, "I've found the Necromancer's lair!"

Her statement seemed perfectly normal—after all, wasn't that exactly what a scout was supposed to do? But the fact that she was carrying a large pile of loot made the situation rather peculiar.

Aria couldn't help but stare. "Sister Cipher, what's all that you're carrying...?"

Cipher shrugged casually. "Oh, I just grabbed a few things on my way out of the Necromancer's place. Feidric, could you check if there's anything useful in there?"

Feidric's lips twitched slightly as he accepted the bundle from Cipher. Douglas, standing nearby, was utterly stunned. "Wait a minute, Little Cipher, are you saying you not only snuck into the Necromancer's lair and made it back alive, but you also managed to steal a bunch of stuff?"

Douglas remembered Feidric saying that the Necromancer was incredibly powerful. How could Cipher make him sound so pathetic?

Cipher nodded, embellishing the story. "Stealing? Nonsense! I took it right in front of him, fair and square. I even asked if I could have it, and since he didn't stop me, I just walked out with it."

Aria, Feidric, and Douglas stared at her in bewildered silence. "???"

"Though," Cipher added casually, "there was a slight mishap along the way."

The trio tensed up, Aria imagining Sister Cipher narrowly escaping the clutches of a terrifying foe.

Then Cipher declared, "On my way out, I accidentally shattered his mother."

Aria, Feidric, and Douglas simultaneously wore utterly dumbfounded expressions. "???"

Seeing their hilariously synchronized reactions, Cipher slapped her thigh and burst into laughter before finally explaining in detail what had actually happened.

As they talked, Cipher led the way toward the mountain cave.

Aria remarked, "So, the Necromancer wasn't even home?"

Cipher nodded. "Yes, but he'll probably be back soon. We need to hurry, destroy the Death Array, and check his house for any other powerful artifacts. We'll take everything we can carry and smash the rest."

Since their target was an evil Necromancer, Aria didn't object to this plan. Though a Paladin sworn to honesty and kindness, she wasn't rigidly bound by dogma.

Just as the group reached the cave, Cipher noticed Lucien's Magical Projection still lingered there. Upon seeing her return, Lucien erupted into another torrent of curses.

Feidric frowned slightly, approached the projection, and after a moment's contemplation, flicked his finger to silence Lucien. The projection was an Illusion School spell, a type of magic Feidric wasn't particularly skilled in, but muting it was simple enough.

It was like someone who couldn't build a TV but knew how to adjust the volume.

Lucien's mouth opened and closed frantically, but no sound emerged, making the scene oddly comical.

Feidric began searching the cave. After only a cursory glance at the four cabinets, he declared, "These are all materials for Necromancy. They're no good—destroy them all."

Aria took a deep breath, her eyes hardening with resolve. Slowly, she picked up a jar from the cabinet in front of her, paused for another deep breath, and then hurled it to the ground, shattering it.

The whole thing felt like a well-behaved child determined to commit a terrible act, who spent hours preparing only to end up drawing a cute little turtle on someone's face.

At that very moment, with a deafening crash, Cipher simply shoved an entire cabinet over, sending all the jars crashing to the floor and shattering into fragments.

Cipher paused for a moment, then went to another cabinet and grabbed two more jars. She deliberately walked over to Lucien's magical projection, gently pinching the tops of the jars between her thumb and forefinger. With a mischievous grin, she swayed the jars slightly from side to side, then suddenly released them.

The scene resembled a house cat batting at a glass teacup perched precariously on the edge of a table, relentlessly pushing it until it crashed to the floor with a satisfying shatter, looking utterly unapologetic.

Lucien's fury surged anew. He bared his teeth and cursed silently, his voice muted by Feidric's silencing spell.

Finally, after about two or three minutes, Cipher had exhausted all the jars. Just then, Feidric discovered that a section of the cave wall was actually an illusion. Stepping through it, he found the "Death Array" described in Franklin Walker's diary. Even Feidric, known for his impeccable composure, now wore a grave expression.