Chapter 8: Honkai: Star Rail — The Xianzhou General Wouldn't Dream of a Yandere Chapter 8: Caught an Extinct Monarch

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Protagonist:

Xuan Ge

That ring of starlight encircling Xing Xiao, emitting a soft glow and perpetually veiling her eyes, dissipated with a light "pop," like a punctured bubble.

With the star-ring's shielding gone, a pair of eyes was completely exposed to Xuan Ge's gaze.

They were gray-purple pupils, their color resembling the core of certain rare nebulae — deep, mysterious.

The iris patterns were not ordinary radial lines; instead, like the interior of the finest gemstones, they possessed minute, crystal-like refractive layers.

At this moment, agitated by emotion, beneath Sila Bake Planet's dim sky, they truly shimmered with a cold, brilliant radiance, startlingly beautiful.

But right now, the emotion in those beautiful eyes could by no means be called friendly.

Anger.

Pure, almost substantive anger, like two clusters of cold flame, burning fiercely in the depths of the gray-purple gems.

She glared dead at Xuan Ge; that face which usually held little expression, appearing cold and distant, flushed faintly from extreme shame and indignation.

Worse, her cheeks were still pinched by Xuan Ge's right hand, her lips forced into a pout, which made this furious glare of hers possess not the slightest deterrence, but rather.....

Rather, it exuded a cuteness utterly unbefitting her identity as a Monarch of Destruction, bordering on the ridiculous.

Like a feline — beautiful, its tail stepped on, wanting to bare its fangs yet having its cheeks pinched by someone.

"Heh....."

Xuan Ge, watching this scene of enormous contrast before him, couldn't hold back a short, soft chuckle from his throat.

The thumb pinching her cheek even unconsciously stroked that delicate skin lightly.

He examined Xing Xiao's angry eyes with great interest, his tone carrying the teasing air of discovering a new continent.

"So~ that star-ring of yours that forever blocks your face really can be taken off? I thought it was like those clothes of yours — grown onto your body."

These words were like pouring oil on fire.

"Mmph——!"

Xing Xiao squeezed a muffled, anger-laden breath from deep in her throat.

The Destruction aura originally converged around her body erupted with a boom, like an ignited powder keg!

Pure, violent Annihilation Energy exploded outward with her at the center, forming a visible ring of black ripples distorting light!

This was not merely emotional venting; it was a command.

"Roar——!!!"

The boundless Destruction Corps, standing silent like sculptures in the rear, awakened the instant they received this energy fluctuation brimming with anger and command.

Deafening, inhuman roars and shrieks converged into a torrent of Destruction; the red light in countless Void Soldiers' eye sockets surged.

Destruction arrows, energy balls, physical claws..... every means of attack locked onto a single target: that black-armored figure who dared profane their "Monarch"!

Like a black tide of death, they surged toward Xuan Ge! They would tear this arrogant Xianzhou person to shreds, rescue their master!

However, Xuan Ge's reaction was even faster than the Destruction tide.

His right wrist, pinching Xing Xiao's cheek, twisted and pulled with extreme agility.

Xing Xiao only felt an utterly irresistible force transmit; her body involuntarily rotated half a circle following that power.

By the time she reacted, her back had already crashed into a solid, warm chest, her whole person clamped tightly in an iron-like arm, unable to move.

And her face faced squarely the front — her own Destruction Corps pouncing like a black tsunami!

Simultaneously, Xuan Ge's free left hand grasped casually at the Void beside him.

"Magnetic Thorn——!"

A blue-gold lightning bolt detonated from thin air; Ya Jiao was "drawn" out of the air by him.

The spear shaft had barely formed when, with a shake of Xuan Ge's wrist, it brought a string of scalp-numbing thunderous cracks.

The spear tip tore through the air, precisely, steadily pressing against Xing Xiao's right temple.

Cold, sharp, carrying destructive lightning energy, the spear tip pressed tight against her skin.

The charging Destruction frenzy, in this instant, seemed seized by the throat by an invisible giant hand.

"Screech——!!!"

The foremost Void Soldiers forcibly braked in twisted postures; the rear ones crashed into the front, a chaos of collisions and shrieks.

But their charging momentum truly, forcibly halted at a distance of no more than a hundred zhang from Xuan Ge and Xing Xiao.

Pair after pair of Destruction's red-light eyes stared dead at the spear tip pressed against their Monarch's temple, filled with frenzy, anger, and..... the fear and bewilderment of being caught in a dilemma.

They understood no profound games, no karmic restraints.

They received only the most primal, direct signal: Monarch captured, lethal weapon aimed at her head.

Attack? Monarch might die.

Don't attack? Monarch profaned.

Destruction's creations fell into a logical deadlock, only able to shriek restlessly in place, claws raking the ground, firing Destruction energy aimlessly at the sky, yet daring not advance a single step further.

"Attack!"

Xing Xiao's voice squeezed from her confined chest, carrying irrepressible rage, emitted through pouted lips, somewhat slurred, but the command's meaning unmistakable.

She attempted to continue mobilizing Destruction's authority, forcibly ordering the corps to ignore the threat, crush Xuan Ge.

However, the corps were not pure puppets.

Within that instinct to destroy everything bestowed by Nanuk, there was likewise mixed an instinctive safeguarding of the "command source's" existence.

Especially for a Monarch of Destruction like Xing Xiao who had long directly commanded them, her existence itself held special significance for the corps.

They could clearly sense their Monarch's current restrained state, and the real, deadly threat at the spear's tip.

"Let... go!"

Xing Xiao was truly about to lose her composure.

Immense shame and indignation, the helplessness of being bound by causality, and the "disobedient" hesitation of her legions below—these emotions intertwined and shattered the cold shell she had always maintained.

She roared again, her voice slightly off-key because her cheeks were being pinched and her emotions were running high; her fury soared, yet that pouting posture inexplicably weakened her imposing presence.

It was one thing for the Divine Might General to see her in this utterly embarrassing state, since they had clashed many times and each knew some of the other's secrets.

But now, tens of thousands of Destruction creations under her own command had seen her clear as day!

How could she possibly maintain the dignity of the Great Monarch of Annihilation after this?!

"Hehe~"

Xuan Ge seemed not to hear her roar, nor did he care about the restless ocean of Destruction ahead.

Instead, he chuckled softly to himself, as if calculating an unexpected windfall.

"Captured a Great Monarch of Annihilation... hmm, I wonder if the Xianzhou Tablet will be happy enough to mail me a box... no, at least ten boxes of her cherished clear wine as a reward?"

His daydreaming whisper naturally reached Xing Xiao's ears without missing a word, making her tremble with rage once more.

Xing Xiao had already guessed who the Xianzhou Tablet mentioned by the Divine Might General was—the Xianzhou Marshal...

After the joke, Xuan Ge raised his head, his voice suddenly turning cold, carrying the indisputable authority of a general, clearly spreading throughout the entire Divine Might army position:

"Fifth Army, according to the original plan, execute the relocation mission for the residents of Sila Bake Planet, prioritizing civilian safety!"

"First Army, Second Army, all subordinate units, alternate covering fire, retreat to the warships, prepare to return!"

The orders were given, and the well-trained Divine Might army immediately moved into efficient action.

The soldiers of the Fifth Army began to orderly organize the already terrified local residents to board the ships.

Meanwhile, the other warships began to slowly rise into the air, energy shields fully open, gun muzzles warning the Destruction legions eyeing them covetously across the way, maintaining a defensive formation as they began to withdraw.

Xuan Ge naturally understood the wisdom of "knowing when to stop" and "giving face."

Though the face given was quite limited.

He no longer continued to point his spear at Xing Xiao's head, but released the hand pinching her cheeks.

But releasing did not mean letting go.

His right hand slid down like an iron clamp, extremely swiftly and firmly, grasping Xing Xiao's slender wrist in one grip.

"Let's go," he said in a flat tone.

As if merely greeting a sulky companion, yet with irresistible force in his hand, he pulled Xing Xiao and turned toward the First Army's main warship already hovering and waiting not far away.

Xing Xiao was pulled into a stumble by him, and subconsciously wanted to break free.

But the strength in that hand was astonishing, containing a "lock-on" on the level of causality, making all her struggles like sinking into a swamp, futile and useless.

She could only be half-dragged, half-pulled by him toward the Xianzhou People's warship.

Behind them, the massive Destruction legion, after a brief silence, once again erupted with an earth-shattering roar.

Their Monarch had been captured! This was a supreme disgrace! The black tide surged again, attempting to pursue.

But Xuan Ge didn't look back, merely waving his left hand holding the spear casually behind him.

"Rumble—!!!"

A lightning net composed purely of blue-gold thunder instantly generated, like an insurmountable heavenly chasm, stretching across between the Destruction legion and the retreating Divine Might army.

Thunder roared, electric snakes danced wildly, injuring upon touch, containing a patrolling causal power that even Destruction creations instinctively feared.

The legion's impact struck the lightning net, erupting in continuous explosions and wails, and the momentum of the charge was once again ruthlessly suppressed.

They could only watch helplessly as that black-armored figure, pulling their pure-white Monarch, boarded that giant warship with cold, hard lines representing Xianzhou's military might.

The hatch closed, the engine emitted a low roar, propelling the hull to slowly accelerate, leaving the planet's orbit, and merging into the assembling Xianzhou Fleet.

The Destruction legion went madly destructive on the spot, tearing the already distorted land of Sila Bake Planet into even more fragments, until finally, when that warship completely disappeared into the depths of Xing Kong, they made a decision.

They turned around, silently and persistently... following the trajectory of the Xianzhou Fleet's departure.