"Of course, adorable little sister. What do you need my help with?"
Faced with Bronya's disguise as a helpless girl in need, Elias immediately took the bait. With a warm smile, he played the role of a kind-hearted big brother to perfection.
Bronya wasn't surprised in the slightest. She knew that her appearance easily lowered people's guard. After all, in this world, nothing was a better disguise than cuteness.
"Mm. Bronya lost a gift that her family gave her. It's very important to Bronya. Big brother, can you help me find it?"
"Of course, no problem. Do you remember where you lost it, Bronya?"
"Thank you. Bronya remembers. It should be… near that alley over there."
"Alright, then let's go take a look."
Elias smiled as he took Bronya's small hand, leading her toward the alleyway.
At the same time, he noticed the faint calluses on her fingers—ones that only developed from frequent use of a firearm. Such marks on the hands of a young girl felt disturbingly out of place.
His suspicions deepened.
(So Bronya still became a child soldier in this timeline, just like in the original… meaning she was taken in by Cocolia after all. But why? What happened to Aunt Alexandra?)
As the Herrscher of the Void, Elias had not triggered a major Honkai Eruption. He had even helped Bronya's mother recover her health.
Logically speaking, even without the existence of Misteln, Bronya—born into a complete family—should have lived a normal life like any other girl.
(Sigh… So this is what the system meant by 'fate'? No matter how much I change the past, their destinies have already been set. If I don't intervene further… the present and future will still follow the original storyline.)
"Mm? Big brother, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just thinking about something. If there's something only I can change, then no matter what, I should at least try… Ah, don't mind me, just talking to myself."
"Bronya understands now. Big brother is a strange person."
"That kinda hurts, you know. Alright, here we are. So, what exactly did you lose?"
As they chatted, they arrived at the alleyway. Elias let go of Bronya's hand—only for the emotionless loli to silently take a few steps back.
"Nothing. Bronya never lost anything in the first place. Apologies, strange big brother."
She reached into her skirt and pulled out a compact tranquilizer gun, aiming at Elias' back and pulling the trigger. A simple weapon, but more than enough for a normal person.
"Bronya, mission comple—what?!"
"Yep, confiscated."
Elias, who should have collapsed instantly, remained standing as if nothing had happened. Instead, before Bronya could even react, he casually snatched the tranquilizer gun from her hands.
"Hmm~ Let me play with this for a bit." With a mischievous grin, Elias fired the gun right back at her.
Unfortunately—whether due to his poor aim or Bronya's superior combat instincts—she had already reacted, sidestepping the shot while widening the gap between them. Her usually expressionless face now showed a rare hint of seriousness.
"Mission unexpected. Target strength exceeds available intel… but Bronya will not lose—Project Bunny 19C, Fire!"
"Wow, straight to the big guns, huh?"
A massive mech materialized behind Bronya. Elias' eyes lit up in excitement as he internally praised her. As expected of the 'Silver Wolf of the Urals.'
The moment she realized his strength surpassed expectations, she immediately deployed her trump card, ensuring she had every advantage necessary to secure victory. No hesitation, no overconfidence—she was, without a doubt, an outstanding warrior.
If this were Kiana, she might've actually lost here.
But Elias? No chance.
"Project Bunny, incapacitate the target without causing too much commotion. Deploy capture-mode equipment."
Bronya issued her command. She hadn't forgotten the need to avoid making a scene—missiles and large-scale attacks were out of the question, even in this secluded alleyway.
Instead, she ordered Project Bunny 19C to engage in close-quarters combat, using its massive mechanical arms to seize Elias. With its overwhelming grip strength, even lions or tigers would be caught like helpless kittens.
However—
"You're already quite cautious, but you've still underestimated me. That said… this is Project Bunny, huh? Damn, it's cool. Strong, too—but its weaknesses are obvious."
Even though Elias now had the power to crush her head-on, he still preferred using the most efficient methods in combat.
With a flicker of incomplete Herrscher of the Void authority, he opened a small portal—allowing him to fire a shot at Bronya from an impossible angle.
She hesitated for a split second—just long enough.
Project Bunny immediately abandoned its attack on Elias, shifting to defend its master instead.
"Your Project Bunny was a gift from someone important to you, wasn't it? Protecting you is embedded as its highest-priority directive… meaning it has a fatal weakness."
"…What?"
Project Bunny successfully blocked the tranquilizer dart—but in doing so, it created an opening.
Seizing the moment, Elias reached out and touched it directly.
The next second, his incomplete Herrscher of Thunder authority surged.
A powerful electric shock erupted at point-blank range, instantly overloading Project Bunny and leaving it smoking and incapacitated.
Bang.
With Bronya still frozen in shock, Elias fired another tranquilizer round—this time, directly hitting the emotionless loli and knocking her unconscious.
Casually, he blew on the barrel of his non-smoking gun, then crushed it and tossed it into a trash bin.
"Now then… what to do with you?"
He glanced down at the peacefully slumbering Bronya, pondering his next move. But before he could decide, something else caught his attention.
Her legs.
They were encased in exoskeletal armor, resembling a knight's boots—mechanical supports designed to help her walk after losing function in her real legs due to human experimentation.
"Tsk… Human experiments. Disgusting. I guess it's worth a try. Who knows—maybe I can fix this. But… how do I take these off? Is there a switch or something?"
Carrying Bronya to a nearby bench, Elias crouched down and began inspecting the 'duck legs.'
Bronya's Project Bunny legs—or simply, duck legs!
After several minutes of trial and error, he finally managed to remove the exoskeleton, exposing a pair of pale, lifeless legs beneath.
Strange red markings covered the surface—while they still looked like legs, internally, they were completely ruined.
These were limbs utterly destroyed by the X-10 Experiment—a condition beyond the reach of conventional medicine.
But for Elias—who had once wielded the Herrscher of Death's full authority, and still retained fragments of its power—
Perhaps… it wasn't impossible to heal them.
"Heh. Wonder how she'll react when she wakes up and realizes her legs are fixed. Speaking of which… Bronya's little jio isn't bad at all. Might even rival Griseo's."
No doubt about it.
Her duck legs looked delicious—almost appetizing.
Slurp! (o﹃o)
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