A few minutes later, Kouro was walking down eastside of Chiyou when he suddenly heard a voice inside his mind.
"Whoever you are… go back! … I warn you…"
It was a female voice. A voice filled with hatred and… loneliness.
Kouro, who heard this voice, knew that he was close to his destination. Still, he pretended to be surprised like a normal person would and searched left an right, muttering, "Hmm? That's weird… I was sure I heard a voice just now… was it just my imagination?
The voice came once again few moments after he finished muttering, "You can hear my voice… it seems that you are not an ordinary human… but I still warn you… …get out of here immediately… If you continue towards where Chiyou's heart is… then I'll have to kill you… so go back soon… I have no grudge against you… nothing there's no point in me fighting against you…"
Kouro smirked inwardly but put on a scared façade outside as if he just experienced something abnormal, he widened his eyes and spoke fearfully, "Y-you! Who are you! Ho can you speak to me in my mind?"
After a brief pause, the voice came once more and replied to his question.
"Who am I? … A name means nothing to me… but if you want to call me… my name was once Jixuanyuan back to when I was a human."
That Voice is Dark Ji Xuanyuan .
After saying that, the voice disappeared.
Leaving Kouro staring at nothing with a serious expression.
Dark Ji Xuanyuan who was talking to Kouro at this time, was different from the spirit that came out of the Xuanyuan Sword.
This Dark Ji Xuanyuan is a personality born from Ji xuanyuan's true emotions, which has been infected by Honkai energy.
He continued forwards ignoring the warning of the voice who proclaimed itself 'Ji Xuanyuan' while decimating several Honkai Beasts and Zombies blocking his path.
And to his luck, the concentration of Honkai Energy in here is very high causing Honkai Beasts and zombies' strength to soar which means he would receive higher amounts of experience.
Kouro made quick work of the Honkai Beasts and ferociously massacred all of them, giving him enough experience to level up a few times.
Looking at his status interface, Kouro added all his recently earn status point to Honkai.
Name: Hanagami Kouro
Level: 23
Job: None
Title: Wolf Slayer
HP: 22,432/22,600
SP: 1,324/1,584
Fatigue: 31
Strength: 118
Agility: 113
Vitality: 113
Senses: 87
Intelligence: 78
Honkai: 99
Point(s): 0
Before he proceeded any further, Kouro drank a energy potion and SP potions as a precaution.
[HP: 22,432/22,600]
[SP: 1,548/1,548]
[Fatigue: 0]
While he was checking his status, the female voice from earlier appeared again, but this time it was full of haughtiness.
"Human… why did you ignore my warning?... Are you tired of living…?"
Kouro stared into space and even though there was clearly no one there, he still replied in that direction.
"There is someone I want to save… I can't let her suffer anymore… and killing Chiyou is the only way for me to save her."
"… "
Kouro felt Ji Xuanyuan fall silent, so he continued.
"Aren't you Ji Xuanyuan? The one in the legend who has sealed Chiyou. Why do you want to fight me?"
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"Seal Chiyou? Indeed, that was my host's wish. But she is no longer around."
Dark Ji Xuanyuan said calmly, as if the one she is talking about was not herself.
"She fought in the darkness for thousands of years… she gave up love and hope, and swallowed loneliness, fear, and regret with darkness. The host disappeared… and gave rise to me.
"Hatred fill me… hatred to the ones I've sworn to protect.
"… "
Even though Kouro had heard of this from the game, it was still hard to hear it directly from the person himself as he could feel the loneliness, fear, and even regret from Dark Ji Xuanyuan's voice, though the person herself didn't seem to realize this.
Was Ji Xuanyuan wrong for wanting to seal Chiyou alone?
Kouro didn't know, but now he had decided to help Dark Ji Xuanyuan just as Kiana and the others would in the original timeline.
Kouro closed his eyes and released his acting before calmly speaking.
"Your hatred… your loneliness… and your regret… Let me take it all away from you."
Dark Ji Xuanyuan then replied to Kouro's words in a softer tone.
"… I respect your decision, Human… but go back soon… this is my last warning… before I kill you…"
"… "
Dark Ji Xuanyuan's voice then disappeared.
Kouro was silent for a moment while he stared in front of him, there was his destination, Chiyou's heart, but his intuition told him that deeper inside rest a very powerful being.
Kouro could sense Dark Ji Xuanyuan's powerful aura signature, even stronger than Chiyou itself.
If Kouro wanted to, he could have asked Hyperion for help and shoot Chiyou's heart without having to fight Dark Ji Xuanyuan, yet he didn't.
Kouro stepped forward once more and after a few minutes, stopped to look at the armored woman in front of him who resembled Ji Xuanyuan, was standing with her eyes closed while holding on to a weapon similar to the Xuanyuan Sword, but with a black color scheme.
Dark Ji Xuanyuan slowly opened her eyes and stared at Kouro, the two of them stared at each other in the eye, she then spoke first.
"I admire your determination human…"
Dark Ji Xuanyuan then summoned an armored horse out of thin air before riding it and aiming her sword at Kouro.
"I, Ji Xuanyuan, the Yellow Emperor hereby regard you as a warrior! State your name human!"
Kouro raised the Xuanyuan sword that was covered in a cold blue aura with both hands, he didn't notice his eyes were shining brightly.
"I, Hanagami Kouro, the Einherjar, hereby answer your challenge!"
The two of them were silent for a moment before rapidly approaching each other.
"HAAA!" Kouro ran by activating [Sprint] and [Power Strike] while pointing the blue aura sword forward.
Dark Ji Xuanyuan on the other hand, commanded her horse to rush towards Kouro while being enveloped in blazing flames, much like ghost rider.
*Ting!*
Their swords met each other in an explosion as their ice and fire elements fought against each other.
*BOOM!*
__
At the top of Chiyou's body, Shadow, who is currently in shadow state, is crouching down and observing Chiyou's head calmly.
Shadow didn't follow Kouro like usual because earlier, when Kouro valiantly jumped into Chiyou's mouth, he received a message from Dr. Mobius.
"Shadow. I've finally discovered a trace of that person. After such a long time, he finally made a move. He is headed towards your location, you know what to do, right?"
Shadow's focus suddenly shifted to a certain direction where a black, shadow-like portal suddenly appeared before a man wearing a red suit with gray hair and a thin mask covering his entire face, only revealing his brightly glowing purple eyes, walked out of the portal.
As if sensing something, the person that came out of the portal raised his head to stare at Shadow, even though he is currently in his shadow state.
The moment they stared at each other, time seemed to have stopped before an intense killing intent released from Shadow, his calm expression nowhere to be seen and is replaced with an expression of inexplicable anger.
"Ashborn…!"
That person called Ashborn also said in a deep voice.
"Sid…"
Kiana and the others who were in the Hyperion didn't realize that a terrible battle was about to take place on Chiyou's body.