Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

"...And that is how this beautiful face descended from the heavens."

Sunny ended his story by picking a piece of steak with his fork, before surgically placing it within his oral cavity. He allowed it to rest and sizzle on his tongue. He was in no rush. He would savor the juicy, tender meat like a god savoring their creations.

’Is that what the Gods do. Or did? Since they’re dead and all...’

This question lingered on his mind until Bronya coughed into her fist, the movement strangely elegant and captivating.

"You... seemed to have quite the eventful time."

Sunny’s strengthened teeth tore through the steak with powerful force. The steak may have struggled against any other person, but he was an Awakened, and his teeth were no joke now that they were enhanced with Bone Weave.

So, naturally, the steak practically disintegrated with each practiced movement of his jaw, the fat within popping out and flooding his mouth with flavor. In little time, he was able to smoothly swallow.

’Whatever animal was used to make this, I thank you for sacrificing yourself.’

After swallowing, Sunny scoffed.

"Eventful? More like boring. I kill things stronger than me all the time, so that wasn’t exceptionally exciting. Falling into the void sounds epic, but it’s really just a whole lot of nothing. Heaven is also not all it’s cracked up to be. The only living creature I found up there wasn’t even living, and it’s more vile than heavenly."

Besides the corpse of the dead dragon, the Seed of Nightmare he found in the Ivory Tower completely contrasted the pure and pristine beauty of the island.

Sunny tilted his head when Bronya made a strange face.

"What?"

She shook her head, seeming like she aged a decade.

"It’s nothing. Just... please be more careful next time. And the time after that. Actually, just be careful for the rest of your life."

Sunny shrugged.

"No need to tell me twice..."

Next time he sees a chest, he’s stabbing it first, ask questions later.

His eyes trailed lower for a moment, before Sunny manually grabbed his own chin as he turned his gaze upwards, suddenly finding the ceiling to be very interesting.

’Not that chest!’

Bronya stared at him in contemplation, before straightening her posture.

"So, after we remove the restriction on the Underworld tomorrow, what exactly do you plan on doing? The Astral Express will... leave at some point, no?"

Sunny was having a bit of a hard time focusing on the conversation, considering that Bronya’s shift in positioning was really accentuating her assets.

Assets that he remembered grabbing when he was blinded by the Architect of Lost Preservation’s mist.

"Uh... well, it was originally supposed to be a week-long trip, but obviously, we couldn’t leave until the Stellaron problem was resolved. There’s also the fact that I was stuck in the Dream Realm for a while, and I don’t think we’ll leave until the situation on this planet is completely stable. So... it’s an indefinite stay."

Bronya hummed.

"Speaking of, how did you contain the Stellaron in the first place? I was under the impression that holding it within your body would be hazardous..."

’Good question...’

Sunny thought about it for a couple moments, before saying in a questioning tone:

"I’m special? One of a kind? In a class of my own? Top tier?"

He shrugged.

"I just told the Stellaron that it won’t be seeing the light of day, and it didn’t. I thought it would work... maybe... and it did!"

However, he had the feeling that such a maneuver wouldn’t work again. He wasn’t sure why.

"I... see."

Bronya sighed in exasperation.

Sunny recalled something.

"Oh, right. When’s the next time you’re free? Want to watch a movie?"

Bronya blanked out.

"Huh?"

***

Svarog’s head turned as a pair of teens walked through the gates of the mansion.

"You have visitors, Clara."

The young girl — who had been drawing imaginary lines on the chassis of a robot — stopped when she saw who was approaching.

"Ah! It’s the variables!"

Sunny blinked.

’That’s a new one.’

He stared at the Transcendent girl for a few moments, before nodding.

"Hey, Clara. You got taller."

Beside him, March squinted her eyes as she scrutinized the girl.

"Really?"

Clara looked down at herself for a moment, tilting her head as she mimicked the older girl:

"Really?"

Sunny stood next to Clara, before holding his hand next her head.

"Yeah! Last time I saw her, she was this tall. It’s been a while, so it isn’t impossible, right?"

He turned to the cyclopian automaton.

"You’ve noticed it too, right Svarog?"

After a few moments, he nodded.

"Clara has grown by a singular centimeter."

Sunny blinked.

"Just say one centimeter."

Svarog nodded.

"I will take your suggestion into account for future interactions."

There was an awkward moment of silence. Breaking it, Sunny turned towards Clara with a grin.

"So, there’s this massive robot called the Engine of Creation. And, being the reasonable individual I am, I thought that you, our resident robot expert, might be able to figure something out."

He paused, before summoning the Lance of Preservation in a coil of dancing flames.

"Basically, whoever wields this can..."

"The Lance of Preservation acts as a remote control beacon, a conduit that lets the wielded operate the Engine of Creation with nothing but their will."

Sunny blinked.

March blinked.

Svarog... slightly turned his head.

Clara stared at the lance with an intense gaze, the flames reflecting off of her pinkish-red eyes.

Sunny hesitated for a moment, before asking: 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"...You recognize it?"

Clara pondered.

"Maybe?"

’Maybe?’

Sunny wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Clara shook her head, continuing:

"Uh... I already saw the Engine of Creation. Mr. Svarog and I left to see it."

"Huh?"

...The Underworld and Overworld were still technically separated. Only a few people could move between them currently, but the general populace couldn’t. Using the method they learned from Sampo, only Sunny, March, Dan Heng, Bronya, and Seele knew how to traverse it.

So how did Clara leave Belobog? She’d need to enter the Overworld first.

’Wait... why am I using normal logic?’

Sunny himself could teleport anywhere that has shadows. Even if there isn’t any, he could travel in the form of a shadow.

Remembering the time when Clara used a mind-boggling technique to reach the Robot Settlement in less than a second, Sunny found that it was actually quite likely that she had the means to easily escape Belobog if she wanted to.

...Even if she didn’t, he was confident that she could simply break out. She’s certainly strong enough to do so. Belobog’s walls were powerful — too powerful for Sunny himself to break through them, but Clara was a Transcendent.

"So, did you find anything? I thought it was a little weird."

Clara nodded.

"It’s powered by a Soul Shard. One that’s stronger than what I’ve ever used."

Sunny thought for a moment, before his eyes widened.

"...Supreme?"

Clara tilted her head.

"If that’s what it’s called, yes."

Sunny sighed.

A Transcendent Soul Shard was already valuable, and she had a few powering Svarog. As for Supreme Soul Shards, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was practically impossible for anyone to see them in their life time. Great abominations were a Rank higher than the strongest of humanity. So, killing them and extracting their Soul Shards was probably a minuscule occurrence.

March interjected, finding the conversation about robots boring.

"Well whatever, we won... Thanks to that giant robot, we were finally able to take care of the Stellaron... and Bronya made a promise — the Underworld and the Overworld will soon be reunited."

She grinned.

"Which means that you, Svarog — uh... You won’t have to worry about preserving the Underworld... for the time being."

Clara revealed a bright smile, one that almost caused Sunny to cover his eyes.

"March, everyone... thank you so much! I wasn’t sure you guys would be able to do it, but..."

She turned to Svarog.

"But now... Mr. Svarog, what do you say?"

Sunny tilted his head curiously. It seemed that she has discussed something with Svarog prior to this conversation. The robot stayed silent as Clara turned back to them.

"You guys said you were travelers from other worlds, right? I want to be just like you... One day, I’m gonna go traveling to faraway places and make new friends."

’Ah.’

Sunny was a little tempted to lower her expectations. However, he quickly remembered that she was literally dozens, if not hundreds of times stronger than him. Even if she wasn’t a Saint, why should he discourage her?

He chuckled.

"Alright, then. Just don’t colonize a galaxy on the way. You couldn’t handle the profits."

March sent him a skeptical look as Clara innocently asked:

"Colonizing?"

Meanwhile, Svarog automatically spoke to no one in particular:

"Calculation result... update. Mission number 0001 — Preserve the Underworld — complete."