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82.69% Honkai Star Rail - Isekai'd With A Stellaron Within / Chapter 86: 4th Wall Falls

章節 86: 4th Wall Falls

*Yeppa, here we are, moving fast at mach 5. Shit goes down indeed. Thus, here we are. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Peace out and Deus Vult*

The Express still lingered in Penacony, and yet they were all on board, gathered together in the parlor, sitting round with Mark's phone placed on the coffee table before them. The light-green device waited, feeling the weight of their gazes linger on it. Judgement was about to fall, and it could do nothing but await the cruel fate. The white cube simply stood there, silent, any motion having long since ceased from it. They didn't know of those moments—almost no one knew except the Stellaron Hunters, who had kept an eye over the Express. 

"We shouldn't do this," said Himeko, clinging to the rational voice in her mind. Mark was in a predicament they hadn't seen before, captured within a cube that they couldn't understand. 

"I know we shouldn't; that's the rational choice; however... what about the information it might hide? We've all wondered about his origins, what turned him into the man we're working with," added Welt, fixing his glasses up his nose. March felt her fingers ache to just reach out for the phone and type in the password that she had caught sight of a few times—Mark didn't shy from hiding it. 

"That is the situation, and yet there's a moral duty here that we're about to break. It's secrets at the price of his privacy. What if there's actually nothing there and we're simply on a wild chase? We might do this for naught then have to face consequences." 

Dan Heng's words were calm and thought out, yet even he felt the powerful allure of a possible explanation. 

"The only thing he's told me at some point is that he had been an Observer once, or something along those lines. I'm yet to understand what he meant." 

Black Swan tried to find something, anything, in her own mind, looking through the memories she's gathered across many years. Some mentions came up about such people, but nothing that could be tied to the present era, to his knowledge that went beyond normal, to actually understanding the depths of people around him. 

"I'm afraid the only course of action that would reveal the actual truth is to hopefully find information in his phone or to have him confess by his own volition." 

Stelle sighed, rubbing her chin in thought for a moment. She gave up, simply resting on the couch, lounging while grumbling. 

"I'm so annoyed by this mess. March, just open it." 

All eyes dashed to the phone as March picked it up with trembling hands. It's like the damn phone was a bomb, waiting to explode at the smallest wrong move. Her pink-blue eyes darted left and right, awaiting confirmation from others. Himeko's lips pursed, her palms glued together as sweat began forming on them, the tension palpable. Welt has his fingers laced together as his elbows rested right above his knees. 

"Should we do this?" asked Himeko once more, feeling conflicted to her core. The situation between her and Mark was already delicate, and one wrong move might make it crumble fully. 

"No risk, no gain." 

Black Swan's words were short, but they cut to the heart of the matter. March took a deep breath as she finally typed in the password, her thumb gliding over the numbers 6 and 9 a few times. 

"Is that his password?" asked Stelle, scratching the side of her head as she sat up on the couch, feeling the soft material mold under her weight. 

"What a... Mark thing," sighed out Himeko, somehow not surprised. Black Swan simply chuckled, her soft gloves sliding over her lips as she looked over to the cube in the room. 

"What a dirty-minded individual. He sure has a lot of interesting sides to him." 

Dan Heng's eyes were glued to the screen as he sat by March's side, looking over her shoulder at the phone. Everyone was squished together to get a better look at the screen. The wallpaper was a black and white image of two unknown characters, one with short black hair and another with longer strands hidden that cascaded beneath a crown of thorns. 

"That's a strange image. What does it even mean?" asked March, narrowing her eyes at it. 

No one said a thing about it after simply looking around at the apps present. None of them made sense for any of them, since the OS was something different from what they knew. Herta made sure to add a new version and some upgrades to his device, and yet the older part of it was preserved in the way it was back in his home world. 

"Well, the interface seems similar, but the applications it has sure are different. How about we check them one by one?" 

And thus they followed Himeko's suggestion, accessing each and every one of them. Some needed internet access, despite him being connected to the Astral Express' network. That was the first strange thing about it. The usual apps were nothing out of the ordinary besides their foreign appearance. 

"Let's see what else he has. I believe the photos should be the last thing we check, right? That's where the most information might come in from, but first we should look at what we have available just in case some security measures might kick in later." 

Welt's advice was good, so they simply went along with their exploration. No one made a noise; they all just listened to each noise that came from his phone. The notes app had a single entry that was blocked by a password, while the others were just meaningless words thrown in there. Of course, the phone's password didn't work. 

"I guess he locked up the neat stuff," puffed out Stelle, a bit annoyed. 

Next, with March being March, she checked the games on his phone. All was nice and normal, some weird game called 'Minecraft' that they checked, with cubes and more things no one could figure out quickly, but then came the strange part. Two faces for two different games, one a girl with dark hair and a blue ribbon, looking to the side, and the other one partially glitching out, but they could make out the image decently. 

"Is that... ME?!" cried out March, eyes glued to the screen. She didn't know when her finger tapped the icon, opening it in a blitz. They were all watching with big eyes, gazes fixed on the tiny screen, drinking the sight. A weird name, 'Hoyoverse', followed by the game's presumed logo, a wide title saying 'Honkai Star Rail' and a representation of a train. Their hearts stopped when the image of a train, one eerily similar to the Astral Express, appeared on the screen. It was floating in space, with a large planet in the background. The rest was hidden as the 'No Internet' warning appeared, prompting them to restart. 

Silence, eerie, and heavy, unlike ever before, settled in, with a weird feeling of paranoia following. Their eyes looked out the Express windows, staring with uncertainty to catch a glimpse of whoever might be watching, if anyone was doing so. 

"Now that went from 0 to 100 really quick," said Stelle, her voice a little shaky as she tried to humor the situation. The one worried most was March, who kept staring at the tiny image of her face. 

"Just what is that? Is it a game with the Express? Did someone in the universe make such a thing? Are we somehow being watched?" she cried out as she put the phone down, putting both arms around her head as if to hide away from the world. She clung on to Stelle, who tried to comfort the poor girl. 

Welt reached out and picked up the phone, fueled by the desire for knowledge to look through it more and more, to fully comprehend what's going on. Black Swan floated around, looking intrigued—almost too much. 

"Let's keep looking," he said, his voice composed despite the strange discovery. Himeko stood by his side, stealing a glance over to the cube, watching it silently rest on the floor before her eyes returned to the phone. His gallery was the last place to check. 

"Should we actually open it? What if we find... you know... things we shouldn't see?" she asked, her cheeks slightly flushed at the idea. 

Welt's finger paused as it hovered over the icon, waiting as the gears turned in his mind. 

"We should assume this risk," he said, then faked a cough as he opened it. Folders with various images stood out, but the one that was the most glitched out was called 'Honkai,' and inside, images of a drawn, red-haired woman were gathered, together with those of a purple-haired one. Their faces dropped, while Black Swan looked like she was having a field day. 

"That... that has to be me... and that is most probably Acheron... but when, and how?" 

Himeko was speechless, but Welt kept looking around for more, nearly choking when the image of his past popped in, with him wearing an idol outfit, being all pampered. That sealed the deal. He quickly switched to another picture, this one a meme with the crew, each one saying imaginary, then a specific Path, while Himeko's only said Imaginary and had a skull emoji after it. 

"Just what is all this?" asked Dan Heng, and Stelle came to look while March still clung to her side, as if a little scared. 

Himeko's cheeks were flushed red, thousands of ideas swarming her mind, be they normal thoughts, worried thoughts, or perhaps the kind of thoughts she shouldn't have with him using those images in the wrong manners. 

"Welt... what was that image with you?" she asked, trying to shift her focus. He was dumbfounded, understanding that some of the images he held there depicted real moments, and yet the question of 'how' remained. 

"It is nothing important," he spat out, but Stelle snatched the phone and found it. She was grinning from ear to ear while everyone stared at it, and Welt was close to simply destroying the phone. 

"Mister Yang, I didn't know you liked crossdressing. Maybe it's you we should take shopping, not Mark," chuckled March, teasing the old man. 

Still, Stelle had to check the rest of the phone. All of the images were laid bare before their eyes, from random memes with cats to images of other characters, to photos of people, and him as well. They checked them, only to realize that he seemed very... normal. What else did they expect? 

"He did say he wound up in this situation without his knowledge," said Himeko, her voice soft and somewhat composed. "I guess his life before was normal, filled with the mundane." 

They kept looking, finding images of him posing, laughing, being with friends, making funny faces, photos of him and his family, where he was smiling so earnestly. It was a far cry from the Mark they knew, who seemed to force some emotions from time to time, who kept focusing on getting stronger, on fighting, and on clinging to his sanity. Their faces dropped slightly, and even Black Swan said nothing, despite keeping track of all the memories she could extract from those images. 

"I can feel the joy in all of them," she whispered, gaining everyone's attention. "He was happy, so happy that I can't describe it. It was just a pure sense of contentment, filled with lingering moments of worry, just like the life of a normal person. The things I felt in him when I tried to check during our dance were nothing but pain and a strong sense of duty that nearly swallowed him whole. It was brief, but I felt it." 

Silence as they just looked along, searching the photos. Graduation ceremony after high school, again a photo of him together with his family, the dark robe covering him slightly. Beautiful memories that made them all remain silent. Unlike most of them, he was the only one to have a normal life before being thrown into chaos. March has no memories; Dan Heng's past is a mess, while Himeko and Welt have their own lives that went in specific directions. Stelle herself had no idea of who she was before, but Mark... Mark had known all of it and lost it all in the blink of an eye. 

"That's... not fair..." whispered March, wiping her eyes. "It's not fair that he just... lost all of it. Why...?" 

Of course, the answer was foreign to him too. Thus, they just looked at the pictures in silence, watching all of it. Images of them as characters drawn on paper appeared too, but they didn't matter that much anymore despite the eerie feeling they carried. Thus, the photos simply moved until they were done. 

With a trembling hand, Stelle put the phone back down on the table, and everyone could swear that the cube behind them was making a soft sad noise. Still, it stopped as their gazes moved over to it. 

"Just... this is some heavy stuff," sighed Stelle, trying to calm down. No one said a thing until Welt broke the silence. 

"Whatever happens, we have to discuss this with Mark. Perhaps the time will come when he's freed from that weird substance." 

Yet, days went by, and he was still inside, even as the Luofu sent an invitation to the Astral Express. While Himeko and Welt were on their way to deal with the Leviathan fossils, the cube was left on the Luofu, where Bailu and Lingsha were trying to check up on him. Thus, the disasters began unfolding without Mark to meddle with them. Inside the cube, he knew, he felt, and most importantly... he was done. 


章節 87: Loss

*we're cooking in a new era, fr fr. I gotta see how I'm gonna go forward, cuz I got some shit to figure out first and then I'll probably cook the infamous 'My Readers Got Reincarnated Into My Fanfic and Screwed Up The Plot' mastermind plan (be quick to find that damned discord link in my webnovel bio and enter, seek the pinned messages at the bottom of the list in the 'talking for everyone' or whatever text channel and completing one of them character questionares really quick if you wish to be a part of it. For now tho, enjoy and have fun. Peace out and Deus Vult*

The cube rested on the ground, no signs of life coming from it. Lingsha had long since retreated from their attempts at understanding it. She had others pressing matters to attend to, and results from the samples they had collected would need a lot more time before arriving. Thus, it was little Bailu that was left alone to look over it, trying to find some sort of medicine that could help it. Just in case, she braced herself with some different pills and liquids that would be much needed should Mark come out of there in a state worse than the last one she's treated. 

"You just keep getting into trouble and ruining yourself. Why won't anyone take the doctor's advice for once?" 

She kept puffing and mumbling, angry at having to work too much in some cases, like that of Mark. Just when silence settled in, a loud crack erupted, tearing silence apart just like the hand reaching out tore the top of the cube. Slowly, Bailu watched, trembling with her back against the wall as the cube turned into a liquid mess, shaping itself and morphing. She didn't wait too long, choosing to instead bolt outside and scream at the top of her lungs that a monster was inside. 

"Monster, huh?" 

The low grumble was eerily calm, tired, lacking any traces of emotion. It was just a sound, not a tone, a mere murmur that sounded like words. The liquid from the cube fully merged itself with Mark, forming his new arm. It looked like the old one mostly, apart from the lighter tone it had, a slight difference he'd probably have to live with for a while. The thin scar that ran along his wrist was gone, the scratch now wiped from his being. Instead, his bare shoulder had a heart-shaped piece of metal embedded into it, the fragments from Himeko's sword one with him. 

It simply rested there, a thin layer that was forever part of him, a reminder of her lingering will and the burning, passionate feeling of her lips on his. He just stared blankly at it, the spark in his eye gone. He took a moment to walk around, feeling his body twist and turn. It was healed up, completely back to normal, safe for his arm that seemed to be a new addition. His muscles were a bit more pronounced, his bones feeling stronger than steel in his body. Above all, the feeling of the strange Abundance that had been a part of him for some time was strong—a little too strong, maybe. 

It moved with ease, following his orders, but the interesting part was that his hand could easily shape itself as he wanted it to. With a thought, it turned into a sword, solid as he tried to twist it with his other hand, fueled by the Stellaron's energy. His body was brand new, remade, improved, running better than ever before. Still, he could recall the events that had taken place around him. His biggest regret was that Acheron left and he was unable to talk with her. Privacy invaded, emotions torn apart, he simply gave up on trying. He would do it all himself. 

"Hoolay... on the large ship..." 

He stepped out, his tattered clothes showing off his stomach and back where he had been pierced. The gauntlet on his left arm was whole, covered in grime and his own blood, just like most of his clothing. The people around simply ran away from him, freezing upon meeting his lifeless gaze. With a simple stare, he looked up to the sky, wasting no more time. Lingering in his heart, beneath the betrayal, the pain of being left behind once more was nothing more than an insatiable desire to break something. 

"What better thing to break than an immortal creature?" he asked himself, whispering the words with a heavy breath. The second it left his lips, he took to the skies, the red flames propelling him with speeds that far outdid those of his in the last battle. 

What had just been released into the world was an emotionless mess, his coping mechanism kicking in to try and reduce the pain, trying to subdue the tears that threatened to leave his eyes. He silently decided to cast aside the need for companionship, focusing instead on his goal, which would remain unchanged no matter what—after all, it was one of the few things he held from his own world. 

"Lost humanity... my body is that of a monster... people died here, and I was unable to stop it, to prevent the disaster... I'm the reason they died... no, I'm not at fault... or am I? Who am I talking to? Why do I bother asking? Do they even care if I save them? Does anyone care? No, no one does. It's all about interest. I'm an outsider? What outsider? Me... I'm from the outside... I'm not of this world. It doesn't need me. No one saw the tears of the families, so are they even there? I know they died, but do I know they died? What if they didn't show it? Should I care? Why do I care? Of course I care, don't I? What am I at this point?" 

His mind was in utter disarray, a jumbled mess of scattered thoughts and shattered ideals. Acheron left, those on the Express didn't trust him. He knew it was a logical choice, but he wished for compassion. Why did he care at this point? 

"She left... they all leave in the end... why do I bother? It's use or be used... or is it? Why do I not believe it? I've seen it. Have I also seen the opposite? Sure, I have, but that doesn't change a thing." 

He could see the Skysplitter and Hoolay on top, with three tiny dots around it—March, Yanqing, and Yunli. The downed Cloud Knights were thrown around, scattered on the arena, as the three youngsters tried to fight the beast, its curved blade dancing in the air as it let out a bloodcurdling howl. The three around it took a second to look at the sky, watching the crimson-red falling star slam into the wolf's face with a battle-ready foot. 

The sound of bones breaking was muffled by Mark's crashing into the arena, leaving wide cracks in the ground. Hoolay's body was thrown to the side, rolling around before coming to a halt as the beast stood back up, the twisted skull visible as the bone showed. March smiled, eager, while Yunli was wondering about the unknown man's identity. Yanqing was glad, too, since his help would surely turn the tide. 

"Mark, you're fine! You're back here, ri-" 

March shrunk down in fear as Mark's cold gaze fell on her. He said nothing; his expression hardened, his jaw clenched. He told them nothing, choosing to simply step closer to Hoolay, who was fuming, enraged. 

The Stellarons were running at 45% in Mark's body, the load barely felt. It was merely him trying to actually make the battle interesting, to feel something other than his own self-pity and murky wailing. 

"You... who... no... what are you? Why do you smell familiar?" he growled, ready to swing the blade at Mark, aiming for a fast, clean strike. Mark simply slapped it away with his left palm, the metal clashing against his gauntlet, burying him in sparks as he grabbed Hoolay by the fur, slamming his jaw into the ground, stepping on his muzzle-like face cover, shattering it. 

"You're poisoned," he said dryly, reaching down to touch him with his bare hand. Golden sparks moved along his new arm, flowing into Hoolay, healing all of his wounds, from the skull Mark shattered to the poison inside of him. Jiaoqiu would be fine, so he decided to simply do it as he saw fit. 

"Who are you to be able to twist THEIR power and use it in this unclean form?" 

Mark said nothing, instead stepping back, watching as the large borisin stood back up, towering over him with ease. Blood-lusted eyes looked down at Mark, letting out a howl as it grew in size even more, his fur burning a cold, bloody red on the now black colored hair. Mark stood there, letting it use its Moon Rage transformation. 

"I'll make sure to offer you a cruel death for thinking yourself superio-" 

He couldn't finish speaking, feeling Mark's punch connect with his jaw, followed by a flurry of punches that kept coming over and over, while Mark propelled himself in the air to reach his foe's face and fight on the same level. 

Hoolay swung his sword at him, the glowing blade falling in from all sides, covered in a coat of fire like that on his fur, the energy fueled by pure, rabid rage. Mark kept dodging the strikes, moving flawlessly with no hesitation. Before, he would feel death linger around, brushing his shoulders, his face, touching his back with a cold, lifeless hand, but now... that touch was gone—and so was he. 

The strikes didn't seem to reach him, leaving cracks and cleave marks in the ground where he stood as he kept moving from side to side, stepping back, dodging, until he got bored of that and decided to take it seriously. With one flick of his wrist, he slammed the gauntlet into the sword, the damaged piece of armor crumbling to pieces. Still, the sword fell to the side, and Mark took the moment to simply gather energy in his fist, a nice 52%, which thundered into the borisin's mutt. 

The shock sent March stumbling back, while Yanqing and Yunli were struggling to keep their balance. Mark stood there, unphased, showing no emotion, like his features were frozen. Hoolay was once more buried in debris, yet the Moon Rage transformation burned higher, seeking more of him, turning what little sanity the beast had into strength. 

"YOU BASTARD!" 

He lunged at Mark once more, blitzing before his very eyes, sword held high. Mark just moved his right arm back, turning his fist into a large sledgehammer, and swung, powering it with a sudden burst of 53% energy, swinging up. 

Hoolay's sword spun time and time again up in the air, flying high to the very heavens. The borisin had the best view of it since his head was perfectly angled upwards, the sound of the broken neck lost in the burst of air that exploded with Mark's movement. The Moon Rage ended as the borisin forced his head back into position, staring down at the man—no, the creature that stood before him. The sword came spinning down, crashing right by Mark's side, who didn't even flinch. He grabbed the hilt, giving it a good twirl. 

"Nice toy you got, borisin. I'll keep it. I needed a new sword anyway." 

The beast prepared to scream, to use his Moon Rage once more, but Mark simply flicked his wrist. At once, Hoolay was covered in red crimson flames, burning alive. 

"Stay quiet, mutt..." growled Mark, his words hardly changing tone from that lifeless note of his. With another flick of his hand, the flames turned to ice, freezing him over before burning once more, switching between these two stages over and over until he chose to fully engulf him in flames, burning away his flesh as the smell of burned fur penetrated the air. 

"March, just what happened with Mark?" asked Yanqing, worried and a little frightened as choked shouts tried to erupt from Hoolay's scorched throat. 

March was silent, her breath ragged from fear and worries, recalling the scene with Phantylia. This time, however, Mark was in full control, and his cold behavior threw her off heavily. Her eyes teared up as she covered her mouth, swords on the ground by her side. Yunli was at her side at once, trying to comfort her. 

"March, speak with us. What's wrong?" 

Her own eyes moved to the lightshow, staring at the burning borisin as it tried to move, but burned muscles wouldn't listen. Thus, Mark kept burning and burning, staring at his own macabre show, the smell bringing a sense of smoldering peace that soothed his anger, locking it deep within. Thus, Mark stopped the Fire of Will from burning, staring at the steamy body. 

"Your heart should be preserved. Good... that's the cure for someone I know." 

His eyes moved slowly over his shoulder as his head turned back, looking at the three huddled warriors, staring at them with no emotions. 

"Mark, you... when did you get so strong?" asked Yanqing, trying to bite back his worry and act casual, but Mark could see the way his sword was held, ready. 

"Don't worry... I never attack my own, no matter what they do..." he said, looking straight at March as he put emphasis on those last two words. He knew, and he clearly didn't like it. 

March tried to speak up, her lips trembling, but the moment was interrupted as Mark brought his arm up, blocking a direct punch from none other than the Merlin's Claw. She went in for a series of punches and kicks, all of them fast like lightning, forcing Mark to leap away from the still steaming body. Hoolay's vocal cords were slowly regenerating, the growling sound almost proud. 

"...beast... a true beast..." 

Feixiao looked at his remains, watching in silence before looking over to Mark. 

"What is your business here?" 

Mark crossed his arms, speaking bluntly. 

"His heart. Take it. That's your cure, General... that cursed 'Crimson Moon'..." 

Her eyes narrowed the more she kept staring at him, almost reaching out to summon her weapons. Yanqing stepped closer to her, speaking calmly. 

"General, that's Mark, a member of the Astral Express. He came here and handled Hoolay, despite his approach being... perhaps fitting for what the borisin did, but..." 

No words were needed for that. Sure, he had done it once before; however, it was different. This time, he was fully aware of the things he did, simply healing his foe from the poison and a broken skull to further best him in combat and burn him, then freezing him over and over and over again. As if to send a message, Mark walked closer to the remains, grabbing an arm by the fizzling flesh and simply ripping it apart with a deadpan expression, listening to the borisin's growling. 

"That's enough," said Feixiao, looking back to Yunli, watching her comfort March. The sight is clearly too much for her to handle. Yinqing stepped forward, a mixture of emotions on his face. 

"What happened to you, Mark? You weren't like this last time. You were... nice, you joked, you smiled a little more, even if not often, and you just... just what is wrong with you? Did that cube or whatever mess with your head?" 

Mark sketched no emotion, simply looking down at the boy with empty eyes, speaking nothing. Feixiao moved Yanqing back, stepping up between them. She looked up at Mark, unimpressed by his display. 

"Mark, huh? From this young lad's words, I take it that you were a laid-back guy, but I guess something happened with you. Why don't we talk about it over some drinks? Nothing makes words roll out like alcohol." 

She smiled, being all friendly with him, extending a hand without hesitation. He just stared at it, his mind reminding him of how she had also swayed him a little during his gameplay, but in the current moment a single voice rang out in his head: "TRUST NO ONE!" 

He just stared at the hand and shook his head. Like a broken record, he spoke of what he cared about, looking at Hoolay once more. 

"Your cure... it's in him... will be a bit dangerous, but I'll hold you at bay. Just go for it; don't let his sacrifice be in vain..." 

Her lips pursed, the smile fading as her hand fell back by her side. She was serious, perhaps a little too much. Still, knowing that he's with the Express, she chose to believe that maybe the information came from the other members, avoiding scenarios that had him in cahoots with the enemy. 

"Fine. I understand what you mean. Are you sure you can handle me?" she cocked a smirk, smiling slyly. 

It was the perfect shot for Mark to hit one of his classic jokes, but he chose silence over it. The jokes died with him. 

"Just do it. I got things here." 

March still looked at him, wishing to just go hide away. His gaze didn't bother to meet hers, and yet he was aware of her looking. He just looked over to Hoolay before grabbing the borisin's blade. 

"I'm keeping this," he declared calmly, not even asking for permission or the like. It was his, and thus he swung at the now half-regenerated borisin's chest. 


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