Honkai Impact: The Dream Keeper

(In the previous episode, while Theresa was fighting the Herrscher alone, she was accidentally poisoned. At this critical moment, Long Qiao appeared and protected Theresa. However, Long Qiao was careless and was also poisoned. The two of them collapsed on the roadside and seemed to be picked up by a mysterious figure...)

"Ugh, ah, am I still alive? Where...where am I?" Theresa slowly opened her eyes and said. "Yo, Dean Theresa, you're awake! How are you feeling?" Long Qiao, who was lying nearby and already bandaged up, said. "Ugh, being poisoned is really awful, but my body is still a bit stronger than yours, Dean, hahaha."

"Huh? Qiao, what are you doing here...? Where is this?" Theresa asked. "Who knows? I only remember being on the motorcycle, trying to take you back, but I got poisoned too. We both passed out on the roadside, and when I lost consciousness, I saw a figure. Maybe it was her who brought us here... But, Headmaster, you were almost game over back then..." Long Qiao said after thinking for a moment. "Oh, I see. Well then, thank you in advance, Qiao..." Theresa thanked Long Qiao.

Just as the two were talking, a figure approached. "Your injuries haven't healed yet. Don't move around, or they'll reopen."

The newcomer, a girl with rabbit ears and long pink hair cascading down her back, dressed in a white shrine maiden's robe, approached carrying two bowls of medicine. "You've been poisoned by the Herrscher; you can't move around," the girl warned Theresa and Long Qiao. "Oh, I see. Um, may I ask who you are?" Theresa asked, struggling to sit up. "My name is Yae Sakura. Here, drink this medicine first; it'll make you feel better." Yae Sakura sat beside Theresa and fed her the medicine. "Uh... okay..."

"Yae Sakura... huh? Is she the person Kallen told me about in the virtual world that day? Heh, not a bad start." Long Qiao looked at Yae Sakura, who was being fed medicine, and muttered to himself while stroking his chin. Then he picked up the medicine and took a big gulp, thinking, "Pfft—cough cough, why is it so bitter?" "Because good medicine tastes bitter, and it also helps you recover faster." "...Never mind, I'll drink it..." Long Qiao pinched his nose and drank it all down.

"Damn, I knew it would be tough, but I didn't expect it to be this tough. It's so tough it's making me question the meaning of life..." Long Qiao turned to look in Theresa's direction. Theresa was currently asleep on Yae Sakura's lap.

"If I had arrived faster back then, the headmaster wouldn't be injured like this, right? Ultimately, it's because I wasn't strong enough! But... what was I like before? Why did I forget my past? Never mind... I don't want to think about it anymore, I'm going to lie down!" Long Qiao put his arm under his head and drifted into a semi-dormant state... However, while Long Qiao was dozing, tattoo-like patterns seemed to appear on his back and right arm. The pattern on his back was a dragon head, while the pattern on his right arm had two variations: one was... and the other was an orange shape...

"I advise you to give up. They've already been poisoned by the Herrscher and there's no saving them. Even if that man only had a small amount of poison, it has already spread throughout his body. They won't live much longer." A voice rang out beside Yae Sakura, followed by a black figure with nine tails, resembling a fox...

"Holy crap! What the hell is that? It's pitch black and looks like a fox..." Long Qiao suddenly sensed a very dark aura, turned her head to look at the creature, and muttered to herself...

"Why are you wasting your time saving them? Have you forgotten that you were once a ruthless demon after 500 years? Or is it because this woman carries the aura of Kallen Kaslana? Heh heh, don't fool yourself. That woman died hundreds of years ago. Humans can't live as long as we do! You're lonely, and now the only one who can stay with you is me!" the black fox said. "By the way, a new Herrscher has emerged nearby. We have to leave quickly, or we'll be attacked too. Besides, we were defeated by several people, and our power has already weakened considerably. If we're attacked by another Herrscher now, we're doomed! Let me break their necks and give them a quicker release! And this man, I have a feeling that eating him will make me stronger!"...

"Wow, this is a lot of information. Yae Sakura has actually lived this long? And there's a serial killer from 500 years ago... But why does eating me make her stronger? I'm not some tool to get stronger..." Long Qiao overheard their conversation and was stunned...

"Get out!" Yae Sakura suddenly shouted from her silence. The black fox vanished, and Yae Sakura fell silent again as she looked at Theresa, who was lying uncomfortably on her lap...

In a daze, Theresa reached out a hand to Yae Sakura. "Cough cough, I will... I will, I will protect you." In that instant, Yae Sakura seemed to see Kallen's shadow... but Theresa's hand no longer had the strength to lift...

"Hehehe, this woman is finally going to die. You don't need to waste any more time on her. Herrscher poison is incurable!" The black fox appeared again. "...No, there's another way," Yae Sakura suddenly spoke up after a brief silence.

"Huh? There's actually another way? Could it be... Dean Theresa's Stigmata is about to arrive?" Long Qiao, who was watching the drama unfold, muttered to herself.

"How could there possibly be a way? Only the Herrscher Core can suppress the Herrscher's poison! Are you insane?! If we give her our Herrscher Core, we'll disappear! Why would you do that?!" "Because she still has people she wants to protect..." Yae Sakura grasped Theresa's hand and vanished into the wind...

A short while later, Theresa slowly opened her eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. Looking at the cherry blossom she clutched in her hand, she fell into deep thought. Had the longing that had transcended 500 years reached her? A magatama-shaped pattern appeared on Theresa's back—this was Theresa's stigmata…

"Hey, Dean, you're finally awake..." Long Qiao, who had been slacking off, spoke up. "Dean, what's that pattern on your back?"

"Hmm? A pattern? I don't know," Theresa said after thinking for a moment.

"Huh? The headmaster doesn't know either?" Long Qiao said in surprise. "But why do I feel like your pattern is resonating with me?" "Huh? Is that so? It can resonate?" Theresa was confused.

Just as Long Qiao was staring at Theresa's back, one of the patterns on Long Qiao's body suddenly emitted a red light. Then, gray lines appeared on Long Qiao's face and slowly expanded, seemingly turning her into a monster. Suddenly, blue flames erupted from Long Qiao's body. "Ah!! What's going on... why did this happen?" Long Qiao shakily ran away, and in a short while, the patterns and blue flames on her body were completely healed, even her shirt had been burned away...

“Hey, Qiao…” Theresa suddenly spoke up, “What’s wrong?” “Why do you have patterns on your body?” “Huh? What do they look like?” “One is on your back and it’s a dragon head, and another one is on your right arm, but it’s branched out into two shapes. One is an orange, and the other is a question mark. What happened?”

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that the two patterns will make me stronger," Long Qiao said, touching the patterns on her right arm. "I'll rest for a while. Tomorrow is the final battle against that Herrscher of Mimicry..."

"Are these stigmata... exclusively mine? One looks like... well, isn't it? It's the icon that appears after Faiz defeats an enemy. The other one is the orange symbol that represents Gaim. But what is the other one? Heh, it's a completely new stigmata that doesn't belong to anyone. With these stigmata, I can even save time on transformation."

----split line----

(To find out more, please see the next episode.)