Fate’s Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Dan Heng's eyes widened as the ground violently trembled beneath him. Some vagrants fell to the ground due to the shaking, while he was only able to stay on his feet due to his superhuman nature. In the distance, a whirlwind of snow rose into the air, intense gales blowing in all directions.

Staring at the dense hurricane of snow in confusion, Dan Heng realized something.

'…Isn't that Svarog's base?'

His eyes darted around, locating Bronya and Seele. Sunny, March, and Sampo were missing. Those three just so happened to be the most problematic of them all.

***

Saint's knees buckled as she blocked an iron fist with her shield. The shockwave caused a storm of snow, blowing both Sunny and March away. The two of them rolled across the yard in Svarog's base, being completely cleared from the point of battle.

Having been augmented by three shadows, Saint's strength had become the equivalent of four Ascended Demons. Despite that, Svarog's opening blow was powerful enough to almost make her kneel.

Sunny immediately got back up, sparks coalescing in his hands. The Everwinter Night appeared in his hands before being thrown to the stone knight immediately. Saint didn't turn back, simply raising one of her armored hands as she casually caught the Memory. She attached it to her armor, enhancing the charms effects.

The cold in the area strengthened her to an even greater degree. Staring down Svarog, she hit her sword against her shield in a taunting manner, provoking him to make the first move.

Of course, as a robot, Svarog didn't have the capacity to be provoked. However, he complied with her request, raising his arm as a beam of energy rushed towards her. She gracefully stepped to the side, the attack being easily telegraphed.

Once the beam made contact with the ground, the snow around it instantly melted. Multiple meters that had built up for centuries was evaporated in less than a fraction of that time. Instead of a mere scorch mark, a deep wound was inflicted on the ground.

A large chunk of the earth beneath the snow simply… ceased to exist. There was now an infinitely deep tunnel in the midst of the Underworld.

However, Sunny and March barely saw the exchange occur.

'…Is he powered by Transcendent Soul Shards?'

That was the only way that he could see Svarog's movements being so quick. While raising one's Rank was a qualitative change, raising the Class is a quantitative change. While a Fallen Titan may have more Essence, a single drop of a Corrupted Beast's Soul Essence was a dozen times more potent. The only advantage that the former would have was increased intelligence, as well as Devil, Tyrant, and Terror abilities, and the comprehensive boost of being a Titan.

If they were facing a mere Transcendent Beast, then Saint would have certainly had a slight advantage. After all, the augmentations she was being provided with were extremely powerful. If they were facing a Transcendent Tyrant or higher, then Sunny was sure that Saint wouldn't be able to withstand even a single attack.

As such, Sunny assumed that she was facing a Transcendent Monster. Maybe even a Demon.

As an automaton, Svarog didn't have the bonuses that came with an increase in class. After all, he was being fueled by a Soul Shard — a minuscule portion of a Soul Core that is gained from slain Nightmare Creatures. As such, he would not be able to constantly unleash devestating attacks.

The initial punch must have been a move designed to end things quickly. Not only that, but the energy beam must have drained him of a fair amount of energy.

This was the weakness that Sunny had discovered. They could be easily dealt with by tearing out their Soul Shards, causing them to immediately lose their main source of power. However, such a maneuver was extremely difficult when it came to fighting the stronger automatons. This meant that the best way to defeat them was to utilize the main difference between being Soul Cores and Soul Shards — fuel.

When Dan Heng used his lightning to attack the automaton with the physical might of a Fallen Tyrant, he was able to damage the wires, separating the robot's system from the power source. However, Sunny suspected that even if the wires connecting to the compartment that held the Soul Shards wasn't damaged, the robot would have run out of Soul Essence as it attempted to rapidly heal the damage it was being constantly dealt with.

That automaton had five Ascended Soul Shards, and was completely designed to be a physical fighter. However, Svarog had shown that he was able to fire a beam of energy. Sunny didn't believe that this was his only function. This meant that as long as Saint wasn't destroyed in the process, they simply needed to drag out the fight until Svarog ran out of energy. Assuming that he could also regenerate, his energy would need to be split between using his toolset while repairing himself.

If Svarog couldn't repair itself… then this fight might end sooner than Sunny expected. At this point, he wasn't too sure if that ability was a part of Clara's Aspect or a strange addition to the robot's functions.

Of course, this would all become irrelevant as long as Clara controls Svarog to stop.

Scanning the area, Sunny found that he couldn't locate the Transcendent girl.

"Mr. Sunny?"

Jumping in fright, he fell over March. The pink-haired girl groaned, cursing him out under her breath as he extricated himself from the ground. He glanced at Saint and Svarog — finding them to simply stare at eachother — before looking down at Clara.

"Hey there, Clara. Before anything else, could you get Svarog to stop?"

In all honesty, he doubted that Saint could last long against a being with the might of a Transcendent Demon. Even if they held the advantage when it came to Soul Essence reserves, a single blow from Svarog might be enough to destroy the taciturn knight.

Clara suddenly looked away, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"M—My powers don't let me control the robots… sorry."

Sunny blanked.

"…Seriously?"

She simply nodded, refusing to make eye contact.

…What kind of Aspect even did that? Sunny imagined not being able to control his shadows, the three defects running around to do whatever they wanted. Knowing them, they wouldn't ever bother to scout or augment him!

'Wait, no. Even if she can't directly control them, her words obviously carry great weight among them, right?'

Clara was the only person Svarog listened to, so Sunny made sure to think deeply about the best manner of preventing the situation from escalating.

With a sigh, Sunny put on a serious expression. He placed his hands on Clara's shoulders, causing her to look up at him in confusion.

"Listen, Clara. I understand that this may be too much for a kid like you…"

'A kid who isn't a Transcendent.'

"But there are countless lives at stake. I'm sure that the both of us don't want the people in the Settlement to die…"

'That would be hard to explain to Natasha.'

"Right now, Saint is bravely trying to keep him in check. Just like how Svarog is like family to you, Saint is also important to me…"

'A very valuable weapon.'

For some reason, he felt someone glare at him from the distance.

"So… please find a way to stop Svarog. Nothing good would come out of a fight."

March looked up at him from her position on the floor in astonishment. She would have stood up by now, but Sunny's was standing on her back. Strangely enough, it felt like a massage.

So, she simply laid in the snow.

On the other hand, stood still for a moment, comprehending Sunny's words. After a few moments, she slowly nodded.

"Okay."

The air suddenly shifted.

Sunny unconsciously tensed up, feeling a sharp pressure appear. It wasn't against him, but it simply… existed.

Clara turned away, facing Svarog and Saint. Her mouth parted, three words exiting as the air started to feel like it was filled with gaseous steel.

"Svarog. Please stop."

The single-eyed robot turned in Clara's direction. He didn't respond, simply staring at the girl.

She smiled.

"Mr. Svarog, you said you were willing to make all my wishes come true, right? My biggest wish right now is for everyone to work together. Like... like family."

Sunny couldn't help but cough in embarrassment. He heard a few grunts below him, but… it was probably nothing.

"Calculation results can't always bring people happiness. Even if the world outside the cage isn't beautiful... people still want to know what it's like."

…Clara seemed quite skilled in the art of giving out speeches. Nothing that a supposedly meek child should be able to do.

Svarog's glowing, pink eye flickered.

"Assessment system reset... successful. Processing variables... Variable 1: Clara's request... Variable 2: Outsiders' intentions... Updated assessment result: Transference of decision-making authority to outsiders. Outsiders are granted access to Stellaron intelligence."

'Huh? That was… pretty easy.'

Suddenly, a voice wheezed from under him.

"We… we did it?"

Sunny blinked. Somehow, he had been standing on March the whole time.