Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

”Dang it... this is too boring!”

Guinaifen roughly grabbed her own head, groaning in distraught as her ears were assaulted by a metallic scratching noise. Her phone was attached to a tripod, the flash glowing in order to unveil the darkness. Otherwise, her viewers would simply be watching a dark screen.

Instead, they were forced to watch as the Ghost-Hunting Squad — named by Guinaifen herself — was forced to sit around in a dark hallway and wait for the Heliobus to be subdued. That was, in no way, good for viewership!

”If it’s between boredom and having to deal with a ghost—”

”They’re called Heliobi...”

”—Then I’d rather be bored forever.”

Sushang’s statement was interrupted by Huohuo’s weak corrections. The crunching of metal drowned them both out, however... as well as the rumbling of the buillding.

In the end, Guinaifen ignored them both. She had to think fast, otherwise she’ll get accused of clickbait.

’Alright, Guinevere. How could I possibly keep my fans from clicking off?’

The ghost was off limits, it seemed. Sunny had sent out his frightening steed — a damn Ascended Terror, at that! — to hunt down the Heliobus. She had no idea what it was meant to do, but considering the unnatural surge in fear when she saw that thing, perhaps it was going to use a mind attack to subdue it.

Whatever the case was, she wanted to stay as far as possible from that horse.

Other than that, though, she didn’t have many ideas. She sent a furtive glance towards her phone... then, she sent another glance. Then, her eyes widened as a lightbulb went off in her head.

The title of the stream! ”Hunting ghosts in the Xianzhou Luofu ft. Starkiller.”

A feature! She had a feature... and one that people knew surprisingly little about!

It was a prime opportunity! She turned towards Sunny and whispered.

”Hey, hey, Starkiller!”

Sunny had been chewing on something when Guinaifen called out to him. He stared at her for a moment, before suddenly—

He spat something out, which rocketed past her head at immense speeds. Guinaifen froze for a long while, before slowly turning her pale, still face.

In the wall behind her, a flattened, teeth marked soda can was imbedded into the wall.

”What do you want?”

Guinaifen’s eye twitched.

’...Was this guy chewing... a soda can?’

That explained the grating metallic noise from earlier. A shaky laugh escaped her lips as she turned towards Sunny, repeating her father’s words as if they could solve anything:

’The more eccentric the Awakened, the more dangerous they were... right?’

”Interview segment... how about it?”

***

”...What?”

An interview? He didn’t want anything to do with that. Publicity wasn’t something he desired, nor needed. Honestly, he really wanted to just stay lowkey, but when [Sunny] decided to become both the Starkiller and Mongrel at the same time, Sunny could do nothing but sit back and accept that he was famous... twice over, even.

There was a difference between being famous over feats and exposing himself personally, however. He had too many secrets to hide, and no foolproof way to do so, since he couldn’t lie. It was quite the predicament...

Well, not really. He could just say no. That was what he planned to do, until...

”Ha! An interview? With that pipsqueak?”

Tail darkly chuckled.

”Tough luck. That kid can’t spout a single believable sentence! What was it? I once killed a Great Devil? He wasn’t even an Awakened back then!”

Huohuo nervously laughed.

”Come on, Mister Tail. There’s no way he still does that... right? I mean, he’s older now — not that you’re old or anything!”

Somehow, she seemed to put the fear of calling out ages into herself. What a magnificent Flaw... assuming that was what it was. Sunny doubted that kind of universal dread was natural.

’...Huh.’

Right... Huohuo was supposedly a part of his cohort in the Forgotten Shore, all those years ago. And since Tail was also seemed to have known him, then that means that the Heliobus was there, too.

’...Oh?’

Sunny was feeling a little mischievous. Putting on an innocent smile, he turned towards Huohuo.

”Do what? Tell the truth? Don’t you know that I’m the most honest man in the world? Two worlds, at that.”

Ignoring Huohuo’s expression of pure disbelief, he looked back at Guinaifen.

”Fine, then. Interview segment it is!”

***

”...”

Two figures were standing within an empty bedroom, both of them seemingly devoid of life. Before them, a video was playing while a chat scrolled down to the side.

The first figure was an inhumanly tall knight. His armor was forged of silver and gold, with faint hints of emerald hidden between the plating. Every joint seemed sharply molded for one purpose and one purpose only — murder. The armor itself didn’t seem ancient or archaic, but a materialization of humanity’s modernity.

In other words, a mechanized suit of armor.

A tall woman stood besides him, staring at the screen listlessly. Silver hair brushed against flawless alabaster skin, cold, yet incinerating silver eyes slowly burning with pale flame.

On the screen, there was the face of a gorgeous young man with skin that seemed to be sculpted from marble, so pale that he looked grey. His eyes were darker than the abyss, and his hair was like a tenebrous shroud. He had a self-assured grin on his face as he ranted:

”I once experienced the divine punishment of a God, didn’t you know? As you can see, I’m still alive... though, I did get a few third-degree burns from the experience.”

”My skincare routine? Well, first, you need to acquire the enchanted armor of a mythical being who rules over Destiny. Then, you have to defeat about six thousand opponents. Oh, but I had a discount. For the rest of you, it would probably be about... twenty-one thousand? No biggie, right?”

”Have you ever had a Lord Ravager take you into their mouth? I wouldn’t recommend it... unless you’re trying to rearrange her guts. I really split her in half, if you know what I mean.”

”This really pretty woman once ripped out my heart. Literally. As in, she stuck her hand into my chest to pull it out of my body. Luckily, I had a spare.”

”I have the power to make people black. Don’t ask.”

”When I’m lonely, I like to talk to my rock. Or my statue. Or my shadow. He has some very interesting opinions, right buddy?”

”I once mounted a Saint, and bit her neck. She was actually my friend’s mom. I still have the scratches on my back, actually.

”I rode a dragon before. A few moments later, I ended up in the mouth of the Lord Ravager I mentioned earlier.”

”I got a sex doll as a gift, which happened to look identical to the giver. What does this mean?”

”I’m going to be put into a looksmaxxing edit? No idea what that means.”

”How much do I weigh? Weird question. I weigh as much as I want.”

”Gay? Emo? Broke?! Bitch, say I’m broke again! I dare you!”

The massive knight lingered for a moment, before typing something into the keyboard. Then, he clicked enter.

TheStrongestBug: ”I’ll pay you my life savings if you take off just the shirt.”

The woman besides him suddenly raised a brow, turning towards the knight with an almost emotionless expression. The knight gazed back, his glowing emerald visor glowing as if in challenge.

On the screen, Sunny paused, an incredulous expression rising on his face.

”Huh? What? Why? Are you crazy, or something? It’s not like I’m getting paid for this, anyways. It’s all for my own amusement.”

Behind the camera, Guinaifen excitedly pushed:

”Wait, wait, now you need to do it! I’ll send you the money, so take if off!

”What am I, a prostitute?! Oh, right...”

Sunny sent a glare at the camera, hands twitching as he slipped off his denim jacket, which had dark clouds inked into them. As he dropped his hands to the hem of his black shirt, he snarled.

”Pervert.”

Then, he lifted it up.

The knight raised his fist in utter glee, drinking in the heavenly — or perhaps, Daemonic sight.

The woman besides simply stared at the knight, emptily blinking... almost in disappointment.

”Firefly...?”

Firefly paused, craning her head far below her own. Silver Wolf had her eyes glued to the screen, somehow appearing out of nowhere.

...After a few awkward moments, she spoke, her armor modulating it into something smooth, husky, and suave — distinctly masculine.

”...This isn’t what it looks like.”

Silver Wolf didn’t remove her eyes from the screen, instead lunging forward and pressing something on the keyboard.

”Clipped. Want me to send it to you?”

”...Yeah.”