Honkai Star Rail: Corruption System

A cold arc, not quite a smile, traced the corner of Black Swan's lips.

"What utterly absurd logic. Is this the tribunal of the Masked Fools?"

"Revering barbaric power as the golden rule, wantonly distorting established rules."

"Is this what you call... law? If Penacony's courts were all like you, wouldn't it be utter chaos?"

Sparkle was completely unfazed by this, her laughter instead growing crisper, filled with a piercing glee.

"Rules? Law? What are those?"

"They're just shackles the boring adults put on the lower classes, toys for their own amusement."

"As for me, I'm only responsible for sowing seeds of joy, and... grand chaos."

She raised her wrist again, the strangely shaped bracelet on it glinting faintly.

"It seems the first warm-up act wasn't enough to get on your nerves."

"Then let's have something even more explosive! This is the second riddle I've prepared for you."

Black Swan nodded elegantly, the depths of her purple eyes unperturbed.

"Be my guest. I shall wait and see. However, can we perhaps omit the conviction phase this time? After all, no matter how I analyze it, to you... it seems to make no difference."

"You merely wish to convey some message to me through these two recordings."

Sparkle blinked slyly.

"Relax, I'm too lazy to play the same teasing trick twice in a short period."

She gently twisted the bracelet, and the beam of light once again precisely projected onto the graffiti-strewn, cold wall.

The scene was still that dim warehouse, exuding an aura of rust and despair.

However, the protagonist in the spotlight this time had changed to another petite young girl.

Silver hair disheveled, emerald eyes vacant and lifeless, an unnatural, vivid flush burning on her delicate cheeks.

Black Swan had an impression of her, having gotten mixed up with Daziel and Sparkle through a "blunder."

At this moment, she was firmly bound to a cold, hard metal operating table.

Her body, like a dying leaf in the wind, trembled and convulsed violently due to an unbearable, unspeakable, extreme sensation. From the depths of her throat, broken, sweet to the point of being heart-stopping, even twistedly bizarre, soft sounds escaped.

In the frame, Daziel's face was stern, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

His slender fingers, like the most precise steps of a death tango, landed accurately on her naked soul.

Every seemingly casual touch was like detonating a bomb buried deep within her nerve endings, unleashing a devastating sensory tsunami inside her.

The girl's screams were so shrill they were completely distorted, as if about to tear the viewer's eardrums, mixed with desperate sobs and ragged, on-the-verge-of-collapse gasps. Sweat poured out, instantly soaking her thin clothes and scattered hair, enveloping her entire being in a sticky, scalding, strangely sweet and fishy vapor.

Her senses were amplified by that invisible force to a terrifying realm beyond the limits of any living being's endurance.

Every faint current of air, every violent beat of her heart, even the subtle sound of rushing blood, transformed into unbearable, torture-like stabbing pain.

So-called pleasure, at this moment, had morphed into the cruelest, most thorough punishment.

Bit by bit, it crushed her soul, tore apart her will.

Finally, accompanied by a shrill scream that rose to its peak, so sharp it almost seemed to shatter the void.

The girl's body suddenly stiffened, as if violently pulled by an invisible colossal force. She convulsed violently a few times, the magnitude so great that even the metal shackles binding her emitted an overwhelmed, creaking "wail."

Then, her eyes suddenly rolled upwards, revealing large, unsettlingly ghastly whites. Her head drooped limply to one side, completely devoid of all sound and movement, like a broken doll from which the soul had been extracted after being played with too roughly.

Immediately after, an even more bizarre and eerie scene unfolded.

The girl's body, starting from her fingertips, began to rapidly turn into countless shimmering, faintly warm, golden Memoria particles, as if weathered by a thousand years.

These particles, like a swarm of fireflies on a summer night, slowly drifted and ascended in the dim warehouse, eventually dissolving into the heavy air.

Only the empty metal shackles remained, along with a dark, ambiguously wet stain on the operating table, silently narrating what had just transpired.

Black Swan's purple pupils, usually holding a languid smile, suddenly constricted to pinpricks.

Her fingertips unconsciously curled and tightened, sharp nails digging deeply into her soft palm, bringing a trivial stabbing pain that was far from enough to calm the storm raging in her heart.

"She... she's dead? And in this way?"

Her voice, for the first time, was tinged with a hard-to-believe, almost imperceptible tremor.

"In Penacony? This... how is this possible?!"

The core secret that The Family had painstakingly guarded, the very foundation upon which Penacony's Golden Dream relied—

That promise of eternal comfort and absolutely no true casualties, at this moment, was utterly shattered by the cruel and real footage before her eyes.

Sparkle admired the rare loss of composure on Black Swan's face as if watching a brilliant play, a sweet, satisfied smile blooming on her own.

"Heehee, surprised, aren't you? Feel like your whole worldview has been overturned?"

"Of course, death exists in Penacony. It's just been carefully hidden away by those sanctimonious members of The Family."

"And us? We just happened to find the... key to open that forbidden door."

She extended a slender finger, tapping the void in the image where Firefly's body had finally dissipated.

"She, ah, went to the dark underside of Penacony's glamorous dream, a place hidden beneath its bright surface—the Land of the Exiled."

"A... terminal station of death that exists only in conceptual definition."

Black Swan took a deep breath of the cold air, forcing her chaotic thoughts to return to calm.

A Memokeeper's powerful information processing ability made her brain race, trying to incorporate this subversive information into her existing cognitive framework, to clarify the intricate network of connections. Countless memory fragments flashed and reorganized rapidly in her mind.

"So... these two recordings..."

Her gaze suddenly became as sharp as a blade, piercing through layers of pretense, stabbing directly into Sparkle's mischievous, sparkling pink eyes.

"The first one, that 'Sunday' who committed violence against Miss Robin..."

"Was that you in disguise?"

"That person in charge of The Family, no matter how paranoid or controlling he might be, wouldn't go so far as to do something so... immoral and self-damaging to his own sister."

After all, Sparkle's ability to mimic to the point of being indistinguishable was already infamous throughout the cosmos.

She playfully blinked her sly, nimble pink eyes, the smile on her face becoming even more playful, tinged with the smugness of a successful prank.

"My, oh my, wouldn't it be boring if I just told you directly?"

"Take a guess~ There's a prize if you guess right~"

Black Swan's gaze subtly swept over Sparkle's petite and delicate figure, her tone carrying an almost imperceptible hint of inquiry and scrutiny.

"If it really was you, that imitation ability of yours..."

"Has indeed reached a frightening level."

"Even... to the point of perfectly simulating male physiological organs?"

This had almost surpassed the scope of mere shapeshifting and mimicry, delving into a deeper level of material construction.

Sparkle's body suddenly leaned forward, almost pressing against Black Swan's ear, her warm breath carrying a dangerous sweetness, caressing her sensitive skin.

"What? If I really can imitate perfectly..."

"Could it be that our erudite and beautiful Miss Memokeeper also wants to personally experience that forbidden taste?"

"You take the 'memory' you crave to explore, and I reap the 'joy' I tirelessly seek."

"We each get what we need, mutual benefit. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?"

"Tempted? Want to give it a try?"

Her voice was extremely low, full of enchanting magic, like the serpent in Eden whispering temptations to Eve.

Black Swan elegantly took half a step back, subtly increasing the overly ambiguous distance between them.

Her face once again wore that impeccable, perfect smile, as if the momentary loss of composure had never occurred.

"Thank you, but I must decline."

"I believe that was not your doing."

Her tone was firm, her purple eyes clear and bright, sparkling with wisdom.

"Although the imprint of that scene in your memory has been processed to be incredibly real and rich in detail."

"You even deliberately added many misleading emotional fluctuations, trying to confuse my perception."

"But what I read, in the deeper, earlier fragments of your consciousness, clearly shows."

"You have no predilection or motive for committing such acts against women."

"Your behavioral pattern leans more towards... creating chaos, fooling others, and prank-like provocations."

"This seems more like... the handiwork of someone close to you, and you were merely a gleeful recorder and accomplice."

The sweet smile on Sparkle's face stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment.

Then, she let out an exaggerated sigh, shrugging her shoulders helplessly.

"Tsk, so boring, not fun at all."

"As expected of a Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection. This little trick, indeed, couldn't fool your keen insight."

She pouted unwillingly, a hint of unfulfilled regret flashing in her pink eyes.

"Fine, fine, you guessed right! The perpetrator in that warehouse wasn't me in disguise."

"I don't have any particular predilection for women in that way."

"Although, Big Brother Daziel did use some interesting little tricks,"

She tapped her temple with her finger, "trying to interfere with and distort my memory through hypnosis and suggestion."

"He even made me believe for a while that it was my own masterpiece."

"But well, this level of mental suggestion is clearly not enough to fool a Pathstrider like you who plays with memories."

A flash of understanding flickered in Black Swan's eyes; she wasn't too surprised.

"Indeed... it's still related to that Trailblazer from the Astral Express."

"I... more or less... guessed some of it."

Daziel, that enigmatic man.

Although Black Swan herself hadn't focused her observation entirely on the Astral Express crew for too long, based on limited contact and information gathering, she had long been keenly aware—

Among that group of righteous, clear-purposed Nameless, this always composed, grey-haired young man was the most troublesome existence.

That man's memory seemed to be tightly encased in an indestructible, indescribable barrier.

No matter how she used the authority and skills bestowed by Fuli, she couldn't pry into even the slightest bit of its true interior, which made her instinctively wary and uneasy.

Black Swan adjusted her breathing, pulling her thoughts back to the present.

"So, Miss Robin, is she still in your hands now?"

Hearing this, the smile on Sparkle's face became sly again.

"Of course, she's very obedient now, as docile and obedient as a tamed little puppy."

"What, could it be that Miss Memokeeper also wants to personally experience the feeling of having her proud soul utterly trampled underfoot?"

Black Swan chuckled lightly and declined, "Let's skip that. Such things are not quite acceptable to me, even in a dream."

"What a pity then... Alright, let's get down to business, my dear Miss Memokeeper."

Changing the subject, Sparkle wiped all playful expression from her face, her unique pink pupils beginning to gleam with a sharp light.

"Our trump cards, you've already seen them with your own eyes."

"Penacony's deepest hidden truth of death, a secret sufficient to overturn the very foundation of the beautiful dream."

"And... the dark, diseased secrets of certain high-ranking members of The Family. The immense value and destructive power contained in these two videos, I believe, with your wisdom, I don't need to waste any more words, right?"

She slowly spread her hands, the smile on her face once again becoming dangerous and alluring, yet carrying an undeniable sense of pressure.

"Now, it's your turn to make a choice."

"Will you choose to join our interesting game, to share with us this all-subverting fun and secrets?"

"Or perhaps..."

Her gaze suddenly turned icy and cruel, making no effort to hide the strong threat within.

"End up like that pitiful chicken wing girl in the video just now..."

"And this silly girl who walked towards conceptual 'death' in extreme ecstasy..."

"In the exact same way?"

In the depths of the narrow, cramped alley, the light seemed to dim even further at this moment, shadows twisting and spreading like living things.

A silent, suffocating pressure permeated the air, as if even the wind had stopped flowing.

Black Swan stood quietly in place, allowing that pressure to surge towards her like a tide.

The delicate black veil on her face perfectly concealed all her expressions at this moment; no one could discern her true thoughts.

Black Swan's fingertips unconsciously brushed the silky edge of her shawl.

Black Swan stood silently, allowing the embarrassing afterimage of the footage to dissipate from her retina.

The foul air in the alley seemed to have taken on the decadent atmosphere from the video.

"Truly... an impressive performance."

Her voice was as soft as the night wind brushing against a spiderweb, carrying a hint of an imperceptible sigh, yet also a judgment that was calm to the extreme.

"Wielding death and taboos as weapons is indeed a shortcut to chaos."

"But merely with these, you want to shake the foundation The Family has built in Penacony over countless Amber Eras..."

She shook her head elegantly, her purple eyes beneath the veil reflecting Sparkle's slightly distorted smile, a result of unfulfilled expectations.

"I'm afraid that's far from enough."

The sweet smile on Sparkle's face visibly stiffened for a moment, like a balloon pricked by a needle.

Then, that stiffness was replaced by an even more exaggerated, more unrestrainedly wild smile, as if to completely cover up that momentary flaw.

"My, oh my, Miss Memokeeper is indeed well-informed. Your perspective is truly different!"

As if showing off her treasured toy, she deliberately shook the bracelet on her wrist that had just projected the horrifying images, the metal chain emitting a faint clinking sound.

"However, who told you that our trump cards... are only these?"

"We, ah, have many, many more secret weapons you can't even imagine!"

A nearly perfect arc graced Black Swan's lips, her tone still steady, yet carrying the composure of one who sees through everything, who understands all.

"Forget it, Miss Sparkle. I'm afraid a Memokeeper cannot help you with this."

She turned slightly to the side, her posture elegant, as if merely declining an unimportant invitation to a dance.

"You should seek help elsewhere."

Sparkle's unique pink eyes narrowed dangerously, the depths of her pupils flashing with the anger of being defied, like a little wildcat ready to unsheathe its claws at any moment.

"Refuse me?"

Her voice suddenly rose, carrying a sharp threat.

"You'd better think carefully about the consequences!"

The little bit of pathetic light at the alley entrance was mostly blocked by Sparkle's petite figure.

The shadow stretched and twisted behind her, completely enveloping Black Swan.

The air seemed to thicken, heavy with a sense of oppression.

"I don't think Miss Sparkle is acting alone."

Black Swan's words suddenly took a turn, her gaze seeming to pierce through Sparkle's disguise, stabbing at a deeper presence behind her.

"At least, behind you, there are others standing..."

"This has nothing to do with Big Brother Daziel, okay!"

Sparkle retorted almost immediately, a knee-jerk reaction, her voice unnaturally rushed and flustered.

"Although he... well, he is watching all this happen, but these! These are all my own ideas!"

"We need you, we need a Memokeeper's abilities!"

She emphasized, trying to pull the topic back under her control.

The faint smile on Black Swan's lips deepened, filled with an all-knowing understanding.

"No, I wasn't referring to Mr. Daziel."

Her voice slowed, like a lover's whisper, yet carrying an icy, penetrating power.

"I was talking about the one... who truly hired you, who made you step into this dreamland of Penacony."

"That playwright who always hides behind the stage curtains, thinking they can pull everyone's strings of fate."

As if struck by an invisible bolt of lightning, Sparkle's pupils suddenly constricted!

All smiles, all pretense, all deliberately crafted madness and mockery, completely vanished at this moment!

As if Black Swan's words had triggered some deliberately forgotten, deeply buried fear, a genuine, unconcealable panic flashed wildly in the depths of her eyes.

"..."

She subconsciously took half a step back, her heel hitting the cold, rough wall with a dull thud, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

"You actually... read memories up to this point?!"

Incredible horror seized her. "Clearly... clearly I already... dealt with them!"

"If there's anyone to blame, it can only be you, for not forgetting thoroughly enough."

The situation, in an instant, completely reversed.

Black Swan's body leaned forward slightly, elegantly closing the distance between them, her voice as soft as a dream whisper, yet carrying a heart-stopping power.

"The ocean of memories is far deeper, far vaster than you imagine."

"There are always some abandoned, washed-up fragments that will inadvertently drift ashore."

"Allowing me to glimpse... those tiny, insignificant, yet crucial clues hidden behind layers of mist."

She extended a long, slender finger, clad in a black lace glove, and gently tapped the SoulGlad-scented air.

As if truly touching those invisible, entangled threads of memory.

"Masked Fools... the tavern's card game was laid out a bit too grandly."

"Stellaron Hunters, the Nameless..."

"Now, you even want to weave our Garden of Recollection into your intricate, ambitious grand web?"

"One fish... you want to get three bites out of it?"

Her voice carried a hint of almost imperceptible mockery. "The fish in the sea may not all be to your liking, as you imagine."

The warning, like a cold, venomous snake, coiled around Sparkle's heart.

"Then what you mean is..."

Sparkle's voice turned ice-cold, each word seemingly quenched in deadly poison and killing intent.

"You intend to... completely refuse us? Such an unromantic woman. I rarely invite people to dance with me, you know."

An undisguised dangerous aura emanated from her, the madness and chaotic nature characteristic of the Masked Fools spreading like a tangible substance. The air in the alley seemed about to freeze solid.

"Memokeeper... do you truly believe you can leave here unscathed?"

The threat, naked, undisguised, like an unsheathed blade, glinted with a deadly cold light.

Yet Black Swan seemed oblivious to the threat right before her.

She merely sighed softly, and in that sigh, there was an indescribable pity.

"Why not?"

The moment her voice fell.

The already dim light in the alley seemed to undergo a bizarre distortion.

A strange, indescribable fluctuation permeated the air.

Like a stone thrown into a calm lake, it created layers of invisible ripples that rapidly spread out.

Sparkle's eyes suddenly became vacant, empty.

All animosity, calculation, and killing intent on her face, like a sand painting washed away by the tide, rapidly faded and disappeared.

She blinked in confusion, her pink pupils holding only the pure bewilderment and incomprehension of a newborn baby.

She looked around blankly at this dirty, graffiti-covered corner, as if stepping into this place for the first time.

"I... Who am I?"

She mumbled to herself, her voice carrying a faint tremor, laced with helplessness and panic.

"I... why... why am I here?"

Her fingertips unconsciously fiddled with the corner of her clothes, like a child lost in a strange place, unable to find her way home.

Black Swan watched her quietly, her face still wearing that expression of universal compassion.

As if observing a pitiable person trapped in a brief nightmare, deserving of sympathy.

"Alright, go now."

Her voice softened further, carrying a strange, reassuring, and soothing power.

"Go and... hmm, go and give your... Big Brother Daziel, a message."

"Just tell him, in the future, I will absolutely not secretly watch the people of the Astral Express anymore."

"The Nameless are magnanimous. Would they also raise their hands high in mercy and let go of me, a humble little Memokeeper from the Garden, please?"

Her tone was humble to the extreme, carrying just the right amount of fear and pleading, as if genuinely frightened out of her wits by the earlier threat.

"Daziel... Big Brother?"

Sparkle tilted her head, trying hard to think, her eyes full of pure confusion and bewilderment.

That name seemed completely foreign to her, like a word she had never heard before.

"Who... is that? It sounds so familiar, but I can't remember at all..."

The objective had been achieved.

Black Swan didn't linger for another moment.

She turned gracefully, the hem of her black dress tracing a smooth, elegant arc in the air.

The sound of high heels on the damp, dirty ground was crisp and regular, echoing in the deathly silent alley.

She was about to walk out of this narrow alley that was uncomfortable both physically and psychologically.

To return to Penacony's bizarre, intoxicating, dreamlike surface.

Just then.

A calm, low, yet undeniably powerful male voice, as if capable of freezing the air.

Sounded at the alley entrance without any warning.

Like cold water thrown into boiling oil, it instantly shattered this brief, false peace.

Clearly, incomparably, it reached the ears of the two people in the alley.

"Miss Black Swan, please wait."

_

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