Honkai Impact: I, The Herrscher of Ice, Am Loved By Players

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Shortly thereafter, the talented artist shared a rough sketch and later posted a time-lapse video of the complete illustration process—of course, with some censoring due to obvious reasons.

However, as proven many times before, censorship often makes things even more suggestive. In no time, search keywords on Baidu were flooded with "Ana fanart," further boosting Ana's popularity.

Fortunately, Ana herself remained unaware of this situation; otherwise, she might have been furious. With all my virtues as a saintess, you only focus on appearances and create such content? Wait, give me a copy too, dammit!

Then came Version 1.6, which sparked a frenzy among Ana's fans. In this update, her initial A-rank armor—Valkyrie Snow Grace finally made its debut.

"Schicksal Snow Lotus Squad Vice-Captain, Ana, arriving for support!"

The chosen appearance for this initial A-rank armor was from Ana during the Manila Honkai period. Consequently, her weapon wasn't set as a riding lance but rather continued with dual pistols, possibly indicating that the developers hadn't yet finalized the lance mechanics.

Valkyrie Snow Grace is a biological-type character, focused on physical damage output and assistance. Upon exiting combat, she provides a shield to the active character, capable of blocking one instance of damage. Switching characters or breaking the shield deals enemy debuffs and minor physical armor penetration benefits.

When activating her ultimate skill, it consumes her health to restore energy for off-field units while inflicting bleeding damage on the current target. This damage effect triples against shields and simultaneously clears all negative effects from allied characters.

Her QTE entry briefly freezes enemy units, and there's a chance for her standard attacks to inflict freezing as well.

In essence, Valkyrie Snow Grace serves as an alternative to Divine Prayer. By sacrificing healing for a blood-burning mechanism, she offers higher physical damage buffs, improved shield-breaking capabilities, and simultaneous team-wide energy recharge.

However, what truly matters most is her ability to recharge the entire team's energy, serving as a portable power bank. Originally, this skill mechanic wouldn't appear until much later with Pardo, but Ana gets to experience it ahead of time.

Of course, the energy replenishment duration has been reduced to five seconds, coupled with the blood-burning penalty, which can be seen as a balancing measure. According to reviews from experienced players, the bleeding effect is relatively insignificant.

Naturally, at rank S3, she still holds potential as a physical DPS character. In the early stages of Honkai Impact 3, where options were limited, Ana was practically an invincible support character.

The only drawback lies in survival capabilities; compared to Yae Momo's shield, hers feels more fragile. However, its ability to withstand one effective attack is noteworthy. Additionally, some minor skills offer SP recovery and impose negative control effects on enemies.

As for her basic attack module, it closely resembles Kiana's Ranger armor.

But these details aren't the main focus. The key point is that this armor represents Ana during her time in Manila, where her attire is noticeably lighter compared to other Valkyrie armors.

Moreover, in the bridge dialogue, Ana mentions upcoming Valkyries not yet released, including Rita and Durandal, hinting at their future inclusion. This further fuels player anticipation for these officially teased characters.

In terms of personality, when her affection points were low, Ana's dialogue and demeanor portrayed a gentle elegance. However, as her affinity increased, she displayed a contrasting playfulness.

"As an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal and a warrior of the House of Schariac, Ana steadfastly adheres to her ancestral duty: protecting the people. She is truly a commendable Valkyrie!"

This was the official description provided for her character.

With these features, the armor swiftly garnered unanimous praise from players, simultaneously skyrocketing Ana's popularity to match that of the Main trio.

After all, who could resist a Valkyrie dressed provocatively, with a soothing voice and a penchant for playful teasing? Her charming girlfriend vibe differed significantly from Kiana's energetic nature and Raiden Mei's pure gentleness.

Unaware of these changes to the game outside her world, Ana only knew that with version 1.9's release, Chapter Six of the main storyline concluded just days ago, seemingly in the blink of an eye.

Indeed, before long, that day arrived.

"Kiana? What are you doing here?"

Within the Central Cathedral's digital space, Theresa, who was searching for information on Bronya's treatment, suddenly spotted Kiana nearby and her expression instantly shifted.

This area is highly restricted within Schicksal; under no circumstances should Kiana be allowed access. Moreover, how did she even get in? In theory, numerous permissions are required to enter.

Little did Theresa realize, it was her own carelessness—failing to notice Kiana tailing her and neglecting to close doors—that enabled Kiana to reach this place.

However, even if Theresa had known, the Valkyries of Schicksal waiting here would have followed Otto's instructions to let Kiana through regardless.

"Theresa? Ha ha ha, you're back later than I expected."

At this moment, Kiana was still immersed in her dream, unaware that the Theresa before her wasn't the one from the files but the real person herself. Feeling rather proud, she declared:

"The Second Herrscher has been taken care of by me and Lady Cecilia."

Instantly, Theresa felt a chill run down her spine, sensing impending doom. In this digital space, where could there possibly be a Cecilia or even a Second Herrscher? The Second Herrscher is none other than...

"What are you talking about, Kiana? There's...no one else here?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Lady Cecilia is right beside m..." Kiana trailed off.

Instinctively, she glanced to her side only to find it completely empty. The snowy landscape had vanished, revealing the true nature of their surroundings as a data space.

"Huh?! Mom..."

Kiana reached out, frozen on the spot. Could everything she just experienced have been a lie? It seemed utterly absurd; Kiana felt her world crumbling around her.

"How did you sneak into this data space?"

"Come with me quickly; everything here is..."

Theresa reached out to Kiana, intending to take her away from this place. The ominous feeling in her heart grew stronger, as if something terrible was about to happen.

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke appeared, obscuring Theresa's view. Amidst the haze, a figure swiftly moved, instantly overpowering and restraining her. Through the smoky veil, only strands of golden hair were visible...