Chapter 116: Progress and Mission
Facing her five beloved students, Theresa naturally arranged for her "good" niece to take the lead.
It was still the simple domain outfit, but this time, Kiana no longer used the greatsword she used when she first entered school but instead used dual guns to fight.
——She was not that good at using a greatsword, and dual guns were the best choice for the Kaslana clan.
The reason why she initially chose a broadsword as a weapon was, on the one hand, because it was difficult to use firearms in actual combat training, and on the other hand, she somewhat missed her old dad.
Well, although, the greatsword and dual guns are actually her usual weapons.
Now the opponent she is facing is a former S-class Valkyrie. Kiana doesn't need to worry about the possibility of harming her aunt. Rather, it would be surprising and exciting enough if she could cause effective damage to Theresa.
The so-called Kaslana gun fighting technique is essentially a very powerful set of fighting techniques and shooting skills, but her father did not teach her gun fighting techniques completely before parting with her, so Kiana can only rely on her own understanding to barely make up for the deficiencies.
"Kaslana's gun fighting skills... well, to be honest, I'm not very proficient."
The petite white-haired girl dodged Kiana's attacks with ease and even had the leisure to give her comments immediately after dodging.
"Your attack was disorganized. Although it seemed to be working, it actually had no effect at all."
There is neither improvement nor understanding, it can only be said to be specious.
"Your stinky dad is more than just a mediocre one."
Smiling, Theresa seized the opportunity when Kiana moved, quickly approached her and gave her the world's cutest head blast, knocking the girl to the ground easily.
"Woo woo…"
Kiana sat up and covered the place where she was hit on the head.
This time, it seemed that Theresa was not forced to use the Oath of Judah to fight, and she was easily defeated by her in close combat.
Theresa stood in front of Kiana, with her hands on her hips, and said with some regret:
"I lasted two minutes this time. I made some progress, but only a little."
To be honest, considering Kiana's talent...it shouldn't be just this much progress.
She is the daughter of Cecilia and Siegfried, and she has always shown great talent.
'Oh, was it because I was too indulgent towards her before...?'
While thinking this, Theresa asked her niece to go down from the training ground and let Bronya come to the battlefield.
"...Principal, please give me your guidance."
The silver-haired girl didn't say much, she just bent down, and the Project Bunny appeared behind her. Then, she shot out like a bullet and rushed towards Theresa quickly.
Her advantage is the ability to coordinate combat with giant mechas, which enables her to use a variety of tactics.
It can rely on the firepower of the Project Bunny for long-range suppression, and can also engage in two-on-one close combat with the bunny simultaneously.
Perhaps because of her past experience as a young soldier, Bronya has never fallen behind in training and is quite strict with herself, second only to Kirataka.
However, she does not have much talent in controlling Honkai energy.
Therefore, the level of improvement shown is roughly the same as Kiana.
Similarly, two minutes later, the girl was defeated by Theresa.
Although her talent in manipulating Honkai energy is not outstanding, but...
For Bronya, who relies on mechas for combat, there are more convenient and quicker ways to improve her combat effectiveness, such as strengthening the armament of the Project Bunny.
Theresa thought carefully for a moment and said:
"Bronya, if you're willing, I can have the engineering department help you upgrade the weapon system of the Project Rabbit later."
"...Thank you, Principal."
The silver-haired girl said silently.
…
"Seele, it's your turn."
"Okay, okay."
After Bronya, the girl came to the battlefield in a panic.
Everyone has their own favorite weapon. Mei uses a katana, Bronya uses a heavily armed bunny, Kiana uses dual guns, and she, of course, uses a sickle.
A huge sickle, completely different from her petite figure, appeared in the girl's hands. She barely held the dark blue sickle with both hands and dragged it in front of Theresa.
"A sickle..."
Theresa said with some surprise:
"To be honest, there are not many people who would choose such a large weapon as a weapon."
Weapons that are too large are actually not very suitable for the petite bodies of most Valkyries.
Although it's not that there aren't any, but in her impression, the only one who can use such a huge weapon as a sickle with ease is Rita.
The white-haired girl waved at Seele and said:
"Come on, Seele, let me see your level."
"Okay…Okay!"
Seele nervously clenched the sickle in her hand, took a deep breath, and quickly dragged the sickle towards Theresa.
——And the result was naturally no surprise. Within twenty seconds, she was defeated by Theresa.
She really wasn't that good at fighting.
"To be honest, it's a bit difficult for you to use a sickle."
The speed of defeating Seele was a little too fast. Her skills in using the sickle were obviously not very proficient.
Theresa commented:
"According to Seele's current level, you are probably about the same level as Bronya and the others when they first entered school, a B-rank Valkyrie."
As for Kiana and Bronya today, they have definitely made progress, but they are still a little short of becoming A-rank Valkyries.
And now it's just actual combat training. If you want to truly improve the level of the Valkyrie, you have to wait until the Valkyrie level test in a while.
"Well, I haven't seen Rita much since the outbreak of Nagazora City. When she comes to Saint Freya next time, you can ask her to teach you how to use the sickle."
Theresa said.
Well, the maid had taken care of her for quite some time, and although it was a little difficult to deal with her in some aspects, she would probably be happy to teach other Valkyries.
"Okay…Okay."
Seele was pulled up from the ground by her and returned to the spectator seat.
If another personality inside Seele came out, the result might be very different.
But at this stage, Seele's other self does not want to appear in the outside world unless necessary, and the fewer people know about her existence, the better.
…
The next two people are the highlight.
The previous three people were unable to make Theresa use the power of the Divine Key, and she was easily defeated simply by relying on the physical qualities of the S-class Valkyrie.
But as for Mei and Kirataka, it cannot be dealt with so easily.
While Theresa was thinking, she looked at Mei who had already arrived at the training ground.
The purple-haired girl still chose the katana as her weapon - apart from this weapon, she had no intention of using any other weapons.
Theresa asked:
"Mei, how much of the Herrscher's power can you use now?"
As the host of the Herrscher of Thunder, there is a power in her body that can destroy a city or even more areas.
Researchers from the Far East branch had strongly requested that a bomb that could detect Honkai energy be implanted in her body to prevent her from becoming a Herrscher again, but she ultimately did not adopt this plan and instead gave Mei enough freedom.
At least, from the time Mei entered school until now, she has not carried out any destruction as the Herrscher of Thunder, so the opinions of that group of researchers were suppressed by her.
But if that's all, it's not enough.
The goal for the future is to allow the power of the Herrscher to be used by humanity.
Both she and her grandfather Otto are exploring this aspect.
——Over the past decade, Otto has been recruiting various Valkyries with the potential to conduct fusion experiments with the Herrscher Gem, hoping that they can master the power of the Herrscher with the body of a Valkyrie.
And if it succeeds, Schicksal will be able to have many more S-class Valkyries out of thin air, or even surpass the combat power of S-class Valkyries, which will be of considerable benefit to the cause of fighting against Honkai.
Therefore, a few years ago, she recommended her most proud student Wendy to participate in the Desire Gem implantation experiment.
However, Wendy was unable to control the power of the Desire Gem, and the crystallization caused her legs to become paralyzed. Currently, she can only be cared for as a patient in the Oceania branch.
So far, no Valkyrie within Schicksal has been able to successfully merge with the Herrscher core.
Of course, Otto has not given up exploring this area, but after Theresa took Mei in, she hoped that she could control her own Herrscher power.
A natural Herrscher, eliminating the need to attempt fusion with the Herrscher core.
"…I can now control it a little bit."
Mei said this as she got into position.
Perhaps because she was inspired by Kirataka, she had been training to coordinate with her Herrscher personality and mobilize the power of the Herrscher to fight.
Although not all of it, she can now mobilize a small part of the power of the Herrscher of Thunder on her own.
Roaring lightning wrapped around the girl's body. At the same time, the sky seemed to darken, and dark clouds gathered over the sky above St. Freya Academy.
This is the vision that the power of the Herrscher can trigger, instinctively creating a favorable combat environment for oneself.
Facing Mei's rising momentum, Theresa's expression was no longer as relaxed as before, but rather much more solemn.
She turned around and took out a spiritual spear from the unfolded cross, ready for battle.
"Bring it on."
…
Although Mei had made great progress, she was ultimately defeated by Theresa who activated the Oath of Judah.
The golden chains wrapped around the girl's delicate body, and the [Binding] attached to them made Mei feel weak all over and unable to use any strength.
The Divine Key against Honkai Attack is still very effective even against Mei who has activated some of her Herrscher's power.
The family swordsmanship that she has practiced since childhood, coupled with the improvement brought by a small amount of Herrscher power, has made Mei more than just a B-class Valkyrie.
At least it is already at the A-level... Of course, if she were to fully unleash the power of the Herrscher of Thunder, even the S-level wouldn't be enough.
But at this stage, relying solely on herself, Mei can only reach this level.
Next, without even a moment of mourning for Mei's defeat, the next person to arrive at the battlefield was - Kirataka!
"Kirataka, I was the one who saved you from entering the academy despite all the opposition, so please don't let me down."
Looking at Kirataka with nothing in his hand, the white-haired girl thought for a moment and simply put the spirit spear back into the cross.
Empty hands against empty hands, that's only fair.
"I'll try my best."
Kirataka waved his hand.
Although both of them harness electromagnetic force, the way he and Mei use it is slightly different.
Mei is used to using lightning in combination with Hokuchin Itto-ryu to suppress with swordsmanship, but he is not so good at using the katana. After learning projection magic, he rarely uses swordsmanship in combat.
Now that he has been fighting with Immortal Fu Hua for such a long time, it is better to use martial arts to deal with Theresa.
Soon, she was engaged in close combat with Kirataka.
——She has great strength, not ordinary strength.
Although they both possess the extraordinary powers of the Kaslana clan, it is obvious that Kiana is now far inferior to the battle-hardened Theresa.
Although she had been loved and cared for by Otto most of the time in her nearly fifty years of life, she was still a very good fighter in terms of combat. After all, she was a genius who could defeat an emperor-level Honkai beast in her debut battle.
Despite this, Theresa could only barely gain the upper hand in the bare-handed combat with Kirataka. Of course, she was basically the attacking party, and Kirataka could only passively defend.
——For some reason, she always felt that Kirataka seemed to be quite familiar with her fighting style and could always skillfully block her surprise attacks and resolve her attacks.
How strange...
What she didn't know was that the boy in front of her had already replayed the battle between her and the girls countless times by going back in time.
Especially the battle part with Mei, which he watched and analyzed carefully many times.
Even the battle that is currently taking place is not the first time it has happened.
Relying on the accumulation of experience over and over again, he was able to barely defend against Theresa's attack.
But Theresa finally found an opportunity, clenched her fist with one hand, and hit him in the body when he was careless.
Perhaps because it was so rare for her to succeed, she forgot to hold back her strength in this punch and instead used 90% of her force.
Kirataka's figure was also knocked straight into the wall of the training ground, creating a lot of smoke and dust.
Theresa instinctively wanted to go forward to check on Kirataka and see if he was injured, but the touch just now made her confused.
"…Strange, why does it feel like I didn't hit the target?"
She retracted her little pink fist and looked at her palm with some confusion.
"I clearly did knock Kirataka away just now, but I didn't feel like my hand hit his body at all."
After the smoke cleared, Kirataka stood up unharmed.
——Just now, he deliberately took Theresa's almost full-strength punch in order to test the defensive effect of [Infinity].
The result did satisfy him. If he hadn't deliberately controlled himself, Theresa wouldn't even have been able to knock him away.
It seems that physical attacks can indeed be avoided through the [Infinity], so... what about Judah's attacks?
Since close combat was ineffective, Theresa also began to attack him in coordination with Judah.
Golden chains were flying all over the sky, and coupled with her nimble figure, Kirataka's defensive pressure was much greater.
In order to conduct a test, he deliberately slowed down his pace, giving Theresa the opportunity to bring a chain close to his body, trying to restrain him.
The golden chain attacked at lightning speed, but before reaching Kirataka's arm, its speed suddenly slowed down.
Even so, unlike Theresa's fist attack that couldn't reach him, this chain was still advancing slowly. As long as it was given some time, it would probably be able to break through his spatial defense.
Apparently, an attack that carries with it the restraining power to neutralize all forms of energy can offset the defensive effect of [Infinity] to a certain extent.
Kirataka understood.
After getting the test results, he used time reversal to erase the present when he performed the [Infinity] and returned to the past a few minutes ago.
He didn't want to reveal here that he had other abilities besides controlling electromagnetic force, whether it was [Projection Magic] or [Infinity].
So, it's better to keep a low profile.
Back to a moment ago, he chose a less painful method to be knocked away by the girl, ending his battle with Theresa.
...... Evening.
After the actual combat training, Theresa, Fu Hua, Himeko, and others also gathered in Kirataka's dormitory.
With a few more people, the dining table became a lot more lively.
"Is the Class Monitor going out on a mission?"
Bronya had already heard about this from Kirataka.
"Well, I've packed and prepared everything. I'll leave tomorrow."
Fu Hua nodded.
"Fu Hua, what is the mission?"
Theresa asked curiously.
Because the task was assigned to Fu Hua directly from the headquarters, she, the principal of the Far East branch, was not clear about the details of the task.
"Nothing, just a simple investigation mission."
Fu Hua said.
"Great, Class Monitor, remember to bring some local specialties back."
Kiana, who was gnawing on a fried chicken leg, still hadn't forgotten the delicacies from other places.
In response, the gray-haired woman just smiled slightly, and a strange light flashed in her eyes.
She pushed up her glasses and said:
"You don't need me to help you bring the local specialties, Kiana. You can eat them yourself this time."
Her eyes naturally focused on Kiana.
Seeing Fu Hua's gaze fixed on her, combined with her previous words, the meaning was self-evident.
However, the white-haired girl didn't understand what was going on for a while. She was just slightly stunned and said:
"Huh?"
"Because this is a simple mission, I can bring a novice like you to practice with me."
Fu Hua said as a matter of course:
"Don't be surprised. I have just applied to the headquarters to select you. Pack up and leave with me tomorrow morning."
"…So why me?"
Kiana looked puzzled.
"I'm helping you. Think about the pitiful amount of credits you have accumulated so far this semester. If you complete this internship, the credits you'll be awarded will be enough to make up for the ones you've missed."
Fu Hua shrugged.
——Considering that Kiana's performance in both combat training and her daily cultural studies is not satisfactory, it is quite normal for a veteran like her to take her out on missions to accumulate experience.
On the surface, there is no problem.
As for the real purpose...it was just Otto's arrangement.
"So, will the Class Monitor also go there with Kiana in the aircraft this time?"
Mei asked with some curiosity.
When they went to Manila to support the handling of the Honkai disaster, they took a small aircraft and quickly rushed to the Philippines from the Far East in just a few hours.
When thinking back to Nagazora City, Theresa led the team directly to the scene in a Hyperion.
"No, this time we are going to a special place, and the task we need to handle is also different, so we can't go there openly like last time."
Fu Hua shook her head slightly, then explained:
"This time... it's just a relatively simple infiltration investigation mission, and the target location is Singapore."
——Currently, in the fight against Honkai, Anti-Entropy and Schicksal control different areas of the world.
The Schicksal mainly controls most countries in Europe and Asia, while Anti-Entropy's sphere of influence mainly covers the Americas.
However, between the two huge organizations, there are still some regions or countries that are temporarily neutral. They do not trust the two organizations and have not joined either side.
And Singapore is a place that remains "neutral".
According to the relevant agreements currently signed, neither the Valkyries of Schicksal nor the mecha troops of Anti-Entropy are allowed to enter the country.
Well, at least you can't enter openly, not openly.
But what happens behind the scenes cannot be controlled.
It's not so easy for heavy mecha troops to infiltrate other countries, but the Valkyries are different.
As long as they take off their armor and put on ordinary beautiful clothes, they look no different from ordinary girls.
"…So, we can only sneak into Singapore as normal tourists and then carry out our mission."
Fu Hua rolled her eyes and explained.
Enter Singapore as a normal person, using normal transportation.
Considering the time consumed on the journey, it will probably take several days to get there.
"Okay... okay... I'll go..."
Kiana originally wanted to refuse, but considering that her credits could only be described as "stretched", she had no choice but to accept this reality.
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