In the office at Schicksal HQ, Kika, having just returned from a mission, was reporting the details to Otto.
Otto clapped his hands in praise. "Kika, the mission was completed very well. Truly befitting of an S-rank Valkyrie!"
Kika shook her head, not the least bit interested in Otto's praise.
"Otto, you should know what I want to ask."
"Mm..."
Otto pretended to think for a moment, then pulled up the touchpad screen and showed Kika a series of dessert orders.
"Don't worry, I'll have Amber deliver the promised sweets to St. Freya High School later. Some of them are limited editions made by Rita, which even I don't always get a chance to taste~"
Bang—
Kika slammed her hands on Otto's desk, spitting out each word through gritted teeth:
"Otto, don't try to distract me with sweets. What's the deal with those headlines about Ryn! I've been with him all this time, how come I never knew about any of this! And where is Ryn? What kind of mission is he on that even an S-rank Valkyrie like me can't know about!"
"Kika, the human heart is unfathomable. No one can truly know what a person is like behind closed doors. Take me, for example. I may look like a glamorous Overseer, but perhaps I'm also a great villain planning to destroy the world?
Sigh... I never expected a harmonious and cheerful kid like Ryn to be like this in private. I'll have Amber suppress this matter as soon as possible. As Schicksal's public S-rank Valkyrie, this kind of thing has too great an impact on Schicksal."
Otto rested his chin on his hand, his eyes deep and distant, a thoughtful expression on his face, his mind seemingly lost in a thousand thoughts.
"I can't tell you about Ryn's mission for now, as it's classified. But you can rest assured that you will be notified when Ryn returns. At that time, you can ask Ryn himself for the mission details. Whether he's willing to tell you will be up to him."
"Who is this Lü Baihe? I want to meet that bitch! How dare she slander Ryn like this! I'm going to kill that scumbag..."
Kika furiously punched Otto's desk again. The exosuit Sabayon materializing behind her was ready to fire, prepared to blow that bitch Lü Baihe to bits.
"Uh..." Otto broke out in a cold sweat, tapping the desk awkwardly. He had written it in a fit of anger just for fun, and now he was in a bind, unable to easily resolve the situation.
If this wasn't handled well, he'd have a hard time explaining it to the Valkyries, and it would be difficult to explain to Ryn too...
"Ahem, that Lü Baihe is actually a spy sent by outsiders. She deliberately joined Schicksal to spread rumors and sow discord between us and Ryn.
This matter is very serious... The outsiders have already infiltrated Schicksal without our knowledge. The severity of this issue is no less than that of the Shoggoth clan and Murata Ryusuke."
"Fine, give it to me." Kika held out her hand to Otto after he finished.
"Huh? Give you what?" Otto blinked, a little confused.
"The data? You're telling me this because you expect me to solve it, right? Give me the data on the outsiders. I'll go kill those bastards."
"Uh... hehe, that doesn't really fit the personality of our lazy genius, does it..."
Otto was surprised for a moment, then returned to his calm demeanor.
Otto: "This matter involves many things. It's not yet time to send you out. The construction of the Star River Ladder is not yet complete. With our current resources, it's difficult to support an interstellar war."
Interstellar war? In that case, she was indeed a bit out of her league right now. Although her life-draining shot might, perhaps, maybe be able to pierce the earth's core and destroy a planet, it was better not to think about that.
Kika thought for a moment, then continued to ask:
"What about Lü Baihe? Will she be executed after interrogation? Let me do it."
"Um... If there's nothing else, you should leave for now. I'll notify you when I'm done handling things here." Otto waved his hand, dismissing her and chasing Kika out of the office.
"Fine, you're the Overseer, you call the shots. Also, don't send me on such trivial missions next time."
"Hehe... Of course, I wouldn't want to use a cannon to shoot a mosquito."
"Mm."
Kika nodded and turned to leave Otto's office.
As she left, she closed the door with a bit too much force... The already rickety wooden door fell off its hinges with a bang from Kika's push.
"Uh... you know my strength, so it must be the door's poor quality. I suggest you find a new supplier... Bye-bye!"
Kika stuck out her tongue and quickly ran off without looking back. That wooden door looked expensive, and she couldn't afford to pay for it.
Otto sat in his chair, lost in thought. He looked at the now-defunct wooden door on the floor, then at his high-quality wooden desk, which had two handprints from Durandal in the morning and now two more from Kika.
Then, thinking about how he would have to throw away a high-tech prosthetic body to fake the existence of the outsider Lü Baihe, Otto's heart began to bleed.
"Beep beep beep—"
Numerous warning screens suddenly appeared in Otto's room.
Images of Cortana unleashing the Judgment of Shamash, using Might of An-Utu, appeared on the screens.
Otto frowned. He knew about the replica Judgment of Shamash in Cortana's hands; he had even given Ryn permission to take it.
But he didn't know that a replica of the Judgment of Shamash could unleash power comparable to the real one's Might of An-Utu.
However, Otto's furrowed brow relaxed when he saw Ryn next to her in the image.
"Never mind... everything has long been out of control anyway. Besides, Kallen also..."
"But even if the soul is the same, she is not her, nor should she be her..."
——————————————
Walking towards the spaceport, Kika suddenly froze as if she remembered something.
"Huh... Did Otto say something about a Murata? Is he a relative of Himeko? Forget it... I've never heard of him at Schicksal or from Himeko, so he's probably not important.
I should go home and see how Kiana and the others are reacting. Then we can all go tear that bitch Lü Baihe apart together."
"Roar—!"
A dragon's roar from the sky interrupted Kika's thoughts, drawing the attention of everyone at Schicksal HQ.
Instantly, the alarms at Schicksal HQ blared, and everyone immediately entered a state of combat readiness.
"Huh? What's that in the sky? A dragon? Exosuit Sabayon, activate."
Then Kika aimed her sniper rifle at Kukulkan in the sky, observing its data through the scope.
Over three hundred meters long. Conventional military weapons would likely be useless against it. They would need to deploy specialized Honkai energy weapons or even large-scale destructive Honkai fission bombs.
"It's probably too late to run now, so I might as well go all out. All limiters, unlocked..."
Kika's fair fingers slid across the touchpad, unlocking all the limiters, activating her Stigmata, and pulling the trigger to begin charging.
Now it was a race to see if her life would burn out faster or if the giant dragon's health bar above her would deplete faster.
As if sensing the threat from Kika's cannon, the dragon adjusted its body and dived towards her.