Immortal Blades Provisional Command Center...
The life signs of S-rank Valkyrie Rita Rossweisse plummeted under everyone's watchful eyes, bringing a chill to the atmosphere.
This was not only the first battle of this operation but also the first battle since the formation of the Immortal Blades.
"Lady Durandal, Lady Rita..."
No one had expected that an S-rank Valkyrie would be defeated in her first battle in this Far East island nation, struck down by an ordinary girl who wasn't even a Valkyrie.
It was like a dark horse suddenly appearing on a racetrack, causing a major upset.
Almost everyone had thought their greatest opponent on this trip would be Anti-Entropy. To find out that an ordinary girl possessed such strength was, of course, shocking.
Only Durandal's expression remained calm.
The heroic girl's face still carried a trace of immaturity that had yet to fully bloom. The current Durandal was far from the mature version of a few years later.
Nevertheless, she still displayed the strength and confidence of a leader to reassure her subordinates. "Do not worry. I will defeat the Herrscher of Thunder and rescue Rita."
Regardless of the battle's outcome, she would use her full strength to save her subordinate!
Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.
The original plan was for Durandal to intercept Anti-Entropy's forces while Rita handled the container of the Gem of Conquest.
But a flaw in the intelligence caused the S-rank Valkyrie to stumble and fall at the hands of the Herrscher.
However... Rita was never fighting alone.
"Open the hatch. I'm going to meet this Miss Herrscher."
"Yes!"
The hatch opened, and the valiant Valkyrie landed in a crude manner, creating a shallow crater in the mansion's garden.
A powerful fighting spirit erupted from the Valkyrie. The house that provided shelter from the wind and rain seemed as fragile as a bubble, precarious between the Herrscher and the Valkyrie.
Inside the house, the Herrscher of Thunder stepped on Rita's head, her purple-red vertical pupils filled with contempt for Durandal.
"Valkyrie."
Outside, Durandal's fighting spirit soared, the cells in her body never having felt so excited.
"Herrscher."
The battle began!
The spacious mansion shattered instantly. Terrifying lightning and storms intertwined, making the surrounding space feel as if it were being ravaged by the apocalypse.
As Kiana and Brian retreated from the battlefield, the fight between the two girls became even more heated.
"Mei... is so strong!" The snow-haired girl ducked, dodging a piece of wood that almost gave her a bald spot.
Her eyes were filled with undisguised shock, and deep down, a sense of loss.
She had always been the one protecting Mei, but today she discovered she was the one being protected.
Faced with this high-level battle she couldn't possibly interfere with, it seemed there was nothing she could do but kneel on the ground and cry out her helplessness.
She was unwilling to accept it!
"Hey, is there any way for me to become as strong as Mei?" In the face of a crisis, Kiana could still make the right choice.
Fighting over their personal cook was a family matter, but confronting Schicksal and Anti-Entropy was official business.
Eager for an answer, the girl turned to the man beside her and her jaw dropped.
In her vision, the man was deathly pale, with pinkish-white streaks visible through his cracked skin; this was a reaction that occurs when a being with low Honkai resistance enters a high Honkai energy environment, commonly known as Honkai sickness.
In other words... Brian's great cause in the Inner World was about to be cut short!
"How did you end up like this? If you die, how am I going to explain it to Mei!"
Her slender arms erupted with immense strength. Kiana grabbed Brian by the neck and shook him vigorously, nearly scrambling his brains.
At death's door, Brian rolled his eyes and shakily raised an arm to remove Kiana's hands, which were as powerful as hydraulic presses.
"If you keep shaking, I'm really going to die."
"..." Seeing as this guy was about to die, Kiana decided not to argue with him.
An acquaintance was about to die in front of her. Kiana couldn't feel happy about it at all.
She thought that under her management, Mei would slowly come back to her side; she never expected that her love rival would be about to die from the Honkai energy leaking from Mei's body.
It was truly...
"..." Kiana's feelings were quite complicated.
"Do you have any last words? I'll pass them on to Mei for you." She decided to be benevolent for once.
"..." Still recovering, Brian's body ached all over. Under the torment of the Honkai energy, he glanced at the two girls locked in fierce combat.
He came to a conclusion.
The current situation looked like the Herrscher of Thunder had the upper hand, but there was a constant risk of being turned on and killed by Durandal.
If he remembered correctly, the Durandal of this period had already obtained her three-minute-goose mode, capable of taking out a Herrscher with one punch if she so desired.
And the Herrscher Core inside Mei's body...
"The situation isn't looking good."
For Mei to retreat unscathed or even win this battle, it would require some... special methods.
And the things he could do with his rather unorthodox system...
"Kiana, can you promise me one thing?" The deathly pale Brian looked like he was on his last legs, using his last breath to make a request to Kiana.
"Don't worry, after you're gone, I'll definitely take good care of Mei in your place." The snow-haired girl took matters into her own hands, making the decision for Brian.
"Not that." Brian took Kiana's fair, delicate hand and forcibly intertwined their fingers.
"In the final moments of my life, can you fulfill my wish of having a harem and accept my confession?"
"..." Kiana was silent for a moment.
She looked at the Herrscher of Thunder fighting Durandal to the death, then stared at Brian without a word.
Her best friend was fighting the enemy to the death, and her boyfriend was trying to make a move on her?
What a scumbag!
But considering he was about to die...
"I accept." She'd just treat it as humoring a child.
If one ignored the fact that he was a Blondie, he was undoubtedly a very reliable partner.
Silently, Kiana's affection for Brian increased.
The next second.
[Mission Complete. Obtained skill 'Hand of Katou Taka'.]
Brian: "..."
Damn you, Inner World system!
In the blink of an eye, the pale complexion and the deathly cracks vanished from the man's body.
This was one of the first abilities he had obtained.
[Natural Body]
[Without the need for training, your body will maintain its most perfect state, evolving to adapt to the current environment.]
Kiana realized it too late.
Had... had she been tricked into a confession by this scumbag?!?
That damn Blondie, he was after my body!
Dying in my sleep, I awoke with a start; the fool was me all along!
Damn it!
"BRIAN!" The snow-haired girl was furious, raising her fist to crack the scumbag's head open.
Just then...
"Kiana, Mei is about to lose! We have to help her."
Without hesitation, Kiana relied on her instincts to find the next victim.
S-rank Valkyrie Rita Rossweisse!