The camp had grown quieter after Theresa's departure.
Engines hummed in the distance. Snow whispered against canvas. The Valkyries moved through their nightly routines — efficient, exhausted, unaware that calm had become a target.
Inside her tent, Florence sat on her cot, staring at the communicator in her palm.The small blue light pulsed steadily, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to her.
She whispered to it, "Guess you're the only one listening now."
The light blinked once, as if it understood.
She lay back, staring at the tent's ceiling, the sound of the wind lulling her toward sleep. Her breath fogged the air, and for a fleeting moment she let herself believe that peace might last.
It didn't.
The first scream came from the northern perimeter.Then another — shorter, sharper, swallowed by static and gunfire.
Florence sat up, heartbeat quickening. Outside, the alarms began to wail.The air turned thick with the hum of Honkai radiation.
She stumbled to her feet, yanking the tent flap open — and froze.
Shapes moved through the blizzard: dark, twisted silhouettes, glowing faintly with that unnatural violet shimmer.Honkai beasts. Not many — but enough.
They tore through the outpost's outer defenses like paper.Valkyries scrambled to form lines, rifles cracking in bursts of light. A handful of mechs powered up, but the suddenness of the assault fractured their coordination.
Someone shouted orders, someone else prayed.The night became noise.
Florence ducked behind a supply crate as a beast smashed into a nearby vehicle, sending shrapnel singing through the snow.Her pulse synced with the chaos. Her body reacted before her mind caught up — the golden light under her skin igniting, a reflex born of blood and instinct.
She raised her hand and a wave of warmth burst from her palm. The nearest Honkai beast reeled back, its carapace sizzling, shrieking in a pitch that made the world shake.
But for every one she burned, two more took its place.
"Fall back!" a Valkyrie commander shouted. "Pull the wounded inside the main line!"
Florence's vision blurred; the air crackled with energy. The purification field radiated from her uncontrollably now, spreading across the snow like a sunrise of molten gold.It hurt — a deep, tearing ache in her chest. Her veins felt like glass.
She stumbled to one knee, gripping the frozen ground. "Not… again," she hissed through her teeth.
Her light flickered — then surged too bright. The Honkai around her twisted, destabilized, and exploded in bursts of pale fire.When the light faded, the field was silent.And Florence collapsed.
Minutes blurred into moments.The battle dwindled to scattered gunfire and the sound of the wounded. The Valkyries pushed back what was left of the beasts, unaware that the greater danger was already inside the camp.
A convoy arrived from the south — six vehicles bearing Schicksal insignias, lights cutting through the snow.The radio chatter hailed them as medical reinforcements. Relief spread through the survivors like breath in cold lungs.
They entered the camp, white coats over armor, faces hidden behind filtered masks.Their leader carried Schicksal identification sealed with Otto's personal code.
"Under orders from Grand Bishop Otto Apocalypse," he said. "We're here to stabilize casualties and secure anomalies for transport."
No one questioned it.
Florence lay unconscious in her tent, breathing shallowly, faint light still pulsing from the veins in her arms.Two of the "medics" entered silently. They scanned her once, the readings spiking crimson across their visors.
"Target confirmed," one murmured. "Residual Honkai levels: null. Energy conversion stable."
"Prepare containment pod," the other replied. "She's worth more than the base."
Outside, another explosion masked the sound of the pod's seals locking into place. They carried her out beneath the chaos — a faint trail of golden motes marking where her fingers brushed the air.
Hours later, the convoy sped through the frozen wilderness, lights off, engines low.Inside one of the armored transports, Florence floated in a stasis chamber — suspended in faint blue light. Her expression was peaceful, but her mind was not.
She dreamed.
Voices through glass.Distant footsteps."Not another experiment…""Her readings are perfect.""Prepare her for Phase Two."
Her heartbeat slowed. The world receded into silence.
Far away, deep within Schicksal Headquarters, Otto Apocalypse stood before the arriving containment unit. Frost steamed from its surface as it settled into the sterile light of the laboratory.
He regarded the sleeping girl through the glass.
"So this is the child who defied the Honkai," he murmured, almost tender. "How extraordinary."
A scientist beside him adjusted a data panel. "Her vitals are stable. Holy Blood concentration — exponentially higher than any recorded Schariac sample."
Otto's eyes gleamed. "As expected. She will be our successor project. We'll refine her through the genes of the Kaslana line… a bridge between divine and human."
He turned away, clasping his hands behind his back as the containment seals hissed.
"Florence," he said softly, almost like a blessing. "Let us see how far perfection can go when given the right shape."
The chamber lights dimmed, and the sound of machinery swallowed her heartbeat.