Just as Durandal and Elysia's bodies drew closer in the hot spring pool, both of them keenly heard an unusual scream—distinct amid the crackle of fireworks and the cheers of the crowd.
The fear and despair laced within it instantly changed their expressions.
Durandal leaped straight out of the spring, already clad in her high-mobility Bright Knight battlesuit.
"I'll go check!"
With that, Durandal shot into the air, propelled by the suit's thrusters, heading toward the source of the scream.
Elysia lacked the ability to change outfits in an instant, but she too quickly left the spring, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and hurried back inside.
Not bothering to rinse off, she pulled a combat-ready outfit from her suitcase and changed.
Rather than going through the main door and disturbing the festivities, she lightly vaulted over the rear courtyard wall and followed the trail of blue exhaust left by Durandal's Bright Knight armor.
It took Durandal only a few breaths to reach the scene.
It was a semi-abandoned industrial area not far from the Onsen. Most of the heavily polluting factories had already relocated, with only a few low-pollution ones still operating—though they were reportedly scheduled to move soon as well.
The scream had come from one of those still-active factories.
Upon entering, Durandal immediately caught the faint scent of blood.
Still, she could hear weak human breathing—it seemed she wasn't too late.
As for her enemy…
She hadn't made any effort to conceal her arrival.
The sound of the Bright Knight armor's thrusters and the presence of a living person quickly drew the attention of the guard Honkai zombie stationed inside the factory.
That's right—a guard zombie, transformed from a human infected by Honkai energy, had appeared in this factory.
Clutching a scythe formed from condensed Honkai energy, the guard zombie abandoned its previous target—whoever was hiding somewhere—and moved toward Durandal's position.
Seeing it was just a single guard zombie, Durandal let out a slight breath of relief.
She descended from mid-air, her lance flashing out in a precise thrust that struck the zombie squarely.
Then, sweeping the lance in a wide half-circle through the air, she slammed it down hard against the ground. The guard zombie dissolved into a cloud of purple mist, returning to the embrace of the Honkai.
Naturally, the infected human was completely erased in the process.
Facing a Honkai creature she had eliminated countless times before, Durandal felt no emotional ripple.
After carefully checking that no other Honkai beings remained in the factory, she dismissed her weapon and walked toward the corner where she had detected faint human breathing.
In the empty factory, Durandal's footsteps echoed distinctly. As she drew closer, she could even hear the other person's breath hitch—as if trying to hide by holding it.
"Don't be afraid. I'm not a threat."
Durandal paused slightly, softening her tone as she spoke gently toward the hiding spot.
At her words, the person seemed to realize that this newcomer was truly human.
Still, they didn't come out immediately. First, a tentative head peeked out, checking the situation, before a pale-faced woman—clutching her arm—emerged from the corner.
"Stay still. Let me treat your wound."
Durandal quickly stopped her movement. She summoned Black Abyss White Flower to hand, activating the blossom's healing power in tandem with her own sacred blood.
The wound on the female worker's arm immediately began to heal visibly, while the purple traces of Honkai erosion gradually faded.
Elysia, having just arrived, happened to witness this scene.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Elysia stepped forward and asked softly.
Durandal nodded. "Elysia, stay here and watch over her. I'll check the area for any other zombies."
With that, Durandal lifted her lance once more and headed out of the factory.
Watching Durandal's retreating figure and recalling her practiced, skilled ease in handling such incidents, Elysia wore a thoughtful expression.
As she'd suspected all along.
Compared to Fire Moth's relative inexperience in dealing with Honkai incidents, Durandal displayed a level of skill that seemed to come from another world—one with mature, established strategies for confronting the Honkai.
But Elysia didn't dwell on it too deeply. She turned her attention to the female worker, soothing her in her own way and gathering some information from her.
Five minutes later, Durandal returned.
"How is it?"
Seeing the worker now asleep, Durandal approached and asked quietly.
Elysia led Durandal a little farther away before speaking. "I asked her already. She's a worker at this factory, and today she was on duty with a warehouse manager."
"For some reason, that manager turned into a zombie. Before she could react, she was struck on the arm by the zombie's scythe—that's the scream we heard.
"After that, once she recovered her senses, she used her familiarity with the factory to evade the zombie. If the warehouse manager had retained human thought and memory after transforming, she wouldn't have lasted until we arrived."
Then Elysia looked at Durandal, her tone grave. "The sudden appearance of a human turning into a zombie inside a factory is clearly a sign of significantly elevated Honkai energy levels."
Durandal nodded with a sigh. "It seems we'll have to cut this trip short."
The original plan for this Schicksal outing was to last until tomorrow afternoon.
But now, with a human-to-zombie transformation occurring even near a tourist spot like Kinosaki Onsen—let alone what might be happening in a major city like Nagazora—Durandal naturally wouldn't stick to the schedule.
Doing the math, it had been over a month since Kevyn and Mei met. With the Third Honkai Eruption still more than four months away, localized minor signs like this were to be expected.
In fact, Durandal's mood wasn't exactly bad at the moment.
Some warning was better than none.
At least the appearance of the zombie indicated that her arrival hadn't altered the original future—where the Third Eruption would occur near Nagazora.
And with adequate preparations, Durandal believed Schicksal was fully capable of handling this Honkai outbreak.
After properly arranging the follow-up—including notifying Nagazora city officials to temporarily cover up the warehouse manager's incident and having the surviving worker forget what happened that day—Durandal and Elysia returned to the inn.
--+--