The thunderstorm raged on, violent lightning precisely striking the young girls on the Academic Building's rooftop. The thunder was punctuated by the blasts of hand cannons and the frantic shouts of some Chuunii teenager. Below, amidst the torrential rain, a blonde girl was moving swiftly, tearing through the Zombies blocking her path as she stormed into the gymnasium. She dragged out every mat, big and small, and piled them beneath the building.
"Whew... done. Time to head upstairs now." Snow flashed a mischievous grin, as if struck by a clever idea. She rubbed her palms together, washing off the grime with the rain, and drew her sword again, ready to ascend the Academic Building's stairs to the rooftop. But the raging storm quickly dissuaded her from that plan. Lightning bolts poured from the sky like raindrops, thoroughly drenching the entire rooftop in a relentless deluge.
...Afterward, a brief stillness settled over the surroundings, broken only by the occasional rumble of distant thunder. The once-raucous rooftop fell silent—no more booming hand cannons, no more crashing lightning, no more the Chuunii girl's shrill cries... Only the relentless rain persisted.
Tsk... scaling walls is exhausting. She took a running start, leaped, drew her blade, and plunged it into the wall, using it as a fulcrum. With a swing of her arm, she propelled herself upward, repeating the motion until she reached the rooftop in mere seconds.
The Academic Building's rooftop was charred black by the lightning's assault. Arcs of electricity still crackled across the metal railings. Her azure eyes swept over the lightning-scorched ground, finally settling on the rooftop's edge. There lay the three girls she sought: the girl with white twin-tails and the purple-red-haired girl were sprawled on the ground, their hair frizzled into explosive afros by the recent lightning strike. They appeared to be unconscious.
"...Another annoying bug has arrived. So, who are you?" The arrogant words came from the black-haired woman, the only one still standing among the three. Lightning crackled around her, radiating the divine authority and transcendent power of a God's Apostle.
"...That's a question you'll have to answer yourself." The rain-soaked rooftop froze instantly, the relentless raindrops transforming into razor-sharp ice crystals that sliced across their exposed skin.
"You are Raiden Mei, the senpai I looked up to at Senba Academy, the one all those gathered here fought so hard to save."
"Or are you the Third Herrscher, humanity's scourge, the mortal enemy of all living things, the monster destined to be vanquished by civilization?"
The golden-haired girl strode toward the Herrscher. With each step she took, the frozen ice crystals on the ground began to spread and transform. The once crystalline ice turned pitch-black, glowing with crimson-purple veins. The sword she had been wielding vanished, seemingly discarded by its master. In its place materialized a longsword forged from black ice, its dark-purple blade gleaming with an ominous glow.
"....." She was incredibly strong, far beyond what the Third Herrscher, still recovering from her grueling battle against those two troublesome humans, could possibly match. Watching the Black Ice relentlessly spread, the Third Herrscher's face paled. She loathed this feeling—this suffocating sense of helplessness—just like that coward from the past.....
Then, the golden-haired girl's voice rang out again.
"Tell me! Raiden Mei! Will you be a human, yearning for salvation and light? Or a monster, reviled and hunted by civilization?!"
The thunderous challenge and accusation shattered the nascent Herrscher Persona's fragile, newly formed mind. A boundless rage ignited within her heart, burning through every nerve and stripping away her few remaining shreds of reason.
"What a joke! I am the Herrscher, an apostle of the gods, the chosen one! The Lightning Queen destined to trample upon your corpses! You insect! Who gave you the audacity to question me?! Kneel, then—die!" Consumed by fury, the Third Herrscher charged toward the girl surrounded by Black Ice, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night, vowing to crush the human before her.
"Heh, if you can manage that... then come and try," the golden-haired girl leaned forward, gripping her sword with both hands as she slashed at the oncoming thunder.
As expected, the newborn Herrscher Persona is immature, fragile, and easily angered. Most importantly—she lacks intellect, Snow thought, watching the Herrscher lunge at her. With fluid grace, she parried, blocked, and countered in a seamless motion.
If you could just fly away, I'd have no way to stop you, Snow mused, her black sword blocking the lightning-infused sword strike. Her calm, azure eyes met the Herrscher of Thunder's face, contorted with rage and resentment, her pupils blazing with fury. Releasing her grip on the sword hilt with her right hand, she switched to a single-handed stance with her left, forming her right hand into a fist. She struck the charging Herrscher girl's abdomen with a swift blow, sending her flying backward before closing the distance again in a single stride.
Or if you simply turned and ran, I couldn't catch you. Evading the Herrscher's thrusting lightning blade, Snow hurled her black sword from her left hand. The sword exploded into a cloud of icy mist on the Herrscher's face, blinding her. As the Herrscher of Thunder angrily swatted away the mist, she was met by Snow's wind-charged hand strike. The edge of Snow's left hand struck the Herrscher's inner elbow, causing the lightning blade in her grasp to dissipate. Snow's right hand slashed across the Herrscher's throat, silencing her furious curses with a strangled, rasping gasp.
Lacking Raiden Mei's true martial arts skills, yet daring to engage in close-quarters combat.
The Herrscher of Thunder, enraged by the heavy blow to her throat, summoned crackling lightning around her hands, intending to repeat her earlier tactic: a torrential storm of thunder to obliterate the "insects" blocking her path. But she had overlooked one crucial detail: the young girl before her was unlike the two fools she had faced earlier. The lightning crackling around her seemed to have little effect on the golden-haired Valkyrie, who was now pressed right against her face...
The tragedy unfolded once more. The Herrscher's abdomen was struck again with brutal force. As her incredulous gaze shifted downward, it met an uppercut. The Herrscher of Thunder's wide-range spellcasting was ruthlessly interrupted once more. Snow showed no mercy, raising her leg and driving her knee into the Herrscher's abdomen. In the Herrscher of Thunder's fading vision, only a fist loomed, growing larger as it hurtled toward her face.
...The "rooftop corpse club" gained another member.
"Huff... No strength in her backhand, no precision in her forehand, sloppy footwork, sluggish reactions—not a single move executed properly... What a pathetic Herrscher." As the Herrscher collapsed, Snow exhaled deeply, waved away the frozen Black Ice on the ground, and dragged the three unconscious figures to a spot sheltered from the downpour, where they could awaken undisturbed.
"Uh... where am I?" The first to awaken wasn't Raiden Mei, the Herrscher of Thunder, nor one of the white-haired Kaslanas with gorilla blood. Instead, it was Houraiji Kyuusyou, the tri-colored-haired young woman who styled herself as the savior of the world. She was also an unforeseen variable in Snow's many simulations, an anomaly she hadn't accounted for.
"The rooftop of Academic Building 3 at Senba Academy," an authoritative female voice replied to Houraiji Kyuusyou's confusion. She looked up to trace the sound to its source: a tall young woman with pale gold hair and blue eyes, standing beside two unconscious girls—one with black hair and the other with white—lying still as corpses.
"Holy shit! Durandal?" The purple-red-haired girl blurted out at the sight.
"Hmm?!" Hearing a name that shouldn't have been known by anyone present—or rather, a name none of the other three should have recognized besides herself—Snow's lips curled into a playful smile.
"What did you just say?" Snow leaned closer to Kyuusyou, feigning puzzlement.
"Nothing, ha ha ha! Just a nightmare, yeah, a nightmare," Houraiji Kyuusyou chuckled nervously, trying to brush it off.
"Oh, a nightmare, huh? Well then... Heavenly King, Earthly Tiger!" Snow's gentle tone suddenly turned sharp.
"The pagoda suppresses river demons!" Kyuusyou blurted out instinctively, her mind still a blank slate after waking up.
"Uh... fellow villager?" Kyuusyou looked at the golden-haired girl before her with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.
"Probably...? I don't have clear memories of the past world or my personal experiences—so, you just transmigrated here, right? I've never heard your name at Senba Academy before."
"Yeah, I was up all night grinding Honkai Impact 3rd. One blink, and I'm here at this academy. Before I could even react, Kiana dragged me off to find her Mei Senpai. Come to think of it, this body's pretty tough—it can get struck by lightning and still bounce around..." Kyuusyou stood up and bounced in place, her loose-fitting clothes immediately causing her chest to ripple wildly.
"Hmph." Watching the purple-haired girl bounce around, Snow felt mocked. She glanced down at her own chest—hmm, a solid B-cup, just the right size to fill a hand.
Then, looking back up at the vigorously bouncing Houraiji Kyuusyou, she muttered under her breath, "Tch, big-boobed monster."
"Huh? What were you just saying?"
"Nothing. Come with me."
"Where are we going? And you're not really Durandal, are you? Your chest doesn't seem quite as... Ouch!"
"My name is Snow. I don't have a surname. Just call me Snow," the blonde girl said, wincing as she flexed her right hand, which had just delivered a painful blow to her companion's nose.
"We need to clear out all the Zombies in this building, then head to the cafeteria and convenience store to scavenge for food. If we can find some sleeping bags, great. Otherwise, we'll have to swipe some blankets from the dorms," Snow rattled off the preparations like an overbearing mother.
"And..." Snow glanced at her companion.
"And?" Kyuusyou looked puzzled.
"And you need to practice. Tomorrow, we're starting our thrilling escape adventure from Nagazora City. You'd better not be unable to handle even basic Zombies."
"Ah, that? I'm reasonably competent, I suppose. I got dragged around by that white-haired fluffball earlier and had to try my hand at a few things," Kyuusyou said, scratching her head. She pulled a baseball bat from the side and swung it a few times.
"Good! Full of spirit. Then all the zombies in this building are yours now. Don't pout like a kitten—there aren't many left anyway. I'll go collect supplies from the cafeteria and convenience store. Ignore those two girls—they'll sort themselves out when they wake up," Snow nodded at Kyuusyou, then turned and leaped off the roof.
"Holy... holy shit... Is everyone these days just allergic to using stairs properly?" Kyuusyou watched Snow plummet to the ground, stuck out her tongue, shook her head, and slung the metal baseball bat over her shoulder as she headed down the stairs. It was definitely time she got some real practice in.
-
A white figure darted through the swarm of Zombies, leaving a trail of dismembered limbs and shattered fragments in its wake. These newly spawned Zombies, still fresh from the Honkai's initial outbreak, were remarkably fragile. A simple swing of a watermelon knife, pilfered from the cafeteria kitchen, could easily tear through their yet-to-be-silicified skin and extinguish their lives.
The blonde young girl strolled leisurely among the Zombies, her basket gradually filling with various items—food, water, medical supplies. Most of the essential resources needed for evacuation could be found in her growing collection. Eventually, finding the basket too restrictive, she grabbed a crate with one hand and dumped her gathered supplies into it.
"Phew... Almost done gathering. Lucky me—water, emergency rations, lighting tools, emergency power source, sleeping bag—all complete."
"Hmm, one more thing. Why are there Magnum bullets hidden under the trash cans? At least eight out of ten have ammo stashed beneath them. Did that white-haired fluffball bury them? Oh well, I'll take them back for her." Snow shook her head, tossed the loose bullets into the crate, and headed toward the Academic Building.
BOOM! Another bolt of lightning struck the ill-fated rooftop of the Academic Building.
"Damn it! Is this Herrscher itching for a fight again? Seriously? Kiana, can you handle this?!" Clutching the crate with her left hand, the blonde young girl sprinted toward the Academic Building.
-
On the rooftop of the Academic Building, the thunderous roar had vanished without a trace. The white-haired girl gripped the black-haired girl's arm with all her might, preventing her from falling off the edge. Kyuusyou, who had rushed over upon hearing the thunder, charged forward when she saw Kiana's predicament.
"Holy shit, what's gotten into her?" Kyuusyou exclaimed, lunging forward to join Kiana in tugging at Raiden Mei, trying to pull the black-haired girl back onto the roof. Whether it was the rain-slicked rooftop or the degradation of the Kaslana family's genes over centuries, the purple and white-haired duo found themselves locked in a stalemate, unable to haul the black-haired girl up from the ledge.
"Give up, Kiana, Miss Kyuusyou," Raiden Mei's despairing voice echoed across the rooftop. "I'm not worth saving. I don't know when I'll lose control again, or how many people I'll hurt. Kiana, Miss Kyuusyou... ending it all here might be the best choice for everyone. Please... just let go of me."
"What nonsense are you spouting, Mei?!" Kyuusyou shouted, her voice ringing with anger. "Kiana risked everything to save you, and you're telling us you're afraid of your own power? You could use that power to save so many more people! Even if you do lose control, we're still here, right? As your friends, it's our duty to stop you from making a mistake!"
It wasn't Kiana, who was desperately gripping Raiden Mei's arm, who voiced this fierce rebuttal. Instead, it was Kyuusyou, standing beside them, her voice booming across the rooftop as she tried to rekindle Mei's hope for the future.