The trial continued, replaying scenes from Kiana's destined future. Yet, she seemed to have forgotten the Hermit's teachings, her impulsive emotions surging back to the surface.
"Impulsiveness, impatience—it all came rushing back to her. The temporary loss of her comrades had stripped away her composure and rationality. She hadn't even paused to reflect on the reasons behind this setback."
Snow watched the girl venting her frustrations endlessly in the St. Freya Academy training grounds and shook her head.
"Don't be too hard on her, Snow. This is a normal reaction for someone. You know, Kevin was just like this back in the day. After his first mission, he withdrew into himself for a long time, grieving for his fallen comrades."
"In a way, this is a good thing, my descendant," Kevin said, ignoring Su's exposure of his past failings. He addressed the girl directly:
"Now, we can endure setbacks, lose companions, and stand emotionless before our fallen comrades' graves, coldly analyzing the gains, losses, and oversights of a war..."
"But to others, we've become monsters—bloodless, tearless monsters."
"...We can't demand too much of our warriors after battle. They need to vent their emotions, whether it's the joy of victory or the agony of defeat."
Su took over from Kevin, addressing the blonde girl:
"Child, you are strong—so strong that you can never truly understand the taste of failure... That's why you always view and judge them from the perspective of a powerful individual."
"But that's impossible. They can't live up to those standards. They are destined to face setbacks and failures. We were once like them, so we understand her feelings... This young girl needs to vent."
"Does a difference in perspective truly shape our understanding...? I suppose I have been too demanding."
Snow nodded, turning her gaze back to the screen.
—In the time they'd been talking, Kiana, Himeko, and the others in the scene had already infiltrated the ME Corp headquarters and begun... wreaking utter havoc.
Kevin and Su turned to look at Snow.
"Hmm... Snow, do warriors in your era have some misunderstanding about infiltration...?"
The silver-haired and white-haired youth watched the three Valkyries smashing everything in sight on the screen, then thought back to his past comrade Sakura, a MANTIS (Fusion Warrior) renowned for her mastery of assassination and stealth.
"Hmm... Sneaking in without being seen? That's a third-rate assassin. Killing everyone who sees you? That's a second-rate assassin. Killing everyone you see? That's a first-rate assassin..."
"—Once I'm inside, no one leaves alive. That's a top-tier assassin."
Snow nodded earnestly, watching the three Valkyries slaughtering their way through the screen. She praised them, "They have the makings of true assassin masters!"
"So, you're saying Kevin smashing this building to pieces with Shamash counts as 'sneaking in' too?" Su's eye twitched.
"As long as there are no living witnesses, why wouldn't it be considered 'sneaking in'?" The blonde girl gave Su a curious look.
"Just like how the best doctor should kill all enemies before they can harm their teammates, so no one can hurt my comrades."
"A true support should kill enemies faster than the main DPS. That's what makes them a worthy support."
Snow nodded earnestly again, causing Su, the former doctor, and Kevin, the Flame-Chaser's main DPS, to twitch uncontrollably.
"Is it possible, Snow, my descendant... I mean, possible... that you're neither an assassin, nor a doctor, nor even a support, but a Berserker?"
This declaration—"No matter your profession, I'll kill you all!"—reminded the two of a problem child among the MANTIS Fusion Warriors from the past.
"Absolutely not!"
The golden-haired girl vehemently rejected the idea without hesitation. Meanwhile, on the screen, the final battle had begun.
The colossal machine named MSR-7 Wotan 'Godfather' swung its massive arms at the three figures onscreen. Powerful Honkai energy erupted from its purple, cyclopean eye, momentarily overwhelming the trio. However, the machine's repetitive and clumsy attack patterns allowed the group to quickly adapt, steadily turning the tide in their favor.
"This mech..." Kevin muttered, staring in bewilderment at the towering machine that stood at least six stories high. "They built this massive piece of scrap metal with just one Gem of Desire?"
Kevin stroked his chin, his gaze troubled as he studied the lumbering behemoth that could only clumsily swing its arms and unleash blasts of Honkai energy.
Hearing this, the others turned their attention to the chibi Kevin plushie projected into the white space to entertain Little Sirin. The doll now wore an expression of utter resignation as it was squeezed and rubbed by the girl.
They then turned back to observe the Heavenly Father mech on the screen—a massive, yet ultimately useless, heap of scrap metal.
"Hmph, using the Gem of Desire as an energy source sounds impressive, but it's utterly impractical. It's laughable as a combat tool—even a C-rank Valkyrie, given enough space and time, could eventually take it down. As for fighting Honkai Beasts, that's even more absurd."
"You don't need such a clumsy toy to deal with individual Honkai Beasts. And against swarms, this lumbering mech with its simplistic attack patterns would be a waste of the gem."
"While some low-level Honkai Beasts are confined to the ground, most higher-tier variants and mutated species possess some degree of flight or levitation. This lumbering contraption offers no practical combat value whatsoever."
"An Armed Puppet would be far more effective on the battlefield, achieving better results at a lower cost than this mech."
Kevin shook his head, scoffing at the lumbering mech on the screen.
"Hmm... I actually think this thing might have some use," Snow countered, offering a different perspective.
"Oh? Care to elaborate?"
"The rest of it is indeed utterly useless... but that giant eyeball on its head is actually quite good. We could twist it off, modify it into a flashlight, and who knows, it might even be able to fire light beams..."
"Using a gemstone as the power source for both a flashlight and a miniature beam cannon... you're not exactly any better yourself."
"Sure, there were times in games when we'd twist off enemies' heads and use them as light bulbs or weapons... but that's just a game, Miss Snow," Su pointed out.
"At least it's more efficient than this resource-wasting giant robot," Snow retorted, gesturing to the screen. "This thing is a complete waste of alloy and energy."
Watching the Heavenly Father, which had been reduced to rubble by the St. Freya team in mere minutes, Snow curled her lip in disdain.
"True enough."