...Schicksal Headquarters, one week after the Great Honkai Eruption.
New Schicksal had recovered the Hermes, which had re-emerged from imaginary space. The Second Herrscher's vessel, K-423, was nowhere to be found. The prototype Godsbane Armor and its wielder, Murata Himeko, had also vanished without a trace.
Snow Apocalypse, who had briefly appeared aboard the Nibelungen, had vanished as quickly as she came, her whereabouts a mystery. But the world would not halt its march forward. In the aftermath of the Second Herrscher's reawakening, Honkai disasters of all sizes erupted across the globe.
Both Old Schicksal and the New Schicksal Alliance deployed massive forces to suppress the Honkai constructs erupting worldwide. For months, the Immortal Blades and Divine Authority acted as emergency response teams, rushing from one crisis to another. The relentless overtime had many Valkyries fantasizing about where they'd go for their next vacation.
Of course, these elite units from both Schicksals had a special mission beyond rescue operations: find Kiana—or rather, Vessel K-423—and bring her back. Each faction raced to be the first to secure the target and return her to their respective Schicksal.
Though their reconnaissance teams and intelligence agents frequently received reports and even sighted Miss Kiana Kaslana, designated as the Second Herrscher's vessel, every capture attempt over the past few months had ended in failure.
The reason was simple: a person running on two legs couldn't possibly outpace a Dual Herrscher of Void and Flame who could teleport, blink, and use nitro boosts.
"You still haven't found Kiana..."
In her office in the Schicksal East District, Theresa frowned, her expression clouded with worry. For months, she had been bogged down by Schicksal's endless administrative tasks, forced to sit at her desk and sift through tedious, headache-inducing budget requests. She had to carefully distinguish between the padded, extortion-like funding proposals from Schicksal's research labs and the legitimate projects that genuinely needed financial support.
"Don't worry, Headmaster Theresa," Kyuusyou said. "We have found her. We just can't bring her back. After all, how can someone running on two legs catch up to someone who blinks and sprints everywhere?"
"So you've already found Kiana several times? How is she? Have you spoken to her? Did you see Himeko or Snow with her?"
The questions tumbled out in a rapid-fire barrage, leaving Kyuusyou momentarily bewildered, unsure which to answer first.
"Ah... I'm sorry, Kyuusyou. I got too carried away. Let's take it one question at a time."
"It's alright, I understand. Caring too much can make one anxious."
"Let's start with the first one, then. We've sighted and made contact with Kiana several times. She doesn't seem to be in a bad state."
"We haven't seen Himeko in person," Kyuusyou continued. "When we brought up her situation, Kiana didn't break down in grief or show any uncontrolled emotions. She just seemed vaguely worried."
"We can reasonably assume Himeko is fine, just unable to meet with us or Kiana for some reason."
"Just like you said on the ship, Theresa, let's let time give us the answers."
Kyuusyou nodded, signaling for Theresa not to let this throw her off balance.
"As long as she's safe... as long as she's safe... We can wait to see her... No! We can wait, but Grandpa can't."
"You don't need to worry about that. The Lord Overseer of West Schicksal is currently busy with a massive experimental project. The task of finding Kiana has been fully delegated to his Immortal Blades Squad."
"Dealing with that blockhead is easy. No, dealing with her entire squad won't even require me to draw my sword."
"All I have to do is casually pull out a bottle of wine, then enthusiastically approach them with it. Their whole squad's faces will turn as green as if they'd stepped in shit on their way out this morning."
"As long as I shamelessly stick to them, they won't be able to get any work done."
Kyuusyou placed her hands on her hips, her expression screaming, If this lady casts aside all shame, she's invincible.
"I just hope a certain shameless Vice Captain has enough self-awareness not to plague the world like a lingering, ghostly fly!"
The door burst open, and the very person Kyuusyou had just described—the Immortal Blades' prime scapegoat, Schicksal's resident blockhead—stormed in.
"Durandal? What are you doing here?"
Before Theresa's confused words could even fade, Kyuusyou's voice cut in.
"When you're being pestered by a fly—you have to realize you're a pile of... well... you know—"
Kyuusyou shot Durandal a look that said, You get what I mean, right?
"You! We'll settle this later—"
"Lady Theresa, I'm here to deliver a gift from Miss Kiana."
"A gift?"
Theresa's expression turned completely bewildered.
"Yes... After Miss Kiana rescued a small Immortal Blades detachment from danger, she shoved this into my hands, called me 'Big Sis Bianca,' told me to give it to 'Auntie Theresa,' and then vanished immediately."
Bianca produced a bizarre yellow rabbit doll. The moment Theresa saw it, her eyes glazed over. With lightning speed, she swept up all the other rabbit dolls on her desk and hid them away. Then, just as quickly, she regained her composure, acting as if nothing had happened. Kyuusyou and Bianca could only click their tongues in amazement.
"So... Durandal, you've met Kiana too? What's your impression of her?" Theresa asked, her expression now perfectly serious.
"Well, she's the Herrscher of the Void, after all... Her ability to escape is simply unparalleled. I couldn't even grab a single strand of her hair. The Valkyries who've tried and failed to catch her have privately nicknamed her 'Kiana the Runner.'"
"But this Herrscher is completely different from how she was during the Schicksal War—not just in personality, but in her abilities as well. Even under the harshest scrutiny, she'd be considered a highly qualified Kaslana Knight."
"Over the past three months, she's been active at Honkai disaster sites all over the world, saving countless innocent civilians and Valkyries. Whether it's the Immortal Blades, this 'Human Trash's' Divine Authority Squad, or regular Valkyrie Squads, almost all of them have received her help."
As Bianca mentioned the Divine Authority Squad, she shot a fierce glare at Houraiji Kyuusyou, who had started whistling nonchalantly.
"In any case, I know what you're thinking, Lady Theresa. If that Herrscher girl really does return to Schicksal in the end, I can't speak for the other departments, but the Valkyrie Force, as the combat division, certainly won't have many objections. In fact, they might even welcome her."
"I see... Thank you, Durandal."
"Don't thank me. If you really want to thank someone, have this 'Human Trash' next to me lend me a hand."
"Huh? Alright then—Kyuusyou, go help Durandal..."
"Help my ass! This blockhead clearly wants to—"
"Let's go! Time for a fight!"