Within the hastily constructed fortifications, the crowd was sent scattering in chaos by the fireballs conjured by the Witch's Night. Fortunately, the fireballs moved extremely slowly. Though they packed the destructive power of heavy rockets, they hadn't actually harmed anyone—they just looked terrifying.
"Looks like their offensive has failed..."
Atop a nearby skyscraper, Imhotep, now clad in a combat suit, stood on the roof. Gray Serpent remained silently behind her.
"Still, at least it hasn't reversed... Otherwise, well... things might have gotten a little troublesome."
Watching the Schicksal Valkyries, Arc City Guards, and that bizarre creature of gears and flesh tumbling over each other below, Imhotep offered her assessment. Then, she turned her attention to Gray Serpent.
"My Lady, would its reversal have some special meaning?"
"Just the end of the world, that's all. If that thing were the complete Witch's Night and not some imitation—though no one's about to test whether it's real or fake."
-
"So, why did you follow me up here...?"
"Me? I'm just here to witness—"
Gray Serpent focused his gaze on the twin pistols hanging from the girl's waist.
"Witness?"
Imhotep looked at Gray Serpent, confused.
"This Holy Relic... It's been a very, very long time since it last revealed its true glory, Miss Imhotep..."
"I see."
Imhotep nodded, indicating she understood completely. She unholstered the twin pistols from her waist. As the two guns merged, the Judgement of Shamash unleashed its most basic form.
"Hmm, not bad... A little warm—"
Faced with heat intense enough to incinerate an ordinary person, the white-haired girl merely commented that it was "a little warm."
"But... to slice through a Witch's Night this massive, the base form alone won't be enough..."
Imhotep increased the flow of Honkai energy into the Flame Sword.
"Come... Reveal your true power—"
"Shamash: Infinite Extinction—"
The white-haired girl raised the uniquely shaped greatsword high, captivating Gray Serpent's gaze. Her combat coat, designed identically to Kevin Kaslana's, billowed in the wind. The hollow, inverted triangle cutout on her top accentuated the deepening cleavage of her maturing figure.
Imhotep contained the heat—intense enough to melt steel—within the Shamash greatsword, allowing Gray Serpent, standing behind her, to once again witness the blade in its most perfect form.
"It's... identical—"
Gray Serpent stared at the girl's back as she held the Flame Sword—the same white hair, the same black-and-white combat suit accented with hints of cyan... the same posture, wielding the sword without being consumed by its flames.
In that moment, Gray Serpent finally confirmed something he had previously harbored doubts about: this girl before him was indeed destined to be the Sire's one and only successor.
-
However, what drew the battlefield's attention wasn't the streak of firelight illuminating a tall building in the dark night. Instead, it was another giant erupting from the ground in the center of the battlefield—
A ghostly blue, translucent giant composed of lightning—the uninvited guests from another world had officially made their entrance.
"Whisper... God of Trickery~"
The witch with waist-length, gray-gold hair stood nearby, commanding a massive Wolf Spirit to clash with the Witch's Night.
"Long time no see, Miss Bronie."
The Rose Witch gracefully greeted Miss Haxxor, who had slipped away from her adoptive mother to wander here.
"Hmm... Are you the only witch who came here, Miss Witch?"
Bronie asked, her eyes fixed on the woman before her.
"No... The Traveler of the Sea of Quanta and Lady Astrologos have also arrived in this world."
Miss Irene shook her head, refuting Bronie's assumption.
"The Captain? Shouldn't they be unable to directly enter a universe still connected to the Tree?"
Bronie wore a puzzled expression.
"Naturally... That's why Lord Captain found a vessel in this world."
Irene nodded as if it were the most obvious thing.
"A vessel?"
"Ugh, is the Captain playing 'Head-Snatcher' again...?"
"So, who did she possess this time...?"
Bronie's eyes glinted with curiosity.
"...Cough, cough, cough."
A bout of coughing drew Bronie's attention back.
"Captain?"
Looking at the figure draped in a black cloak, completely wrapped up, Bronie called out with some uncertainty.
"It's me."
From beneath the airtight cloak came a somewhat cynical female voice—this seemed to be a lingering trait of the body's original owner.
"So, Captain, what did you possess this time...? Why are you wrapped up so tightly...?"
"Wait... Captain, don't tell me you can't show your face right now???"
Bronie's curiosity intensified, while Miss Irene, hearing this, smiled faintly.
"Ah, this..."
The woman beneath the black cloak froze, unsure how to answer Bronie's question.
"Heave-ho—let Bronie see!"
Seizing the moment while the woman was stunned, the girl sprang into action, lunging forward to yank off the hood of the black cloak... Irene, standing nearby, didn't stop Bronie. She, too, wore a curious expression—
Then, the two of them were disappointed once again—
When Bronie yanked off the black cloak, all that was revealed to them was... another black hood. Refusing to give up, Bronie peeled off several more layers, but the hood seemed endless, revealing one layer after another.
"Phew—good thing I came prepared," came a smug voice from beneath the black cloak. "A magical little gadget I swiped from a neighboring World Bubble—the Never-Ending Black Cloak! As long as the owner doesn't willingly take it off, outsiders can never fully remove it, no matter how hard they try!"
"...So, Captain, who exactly did you possess? If you don't take that thing off, I'm really going to burn it."
Bronie glared irritably at the Captain, who was gloating over her infinitely-layered hood, and pulled out the bar's specialty weapon—a Molotov cocktail.
"Er... wait, wait, wait...! Let's talk this out—!"
Seeing Bronie shove the Molotov cocktail right up to her face, Miss Captain wisely backed down and decided to cooperate.
"It's not that I can't be seen... it's just that this body..."
As if touching on an awkward subject, the woman known as the Captain trailed off, speechless for a long moment.
"So what's wrong with this body...? Don't tell me you've turned into Otto in a dress or something, Captain?"
Bronie frowned impatiently at the fidgeting Captain.
"If you don't start talking, Captain, I'm really going to set this thing on fire..."
"...Maybe not Otto in a dress, but there might actually be a female Otto here."
—The Ultimate Lifeform in the Black Robe, the Mysterious Figure, the Captain, finally pulled back her last veil of modesty.