"Wow, that Sister Elysia gave you guys so many nice things!"
The light-brown haired girl crouched on the wall, speaking with great interest to the children below.
She was still wearing the crystal bracelet Elysia had given her earlier. All she did was show them the way and got this, which proved that this Sister Elysia was truly a great person.
"That's right! Sister Aponia says we should always hold gratitude in our hearts and remember to repay her kindness in the future~"
Luer looked up and said, while the other children chimed in noisily:
"Yeah! And there were so many storybooks! Ones Sister Aponia hasn't told us before!"
"And new blankets!"
"I love that box of crayons the most!"
Pardo's eyes darted around slyly. She rubbed her hands together, "Hehe, so how about sharing a bit with me too, eh?"
"Ah, we'd still have to ask Sister Aponia about that. How about you come with us, Sister Pardo?"
Luer said with a smile.
"Uh... maybe not, then."
Pardo's expression instantly froze. She awkwardly scratched her head.
That last 'heart-to-heart' talk with Aponia was an experience she remembered all too vividly!
...
Not long after.
"Children, it's time to eat."
Aponia's gentle voice came from the distance.
"Oh! It's Sister Aponia!"
"Sister Pardo, look..."
Luer turned around, only to find Pardo had already vanished from the wall.
"Huh? Where's Sister Pardo?"
As Aponia approached, her gaze swept over the empty top of the wall.
She had clearly seen Pardo's figure scurrying away in a panic but chose not to point it out.
"That girl..."
Aponia shook her head slightly. She could tell Pardo wasn't bad at heart.
In fact, she had wanted to invite Pardo to stay for dinner just now...
"Sister Aponia, where's Vya?"
Luer continued to ask.
"Vya is already waiting for everyone at the dining table."
"From now on, everyone should learn from Vya and be good, alright?"
"Mhm, we understand, Sister Aponia."
"..."
The children chattered away, then followed Aponia back for their meal.
Watching the children so full of energy made Aponia very happy.
She still had to thank Vya. After all, Vya had stayed with Aponia these past couple of days, while Elysia had gone back.
This was Aponia's request, because she had discovered that as long as they were with Vya, the children's symptoms would continuously lessen—something Aponia herself couldn't achieve.
All she could do was slow the progression... but Vya could actually make the children improve.
So she had pleaded with Elysia to let Vya stay a while longer.
Facing Aponia's request, Elysia thought it over and finally agreed.
Though Vya was a bit reluctant to part, if she really missed her sister, she could always fly back herself...
So she ended up staying for a period of time.
Fortunately, she was quite happy living here.
Spending the days with the children, visiting Brother Kalpalas in the evenings—life was quite delightful.
Meanwhile, back at the MOTH base, Mobius was irritably tapping on her lab table.
In the few days Vya had been gone, the laboratory had become uncomfortably quiet.
Usually around this time, that little white-haired darling would have come bouncing in long ago, either pestering her with questions or bringing snacks for her and Klein.
Now, look at this—they had both forgotten to eat because no one reminded them.
That pesky Elysia!
Mobius often thought this way.
However, the recruitment notice she had posted earlier finally got a response—two greenhorns had come applying for assistant positions.
Though their qualifications were mediocre, it was better than nothing.
...
But none of that mattered much anymore.
Because... the next Herrscher had appeared.
...
MOTH quickly formulated a response plan.
Kevin, as the vanguard, was deployed first, with Ato leading a squad to follow up in support.
Although it was called follow-up support, no one knew if any accidents might occur.
In other words, saying they were being sent to their deaths wasn't much of a stretch.
Before Ato could even finish speaking, almost in an instant, all squad members except for the lanky young man had practically left.
"No one can accept this kind of decision, Kosma. You should leave too."
Kosma clenched his fists. "But you going alone is meaningless... Also, why did you have to say it out loud?"
Ato patted his shoulder. "It's more meaningful than just a sacrifice."
Kosma said stubbornly, "But we should be able to do better. Like, everyone making it back alive."
"Kosma, you need to understand that maybe one day, we won't be able to have it both ways..."
"But...!"
Kosma wanted to argue further, but his words were cut off by Kevin's voice coming through the communicator.
He delivered news that shocked everyone.
"This is Kevin. We have arrived at the Fifth Herrscher's location."
"...We've found her corpse."
A sharp burst of static came through the comms,
"It's currently confirmed the Herrscher's death occurred prior to MOTH's intervention."
"All squads are to immediately withdraw from the current area."
"There is something far more terrifying still present here. Judging by the energy readings, the battle that defeated the Herrscher... it happened in an instant."
There was no doubt, this news shocked everyone.
As Ato and Kosma withdrew, they discovered even more disquieting evidence—the corpse of a Emperor-class Honkai Beast, 'Parvati'.
A Honkai Beast of this caliber usually required several squads to barely handle, yet now it lay torn apart like a discarded toy, as if it had suffered some unimaginable impact.
Ato knew very well this was a tough Honkai Beast to deal with...
At this point, no one doubted the veracity of the news Kevin had relayed.
There really was something here more terrifying than a Herrscher.
...
A little earlier, Vya was happily running along the road to where Kevin was.
She was especially excited today because Luer had promised to make flower crowns with her.
As she ran, she suddenly felt a chill.
She was wondering if it was about to snow...
Unbeknownst to her, a poor Emperor-class Honkai Beast was happily rolling along.
She passed through silently.
"Huh?"
Right then, she felt like she bumped into something, letting out a dull thud.
But her attention was quickly captured by the shimmering ice crystals in the distance—an area covered in beautiful frost flowers. So pretty!
So Vya ran even faster.
Leaving only the Honkai Beast's corpse behind on the spot. It didn't say anything, so presumably it had no objections.
Yeah, none.
…
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