'Well, maybe this is what they call 'plot convenience.' But now that the Black Abyss White Flower has shown up, at least I won't end up being forged into a Divine Key, right?'
Lunelle still found it hard to wrap her head around how easily the Black Abyss White Flower had been crafted this time.
But considering both she and her darling wife Dark Seele had made it through this simulation safe and sound, Lunelle decided not to dwell on it too much.
After all, as long as the outcome was good, the process—no matter how bizarre—didn't really matter to her.
And so, another week in the simulation passed, and Lunelle settled the events before returning to the real world of Honkai.
During that week in the simulation, Lunelle had more than one chance to come clean about everything to her beloved wife Dark Seele.
But whether it was because Dark Seele had… worn her out a bit too thoroughly, or because Lunelle was genuinely afraid that piercing that "thin layer between them" might ruin even their most ordinary girlfriend dynamic, by the end of the week, she still hadn't mustered the courage to openly reveal her true identity to her dear wife.
Still, in Lunelle's view, the Anti-Entropy attack probably wouldn't happen that fast—at least, none of the precursor events that triggered it had occurred yet, right?
Thinking this, Lunelle drifted into a sweet, weary sleep.
Little did she know that the precursor events she assumed would buy her some time would arrive much sooner than she ever imagined!
Because the very next day, after Lunelle locked her door and went to bed, early in the morning, Class Monitor Fu Hua publicly scolded Kiana for getting overly "excited" and howling in the middle of the night.
Seeing the poor girl being called out like that set off alarm bells in Lunelle's mind.
Didn't something like this happen in the manga too?
Then, when dinnertime rolled around, it just had to happen—triggering that classic dinner scene where our ever-hungry Kiana, who "usually polishes off six bowls of rice, could only manage two today"!
And during dinner, Theresa showed up carrying bitter melon juice and Homu Manga, wanting to throw a little celebration.
She also shared the fantastic news that "thanks to the new high-efficiency Honkai suppression serum, Himeko is now completely out of danger."
Then Kiana took the chance to complain about how she "couldn't do anything," only to be promptly dragged off by Theresa for some hellish special training.
But seeing these scenes, which matched the pre-attack events from the manga almost to a tee, Lunelle couldn't shake the feeling that Theresa's good news felt like terribly bad news for her.
Still, considering Theresa had said it was Lunelle's serum that helped Himeko recover early, a sliver of hope lingered in Lunelle's heart.
What if… it wasn't tonight?
But that last bit of hope was crushed when her usually calm and thoughtful wife Mei suddenly invited Bronya to play video games in the living room.
So next… wouldn't it be that some bull-headed clone guy knocking on the door, claiming to be Theresa's newly appointed secretary—a man, no less—only to be exposed and then start a fight?
Yet, perhaps because Lunelle had tempted fate, just as she was muttering her worst-case scenario, a sudden knock came at the door, right as Bronya intentionally let Mei win a round.
Mei, being closest to the door, found it strange that someone would visit so late, but thinking it might be Kiana returning from her special training with Theresa, she turned the knob without hesitation.
When she noticed the figure outside was a suspicious-looking man in a black hooded cloak, Bronya, quick on the uptake, immediately realized this visitor meant trouble.
But for someone to boldly show up here, knowing at least a top-tier A-rank Valkyrie was stationed at Himeko's place, meant this person was either a complete idiot or confident enough to easily handle an A-rank Valkyrie.
And our late-night visitor to St. Freya, Welt Joyce… or rather, the clone known as "Welt Joyce Clone 1," while he fit the second category, it's worth emphasizing that in the "lack of brains" department, he was off the charts by a mile.
So while Bronya was confronting Welt Joyce Clone 1 over his attempt to kidnap Mei by force, a cute little figure had somehow, unnoticed, slipped behind Welt Joyce Clone 1, holding a syringe filled with an unknown liquid!
This sneaky yet adorable little creature was none other than Lunelle, who, after seeing too many signs of the impending attack, had climbed out the window and timed her move to ambush Welt Joyce Clone 1.
So before Welt Joyce Clone 1 could lay a hand on her wife Mei, Lunelle, who'd been plotting this, launched a shameless "Seele sneak attack"!
She drove the needle straight into his backside.
"Who dares? You dare ambush me?!"
Thankfully, this average-yet-overconfident Welt Joyce Clone 1 was exactly as Lunelle predicted.
He'd been trying to trick Mei with the lame excuse of being Theresa's new secretary, asking her to leave with him in the middle of the night!
So it was only when the needle actually pierced his rear that this profoundly brainless guy realized he'd not only been ambushed but injected with some weird, unknown substance!
"You bitch! You're dead!!!"
Believing himself to be the First Herrscher, Welt Joyce Clone 1 flew into a rage at the thought of being ambushed by some nobody.
He raised a hand and unleashed a powerful repulsive force attack—something akin to a "Shinra Tensei."
Under the impact of that massive force, Lunelle, who didn't weigh much to begin with, had no chance of staying on her feet.
And so, this attack, clearly meant to kill on the spot, sent Lunelle flying the moment her ambush succeeded.
And Lunelle seemed to have taken the place of the original plot's Bronya, being smashed so hard into the wall of the room that she was deeply embedded in it.
She even nearly punched straight through the wall!
Taking that "Shinra Tensei" head-on obviously didn't leave Lunelle in a great state.
The moment she was blasted into the wall, she could clearly feel at least five or six cracks running through the bones all over her body.
Her internal organs felt like they'd been shaken out of place—this was genuine, physical pain, right down to the marrow!
Thankfully, after a month and a half of careful buildup, Lunelle's physical fitness was now close to a hundred.
Even just looking at the raw numbers, the gap was clear.
Lunelle now possessed physical capabilities nearly twenty times that of an average adult.
Not only that, she even had a "Safety Net" talent—the worse her injuries, the stronger her recovery.
So even if Welt Joyce in his prime had struck out in rage, it wasn't a given he could have instantly wiped out Lunelle as she was now.
And most importantly, the thing Lunelle had risked so much to inject into Welt Joyce was no ordinary substance!
At least, judging by how she seemed severely injured but not critically so…
It looked like the special "concoction" she'd developed using available resources was starting to take effect!
Lunelle believed that if her sneak attack hadn't succeeded, that direct hit she'd just taken could very well have shattered every bone in her body!
"Seele! Are you alright?!"
Seeing her beloved little sister Seele hurt so badly, Bronya immediately rushed forward to check Lunelle's condition.
At the same time, she directly summoned Project Bunny 19C.
Furious beyond measure, Bronya didn't care that this was still Miss Himeko's home.
She started off with a fully-powered heavy particle cannon, blasting it right in his face!
Although the attack kicked up a huge cloud of dust, in the world of anime, where there's a "smoke but no injury" rule, it was clearly unrealistic to expect one shot to finish off Welt Joyce.
Seeing Lunelle suddenly attacked, and Bronya pulling out the big guns without a second thought to let him have it, even the initially somewhat naive Mei belatedly realized this person was no newly-appointed Schicksal secretary.
This was clearly an enemy assault by forces from Anti-Entropy!
But Mei's Valkyrie armor wasn't stored at Himeko's place.
Plus, she didn't have any handy weapons at the moment.
Mei: Huh? Why do I suddenly feel like I'm the mascot here now?
Without her Herrscher form, and currently unarmed, Mei really wasn't sure how to engage the enemy!
This was a classic case of finally, on the right person, justifiably chanting: "I can't do anything!"
"Bronya! It's an enemy attack, we need to inform Principal Theresa right away!"
Though she couldn't directly impact the battle much, after sizing up the situation, Mei quickly realized they needed to call for backup from St. Freya HQ.
"The enemy's target is probably you, Mei-neesama. I'll hold them off—you go fetch the... I mean, go notify the Class Rep!"
Considering Anti-Entropy had struck while Himeko was seriously injured, Bronya guessed they were likely trying to capture Mei, the Third Herrscher.
Having temporarily halted the enemy with cannon fire, she urgently signaled Mei to get away.
"Alright! Be careful, Bronya! I'll go get the Class Rep!"
Hearing Bronya's explanation, Mei quickly put distance between herself and Welt Joyce.
Then she immediately rushed toward the Class Rep's room, planning to fetch Fu Hua—the undisputed top fighter in the dorm, both openly and behind the scenes.
But from within the dust cloud, Welt Joyce's furious roar soon erupted.
"Grrrr... Aaarrgh!"
Then, the dust that would have taken time to settle was swept away in an instant.
However, once the smoke cleared, Welt Joyce—who in the original storyline should have emerged unscathed—looked noticeably, "just a tad" worse for wear this time.
"You damn brat, what the hell did you inject me with?!"
His hooded coat was now tattered and ragged, giving him a rather pitiful appearance.
Anyone unaware might have mistaken him for a beggar from who-knows-where.
The special liquid Lunelle had injected into Welt Joyce was essentially another product of her bio-tech skills—a modified version of Schicksal's Honkai Energy Suppression Serum.
This modified version was different from the one given to Himeko, which specifically enhanced the serum's Honkai suppression to quickly stabilize and curb its erosion on the body.
Lunelle had tweaked this serum to hyper-specialize in indiscriminately "deactivating" the Honkai Energy within the injected individual for a short period.
So, the serum Lunelle gave Welt Joyce could be simply understood as a low-grade version of the "God-Slaying Spear"!
And since it was meant for an enemy, Lunelle naturally didn't care whether the modified serum had nasty side effects.
She went all out to make it as troublesome as possible.
Seeing Welt Joyce now looking somewhat like a "mutant," even though she was in excruciating pain all over, Lunelle felt that the bio-tech she'd learned in simulations was finally proving useful in real combat!
But before Lunelle could celebrate inwardly for long, unexpected retaliation came faster than anticipated!
"Well now, on closer look, the little rat who ambushed me is actually quite cute! Since you dared interfere with my plans, then…"
Welt Joyce, barely able to stand, suddenly felt a peculiar sensation upon detecting Lunelle's unique aura—as if by obtaining her, his always somewhat incomplete self could become whole!
"You'll repay me with yourself!"
With that, Welt Joyce suddenly pointed at Lunelle, who was slumped on the ground.
Lunelle: What the—?!
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.