Higokumaru refused to accept that it was the only one suffering such treatment!
------------------------------------
"Captain, we've compared the Valkyries who've been deployed for support these past few days and discovered that one of them has a very suspicious disappearance pattern, and she still hasn't been found!"
From the comms came Susanna's puzzled voice. The three of them stopped their discussion simultaneously.
Durandal's expression sharpened. "Susanna."
"Yes! The missing Valkyrie is Anna Shariac, captain of the Snow Lotus Squad stationed on Coral Island. Her signal last disappeared at... the deepest part of the Coral Island Honkai Eruption zone."
Susanna delivered the information heavily.
The three exchanged glances, a shared suspicion rising in their hearts.
The Snow Lotus Squad, one of the Valkyrie units stationed on Coral Island.
When the Honkai Eruption occurred, the area where the Snow Lotus Squad was located fell completely within the Honkai-affected zone. Except for two Valkyries who happened to be outside, all others lost contact.
"Why are we only learning about such an important detail now?" Yae Sakura asked in confusion.
Susanna's embarrassed voice came through the channel.
"After the Honkai Eruption, the communication system was severely damaged, and a huge amount of data was lost. The fact we even recovered this much is thanks to the technicians working nonstop."
"It's fine, Susanna. You've done very well." Durandal gently affirmed Susanna before her eyes turned solemn.
"We might have to prepare for the worst."
······
Inside Coral Island, among the ruins, two operatives from World Serpent sat on the ground, battered and bruised.
"Cough... cough..."
After a fit of violent coughing, Raven spat blood into her palm and cursed, "Jackal, what kind of intel was that? Were you trying to get us killed?!"
Compared to Raven, Chen Tianwu's injuries looked even worse, yet his expression remained calm.
Well, that's a cyborg for you. Unable to refute Raven's anger, Jackal gave a dry laugh.
"But we did find traces of the Herrscher, didn't we?"
"I almost died for your so-called 'discovery,' and you still have the nerve to say that?"
"How was I supposed to know this Herrscher would be that strong? My estimations were based on combat data from previous ones, not my fault."
"Enough, enough. Just get us an escape route. Even if Schicksal cleared out most of the Honkai beasts nearby, there might still be some left lurking around."
Waving her hand, Raven didn't have the energy to keep arguing.
After all, she was the one risking her life on the front lines while Jackal sat safe in her lab barking orders. The difference was laughable.
"Don't worry. The Lord has already departed. Just wait patiently."
"The Lord?" Raven's eyelid twitched, her expression surprised.
"What's so strange about that? The Lord showed up for the Herrscher of Domination too. With this new Herrscher causing such a commotion, it's only natural for the Lord to intervene."
Raven nodded slightly and let out a sigh of relief. The adrenaline that had just surged through her drained away instantly.
Since the boss himself was stepping in, she could finally rest without feeling guilty.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Raven noticed Chen Tianwu lying quietly to the side.
"When we ran into that Herrscher earlier, you started acting weird. What is it? Brain freeze?"
A cyborg shouldn't get like this, did his parts freeze up or something?
Maybe a little lubricant would help. Fresh out of danger, Raven's thoughts wandered.
"...It's nothing. Just some frost damage to my brain." After a moment of silence, Chen Tianwu replied without looking back.
Raven shook her head, deciding he really must have frozen up. She'd take his parts apart later and oil them properly.
...
"Teacher Himeko~~~"
"No."
"Pleaseee~~~"
"No."
"Pretty please~~~"
"Did you finish today's homework?"
"...The weather's really nice today, huh."
Looking up at the slightly gloomy sky, Himeko sighed helplessly.
"Kiana, the Honkai energy concentration on Coral Island is far beyond normal levels. You can't just waltz in there."
"But Mei and the others went in! And they've been there for so long!"
"They're fully awakened Herrschers!!"
Bronya added calmly, "Kiana doesn't even understand that much. Clearly, her homework load has been insufficient. Teacher Himeko, Bronya requests an increase in Kiana's after-class assignments."
"Bronya!!"
Watching the two bicker, Himeko rubbed her temples.
She wasn't stopping Kiana from going to Coral Island for no reason, it was just a precaution.
The power of the Herrscher of the Void was still too terrifying.
The tragedy of the Second Eruption was still fresh in their minds.
But with their current strength, even if the Herrscher of the Void appeared again, they should at least be able to put up a fight.
Thinking that, Himeko felt slightly reassured.
At that moment, strange clicking noises echoed nearby.
Turning her head, she saw Silver Wolf's fingers flying across her device. If she didn't already know Silver Wolf's gaming habits, she might've been fooled by the sounds.
Suddenly, Silver Wolf stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh-ho."
······
Rubbing her cheek where Himeko had pinched it, Kiana pouted unhappily.
"Ugh, I just wanna go fight some Honkai beasts and save people! Why won't anyone let me? This is so unfair!"
"Oh?"
A sudden voice made Kiana look up instinctively , a flash of crimson filled her vision.
Blinking in surprise, Kiana's mouth fell open.
"Aunt Himeko, wait, no, Himeko big sister?! W-What's with your outfit?!"
Never in her life did Kiana imagine words like gentle and elegant could ever apply to Himeko.
Soft eyes. Graceful gestures. A calm, serene aura.
All three combined.
'No! Wrong! You are not the Himeko I know!'
"What's wrong? Is there something off about me?" Himeko looked down at herself in confusion.
"Everything's off."
Theresa could understand why Kiana reacted like that , she'd had the exact same reaction when she first saw this Himeko.
Same name, similar face... but somehow different.
Theresa just couldn't figure out why.
...
At the same time.
Schicksal Headquarters.
Mysterious Honkai energy surged in striped waves. Otto stood before it calmly, hands behind his back, gazing into the flowing mass.
"I've seen it."
Suddenly, Otto spoke, his eyes gleaming with an indescribable light.
"Having a Kaslana ancestor deal with a Kaslana descendant, that's so like you."
The Void Archives, identical in appearance to Otto, gave a soft laugh, almost mocking himself.
Given their shared consciousness, he was the most qualified to say it.
"At least for now, our goals align." Otto never denied being a villain.
He was a villain, one born of humanity's deepest obsession.
And when he finally achieved his purpose, if a hero were to come before him, sword of justice in hand, to take the head of this sinner... He would welcome it gladly.
...
Kaslana, the third family part of Schicksal.
Since the time that can no longer be recalled, they have borne the mission of resisting the Honkai and protecting humanity.
With such a daunting mission, one can imagine how formidable the clan's combat power must be.
Moving openly through the clouds, Kevin's expression remained calm.
"Lord, the coordinates of Raven and Owl have been marked, and the Herrscher of the Void's vessel has been located," came Gray Serpent's respectful voice in his ear.
"Mm. Keep monitoring."
Leaving those words behind, Kevin sped up, moving swiftly along the high-pressure air currents at the edge of the zone.
People watching from below burst into heated discussions.
However, this phenomenon gradually weakened as he drew closer to Coral Island.
At that moment, on the outskirts of Coral Island, in a temporary command center, everyone fell silent as they looked at the gentle version of Himeko before them.
Except for Silver Wolf.
"Hey~~ long time no see." Silver Wolf waved, as if greeting an old friend.
"Aunt Himeko, Sister Himeko, Aunt Himeko, Sister Himeko."
Kiana's gaze darted back and forth between the two, and a visible puff of white mist rose from her head.
Truly a dreamy scene.
"Eh eh eh! It hurts, it hurts!"
The "gentle" Himeko pinched Kiana's cheeks, eyes narrowing slightly as she leaned forward, her tone calm.
"Kiana~~"
"Who's the sister, and who's the aunt?"
"Why did the leader of Anti-Entropy come to us?" Bronya tilted her head slightly, puzzled.
Her attitude was lukewarm.
Although she had once belonged to Anti-Entropy, well, if she hadn't been removed from their records, she technically still was, Bronya had no particular feelings about this long-absent leader.
"Explaining it might be a bit complicated, so let's keep it short." The gentle Himeko spoke softly.
After briefly explaining their origins, the strange tension in the air gradually dissipated.
Suddenly, Kiana noticed a loophole.
"So that means, in this world, there are two Anti-Entropy leaders now?"
"…"
"???"
"Strictly speaking, as long as nothing goes wrong, yes."
Welt thought briefly, then nodded.
He wondered what his present-time self might be doing right now.
With such a big incident happening on Coral Island, he was probably busy dealing with it too.
"Theresa, hm?" Pushing open the door, Fu Hua hadn't even finished her words before the scene before her caught her attention.
Welt froze upon seeing her, then realized, the timeline had already diverged from what he remembered.
Fu Hua, the Celestial Immortal who in his memory had been ambushed and chosen by the Honkai to become a Herrscher, was now perfectly fine.
"Fu Hua, is something wrong?" Himeko [Hi3] asked curiously.
Fu Hua was about to speak when,
"Boom!!"
A powerful shockwave struck. Before anyone could react, a freezing, bone-chilling cold swept through, making the four nearest people shiver uncontrollably.
"What happened?!" Dust filled the air as everyone spread out cautiously, eyes alert.
As the smoke began to clear, a figure slowly stood up. The powerful sense of oppression emanating from it made everyone's chest tighten.
"Oh ho, a hidden boss?" Chewing gum, Silver Wolf raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued as she looked at the figure through the fading smoke.
She alone remained unaffected by the dust.
The power of Ether Editing shone at that moment.
For Silver Wolf, this trip wasn't just about reconnaissance, it was a new map to explore.
The life of a Stellaron Hunter was also similar to trailblazing. As the dust cleared, the figure became visible.
The first thing that appeared was that distinctive white hair.
Kiana blinked. A sense of familiarity welled up inside her.
"Who goes there!" Yuna shouted sharply.
The newcomer was clearly hostile, and might attack them at any moment. Yuna would show no mercy.
Seeing the poisonous mist surround him in an instant, Kevin nodded slightly.
He looked up at the girl standing before him.
"Herrscher." For an instant, a trace of pink flashed before his eyes.
Kevin's gaze hardened once again.
His eyes locked onto the white-haired girl being protected by the others.
"Kiana Kaslana."
"What do you want with me!"
Even though the enemy before her was clearly beyond her ability to handle, Kiana refused to back down.
She would not lose in spirit!
For a brief moment, Kevin seemed to see another version of himself, he too had once been so… fiery.
But that wasn't reason enough to stop him now.
"Come with me. No one will get hurt."
As soon as he said that, the tension in the air deepened.
"Hey hey hey! You can't just show up and start giving orders! Get lost before I smack you with Judah!"
Theresa's eyes flashed fiercely.
Although her height made her look less intimidating, that was hardly the point.
Kevin didn't answer. Instead, he turned toward Fu Hua.
Frowning slightly, Fu Hua asked in a deep voice, "What are you planning to do?"
"Something outside the plan. I assure you, she won't be harmed."
Hearing this, Fu Hua's frown didn't ease.
Kevin was a proud man, strong, and above trickery.
But fifty thousand years had passed.
Most of her own time had been spent in slumber, unlike Kevin, who had lived those fifty thousand years consciously with Su in the Sea of Quanta.
Who knew what changes might have come over him during that time?
Still, she believed Kevin's attitude toward Herrschers hadn't changed.
It was only that the Herrschers of the current civilization were no longer like those of the previous one, that was what stopped him from attacking immediately.
"If you can't explain clearly, I can't hand Kiana over to you."
After a long silence, Fu Hua's voice was firm.
"So in the end, we're still going to fight, huh." Kiana muttered quietly.
Bronya silently floated closer to Kiana and whispered, "You go to the back."
This time, Kiana didn't argue.
This opponent was clearly beyond her ability.
If she dragged everyone down because of her…
"Everyone, be careful. He's Kevin Kaslana, a fusion warrior from the Previous Era. He's extremely powerful, don't let your guard down!" Welt's voice was grave.
Even after all these years, Kevin's presence still radiated pressure.
A warrior who had endured for fifty thousand years since the Previous Era, his will was terrifyingly strong.
Under that willpower, even Welt's reinforced body would find it hard to withstand him.
A single mistake could mean death.
Clearly, this battle was inevitable.
Kevin knew that as well.
Slowly, he released the power of Judgment of Shamash, the scorching heat instantly filling the air, driving away every trace of the previous cold.
If that's how it must be… then, fight!