Leaving Massive Electric, Fuli arrived at the entrance of the Superstring Dimension. Looking around, he saw quite a few trainee Valkyries who had failed their missions being teleported back.
"Don't be discouraged, everyone!"
"You did great! Really!"
The adorable Trianne was running around comforting them. Her eyes lit up when she noticed Fuli entering, but she dutifully refrained from running over to greet him.
The boy noticed that among those she was comforting, the ones who regained their composure first were the Valkyries sent by Tribios for training.
After graduation, these individuals would return to Britain to engage in important work such as VIP security or join ace units.
For them, slogans like "fighting for all that is beautiful in the world" were just words; anyone who truly believed them was an idiot. Consequently, they didn't feel much pressure about "failing to protect civilians."
The little girls from St. Freya were a different story. Given that this batch consisted of first-year freshmen, Fuli could even hear weeping from corners here and there.
To be fair, in the military drama "Soldiers Sortie" that the boy had watched, there was a similar test scenario:
Soldiers disguised themselves as terrorists and detonated bombs to observe the truest reactions of the protagonists when placed in danger.
Upon learning the truth afterward, the protagonist said nothing and threw a punch at the instructor disguised as a terrorist.
The instructor who got punched wasn't angry; instead, he smiled and admitted he was in the wrong. The squadron leader who planned it all also apologized sincerely.
In Fuli's view, this was the right way to handle things.
Since they chose to use such extreme methods to test people, the soothing and handling afterward had to be thorough; otherwise, it was tantamount to playing with fire.
Theresa should be able to handle it, right? At the very least, she should apologize.
He thought.
---||---
...
As one of the three main modes of the Abyss, the underlying architecture of Apocalyptic Shadow was pure PVP.
Either projecting powerful individuals or using Memoria to simulate enemies from the database, contestants would compete in selected scenarios.
Accompanying a slight dizziness, Fuli was transported to the Memorial Arena. His gaze swept the surroundings and quickly focused on the pretty girl hovering above the circular coliseum.
Her pale green highlights, mixed with a sickly fragility, shone like cold moonlight. Her long hair was messy, cascading down to her waist.
On her pale, exquisite face, her green eyes, flowing with emerald luster, were hollow and dazed.
Floating ribbons surrounded her limbs, splitting into extremely dangerous blades of wind.
Her slender feet hovered off the ground, ankles bound by green wind, with wind-erosion scars spreading like cracks from her ankles to her calves.
"Wendy? It's only been a short while, and they've already simulated a copy of her?"
While praising the efficiency of the Superstring Dimension, Fuli drew the Plasma Kagehide hanging at his waist. Invisible fluid surrounded the blade, slicing open the hundred-meter invisible air blade slashing towards him.
The violent airflow hissed as it collapsed to both sides, plowing the ground behind him and leaving two bottomless gullies.
Compared to the ideal fluid of Setsuna Blade · Yaksha, Shadow-Bearing's air manipulation was on a completely different level.
Of course, everything has its use; this technique also had its advantages.
For example, providing powerful negative pressure inside the [REDACTED], turning Wendy into a [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] that would make Little Li scream in pleasure (crossed out).
"..."
Having her move countered, Wendy remained expressionless, surrounded by an aura of cold sorrow and destruction, like a broken butterfly trapped by the wind.
She lowered her eyes, and the air in the entire arena suddenly heated up.
Not flames rising, but the air itself being heated to a terrifying degree by friction.
The ground beneath his feet sizzled, the edges turning red and softening. Everything in sight looked as if viewed through boiling oil; the scenery swayed and distorted crazily.
Wendy's slender figure appeared blurred in the twisted heat waves, as if she were merely a flickering phantom.
She didn't unleash giant air blades again. Instead, she made a grasping motion with both hands in front of her and clapped them together violently!
BOOM—!
The air around Fuli instantly ceased to be merely hot; it turned into a tangible, boiling white furnace!
Unspeakably high-temperature gas was forcibly compressed and bound by invisible power, forming a plasma cage several meters in diameter, trapping him dead center like a miniature stellar storm.
"Interesting."
Feeling the slight stinging pain from his skin, the boy turned his wrist. The ideal fluid wrapped around the blade extended under the effect of Honkai energy.
He originally thought this was just a hastily made counterfeit product. Now it seemed it possessed over eighty percent of the original's combat ability.
While sighing internally that technology is the primary productive force, he silently shot out fluid sword qi. Wherever it passed, the viscous, scorching, high-pressure plasma cage was pierced through instantly like a hot knife through butter, creating a straight vacuum channel!
The air at the edges of the channel ionized violently, emitting blinding purple light!
"Play with me a little longer, Miss Counterfeit."
Fuli's desire for battle was ignited. He closed in, pinning Wendy down, the Plasma Kagehide aiming straight for the girl's vital throat.
---||---
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"D-Damn it! To force the Savior of Light into such a predicament?! Trash mobs! I will return this humiliation a thousandfold in the future!"
Separated from the Valkyrie unit, Lord Kyuushou ran alone through the ruins of the Agony layer, shouting about saving her dog life.
Her exquisite face was covered in snot and tears, her steps were wretched, and even the purple pantyhose wrapping her long, slender legs were torn in several places by rubble, exposing dazzling white skin that was particularly piercing in these deathly ruins.
The only slight regret was that neither Honkai beasts nor the bizarre creatures from the Imaginary and Quantum sides were the type to be seduced.
"Roar—!"
A thirty-meter-tall Temple-class Honkai beast tailed her, poised to pierce this unlucky straggler with the lance in its hand.
"If this were the Infinite Corridor (game world) under my command, a single strike would suffice to format you lot from the molecular level, sinking you forever to the lowest level of the save point!"
Looking back amidst her busy escape, Houraiji Kyuushou, still tough-talking, gritted her teeth and hid in an abandoned building.
Her ability was Data Conversion. She could transform her mind into electronic signals and transmit them to cyberspace, roaming the world via undersea cables or satellites. It was precisely because of this that she became the information broker codenamed "Alice."
After getting separated from the main group, Houraiji Kyuushou immediately activated this ability, attempting to hack into this battlefield called the Superstring Dimension and mobilize heavy firepower to assist herself.
Regrettably, the firewall constructed by Kallen couldn't be easily breached even by the super AI ELLA, so naturally, the girl's invasion attempts yielded nothing.
Without the enhancement of her ability, the frailty of Kyuushou's physical body was fully exposed.
The fact that she was temporarily safe and sound was thanks to Elysia dragging her out of the dorms to exercise whenever she had the chance. Otherwise, the Temple-class's big lance would have pierced her from head to toe long ago.
Unfortunately, the Savior's luck ended here.
Glaring at the three Anti-Entropy Titans simulated by Memoria before her, seeing that she was about to be pincer-attacked, Houraiji Kyuushou abandoned herself to despair and finally started speaking human language: "Flanking from front and back... how do you guys even know tactics?"
She hurriedly took out her weapon, the Eagle Sword—a recoilless electromagnetic pistol developed by Mei, highly favored by current trainee Valkyries and very suitable for a weak newbie like her.
"Unclean things! Turn into stardust under the divine might of my Dragon Lance!"
The girl pulled the trigger repeatedly. The projectiles, fired at five times the speed of sound, were nearly silent. Aiming wasn't even necessary; the attached micro-propulsion system would alter the bullet's trajectory in flight, automatically correcting its path to hit targets within the lock-on range.
The cores of the new depleted uranium rounds would burn upon penetrating armor, generating temperatures over six thousand degrees to efficiently kill personnel and damage equipment inside.
The three hit Titans burst into flames on the spot.
"Did it work?"
With the soaring flames reflected in her eyes, the girl muttered to herself.
"Obviously not."
A speechless response came from the side. "Since when do Titans have operators inside? You just applied a burning debuff to them."
As if mirroring the newcomer's complaint, high-frequency radiation swords slashed through the smoke and dust. The Titans returned from hell, silent and resolute, aiming their 80mm beam cannons at the target.
"I'm really done for... Wait!"
Houraiji Kyuushou jerked her head toward the source of the voice. The silver-grey-haired girl who had stood beside Fuli earlier was standing at the highest point of the ruins.
She waved vigorously, like a dying person grasping at the last straw. "You are? No, no, no! Whoever you are, Help! Help!"
"Even the dignified Savior of Light has fallen to the point of begging for help?"
A faint smile flitted across her exquisite profile. Bronya's fingers danced, and the silver-grey Project Bunny traced a precise trajectory.
Stray bullets whistled out, instantly piercing and exploding the dense enemy shadows surrounding her frenemy.
Subsequently, white feathers fluttered down, landing lightly beside her. "It hasn't been that long. What, can't recognize me already?"
Houraiji Kyuushou nodded dumbly.
"It's me." Bronya pointed to herself. "Metal Gear Bronya."
"Um... What? Wait a sec? Who?"
"What 'what'?"
Big Bronya rolled her eyes. She didn't believe this guy hadn't made the connection.
"It really is Bronya..."
Houraiji Kyuushou sheepishly put away her pistol, subconsciously sizing up the other party's drastically different curvaceous figure and angelically pure, beautiful face, finally focusing her gaze on the full chest.
While envious, she couldn't help swallowing her saliva.
One's own failure is regrettable, but a friend's success is even more heartbreaking.
"Did you use a cheat engine?"
She was so depressed. Where did this ultimate pure-yet-sexy beauty come from?
Good thing she wasn't a guy, or she'd have a new dream lover in minutes.
"Just normal development."
Bronya appeared calm on the surface, but she was super happy inside.
To be rich and not return home is like walking in brocade at night.
Show off! Show off! Just to piss off all of you who looked down on Bronya in the past!
Ah wait, Bronya has grown up. Bronya will no longer refer to Bronya as Bronya.
I must use 'I' to refer to myself!
Big Bronya thought smugly, then added, "Just asking, but seeing as you were about to be obliterated by monsters, why didn't you actively exit the trial?"
Houraiji Kyuushou was shocked. "Wait, sis? You can actively exit this thing?"
"Didn't they say during the speech earlier? Just shout 'Exit this trial,' and you'll be teleported to the lounge outside the Superstring Dimension."
"Ah, this..."
I can't say I was too busy avoiding Divine Departure's gaze to pay attention to what you guys were saying.
The Savior smiled sheepishly, then suddenly realized something else.
"Lord Bronya! Lord Bronya!" She leaned in with a fawning face. "My, pfft, Alice's identity—please keep it a secret!"
The girl remained unmoved. "That depends on your offer."
Houraiji Kyuushou looked wretched, mixed with resentment. "I don't have much surplus grain on hand. Didn't I just join St. Freya? That ELLA isn't to be messed with; every time I earn extra cash, I have to carefully bypass her."
The rest went into making new games. Not exactly empty-handed, but she didn't have many coins.
"No grain, huh."
Bronya sighed, looking at her frenemy with pity, as if pondering which lucky feng shui spot to bury her in after her brother chopped her into pieces.
"How about Mount Taixuan? Since you'll be just a jar of ashes anyway, I still have the authority for that much."
"Nooo!!!"
The Savior hugged Bronya's white-stockinged thighs—legs you could play with for a year—and wailed. "If worse comes to worst, I'll pay with my body! Is paying with my body okay? Look, I'm reasonably good-looking. Even if Divine Departure is a scumbag, he wouldn't love me and leave me, right?"
More than reasonably good-looking? That was the level that made her brother notice her first glance out of a basket of beautiful girls.
Big Bronya rubbed her temples unhappily.
"Calm down first."
Despite being the culprit who pushed her to the edge of the cliff, Bronya comforted her frenemy instead. "There's one thing I've never understood. How exactly did you and my brother meet?"
"How did we meet?"
Kyuushou, face covered in snot and tears, recalled for a moment. "That bastard Divine Departure—"
"Hm?"
"—The supreme, noble, kind, and beautiful Lord Divine Departure used some unknown means to find my physical location and threatened me to help him breach the cyber defenses of the Raiden Tower!"
As she said this, Houraiji Kyuushou was full of complaints, looking like she was about to turn dark.
Thinking about it carefully, all her suffering and misfortune started from then.
If Fuli hadn't contacted her, the part of her mental body converted into data wouldn't have stayed in Nagazora City to watch the show, and she wouldn't have been trapped there by the Herrscher of Thunder's electromagnetic field.
If Kyuushou herself, having lost contact with her mental body, hadn't rushed to Nagazora City in a hurry, she wouldn't have been caught by Elysia after the Third Eruption ended and joined St. Freya with her.
Rounding it up, Divine Departure still owed this Savior a huge compensation for damages!
"Then go ask him for it," Bronya said faintly.
"Forget it, forget it."
The girl shook her head repeatedly.
She wasn't that petty!
"If what you say is true, then this is strange."
Bronya stroked her chin.
According to her impression, Fuli claimed to have a pretty good relationship with the "Information Broker Alice" he spoke of; otherwise, he wouldn't have thought of her first when encountering difficulties.
However, according to Houraiji Kyuushou's impression, that was their first interaction.
Not only that, Bronya also remembered that Fuli was unconditionally good to her from the start, causing Kiana and Mei to have a big falling out over it.
Considering her brother wasn't a lolicon, the possibility of love at first sight for her—hmph, her child self—didn't exist.
A scenario where one person has a high impression of and knows another person extremely well unilaterally, while the other person knows nothing about it; plus, changing from an ordinary person into a powerful warrior capable of defeating even Bronya in the blink of an eye...
Possession?
Transmigration?
Awakened a rare skill to see the future?
Or perhaps,
Re—
BOOM!
A massive noise rang in the girls' ears, the sound of a heavy object crashing into a building.
Bronya, reacting the fastest, focused her gaze on the huge cloud of dust kicked up by the impact. Her thermal imaging immediately captured a familiar silhouette within. "Brother?"
"Little Sister? Perfect timing, lend a hand."
The Plasma Kagehide sliced cleanly through the dust, and Fuli stepped out.
The pursuer also arrived at the battlefield, streaking across the sky surrounded by gale winds. Judging by her appearance, it was Wendy, her eyes devoid of highlights.
Simulated products of Memoria shouldn't be able to cross system-designated zones. In other words, the beautiful girl appearing before them now was the ace of the Oceania Branch, Wendy herself, who had the potential to become the fourth S-Rank Valkyrie.
Realizing something was wrong, Bronya shouted low, "Raiden Mei, what's going on?"
She was certain the other party could hear.
"Caused by a defect in the Natural Stigmata. Losing reason under the stimulation of the external environment. Just knock her out." Mei's response was as crisp as ever. "No need to hold back. Strike freely. It doesn't matter if you sever limbs or destroy half her body; as long as there's a breath left, we can save her here."
"Also, absolutely do not [REDACTED] while the other party is unconscious!"
She looked at Fuli, her gaze sharp.
—Wh-what kind of nonsense is this guy talking about?
Houraiji Kyuushou was dumbfounded.
And wait? They're going to fight?
Holy shit! If they really fight, what about me, who can't even truss a chicken?!!
...