Footsteps echoed like heavy drumbeats through the vast, ruined walls.
Fuli advanced unhurriedly. His huge shadow spread silently like the slowly closing night, completely enveloping the curvaceous figure retreating into the cold corner.
"D-Damn it!"
Bronya's back pressed tightly against the hard, cold wall. Her fingertips curled subconsciously, and with a hiss, the Truth Domain—the weapon she held in her palm, which she clearly could have used to resist the savage invader—dissipated.
Immediately, she shut her eyes tight, her pretty face turning stubbornly to the side, as if completely giving up the struggle, leaving only a poignant, seemingly fragile and helpless posture wrapped in shadow.
Come on!
Don't be polite! Ravage Bronya ruthlessly!
"..."
"..."
"..."
Time passed in tense silence for several breaths. The anticipated controlling, even slightly aggressive, hot touch did not descend upon her body, which was trembling slightly from tension (excitement).
Bronya's tightly closed eyelashes fluttered uneasily. Finally unable to restrain herself, she carefully opened a slit.
The scene that met her eyes instantly stunned her.
Her adopted brother, who had cast an oppressive shadow just a moment ago, had long since turned around and picked up the unconscious Wendy, who was slumped on the ground.
He hoisted the Valkyrie's young and beautiful body onto his shoulder with crisp, clean movements.
"...Brother?"
"Time to go."
Fuli's voice was devoid of ripples, as if his aggressive approach just now had been merely an illusion.
While calling out, he turned sideways, his gaze naturally sweeping over Bronya, who stood stiffly in the corner.
His line of sight paused on her chest area for a moment. Then, came a barely audible yet incredibly distinct sound:
"Sigh."
That sigh was like a subtle judgment, carrying obvious regret, or even disdain?
"???"
Bronya's brain was in chaos.
Out of feminine intuition, she instinctively lowered her head.
Her line of sight met her toes without any obstruction.
No, that's wrong!
Bronya's pupils shook violently.
With her proud figure, how could she see her toes the moment she looked down?
This wasn't her level at all!
"Basically, it was just growth catalyzed in a short time by the HTR-type modification agent."
An elegant voice sounded timely.
A virtual screen lit up again not far away. Mei, having just shaken off Elysia and Kiana, elegantly tidied her ponytail messed up by the chase, her tone as flat as if reading a lab report.
She lowered her hand, the corners of her mouth hooking up. "The battle with the Critical-Grade just now consumed a large amount of Honkai energy in your body. Certain parts that were purely propped up by high-concentration Honkai energy naturally shrank back temporarily."
There's such a setting?!
Bronya felt struck by lightning, standing there dumbfounded.
Refusing to give up, the girl hurriedly materialized a large full-length mirror, looking into it with trembling eyes:
Her signature silky silver-grey long hair still radiated a pure, beautiful luster, and her slender waist outlined a breathtakingly perfect curve.
From her overall physique, Bronya Zaychik was still in a graceful adult form, her looks and temperament undiminished, enough to make countless people fall for her.
Only her chest area had changed from the previous turbulent waves to the same flat plains as her childhood self.
...Just because of this? That cheap brother of mine cruelly stopped?
All the foreshadowing, the secret anticipation, the feigned helplessness, the throbbing wait—under the reflection of cruel reality, they all twisted into a huge, absurd answer filled with humiliation.
Bronya suddenly raised her head, sparks almost flying from her eyes.
Facing the retreating figure carrying Wendy, she voiced the angry accusation she had been building up, filled with unwillingness and the feeling of being fooled:
"Damn it! Is what you fancy just that superficial fat?!"
Fuli stopped, looked back, his face wearing a matter-of-fact calmness, even carrying a trace of confusion like 'Do you even need to ask?':
"Yeah."
His tone was surprisingly frank, like stating a universal truth:
"Not just me. On the point of 'liking young, beautiful women with good figures,' the creature known as man remains loyal and true to his original intentions until death."
He even raised his head confidently and straightened his back.
Wendy, carried on his shoulder, swayed slightly with this movement. As luck would have it, under the shirt draped by gravity, the heavy, full contours—impossible to ignore even in unconsciousness—pressed against Fuli's shoulder with immense clarity and presence.
Like a silent footnote perfectly verifying his superficial yet incredibly firm declaration:
"And I, especially, like big boobs!"
Naturally, Cousin Hua is an exception.
---||---
Twilight fell, and the trainee Valkyries, finishing their high-intensity training, walked out of the Superstring Dimension one after another.
From the direction of the cafeteria, tempting aromas had long been wafting out in wisps, like invisible hooks precisely grabbing the stomachs of the adolescent girls.
According to the agreement, during the few days the trainee Valkyries were undergoing trials, their meals were provided by the Hyperion.
And this supply could be called a glutton's feast.
The ingredients were all crops grown around the Fuli Well and domesticated beasts. The fruits and vegetables were sweet and crisp, containing gentle, pure energy; the meat was exceptionally tender and firm, overflowing with fatty aroma. Every bite far exceeded the limits of worldly ingredients.
For the trainee Valkyries who could only occasionally taste Fuli Well special ingredients at St. Freya Academy, the treatment these past few days was simply treating delicacies and ambrosia as common meals!
Of course, they wouldn't feel any resentment about this after returning. In the whole world, only Theresa, with the status of Fuli's fiancée, could happily move these treasures into the academy every now and then.
If it were other Schicksal branches, even the branch heads who stood above ten thousand people could only smell the aroma from afar with envy, jealousy, and hatred, never enjoying such special treatment.
Of course, Schicksal was not without other lucky ones who could compete with St. Freya.
The Immortal Blades squad was one of these very few exceptions. But they enjoyed this preferential treatment not because they were Overseer Otto's direct elite unit.
The deeper reason lay with the squad's two core figures: the exceptionally powerful Captain Durandal and the meticulous Adjutant Rita Rossweisse.
They each maintained close, even special, connections with the core figures of the Hyperion.
This thought-provoking personal relationship was the reason the Immortal Blades could enjoy such rare resources.
"So what exactly is the complex relationship between these people?"
Gossip knows no age, especially when the trainee Valkyries were all enthusiastic, beautiful girls.
They gathered in twos and threes, chattering about the boy who captivated three S-Rank Valkyries, occasionally letting out bell-like laughter.
Meanwhile, the protagonist mentioned by the girls was not in the noisy cafeteria.
He was with his harem (?) in a guest meeting room set up as a temporary dining room. A sumptuous dinner, transported by the joint efforts of the Cat Cakes, was carefully placed on the large, polished round table. The steaming aroma of the food filled the already small space.
"I am very sorry!!!"
In a corner far from Fuli, Wendy suddenly slammed her forehead onto the floor.
A standard prostration expressed her profound repentance for her out-of-control rampage. Clearly, after regaining her reason, that memory hadn't disappeared.
The sobered girl felt utterly humiliated. As a team instructor and veteran Valkyrie, she had failed Senior Himeko's trust and nearly caused a catastrophe.
"You did cause quite a bit of trouble." Fuli deliberately put on a stern face, sinking into the sofa in a spread-eagle pose. "So how do you plan to make up for it? A light apology isn't enough."
"This..."
Wendy looked up and quickly glanced at him, her whole body instantly tingling with a strange numbness.
She forcibly suppressed the moan about to spill from her throat, hurriedly clamped her legs together, and scooted backward until her back hit the wall. Only then did she say pitifully, "I... I have some savings from working for a few years..."
"Money?" Fuli crossed his legs and snorted. "Vulgar! Even dogs don't want it!"
"I'm sorry!!!"
"Wow, when you say that, think about who was begging everyone everywhere for a little budget before?"
Kiana pointed and commented from the side.
"Brother, I'll kill you!"
This was Bronya, acting like a little widow after being rejected. Even though her frontal armor had swollen up again with the replenishment of Honkai energy, the girl still held a grudge over the previous incident, charging at him again at every opportunity.
"Forget it, forget it."
"Calm down, Duck."
Kallen and her frenemy Houraiji Kyuushou hurriedly held her back from left and right.
Elysia sighed looking at the chaos in the room. "The situation is so tense. Even if Miss Elf brought a Magical Fawn velvet quilt and a Wonder Realm massager to the door, it might be hard to settle."
Wendy: Wait, why those two? Shouldn't it be two cases of milk?
No, no!
The Valkyrie looked at Fuli with teary eyes, like a prisoner awaiting judgment.
"Don't listen to him."
Mei lightly turned a page of the book on her lap, her slender, black-stockinged legs swaying slightly. "Theresa will be responsible for the compensation this time. Remember to visit her when you go back; she has something to say to you in person."
Neither Fuli nor Bronya mentioned the First Rated Power of Jizo Mitama to Mei, nor did they explicitly state Wendy's reaction to encountering the Star Saint's Path.
Otherwise, that scene... tsk tsk tsk.
"But..."
Wendy was still uneasy.
Destroying someone's home and unreasonably starting a fight, then settling it with just some money... in her eyes, this was really unjustifiable.
"Good idea incoming♪~" Elysia raised her hand. After everyone looked at her, she clasped her hands together, smiling brightly. "The training still has a few days to go. How about letting Wendy become the maid for everyone on the Hyperion during this period to pay off the debt?"
"I have no objections."
Glaring viciously at Fuli, Bronya, the other main party involved, spoke.
The compensation Theresa offered far exceeded the damage. As the Hyperion's finance minister, she wished similar incidents would happen a few more times.
Pushing the boat with the current, doing a favor to let Wendy's guilt dissipate a bit could be considered after-sales service.
Fuli, being glared at, huffed with arms crossed. Honestly speaking, even if his little sister hadn't shrunk into Honkai Gakuen 2 Widow Bronya earlier, he definitely wouldn't have made a move in the end; it was mostly joking.
Ultimately, it was an adult form catalyzed by the HTR-type modification agent. Even if she could marry according to Russian law, as someone who grew up in Shenzhou, he had to wait until she was at least 16.
"Maid? What kind of maid?" Houraiji Kyuushou rubbed her smooth chin. "As far as this Savior knows, medieval maids had to provide sleeping services, right?"
Her gaze swept over everyone and finally landed on the only male present—Fuli. "You really got a bargain, Divine Departure!"
At the same time, she secretly calculated how to fabricate a scandal between these two to sell.
Theresa's Fiancé x Theresa's Beloved Student. Such an immoral development had a huge market!
Crucially, Wendy was an S-Rank Valkyrie reservist. With this bonus, Fuli's title of "S-Rank Valkyrie Killer" would be further cemented!
Yes, having confirmed Bronya wouldn't expose her identity, the Savior returned to her usual willful ways.
"Eh?! S-S-S-Sleeping services?!"
Wendy, however, froze like time had stopped, standing rigidly in place. Her face instantly flushed with embarrassed redness and bewildered confusion.
Her gaze instinctively darted toward Fuli. In that glance, the bone-eroding, ecstatic trembling sensation from encountering the Star Saint's Path suddenly revived, surging through her limbs like electric current.
"Woo..."
With only time to let out a short whimper, Wendy's eyes lost focus, and she slumped forward softly, actually fainting again.
"She actually fainted from excitement? Haki-Wendy, you... Ouch!"
"Shut up, you!"
Bronya gave the chattering Houraiji Kyuushou a loud chop, helping her physically cool down.
"She scares a bit too easily."
Kiana squatted down, curiously poking Wendy's still-flushed cheek with her fingertip. "Sleeping services? Hmph! Our glorious Hyperion would never allow such feudal dregs that should have been swept into the trash heap of history long ago!"
"Right, Ah-Li!"
Her voice suddenly rose, carrying unquestionable firmness.
The person in question scratched his cheek. "Well, it's not exactly impo—"
"Right, Ah-Li!"
Kiana interrupted immediately, taking a large step closer.
"Actually, it could be—"
"Right, Ah-Li!"
Looking at Kiana, who was almost pressing against his nose, seeing the forced, smile-that-wasn't-a-smile on that pretty face, and the highlights in those heterochromatic gold and blue eyes getting thinner and thinner until they almost vanished, Fuli's Adam's apple rolled with difficulty.
"Of course! We on the Hyperion always insist on walking at the forefront of era reform. All feudal dregs must be resolutely and thoroughly eliminated! Decadent ideas like sleeping services have absolutely no place here!"
Heads up, chest out, voice loud, full of momentum.
"That's more like it~"
Kiana's aggressive momentum vanished. She rocked back onto her heels, proudly placing her hands on her hips, looking so smug it was adorably lethal.
Dinner finally ended in a subtly happy atmosphere for both hosts and guests.
After a bit of horseplay post-meal, the boys and girls dispersed to rest.
Deep in the night.
In the guest room, Wendy slowly opened her eyes.
Outside the window, the ink-blue night sky over the Pacific Ocean was pure and clean. Billions of stars spilled like crushed diamonds, weaving a twinkling, boundless giant net.
But the girl's heart was far from as peaceful as the galaxy before her eyes.
Disordered thoughts were like disturbed tides; she tossed and turned in bed.
"Sleeping services... huh?"
The extreme, terrifying trembling sensation brought by the Star Saint's Path, almost melting her soul, surged up again uncontrollably.
The boundless starlight before her eyes seemed to twist, transforming into Fuli's handsome silhouette.
Imagining the touch and body temperature he might possess, the girl's breath hitched, her fingertips curling imperceptibly.
After struggling against something for a long time, finally, as if pulled by some invisible gravity, her fair, slender hand quietly...
...