Honkai always arrives so quietly. In the few seconds after the purple sun exploded, the once bustling street suddenly held only Ana. Because she was close to the epicenter, the people here didn't even have the chance to become Dead soldiers they all turned to ash the instant the Honkai energy spread.
This was the first time Ana had personally witnessed the scene of a Honkai outbreak. A sense of powerlessness enveloped her. Just the Honkai energy that had diffused earlier could have killed 99.9% of the city's population, and mere minutes after the outbreak, that diffused energy would naturally condense into Honkai beasts.
There was no time to daze off. What Ana needed to do now was regroup as quickly as possible and discuss with Captain Christina how to handle this sudden Honkai.
"Beep beep beep beep..." At that moment, the Schicksal-specialized Honkai communicator Ana kept close to her body emitted the sound of an incoming communication request.
Ana connected. As expected, it was Christina, captain of the Snow Lotus Squad.
"Ana, where are you right now?"
"I'm near the city center close to where the Honkai erupted. Captain, any further instructions?"
"City center? What are you doing there... Never mind. Get away from your current location first, retreat to the outskirts. Check for any survivors along the way, turn on your locator we're on our way."
"Understood." Ana put down the communicator and quickly withdrew. This was close to the Honkai outbreak's center who knew how many high-level lesser Honkai beasts would spawn here. If she stayed, she might get worn down by various chariot-class and assault-class Honkai beasts.
"This silly girl." Christina weakly set down the blood-soaked communicator.
"Our base is right in the city center how could she forget even that? Looking for her boyfriend really scrambled her brain." After just a few words, Christina broke into violent coughing.
If Ana was merely near the center of the Honkai outbreak, then the epicenter was practically in the Snow Lotus Squad's bedding. After the outbreak, everyone in the squad had suffered severe erosion even artificial Stigmata couldn't block it.
Coincidentally, the Snow Lotus Squad consisted mostly of elderly members already on the verge of physical collapse. As expected, their time was running out.
"Captain, did you manage to trick Ana away?" At that moment, one of the elderly squad members spoke up.
"Trick her? I just said something offhand and she believed it. Love really robs people of reason. I don't know how she even got full marks on her theory exams." Christina muttered while editing a message on the communicator.
"Captain, I've already requested reinforcements from headquarters."
"Well done." Christina nodded in satisfaction, her hand never leaving the communicator screen.
"Captain, what are you doing? Writing a will? Didn't you already write one?" Another idle squad member curiously leaned her head toward Christina's communicator.
Christina elbowed her head away with an annoyed expression. "Nothing to do? If you've got nothing to do, go watch that big guy's egg at the entrance."
"OK, OK..." The annoying one wandered off shaking her head.
From afar, in this Snow Lotus Squad where death could arrive at any moment, everyone had fallen into a strange state of relaxation. Perhaps because they were all elderly who had long since looked past life and death when death truly came, there wasn't much reaction.
As for the egg at the entrance, it was probably from some superior Honkai beast. According to the professional instruments in the base, the Honkai energy concentration at the outbreak's center had reached 900 HW just 100 short of birthing a Herrscher.
In other words, that egg very likely came from a Judgment-class Honkai beast. The Snow Lotus Squad had already brought out all their big treasures from the base they were just waiting to see when that Honkai beast would hatch from the egg and how to blast it.
After finishing the edited message, Christina couldn't help smiling. She spoke to her relaxed old friends: "Our squad really is lucky. We thought the rest of our lives would just rot away, but we still get to encounter something like this. Perfectly timed that the young ones aren't here."
Yes not only was Ana absent from the base, but the other young Valkyrie, Angelina, had also gone to headquarters to report. The base now held only a group of elderly Valkyries on their last legs.
"Captain, stop getting all sentimental here. Once you're done, hurry over and stand by." The squad members seemed not to have heard Christina's musings or perhaps they felt the same deep down.
"Right away, right away." Christina sent Ana one more message, directing her to head to the following location to rendezvous with the squad. Seeing the "Received" on the screen, Christina finally set down the communicator and moved to her assigned post as instructed.
Though today these old-timers would die, the Snow Lotus Squad would not perish here. That was enough...
"Head to that place to regroup?" Ana put down the communicator. The spot the captain indicated was near the suburbs the usual assembly point for missions so Ana didn't suspect anything for the moment.
"Ten kilometers left. Better hurry."
When Ana arrived at the assembly point a public square she found it completely empty. Not only were there no Snow Lotus Squad members, not even a single Dead soldier in sight.
Ana hurriedly picked up the communicator. Inside were only four words: "Await rescue."
At that moment, an earth-shattering roar echoed across the entire city, as if it would tear the ground apart. Immediately after, a massive milky-white giant beast slowly raised its head. Its colossal body even surpassed the downtown high-rises, appearing directly in Ana's field of view.
"This is... a superior Honkai beast..." Honkai beasts are roughly classified from low to high as Assault-class, Knight-class, Crossbow-class, Chariot-class, Temple-class, Emperor-class, Judgment-class, and the plot-mentioned End-Law-class eight types in total. Assault, Chariot, Knight, Crossbow, Temple, and Warlord-class are all lesser Honkai beasts, while Emperor-class and Judgment-class are superior.
How to distinguish them? Lesser Honkai beasts follow a universal template, while superior ones are unique named individuals.
"Damn it, the captain and the others are in danger." The instant the superior Honkai beast appeared, Ana realized she had made a colossal mistake. In the past, when they went on missions, they always left the base for other cities so Christina's instructions were fine in theory. But the key was this time the Honkai had erupted right at the Snow Lotus Squad's base.
No, I have to find them... Ana thought, but her feet felt like lead and refused to move.
A Judgment-class Honkai beast, she would surely die... But she still hadn't found that one person. Yet she was a Valkyrie, resisting Honkai and protecting the people was her duty. Fear and duty intertwined and entangled in Ana's heart.
...
At that moment, past memories appeared before her eyes. She stood in neat uniform, filled with nervous yet expectant feelings, solemnly saluting amid the crowd.
That day was when she became a Valkyrie. "I, Ana Schariac, hereby swear."
"From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty to the people and dedicate my noble life. I will bring hope to those trapped in disaster, fight for every suffering victim. I dedicate all I have to humanity. In the battle to eradicate Honkai, I will spare no cost. From this day on, I am willing to become one of Schicksal's glorious Valkyries."
In the end, duty overcame fear. Ana recalled her oath. Immediately after, a scheduled message interrupted her memories.
"No matter which country's army, there's a tradition: in battle, at least one person must survive. As long as one survives, the unit's designation doesn't disappear, the unit can be rebuilt. So as long as you live, the Snow Lotus Squad lives. Our sacrifice will be remembered, and the Snow Lotus Squad will not vanish. Understood, Ana? Live well."
Even recalling the oath, what of it? The longing for life, the yearning for beauty, and the captain's expectation still firmly bound Ana in place.
"...In the end, I really can't do anything."