Kiana was woken up by the sunlight peeping into her cabin.

Damn.. I'm gonna get late for Aunt Himeko's class!

… oh. Right.

She had momentarily forgotten the events of the past few days and thought that she was still an ordinary school-going valkyrie.

Ugh..

It's like if I got hit by a truck.

Her body felt sore. This was the result of her two day long journey, without proper rest or nutrition.

She walked out of her cabin, rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, Mister Over-"

Wait. He's not here.

Kiana was now on full alert, as she began to look around.

My pistols… where are they!?

Don't tell me… he… ran off?

Kiana clutched her head, the voice of the herrscher pressuring her to believe the worst case scenario she was making up in her mind.

No.. He wouldn't…

Just then, the automated door at the entrance slid open. A man, carrying bags of groceries in both of his hands, entered.

"Ah, you're up. Quite the heavy sleeper, aren't you? It's already 10 am."

He chided.

Kiana breathed a sigh of relief.

"You… went shopping? Couldn't you have taken me along too?"

She asked.

"I would've taken you along but you need your rest, you know."

Otto replied.

He's.. Not wrong. I feel exhausted.

"Also… where are my pistols?"

"They are in my workshop. I've been working on them. That also reminds me, here, take these clothes."

He handed a backpack which he was carrying to her.

Inside were several sets of clothes and a hoodie. They were all fitting her.

"... How do you know about-"

"Every single Valkyrie Battlesuit is designed by me. Especially godsbane suits. You remember yours, don't you?"

He was referring to Knight Moonbeam. A special backdoor Otto had installed in her White Comet suit, which allowed her to control her Honkai Powers to a far more effective degree. It was an equivalent to the godsbane suit which Fu Hua had used.

"Oh.. I see."

"Do hand over your battlesuit later, I need to make important adjustments."

The man spoke as he organized his bought goods in the fridge and cabinets, throwing out the stock of Instant Noodles.

"Okay.."

Her stomach grumbled.

No! Why now, of all times?! I just ate last night! At this rate he's going to think I'm a glutton!

The man chuckled.

"Having an appetite is never a bad sign, in fact it's a good thing you're not skipping meals!"

"Unlike Bianka and Theresa. It's always training or working for them…"

Otto added a whisper which he thought she probably wouldn't hear. He sighed.

Otto set out a couple of eggs, bacon alongside other ingredients onto the counter.

"Just freshen up a bit, breakfast will be ready shortly."

After a while, breakfast was served.

Pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon.

No way…

Kiana's mouth was watering. This was leagues ahead of the Dorm Food offered at St Freya.

She immediately dug in.

I knew it… His cooking is.. Really good.

There was no denying the culinary genius of Otto Apocalypse, but this was not the taste of home Kiana was accustomed to. It wasn't her cooking.

"So, how did I do?"

Otto asked, with a smug expression.

"Not bad. Mediocre at best. It's just what I thought, You're nowhere close to Mei-senpai~"

She replied.

The man offered a sad smile.

"I expected as much. Food prepared by others feels second grade compared to meals made by the ones you love."

He was spot on.

Kiana didn't add anything and resumed eating her meal.

Otto was lost in thought, as if he was recollecting something. Suddenly, he laughed.

"What are you laughing about?"

"I was looking back to the time when Kallen tried to make me a sandwich!"

He tried to speak in between bouts of laughter.

Kallen… Kallen Kaslana!?

"She.. She said it was burnt! Though, that didn't stop me from eating it. It was rather crisp and smoky, must I add."

Ofcourse, idiot. It was burnt!

"... What's so humorous about that?"

"The texture felt off! I asked her to show me how she did it and…"

"And?"

"... She used the Judgement of Shamash to toast the bread. "

The man broke into a raging fit of laughter.

Kiana was immediately taken back to her childhood days.

That's how… My old man made Pizza Toast…

A few moments later, she too began laughing alongside Otto.

It seemed both of them had some common ground, after all.

After they calmed down, they finished their meals, both having a faint smile on their faces.

"Now then, what's the plan from here on out?"

Kiana asked.

The man didn't reply. He was staring at his reflection in his coffee.

Great. He's zoning out on me again.

"Hello~"

"..."

Hmmmm…..

Kiana picked up a paper napkin on her side of the table, rolled it into a ball and flung it with full force, aimed at Otto's head.

As if by instinct, Otto's arm moved on its own, catching the ball. His head jolted sharply in her direction. His eyes glaring daggers.

"... Oh. Sorry about that."

His expression returned to his normal carefree one.

"Why do you keep zoning out on me?!"

"I was talking."

… what? To himself? Is he.. Insane?

"No, I don't talk to myself, if you were wondering."

He materialised a golden cube.

"This is Void Archives, a Divine Key of the previous era. It's an AI, of sorts. Allows me to use imitations of other divine keys."

"Oh! So that's how you can pull out weapons from thin air!"

"Precisely. Though, Archives sounds extremely useful, its personality is that of a spoilt brat."

Otto spoke.

He turned away, as if to reply to someone.

"What do I mean? The truth, ofcourse!"

He said.

He's arguing with it, isn't he?

She sighed.

Otto coughed, as he put away the cube.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

He asked.

"I was asking what we're going to do here in Arc City."

"The main reason we're here is because of the sheer size of this megapolis. Anti-Entropy and Hyperion both are going to have a very tough time finding us. Until they do so, however, you're going to get a better grasp of your herrscher powers. I will help you to do exactly that."

Otto replied, as he sipped his coffee. He then added-

"It is also our responsibility to control the current eruption, which is why we'll be patrolling the city for potential honkai beast attacks. Think of it as training."

"I…understand."

"Tonight, however, we're headed for the Arc City Surveillance HQ."

…wait..what?!

"Weren't we supposed to be undercover?! What good would that do us!?"

"We infiltrate and then we hack into their systems. That way, we'll be able to respond to Distress Calls before the city's forces do."

Kiana clicked her tongue.

Fair point.

Otto finished his coffee and got up from his chair.

"Now then, feel free to do whatever you wish for the day. Preferably, I'd recommend taking some rest. Until then, I'll be in my workshop, making preparations for tonight. Understand?"

"Yes~"

Otto entered his workshop, as the automated door closed behind him.

Now then, time to get to work.

First, I should make modifications to her gear.

He set Kiana's colt peacemaker revolvers onto the workstation.

Standard B-Rank valkyrie equipment.

With Anti-Honkai Rounds, it should work fine against zombies or smaller beasts.

However, consecutive shots at the same point would be needed to even puncture an Emperor's armor. Not effective for extended engagements, 6 shots and the constant need for ammunition can prove to be critical.

….this won't do. Her combat style is agile, she's going to need a faster rate of fire. She can also make use of her powers to overcome the need for ammunition.

I'm going to have to start from scratch.

Otto disposed of the revolvers. He retrieved a set of Fire Spirit Type- I pistols. He'd have to use these as base, since these were the only pistols currently available to him.

Luckily for him, he had plenty to work with. This facility had Otto's experimental nanomachines and pseudo herrscher core prototypes.

Ah, I had stopped working on these because my plans had already succeeded.

He could have Kiana imprint her void powers onto these false cores. That'd allow her to integrate her authority with any weapon.

Marvellous.

Otto didn't realise he was smiling. This was a thrill only the Great Inventor could feel.

Once Otto was done, he weighed both pistols in his hands. The balance was just right.

"Don't try using that weapon, boy!"

I don't intend to.

"Good. You wouldn't want to leave imaginary contamination on the pseudo core."

Just then, Kiana barged into his workshop, holding several CD cases.

"HOMU Kingdoms V and Kallen Fantasy XVIII aren't even out yet! How do you have these!?"

She looked like she was in serious distress.

"...Haven't you ever bothered reading the company name?"

"Huh?"

She turned through the case, looking for what Otto was referring to, as her eyes widened with realisation.

"...The Otto in Otto Entertainment …is…YOU!?"

Otto simply smiled.

"I have several games completed beforehand, I only choose to announce them whenever the time's right."

"..do these include the full story?"

Kiana asked, as a grin slowly etched itself across her face.

"...Yes?"

"HAHAHAHAHA! I am going to spoil the entire story for Bronya! That's what she gets for winning everytime!"

She began laughing. An atrocious plan had occurred to her.

"Are you sure she's clear from the Herrscher?"

Void Archives asked, his voice - paranoid.

I hope so..

Ah, that reminds me.

"Kiana, I've made new guns for you. Would you mind trying these out?"

Otto handed over the twin-pistols to the white-haired girl, as he pointed to a target, a mech, across the workshop.

"These sure look… fancy."

Kiana aimed one of the pistols and fired.

There was a visible nozzle flash, but the bullet was nowhere to be seen.

The target, however, had a gaping hole in it.

"Huh!?"

She was beyond shocked. A single shot had left a visible hole in an AE mech unit. Not to mention, it was as if the bullet teleported to the target.

It worked!

Otto smirked.

"You probably didn't realise it, but you just marked that pistol as your own. It can now make use of your void powers, to shoot your desired targets through other obstacles in its line of fire. In simple words, as long as you know where your target is, you can and you will hit it. I've also taken the liberty of adding a F-22 Honkai Engine for enhanced firepower."

The man explained.

"This is..seriously..amazing!"

The girl tried her second pistol too, it worked the very same way.

"This is the first step to controlling your powers, Kiana. You must understand your powers at a fundamental level. We will be focusing on understanding the scope of your abilities for the coming weeks."

She nodded.

"Now, off you go. I've got to work on your battlesuit too."

He told her off, as he turned back to his workstation.

Otto first performed emergency repairs on the suit, which had clearly taken serious damage.

Now, what the girl needed was an upgrade. He opened several panels across his workstation.

ENTER PROTOCOL CODE:

KN1GHTM00NB31M

The suit glowed brightly as it turned into the Godsbane valkyrie battlesuit.

This should make it easier to use her abilities. Though, one can never be too safe..

He sighed. What he was going to do next made him feel guilty, but it was a necessary step.

He retrieved several vials of HSN-F-032. A less effective version of the Serum Otto had once used on Kiana. But the amount he currently had was more than enough to permanently revoke a valkyrie's powers.

He reorganized the fluids into several tiny injectors embedded throughout the Battlesuit.

This was Otto's failsafe. Should the girl fall to the Honkai, he will simply have to take her powers away.

…No, I can't do something like this.

For reasons Otto couldn't put into words, doing something like this didn't feel right.

He redid the schematics. Now, only a small fraction of injectors would auto-deploy should Kiana's cores reach extremely dangerous levels of corruption. That would be enough to knock her out. As for the remaining injectors, he prepared a detonator.

I hope..I never have to use this.

Otto sighed.

Well, her gear is good to go.

Now, I need to make preparations for myself.

He used nanomachines to perform shabby repairs on his soulium framework. After all, these nanomachines were Otto's failure of an attempt at reverse engineering soulium itself.

"Usage of Shamash and Mass Mimicry is still not recommended. You'll only damage the avatar again."

I'm aware. That's why I'm going to use conventional methods.

Memories of creating gadgets for a masked rogue flashed in his mind.

Otto chuckled.

Old habits really do die hard .

Knives, grenades, bombs.

Normally, they'd be absolutely useless against the honkai. However, Otto combined these tools with his understanding of science.

He'd prepared throwing knives, each having a charge of Lead Azide, which would set off momentarily after using the activator at the hilt. A precise throw could easily do in even an Emperor Class beast.

He'd prepared a variety of grenades. Ranging from HSN-F-032 Smoke grenades to Electric Smoke. He had made his tools with every scenario in mind.

Lastly, he set aside a peculiar knife, which had a fluid tube in the middle, having five gradations. It was filled with liquid nanomachines.

Otto took a good look at the table, which now had several weapons arranged neatly across it.

He hummed satisfactorily. It was time.

-SECURITY HQ-

Two figures were perched at the top of a high rise building which was situated near the Security Headquarters at Arc City.

Otto handed Kiana a mask.

"You've got to wear this. We can't let your face be seen."

"... I know. But, why do you always wear clown masks?"

She asked.

"Hmmm. I suppose you're right. Why wear a clown mask if you already are one?"

He answered.

"... That's.. Not what I meant.."

"Well, anyway. Do you see that building there? I want you to shoot down those mechs at its entrance."

"Mister Overseer, that's a bank! We're not short on money...are we?"

He sighed.

"It's called creating a diversion, Kiana. It will be easier for us to sneak in if they have their hands full."

"Hmph. You should've just said that from the start."

For any onlooker, this scene would have looked ridiculous. The girl was pointing her pistols at something which was extremely far away, like if it was a sniper rifle.

Four shots were fired in total.

The mechs were now reduced to rubble, as a distant alarm could be heard.

A few moments later, multiple vehicles and mech units left the facility.

"Now's our chance!"

Otto jumped off the roof of the building, diving towards the base in front of them. He deployed a parachute as he got closer.

"This is.. Surprisingly fun!"

Kiana muttered to herself as she followed suit.

See had chosen to wear the mask.

The man threw two grenades on his way down.

Smoke.. Bombs?

Kiana thought. What good would that do against mechs?

Until she noticed electrical sparks in the smoke.

Oh. It's… uhh, what was it? Ah yeah! An EMP!

Clever. As expected of Otto.

She detached her parachute and readied her pistols to neutralise the mechs present.

Otto was already plowing his way through the disabled mechs using the golden gauntlets she had seen the day prior. Kiana took a good look at the enemies left and their positions.

She closed her eyes and fired her pistols, without even aiming in a particular direction and was humming the whole time.

All the mechs lay scattered across the floor.

She.. Learns fast. Just like ...Bianka.

Otto was impressed.

"Excellent Work, Kiana."

He remarked as he walked towards the lift.

"You're… gonna take the lift!? We will get caught!"

".. Being me has its perks."

The man pulled out the knife which had a tube in its centre. He slammed it into the lift panel.

The liquid in the blade decreased. Only three gradations were left.

"Are you just going to stand there? Come in!"

He asked her.

She entered the lift and Otto pressed the floor headed for the server room. To her surprise, the lift didn't ask for key card verification.

"The building's security has been disabled."

Otto stated, his voice full of pride.

"That.. Was too easy."

They walked through the corridor. All mechs were either inactive or paid them no heed.

"Hey.. Have you done infiltration work like this before?"

Kiana asked, curious.

"No. But back in my days, I've helped Kallen do the very same. You must've read about her in history class."

"...I barely have passing grades, Mister Overseer. Though.. I did read she was a prominent vigilante."

"Precisely. I made her gear, so it does make me her partner in crime. So, I take it that has answered your question?"

"...Yeah."

Kiana could tell from her interactions with Otto that Kallen was someone extremely important to him. The way he spoke about her reminded Kiana of how she felt about Mei. She felt that little by little, she had begun to truly understand the person Otto Apocalypse was.

Once they reached the server room, Otto walked to one of the mainframe computers and used the remaining fluid in his knife.

"... And we're done."

"Piece of c-"

"This is Mobile Task Force-Alpha. Intruder presence in facility has been confirmed. Lethal force is permitted."

The intercomms whirred.

Shit. Of course there would be human soldiers stationed here.

Just then, a group of heavily armed men barged into the room.

"Found Them!"

One of them shouted, as they raised their guns and fired.

MIMICRY OF WATER'S EDGE

Otto assumed stance to deflect the bullets. Before he could do so, however, someone pulled him from behind.

The next thing he knew he was back at his workshop.

Kiana took ragged breaths as she removed the mask. She had just used her herrscher authority to teleport them both.

… Void portals..

Otto was definitely fascinated by her growth. But, currently he was worried.

"Didn't I tell you to not overuse your powers?!"

"Jeez. I'm fine, can't you see?"

She pouted.

"Inform me the next time you come up with plans like these."

His voice was full of concern.

"..Fine"

"But hey, we did it."

Otto gestured with his hand as hundreds of screens appeared across the room. It was all real time camera footage.

"See? Doesn't it make things easier for us?"

Otto asked.

"Mhhm! Our first mission was a total success!"

Kiana exclaimed, raising her arms into the air.

"Without a doubt."

Otto replied with folded arms, a smile on his face.

He felt a nostalgic feeling. One he hadn't felt in 500 years. It brought him back to the letter Kallen had left him.

'Do you remember the days when we stole from the rich? Those days were the happiest of my life.'

I still cherish those memories, Kallen.

Otto was snapped out of his reverie as the girl's stomach grumbled.

He chuckled.

"Wait outside. I'll cook something right up."

He affirmed, as she ran out of the room.

The man took a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as an emergency call from Amber flashed across the screen.

"Amber, what is it!?"

Otto asked.

"Cocolia is under attack by World Serpent. It would seem they are after the Gen of Desire. The Hyperion is already headed towards the conflict zone."

.. What?

… This wasn't… supposed to happen.

Otto's eyes widened.

Originally it was Schicksal who were the perpetrators of this attack. Given Otto hadn't involved himself this time, the attack simply shouldn't have happened. Yet that didn't seem to be the case.

World Serpent was now doing what Schicksal once did.

"Looks like some things are fated to happen, aren't they?"

Void Archives spoke in an exasperated tone.

No..

This..is bad! I've got to help Theresa!

But.. I can't leave Kiana here nor can I take her with me. I guess all I can do is-

"Deploy the phosdjinns and reinforcement fleets. Transfer field leadership to Theresa. She should take care of things."

"Roger."

The screen turned black.

I need to ensure that Kiana unlocks the full potential of her powers. Fast.

There is no time to lose.

Otto tied his hair into a ponytail. The hardships of his journey had begun to manifest.

CHAPTER 5 - END

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter was longer than I expected. But, I always have a blast writing interactions between Otto and Kiana.

This was also my first time writing a few things from Kiana's perspective! It was fun experimenting with switching POVs.

As of WS…I've got plans for Kevin and his organization. I hope I can write Kevin to be someone more than a dude sitting on a chair until his arc shows up.

BTW kiana being able to shoot through things is canon. You can literally check the description of Arc Serratus Ingame. I was quite shocked when I read it the first time.

Oh and you're a legend if you know who the Phosdjinns are.

Once again thank you so much for reading this chapter!

As always, let me know your thoughts!

Take care!

(I do apologize if the quality of this chapter felt lower than usual. I will definitely keep it more consistent for future chapters. Let's just say I got slammed by assignments, LOL)