Disclaimer: I do not own Honkai Impact 3rd.
Enjoy!
Sitting in the fourth reactor control room with the leader of the World Serpent, Kevin Kaslana himself just a few feet in front of me, casually sitting in a chair, had my mind racing on a whole plethora of questions that I had upon seeing the white haired Flamechaser.
Like how the hell was he even here in the first place, considering he was supposed to be trapped in the Sea of Quanta during this time. Or how about why the hell he was here in the first place, shouldn't he be busy finishing up his Project Stigma and not focusing his time on an attack of St. Freya?!
I wasn't prepared for his sudden arrival!
"Okay Haruto no need to panic," I internally assured myself as I attempted to regain some semblance of control in this situation and not do something stupid. "You're just having a nice and calming talk with the strongest human on the planet right now and that you have to somehow get past him in order to turn on a reactor that everyone needs or they all die…"
"Absolutely no pressure whatsoever."
.
.
.
Oh who am I kidding there is so much pressure on me right now.
"Hey Hyperion," I started, turning to the only person, technically a spirit, that could help me in my current predicament. "Any chance that you can-"
"Absolutely not," They instantly shot me down, already knowing what I intended to ask of them. "Not unless you want to go from an interesting person to someone that has to be taken down really quickly then."
"Oh yeah I forgot you were Death and all of that stuff…" I trailed off as being unable to rely on them meant that I would have to be tackling this situation all by myself.
Fighting against Kevin was absolutely not happening, I didn't have a death wish. Even with the Caliburn battlesuit I knew that the original Kaslana could still win a fight easily. I was also pretty sure that even if I added Excalibur to the mix I would still lose.
Any situation that resorted to violence would end in failure.
Yet how the hell was I going to create an opening without fighting? I highly doubted that Kevin was just going to let me stand up and just turn on the reactor without a fight so that left me with the million dollar question of how I was going to even finish my mission here.
"I didn't think that the leader of the World Serpent would be interested in me enough for a talk." I started out, deciding to entertain Kaslana's 'talk' with the hope that an opportunity would somehow present itself to me the more time I spent talking with him. "I mean I would've expected you to try and kill me, especially after I derailed your little operation in Nagazora and sent Owl packing."
The reminder of a failed operation would've no doubt pissed off any leader but Kevin Kaslana seemingly shrugged it off with a light smile, unbothered by it. "Yes Owl was quite angry after he recovered from his injuries and was deemed able to return to his duties," He calmly spoke as he leaned back into his chair. "But even he knows that such grudges will not advance the World Serpent's goals."
"Well if one kidnaps someone else's friend they better be ready for the fight of their life." I remarked.
"Indeed…" He trailed off in an emotionless tone. One might assume that his rather detached approach to this conversation showed that he wasn't all that interested and I would be almost inclined to agree with that analysis.
That was if it wasn't the fact that his blue eyes had not lost the glow in them from when the Flamechaser had first made his presence known. Just one quick look at them and I swear he could freeze you solid right where you stood.
It was just a testament to how much power he held as the original Kaslana, the strongest Flamechaser.
But I couldn't let myself be cowed by that, no matter how tempting it was. I still had a mission to complete. "That still doesn't explain why you're here." I said, buying myself more time. "I thought such matters like this would be above you."
"Gray Serpent informed me of one of his most trusted allies invading St. Freya and had requested some of the troops of the World Serpent." The white haired man glanced over to the masked hacker, who just merely nodded in confirmation to his Sire's words. "I saw an opportunity to…acclimate myself to the changes that this world has experienced."
At least I got confirmation that he had broken out of his prison in the Sea of Quanta fairly recently. That information was great and all but even engaging in a somewhat civil conversation with Kevin Kaslana had yet to give me any clue of how I was going to turn on the-!
"Do you not think I do not see your eyes trying to find anything in this room to get an advantage from?" The white haired man's words cut through my internal thoughts, prompting me to look at him with wide eyes.
I didn't even bother to voice my surprise. "How did you-"
"You hid it well but I have lived long enough to pick up on the subtle cues of someone trying to find a way out." He smiled as he locked eyes with mine. "It is only natural that you would try to find a way to turn on this reactor to save your friends, however it is quite detrimental to a conversation."
Oh…I had definitely screwed up big time.
"Gray Serpent," He spoke to his companion, not even needing to turn to face him. I waited with baited breath to see how he would respond to my actions. "If you would."
The loyal officer nodded. "Of course Sire."
The masked hacker then brought a hand up and snapped his fingers loudly. I tilted my head in confusion at his actions though I soon found out what he had done as seconds later the master terminal of the fourth reactor behind Kevin Kaslana lit up, soon illuminating the control room as the entire reactor reactivated.
[Fourth Reactor Online]
"Y-You just turned it back on?" I asked incredulously, looking at the two of them as if they had just lost their minds. "Just like that?"
Kevin for his part didn't at all look surprised by my question, if he did anything he looked amused by it. "Contrary to the past actions of those that you've encountered from my organization I do not seek to make an enemy of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. Why would I consider our common enemy is that of the Honkai and fighting against would be contradictory."
I in turn just gave him a skeptical look, somewhat believing his words and not at the same time. Yes his organization really didn't try and make an active enemy of either organizations, only doing so when necessary, but if either organizations were in the way of their goals they would not hesitate to show force.
Arc City was one such example.
"Perhaps we will come to blows but I do not seek total annihilation." The Kaslana added once he noticed the skeptical look I was giving him. "After all, what is life without hardship? And without hardship how does one grow at all?"
I opened my mouth to retort his words but he beat me to the punch. "And you, Haruto Nakamura, are the greatest example of that statement." My eyes narrowed at his use of my full name, noticing how his tone had changed to that of intrigue. "From a regular teenager you've experienced trial after trial and look where it has gotten you now. A knight that has so much potential, potential that the World Serpent-"
Oh hell no, I was not going to be playing this game with him.
"I refuse." I quickly interrupted, already figuring out what the potential main purpose of this meeting might have been.
A recruitment into the World Serpent.
"Of course you would," The white haired man responded, looking a little bit too calm for someone that had just had their recruitment instantly shot down. I would've expected some kind of threat on my life or something if I didn't join him or something along those lines. Strangely there was none of that. "I do not fault you for refusing my offer, it would be remiss of me to try and recruit you into an organization that has tried to threaten the lives of your loved ones.
At least he was being realistic.
"But that is not the original goal of this meeting." Kevin revealed. "I find myself intrigued by you."
I couldn't help but tilt my head in confusion at his words. "How so?" I couldn't help but ask.
"An ordinary teenager who would have never heard of the Honkai let alone the hidden world that lies underneath society. Yet it seems that you were the epicenter of every event that occurred in Nagazora, it makes one wonder how much you really know." Kevin spoke and the temperature of the room dropped.
Silence hung in the cold air, cold enough that I could see my breath, as I processed what I had just heard. There was no way that Kevin Kaslana of all people knew that I was-!
"He doesn't," Hyperion interjected inside my head. "There's absolutely no way that he knows you're from another universe all together."
"And if he does?" I shot back, my fist clenching in fear and preparation if my suspicions were proven correct.
"Well then we'll have to fight our way out of here." And judging by their tone of voice that was not an outcome that either of us wanted to happen. I mean they were literal Death so the chances of us winning were much higher than before if they joined the fight…
But Kevin Kaslana had fought the End given form, even able to cripple the omnipotent being for a short while for humanity to escape its wrath…
However before I could dwell any further on if we could take down the original Kaslana the white haired man spoke up and made me refocus back on reality. "Tell me…" He started out as he leaned in, his blue eyes searching mine for answers.
"Do you know of Project Stigma then?"
I tried my absolute hardest to not show my surprise at the mention of the World Serpent's endgame goal, to be able to give the powers of the stigma to the entire population of the Earth. The only drawback of such a plan is that it would result in about 99% of humanity getting wiped out from the Honkai energy and the remaining 1% having a true stigma.
Which was…extreme to say the least.
Yet despite my best efforts to hide my knowledge of it some sort of recognition must've shone through on my face as Kevin's eyes slightly widened.
"Ah so you do after all, the mystery deepens." He muttered, looking surprised for the first time since we started talking. "The only ones who know of Project Stigma are the World Serpent's high ranking officers. None of them would ever leak this information so how…" He trailed off as he began to think.
And while he was busy pondering on how I could've possibly known about Project Stigma I was currently freaking the hell out.
I shot myself in the goddamn foot! What the hell was going to happen now?! Kevin didn't seem like the type of person to let someone that wasn't with him to roam free of his master plan so obviously he had to get rid of that loose end.
So that meant-!
The next words I expected out of Kevin's mouth when he interrupted my train of thought were either to be threatening or something that would seal my fate…
But not words of praise.
"But I suppose that shouldn't come off as a surprise." Before I could even process what that meant his eyes drifted down to my shoulders, more specifically to one of them in particular. It didn't take long for me to figure out why his focus was on a specific shoulder…
The shoulder that I had my stigma on.
"After all, your stigma is quite something special..." I sucked in a breath, a pit forming in my stomach as his blue eyes locked gazes with mine and a small knowing smile formed on his face.
"Isn't it?"
Bronya Zaychik had a feeling that all personnel of St. Freya Academy had some semblance of combat training. It wasn't that strange of a notion to have, this was an academy that trained Valkyries after all.
She wouldn't assume that the teachers that weren't Valkyries or combat instructors would be masters of combat but maybe they knew enough to be able to defend themselves against regular people if the situation arised.
However…
She was quite confident that a regular 'history professor' shouldn't have this level of power.
Case in point as the unknown assailant that she and Joachim were fighting against in the control room of St. Freya's first sub reactor conjured a ball of dark blue energy that had enough power to level the room and threw at them with the speed of a professional baseball pitcher.
And it was casually stopped by a wave of Joachim's hand.
The petite gray haired girl would've probably made some remark about how strange this entire situation was but had decided that she would save that energy for actually winning this fight. Bringing her hand she aimed Project Bunny's cannon directly at the black haired teenager in front of her and fired.
One might question why she would even bother trying to hit her enemy if even at her strongest she wasn't able to even leave a scratch on the cocky and arrogant teenager. The Valkyrie in training had a theory that when she had first shot at him he already had some sort of shield around him that was able to absorb Project Bunny's cannon. If that was the case then if she was able to catch him off guard then potentially she could deal some damage.
Though doing so had already proven hard, case in point as with a snarl the teenager waved his hands and dark blue energy flew out and intercepted her attack, dispelling it in the air. Despite how arrogant and cocky he was, the enemy was quite adept on the battlefield. Even outnumbered he was able to not be overwhelmed by their combined attacks and found windows of opportunity to throw out his own attacks.
But as great as he was in standing his ground and his control of his powers were, he was only one human at the end of the day. By stopping her attack the teenager had left himself completely vulnerable to Joachim as a dark red orb flew out of the smoke that her attack had left, taking advantage of his dropped guard.
"AAGH!" The black teenager screamed out in pain as the attack slammed into his unguarded stomach, blood was spat out from his mouth as he was slammed into the wall.
A small smile danced its way onto Bronya's face on seeing him scream in pain. After he had the audacity to try and act arrogant while choking had her wish to see him pay for that tenfold.
"Excellent work Bronya," Joachim praised as he stood beside her, the dark red energy that had been dancing around him since the fight had begun had died down but was still prevalent. "Your attack gave me the perfect opportunity to strike."
"Thank you Joachim-san," The petite girl thanked the history professor before losing her smile and frowning. "However the Bronya feels her contributions are lacking in this fight compared to yours."
In response the brown hair professor shook his head in denial. "Nonsense Bronya, you are performing admirably in this situation. I know of B-Rank Valkyries that would struggle in your position." His brown eyes moved to the wall where their enemy had been slammed into, who was now currently picking himself off the ground. "Especially against him."
"Does Joachim-san know of him?" It was obvious enough to hear the tone of familiarity that the brown haired man had for their enemy. That left the question of how and why exactly a 'regular' history professor knew about such a dangerous Anti-Entropy soldier.
"A reminder," Was all he said as his brown eyes gained a faraway look in them, his tone having shifted to a more somber one. "A reminder of a dark time."
Apparently their conversation was loud enough for others to be heard as after he said that a bark of laughter filled the control room. "I'm hurt father," The dark haired teenager spat out the last word as he picked himself off the ground. He was looking worse for wear, sporting various wounds and the black cloak he was wearing had all but been shredded throughout the fight. Yet despite his condition the maniacal smile had never left his face. "After all it wasn't for you I wouldn't be able to enjoy all the joys of being alive, killing those weaker than you being one of them."
"You were a mistake, a mistake born from my self loathing." Joachim narrowed his eyes at the teenager, who Bronya had just realized looked very similar to the professor. Was this some sort of strange father and son reunion that she had the misfortune of being caught up in? If that was the case maybe she should've not argued with Kiana and Mei about staying behind at the first reactor.
They were probably having a better time than she was right now.
Hearing his words the black haired teenager laughed loudly, clutching his stomach in some strange mixture of amusement and pain as his laughter echoed in the control room. "Well if I was a mistake," Stopping his laughter the blue eyed enemy locked gazes with Joachim and threw his arms out wide in invitation.
"Come and fix it."
"You are outnumbered and outgunned," Bronya coldly remarked as she ordered Project Bunny to point its cannon at the enemy in front of them, charging up another attack. "The chances of you winning are near impossible."
The teenager just shrugged, seemingly not at all fazed by how the odds were stacked against him. "I suppose then it's time for a little…pick me up." He grinned as one of his hands rummaged through the pockets of his torn up cloak, bringing out a small syringe that had a strange glowing red liquid in it.
The sight of the unknown syringe had both Bronya and Jochaim instantly on guard. "What is that?" Joachim asked as he narrowed eyes at the strange glowing red liquid that was in the syringe.
"This little thing?" The teenager smiled, no doubt relishing that he had the both of them on guard now. "A gift from the Serpent before this all boiled down. A stoic white haired man gave it to me, said that it would grant me 'small taste of immortality', whatever the hell that means."
Bringing the syringe closer to his face, his brow raised with what he saw was printed on the tiny glass syringe. "Project…Prometheus? Sounds ominous as hell…" A grin quickly formed on his face.
"Let's take it out for a spin shall we?"
And before either of them could react he stabbed the syringe into his neck, injecting the red liquid into his body.
Immediately the effects of such an action could be seen. Red cracks, not unlike the purple cracks one would see in a Honkai corruption, began to spread like wildfire all over his exposed skin. The syringe quickly fell from his hands as he dropped to the floor as he began to scream in pain, his body madly convulsing.
Though that was the least of Bronya's and Joachim's worries as whatever formula was inside that syringe really began to take hold in the teenager's body. The wounds that he had taken in the battle had quickly healed before his skin began to…change.
Straight out of a sci-fi film his skin began to take the shape of something that Bronya could only classify as avian features. His left arm began to change from five human fingers into a dark blue three pronged claws that looked eerily similar to the claws of a hawk. The backside of his cloak were shredded as two wings popped out, adorned with dark blue feathers that matched the color of his energy attacks.
It was like seeing a avian Frankenstein come to life before her eyes.
"Oh?" The now transformed teenager remarked as he held up his transformed arm up to his eyes, marveling at the change. "This feels strange but oddly…nice." His blue eyes flickered over to Bronya and smiled.
"Bronya!" Joachim yelled as he pushed her out of the way, no doubt sensing what the teenager was planning. Seconds later a tidal wave of dark blue power had been fired by their enemy, the attack much bigger and stronger than what he originally was capable of.
Joachim retaliated with his own attack of dark red power but however unlike before the professor did not overpower the teenager, if anything the arrogant teenager was somehow able to match the professor's power now.
Whatever this Project Prometheus was, it was something else.
"HAHAHAHA!" He laughed with glee, his blue eyes dancing with sadistic glee. "Oh this rush! This power! I feel as if I have been reborn!"
"How does it feel old man!? You've been replaced!" The black haired teenager smiled as the stalemate between their attacks exploded, sending billowing smoke that covered the room. Quickly throwing up Project Bunny's shields around her, Bronya shielded herself from the offset of smoke.
Once the smoke cleared and Project Bunny lowered its shield, the petite gray haired valkyrie in training saw that Joachim was standing beside her. The brown haired history professor looked fine at first, though a closer look showed that he was getting fatigued by this prolonged battle.
Tearing her gaze from the professor she looked over to their opponent who had taken to the air, a battle hungry look on his face as he brought up his transformed hand that had a swirling dark blue orb of energy floating in its palm.
Bronya did not know how Mei and Kiana were faring, but she was fairly confident that they were faring better than she was right now.
In the second reactor a scowl was on Kiana's face as she hid behind a desk, her two pistols held firmly in her hands. Taking a deep breath the white haired girl slowly peeked her head around the corner of her cover-!
Only to snap her head back right in the nick of time as an arrow whizzed by, the force behind it tearing off a giant chunk of the desk that she was using as cover.
"Come out little fletchling!" Came Raven's taunting voice as she notched another arrow on her bow. "I thought you were going to prove to me that you weren't that same defenseless little girl from the docks!"
"Grr you'll get your turn just you wait!" Promised Kiana as she peeked her eyes from the top of the desk in hopes of finding where Mei-senpai was, who she had lost sight of a few minutes ago. While she did that the Kaslana's mind drifted to how they had even got in this situation in the first place.
After Raven had made her presence known almost immediately had she gone on the offensive, sending the two of them scattering for cover as she fired lightning fast arrows at them. She was pretty sure she was shooting them faster than Layla could with her sniper rifle!
Kiana and Mei attempted to fight back but the mercenary's advantage in ranged combat meant that she was able to pressure them enough that fighting back was sacrificed for the sake of finding cover and not getting hit.
"Come out little bird," Raven mockingly sang out as she aimed her bow dead center at the desk that Kiana Kaslana was hiding behind. By destroying the Kaslana's cover she could force her out in the hope and subdue her quickly enough so that all she had to worry about was her squadmate who had no forms of ranged combat and would be easy to take care of.
However before she could release the arrow the hooded mercenary suddenly snapped her bow to the side and fired it.
The arrow whizzed through the air as it was fired at a rapidly approaching Mei Raiden, the dark purple haired teenager waiting for the perfect opportunity to flank the mercenary. The valkyrie in training sliced through the arrow with her katana, not losing her momentum as she made her way closer and closer to Raven.
"Kiana-chan now!" The dark purple haired girl yelled out to her teammate.
A smile blossomed on Kiana's face on hearing her teammate's voice. Leave it to Mei-senpai to create a plan on the fly!
Leaping out of her cover the Kaslana leveled her pistols' barrels at Raven, who frowned at the predicament that she had found herself in. "Take this!" She yelled out as she began to fire at the light gray haired mercenary.
Despite the fact that she was outnumbered, Raven did not falter under this two front assault. Merely clicking her tongue with a scowl, as if this was an annoyance more than something to be concerned about, the mercenary leapt into action.
Bringing her hand up with black steel claws she parried Mei-senpai's initial strike before using her body as springboard to launch herself up into the air, dodging Kiana's initial pistol shots. While in the air Raven quickly notched a couple of arrows before aiming her bow up into the sky, letting go as dark red streaks began to rain from the air.
Moving quickly to avoid being skewered by the falling arrows Kiana left her cover before rushing over to where she knew Raven would have to land from her jump. Mei-senpai was falling back as most of the arrows were aimed at her so it was up to her to keep up the pressure!
Watching Raven land on the ground, with her back turned towards her, the Kaslana couldn't help but grin as she launched a kick to the side of the mercenary's head.
Yet she could barely contain her shock when Raven just raised her clawed hand up and blocked her kick from connecting with her head, all without having to turn her head to look at her.
"The Gun-kata huh?" The mercenary mused as she turned her head slightly. As she did Kiana could see a hint of Raven's pink eyes and the smirk that she was currently sporting on her face. "Of course a Kaslana would use their renowned technique."
"Is that so," Grinned Kiana as she tried to push more force into her blocked kick, only for her expression to slightly drop when it hadn't even budged the mercenary from her spot.
The hooded mercenary just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "You could say that I'm acquainted with someone related to it," Was all she cryptically said.
The white haired valkyrie in training would not be able to think on that mysterious statement for long as with the arm that she had used to block her arm, Raven quickly grabbed onto it and threw into the air
However, with how much reliance the famous Kaslana Gun-Kata had on the user's body strength meant that Kiana was as flexible as world famous gymnasts. Twisting her body mid air before she could be flung too far from Raven Kiana lashed out with a kick that the mercenary couldn't block from connecting with her stomach.
Kiana resisted the urge to grin when she landed on the ground and saw the mercenary's face consort into pain but it quickly disappeared when she saw the expression of pain had turned into fury. The hooded mercenary barely bit back a snarl as she raised her claws up, ready to pay Kiana back tenfold for the injury.
Blue eyes widening at the descending claws, Kiana began to do her best to try and dodge Raven's swipes. Which was easier said than done when the mercenary was unrelenting in her assault, having to focus all of her energy into dodging so that she didn't get slashed up.
However one misstep was all it took for Kiana to lose her balance, her eyes widening when she saw black steel claws taking advantage of her mess up as they were aimed right at her neck. She couldn't dodge this one, she was already falling and there was no way that she could bring her arms up to try and-!
Just before the tips of the claws could make contact, they were suddenly slashed off by a katana.
"How annoying!" Raven growled as she went from going on the offensive to defending against a now advancing Mei. That would quickly change as Kiana quickly picked herself off the ground and joined her teammate in taking down their opponent.
A flurry of kicks, punches, and katana slashes harassed Raven. The way that the two valkyries in training attacked left little to no opportunity for the mercenary to attack, as when one finished attacking the other was ready to pick up where the other left off.
Such a ferocious and concentrated assault on a single person would've been more than enough to overwhelm any opponent, even the best trained warriors would have trouble in such a scenario.
However Raven was an experienced mercenary and that came with the experience of completing jobs all alone against multiple opponents at once.
As she fended off the two's attacks the light gray haired mercenary waited for either one of them to slip up. A window of opportunity presented itself when Mei Raiden was a bit too slow with her sword strikes, allowing her to turn the tables on them.
Striking fast Raven was able to knock the dark purple haired valkyrie away for a short time before she focused her attention of Kiana, who was not prepared at the sudden loss of her partner. The Kaslana tried to pick up what the two of them had going but in terms of stamina the mercenary was able to keep going far longer than the Kaslana.
With a fearsome roundhouse kick that probably cracked a rib or two from how much force she put into it, the unprepared Kaslana was forced up into the sky.
Kiana grimaced at the pain, feeling a rib break, but it was quickly forgotten as she had been thrown up into the air and was quickly approaching the ground. There was no time for her to try and adjust her body from painfully hitting the ground so she closed her eyes and awaited the feeling of-!
However before she could hit the ground hard she felt someone grab onto her. Opening her eyes and turning around Kiana was greeted by the sight of her savior.
"Thanks Mei-senpai!" She flashed an appreciative smile to her dark purple haired savior. However it didn't last long as she refocused her head back forward to see Raven smirking at them, an arrow notched directly at them. With their current position there was no way that the two of them would be able to dodge the arrow now, so how were they-
"Don't worry Kiana-chan," Mei whispered to her, seemingly reading what was on her mind. Before the Kaslana could ask her what she meant the sound of a grenade going off interrupted her, smoke covering them from Raven's line of sight.
The white haired girl could hear the hooded mercenary voice her surprise at the sudden smokescreen which gave her the time needed to move herself and Mei from the spot they were in. Seconds later an arrow pierced through the smoke and embedded itself in the spot that they had just been in.
"Good job Mei-senpai!" She praised as the two of them were now seeking cover behind the desk, the smoke grenade still obscuring their side of the room and more importantly hiding them from Raven's eyes. "How did you know to use the smoke grenade before catching me?"
"It was something that Haruto taught me before," Her teammate admitted as she held her katana at the ready. "Always try and think two steps ahead of your current move,"
"That's Haru-senpai for you! Always insightful!"
Mei smiled and nodded her head in agreement with her teammate's words, though it quickly fell when she noticed that their smokescreen was quickly fading away. "We need to finish this battle quickly, Raven is too strong for us to fight and everyone needs this reactor online now."
As much as it hurt Kiana's pride to admit that the mercenary they were fighting was too strong for them, she agreed with Mei's assessment. The more time that they tried to fight Raven on 'equal ground' was more time that was spent St. Freya fighting without their defense network.
"You have a plan then Mei-senpai?" She asked and couldn't help but smile when the dark purple haired valkyrie in training nodded without hesitation.
On the other side, unobscured by the smoke grenade, Raven had her bow notched and ready for even the slightest tells of movement within the smoke. Initially she had gone easy on the duo, seeing how they were just Valkyries in training and her mission objective was to only ensure that this reactor stayed offline for as long as possible.
Which meant that she didn't need to kill them. It might be strange for a mercenary to hesitate in killing but Raven had her own morals that she stuck with. She didn't want to try and kill people if she could avoid it, it was just a waste of energy and time.
But these two were strong enough that she could not afford to take them lightly, a surprise that had taken her off guard.
"Tch maybe I shouldn't have accepted this job," She retorted to herself before her ears picked up the sound of movement and she readied herself for the battle. She was silent as more sounds of movement were coming from the smoke.
"Alright girls," She whispered as she strained her eyes to try and pick up any traces of movement in the smoke. "Let's see how you fare with this."
Then without warning something shot out of the smokescreen, barreling straight towards her. Without hesitation she let her arrow fly right into the object…
And it took only a second after she released her arrow to realize that she had messed up.
For what her arrow had struck was not either Kiana or Mei but one of the pistols that the Kaslana was using. The now destroyed pistol clattered to the ground uselessly and the moment it hit the floor the white haired girl bursted out of the smoke, a grin on her face.
"You fell for it!" She shouted victoriously as she ran straight towards the mercenary. Cursing that she had no time to ready another arrow, Raven readied herself for close combat. Throwing a right hook at the white haired girl, her eyes widened when the white haired girl ducked to the side…
And threw herself on the mercenary, sending the both of them to the floor.
The two became a sprawling tangle of limbs as the mercenary tried to stand back up and the valkyrie in training doing everything in her power to not make that happen. Normally such a move would be ineffective, hell it was the definition of suicide in a fight such as this.
So Raven had never seen it coming.
Finally the mercenary had managed to get back up on her feet, though that didn't do much for her as found herself now trapped with Kiana's arms firmly wrapped around her throat.
"You just don't know when to stay down do you?!" The hooded mercenary quipped as she tried getting out of the Kaslana's hold. However Kiana was proving that she was not letting go anytime soon, even going as far as strengthening her hold on Raven.
In response to her words Kiana shamelessly grinned. "Of course I have to repay you guys for kidnapping me!" She turned her head and shouted. "Mei-senpai now!"
Raven then saw the dark purple haired Valkyrie making her way over to them, katana at the ready. "Is that so?" The hooded mercenary quipped, seeing what the two girls' plan was. It was smart that she could admit that it required each person to have absolute trust in the other to play their part. She almost wanted to congratulate the two for thinking of such a plan on short notice.
However they were about to learn that mercenaries didn't exactly play by the book and she was no exception to that rule.
A smile broke out on her face as she turned her head to face Kiana.
"Tell me did you ever tell your dear partner over here what happened to Haruto? Of how he died heroically to save you?"
Her words got the response that she was hoping for as the Kaslana's face instantly paled upon hearing her words, but that wasn't who she was aiming those words specifically to. Looking back, she could see that Mei Raiden had stopped dead in her tracks as she processed that information.
"W-What?" She called out in shock and horror.
"She didn't tell you?" She coyly exasperated, making sure that her tone was as sickly sweet as possible. "Of how your redheaded boyfriend was beaten into the ground trying to save Kiana?"
God she hated sounding like this but she really needed to get the two to lower their guard enough for her to break free out of her predicament.
Which looked like it was getting easier with each passing second as the ex-heiress was processing the words she had just heard, an expression of horror growing with each passing second. "K-Kiana-chan," She started out as she looked towards them, ignoring Raven and focused entirely on Kiana. "I-Is this true?"
The white haired girl's mouth opened to respond, only to close as the words didn't seem to be right. "Mei-senpai I-" She started out, trying to find the right words-
And that was when Raven struck.
Elbowing the distracted white haired girl in the stomach, Raven would admit that hearing her cry out in pain was a nice retribution for the kick she had given her in the stomach earlier. The mercenary then pushed the white haired girl off her body before picking up her bow and notching an arrow into it…
And aimed it straight at Mei.
Roughly landing on the ground Kiana looked up just to see Raven notch the arrow and seeing where she was aiming it did not take her brain to connect the dots of what the mercenary was planning to do.
Maybe it was how it was brought up without warning but seeing Mei in such a state, moments away from death, had her flashback to when she had been kidnapped by the World Serpent. She found herself back on the harbor's cold concrete floor, powerless as all she could was to watch as the giant's blade descended on Haru-senpai's body.
She made a vow after that night.
She wasn't going to be useless again.
"Haru-senpai, open your eyes!" She cried out in the docks of Nagazora, hand outstretched in an attempt to reach out to her fallen friend.
She would not allow her friends to die because of her, not again.
"PLEASE WAKE UP!"
And so her body moved without thought, ready to fulfill that promise till the bitter end.
"Mei-senpai!"
Mei Raiden saw how Raven was holding her bow, saw where the arrow was pointed at. She knew enough that she was the only target of interest and that she should be trying to dodge the arrow that would be fired her way.
But she didn't as her mind was still trying to process what she had heard from the mercenary. Of how her friend had…died.
She should've rebuked Raven's words, arguing that they were false. After all, how could Haruto be dead if he was still alive and breathing?
Yet seeing Kiana's expression upon hearing those words had all been the confirmation that she needed. It coincided with how the redhaired teenager acted after the terrorists, who she now knew was the World Serpent, had attacked Nagazora docks.
The way that he would flinch at loud and sudden noises, or how he would pale at the sight of Anti-Entropy mechs, or how his hand would reach up to his chest and shake as he clenched his fist.
She should've known something was wrong, yet did nothing.
What a great friend she turned out to be.
When she felt something hit her body and send her to the floor, the ex-heiress thought she had died from getting hit by the arrow. She was expecting the explosion of pain to follow soon after with the cold embrace of death to follow right after.
Yet none of that came. Instead of pain she felt as if someone had jumped on her and was refusing to get off of her. When another second passed and still the pain hadn't come, did Mei lift her head up to see what had happened to her…
And her dark blue eyes widened when she saw a familiar mop of white hair obscuring her view.
It took her a split second to see the arrow shaft embedded in her teammate's shoulder, blood seeping out of the wound and dyeing the battlesuit the Kaslana was wearing in a deep bloody red.
"K-Kiana-chan?" Mei's voice was barely louder than a whisper as she shook her friend's body, hoping that this was all a bad dream. "Kiana-chan!?" She repeated as she shook her body with greater force, but to no avail.
She had taken the hit for her.
A hit that she could have dodged.
She felt self loathing at herself for not being strong enough to dodge that attack but it was miniscule to comparison to the indescribable wave of anger that had swept over her. The people that she cared about the most, treasured above all else, and they kept getting harmed in her name.
The dark purple haired teenager had made peace with herself with the events that had befallen in Nagazora but she could not help but feel anger when she saw the two people that she cared for the most in the world get hurt.
And both of them had been hurt severely by the World Serpent. First it was Haruto saving Kiana at the docks, and now Kiana saving her from Raven's arrow.
"They've hurt not one but two people that you care about," The voice of the Herrscher of Thunder whispered in her mind, feeding on her rage. This was the strongest that she had felt since the events of Nagazora. Every second they were becoming stronger and stronger and if it continued any longer she would not be able to resist the power.
And strangely enough, Mei felt perfectly fine with that. As of matter fact-
She welcomed it.
"Are you going to take that?" They whispered to her and in turn she clenched her fists in determination.
She should've been more wary of how easily she was letting the persona influence her. They may have been on amicable terms as of late but that didn't erase the fact that she was a Herrscher, a being created for the sole purpose of destroying humanity, one who fed on the darker side of it.
There was also the fact that there was a bomb nestled on her heart. If it ever read her Honkai levels reaching that of a Herrscher then it would activate a timer that would set it off, killing her.
Yet that was ultimately irrelevant as only one thing was on her mind that all else was forgotten.
Vengeance.
And this time the decision regarding the harbinger of destruction was simple for her.
"Absolutely not." She affirmed before she allowed the Herrscher of Thunder to flood her body with its power with no resistance.
Raven knew something was instantly wrong when Mei's eyes flashed purple. She only had enough time to throw her arms over her eyes to cover them when the entire world in front of became enveloped in light.
In hindsight maybe aiming her bow straight at the Herrscher of Thunder, slumbering or not, might have been a bad idea. Her survival instincts had kicked in and rational thought went out the window in favor of trying to live as she was pushed further and further by the duo in training.
Still she hadn't expected for the Kaslana to throw herself in front of her arrow's path.
"Insect," Hearing those words had Raven instantly jump back into a combat stance, bow at the ready as her opponent revealed herself. The blinding light died down to reveal the slightly floating form of Mei Raiden, her eyes ablaze in purple electric as she held Kiana in a bridal position.
"You will rue the day that you harmed what belongs to me," The Herrscher of Thunder promised as she lowered Kiana's body on the floor. An uncharacteristic look of softness graced her features as she gently laid the unconscious teenager on the floor, going as far as to softly push some hair out of the Kaslana's face.
!
It was by pure instinct that Raven was able to dodge the purple lightning bolt that had barely managed to graze her.
[2nd Reactor Online]
Eyes wide at the sound of the AI system the mercenary turned around to see the reactor crackling with purple energy, the light of the reactor soon illuminating the room.
"Now then," The Herrscher slightly winced as she felt the bomb on heart activate, ticking down. She had around five minutes before it went off and killed her and her host…
Which was more than enough time.
Raising Mei Raiden's katana, now imbued with purple lightning, the Herrscher sneered at the mercenary in front of her.
"Die,"
Keji didn't want to brag or anything, but piloting the Shiden through the forestry perimeter of St. Freya had been surprisingly easy. It could be the fact that the dark purple mech was a work of art and that it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that it could navigate a forest well but he knew that his prior experience on the Arahato simulator was the reason why it was going as smoothly as it was now.
He knew that buying it was the greatest decision he had ever made.
However his smugness had all but evaporated when he spied the location of the third reactor that he had 'volunteered' to liberate from the enemy.
And all that stood between him and that was an entire squad of Shiden mechs identical to his that had created a defensive perimeter around the reactor's building. They hadn't noticed him yet, his mech was currently hiding in a large enough patch of greenery that camouflaged him from any prying eyes, but that was an advantage that wouldn't help him much in the long run.
"There's around five of them," The combat operator muttered to himself as he observed the defenses from the main screen that was coming from his machine's singular eye. "All of them don't look to be damaged, which means that they're all working at 100%. At least there aren't any foot soldiers around."
"There's no way that I could sneak up to the reactor without being caught, and even then I need the Shiden's systems to turn it on." He cursed as his mind was working overtime on how he could turn this situation around.
He could cause some kind of distraction that could pull at max two of the five mechs from the reactor building but he quickly dismissed that idea. They would come back quickly once they realized that it was all a ploy and if he couldn't find a way to take out the Shidens that stayed behind he would be attacked from both sides.
A frontal assault was downright suicide. Not only did he have to deal with a numbers disadvantage but his inexperience in combat meant that he had no idea how to fend off five experienced soldiers at the same time.
The only things he had going for him was that they didn't know he was literally right next to them and that he was experienced with the controls of the machine.
However even with all of that there was still one problem…
"Am I supposed to kill them?" He whispered to himself, his heart beating rapidly at the notion that he was potentially about to take someone's life. It could be perhaps stupid of him to think that even if he didn't have a job of a Valkyrie or Knight, his job did have the word 'combat' in it and
Still he was a damn highschool student for crying out loud. He should be worrying about things like grades or if someone had a crush on him, not worrying about the lives of other people and fighting for his life.
But he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Every second he wasted here was more time that Haruto and everyone else were struggling to keep their invaders at bay. Every moment of hesitation was a moment that a coin flip was made to see if people would die from his indecision.
But to kill people…
.
.
.
He would just have to cross that bridge when he got there.
For now…
"Let's do this," Silently bringing up his Shiden's rifle, Keji activated the machine's combat systems and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. Luckily he didn't have to wait long as one of the Shidens near him moved closer to another one, for what he had no idea.
But it gave him the perfect opportunity to strike.
Pressing the trigger button of the Shiden's gun controls, being in the same spot in the Arahato's simulator, the pilot watched as bullets fired out of his rifle and into the unsuspecting mechs. The element of surprise and the firepower of the Shiden's rifle quickly took out the two mechs with relative ease.
He didn't kill the pilots, he knew that decision might bite him in the ass later on, but he aimed for the joints and limbs of the Shidens. Keji wanted to avoid killing as much as possible and he decided that no one would be stupid enough to fight a killer mech with just a regular pistol.
So he went about crippling the mechs enough so that they couldn't be operational and put up a fight anymore.
The sounds of gunfire quickly drew in two other Shidens, both coming in from opposite sides with their rifles drawn, yet the fact that he was still camouflaged meant that they didn't know where he was yet.
Moving his mech to the left, Keji focused on bringing down at least one of them while he still had the element of surprise on his side and pressed down on his rifle's trigger button once more.
This time the Shiden he was firing at was a bit more prepared than his squadmates for the gunfire as the machine brought up its arm to defend the chest compartment, where the pilot was sitting in. While they did so the pilot raised its own rifle to fire back in Keji's general direction.
However Keji was not an experienced Arhato Simulator player for nothing and since this Shiden had a target system that was nearly identical to it he knew how to use it to its max potential.
Which he knew how to use the Shiden's targeting system for maximum devastation.
Changing his machine's targeting system he began to focus on one of the limbs of the Shiden he was firing at. The concentrated hail of bullets quickly whittled away at the limb's armor and tore apart the inner circuitry and frame. The result was the Shiden falling face first into the dirt, the unprepared loss of its leg taking it out and rendering it inoperational.
That didn't mean the fourth Shiden was sitting idly by. Having seen where the gunfire was coming from, the fourth pilot was able to figure out where Keji was hiding in and quickly began to fire into the greenery that he was in.
With his hiding spot having served its purpose the chess enthusiast moved his dark purple colored machine out into the open, rifle trained at the fourth Shiden and began to try and strafe out of his enemy's gunfire.
It quickly became clear to Keji that these pilots were no flukes, his earlier successes with the first three only made possible with a mixture of surprise and a whole lot of luck on his side. Even with moving his Shiden to the best of his ability to avoid getting hit, the opposing pilot was still able to hit his machine with most of their bullets.
"[RELOAD!]" The internal AI of the Shiden chimed in the cockpit and hearing those words Keji couldn't help but curse something that his sister would hit him if she ever heard him say it out loud. Of course the moment when his element of surprise had run out would be the same time where he would have to reload his rifle.
But he couldn't do that as he would have to temporarily stop in order to reload his rifle and if he did that then there was very little stopping the enemy pilot from closing the distance between him and finishing him.
Yet he had to fight back anyway as if he just tried to run away then the enemy Shiden would just chip away at his defenses and leave him vulnerable.
"Wait a minute!" He shouted as his eyes spied a familiar icon near the indicator of how much ammo he had left in his rifle, which was zero at the moment. A grin quickly formed on his face as a plan to get him out of this situation came to mind.
After all, you couldn't call yourself a gamer if you didn't know the indicator of a grenade.
"[Here!]" He shouted through the speakers as he moved his Shiden's free hand to grab a grenade from the mech's waistline. Grasping the spherical explosive he commanded his machine to arm it.
"[Catch!]" He yelled out as the Shiden threw the active grenade at the mech.
The opposing Shiden raised its rifle to presumably shoot the grenade out of the sky before it could reach them, but instead of the sound of the bullets being fired all that was heard was the sound of clicking.
Keji wanted to laugh at the irony that his opponent needed to reload at such a crucial moment as well.
Without any way of shooting the grenade out of the sky there was no way that the mech could defend itself. It tried to maneuver backwards but it was too slow to go in the opposite direction so when the grenade had gone off its legs had not been spared from the blast radius. The force of the blast sent the now legless mech roughly tumbling to the ground, unable to stand back up.
With that five mechs identical to his was left now to only one he had to deal with.
Keji could not help but smile in the cockpit of his Shiden.
Though his elation did not last long as the sensors of his mech blared out loudly a second before something smashed into the side of his mech, sending it and its pilot for a direct course with the ground. It was only instinct and a quick flick of the controls that Keji was able to upright his mech from falling.
Jostled in the cockpit the combat operator turned pilot was given a small chance to recover just before the proximity alarms blared out in warning again, and this time his green eyes could see the reason of why he had almost kissed the ground.
The fifth and final Shiden had decided to make its presence known, crossing the distance between them with alarming speed as he brought its hand up and aimed it right at the spot where the head of the Shiden would be.
Gritting his teeth, Keji raised his Shiden's arms to block the punch, stopping the opposing Shiden in its tracks. The helmet of the opposing Shiden then opened up, revealing the orange eye protected within as it slightly pushed his mech backwards.
"[I'll admit that you caught us off guard by using one of our mechs but as the captain of this squad it ends now!]" A male gruff voice came from the opposing Shiden's speakers. "[Prepare to say your prayers!]"
Despite the situation and how he should be focusing on winning this battle Keji's inner gamer could not help but rise to meet his enemy's quip. "[I could say the same thing to you!]" He yelled back through his own mech's speakers.
"[A kid?]" His enemy called out, obviously surprised by who he was facing. "[Oh who am I kidding, we're attacking a school for crying out loud.]"
"[And you're fine with that!]" He called back angrily. If this man was smart enough to figure out that he was a kid then he should know that killing other kids was morally wrong!
"[Doesn't matter what I think, a good soldier follows orders.]" The captain yelled back as his Shiden drew back its other free hand, aiming for an unprotected part of Keji's machine. "[The time for talking is over, prepare yourself if you want to live kid!]"
The chess enthusiast was given very little time to brace himself as the enemy Shiden let its fist loose, the force of it breaking his guard and forcing his mech to skid back on the ground. "Grr!" Keji growled inside of the cockpit of his mech, his green eyes alight with frustration seeing that his enemy wasn't going to let up on the pressure anytime soon.
He didn't know how everyone else was doing but he was damn sure that they were doing better than he was at the moment.
Fu Hua had no idea how everyone else was doing but she was sure that they were doing better than she was right now.
"Damn right!" Hua shouted in her mind, her tone full of rare anger. It was inconceivable for her to show such anger, the most she showed of her anger was through snide remarks and even then most of them were made in a joking manner.
Though considering who their opponent was it was easy to see why they were so riled up.
"I feel so flattered!" The imposter who wore Elysia's skin gleefully shouted as she spun her weapon around, Fu Hua barely being able to dodge out of the way of the weapon's deadly edge. Blocking a follow up attack with her gauntlets the A-Rank Valkyrie took the chance to create some distance between her and the Herrscher of Sentience.
The bluish gray hair MANTIS was a patient person that rarely let her temper get the better of her, especially during the heat of battle. Where others would lose their anger she would calmly keep her cool and persevere, it was a trait that she prided herself on.
But this situation was really testing the limits of her patience.
To start off she was still fighting in the control room of the main reactor, with the reactor still remaining offline. Any attempts from her to turn it back on had been thwarted by her opponent, a Herrscher who decided to parade around a body in the perfect imitation of her friend.
And to add salt to the insult, the imposter was currently wielding a bastardized version of the Abyss Flower. The regal Divine Key that she knew of was nowhere to be seen, instead a distorted pink crystal replica was wielded in its place.
Yet despite the fact that it was not the real Divine Key and that the real Elysia was not in front of her, seeing a replica being wielded by the pink haired woman was enough for Fu Hua to relive a memory that she believed that she had long forgotten.
"Mou!" The real Elysia pouted as she conversed with Dr. Mei in the confines of the Flamechaser's base. The two were currently not alone in their conversation as Fu Hua had been already present, previously in a conversation with the scientist when the pink haired woman had suddenly announced her arrival.
Standing off to the side the Flamechaser watched as Dr. Mei tried to convince the woman how the Abyss Flower was the best weapon for her. However Elysia stood her ground. "Mei-chan I can't use the Abyss Flower. It's just not elegant enough to use!"
"Right Fu Hua-chan?" Her eyes widened when she found herself the center of attention, the two women looking at her with an expectant look in their eyes. "You agree with me that the Abyss Flower isn't the cutest weapon for me right?"
"Fu Hua-san," Dr. Mei spoke up. "You agree with me that the Abyss Flower is the best weapon to be wielded by Elysia-san right?"
At the time she had no idea what to do, as she had no knowledge of these kinds of things and remained silent as she tried to formulate an answer that would appeal to both sides. Thankfully before she answered them Eden had arrived in the nick of time and had helped coax the scientist that it would be detrimental to Elysia's combat ability if she wielded a weapon that she did not favor.
Such a short memory wouldn't normally be remembered by an immortal who had lived many decades but these peculiar events that she experienced as a Flamechaser stuck with Fu Hua for decades. Memories that revolved around the other Flamechasers were quietly treasured by her. They were something that she would look fondly on whenever the burden of her mission got too much for her, the memories helping her take another step forward.
Yet she lost them all during the events that befell Mount Taixuan. It was only by a miracle that she had regained them all at the Nagazora docks and she would never take for granted the memories she had with her fellow Flamechasers, her brothers and sisters in arms.
And now some…demon was desecrating the form of one of them. Such an act filled the otherwise calm Valkyrie with an indescribable amount of anger that-
"Calm yourself old timer." Hua's words quickly reeled her back in from whatever path she was about to go down through. "She wants you to lose your cool, don't fall for her petty tricks."
"Yes, listen to the fake. After all, birds of feathers flock together, so why don't the fakes collaborate together." The Herrscher of Sentience chimed in. For whatever reason the Herrscher could hear not only her thoughts, but also of Hua's as well. Perhaps the explanation laid in the fact that they were in fact all…connected to her in a manner of speaking.
She could dwell on a reasoning later as the fact that the Herrscher could hear her thoughts meant that the harbinger of destruction knew what buttons that would make her tick.
Which meant that this was as much as a battle of wills as it was of physical endurance.
Closing her blue eyes Fu Hua took a deep calming breath to settle her temper. No matter how tempting it was to succumb to her anger it would not see her through this battle. Opening her eyes back up the bluish gray haired Valkyrie slowly slid back into a combat stance, looking at Sentience with a guarded expression.
"How sad," The pink haired woman lamented with a shake of her head. "Anger isn't something to be ashamed of, you know, if anything the absence of it makes you seem less human."
The lamentation didn't last very long as the Herrscher's expression was quickly dropped in favor of a grin. "Oh well, it will just make this all the more sweeter. The killing of a pitiful human and an imposter so that a true god can ascend to her final form, I believe that the world will thank me for this." A glint of sadism flashed in the imposter's eyes before she lifted the bastardized Abyss Flower and began to swing at Fu Hua once more.
With the ability to read her mind the A-Rank Valkyrie found the Herrscher of Sentience to be the worst opponent to be up against. Any attempt to be a step ahead of the Herrscher would only result in her opponent being two steps ahead of her. Every attack would be perfectly countered and every opening in her stance, even if they were miniscule, would be exploited to the best of their ability.
"Oh too slow,"
"Are you even trying?"
"How long can you keep this up I wonder?"
"Oh are you getting tired already?"
"You know each minute my spear's edge gets closer and closer to victory~."
Not to mention her voice, which sounded the same as the woman she was impersonating. The Herrscher relished every opportunity to try and goad her into doing something stupid and rash. It was only Hua's constant reminders that ensured that she did not give in to her temperament.
Which was easier said than done.
After minutes of fighting with the Herrscher and getting absolutely nowhere the A-Rank Valkyrie was beginning to run out of ideas on how to deal with her enemy. For while every punch and kick she threw was perfectly countered by the pink haired woman, every swing of her distorted spear exploited every window that she had in her stance.
At the rate that they were going Fu Hua was going to lose.
"Hey old timer," Hua spoke in her mind as the bluish gray haired woman used the slight reprieve that came after some minutes of fighting. "I think I know how to turn the tide."
With her back against the wall and their impending doom just a couple of minutes away she was open to any suggestions. "What do you have in mind Hua?" She asked.
"Well…remember how you said that I'm technically you right?" She started out, her tone unsure as if she wasn't even sure what she was staying was right. "Does that mean I could theoretically use your body to some extent then?"
That got a brow raise from Fu Hua. "You mean to switch-"
"Not take over your entire body!" She swiftly added. "I doubt that I could do that, I don't even know how I would even do that. Besides not to mention it wouldn't sit right with me, but maybe it could give you an edge against Sentience?"
It wasn't like they had any other choice at the moment. "Alright, how would we do this?"
"Well-!"
"Whatever you're planning over there won't work on me," Elysia swiftly interrupted as she walked over to them, her spear at the ready. Though that was the least of Fu Hua's concern as she repeated those words to herself. Had Hua somehow found a way to make sure that their conversation couldn't be heard by the Herrscher?"
It seemed that was the case as the pink haired imposter continued talking, unaware of the plan that they had made. "Oh my other half, how noble of you to try and help this pitiful human. Do not worry your sad existence will soon be rejoined with me and make me whole once more."
Then without warning she lunged at them, spear poised to skewer her stomach. Eyes widening Fu Hua deflected the spear with one hand and without even thinking she cocked her other fist back and let it fly. Overextending with her spear the Herrscher of Sentience had made it so that she had no way of defending herself when the Valkyrie had swatted her spear away and the followup counterattack.
Which meant that there was nothing stopping Fu Hua's fist from punching straight through Elysia's stomach.
Blue eyes show wide open at the sight office puncturing right through the stomach. After getting nowhere in inflicting any real injuries to suddenly inflict this grave one felt…strange for the Valkyrie. But she wasn't complaining as this meant that-!
Her internal rambling was cut short when laughter shook her back to reality. Blinking her eyes looked to her lodged arm, now just noticing how despite the fatal wound there was no blood seeping out of it.
"Did you think it would be all that easy?" Looking up the A-Rank Valkyrie saw the Herrscher looking down on her with a smirk, her bastardized Abyss Flower's edge pointed right at her as it hung overhead her like the Sword of Damocles.
"Goodbye," Sentience sang before the spear's edge came roaring for her head. There was no way for Fu Hua to dodge the spear, she was too close to it and her arm was lodged inside the Herrscher's stomach and-!
"NO!" Hua yelled before Fu Hua felt something inside of her shift. If she had to describe the sensation it was like a single chain connected her and Hua together. Most of the time it was Fu Hua who held most of the chain, with Hua gladly giving her reigns of it. The reverse was now happening as Hua had all but jerked the chain in her direction.
The world around them seemingly distorted, reality fizzing in and out…
And red chains suddenly erupted all around them. From where they erupted to where they landed the red chains tore through it all, sending chunks of debris flying throughout the room. But the majority of them had all shot for the Herrscher of Sentience, whose eyes widened at the sight of them.
She stopped her attack and raised her spear to try and defend herself from the surprise attack but a chain quickly wrapped itself around her arm and held it down. The other chains quickly converged on her, entrapping her from head to toe in restrictive chains that hindered her movement, in the process the chains had freed her hand from the Herrscher's stomach.
"N-Now Fu Hua!" Hua shouted in her mind, her breath laborious as whatever she was doing was no doubt rapidly draining her energy.
Nodding Fu Hua ran without hesitation to the chained Herrscher of Sentience, her fist cocked back and let it fly when she was right in front of her. With her entire movement of body restricted the imposter wearing Elysia's body could do nothing as deadly punches and kicks landed on her body without remorse.
The A-Rank Valkyrie was not someone who enjoyed inflicting pain on others but after being subjected to a long battle of attrition that had all of her attacks hitting air and listening to Sentience's taunting words towards her she derived a small bit of pleasure as she let her opponent know just how furious she was at the moment.
A punch to the side of the face.
A kick to the abdomen.
A throat chop to the neck.
Any and all attacks of fists and kicks were used against the restricted form of Elysia. One particular punch left a nasty bruise on Sentience's left eye, which definitely had Fu Hua smirk just imagining how ugly the black eye would be.
A particular strong kick to the Herrscher's sent her reeling across the room, tumbling roughly to the ground. Despite the fact that her body was unable to move due to Hua's chains the pink haired woman raised her head up, her blue eyes filled with enough loathing and hate that it could've burned her with the gaze alone.
"This ends now!" Fu Hua yelled as she ran right at the distracted Herrscher, fist cocked back for one final blow. Hua was of the same mind as reality distorted around them once more, this time instead of more chains appearing it coated her fist in a black and red energy.
"FU HUA!" The Herrscher of Sentience roared as dark pink energy began to surround her, her face the definition of pure and raw fury as it snapped the chains that had previously restricted her. Creating another bastardized version of the Abyss Spear in her hands she pointed it at the approaching Valkyrie.
"SAY HELLO TO OBLIVION FOR ME!" She yelled before jumping to meet the A-Rank Valkyria head on with her weapon, which was glowing an ominous pink.
The two met in the middle.
Gauntlet against spear.
Human vs Herrscher.
The original vs the imposter.
Neither were willing to let the other win this battle.
As their weapons were seconds away from meeting they both shouted to the top of their lungs as they brought their all to bear against the other.
The clash of energies soon enveloped the entirety of the control room in a bright flash of light, the last thing that could be seen was their faces as they shouted their determination to not be the loser of this battle.
And the last thing they heard before the light enveloped them was the voice of the control room's AI.
[Main Reactor Online]
An hour ago Keji was over the moon, neigh over the universe itself. He was living his mecha nerd dream of piloting a mech that looked to be plucked right out of an anime and fighting the bad guys in it.
However right now the newbie pilot wished to be anywhere inside his Shiden cockpit.
"[C'mon what's the matter kid!]" His opponent taunted through his mech's speakers as it threw a punch at him. With how close he was Keji was only able to maneuver his mech a bit out of the way, enough to not get hit by the entire hit but not enough as he was clipped by the punch. "[Put your back into it!]"
"[Easy for you to say!]" He yelled back through his own speakers, gritting his teeth as he tried to balance his mech. "[This is my first time in this damn thing!]"
"[No excuse! You either adapt or die!]" The enemy pilot yelled back as he moved his mech to the chess enthusiast's flank. Cursing that the captain was actually playing this smart Keji was forced to swivel his machine so that he could face the moving opposing Shiden.
This duel couldn't go on for long, he was constantly on the defense and his Shiden's armor durability was slowly being brought down alongside his mech's energy readings. From the beginning of the fight he had been on the defensive, barely able to attack as the enemy captain did not relent on his attacks.
Even a complete novice in combat like him knew that he was hopelessly outmatched against an opponent of this caliber.
Deciding to try and tip the scales in his favor Keji decided to let the enemy Shiden get a lucky strike that almost destroyed his right arm unit, the arm now looked like it had been thrown in a blender. Seeing the sight of it through his cockpit's terminal had him wincing at how poorly he was treating this mech but right now he had other things to worry about.
Like how he made a sacrificial play in order to get one clean shot.
With one arm extended Keji raised his Shiden's opposite arm and aimed a punch at the captain mech's head. If it connected then not only was that a critical head to an essential part of the purple mech but also it hopefully would rattle the captain enough that the newbie pilot could make a comeback.
Though when his punch was midway through the air and the captain's Shiden monocular eye glowed, Keji had a feeling it was not going to go as easily as he thought it would.
"[Predicatble!]" The captain berated as the enemy Shiden's legs suddenly swept Keji's mech off its feet. With his sense of balance already screwed by earlier punch there was nothing that he could do that would save his mech from hitting the ground.
A yelp of pain escaped Keji's lips as he was painfully jostled inside his Shiden's cockpit as it hit the ground with a loud thud. With how much he was being thrown around inside the cockpit it felt like he was on a rollercoaster of death.
Gritting his teeth in an attempt to lessen the pain his body was feeling at the moment the combat operator attempted to pilot his mech out of the ground, only to stop cold in his tracks when he saw a barrel being pointed directly at him.
"[You've got heart kid, I'll give you that.]" The captain praised and Keji would've felt really touched by his words if it wasn't for the fact that this was a matter of life and death. "[But this ends now.]"
Cursing the fact that he had been pushed into a corner and his death, Keji decided that he needed to do something drastic to turn this around or he was going to die. His heart was beating like crazy right now at his looming death but adrenaline was the sole thing pushing him forward.
Drastic measures called for desperate actions. Logic had been forsaken in favor of instinct guiding him.
He was not a valkyrie or knight, not like Haruto and everyone else…
But he was a gamer.
And when a gamer was backed against a corner there was only one option left for them.
To press every button available to them without hesitation.
So like a mad man possessed the chess enthusiast began to press every conceivable button available to him. In the back of his mind there was the thought that he could randomly activate some sort of self destruct button or accidentally blow up an arm but he believed that whoever built this wouldn't be as stupid to put such a button as easily accessible.
The beeping sounds and flickering lights inside his cockpit should've had him panicking but he couldn't help but grin at the sudden step back the captain's Shiden did when smoke suddenly began to emit from his machine.
"[What in the hell is going on here?!]" The man called out as in his surprise he had lowered his guard and pointed his rifle away from Keij.
Bingo.
"Got you!" The brown haired teenager roared victorously as he surged his mech upward and threw a right hook that caught the captain off guard. Not wanting to let up the pressure the newbie pilot just began to throw punches at the Shiden's head unit, not even caring about trying to throw some technique to his attack.
This was just reckless flailing of his mech's arms.
Yet it worked as the captain was overwhelmed by his attacks, so much so that the favor of the battle had shifted entirely in Keji's favor. Where there was an experienced fighter who could had trained his entire life in its place was a warrior scrambling to gather his senses.
The duel between them soon reached its climax when Keji's Shiden had torn off one of the captain mech's arms and threw a punch straight at the cockpit. The thought that he was going to kill the man had crossed his mind as his mech's fist got closer and closer but all that mattered to him was winning this duel.
However before he could land the finishing blow smoke suddenly was discharged from the captain's Shiden. Not knowing what the smoke was for, the combat operator stopped his attack before maneuvering his Shiden out of the smoke's range, hands at the ready to react to whatever the hell his opponent was going to surprise him with.
But it seems that he did not have to worry as the smoke cleared away as a bright light emitted from where the enemy Shiden was. Moments later something shot out of the smoke and into the sky with rapid speed, getting farther and farther away from Keji. One look from where the mysterious flying object had originated from showed that the entire cockpit of the captain's machine was no longer present.
"So this mech does have an escape system, that's good to know." He muttered to himself as a calm silence began to settle around him. It only took a few seconds before a smile broke out on his face as the reality of the situation became clear to him.
Somehow against overwhelming odds he had come out on top, victorious.
He wanted to laugh, scream like an excited girl that had gotten concert tickets to her favorite band, hell he wanted to see if his Shiden could do some kind of dance but he reminded himself that he had a mission to complete first.
"Asplund?" He radioed in, his breath hard and laborious as his mind was still reeling from what he had gone through. "T-The third reactor is now under my control."
"Excellent!" Asplund's cheery words came through the radio channel almost instantaneously. "And the guards that you no doubt had to fight?"
"Four of them are unable to fight while one got away." He replied before throwing a glance to the four crippled Shidens that were all around them. The cockpits had not opened yet so he guessed that the pilots had resigned themselves to their fate as prisoners as the other alternative was to try and fight his Shiden.
Which went without saying that would've ended poorly for them.
"Good job Keji. I'll be sure to send a squad over to secure those prisoners." Himeko's proud voice came through the radio channel. "Now activate the third reactor, all other sub reactors and the main one came back online recently and we are just waiting for yours to get the main system back online."
"Really?!" He called out in shock, not expecting that kind of news. That meant everyone had done their mission and that had to mean that there were no casualties. "Thank god. Alright connecting the Shiden to the reactor system now."
With Asplund's directions he was able to locate a port that he could hook up his Shiden to access the reactor's systems. From there it was allowing Asplund to use the connection to his Shiden as a bridge to access the Reactor's control system and it didn't take long for the reactor to activate.
[Third Reactor Online]
"You did well Keji," His sister praised, a smile on his face from hearing her words and that of the reactor's AI. Asplund and every scientist/technician with him were currently focusing solely on the reactivation of St. Freya's defense systems. "Now sit tight, you've done more than enough."
"Not like I can't do much more right now," Keji explained to her as he looked at a screen that had the diagnostics of the Shiden's repair systems, wincing at how many red numbers and symbols were currently being shown on the screen. The dark purple combat mech had really gone through a beating and trying to do anything else with it would just result in catastrophe.
So with nothing else better to do but to wait the pilot merely leaned back into his seat and took in his surroundings. The clearing that he had fought the enemy mechs in was ravaged to say the least. The ground was torn up from the explosions while nearby greenery was on fire from the gunfire that had been exchanged.
Keji never thought that he would see such devastation up close, the closest he had been was the Nagazora Eruption and even the worst he had seen was the aftereffects that had befallen the city. When he had accepted to be the combat operator in charge of the 6th Valkyrja Squad he had an inkling that he would have his own taste of violence.
He just didn't think it would be this soon.
Pushing that thought out however what took his attention was the sight of the captain's downed Shiden. At first he didn't think too much about it since its cockpit was no longer present but his mind couldn't help but think that it might contain some important information.
Info that could help everyone fighting on the frontlines.
"I wonder…" He muttered to himself before slowly maneuvering his Shiden over to the downed Shiden, making his machine kneel with the downed mech before connecting his systems with the slightly damaged head unit.
Seconds later he smiled when he got a prompt to download the data that the captain Shiden had on it. Quickly pressing the confirmation button his green eyes watched as the data transfer went through and began to read what he had gotten.
His smile quickly fell.
"Hey Asplund? Himeko?" He radioed them back. "I think there's something you need to know."
"Oh? What is it Keji?" Himeko called back, her tone curious and unaware at what information Keji had stumbled upon.
"Well I'm looking through the files I downloaded from the captain's Shiden and…" He explained as he reread what he was currently reading was right. "The latest order that was received by the captain was that reinforcements have just landed on St. Freya Academy. Three battalions worth of Shidens supposedly."
After he said those words a tense silence quickly followed. They may have gotten their defense system back online but 3 battalions worth of Anti-Entropy's new mechs wasn't something to sneeze at. It would only be broken by Asplund, his tone serious. "...Are you absolutely sure that is what you are seeing?"
"Yeah the data shows that the battalions landed about half an hour ago and are currently making its way to the frontlines." The combat operator informed as he read through the orders that he had gotten from the captain's mech. Apparently all captains or those of a higher rank had their own channel where orders and developments on the battlefield were shared. "Is that a bad thing?"
Even if Keji wasn't present at the command room he could feel that everyone there was looking at his boss in a mixture of apprehension and fear. "An Anti-Entropy mechanized Battalion numbers around 50 units. Multiply that by three and that's enough to overwhelm any defensive line." He informed, his tone devoid of his carefree attitude.
"Shouldn't our defenses take care of it?" Himeko countered.
"If they have already landed then they are out of the range of St. Freya's outer defenses, which are more heavily armed than the ones inside the academy. Our inside defenses might be able to slow them down but they lack the firepower to bring down the reinforcements, and that is if they haven't been taken out in the beginning of this invasion." He explained to everyone.
After another period of tense silence it was his sister who broke the silence. "...What do we do now, Major Himeko?"
"You're asking me?" Haruto's aunt replied back incredulously.
"The Principal has not returned from the Vault yet and any attempts to reach her have failed. Following the chain of command you are the next we look to if the Principal is unable to give orders." She informed her.
The red haired major sighed, clearly not happy with the circumstances around her ascension as current leader of St. Freya Academy. "Asplund…" She started out, her tone determined to rise to the responsibilities of her temporary station. "Is it ready?"
"It? What are you…" The pudding scientist trailed off as it finally dawned on him whatever the Major was referring to. "Ah you don't mean…"
She cut him off. "I need a yes or no answer, Pudding Scientist."
"If we ignore the fact that we haven't had her take a single test flight even if all of her systems are ready then yes she is technically ready for her first flight, weapons systems included." Mused the scientist. "We can activate her through Keji's connection with the third reactor system."
Her? What the hell were they talking about? Was this some kind of secret project that they had ready for situations like these?
"Good," Himeko voiced her approval. "But I'm sure it will take some time for her to get it fully activated and up into the air, time I am not sure that the front line will have once those reinforcements reach them."
"Indeed," Asplund voiced his agreement with the major's assessment. "Judging by the data that Keji is supplying us it will take too long for us to activate it…" He then trailed off before he began to cackle madly. Even after getting to know his boss Keji was still unnerved by his eccentricity and this was one of these moments.
Even after he had calmed down from his bout of laughter his voice still had that glee that the chess enthusiast could hear and slightly feared. "I know how to fix this, Marie?"
"It's time."
Before the chess enthusiast could ask what he meant by that his sister cut into the conversation. "You can't be serious Asplund!" She exclaimed. "The risks of deploying one of them without testing is big enough, but two of them is downright suicide! Have you forgotten about-!"
"The Caliburn had its own baptism by fire, I think that its two predecessors should have the opportunity to do so well." Asplund calmly retorted, stopping his assistant's words in their tracks.
"...I guess we have no choice." His sister sighed, clearly not pleased with the turn of events. "Very well I will inform everyone to prepare the two suits."
"Thank you Marie, I will inform Mashu and Layla so they can be ready for the change." Asplund said as he could hear footsteps, probably his sister's as she was going to prepare whatever their second plan was.
"Alright Keji I will be sending you directions of what you need to access." Asplund spoke back to him. "Be sure to follow my instructions exactly or you will trigger the system's now online anti-hacker firewalls."
Nodding Keji listened closely to what his boss was telling as he began to navigate and hack his way through St. Freya's now reactivated main system. It was definitely stressful, considering that this was technically his first time hacking which was not fun to say the least, but with his boss' careful instructions he was able to hack his way into the system that they wanted.
"Alright I'm in," He said, noting the name of the project he was now looking at. "What the hell am I exactly supposed to be looking for?"
"Yes it is a lot but worry not as what you are looking for is a very easy file to notice." Asplund affirmed to him.
"You're looking for the image of a cabbage."
.
.
.
"Huh?" Keji called out confusedly, not believing what he had just heard.
"I'm sorry I'm looking for what again?!"
On the frontlines an A-rank Valkyrie wanted to scream out to the heavens on how bad this night was going for her and her fellow sister in arms. First they had been attacked in their sleep, then they had to deal with Anti-Entropy's new mechanized soldiers…
And now they had to deal with enemy reinforcements that were twice as large as the army that they had been previously struggling against!
Even with the fact that St. Freya's main defense system was now up and operational and was currently helping them push their frontline up meant very little if they were about to be attacked by an army far larger than they had dealt with!
There was also the fact that for many students and even some valkyries this was their first taste of what a war was like.
"Any sight of them?" She asked the valkyrie in training lying below her who was looking through a pair of binoculars. They didn't have to worry about a stray bullet or explosive taking them out as all was quiet on the frontlines, except for the sound of the numerous fires that littered the academy grounds.
There had been confusion when the Anti-Entropy forces that they had been fighting tooth and nail against had suddenly begun to retreat. It was strange considering the fact that they had done this previously in an attempt to catch them off guard but it had failed for them when the 6th Valkyrja Squad had shown up as reinforcements.
So the chances of them trying the same trick again was highly unlikely.
Obviously whispers that they had done it and had successfully repelled their enemies began to spread amongst them and even the A-Rank Valkyrie had entertained the idea that they had won this grueling night.
However it all came crashing down when Major Himeko briefed them all of the reinforcements that had landed for Anti-Entropy and that they were making their way towards them. And it didn't take long for them to realize that the enemy that they had just been fighting hadn't retreated, they were preparing for one final push.
What they were experiencing was the literal calm before the storm right now.
"Negative," The student replied as she surveyed the battlefield in front of them with her binoculars.
"Keep at it, you never know when they'll show up," The A-Rank Valkyrie told her before she moved her attention to her current surroundings.
Knowing that the enemy was going to make one final big push the valkyries and students used this time of peace to shore up their defenses. Using the destroyed frames of the Shiden mechs and other debris laying around they had been able to erect a makeshift outer wall around the main headquarters. Coupled with the now active defenses that were now backing them up this would be their final stand.
The valkyries' eyes moved from the other valkyries and students on their makeshift defensive wall before landing on a certain pair of students that were the biggest reason why their defensive line had not yet fallen.
Mashu Schariac and Layla Gunnhildr were currently resting, gathering up their energy for the inevitable final push that they would have to deal with. The black and green haired sniper was currently resting her head on her shielder teammate's shoulder, who currently had her eyes closed and was resting her head on the sniper's head.
It was a cute scene the A-Rank Valkyrie had to admit. It was easy to forget that such moments could exist in times of war but just seeing the two had-!
"Ma'am!" Her scout called out alarmingly, ripping the valkyrie out of her thoughts. "I've spotted the enemy!"
Cursing under her breath at the news she brought out her own pair of binoculars and began to look in the direction her student was looking at just moments ago. True to her words she could see the familiar forms of Shidens and human infantry squads slowly converging on to their position.
Even if they could only see their vanguard one could tell that their numbers were far greater than before. Not only were there more infantry squads but the main bulk of the forces was the purple colored Shidens that worried the A-Rank Valkyrie the most.
Some of them had the same rifles that seemed to be their normal weapons but some of them also were carrying massive bazookas over their shoulders. The amount of firepower that they possessed was more than enough to settle this invasion.
"Everyone, it's time!" She yelled out, kicking up the hornet's nest as the resting Valkyries and students jumped right into action. It was chaos as everyone armed themselves and took their respective positions on the defensive wall. However what the A-Rank Valkyrie was looking for was the two members of the 6th Valkyrja Squad. Without them their chances of holding the front line was practically impossible so they needed to be at the frontlines as soon as possible-!
That thought went out the window when she saw the duo head in the opposite direction of the frontlines.
"Where are you going?!" She called out to them.
"The bossman called us back for something, don't worry we'll be back as soon as possible!" The sniper shouted back and before the valkyrie could inquire any further the two quickly ran out of view.
Great they were about to have the fight of their lives and their two best equipped soldiers were currently out of the picture.
"Ma'am," One of the students walked up to her and saluted. "Everyone is ready and the enemy vanguard have walked into the range of our defense turrets."
As much as the loss of the 6th Valkyrja Squad had hampered their defensive capabilities they had to make do with what they had if they wanted to see the light of tomorrow. "Very well, have our turrets teach these unruly guests of ours what it means to invade our home."
And thus the final fight of the night began with their turrets firing volleys of explosives into the enemy's frontline. The explosions ripped through the soldiers and Shidens, their armor providing very little resistance to the devastating ordinances.
But it didn't matter as the sheer numbers of the enemy made their first casualties an afterthought as they began to rush their front line, hoping to swarm them with their advantage in numbers.
Even with their great defensive position and the turrets assisting them they were getting swamped. Every soldier or mech that fell five more replaced them and while they got stronger, they were getting weaker with each injury that they received.
Reloading her rifle the A-Rank Valkyria bit back a curse as the umpteenth explosion rattled the defensive wall. What in the hell were Layla and Mashu doing that was more important than helping hold the front line!?
"Volley inbound!"
Wide eyed at the announcement the valkyrie turned her attention back to the frontlines and saw a horrific sight. Rows and rows of Shidens with bazookas were currently aiming right at the center of the wall, coincidentally where she was at right now. Their combined ordinance was more than enough to bring down their final stand.
Such a sight would've made their destruction the top priority but with how they were getting swamped at the moment there was no way for them to redirect any available guns or turrets to deal with them.
All they could do was watch as the Shidens fired as one, warheads and missiles flying through the sky and heading to where they were. Seeing her end in sight, the A-Rank Valkyrie closed her eyes and awaited for the painful embrace of death.
However instead of the feeling of scorching heat and excruciating pain that came with getting shot with explosives the A-Rank Valkyria felt nothing. When seconds passed by and nothing happened she dared to open her eyes, which widened when she saw what was in front of her.
A translucent green shield that looked almost identical to Haruto's Caliburn was not only defending her and the other valkyries and students but was covering a decent sized area of the main wall. However it became quickly apparent that it was not the red haired knight that had saved them as his battlesuit did not have the ability to project such a shield over this massive range.
Once the smoke cleared the green transparent shield began to collapse, with the frame of the shield being brought in by metal frames that seemed to be the reason why the shield could hold its shape even when covering such a large area.
The shield collapsed at the center, where a familiar magenta haired valkyrie in training was holding the shield out. The A-Rank Valkryie noted the new battlesuit that Mashu Schariac was in. Describing what it looked like it was almost similar to the armor of a knight.
Armor that was dyed in a mix of dark purple and black that covered every inch of her body. Bulky shoulder pads and a slightly bulkier chest piece were the only things that screamed 'heavy armor' yet if anything it only added to the look. Hanging from her waistline was a dark purple cloth that was slightly billowing out from the air.
To top it all off was Mashu's main weapon, a greatshield that shifted into a smaller, more compact form on her left arm. It was definitely not small, it took up most of her arm, but it was much smaller than the greatshield that she used to use before.
"Forgive us for the wait," Lavender eyes flashed in determination as Mashu looked to the enemies, who took a small step back at seeing their barrage wind up completely useless by her.
"Mashu Schariac! Kingsbane Battlesuit Transient Aegis reporting for duty!"
The shock and awe that her declaration had on both their side and the enemy's did not last long as the enemy Shidens hurried to use the advantage they had before by aiming their weapons at the lavender haired shielder who had been a thorn on their side.
However, being the focus of the enemy didn't seem to faze the Schariac, if anything she looked unbothered by their display of strength. What made her so confident that she could stare at them without even flinching?!
As if the gods had heard her question, another familiar voice filled the air. "And don't forget about me!"
Behind the shielder six floating gun barrel looking devices appeared. Without skipping a beat the six barrels flew out into the enemy lines, energy blasts ripping into the unprepared soldiers. Even the Shidens and their armor did not help them, if anything their size made them more appealing targets for the floating drones to shoot at.
Any attempts by the soldiers or Shidens to shoot them down were ineffective as the floating gun barrels danced in the air, avoiding the shots whilst still raining death on them.
"Sorry for the late arrival, it took us a while to get into these bad boys!" Turning her head the A-Rank Valkyrie watched Layla join her teammate on the wall, clad in her own different battlesuit.
It was the complete opposite of Mashu's battlesuit, as instead of favoring defense it seemingly specialized in offense. The sniper was wearing a black outfit with green highlights that consisted of cargo pants and a sleek long sleeve that looked like it belonged on a ninja. A bandolier belt was laid across her chest and her waist was a belt with multiple pockets.
The most notable features of Layla's battlesuit was the black cloak that hung from her neck and a visor that was displaying a digital screen on the right side of her face. The addition of the visor was certainly a strange sight at first glance but it didn't take long for the A-Rank Valkyrie to connect the dots that it was helping her control whatever those drones that were currently ripping the enemy apart right now.
"Layla Gunnhildr! Kingsbane Battlesuit Zephyr's Gale has made its debut!"
The sight of the two valkyries who had been so essential for their frontline defense was a massive morale boost for the valkyries and students, the mood brightening up considerably at their dramatic, and lifesaving, entrance.
"I am glad that you have arrived in the nick of time," The A-Rank Valkyrie honestly told them. With these two back with them the chances of their victory shot up considerably. "However even with your new suits' firepower I fear that this battle will be prolonged for quite some time."
She turned back to the enemy frontline, a frown replacing her smile. Even with the added firepower the two had given them, the enemy's numbers were still enormous. The battle was far from over.
"Don't worry!" Layla shouted in assurement, her words drawing confused looks from everyone around them. "We're not the only reinforcements that you're getting." Before anyone could ask, the sniper pointed behind them, up to the sky.
Confused, the A-Rank Valkyrie's eyes followed her finger, her eyes widening as she saw what was being referred to. At the same time a shadow fell over the main building and the defensive wall. The sudden loss of light had valkyries and students looking up and their expressions quickly transformed to that of awe at what they were all seeing.
Casting the massive shadow over was an enormous floating white battleship with a golden bottom crest. One look at the underbelly of the battleship showed that there were numerous cannons located there and they were now turning to face the invading forces. The battleship's mere presence alone had many of them cheering and whopping in happiness and even the A-Rank Valkyrie could not stop the goofy grin that appeared on her face.
The Hyperion had finally finished its repairs and retrofitting and had claimed its title as the flying fortress once more.
"[Good evening everybody!]" Asplund's cheery voice came through the speakers of the Hyperion as the barrels of the many cannons on the battleship's underbelly began to charge up…
And the night sky lit up as a cascade of artillery fire rained down on the Anti-Entropy forces.
God this chapter took awhile for me to write. One week alone was spent just brainstorming each and every fight and coupled that with college this was a very long chapter to make.
But here we are, another giant chapter that I'm proud of. There's a lot that happens here lol(Not surprising at all).
Bronya and Welt vs the clone, Project Prometheus makes an appearance again lol. Who was surprised when I added that in? You guys probably forgot about this lol considering I teased it all the way in the freakin beginning, a mistake I don't plan on making again.
Mei and Kiana vs Raven where the Kaslana's kidnapping is brought up in the worst way possible, I mean did you think I was going to not have that have serious repercussions, and HoT graces the battlefield with her presence.
Keji and his Shiden get their time to shine, not much to say here. Wanted our combat operator to shine. I originally had the Hyperion make its appearance in the next chapter but kind of decided against it as the cabbage was a giant hint for it so I decided why not add it now.
Fu Hua and Hua vs HoS…what did you think about that huh XD?
And finally we have Mashu and Layla's Kingsbane Battlesuit are finally revealed. Mashu's battlesuit appearance was inspired by Overwatch' Brigitte. I know many of you were probably expecting the Ortinax or even something closer to Galahad but that just didn't sit right with me.
Don't worry, they might make a future appearance later on.
Layla's battlesuit was a strange one in terms of appearance. I knew what her battlesuit focused on, the funnels, but appearance wise I was kind of stumped. If I had to describe where the inspiration came from for the appearance I would say from Arknights(Even though I've not played it)
Idk what do you guys think of them?
And last but not least we have the conversation with Kevin and Haruto. What did you guys think of it?(Especially that final part?)
Next chapter we see the final chapter of this invasion, and all the juicy reveals/cliffhangers I have planned for it.
Welp that's all for this chapter. If you enjoyed it, drop a fav/follow/kudos as they really help me out with creating great chapters. Reviews are deeply appreciated, they're the biggest motivation to keep writing, and if you have a question or a really interesting theory I am more than happy to reply. Please be patient if I don't respond to you super fast. Even if I don't respond to your comment for whatever reason, know that I read each and every one of them! PMing me is the best way for me to respond to your questions.
Peace!
