Please read the note at the end of the chapter but other than that enjoy :)
No like really I need you guys to read the note at the end of the chapter because it's a major update.
"Kiana-chan?" Mei gave Kiana a concerned look as the white haired girl took a seat across from her. I took the seat next to her and gave Mei a look of pain, my weary face saying it all. All the while Kiana was beaming, not at all disturbed by the fact that her face was covered in a myriad of scratches.
"I told you that it was a bad idea," I berated as Kiana rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly in response.
"It wasn't that bad," She tried to convince me.
"She literally was giving you warnings the moment that you proposed the idea."
"Nah I think it was the fact that she was hungry or something."
"I fed her ten minutes before you came in."
"Did you see how happy she was when I picked her up?"
"I think you're mistaking love with anger here Kiana."
"Um," Mei interrupted us, confusion written on her face. "What exactly happened?"
"Kiana decided to test the limits of Kuro's patience today." I explained before I began to detail what exactly had happened to the heiress. "Today was a bad day for Kuro so she immediately started hissing at her when she tried to pet her."
It wasn't rare for Kuro to be in a pissed off mood. For as remarkable as she was, Kuro was still a cat and when she wanted space she wasn't shy about showing it. It had gotten some getting used to for the first month since her adoption into the family but I was now confidently able to tell when she was in such a mood.
Which was all moot when Kiana decided to display the infamous stubbornness that the Kaslana Family was renowned for.
"But she was so adorable!" Kiana complained as she slumped forward, mindful not to accidentally irritate the scratches on her face. "How could I not pet her!?"
I gave her a deadpan look as I pulled my books out. "You could have done it literally the next day, we're neighbors, remember."
"But still!"
"Shouldn't she have one scratch on her then?" Mei asked confusedly. "And not-" She gestured to Kiana's scratched up face.
"That would be the case if Kiana had listened to what the first scratch meant and not have continued onward by holding the cat up into the air." I shuddered the moment that Kiana decided to hoist Kuro up into the sky.
You ever know how terrible a situation is about to be before it even starts? My heart plummeted when Kuro's blue eyes gained a certain glint in them when she was lifted into the air, which Kiana was oblivious to as she was too busy coddling the cat in her hands.
Kuro decided that she had to personally deliver the message that she was not to be messed with. Just because she was a cat didn't mean that a human could go and disrespect her privacy like that.
So she delivered divine punishment on the foolish human by wriggling her way out of their hands and onto her face, making it her new scratch post for the day.
"Now she'll hate me for the rest of her life!" Kiana cried out as she very dejectedly pulled out her own books from her bag.
"I don't think so," I offered an olive branch to the sad Kaslana. "Just offer your apologies the next time you meet and she'll forgive you, hopefully." I then thought about the stink eye that the black feline was giving Kiana when I helped clean her wounds.
"Though you might need to give her a food offering just so she actually decides to listen to you instead of deciding to finish what she started." I hastily added in, my head filled with terrifying images of Kuro transforming into her alternate form to fight Kiana.
I wasn't sure where Kiana stood in terms of power before she went to St. Freya Academy but I did not wish to find out by using my room as the battlefield. My body internally shuddered at the amount of damage that the two could inflict.
Or even worse...what my obasan would do when she learned about it.
"I'm sure that you two will make up," Mei offered supportingly before she tilted her head. "Though I'm still confused on why you wished to meet me at the library at the end so suddenly. We could've met at my house."
Yeah, bring Kiana into Mei's house? Not only did I believe that Kiana might accidentally break some priceless artifact that Ryoma might have laying around.
I also didn't want to give her ammunition to use against the heiress' fanclub. Ever since her second day Kiana was relentless when it came to butting heads with the fans. And I was not about to add to that fire by asking Mei if we could come over to her house.
"Yeah about that," Even if I didn't wish to bring her to Mei's house, I terribly needed her assistance for this problem that I was now facing.
Kiana's introduction to Chiba Academy certainly changed life as I knew it. The 'dull' days that I once had were a thing of the past, as every day was a unique experience now.
And I had a certain Kaslana to thank for that.
You could never guess how a day was going to go when you had her as a classmate, let alone as someone who sat right next to you. It could range from her making some sort of funny but stupid remark that would have everyone laughing to her confronting a Mei fanboy about how Mei was hers and no one elses.
And Mei certainly didn't help matters as Kiana had begged her to cook her lunch every day now. The sweet-hearted heiress could only agree with the request, making her the envy of everyone in the classroom.
To be honest it made my rather somewhat boring academy life much, much more interesting.
However for there to be good there must also be bad and there was one glaring problem about Kiana that was currently proving to be the bane of my existence.
"I need help teaching Kiana." I confessed to her.
"...Teaching?" Mei tilted her head in confusion.
"Haru-senpai doesn't think that he's doing a good job helping me do my assignments," Kiana crossed her arms as she wasn't happy with the fact that she was here instead of doing other things like playing video games. "He helps me get perfect scores on them so I don't see the problem!"
"...After I basically hand you the answer," I reminded her before looking back at Mei. "And since Ishigami-sensei has that quiz next week I need some extra help in getting her ready."
"I see…" Mei thought about the situation at hand before she nodded her head in confirmation. "I'll do my best to help prepare Kiana-chan for the quiz."
"Mei-senpai!" Kiana shouted in joy.
Which wasn't appreciated by the librarian. "This is a library! Quiet down!"
We all casted a look at each other at the librarian's warning, each one of us silently agreeing that we should start what we came here to do. "Well since it's Ishigami's quiz, we should review our homework for starters."
Oh god, out of everything to start off with she chooses the assignments for his class."This isn't going to be fun." I muttered to myself, loud enough for Mei to hear. The heiress gave me a strange look and all I did was give her a pained smile. "You'll see," I mouthed as Kiana pulled out her assignments for Mei to look at.
In all my time of knowing her, never have I seen Mei's eyes widen that much in horror when she saw first hand how Kiana exactly answered her assignments.
"Kiana-chan...what is this?"
"Um…"
"Why is this answer over here when it should be here?"
"Well…"
"We covered this in class just the other day Kiana-chan!"
"You see I was doing something important…"
"Kiana-chan this part was left blank!"
I rested my head on my hand as I watched Mei go through the work of the academic train wreck that was Kiana Kaslana. From a split second my mind made the connection that this whole situation looked like Kiana was a kid who got caught stealing some cookies from the cookie jar while Mei was the mother busy scolding her.
Wait if that was the case then where did I fit in?
I pushed the strange question aside when Mei finished looking through Kiana's assignments, an exasperated expression on her face. "As you can see, we have a lot of work ahead of us."
"I didn't know it was that serious," Mei placed Kiana's homework down on the table, a rare serious expression on her face as she tried to think of the best way to try and get Kiana to understand the material.
"I haven't had much luck helping her myself," I stretched my shoulders out before I got my pencil and paper ready, glad with the fact that I had Mei assisting me now. "Maybe having you will change that."
Mei gave me a determined nod of her head while Kiana cheered as loud as she possibly could without drawing the ire of the librarian.
Maybe we could actually do this!
Noon soon became evening and never more had I wished for oblivion to simply engulf me, my early optimism having all but faded away. Groaning tiredly,I face planted onto the desk, uncaring who was watching.
Meanwhile Mei was not as ready to physically show how tiresome this study session had become, I could see that she too was close to her limit with how things were progressing. The slight crease of her brow was more than enough to tell me
And Kiana?
The glare that was directed towards the science textbook in front of her was so convincing that I was 100% confident that it would burst into flames at any moment.
"Clearly we need another approach," I obviously stated as I was sure that if we continued on this course of action that I was going to be murdering someone by the end of the day.
"Agreed," Mei voiced no objections to my plan.
"But how!" Kiana complained as she slumped forward. "We tried everything but I can't retain anything you guys are teaching me! Why can't we punch our way through these kinds of problems?!"
Through the corner of my eye I could see the librarian giving us the stink eye but I no longer had the energy to care for what she might do next.
If only this was some sort of physical test rather than an academic test, then I was sure that Kiana would pass with flying colors. Where she lacked in academics, she more than made up for it in fighting and eat-
Wait a minute...eating?
And as if a lightbulb suddenly came on, an idea began to form in my head as I repeated the fact that Kiana was a glutton. A ray of hope began to shine in this hopeless situation that we were in. Maybe I could use Kiana's appetite to our advantage here.
The only way that I would be able to know if it would work was to try it out. "It's a shame though," I lamented exaggeratedly, drawing Kiana and Mei's attention. "If Kiana had passed her test I'm sure that Mei would invite her to come to her home for a little celebration."
"Huh?" Kiana asked confusedly while Mei looked at me oddly.
"Ayaka-san makes the best fried chicken, the crunchiness of that skin was so heavenly." As I regaled to Kiana the glory of the cook that was Mei's head maid, the heiress began to realize what I was trying to accomplish here.
"And the ice cream that she hand makes every week," Mei joined in, praising the velvety ice cream as she placed her hands on her cheeks with a dreamy expression on her face. "It's the best ice cream in the world."
"Eh?!" Kiana looked at us back and forth with growing excitement, a small strand of drool was starting to hang from her mouth.
"And her tonkatsu," I blew a chef's kiss recollecting that delicacy. "I would fight a whole army if it meant I could get to eat that." Locking eyes with Mei, we both silently smirked at each other as we looked at Kiana who had a surreal expression on her face as she imagined how tasty we were making the food sound like.
"I'm sure that Ayaka-san would have no problem with preparing a little celebratory feast if you passed the quiz next week," As Mei hammered the last nail in the coffin, I did a silent cheer when Kiana's face shifted from dejected to that of serious determination.
"Then what are we waiting for!" With a sudden burst of motivation, Kiana looked more ready than ever to study for this quiz. A new look was in her blue eyes that gave me hope.
I looked towards Mei and just shrugged my shoulders while I got my pencil ready for another study session.
Who knows? Maybe this would actually work out in the end.
"Look upon my genius!" Kiana smugly presented the quiz paper in front of me. I took the paper from her hands and stared at the score in shock while Kiana continued to bask in her accomplishment.
My mind kept rereading the big red fat score that was written on Kiana's quiz paper, making sure that reality wasn't playing some cruel joke on me.
71
She barely just passed the quiz.
Normally that would be quite sad if you barely passed a quiz but to pass a quiz in Ishigami's class was quite an achievement. Tearing my shocked gaze from the quiz paper, I noted a fair number of people's dejected expressions throughout the classroom.
To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting Kiana to pass the quiz. I had expected her to maybe hit a low 50 or even a low 60. Those scores were generous when I factored in how Kiana had performed on her previous assignments.
Even if she failed the quiz I had been planning to buy her some ice cream to cheer her up, but who knew that tempting her with food actually had merit.
"Color me surprised Kaslana-san," Ishigami admitted as he walked up to us. "I had fully expected you to fail this first quiz."
Kian just smiled brightly as I handed back her quiz paper before motioning to both me and Mei. "I just had the best tutors that I could ever ask for."
I looked at her in surprise while Mei smiled in gratitude. "Kiana-chan you put in most of the work."
"I agree with Mei," I added. "If you didn't have the motivation to be focused on studying then our efforts wouldn't really have mattered."
I was truly impressed by Kiana's commitment to passing the quiz. Though a part of me did feel kind of guilty for the fact that I had done her dirty by basically bribing her with food to do well on the quiz.
"Regardless of what your reasons are, you've certainly impressed me," The glasses wearing teacher had a wistful smile as he looked up to the ceiling, as if he was thinking of a funny memory. "You remind me a bit of your father."
My brain did a double take at my teacher's sudden bombshell, my jaw dropping in shock. Did I just hear that right?
When did this happen?!
"You know my father?!" Kiana voiced my surprise as she looked at the teacher in shock. Her shock was not felt alone as I too did not expect my teacher of all people to know Siegfried Kaslana. "Do you know where-".
"Forgive me but I do not know where your father currently is," Ishigami apologized. "I met your father a very long time ago but his manner of acting was so peculiar that it has stuck with me ever since."
Oh, that was a bummer. I looked to the side to see Kiana's face slightly drop and I couldn't blame her. Here she was so close to the answers that she had been searching for and yet just when she thought she had it was snatched away from her.
I personally knew how that felt.
"If you don't mind me asking, but how did you meet Siegfried-san?" Mei cut in, as she was the most thrown out of the loop. Even if Kiana had explained her situation to her I had a feeling she was the only one who had no idea who Siegfried Kaslana really was.
Throwing a sideward glance to the lab coat wearing teacher, I knew that Akira Ishigami knew more than who Siegfried was. In fact I had a feeling that he was more connected in the Honkai Universe then I originally believed.
"It was a long time ago and he saved me from a terrible situation. I am unsure if he is the same now but I would say that he acts almost identically like Kiana-san," A nostalgic smile formed on his face as he thought back to his first experience with the Kaslana.
"To be completely honest with you," Siegfried Kaslana was holding the Judgment of Shamash in its pistol form at the enemy squadron. Even if he was outnumbered 10 to 1, his smile never left his face.
"I don't really give a shit on what people say you're supposed to be, you have the right to your own life just like the rest of us."
"Very outspoken, not afraid to speak what was on his mind…"
"Though he was actually quite attentive when it came to learning new things, unlike a certain problem student of mine," He threw a not so subtle accusing look at Kiana. The white haired girl at least looked a bit guilty for not paying attention in class.
"I'm sure that you will reunite with your otousan one day and he will have the answers to the many questions that I know you have," Ishigami assured her before the bell rang for the end of the day.
"Well it looks like this marks the end of the day," He then looked at me. "Tell Keji-san that today's club activities will not be happening, I have some important plans later this day."
"I'll be sure to tell him that," I happily nodded, relieved that I did not have to tell him that I had planned on not coming if Kiana had passed her quiz to uphold my end of the promise.
"Have a nice day you three," Our teacher said his farewells and before long the three of us were walking down the hallways of the academy.
"So since I passed does that mean…" Kiana popped the question as looked to the both of us with bubbling excitement.
Mei nodded her head in confirmation. "I'll make sure to call Ayaka-san to prepare the celebratory feast."
Kiana raised her arms up into the air in joy as she did a little celebratory dance. "Yes! Here I come, fried chicken!"
I laughed at Kiana's infectious energy. "Be sure to warn Ayaka-san of the one-man army that we're bringing over."
"I'm sure Ayaka-san would not mind a challenge," Mei smiled as she pulled out her phone to notify the head maid of the feast that she would have to prepare. I had no real worries that the head maid would not be able to rise to the challenge.
Maids in this universe were just built differently.
Literally.
In a training exercise taking place at a Schicksal base, Rita suddenly sneezed. The present Immortal Blades looked at her in worry but she just waved off their concern before their training resumed.
However before I could think of anything else, my entire brain went blank when Kiana suddenly turned around and engulfed both of us in a massive group hug.
"Kiana-san/chan?!" We both called out surprised by the sudden action.
The girl in question just lifted her head up as if what she had done was completely normal and gave us a bright grin. "What's wrong? I can't thank my senpais for all the hard work that they've done for me?"
Normal people don't just suddenly hug their senpais out of the blue but I couldn't exactly argue with Kiana here. I just chuckled a bit before contributing to the group hug, which earned me a sound of approval from Kiana and a confused one from Mei.
"Come on Mei-senpai join in!" Kiana encouraged the only person in this strange group hug of ours to join in. And while Mei certainly felt sort of out of place with this sudden hug it did not take long before her arms wrapped us, completing the hug.
It was strange really, this level of friendship was something that took months or even years to develop to this level. Most people would find it strange that our strange relationship the three of us had developed to a point like this.
And some people certainly did. From the corner of my eye I could see some of our fellow classmates give us strange looks as they walked past us but I just ignored them.
But this friendship that I had now with Kiana and Mei was something that I didn't want to live without.
"Come on!" Kiana exclaimed as she ended the impromptu group hug before eagerly rushed forward. "The food will grow cold if we wait here for too long!"
"I wonder how she'll freak out when she finds out that we'll be going there via limousine." I started following Kiana, Mei walking alongside me.
"Is it really that special? I don't think riding a limousine is all that special-"
"You ride in a limousine Mei-senpai?!"
"See I told you,"
"We should also bring Kuro-chan!"
"...She still hates you Kiana,"
The three of us continued our way to Mei's limo before we made our way to Mei's limousine. After introducing the driver to Kiana, the three of us all got in and we were making our way to the manor that was Mei's house.
Looking away from the window, I smiled as I looked at Mei and Kiana. The energetic Kaslana was going around the limousine, marveling at everything and occasionally sticking her head out the windows as Mei just watched her with an amused smile.
Life had certainly gotten much more chaotic but…
I wouldn't trade this for the world.
"I fail to see why I am needed for this at all." Walking through the halls of a World Serpent Base, Owl threw a not so pleased look at the back of Gray Serpent's head. If only looks could kill the officer was sure that his glare would burn a hole through the hacker's head.
Unfortunately the world didn't work that way.
"You offered the information yet did not think that you would get involved?" The masked hacker turned his head enough for his red single eye to stare into Owl's disinterested light blue pupils.
"I find the information then pass it along to you, what happens with that information is of no concern to me." He replied, unfazed by his superior's gaze.
"Regardless you are a soldier of the World Serpent, when duty calls you can do nothing but accept it." Gray Serpent affirmed before they came across a metal door guarded by two soldiers, the faint sounds of combat could be heard through the reinforced steel.
"Leave," He commanded, the two guards saluting before they left their posts.
Owl dryly looked at the steel door, noting the dry blood stains that decorated it. "What are we doing here?"
"You will see," Was all the Gray Servant said as his hands grasped the wheel that opened the door, turning it to the side as the metal gave a creaky groan before complying.
The first thing that Owl noticed when the door was fully opened was the smell. As emotionless as he was to most things in life, there were exceptions to it.
And the putrid smell that invaded his nose was more than enough to invoke a physical response out of him as he instinctively turned his head away from the door, almost gagging.
The smell was that of blood.
And a whole lot of it if this was the response that it got out of him.
"Let us enter." Gray Serpent, unfazed by the revolting smell, walked in. A second later Owl soon followed, trying his best to not inhale too much of the air.
The first thing the intel officer noticed was the arena. An arena big enough potentially to host a small football game. Empty bleachers stood on an elevated position overlooking a sandy field.
There was even a little booth where the commentators would sit in.
The next he noticed were the bodies that littered the ground.
More specifically…
The bodies of Valkyries.
Fear filled him as gazed down at the corpses of Valkyries, each one experiencing a gruesome death. Armors were torn to metal scraps, broken weapons from daggers to even massive hammers were strewn apart in pieces, eyes permanently opened in terror as they witnessed their harrowing last moments.
Desperation was in his eyes as he scanned each of the fallen Valkyries, hoping that she was not one of these corpses. She couldn't be dead, not without him fulfilling his promise to her! The pendant around his neck felt heavier than the cybernetics that made up his body at this moment.
Ana Scharic could not be-!
"Calm down," He mentally took a step back, jumping to conclusions now would not end well.
He had constant surveillance on Coral Island, the place where Ana was currently stationed. Anything ranging from supplies coming in to the official reports that the Snow Lotus Squad received.
He refrained from having Ana under direct surveillance, the mere thought of doing that to her disgusted him. But he would know if any World Serpent operatives, or Anti-Entropy, even got remotely close to the island.
Ana could not be here, period.
With that worrisome problem quelled, Owl turned his attention to the center of the arena where two Valkyries were fighting a single opponent. Judging by the injuries and the damage inflicted on their weapons and armor, they were losing.
Fast.
And when the officer laid his eyes on their opponent, he found it hard for anyone to survive as long as they did.
It was a towering figure, easily a few feet taller than even the tallest operatives that the World Serpent had. Just a look at the body of the armored knight had Owl wondering if whatever laid beneath its thick steel armor was even human.
A Valkyrie decided to take advantage of the fact that the behemoth had its back turned against her. Raising her hammer up as high as possible, she yelled a war cry with the intention of delivering a killing blow.
CLANG!
Only for the behemoth to turn around and catch the hammer with a single hand, their arm not even budging as the Valkyrie tried to force the stalemate in her favor.
With their free hand the steel behemoth reached behind its back and grabbed a zweihander, showing no struggle as they lifted the massive sword up into the air with a single arm.
The hammer Valkyrie paled in realization as the zweihander's shadow was casted upon her, and breathed her last when it descended upon her like an executioner's blade. Her armor provided no protection as she died instantly.
Seeing the gruesome death that her fellow Valkyrie just experienced, the last remaining Valkyrie's face morphed into one of grim determination as she held her bow and let loose a guttural roar. Notching arrow after arrow, all that mattered to the Valkyrie was avenging her fellow sister in arms.
Arrows that could pierce the hide of a honkai beast were but pebbles as they bounced harmlessly off of her opponent's armor. The behemoth didn't even seem bothered by the fact that they were being pelted by arrows.
Two handing their zweihander, the giant began to rush the last Valkyrie in the arena. The Valkyrie fired her arrows even faster as she slowly stepped back, trying to both keep the pressure while maintaining the distance between them.
However neither her arrows nor her backstepping did anything to delay the inevitable as the behemoth swung their massive sword upward when they got close enough.
The force behind the strike sent the Valkyrie flying into the air, her bow and armor instantly shredded by the zweihander. The Valkyrie landed onto the sandy floor with a splat, her blood already pooling around her as the last remnants of her life seeped out.
The steel behemoth then turned its gaze towards them when they stepped onto the sandy arena. The three pairs of slits that made up the visor of the helmet locked gazes with Owl, glowing a vengeful red.
"That's enough for today," A clap echoed through the air as Jackal walked up to the towering knight, not at all scared by the fact that it had just effortlessly slew two Valkyries. "The soulium armor and blade are performing better than expected."
On command the knight holstered its zweihander on their back, the glowing red in his visor fading away as the armor was enveloped by a light red hue before dissipating.
"So this is your newest project, Jackal." Gray Serpent walked around the now passive knight, looking over every single detail of their armor. Owl preferred a much more distanced observation but he could tell that this thing was built for one thing only.
To be a merciless Valkyrie Executioner.
"Iudex," She introduced as she ran her hand through the soulium armor of the behemoth, who didn't even react to the touch. "They were a costly project, our soulium reserves will prevent me from creating another like them in the foreseeable future."
"However I cannot guarantee a better Valkyrie killer than this one." The mask-wearing scientist turned her gaze to Owl. "I hope you take good care of him on your mission."
"Mission?" He leveled a glare at Gray Serpent as realization dawned on him. So that was why he was brought here in the first place.
"Yes, the mission where you will retrieve Kiana Kaslana," The hacker motioned to Iudex. "This is your insurance if you are to encounter any unexpected resistance like Styx and Raven did when they infiltrated ME Corp."
"I didn't sign up for a mission," He frowned. "Let alone one where I am required to capture a Kaslana of all people. Why don't you have Raven handle this mission? This seems to be more of her forte seeing how she's more familiar with Nagazora than I am."
"Unfortunately for you she is currently on a mission of her own." The Gray Serpent informed much to Owl's disappointment.
"And I'd rather not risk deteriorating the condition of the Key of Sanction," Jackal added in. "I am still trying to figure out why it reacted the way it did on her mission."
She was referring to Raven's little bout with the Maid of Schicksal then. It was quite a surprise when the mercenary revealed what had happened to the Divine Key. For it to show anything other than its usual behavior was troubling.
For if something should happen to the Divine Key which left it unrepairable, then they were screwed because no one in this era knew how to create a Divine Key from scratch.
"Raven would be ill-suited for this task anyway, her specialty is in killing not retrieving. We need someone who can keep their head down but also adapt should anything go awry." Gray Serpent motioned to him.
"Lucky me," Was Owl's sarcastic reply.
Jackal ignored his witty remark as she began to type into her tablet. "Iudex accepts both voice and input commands and you will be the only one with those privileges," She hit a button before a bracelet on Owl's arm began to glow a deep red.
In response the slits of Iudex's helmet lit up, acknowledging the change of ownership.
"You must capture Kiana Kaslana alive," She emphasized the fact that the target had to be alive, making an already complicated mission even more complex. "Her stigmata is too important to have death be a risking factor."
"For Project STIGMA you mean?" Inquired Owl.
"It is no secret that we have been hitting multiple roadblocks in the Project, but if we were to have the Kaslana's stigma then our progress might finally see some fortune." Gray Serpent explained. "The blood of our sire flows through her veins, the first success of the project is in her bloodline."
"I trust that you know the importance of your mission?"
Owl just shrugged his shoulders in agreement.. A retrieval of a living person made things infinitely harder than if it was a normal pick-up mission. The human factor of things just loved to make the most simple of things into a whirlwind of chaos.
"I suppose so," He would love nothing to decline the mission but he knew he was in no position to do so. "I'm guessing that I won't only have Iudex to complete this mission."
"Of course not, you will be backed by two battalions of our soldiers to assist you in your mission. Use them however you wish, they are your pawns to use." Jackal explained, not at all fazed that she was essentially sacrificing the lives of two loyal battalions.
To destroy the Honkai no matter the cost. That was their mission after all.
"But know this Owl," Gray Serpent's singular red eye bore into him. "Should the chances of your mission ever be discovered by the public, then you are to abandon the mission and leave no evidence of our involvement that could be traced."
"I understand," Owl nodded, fully knowing what it meant to leave no evidence behind.
"We'll leave how the mission is executed up to you, as long as you bring us back the Kaslana alive." Jackal reminded before she left the arena. Soon Gray Serpent followed after saying some final remarks, leaving the officer alone with Iudex.
Owl threw a not so pleased look at the hulking steel behemoth that was now his responsibility. "Come on now, I've got things to plan for now." He began to walk out of the arena, the towering knight silently following behind him.
And to think he originally believed this week was going to be an ordinary one.
"Kiana Kaslana?" Amber replied incredulously as she looked at the photo that they had received from Valkyrie Midori Aki. It was taken during a class session, the undercover agent discreetly taking a photo of the target in question.
It wasn't the best of photos, but it was clear as day that it was the runaway Kaslana in the photo.
"To think that I would see her again in a highschool of places," Laughed Otto as he reclined back into his chair. The Overseer had many scenarios as to how he would learn the whereabouts of his runaway project.
Yet he never did imagine that his little side project in Nagazora would produce such a result. Clearly he needed to give more attention to what was happening in that city.
"Should I mobilize Durandal and the Immortal Blades to capture K-423?" Amber brought up her tablet, a button's click away from having the entire Immortal Blades assemble.
"No there is no need for that Amber," Otto closed his eyes as he thought about what to do regarding K-423. "She has not reached the potential that we need her to reach, capturing her now would only be a waste of effort."
Even if he did reawaken Sirin, Herrscher of the Void, she would not have the powers required to fulfill his long desired wish. Actually he believed that only one Herrscher had the abilities required to fulfill his wish.
And he knew it would be a long time until Herrscher of Death would surface in this era.
But that gave him the opportunity to find a way to control a Herrscher, control them as if he could a human. Simply trying to use the Void Archive Key on them would not work, not after the failure that was his attempt to use it on Sirin in Siberia.
The Herrscher was powerless, unable to do anything when he used the Divine Key on her to comb her mind for the answers to reviving Kallen. He was so close to finding the answer he strived towards for so long.
Until she connected with the Will of the Honkai, nullifying the powers of the Divine Key.
With that failure Otto needed a better way to control the Herrschers. He was sure that the same trick would not work twice, or that it would only be a temporary solution.
K-423 taming Sirin when the Herrscher personality resurfaced would be the first step towards that goal. And if she proved unsuccessful?
Dissecting a Herrscher also had its benefits.
He pushed those thoughts for the future, there were more pressing matters to focus on. "However I am more concerned about what our friends in the shadows will do with this information. I am sure that they will not be sitting idly with this information."
He knew that the clandestine organization still had eyes in Nagazora, even with the increased security that Anti-Entropy provided. If he knew of K-423's whereabouts in Nagazora, then it was highly likely they did as well.
And if the World Serpent managed to capture his runaway Herrscher, then his plans could be thrown in jeopardy. Normally he would care less if a clone was taken away but K-423 was a one in a million success.
Recreating another success would take time.
And time was something that he could not afford if the World Serpent learned of his motives or if the time between each Herrscher would grow shorter.
It go from years to mere months.
Besides, the Kaslana bloodline was a powerful resource all by itself. Even if the possibility that didn't know the true purpose behind K-423's existence was there, just the fact that she was a Kaslana was more than enough to try and do something.
"Then shouldn't we send a squad into Nagazora to ensure that nothing is done to K-423?" His visor wearing assistant offered what many could consider the best course of action.
Otto just shook his head at the plan. "Aside from the fact that an Anti-Entropy base has been established in Nagazora, Raiden Ryoma has been scrutinizing any move that we make that is remotely close to his city. He will know if we mobilize a squadron and know of our interest in K-423."
And should Anti-Entropy learn of his plans with K-423, then he would be fighting multiple fronts at the same time. While he was confident in Schicksal's military power, fighting attacks from two different times would quickly evolve from an annoyance to a problem.
Not to mention he would potentially have to deal with an angry Siegfried. He had an inkling that the reclusive man was collaborating somehow with Anti-Entropy and he wasn't sure if Durandal paired with the Abyss Flower would be able to match the male Kaslana and the Judgment of Shamash.
Though he was sure that it would bring much pain to Siegfried when he saw his opponent wielding the weapon of his beloved.
"So we do nothing then? Let Anti-Entropy protect K-423 in our stead?"
"Under normal circumstances, yes, but…" The blond Overseer stood up from his desk and gazed out of his office's view of the Schicksal Base. "There's something that doesn't add up. Raiden Ryoma is a very cautious person, he does not play a risky maneuver unless he knows for certain that he can pull it off."
Otto cupped a hand under his chin. "Having K-423 roam freely around in his city with no attempt to hide her identity is the riskiest play that he could do, so that begs the question."
He looked back to Amber, a seed of curiosity beginning to bloom within him. "What ace does our CEO have up his sleeve that has him so confident? So confident that he could potentially stave off an attack from the Immortal Blades, that is what I wish to find out."
"We need Valkyrie who can blend in with the public but also have the strength to match some of our best Valkyries. Rita and Durandal are easily recognizable and none of our best infiltrators can hope to match them in terms of strength." He smirked when Amber opened her mouth in realization.
"You don't mean-".
Otto nodded his head as he looked at his watch. "As a matter of fact she should be landing in Nagazora right about now."
"I hope you're up to the task…"
Midori Aki stood in one of the terminals of the Nagazora International Airport, waiting for the backup that the headquarters had sent to assist her. She was trying to tiptoe her head above the crowd of people that were also waiting to pick someone up from the latest arriving flight.
She had just received the message that someone would be joining her recon in Nagazora and that their flight was close to landing at the airport.
The B-Rank Valkyrie was very jittery as the passengers of the flight entered the terminal, reuniting with their loved ones or picking up their luggage. She had to wonder if she was meeting Rita again, though she found it very unlikely that she was meeting someone as important as the Vice-Captain of the Immortal Blades.
And it was practically impossible that she was meeting Durandal.
"Still…" She thought with a bit of irritation as she tried to locate her 'backup' in the sea of people. Would it have hurt to give her some details on what she looked like!? Even the color of her hair would help her out so much right now.
It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack right now!
However before she could resort to pulling her hair out in frustration, a hand suddenly landed on her shoulder. "Excuse me but are you Midori Aki?" A voice said behind her.
Twirling around in surprise she locked eyes with the Valkyrie sent to help her in recon. "Yes, that's me!" She replied, glad that she didn't need to waste anymore time trying to find her. "And you must be…" Midori paused once she realized that she didn't actually have a name.
"Ah forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself." The blue-gray haired woman adjusted her red glasses as her blue eyes stared into Midori's. As the B-Rank Valkyrie gazed into those eyes of blue, it felt as if she was looking at a wizened soul.
As if those eyes had seen things that no ordinary human should see.
"Fu Hua," The Valkyrie introduced before holding her hand out which Midori shook with her own hand.
"I look forward to working with you."
"Immortal Celestial."
It was quiet in the courtyard of Chiba Academy, most of the students and facility having already left as the sun began to set in Nagazora.
A lone owl was perched on a tree, surveying its surroundings. It's mechanical eyes scanned every detail that made up the academy, transmitting all of its data back to its master.
When it decided that enough data had been collected, the owl spread its wings before taking flight into the sky...
Only for it to soon crash back into the academy, its mechanical wing broken by an unknown force.
"You've been scoping out the academy for a little while now, conveniently when Kiana Kaslana is a student here." A figure stepped towards the fallen owl before picking it up. "Clearly a work of art, whoever built you must've designed you for blending in perfectly with other owls."
Akira Ishigami sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose "Why you didn't send your daughter to some remote place instead of here astounds me Siegfried, why must you make my life more complicated than it already is.
The lab coat wearing teacher took off his glasses, his brown pupils glowed a bright blue "But before I think of a way to get back at that one-armed flirt-"
"Let's find out who exactly sent you."
With the arrival of Kiana, so too does the supporting cast of our next arc.
Owl, Iudex, Midori, Fu Hua, Ishigami.
All will be prominent in the next arc.
HOWEVER, I must regretfully inform you...that my fall semester is right around the corner. The updating schedule of this fanfiction is going to be heavily impacted because of my fall semester. It's back to in person classes and I know for a fact that it's going to be very taxing on me.
I'm an introvert that hasn't had much social interaction ever since COVID, I'm gonna be a mess.
That doesn't mean I won't update, maybe if I have free time but the chance of that is very very unlikely. Hence why I wanted this chapter to be the end of the usual updates. I didn't want to start off an arc and get partially in only to disrupt the flow.
Though leaving you guys here is kinda mean already, but you all know I love a good cliffhanger.
I want to thank everyone for your support, seeing all of it made me very emotional and only increased the passion I have for writing this story. But I also want to thank those who wrote constructive reviews on the story.
I may have sounded a bit mean with how I addressed you guys in the previous chapter but if it wasn't for you guys then Fu Hua would have never been part of the upcoming arc.
Let me explain.
I had originally planned for Durandal to be Midori's backup but the controversy of Apollo gave me the idea to do Fu Hua instead. It revolved around the fact that I really didn't give any good hints on who he was and what he provided for the story.
He was a Deus Ex Machina essentially.
My original problem was that if I gave hints then Haruto would easily be able to pick up on them and I deliberately didn't want that to happen until a certain part. However, how do you reveal them if the only people they talk to are the one you don't want to reveal their identity to?
Until I remembered a rather nifty ability Fu Hua had.
No further spoilers on this.
Support has been crazy and I want you to know that I deeply appreciate all of you.
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 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!
PEACE!