This is the updated version.
Enjoy :)
All was silent as the air became choked with tension. No one dared to move a muscle, utter a single word, so much as take in too much air with a single breath. Not when everyone stared in awe and wonder as they tried to rationalize what they had just seen.
After all it wasn't everyday when you see a dead person pick themselves off the ground.
Kiana was silent as her brain tried to comprehend what she had just seen with her own eyes. The grips on her arms went slack as the two soldiers who had tried to restrain her were in similar states of awe.
Just a minute ago she was staring at the corpse of Haruto, refusing to believe his gruesome death trying to save her. Some might call it a foolish decision to go after an armed organization alone, even more so if you were just an unarmed civilian.
She may not be some kind of Valkyrie but she could tell if someone had combat experience and Haruto, while he may have trained with Mei on how to do kendo, did not have the experience.
Yet he willingly rushed head first into danger...and paid the price for it.
But now here he stood, uninjured and clad in an imposing armor that seemed to be made of marble with how brilliant it shined. All the while he was holding a sword that seemed to illuminate the entire warehouse with its magnificent glow.
And while Kiana was more than happy that death had not been the final chapter of her dear friend, she had one burning question that needed to be asked.
Where did this come from?!
Ishigami was asking a similar question as he too was trying to wrap his head around this. His mouth was left open as his mind tried to come up with multiple rational explanations to the phenomenon that he was seeing with his own eyes.
Yet all of them fell short in explaining this phenomenon.
Was this the power of the Honkai? No that couldn't be the case. The teacher had been unable to detect any honkai energy levels within the boy since their first fateful meeting, not even the tiniest of exposures to it could be detected in the classroom.
Even now in this new 'state' Ishigami could not detect any levels of Honkai within him. Whatever this was...it was something that was far out of his knowledge.
And a small part of him was terrified at that aspect.
Owl still retained his impassive mask but on the inside none of that control he showed could be seen. "What is this?!" He took a step back as the glowing eyes of Haruto looked at him unflinchingly.
To think that their positions had been swapped so easily. Before he held the advantage of surprise with Iudex. Now it was he who was on the short end of the stick while 'Haruto' held all the cards.
Had Gray Serpent known about this power the redhead possessed all along?!
...Or had he uncovered something far stronger than what the hacker had originally believed about the highschooler?
The officer clenched his fist, pushing away such thoughts for later. His main focus now was getting as far away as he could from this wretched cursed place. "Iudex!" He roared, breaking his mask of cool as he held up the bracelet that controlled the malfunctioning steel behemoth. He cared not if he was returning without the knight for all he needed from it was one final order.
"Kill Haruto Nakamura!"
Iudex said nothing as it simply lifted its zweihander up into the air before rushing towards the still motionless redhead. Malfunctioning or not it would complete the order that had been given to it.
"Haru-senpai!" Kiana yelled in warning as the knight brought down its zweihander on the boy, not wishing to see a repeat of what had happened beforehand. Ishigami charged up his gravity powers while the soldiers tried to fire their rifles at the behemoth.
Yet Fu Hua simply stood back as she simply watched it all unfold, but her attention was not directed at Iudex but rather Haruto Nakamura. "What will you do?" She muttered, narrowing her eyes as the redheaded boy had barely moved an inch in the face of the impending danger.
Haruto said nothing as he lifted his golden sword up to meet the zweihander's blade head on. One might think that a tiny sword like his would be no match for such a massive zweihander, especially with its composition of Soulium.
Soulium, a powerful material created in the Previous Era. A metallic composite of nano-robots designed for insulating Honkai energy. The nano-robots could automatically repair Honkai-induced corrosion.
Making it the strongest material on the planet.
But the sword held by Haruto was no ordinary sword. To merely call it a sword would be severely undervaluing what it was, what it symbolized. It was no simple sword; it was hope given form, given shape. It's strength, its majesty wielded only by the worthiest of souls.
A Divine Construct.
And what could a creation of man hope to do against a creation of the Divine? The golden shine of Excalibur connected with the zweihander for only a moment...
Before the sword effortlessly cleaved it in two.
There was no dramatic showing of the blade cleaving it into two, no fancy display that would suggest such a thing. It was simply that the zweihander had once been whole and now it was in two pieces.
The might of the golden blade was so superior that it continued onward, undeterred by the once harrowing blade as it tore through the arm that carried the zweihander. And just as it had once done to the blade, Iudex's arm was effortlessly sliced in two.
Here stood a knight that had once given the two strongest individuals on the dock a run for their money, making them take extraordinarily high risks to even come close to defeating it.
Only to have its once stalwart defense be effortlessly torn down.
Iudex did not even get a chance to voice the damage that it had sustained as Haruto twisted his hand, tilting the blade in the other direction before he moved it. The sound of metal getting sliced followed after as everyone in the room held in their breath.
[Warning: Armor Integrity at 0%, Error Cannot CO-]
The knight could not finish its sentence as a giant diagonal slash that followed from it's hip to the shoulder made its presence known. The sound of creaking metal followed before the now two halves of Iudex fell unceremoniously to the floor with a thud.
In one single strike Haruto had just felled this beast of Soulium.
Haruto looked impassively at the fading red of Iudex's visor, this time for good. With one last single flash of red the knight that was known as Iudex was no more. With the demise of its opponent the redhead directed his attention to Owl, who could not help but instinctively take a step back from the inhuman gaze.
The highschooler took a single step forward…
Before he let out a gasp, the first sound he would make since he stood up from the crater. The armor that he had been wearing had dissolved into motes of light, even the crown on his head, as he fell on to his knees.
His jacket still possessed the massive gash that the now destroyed Iudex had inflicted on him as it looked as if he was trying to say something. He mumbled something incoherently before his hazel eyes rolled back and fell towards the floor.
"Haru-senpai!" Kiana freed herself from the grips of the two soldiers and immediately broke into a sprint to the fallen body of her friend.
"Kiana wait!" Ishigami got to his student first, his attention on the gauntlet sizzling in Haruto's arm. The Schicksal prototype that the student had 'borrowed' had seen better days. None of its once ivory white armor could be seen, only its charred remains.
Channeling some of his power into his hand, the teacher ripped the gauntlet out of Haruto's arm. It came apart as easy as shredding a wet paper towel. With one swift jerk of his hand the ruined remains of the armor went flying into the air, landing not too far away from where they were.
"Please," He prayed as he pressed a hand to the highschooler's neck, desperately trying to find a pulse. He was aware of Kiana's intense gaze beside him, looking at him for confirmation that he was alive.
He sighed in relief when he felt a pulse, it was faint but it was definitely there. "He's alright," He assured the girl who let out her own sigh of relief. But while the girl was relieved at Haruto's current state, Ishigami's focus quickly shifted onto the singed remains of the gauntlet that he had just thrown away.
It was nothing but a piece of junk now with its given state, he doubted that anyone would be able to salvage anything from it. He was sure that it cost a fortune to create this gauntlet and he did not want to be there when the scientist who created it received the bad news.
But something was bugging the teacher.
The gauntlet appeared to be burnt, not cleaved as one would think since Haruto had used it to block Iudex's zweihander and it had been the first thing that the sword had destroyed when the shield had broken.
Almost as if the gauntlet had a part to play in Haruto's apparent resurrection.
He pushed those thoughts away as he focused on the task at hand. "Captain, get medical attention down here now!" Ishigami was spurred to action as he barked out orders. The captain immediately nodded before he got his radio and began trying to get help to their position.
Yet while the worst seemed to have ended, there was still one more thing that he had to take care of. The teacher was able to catch the sight of Owl's back as the officer, now deprived of his greatest weapon, tried to flee the scene.
Not this time.
"Don't let him escape!" He called out to the rest of the soldiers present. A chorus of "yes sir" answered the teacher as the soldiers present began to pursue the fleeing officer. "Fu Hua," He turned his head to the Valkyrie. "Can I trust you to make sure that Haruto is safe?"
The blue gray haired Valkyrie looked to the unconscious form of Haruto before nodding her head. "None shall harm him or Midori under my watch."
Ishigami gave her a nod of gratitude before following after the soldiers, leaving her alone with the Kaslana and the unconscious Nakamura. Fu Hua turned around to see the white haired girl cradling Haruto, a tight grip on his comatose body.
"Kaslana-san?" She calmly approached the pair, making sure not to alarm the girl. "We should get both you and your friend some medical attention."
For a second it seemed that her words fell on deaf ears until Kiana nodded her head, barely acknowledging the Valkyrie words as she was too preoccupied with the wellbeing of her friend. The feeling of seeing him die right before her eyes had been horrifying.
If only she had been stronger, strong enough to avoid getting kidnapped, strong enough to escape on her own…
Strong enough so that Haruto did not need to fight in her stead.
Too caught up in her self loathing while the duo waited for medical attention to locate them, Kiana could not see the glint in Fu Hua's eyes as she stared not at the Kaslana.
But the sleeping form of Haruto Nakamura.
Fu Hua crossed her arms as she leaned on the side of a shipping container, watching as Anti-Entropy finished wrapping up the conflict at the docks. She had to give credit to the World Serpent, for an organization that was fairly elusive they could hold their own against the strongest organizations on the planet.
But against a fully operational Anti-Entropy garrison, it was only a matter of time before they lost against the sea of mechs that they had on standby.
Even now patrols of mechs were making their ways around the docks, ensuring that any remnants of the World Serpent that decided to put up a fight, they would be swiftly put down. Last she had heard Owl had managed to round up a fairly big squadron of soldiers and were currently making a last stand in a warehouse quite far from here.
She didn't know the point of making such a last stand, it would only be a matter of time before Ishigami and the soldiers break through their defense. Maybe they were waiting for someone to pick them up?
No, that was highly unlikely considering Anti-Entropy had blocked off any approaches from the sea and nothing was allowed in the Nagazora airspace. Anything trying to break the curfew that had been enforced would be immediately considered hostile and be shot down without any questions asked.
So it was only a matter of time before Owl appeared before her in shackles. As much as she would love nothing more than to drag him back to Schicksal, her involvement here was meant to be classified, alongside Midori's.
Leaving Anti-Entropy the spoils.
But in the meantime Fu Hua was in a dilemma, a dilemma that was the reason why she was waiting out in the open as opposed to some hidden corner that no one would disturb her in.
Even now she was getting dirty looks from any passing by soldiers, making sure the Valkyrie knew of their disdain for her even if she had fought alongside them. They didn't openly antagonize her but that didn't mean they could send some not so hidden glares her way.
She paid them no heed, it wasn't an open secret of the bad blood between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.
Pushing her glasses up her nose, she was surprised by the fact that Otto had yet to contact her. If there was a time that she would think the Overseer would like to butt in, it would have to be after the fact that his target of interest had done the impossible.
Coming back from the dead? With a sword that was able to tear through Soulium armor like it was nothing no less?
Most certainly an 'impossible' feat.
She thought Haruto Nakamura was an interesting individual, definitely someone who had the potential to become a Knight if given the right amount of training. When it had become apparent that Midori had teamed up with the highschooler to free Kiana Kaslana, she knew that such potential should not be squandered.
She had even planned to send a recruiter to the boy to get him to join the Schicksal ranks.
But then after seeing him topple the Soulium Juggernaut that had been Iudex in two strikes, now she could understand that there might be more than meets the eye with the redhead.
Watching her glasses flicker with static, unable to connect with the Schicksal headquarters, left Fu Hua with the choice of how to proceed. Taking off her glasses, she folded them and placed them inside her qipao's pocket before she left her spot.
It was a quick walk to the medical tent, the head medic giving her a nod of greeting as she entered the massive green tent. Inside there were quite a lot of soldiers receiving medical aid, it seems that they too had not been ready to deal with Iudex's appearance.
"Hey watch how you tighten that!" A rather boisterous pilot yelled at the medic who was currently applying bandages on him. "You'll tear my arm off if you tighten that too hard!"
"I don't think that's how it works," Quipped the pilot next to him, who had his right arm in a sling. "Pretty sure that knight also messed up your brain as well."
"Shut up! Even if my brain was cut in half I'd be much smarter than you!"
"Oi wanna bet?!"
"Hell yeah I do!"
A third pilot simply sighed as he facepalmed at the commotion that these two were creating. "Why did I sign up to be a captain again?"
While the conversation over there was certainly interesting, none of that concerned her as she walked past the rows of injured soldiers, mindful not to accidentally disturb their rest or those who were currently ministering aid.
She was here for someone in particular.
"Fu Hua-san?" A nurse who had been writing something down on her clipboard looked up to see the approaching Valkyrie. She had been the first person that she had met when both Kiana and Haruto had been brought in for aid. "Midori Aki has just woken up, would you like to see her?"
"Yes I would love to," Fu Hua nodded as the nurse began to lead her to where the trio of students were currently recuperating. It was decided that the three students get their own tent separate from where all the soldiers were getting aid at.
She suspected that was due to Ishigami's orders. The teacher most certainly did not hold Anti-Entropy in the highest form of respect but yet these soldiers would follow his every word to the letter.
Did he not notice how much authority he held over them?
"Midori Aki will have to take it easy for a while as her injuries were mostly superficial," The nurse began reading the reports of the three students. "She took a rather nasty blow to her head but aside from feeling lightheaded for a while she'll be good to go.
The nurse flipped the page to reveal a picture of the one responsible for this rather eventful night. "Kiana Kaslana absorbed a dangerous amount of toxins, her body has done its best to flush it out but she'll be feeling lethargic for a week. We'll prescribe her some medication to take to help the process."
"And she is awake?" The Valkyrie asked as they walked through a tent flap, entering the adjourning tent that held all of the medical supplies. On the other side of this tent was the tent that held all three students.
"No, she won't be awake for quite awhile," The nurse shook her head with a smile on her face as she remembered the fuss that she made when they had to inject some antidotes into her. "She was up earlier but after the medication took its effect she slept like a rock. I don't think that she'll be up for another few hours."
"I see," Fu Hua was glad that the Kaslana was doing fine. With her safely all but guaranteed, you could say that the Valkyrie's mission here was finished. She had no reason to go check up on the three students.
But something within her told that this was the only chance she'd get to do this.
"And what about Haruto Nakamura?" The person that her interest was currently vested in. "How is he at the moment?"
Fu Hua caught how the nurse's features morphed into confusion, adding more to the mystery of Haruto Nakamura. "I'm not sure how to describe it. He should be by all means in surgery right now. I was told that he fought against that menacing steel knight that put many of our soldiers in critical condition."
She looked towards her clipboard which had been flipped to the page that held the student's report. "But he's perfectly fine, not even signs of a muscle tearing or a bone broken. And I've seen that massive gash on his jacket yet there's no injuries on his torso to suggest that it should even be there in the first place."
Another thing to add to the mystery, being able to instantaneously heal a fatal injury in the blink of an eye.
"The only thing that I could list off as an injury is that he's currently mumbling about some strange things in his sleep. Perhaps he's a bit delirious from all the stress?" She tried rationalizing.
Oh? What could the mystery student be mumbling in his sleep that had the nurse confused. "If you don't mind," Fu Hua cut in, trying her best not to be suspicious. "What was he mumbling about?"
The nurse looked more than happy to share what she had heard. "Well it started off fine at first, he began to say the names of people I believe to be his relatives. Telling them not to leave them as he squirmed in his sleep."
"And that's normal?"
"It happens quite a lot actually, it's not uncommon to see a soldier begin to have nightmares about their families leaving them. Especially if they were close to death. The whole saying of 'my life flashed before my eyes' seems to be applicable." The nurse joked before she sighed.
"But after he began to mutter things like Imaginary Tree and whatever a Herrscher means."
Now that complicated things, the former grabbing the attention of Fu Hua. Knowledge of the Honkai was kept under tight lips, the less that knew about them the better. It was theorized that the more that humanity knew about the Honkai the faster that they would grow in strength. Whether that was confirmed or not was up for debate as there was much that was not known about the Honkai.
But no one was eager to escalate the everlasting war between humanity and Honkai.
Any information concerning Herrschers was strictly guarded, and for good reason.
Only two Herrschers had awakened so far and it was deemed a necessary evil to not mention the heralds of the Honkai as much as possible. The last Herrscher, Herrscher of the Void, had killed off many in her awakening.
And she was the only second out of fourteen to awaken.
If any information regarding their existence was leaked, they could potentially have to deal with the third Herrscher in the near future. And while she believed that Schicksal and Anti-Entropy had vastly grown, one could never be too sure about the Honkai.
But the Valkyrie was more focused on the fact that Haruto knew of the existence of the Imaginary Tree. It wasn't something that even some of the highest ranking Valkyries knew about, the secret of how their universe was just a tiny drop in the vast ocean that was the Sea of Quanta.
While the information of Honkai could wreak havoc in this world, knowledge about the Imaginary Tree could destroy numerous universes.
This revelation of knowledge was all that Fu Hua needed to go ahead with her plan.
"And we're here now," They stopped in front of the entrance to the tent that held the three recuperating students. "I have some things that I need to finish but if you need something you know where to find me."
"This is more than enough," She gave the nurse her thanks for taking her this far. "Thank you."
The nurse bowed before she left the Valkyrie alone at the front of the tent. Taking a deep breath, Fu Hua steeled herself before she entered the tent.
There were only three beds, two of them holding sleeping occupants while the third occupant was wide awake. "Fu Hua-san?" Midori asked as the A-Rank Valkyrie walked up to the bedridden B-Rank Valkyrie.
Aside from the fact that most of her head was covered in a bandage, the young girl seemed to be doing fine. "How are you Midori-san? I was told that you received a rather nasty concussion from Iudex."
The girl's cheeks turned red at the reminder of her blunder. "It was my fault, if I hadn't spent too much energy fighting off the soldiers I would've been able to handle the knight much better," She casted a guilty look to Haruto and Kiana, who were peacefully asleep.
"If I had been stronger then they wouldn't have-!"
"If you were much stronger then you would've never been assigned to Nagazora in the first place," Fu Hua cut in, the younger Valkyrie stopping in her tracks as she looked at her senior in shock. "If you were stronger another Valkyrie would've been sent here, or even worse this mission might've never been sanctioned in the first place."
The A-Rank Valkyrie's blue eyes looked into wide eyes of green. "Yes you may not have been strong enough to defeat Iudex, but you fail to realize that your strength saved the lives of your fellow classmates. If you were weaker then Haruto would've died before we could arrive, and Kiana would've been taken."
Finishing, Fu Hua let Midori process what she had just told her. What the undercover student was experiencing was normal for Valkyries of her rank. They were strong, but not invincible.
It was a critical moment in the younger Valkyrie's life. Would she rise and learn from this battle, or would she let this guilt drag her down?
"...Thank you," Midori took in a shaky breath, a tear falling down her cheek and staining the bed sheet. The girl took a moment to compose herself as tried to get herself under control from all of the emotions that she was experiencing.
She was meant to be the Valkyrie, meant to be the one who protected those who could not protect themselves. What kind of Valkyrie not only fails to defend two innocent bystanders, even if both of them knew their way around a fight, but be the one in need of saving.
Frustration was an ampt word to describe how she was feeling but it had been slightly soothed by Fu Hua's words. Who knows what another Valkyrie might do in her shoes, maybe they could've handled the situation differently, find a way to get Kiana and Haruto out without any problems.
Or maybe they could've handled the situation badly, resulting in casualties that she didn't want to dwell on.
The two of them were safe, and that's all that mattered.
But she could find herself in the same situation and luck may not be on her side next time. She needed to get stronger, strong enough so that she didn't need to rely on things like luck, to rely on something as fickle as chance.
Fu Hua was proud when she saw determination in Midori's eyes when she lifted her head up. The fire had been lit in the young girl's soul and she knew that she would go far with that. Who knows…
Perhaps one day she would greet her as a fellow A-Rank Valkyrie.
"I hope you don't mind Fu Hua-san but I'm feeling tired," The bed bound girl gave her an apologetic smile. "Would it be alright if-"
Fu Hua knew what she was trying to say and nodded her head. "Of course Midori-san, rest well."
Midori gave her a smile of gratitude as she leaned back onto her bed and closed her eyes, instantly succumbing to her fatigue. Fu Hua remained there, watching the girl's rhythmic rise and fall of her chest, a sigh escaping her as she sent the girl a silent apology…
For what she was about to do next.
Looking back at the entrance of the tent, the blue gray haired Valkyrie made sure that no one was in the vicinity of entering. When it became apparent that no would be coming in anytime soon, she focused her attention on the sole male in the tent.
Silently walking up to the redhead's bed she placed a hand on his shoulders, careful not to wake him. The highschooler was in a deep sleep but was mumbling under his breath. "Imaginary Tree...link...created…Avalon..."
Even if Otto had never commanded her to use the Fenghuang Down on the unsuspecting highschooler at this moment, there were simply too many unknowns surrounding him that she could not leave alone.
For humanity to survive their war against the Honkai nothing could be left to chance.
Sacrifices had to be made.
Her blue eyes glowed red as she activated the Divine Key of Sentience. A flourish of bright red feathers sprung up into the air in its wake.
"Fenghuang Down."
Every person was unique, even twins were their own individuals. No two people were alike.
So it made sense that every person's mindscape be unique as well.
Using the Fenghuang Down allowed Fu Hua to traverse through the mindscape of her target. A great way to describe it was being allowed to freely roam a virtually constructed landscape that signified the target's mind.
The constructed landscape was tailored to the person's mind, a physical representation of their character. One person's mindscape could be represented as a bustling city of faceless souls, another's could be represented by a never ending forest, or maybe that of a vast castle.
The possibilities were endless but there was always one constant that Fu Hua learned about these generated mindscapes.
It's that there was a complete theme to them.
As the Fenghuang Down constructed the mindscape of Haruto Nakamura however, one thing quickly became apparent to the intruding Valkyrie.
That there was nothing 'complete' about the mindscape of Haruto Nakamura.
For the best word that she could use to describe Haruto's mindscape would have to be fractured.
She was standing in a city, that was without doubt and if she had to make a guess then this mindscape was built to replicate the city that Haruto had grown up in. It was very common for people to have their mindscapes be constructed in the likeness of their hometowns but what concerned Fu Hua was the manner of how said city was constructed.
Firstly there were random sections of the city that were simply...nonexistent. Not like there was anything built in those spots but merely that those spots didn't exist, blanks in the fabric of the mind. Like if you were to draw a picture but you could only rely on your memory and the parts that you could not remember were just blank spots on the canvas.
This would be the first time that the Valkyrie would see such a fractured mindscape.
The next thing was the two rather distinctive architectural styles seemed to clash with the makeup of the city. For the buildings that were mostly intact you could clearly see this clash in effect. One style was Japanese in style, something that she would often see in rural parts of Japan. Yet the other style seemed almost American, urban in design.
The more she remained in this mindscape, the more she wanted to unravel the mystery of Haruto Nakamura.
But where should she even begin looking? She was running on limited time, she did not wish for some unsuspecting nurse to accidentally walk in on her in this vulnerable state. In order to maintain a good connection in her target's mindscape she had to divert all her focus into it.
Leaving her defenseless in the real world.
She could take a stroll around Haruto's mindscape and find something that interested her but the problem of her time constraint came back. Not only that but there was the problem of the fractured nature of this mindscape. This was the first time that she was dealing with a place like this and that meant she needed to exercise extreme caution.
Who knew what might happen should she step in one of those blanks.
Yet...turning her head she looked towards a section of the mindscape that she couldn't help but be drawn in by. It was a path that led beyond the city, seemingly stretching on as far as the eye could see. For some reason her curiosity beckoned her to take the path, to find out what laid beyond it.
It just so happened that the path was also the most fractured part of this place. Only small pieces of concrete made up the path. If the Fenghuang hadn't sensed that such a path had existed, she would have never known it was there.
It was obvious that whatever this path was connected to contained the most distortion that plagued the redhead's mind.
But this path in of itself was an anomaly. Normally someone's mindscape was centered around a single area, a focal point where the place was built around. The farther you got away from that focal point the weaker the connection the Fenghuang Down had to create the mindscape.
Hence why a path that led outward was so suspicious.
The only reason why such a path would exist in the first place…
Was if there was another entity sharing Haruto's mindscape. The path could be a bridge that connected the two minds together. But the problem with that reasoning was it did not explain the fractured state of this place, or the clash of architectural styles.
Yet it was the only lead that the Valkyrie possessed at the moment.
Was it the Honkai? Fu Hua highly doubted that as she would be currently besieged by Honkai beasts if that was the case. The prevalent signs of Honkai corruption were not present in this fractured city mindscape, no spires of the purple corruption could be seen infesting the city.
...There would only be one way to know for sure what this anomaly was.
Steeling herself for what she might encounter, the Valkyrie made her way to the unknown path. She was not sure what she might find at the end of this path but she could only hope that she would find the answers that she sought.
But as Fu Hua began her trek down the fractured path.
She was unaware of a tiny shadow watching her from one of the rooftops of the city.
Ishigami did not flinch as he watched his missiles of dark red energy rip into the soldier who stood in front of him, killing him instantly. His brown eyes did not move as he watched the soldier's poor body drop down to the floor, mangled by the power of gravity.
Looking around it was a similar situation for the last bastion of resistance. He had to give credit where it was due as he had not expected Owl in his current state to give them such a long and winding chase.
Not only had he been able to evade getting captured after Iudex fell, but by some miracle he had been able to happen upon a rather sizeable group of soldiers that were simply waiting for commands on what to do next after they had seen the Soulium knight crash through a warehouse roof.
What followed was the last remnants of the World Serpent forces present in Nagazora making a last stand at a warehouse that was on the edge of the docks. The teacher hadn't been aware that a warehouse existed in this section of the docks.
"Are we sure that there is no way that he can escape?" He asked the captain beside him. He did not wish to think of anything other than capturing the officer but one always had to think about the possible 'what ifs'
And if Owl somehow managed to escape him?
It would probably end with him breaking alot of things.
The captain shook his head as he brought out a tablet that held the map of the docks. "This warehouse is the only one that was built with a helicopter pad but there are no aircraft currently parked on the pad. Battleship Hyakuren is also making sure nothing can come in from the air or sea so he's trapped here sir."
"Good, we need to take him in alive." He turned and reminded the soldiers, who nodded in return. If they were able to capture this officer then they would gain a significant advantage over the World Serpent. With Kiana safe it would only be a matter of time before they tried something like this again.
And this time they needed to be prepared.
Ishigami moved away from the door that led to the helicopter pad as a soldier carrying a battering ram moved up. Positioning himself right in front of the door, the soldier began to ready up the battering ram. "Alright everyone ready?" The soldier looked back to the nods of his fellow brothers in arms.
"Alright...3, 2, 1, BREACH!" The soldier smashed the battering ram into the door, throwing it wide open.
Soldiers began to spill in through the doorway, securing the rooftop as the teacher was the last one to make it through the door. "Owl, it ends here." He calmly walked past the soldiers, walking up the stairs of the helipad before stopping on the opposite end of where the officer was.
"Y-You," It brought immense satisfaction to the teacher when he saw the officer's emotionless mask finally give way to irritation as light blue eyes glared at him. "Do you think this changes anything?"
"Why yes I think it does," He shrugged nonchalantly as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "Here you stand alone, without any hope of escaping from this." He motioned his head to the edge of the helipad, where it overlooked the ocean. "I do hope you aren't planning on taking the easy way out of here."
The teacher held up his hand as a dark red orb of energy came to life. "I can assure you that I will catch you before your foot even leaves this helipad."
Owl knew that he was not lying, and that meant there was only way that this night was ending. But if they thought that he was going to raise his hands and willingly let them place shackles then they had another thing coming.
Yet what could he do? If he tried moving in any way then not only did have to worry about dodging the Divine Key, he also had to worry about the squadron of soldiers that all had their rifles trained on him.
What could he even-!
The sound of an aircraft's engines interrupted all of his thoughts as sudden fierce gales were kicked up on the helipad. Getting over the initial shock of the sudden bursts of air, everyone present looked up to the sky, trying to find what had been responsible. At first glance all you could see was the starry night sky alongside some lingering smoke trails that were left from the battle.
Then a part of the sky seemed to flicker with static before a shape began to emerge into existence. Even if he only had a glimpse of it, Ishigami sucked in a breath as he pieced together what that shape was meant to be.
It was an aircraft, an aircraft built with stealth technology that could evade Anti-Entropy's state of the art radar systems.
The side of the VTOL opened up to reveal a hooded gray haired woman carrying a sniper rifle that looked anything but ordinary. "You look worse for wear Tianwu," Raven remarked as she readied the Divine Key in her hands.
Aiming the rifle right at Ishigami, the barrel of the previous era relic glowed a bright blue before a high velocity bullet of plasma raced across the air. Bringing up his hand the teacher charged up an orb of dark red orb of energy and retaliated with it.
Red and blue collided in the sky, an explosion kicking up a small dust cloud as a result that obscured both Owl and the VTOL. When the smoke cleared up it showed the VTOL had hovered itself right on the edge of the building.
And that Owl was currently running to the open hatch.
Ishigami did not need to say anything as the soldiers next to him had already begun to open fire at either the fleeing officer or the sleek black VTOL in hopes of grounding it. Unfortunately they would have to quickly shift focus when some soldiers appeared alongside Raven and began to cover the officer's retreat.
Judging by how much farther the officer needed to traverse till he got to the VTOL, the teacher had one last shot before Owl was able to escape. And as much as he would've wished to capture the officer alive, he would be damned if he let him escape.
Not after what he had done tonight.
So he needed to pour everything he had into this final shot.
Raven knew something was up when the hairs on her arms stood up. Looking through the various exchanges of gunfire, her pink eyes narrowed in on the lab coat wearing teacher holding his hand as an orb of dark red energy began to manifest. Tendrils of red energy began to branch out of the attack but with each passing second the control over the attack was getting better and better.
"Star of Eden," He began as Raven knew that if that hit it was game over for them.
But what could she do? When she had been deployed in this rescue mission Jackal had specifically said not to overuse the Key of Sanction. But what could she do against an attack of that magnitude? She knew the Divine Key in its current state would not be able to match the opposing Divine Key's power.
In the corner of her eye she could see a slight blue hue beginning to come off of the Key of Sanction. The bond that she had established with The Seven Thunders of Retribution was telling her something that she never thought she would be experiencing.
That it was just raring to go, eager to match the power of opposing Divine Key.
"Is that so," She grinned as she held the Key of Sanction at the ready. Finally they were on the same page, and she was damned if she was going to let this opportunity pass up. "I'll take these bothersome chains off of you then."
Letting the Key of Sanction do what it wished, Raven watched as the weapon was enveloped in a bright blue before the sniper rifle began to change shape. Throughout its transformation the mercenary's grip on the Divine Key was resolute, a testament to how much trust she put into this weapon.
Ishigami watched as the mercenary's Divine Key completed its transformation. What had once been a sniper rifle had now changed into a bow. The bowstring was made of pure plasma and judging by how Raven rested her hand on the string, it did not hurt her at all.
Raven's pink eyes locked gazes with Ishigami's brown eyes, the sounds of gunfire happening around them were drowned out as if they were in their own little world. Nothing mattered right now, only what they were about to do next.
The mercenary held her newly transformed bow and aimed it right at the teacher. "Seven Thunders of Retribution," She pulled back on the bowstring, an arrow of blue plasma manifested as she readied her own lethal attack.
So who was Ishigami to refuse such a gracious challenge.
He threw the destructive orb of dark red energy forward at the time Raven let loose the plasma arrow.
The supercharged attacks soared like missiles through the air before they collided into each other. A massive explosion rippled through the air as the force of the two attacks shook the warehouse that they were in. Soldiers cried out in surprise from the combination of both the building shaking and the smoke that filled the rooftop.
Ishigami covered his eyes with his arm, waiting for the obscuring smoke to dissipate. Once it finally died down it revealed the VTOl beginning to rise into the sky. Owl stood next to Raven whose Divine Key was turning back to its original fall.
The mercenary gave the teacher a farewell salute as the hatch of the VTOL closed before the aircraft shot into the night sky, its cloaking technology beginning to activate.
"Battleship Hyakuren we have a rogue aircraft in the sky," The captain began to speak into his radio. "I repeat, scramble your fighters and-," Ishigami walked up to the captain and placed his hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"It's no use, by the time that they scramble their fighters that VTOL will long be gone." As much as it stung Ishigami there was nothing that they could do. If that aircraft had been able to slip in undetected then there was no way that they could give chase to it when it was already fleeing the Nagazora airspace.
"For now make sure that the docks are fully under our control, snuff out any pockets of enemy soldiers that might still be fighting. We were able to protect Nagazora from any further casualties tonight, that in of itself is a victory."
The captain hesitatingly but ultimately nodded as he made sure to cancel that order he had given to the battleship's crew. "Will you be joining us sir?" He asked as the soldiers began to make their way down from the rooftop.
"Go on without me captain," Ishigami shook his head. "I have some things that I need to sort out."
"Roger that sir," The captain saluted before he joined his men coming down the warehouse. Very soon all that was left on the helipad was just the teacher.
"So that's it," Ishigami walked over to the edge of the warehouse, watching the ferocious waves of the ocean beat against the docks. "You've gotten away from me this time Owl, but don't think this won't happen again. If I do find you I will not hesitate to bring you in."
The brown haired teacher looked up at the moon that cast it's brilliant glow over the city.
"But I have bigger things to worry about now." His mind went to a certain student of his that was currently asleep.
So many questions that needed to be answered.
But he had a small feeling that once he got those answers…
He would also be getting many more questions as well.
The problem with using the Fenghuang's Down power for a prolonged amount of time was that there was no telling how much time had passed in the real world. A day here may simply be a minute in the real world, or a minute here could be the equivalent of a day in the real world.
One would never know how much time passed in the Fenghuang Down.
The fact that she had yet to be interrupted by someone on the outside world meant that she still had time to continue on this path. How much time that she exactly had was up for debate. Normally that would not trouble her, however looking behind her she was greeted by the same sight in front of her.
A path that continued on and on without any end in sight. She had been walking for so long that she had lost track when she could no longer see the fractured cityscape if she would turn around.
The Valkyrie had a feeling that nothing was going to change anytime soon. Whatever this path connected to was far, far out of the reach of Haruto's mind. Did this path even lead to somewhere in the first place?
Aside from this never ending path, something was bothering her as she looked to her surroundings for the umpteenth time, trying to find something, anything out of the ordinary. She had not known when she began to feel like this but Fu Hua could feel that something knew she was there.
As if she had an invisible presence watching her every move.
But she shook it away as she continued walking down the path. It was too late to try and head back to the city. By the time she would get back to the fractured mindscape her window of opportunity would all be lost and with it the perfect chance to find out who Haruto Nakamura was.
So she continued onward, ignoring the fact that her surroundings had not seemed to change at all while this unknown presence continued to bear down on her.
...
She was unsure of how much more time passed when suddenly something within her strired. The Valkyrie didn't know what it was but simply knew something about the path that she was in had changed.
But what could that change possibly be-!
"I must admit, you are slightly different," A sudden malicious voice froze Fu Hua where she was in terror. It was a familiar and very distorted voice that she did not wish to hear. "Unfortunately you're just human."
She had been so engrossed in trying to figure out what had changed that she had been oblivious to the severe transformation in her surroundings. No longer was she walking one the fractured stone path but now on the burning fields of a very familiar place.
It was the Schicksal Headquarters that she was now at.
The sky had lost its tranquil azure color in favor of a blood red sky as the air was choked with that of ash and smoke. Explosions could be heard in the background as Valkyries and Honkai Beasts clashed.
"Odd, you didn't go all out on me." Fu Hua's head swiveled desperately in the strange setting that she found herself in, trying to find the speaker. "You hold two Divine Keys yet you refuse to use the second one."
It did not take her long to find the speaker, her fists clenched into fists when her worst fears were realized.
It was Sirin, Herrscher of the Void.
...in Kiana's body.
And in the Herrscher's grasp…
It was her, garbed in her Shadow Knight Battlesuit. Judging by the signs of damage that the suit had sustained she had been fighting the Herrscher but ultimately lost against her.
Yet seeing her other self in the harsh grip of the Herrscher had her thinking of only one single question.
What in the world was happening?!
Sirin tightened her hand around her other self's neck, drawing a pain grunt from them.
Hearing her other self's grunt of pain, Fu Hua's body moved without thinking as she ran straight at the Herrscher, whose back was facing her. If Sirin had awakened then she needed to be destroyed before she wreaked havoc on the world.
As she approached the Herrscher, a small voice in the back of her mind wondered if all of this was even real in the first place.
But everything about this place screamed that it was real and not fiction. From the fire that choked the air with smoke to the sounds of combat that was happening all around her.
Coming close she leapt at the Herrscher's back, foot extended outward as she prepared to deliver a vicious kick to the harbinger of destruction.
However as her foot was just mere inches away from connecting…
Her body simply phased through both the Herrscher and her other self, making the Valkyrie skid on the floor as she attempted to regain her footing from the failed attack.
Fu Hua's mind was left reeling from this sudden discovery.
This was a...vision?
If that was the case then when had this happened?! She knew for certain that she had never fought against the Herrscher of the Void, not when it was in the body of Kiana Kaslana.
Yet it couldn't be anything but real with how authentic this setting was, it was way too much effort to try and create an illusion of this magnitude. The way that Sirin spoke, the aura that she exerted were very much real.
But if that was the case then the only explanation that could possibly explain this…
Unless...was this a vision from the future?
"Perhaps its unusable?" Sirin mused nonchalantly. "No matter," The Herrscher shrugged as one of her void lances floated alongside her and aimed right for her heart. "You can't change anything, die and meet your maker."
Just before the Herrscher could follow through, she was interrupted by the sounds of slow clapping and approaching footsteps. Malicious eyes of gold looked away from 'Fu Hua' and to the cause of the disturbance, as well as the real Fu Hua.
"...A most exciting battle," Otto Apocalypse greeted with a smile on his face. "You are indeed the Queen of Honkai, your beauty and form are simply sublime."
Sirin crossed her arms as she regarded the newcomer with recognition. "You...It's you...the pathetic human who woke me from my dream, the one who aspires to wield the powers of God."
Otto laughed as he gave a courteous bow to the Herrscher. "To be remembered by you, my queen, is quite an honor."
"Flatter will get you nowhere human, and trying to cover your intentions with flowery words irritates me so," Golden eyes met green, a hidden message conveyed through that simple act.
A reminder of who exactly held the power here.
"Of course, of course," The overseer waved dismissively. "A lowly human like me shouldn't be wasting your precious time." He pointed to the Valkyrie that was still in her hands. "To cut to the chase I am hoping that you might spare her in return for reviving you from your slumber."
Fu Hua watched as the Herrscher of the Void contemplated his words. Before long the real Fu Hua simply watched as Sirin seemingly agreed with his words as she released her hold on 'Fu Hua', letting the girl drop harshly on the ground.
"Hmph, killing her would dirty my hands with unneeded filth."
"Gracious," Otto thanked with his usual nonchalant and mischievous tone, not an ounce of gratitude to be found. "There is no doubt that you are the greatest threat to humanity."
"To think that the leader of humanity is you, how pathetic." Sirin simply turned around as a portal opened before her. "I'm not interested in you, I only care about the girls." Without even a goodbye the Herrscher stepped through the portal and disappeared out of sight.
As the Herrscher left, Fu Hua was left confused as she watched Otto approach 'Fu Hua'. He knew who that was, the danger that she was to the entire survival of humanity. Why had he just let her go like it was nothing?!
Why had he acted as if stopping the Herrscher was not a priority?!
It seems that her future self was in agreement as she looked at the Overseer with wild and shocked eyes. "Why did you allow her to leave?!" She demanded, none of her usual composure could be found in her blue eyes. "You know that she plans to-"
The present Fu Hua sucked in a breath as she watched the Overseer lift a finger up to silence the Valkyrie, a pit forming in her stomach when a devious smile was on the Overseer's face. "I know. She's after Theresa and the girls. They will fight to the bitter end trying to awaken K-423 from the Honkai's control."
"And that is precisely what I desire."
...what was he talking about?!
Otto spread his arms as his eyes gained a fanatical look in them, madness now only to be found in his green eyes. If you add in the smoking and fire that were still ravaging the Schicksal base in the background to his look.
It was like seeing the Devil incarnate reveling in the chaos.
"Trying to control a Herrscher is impossible but a human with the powers of one? Humans are such fickle beings, our ties with other humans makes us so vulnerable yet it enables us to bring about the greatest feats of power."
"K-423 spent quite a while in ...building unbreakable bonds and friendships with the very girls that Sirin is hunting down." 'Fu Hua' looked at him in growing horror as she began to realize what the Overseer was planning to do.
And the real Fu Hua had come to the same conclusion as well. She tuned out the conversation between the two as she looked down to the ground crestfallen, her earlier confusion having turned to horror. A part of her mind tried to argue that she had no idea if this was real in the first place, that she could be under some sort of mental attack that was messing with her.
But she knew that this was all real. This madness that she saw within her 'friend' was genuine. Had could she have not known that this was his end goal?! Had she truly not seen what he planned with K-423?! Why he had placed such importance in her safety yet never bothered to retrieve her in the first place.
…
No that wasn't it.
She had known all along. Maybe not outright knowing what the end result would be but somewhere deep down in her knew that his intentions for having K-423 safe were not for the betterment of humanity, but to fulfill his own selfish desires.
And yet she blindly followed him, performed unspeakable deeds for him and for what? To protect a home that she had no memory of? Because he was the leader of humanity's greatest defense against the Honkai?
As she reeled from this ground breaking revelation she had not noticed that the conversation between Otto and her future self hit its climax as she looked up to see the Overseer manifest a copy of the Judgement of Shamash, aiming the barrel right at her head.
"Goodbye...old friend,"
Did he plan on...?!
She watched with bated breath as she watched Otto about to pull the trigger of the copied Judgement of Shamash. Yet she would never know what would transpire when both the figures of Otto and her future self suddenly turned to dust.
Leaving her alone in the burning Schicksal Headquarters.
The Valkyrie looked around in shock, instantly on guard as she tried to figure out what had just happened.
"Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse,'' A dark and deep voice complained as Fu Hua tried to find where the speaker was. Yet it felt as if this voice was surrounding her. "I thought I smelled burnt chicken around here."
"Show yourself!" She demanded as she clapped her hands together used the Fenghuang Down to materialize her gauntlets, settling into a combat stance.
"Show myself she says," The voice chuckled in amusement when a sudden wave of cold air made the Valkyrie turn in the direction that it came from. "Fine but you asked for it,"
Sitting on a pile of rocks, a hooded figure looked down at her in contempt. The hood obscured the figure's facial features but Fu Hua could feel the cold and onerous air that they exuded. Her body was screaming for her to run as far away as she could from this place.
This thing was dangerous…
This oppressive atmosphere felt as if she was facing down a Herrscher.
…
No…
This was something worse.
"I would trust your body if I were you Phoenix," They spat out that word with venom as blood red eyes began to peer out of the darkness of their hood, anger seething within them as they looked at the Valkyrie. "It would be the wisest thing that you do in this realm."
Fu Hua was not going to back down from this fight, no matter how much her body tried to tell her that she was hopelessly outmatched against them. She had questions that needed to be answered and she was not leaving this place till she got them!
Whoever this hooded figure was, they were severely underestimating her. If she was the first to strike then she could end this swiftly. Tensing her legs Fu Hua shot forward in the blink of an eye with astounding speed straight at Hyperion, fist held at the ready to smash into the apparition's face.
Yet in the face of what seemed to be such overwhelming speed, the hooded figure simply sighed as he held his hand up before snapping his fingers loudly.
Suddenly a multitude of black chains appeared out of nowhere and imprisoned the Valkyrie, stopping her in her tracks. The now bound prisoner tried to force her way out of her predicament but only grunted in pain when the chains began to painfully tighten around her body.
"It's no use, I've chained beings whose power far exceeds yours MANTIS." Hyperion's red eyes looked to the burning fields of the Schicksal Headquarters before sighing tiredly.
"Honestly I go and take a simple nap only to wake up to this troublesome human I'm living in dying before I could do anything to help them. The amount of turmoil that his mind went through was a pain in the ass to try and keep together." Venting their frustration the hooded entity reached into their robe, pulling out a crystal orb that shined just as bright as the the spectacle that Haruto had done.
"Not only do I have to worry about piecing this brat's mind back together," They brought the crystal orb closer to their shrouded face, trying to discern what it exactly was. "But I also have to wrap my head around the fact that he can seemingly invoke an ability found in an anime of all places without warning!" Hyperion complained as the orb in their hands disappeared into motes of light.
"Just when I thought that I knew everything about this human who brought me here in the first place, fate decides to throw me another curveball!"
He was distracted, that was good. That meant that their attention was on her at the moment, giving her the chance to find a way to get out of these chains. Maybe if he kept ranting his hold over these chains would lessen and she could wiggle her way-.
"...And because of this rather horrid mess I am in now, to say that I'm in a bad mood is an understatement." Red eyes turned to her and the chains doubled in their strength, rapidly draining the Valkyrie of her strength.
"Perhaps your pitiful screams will alleviate my ire."
The blue gray haired Valkyrie groaned in pain as the chains continued tightening around her. The strength behind these chains was overwhelming, even trying to break it with her own strength had not even made them budge a single inch!
Dark spots were beginning to gather in her vision as her breathing became labored with each passing second her body was imprisoned in these constricting chains. Was it her body simply losing strength from the predicament she was in or was some sort of special ability that these chains possessed?!
Either way the situation she was in was growing dimmer and dimmer with each breath that she took, getting shorter and shorter with each one taken.
Yet what could she do? Brute strength was not enough and the Fenghuang Down did not possess any abilities that could help her out either in this case.
Was this...it?
…
…
"You've got to be shitting me right now!" As if being doused with cold water, Fu Hua's focus suddenly came back as clear as day after hearing those sharp words. Who had said-
"So this is what we've amounted to huh?! The proud and mighty Phoenix reduced to this shriveling pathetic mess!" The strangely familiar voice arrogantly exclaimed. "We can fight entire armies with ease yet when it comes down to a simple set of chains we've become the damsel in distress?!"
This voice sounded a lot like...her?
"You got that right old timer!" The voice agreed as bright red flames suddenly began to envelop her body, setting her ablaze. However instead of feeling scorched by the ravenous flames Fu Hua felt strangely empowered by them, her strength soaring to new heights. "If you think I'm going to allow us to die here of all places then you're sorely mistaken!"
"What in the…" Hearing the voice that was within her head as well, Hyperion stood up from his position as he stared at the growing flames that were coming off of Fu Hua's body in shock. "How can this-"
"Remember who you are or god help me!" The voice shouted as the flames grew even brighter in intensity. "Remember who the hell you're supposed to be!"
Who she was supposed to be?
She was Fu Hua...what else was there to remember?
An image of a dojo where a younger version of herself studiously trained the martials arts of her father.
Next a scene played where a grown up version of her was waving goodbye to her father in an airport terminal. A bittersweet smile on her face as she watched the receding landscape of her home from the window of the airplane.
Then it showed her eating her lunch alone in a cafeteria, surrounded by tables filled with people her age with bright smiles on their faces. An impassive mask covered the sadness that she was feeling at that moment.
Then it shifted to show her delivering a fearsome uppercut to a zombie within a dark alleyway, a mocha colored skin girl looking at her with stars in her eyes.
The scene shifted to show that same mocha-skinned girl dragging her around a mall, trying to pull her into a clothing store. Even if she was getting pulled against her will it did nothing to deter the bright smile on her.
Happiness soon gave way to terror as a horrified Fu Hua ran through the now burning streets of the city, trying to find her friend as the sky was alight with purple asteroids.
Finally a scene where a scarred and grief-stricken Fu Hua had found refuge in an alleyway of the destroyed city, wishing for this nightmare to end. Looking up, scared blue eyes look up to see a woman of bright red hair in front of her, outstretching a hand to her.
That was…
THAT WAS…
With a fierce yell Fu Hua broke through the dark chains that were imprisoning her, a bright flare of fire following as the chains were burned to cinders.
"What!" Hyperion yelled in surprise at the sudden incineration of his chains. "That's impossible! There is no way that-!"
Fu Hua was not listening to whatever the apparition had to say as she went on the offensive. Still wreathed in fire she threw a punch at them, the flames bending to her will.
The flames that coated her hand shot out, transforming into the shape of a phoenix. The mythical bird of fire cawed as it flew at Hyperion, who did not move from the impending attack of fire. The phoenix smashed into them, erupting in a massive flare of fire.
The fire was so blinding that it was impossible to tell what had happened to the hooded figure, so much so that Fu Hua had to shield her eyes from it. When the light had finally died down, so too were any signs of Hyperion. All that was left where they had been standing previously was burned asphalt.
"That's what you get!" The voice in Fu Hua's head cheered as the Valkyrie felt all the strength in her legs gave, only the quick placement of her hands caught from smacking face first into the floor.
She felt dead tired, more tired than she had felt after fighting Iudex. One might think that being projected in someone's else's mind made something like fatigue go away but the Fenghuang Down worked in mysterious ways. Even being its holder Fu Hua did not know everything about the Divine Key.
Yet even with how tired she felt, there was a certain sense of...enlightenment that she was feeling right now. As if a weight that she had not known to be holding her back had finally been cut free. She could feel this change physically as well.
Picking herself off the ground, Fu Hua looked down to inspect her apparent wardrobe change. Her light blue qipao had been turned white with bright red accents. Bright red pieces of cloth hung from her waist, almost as they were mimicking the feathers of the Fenghuang Down.
Bringing a hand up to her hair, the Valkyrie pulled out a strand of not blue gray hair but that of snow white with a tinge of red coloring the tip of it.
This form was familiar to her...this was when-!
A nauseating migraine was suddenly inflicted on her, almost toppling her over if it wasn't for her feet stabilizing themselves as she brought a hand up to her head to try and alleviate it.
"Woah easy there old timer," The voice in her head assuaged as the pounding in her head was somewhat alleviated. "Maybe you should try remembering in a place other than here."
"Who…" For the first time Fu Hua addressed the voice in her head. "Who are you?"
"I'm you," The voice stated and despite how incredulous that statement had sounded, the Valkyrie knew it to be true somehow. "...Yeah, I never thought I would ever say that either."
"Now I know you're dying for answers and stuff but we really really need to get out of here," The voice was panicky as she could feel their anxiety. "Before that hooded asshole comes-,"
"Now this...is a very interesting development," Hyperion's deep voice boomed all around them.
"...back." They finished lamely.
Biting back a curse, Fu Hua ignored the splitting headache she had as she settled into a combat stance. Her red eyes darted from every possible hiding spot around her to try and find the hooded figure once again.
"Ready to get your ass handed down to you again?! Cause we'll give you the same treatment as before!" The voice in Fu Hua's head taunted, yet even with how cocky their voice was there was a hint of fear in there. It seems that she too was feeling the oppressive feeling in the air. Before it felt as strong as a passing breeze.
Now it felt as strong as the winds of a tropical storm
"I would've let you go you know, after wiping your memory of this place," Hyperion completely ignored the taunt as their booming voice held what felt like a tinge of sympathy in them. "Apollo would've had my head if I murdered you, seeing how you are an instrumental part of the future and for some...other reasons as well."
"Yet…"
Their voice took a much more guttural, darker tone as the skies of the Schicksal turned from dark red to pitch black. The sudden change in lighting soon cast the area that Fu Hua was into a sea of darkness. It was only the flames that exuded off of her form that served as the only source of light here.
Now she stood alone, any hope of retreating long gone.
"You've awakened the persona that would eventually turn into the Herrscher of Sentience."
The faint sounds of rustling had Fu Hua now on high alert as she strained her ears to pinpoint the cause of that sound.
"And while I admit that it is partially my fault, this development threatens the future of this world."
"And for that you must be eliminated."
"And so what?!" Challenged the voice in Fu Hua's mind as the sounds of motion became more pronounced, the air whistling as a result. "What are you going to do about it you nameless freak?!"
Silence reigned as Hyperion seemingly had no answer to retaliate with…
Until his laughter began to boom all around them. Such an action should've made her furious, furious for being mocked, but here.
It only filled her with dread.
"I suppose staying in this human's has made me so unbearably...soft,"
They mused as the whistling became so loud that Fu Hua was now able to pinpoint the direction that it was coming from. Clenching her hands into fist, she turned around to charge at it only for her to throw out her arms in protection as a fearsome gale of wind made its presence known.
She could faintly hear the sounds of the Schicksal Headquarters getting torn to shreds by these winds, fortifications meant to survive the worst were getting strewn apart like nothing. When the winds finally had died down, Fu Hua lowered her arms to survey the damage done.
Only to find herself on a tiny island of concrete floating in a dark abyss. The island was maybe big enough to hold herself and another person. The once vast and mighty Schicksal Headquarters had now just been reduced to this tiny floating island.
"I was called many things,"
If Fu Hua knew what terror had felt like, it paled into comparison to what she was feeling right now. The voice had not only grown in volume but also their presence had gotten to the point that it was almost unbearable.
Not to mention how they seemed to be slithering all around her, the darkness cloaking their movements leaving her to only imagine where they were moving.
Which was more terrifying than having the ability to see it.
"Hassan-I-Sabbah,"
"Anubis,"
"Hades"
"Ereshkigal,"
"Hel,"
"The Devil,"
The voice was much closer now, almost to the point she could feel its breath over her shoulder. Steeling her frayed nerves she turned around to confront this being that terrified every inch of her body, ready to end this.
But when Fu Hua turned around, she gasped when she saw what was awaiting her.
From the darkness three massive red eyes came to life, before they simultaneously turned to look at her. The sheer size of them made her feel as if she was an ant before this being.
As if her entire existence was meaningless before them.
"...oh shit," The voice in her head was barely a whisper, showing that she too was not immune from experiencing the same dread that she was at this moment.
"...Death,"
The being finished as Fu Hua reflexively took a step back. She couldn't think, her thoughts were a whirlwind that she could not comprehend. It felt as if everything that she built herself on had crumbled away, leaving only the animalistic urge to flee as fast as she could.
She was not sure if it was defiance or foolishness that compelled her to stand her ground.
"Hmm...mightier beings than you have run at the mere sight of me, yet you stand your ground against the inevitable."
Hyperion mused with what felt like admiration. Too bad that Fu Hua was doing all in her power not to run to appreciate its sentiment.
"Perhaps I was wrong to judge you, clearly you have proven your courage to me."
Then the three red eyes began to move and with it so too did its body. The island that Fu Hua was currently in shook as she beheld the form of the being that she was speaking to.
"But what is courage in the face of the absolute end?"
It was massive, her entire field of vision was taken by the image of this massive, draconic being. If she saw this being in the real world, unshrouded by the darkness, she was sure that they would stretch on for miles and miles.
Purple scales covered this dragon as she saw at least four massive wings, she could not even see their entire wing span as the darkness shrouded their true size. It was only the almost white like feathers that made up their wings that she had been able to tell at least the existence of four of them.
The head of the dragon was foreboding as well. Rows and rows of teeth that looked like jagged mountains filled their elongated maw.
Two massive golden lustrous horns curled outward from their head as a total of six ominous red eyes looked down at her as she stared at the snout of the dragon.
Sweat began to pour down her face as she took steps backwards, her mind having long gone in making any rational decisions. She was so caught in her instinctual need to preserve her life that she had not noticed the end of her foot hitting the edge of the island that she was trapped on. It was just a quick reaction that saved her from a fall into the inky abyss.
"Oh do not feel afraid little phoenix, there is no shame in trying to survive. Life runs free while Death hounds them relentlessly. It has always been like this, now and forevermore. But no matter how much one runs…"
The dragon lifted its serpentine neck to reveal something building up in the confines of their scaly throat, evident by the light purple hue coming off of their throat.
"DEATH ALWAYS WINS!"
They roared as they opened their maw, a cascading sea of purple flames shooting out
Fu Hua held her arms up in a futile attempt to shield herself from the incoming flames, even if nothing that she did would save her from these ravenous flames. The voice in her head was much more vocal in screaming her fear as the Valkyrie closed her eyes, bracing herself for the feeling of being incarcerated alive.
Her only hope was that her suffering would only be for a moment.
Yet it seems that fate had other plans for her.
"Enough," A familiar voice spoke as she could hear the flames colliding with something, protecting her from this fiery judgment. "Your game is at an end now."
Gathering the courage Fu Hua opened her eyes to see yet another hooded figure standing in front of her. "There are two of them now?!" The voice in her head complained as she simply watched the dragon rear its head back in surprise, closing its maw to prevent any more flames from spilling out.
"Ah Apollo,"
Hyperion greeted as all six of its eyes bore into the both of them, bathing them in their crimson glow.
"How nice of you to join us. I do hope that your little 'trip' was enlightening, I look forward to hearing what you have learned. But now step aside, and allow me to finish what I have started."
Fu Hua stiffened when she could see the slight movement of Hyperion's jaw but Apollo did not seem affected by it, going as far as to brazenly place a foot down. "No, you know as well as I do that she is essential for events to come."
The dragon did not seem to take his answer lightly as their six eyes narrowed in anger, an angry puff of air escaping their snout as they snarled.
"All is moot if the Herrscher of Sentience awakens even before Thunder awakens, the reckoning that will follow will be anything beyond your comprehension. Do not tell me you wish to risk it all for this single human!?"
Apollo looked back at Fu Hua, who could feel her breath stop when very familiar hazel eyes looked at her with…
Was that sadness?
"I would," He decided as he looked back at the dragon unflinchingly. "You will not be killing Fu Hua today, not on my watch."
"YOU DARE?!"
The dragon furiously roared as their wings began to furiously beat, revealing an additional pair of wings, adding the total to six massive wings. A fearsome gale began to kick up from a result of their ire.
"I have played your game willingly, allowed you to do as you please for the sake of your 'perfect future' yet when a real risk presents itself you decide to simply throw it all away in some deluded sense of attachment!"
"..." Apollo's silence was more than telling of his unyielding stance towards this situation. Something that Hyperion did not appreciate.
"You presume to test me?! I have ended gods with all but a simple flick of my wrist!
"The most lauded civilizations have been turned to cinders from fire!"
"My breath is famine!"
"My wings are hurricanes!"
"My ire is the end of everything in this world!"
With each angered statement, the strength in their wings grew and with it so too did the fearsome gales. Now it felt akin to being in the face of a hurricane now as it took all of your strength to simply stand against such fury.
Fu Hua shielded her eyes with her arms from such intense winds but Apollo stood fearlessly in front of it, unwilling to budge even an inch from his spot. So much so that he made no comment when his hood was blown right off his head.
"Oh?"
Within an instant Hyperion's anger had subsided and was now replaced with intrigue, something that Fu Hua did not know if that was a good or bad thing. The dragon moved their head so that three of its eyes now stared solely at the unhooded Apollo.
"Now this is certainly an interesting turn of events."
Lowering her arms the Valkyrie went to see what the dragon was talking about, only to gasp in surprise when she saw who had exactly been defending her.
"Huh how's that possible?!" The voice within her mind questioned in mutual surprise as she too was trying to grasp what she was seeing. The appearance of the one standing before her was so very familiar to her.
But...
Their souls felt drastically different from one another.
"Is it courage that compelled you to stand before me, or is it something much more...intimate? You who have carefully crafted a mask to hide you and your intentions, ensuring that all that plays out is in your favor."
Hyperion gave a demented smile as he relished the most entertaining spectacle he had participated in many years play out before his many eyes.
"Yet you easily throw it all away at the sight of a loved one, ah how human of you…."
The dragon laughed in amusement as Apollo's eyes narrowed at the being of death, his now uncovered facial features able to be seen by all.
"Captain,"
Can I just say I had many expectations for that last chapter, but the amount of freaking reviews that I got for it was INSANE! Like I expected 30 reviews total at least, not 76!
I was so caught off guard!
I'm just so incredibly blessed by how much support that last chapter received. There were maybe a tiny bit of some negative reviews but you can't appeal to everyone so Im just glad that a majority loved it.
There were quite a few comments of how Deus Ex Machina that ending got and to be honest I saw it as one as well but in order to world build this story I felt that if I tried to be subtle about it up until the reveal it wouldn't be as well received.
I learned that from Apollo and Hyperion...or should I say Captain and Death.
Also Fu Hua awakens 'Hua' as the community has come to naming the Herrscher of Sentience as.
Hua technically awakens after Fu Hua dies and in a sense Fu Hua meets Death in Haruto's mind so…(This idea could not get out of my head)
I wanted to tease this in the last chapter with how Fu Hua began to remember Fuxi and Nuwa.
With those two revelations I'm hoping you guys won't be as caught off guard as the last chapter. I'm expecting some of you to mention how it's a Deus Ex Machina but I kinda hinted on their identities/revelations so maybe you'll be fine with it?
We'll just have to see.
On to another thing...Durandal, or more specifically how the ship of this fanfiction goes. And to be honest I originally could not see how the "Kiana/Mei x Haruto" ship got popular with how I wanted Durandal to be the main girl.
Then I read the reviews and saw how strong I made the bond between Kiana and Haruto and was like "Oh shit,"
And promptly went double shit when I thought of future arcs and how strong I make the bond between Haruto and Mei. So when I say Durandal has steep competition I mean it…
Though don't worry about this love…"diamond?" that's being made as it will affect the paths that each of these girls take when it comes time to it. Though don't worry about it as that's way far out.
Just wanted to assure you that Kiana and Mei will not be thrown away when Durandal makes her debut.
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!