Theresea felt helpless as she tried to reach for Kiana. Not again, she couldn't lose her again. Theresea tried to stand but the surprise attack from Fu and Durandal had been too much for her. She could only watch as they held Kiana's unconscious body, ready to take her away.
"Give her back." Theresea stammered. She could see the other two Valks preparing to leave. They had been talking to her Grandpa on the comms. She knew he could be despicable sometimes but this. She growled in anger. She already lost Cecilia, and she lost the original Kiana as well. She couldn't allow her other niece to fall.
"DANGER RISING HONKAI LEVELS DETECTED!" An alarm blared around them.
"What?" Fu Hua questioned as she looked at Kiana. The girl was unconscious, her power should have been halted if only for a few moments. Durandal tried to contact Otto to get a status report but there was only static. Suddenly they felt it. The hairs on their skin stood up as they felt electricity fill the air.
"DROP HER!" A cold and stern voice bellowed. Theresea and the Valks looked towards the source, to see a woman wrapped in black and red. Two red horns adorn her head and her eyes glowed a violet purple. Lightning arced around her as two giant red mechanical arms formed behind her. "AND I MIGHT LET YOU LIVE." She said coldly.
"Mei?" Fu Hua questioned. This presence didn't feel like Mei, not in the slightest but that was impossible. 'Mei' looked at her with a scowl before chuckling darkly.
"GUESS AGAIN!" 'Mei' told them.
"Herrscher of Thunder." Durandal noted as she readied herself.
"THAT'S RIGHT." Thunder said as she drew her sword. Durandal stepped in front of Hua, giving the other Valk their target.
"Take her back, I'll handle the Herrscher," Durandal said never taking her eye off Thunder. Fu Hua nodded as she turned to go. She cast Theresea the slightest glance. A sorrowful look in her eye as she went to make a break for it. Durandal readied herself to face Thunder.
The Herrscher however kept an impassive look on her face as she started to walk forward. Thunder didn't care for Durandal, that wasn't who she was here for. Turning into lightning, Thunder charged at the top Valk…and then immediately side-stepped her and took off after Hua. Durandal barely had time to react at the Herrscher's speed. She managed to turn around after she lunged at Thunder but the Herrscher had already taken off.
Durandal gritted her teeth as she prepared to follow Thunder when…a purple cube shot up from the floor. The Valk managed to stop herself from colliding with the object but as she tried to jump over several black and gold portals appeared. Her eyes widened as various white lances emerged from the portal, flying directly at her. The Valk managed to deflect them but was still pushed back to the ground. She heard heels clicking as someone walked behind her.
Theresea who was still struggling to get up, felt the immense presence appear right beside her. She saw the black and gold shows before looking up at the own. There was another girl, one who wore a white dress with various black and gold accents. She had a familiar face and white hair Therese would never forget. The principal would have been relieved had she not seen the haunting golden eyes of the girl as she the briefest of glances to her.
"Sirin," Theresea said in shock. The girl seemed to smile at the name, but it wasn't one of malice, at least not to Theresea.
"Aunt Teri, I'll handle this." A voice echoed in the principal's mind. It sounded reassuring just like Kiana, but it had a coldness Teri had recalled feeling from the Original Herrscher of the Void, Sirin.
"HAND OVER THE ABYSS FLOWER!" The girl warned. "OTHERWISE…THERE WILL BE JUDGMENT!"
Durandal didn't seem willing to comply as she held up her weapon. It was clear. If the Herrscher wanted it, then they would need to defeat her and pry it from her body. The Herrscher didn't seem all that bothered by the idea. A confident smile formed on her lips as she pulled her own weapons to use.
For the umpteenth time, Theresea was left speechless as the Herrscher had none other than Shamash, the only one of its kind. The divine Key that had been in the possession of Siegfied Kaslana, Kiana's father. The blade seemed to roar as it was wrapped in flames, flames that seemed to leak out of the Herrscher's body. "I'M GOING TO ENJOY THIS!" The Herrscher whispered.
Theresea had expected to watch the fight. After all what else would she do, but a portal suddenly opens beneath her"Huh." She struggled as she felt herself start to sink, but an invisible force pushed against her harder. "No," She screamed. The last thing she saw was the Herrscher and Durandal drawing close.
Hua ran to rendezvous point. She wondered how it got so bad. Vision from a lifetime ago, where a once close ally burnt down an entire continent echoed in her mind. They had been trying to get Kiana to try and suppress and deal with the Herrscher within her. So why now did they have to deal with Mei turning into a Herrscher?
A lightning bolt struck in front of her, and the Herrscher of Thunder emerged before the Mantis former flame chaser. The Herrscher said no words, looking coldly at Fu Hua with an outstretched arm. She wanted Kiana. It was as simple as that. This was the point where it all fell apart and Thunder was going to correct it.
"HAND HER OVER!" Thunder's voice rumbled around the area.
"No."
"FINE." Thunder said.
In an instance, Fu's body was on the floor. It felt like she was literally being crushed by the weight of the world around her. As her body was hunched over, she struggled to keep standing. Kiana didn't seem disturbed in the slightest. It was only Fu.
The Valk tried to resist but soon she felt cold. As she gasped she saw her breath in front of her. How did the room get so cold? She tried to move but she felt stiff. Fu glanced down and noticed the frost forming on her body and the ice slowly encasing her from the ground up.
Thunder walked up to the frozen and immobilized Fu. Gently, she reached and carefully pried Kiana out of Fu's hands. The Herrscher held Kiana in her arms like a mother holding her child. For a moment all hostility and rage, melted from her face as she stared at the young girl.
"I've got you." She whispered in a soft voice as she gently held her head. Kiana's stirred slightly.
"Mei-Senpai," She muttered before passing out.
"I'm here Kiana," Mei told her.
"Let her go." Fu tried to voice as her body began to tremble. The Herrscher rolled her eyes as her expression hardened once more. The compassion disappeared from her face as she glared at Fu.
The soldier had been in countless battles over thousands of years. She had faced many threats, but at this moment, she felt something different. She felt a fear unlike any other. The giant metal gauntlets that accompanied the Herrscher moved and wrapped around Fu.
"Never," Thunder whispered as the mechanical arms began to crush her prey. She could feel Fu struggling to get out, but Thunder wasn't going to allow that, not this time. "You helped take her before, you won't do it this," Thunder growled as her grip increased.
Fu could feel her body starting to crumple. She could hear her bones cracking and she could feel the fragments start to pierce her insides. For the first time, she felt she might die and then it stopped. She could feel her consciousness start to slip but she could still hear voices.
"Please…spar her." A voice much like her own spoke out. Fu tried to look down at the Herrscher, alongside her was a ghost. A ghost girl with dark grey hair and red eyes had a face similar to Fu's. She seemed to be pleading with Thunder.
"Fine, but if she comes back…I'll kill her for real, Senti." Thunder growled. Apparently, sparring didn't mean dropping gently as the next thing Fu knew she was sent rocketing into a wall by the gauntlets. "Let's go home, Kiana."
"I'll take this." Durandal tried to keep her grip on the Abyss Flower. Her body was battered and bruised. Her limps were impaled on the floor. The Herrscher as if to mock her further now stood on top of her back. She reached for the Abyss Flower but when Durandal refused to let go, the Herrscher stamped on her hand.
"You're not worthy of this." The Herrscher scoffed as she took the Divine Key. The white-haired girl smiled as she held the Abyss Flower and Shamash side by side.
Durandal cursed her ineptitude. She let two powerful weapons against the Honkai fall into its hands. Still, she couldn't back down, even if she was beaten, she'd go down kicking and screaming. "And you are?" She told the Herrscher.
"You'd follow Otto and let him hurt innocents, you'd allow a few to suffer without a choice if it means saving millions." The Herrscher spoke with venom. She recalled the words of scientists in the labs. Rejoice, for your sacrifice will be for the benefit and survival of humanity. "If humanity puts its fate in people like that, then humanity can die." The Herrscher said as she morphed the Shamash into its gun form. "And you along with it."
Durandal stared at the weapon's barrel. It had been used for several millennia to fight against the Honkai. It had been instrumental in the defeat of the Second Herrscher and now it would end her. She saw the barrel begin to charge as flames begin to gather.
Durandal struggled to fight. She wouldn't let it end so easily. She would fight to the end. Yet even as the barrel grew brighter, her body couldn't comply. She had reached her limit. "Hehe, guess that's it." Durandal thoughts as she stared at the barrel. She watched as the Herrscher pulled the trigger at point blank rage.
"Click!"
"Huh." Both she and the Herrscher were surprised. They looked at the gun, the Herrscher pulled the trigger again. The gun just clicked. There was nothing. No ball of fire to incinerate and cremate the S rank. No loud explosions to waste the Valk. There was nothing.
The Herrscher glanced at the gun. Since when could it have jammed? She pointed it elsewhere and pulled the trigger and an explosive round was launched away from her.
She immediately put the gun to Durandal's face once more. She placed her finger on the trigger. The gun jammed. How did the gun jam?
The Herrscher stared at the weapon once more. She could feel something resonating from the weapon with her. It was talking in a sense. The Herrscher frowned as she realized what it was trying to say. Spare her.
"Old man, you better have a good reason." The Herrscher told the pistol as she pocketed it and the Abyss flower. She jumped of the Valk and began walking away. Before she left though she gives Durandal one more glance. "If you know what's good for you or this world. Leave Kiana and the others alone." She warned. The Herrscher snapped her fingers and all of sudden several purple cubes appeared in the air before dropping and burying the Valk underneath them.
"Now where are you, Bella?" The Herrscher thought as she teleported away.