This chapter has a small-medium change from the original.
Enjoy!
Time seemed to move in slow motion as the angel-like being fired off the purple slash of energy at us. The deathly hue of the attack was more than telling that if it hit it could be potentially fatal, at the very least painful, and I knew that…
Yet for some reason I could not move my arms to cover myself with the Caliburn's shield system. Was it anxiety, or maybe fear perhaps? Fear that this honkai beast was simply more than an adversary we had to face?
I did not know why my mind had jumped to this conclusion, but for some reason I could not shake it off as just worry. No matter how hard I tried to rationalize it I came to the same answer that this was important.
It was just a matter of figuring out why.
Yet whatever the reason could be it did not detract from the truth that I was a sitting duck and if I did nothing I would take the incoming attack without any form of defense
That didn't mean however that everyone else around me was sitting idly by.
"SENPAI!" Mashu yelled, jolting me out of my frozen state, as she placed herself in front of me with her greatshield at the ready to take the hit. A few seconds later the purple slash of honkai energy slammed into the shield, shaking the cavern with how strong the attack had been.
The Schariac shielder grunted from the impact of the attack on her shield's defenses, but did not falter. However the attack was strong enough that it forced her a few feet back and into me. In my unprepared state I was not at all ready to have Mashu be pushed onto me which resulted in the two of us falling to the ground in an unceremonious heap.
"Haruto get up!" Fu Hua shouted as she looked back at me, her narrowed blue eyes reflecting the gravity of the situation we were in. Nodding I muttered a small sorry to Mashu as I helped the both of us up before I readied my sword on my dominant hand, and a green luminous shield on the other.
Readying her gauntlets, the bluish gray hair Valkyrie nodded to me in a silent order that I understood before she turned to Layla. "Layla-san give us covering fire!" She commanded before she rushed forwards to the angel, with me close behind her.
"You got it!" The sniper yelled as she looked down her sniper's scope and began to fire at the angel. Her sniper was no joke when it came to firepower, a fact that the Gunnhildr was very proud to admit whenever she got the chance.
But before even a single bullet could even reach its destination, the angel wasn't just sit idly by and letting those bullets do their job. Raising its shield it blocked every single one of her bullets, barely leaving a mark on its buckler-like shield.
Seems like it was going to take a concentrated effort to break that thing's defense down.
However Layla's efforts weren't in vain as she had managed to divert the angel's attention, allowing me and Fu Hua to run up to it without noticing. Taking the initiative Fu Hua leapt at it, fist pulled back in hopes that she would get to land a good hit while it was distracted.
Following her example I rushed over to the opposite side and mimicked her jump, sword at the ready to deal a lethal wound.
Mid-flight it seemed as if nothing could go wrong, theoretically it would take too long for the angel to react properly even if it had somehow miraculously managed to refocus its attention on us.
However my heart stopped when dull charcoal colored eyes unnervingly moved to meet my eyes. I couldn't explain why but it felt as if its attention was solely focused on me, that the rest of the 6th Valkryja Squad was but a second thought.
The next actions that it would take would only support that notion.
Now any rational being that knew it was being attacked by two different opponents would first defend against the first assailant then proceed to deal with the second. What happened however was the angel completely allowed Fu Hua to hit it, dealing a nasty blow to its side…
And raised its sword to intercept me instead.
Eyes widening I instinctively activated the Caliburn's Luminous Blaze System, the green shield encasing me in a defensive bubble. And good thing I did because the moment I did the angel's sword connected with the bubble and the force behind it launched me away like a golf ball.
Slamming into the side of the cavern's walls, shaking it as a result. I gritted my teeth at the force while the defensive green bubble dissipated which led me to slowly slide down the wall. I was silently thanking Asplund for making the Caliburn with its defensive system because I was pretty sure that without it I would have some cracked ribs right now.
"Haruto!" Fu Hua called out to me in worry, but quickly was forced on the defensive as the angel directed its attention on her.
"I'm fine!" I yelled back as I picked myself up. Training with Fu Hua had increased my tolerance for pain so that it was way stronger than it once had been, but that didn't make me invincible to pain. I had to approach this battle way more defensively, which was easier said than done with the fact that this angel seemed to target me exclusively whenever I was near it.
I watched from my spot as Mashu had managed to get closer to the angel, finally arriving on the scene. As the shielder approached the angel Fu Hua continued to dance with the honkai beast, weaving through its sword strikes and exploiting its openings with lightning fast strikes, with Layla managing to get some hits when she could.
Being attacked on all sides should've had the angel struggling to maintain a great defense, the reality was it was doing exceptionally well. It showed no physical reaction to when Fu Hua landed a punch while its wings could very surprisingly be used to serve as mini shields that could protect against Layla's attacks.
To summarize it, we weren't doing well at all.
Though we had a minor success when the ash blonde and lavender haired swung her massive shield, and surprisingly when it connected with the angel's shield the force managed to push the honkai beast back.
The angel whirled around to try and slash at our shielder only to quickly change gears when a bullet found its mark on its forehead, slightly cracking its marble-like skin. The angel whirled its head around to see Layla with a cocky smile on her face as she loaded another magazine into her sniper rifle.
Though it would find that its momentary lapse of focus would prove to be detrimental as a foot slammed into its cheek, courtesy of Fu Hua who had taken advantage of its loss of focus to land a devastating blow. Its loss of focus coupled with the strength of the blue qipao wearing Valkyrie sent it careening from its flying perch roughly down into the cavern floor, kicking up a shower of falling feathers in its wake.
It had definitely been more terrifying when it had first revealed itself to us, seemingly descending from the heavens. One might think that it might possess terrifying strength befitting its stature but as of so far its most terrifying abilities was its human-like intelligence and the fact that it could use its weapons to an alarming degree.
Strength was something it lacked, evident that Mashu was able to stagger it with blows from her shield…!
My eyes widened as a sudden epiphany came to me, the pieces of how we would achieve victory suddenly all came into place.
That's it!
"I got it!" I called out to the squad before I started rushing over towards them. The three of them gave me confused looks though it didn't last long as the angel had picked itself up from where it had landed to recommence the fight.
I didn't have the time to elaborate what I was thinking so I could only hope that they could catch onto quickly what the plan was…or rather a specific someone. "Mashu!" I yelled as I made a show of activating my shield in hopes that the Schariac would see my line of thought process. "Switch!"
Lavender eyes looked at me in confusion at my statement and even Layla turned to look at me as if I had completely lost my mind. Luckily Fu Hua didn't take long to realize what my plan was as recognition flashed in her eyes before she looked to our two other teammates to fill in the details.
"Mashu-san you'll focus on offense while Haruto will focus solely on defense."
Mashu's eyes widened in realization as she finally connected the dots, nodding in confirmation as she lifted her shield up. Layla on the other hand was still confused on what was going on. "I don't get it, why does Mashu swinging her shield like a bat solve all of our….oh my god I'm an idiot."
I almost wanted to chuckle at the gobsmack expression on the sniper's face but we still had a fight to win. "Behind you guys!" I yelled as the angel brought its sword up to slam into the trio.
Reacting quickly the three of them moved out of the way just as the sword descended, shattering the earth due to the impact. Freeing its sword from the confines of the ground the angel directed its attention to the four of us, intent on killing all of us.
Unfortunately this time we were prepared for its moves.
Fu Hua striked first, intending to try and take advantage that its guard was temporarily lowered. Unlike the first time however the angel brought up its buckler shield in time to block her fist. Successfully blocking the attack the angel then put a little force into its shield to force the A-Rank Valkyrie away before raising its sword to try and behead her.
But just when it would seem that its attack would go through, a green shield intercepted its path. Seeing the angel's dead gaze turn to face my grinning expression was more than a satisfying feeling to have.
And that was only going to increase.
"Mashu!" I yelled as I slightly lowered my body so that the shielder could leap over me, shield ready to be swung as she got a clear shot.
"HAH!" She yelled as she swung with all her might, and this time there was no way for the angel to react properly in time. Mashu's black shield slammed into the cheek of the angel and for the first time since the fight had begun there was a noticeable sign of damage done to the honkai beast.
At the point where Mashu's shield had connected was now a giant crack in the marble-like skin, purple honkai veins tracing the created cracks.
Direct Hit!
The angel slightly wobbled as it weakly landed on the ground, trying to find its bearings after such a disorientating hit. Its struggles to refocus its footing would be in vain as it took one more step back before falling on to one of its knees.
But Fu Hua was not about to let up the offensive as even before the angel had taken a knee she was already running up to it. "Haruto, your sword!" She yelled as she raised her hand up, palm open.
Not even thinking about how absurd her request sounded, I automatically unsheathed the Caliburn's other stowed sword from the gauntlet before I threw it to her to the best of my ability. "Please don't flop," I pleaded to myself as the sword's handle slipped through my fingers and towards Fu Hua.
My fear was ill-placed as with just a single look back Fu Hua had caught the flung sword with ease before she leapt up into the air, borrowed sword raised high. The angel tried to raise its shield to try and block the attack but in its downed state it would be too late so instead it simply shielded itself with its wings.
And while the wings could protect against Layla's sniper bullets, it was a whole different level of power when compared to Fu Hua's strength and the Caliburn's sword. When the edge of my blade made contact with the wing's feathers, instead of bouncing off it cut cleanly through them.
Continuing with her attack the A-Rank Valkyrie sliced through what appeared to be half of the angel's wing, sending the severed piece flying into the air. With the loss of its wing, and probably the pain of losing it, the angel was sent onto its back.
"Yes!" Layla cheered triumphantly as Fu Hua retreated back to us before she flipped the fallen angel off. "Take that you piece of shit!"
Our victory however was short lived as the angel was quick to pick itself off from its spot on the floor and when it moved its gaze toward us, it felt as if its normally impassive charcoal dead eyes were now openly glaring at us.
"I'm pretty sure it heard you," I whispered to her as I gripped my sword a bit tighter in anticipation. A honkai beast was dangerous as is, a pissed off one was probably ten times deadlier.
"N-No worries," She tried to reassure us, even when she herself was not 100% convinced that was the case. From the corner of my eye I could see her bring her sniper rifle a bit closer to her body. "I-I mean what's the worst that could happen?"
Did she not know that saying that outloud was simply asking for the worst to happen?! Seems that I wasn't the only one to think of that as me, Mashu, and even Fu Hua all turned to look at her in horror for what she had just said.
Her green eyes looked at us in confusion. "Why are you all…oh fuck I just jinxed us didn't I?"
As if listening in to our conversation the angel suddenly flew back into the air, its wings beginning to glow a divine hue. Even with the fact that one of its wings had been partially clipped, which should've prevented the angel from taking flight in the first place, did nothing to detract from the terrifying spectacle.
Its wings then flashed brightly for a split second before the glow left the angel's wings. For a split second I was convinced that all it had been was just a fancy lightshow and it actually wasn't going to do anything dangerous, an intimidation tactic if you would.
My hopes would be dashed when orbs of light began to manifest all around the angel's body, brightening in luminosity with each passing second.
"Everyone!" Fu Hua turned to us, her eyes full of warning as she tried to warn us of what was about to happen. "Get back!"
As soon as she said those words the orbs of light transformed into radiant spears that floated above the angel in a terrifying phalanx. Unfortunately they wouldn't be there for long as they were all fired simultaneously like a rocket, going in all directions. The radiant spears tore through whatever they landed on, whether they be the cavern floor or the ceiling.
One spear went right in the middle of the 6th Valkryja's Squad formation. Having seen the spear's trajectory we all jumped out of the way before it could land so we all avoided a potential fatal attack.
However the moment that Fu Hua's feet landed back on the ground, the floor below her suddenly gave way.
"Fu Hua!" I yelled just as the floor opened up beneath her opened up, the darkness swallowing her descending form. The last thing I saw of her were her wide blue eyes, her mouth partially open in shock before she disappeared from view.
The mere fact that Fu Hua was now separated from us while we were still fighting this angel should've been disheartening, that we lost our strongest Valkyrie. But before the realization could fully sink for the rest of us, the situation escalated.
Like the fact that the cavern we were in was now rumbling, the ceiling shaking as spires of earth and rock began to descend and crash onto the floor. The angel's spear phalanx attack was so destructive that it was causing a cave-in of all things!
The angel's charcoal eyes looked to the three of us and I feared that it would take advantage of Fu Hua's loss but then it looked to the rumbling cavern's ceiling. It must've decided that the cavern collapse would've killed us as it flapped its wings before flying through the opening that it had originally used to enter the cavern.
How the hell could it still fly that well if one of his wings had literally been chopped in half?!
But I could wonder about that later as a sharp cry of pain had me turning my head in a panic just to see Layla fall on the floor. Without needing to think about it I ran over to her and tried to help her back up on her feet.
"W-Wait!" Her urgent pleading had me stop in my tracks as I looked at her in confusion for the outburst. Her green eyes looked down to her leg in realization, to which I realized it looked a bit odd. "I-I think I sprained my ankle."
Hearing that I resisted the urge to curse out loud. First Fu Hua had gotten separated from us and now Layla had gotten her ankle sprained. It felt as if one bad thing was happening over another!
Another intense shake rumbled through the cavern which would've sent the two of us to the ground had I not caught my footing in time before quickly grabbing onto my teammate before gently placing her on the ground.
I could curse my bad luck later, I needed to get my squadmates out of this mess first!
"Mashu!" I urgently yelled as I placed my body over Layla's, preparing to activate the Caliburn's Luminous Blaze System over her like a protective dome. I didn't know if the defensive system was capable of surviving a collapsing cave but I suppose I was about to find out very soon.
My first priority would've been to try and leave the crumbling cavern but the added weight of supporting Layla meant that I wouldn't have enough time to get out. Not only that but all three of us weren't built for speed.
Fortunately, Mashu and I were specialized in defense.
Luckily through all the noise that the collapsing cavern was creating Mashu had been able to hear me as a few seconds after my shout the shielder slid next to me, covering us with her shield. A second later a green protective dome covered us just in time as the cavern finally gave way and came down on us entirely.
Alongside the floor beneath us as it gave way, throwing everything into darkness.
Normally falling rapidly down a pit where you had no idea how deep it was while being completely left in the dark would have most people panicking, Fu Hua had long since allowed situations like these to alarm her.
And she had been in enough of these to know how to get out of such a situation.
Clutching the sword that Haruto had thrown for her, the A-Rank Valkyrie fired it straight downward with the force of a missile. Focusing on her hearing she was able to pick up the distinctive sound of steel striking the earth. Understanding that the floor was soon approaching the blue qipao wearing Valkyrie prepared her landing strategy.
It was rather simple.
Just as her feet were about to meet the ground, she readied her fist before slamming it into the ground the same time as her feet made contact with it.
She believed that her classmates dubbed it the 'superhero landing.'
Catching her breath from landing and making sure that no rocks were going to come down on her head, Fu Hua allowed herself to take a calming breath to stabilize her adrenaline that was still coursing through her body. Though it would have little effect when she remembered how she got here.
And that the rest of the 6th Valkryja Squad was not present with her.
"They'll be fine," She muttered to herself as she checked the durability of her gauntlets. "While the three of them lack the experience in escaping a situation like that, Haruto already has experience in dealing with stronger opponents and getting out of sticky situations like that. Mashu-san and Layla-san already look to him for advice so he should have no problem holding out until I can get back to them."
A quick check with her gauntlets showed that while it did sustain some damage from both the angel and using it to help cushion her fall, it wasn't anything critical that would be a reason for concern.
"Hey old timer?" Hua spoke up in her mind, having been silent throughout the fight in order to give her the ability to solely focus on the fight. Now that they were out of danger for now she took it as an opportunity to say what was on her mind. "...Was…that what I think it was?"
"...Yes it was," Fu Hua confirmed for her, a frown appearing on her face as she thought back to what the appearance of that angelic honkai beast made her feel.
Terror.
A terror that she hadn't felt since she had stared down the eyes…of her.
"But if that's the case…" Hua's tone was full of concern and a tinge of fear at that confirmation from the Valkyrie. "Then that means-!"
"Just because we saw one of them does not mean that will happen." Fu Hua was quick to slash that idea before it could blossom into something terrifying. Though that did little to hide the worry in her own voice.
After all, how could she forget such a being?
What they heralded, the devastation that they wrought, the friends and comrades she had lost to them.
"Rejoice, lost children of God. Thy salvation is at hand. Soon you shall be reunited with the Father, to be held in his tender and loving embrace once more."
"We may talk more about this later," She shook her head to clear that memory before her blue eyes scanned the new cavern that they were in. Judging from the opening that she had fallen through on the ceiling and how dark it was then she had fallen quite deep into the mountain's cave systems.
Meaning that it would take a while to try and get back to where she had fallen from.
"For now we must focus on reuniting with Haruto and everyone else. The angel will know to pick them first before it tries to locate us and they are not quite ready to fight something of that caliber-!" Before she could try and make a step forward to complete her given task, she was interrupted by the sounds of movement.
Instantly the A-Rank Valkyrie settled into a combat stance as she tried to locate the source of that sound. It was faint, almost indiscernible, but Fu Hua's ears had been able to pick it up.
It was not the angel, no it was too big to create such soft sounds of movement, but that did not rule out the possibility of the fact that this mountain could contain more honkai beasts that their scanners had not been able to pick up.
And as the sounds of movement got closer and closer, the Valkyrie was ready to take the initiative and surprise her opponent with a flurry of strikes.
However when the source of the sounds walked into the cavern, any thoughts of fighting left her mind as Fu Hua lowered her arms in favor of staring at who was in front of her in barely concealed shock.
"S-Su?" She called out to her fellow Flame-Chaser, not at all expecting to see the light gray haired pioneer here of all places.
Her surprise was shared as fuchsia eyes slightly widened in surprise as well. "Fu Hua-san?
"What happened to you?" She demanded. This would be her first time upon seeing him after all those fateful years ago. It had just been a routine meeting with her, Su, and Kevin reporting on the progress of all the projects that they had been tasked with completing. When the meeting had ended she thought it would just be another 10 years before she saw them.
Fate had other plans for all three of them.
"A…falling out with Kevin." Su closed his eyes in reminiscence of that day. A day where one path separated into two separate directions. "It was only recently that I was freed from my self imprisonment." He opened his eyes back up and looked to someone he considered a sister. "But I am more curious about you, after all it was my impression that your memories had been erased, yet you are able to recognize me on sight. How did this come to be?"
"...It's a long story." She told him, not wanting to reveal the existence of what Haruto had told her quite yet.
Though her attempt at secrecy was all for naught when Su smiled knowingly. "Perhaps the intervention of a certain Aeon perhaps?" He revealed, drawing a surprised expression from Fu Hua. "I too had an encounter with them, who would've believed that our universe was more vast than we could possibly imagine.
Her momentary shock did not last long as her face returned back to a neutral expression. "So you know."
"I know that we were never supposed to have met like this," He smiled fondly, not at all minding this surprise reunion with one of his fellow Flamechasers. The A-Rank Valkyrie couldn't help but reciprocate a smile of her own at Su.
It was a small fleeting moment for the two of them, but their experiences fighting with the other Flamechasers taught them to savor moments like these as much as possible.
However the reality of the situation that she was in reared its head and the amicable atmosphere that had been built faded away.
"We can catch up later," Fu Hua's tone got serious as she began to walk towards the entrance that Su had used to enter the cavern. With luck she would be able to find a path that could lead her back to the previous cavern she had been in. "Now I need your help to get out of here and help deal with the-!"
"The Virtue?" Su spoke, making her turn to him in shock at the sudden name revelation. Even Hua was left in utter silence as she too did not expect him to know what they had just been fighting.
"How did you-?"
"I embarked on a journey in finding someone and I just so happened to encounter one of them," He revealed as he reached into his attire and brought out a white feather that was synonymous with the angel-like honkai beasts. "I dispatched it and followed its path back here, where I presumed its nest resided. Judging by your current state It seems that my intuition was right."
"And while I would love to help you with your current dilemma, this new revelation changes everything…" His normally calm fuschia eyes narrowed in seriousness and Fu Hua couldn't help but share his change in demeanor.
"For we both know what the appearances of these Virtues bring."
I didn't know how much time had passed since the cavern had come down on us, kinda of hard to when you're focusing on keeping your team alive and not worrying that our defenses would cave in…
Hehe got it? Cave-in? Y'know cause we were in a cavern and…
Okay Haruto, the time for jokes can come at a later time, now it's time to focus on the task at hand.
And just in time as well as the moment it felt like we weren't getting pummeled on by a bunch of rocks did the Luminous Blaze System deactivate. Technically I could have it activated for an indefinite amount of time but the Caliburn had a limit for how long it could use the system without fear of self-harm.
Going past that threshold could result in the suit imploding…which was not the greatest way to go out.
And it seems that finally luck was on my side as the moment the green protective dome dissipated it revealed that we had somehow found ourselves in a completely different dark cavern. Bracing my feet I landed on the ground with a slight bang, the boots of the Caliburn absorbing most of the impact.
While I would've been happy that I didn't have to worry about a nasty fall, I realized a little bit too late that I was not the only one to fall into this cavern.
More specifically a certain sniper who had a sprained ankle.
I whipped my head around in a panic expecting to see the black and green haired teammate dangerously falling to the ground, but breathed a sigh of relief at what I saw.
Not far from where I was were my two other teammates. Mashu looked to have landed fine but it was what she was carrying that had me in wonder. It wasn't her giant greatshield as that was laying on the side of her.
No in her arms was none other than Layla herself, in a bridal position of all things. It seems that I didn't need to worry about catching the sniper as the Schariac shielder had that all covered.
"Are you alright Layla-san?" Mashu asked in concern for her teammate, unconsciously pulling her closer to her body.
Layla's green eyes were wide in surprise, not at all expecting to be caught in this position by the shielder, but it quickly faded as a teasing grin took shape. "Why wouldn't I be? I've been caught by my knight in shining armor."
Instantly Mashu's cheeks grew red at the praise and without warning she accidentally dropped Layla onto the floor, resulting in her giving a yelp of pain. "A-Ah! I'm so sorry Layla-san!" She cried in embarrassment as she helped the sniper back up.
"Nah it's alright," The black and green haired Valkyrie just cheekily smiled at Mashu as she was helped up, careful to avoid putting weight on her sprained ankle. "You don't get much praise often do you?"
The ash blonde and lavender haired Schariac cheeks grew even redder but that and her silence was more than a clear answer to that question.
"If that's the case then …" Layla closed her eyes and gave Mashu a bright grin. "Looks like I'll be your cheerleader from now on Mashu!"
I couldn't help but chuckle as the shielder began to splutter out on all the reasons why the sniper didn't need to go that far, only for it to fall on deaf ears as the sniper laughed loudly. It was definitely a cute and wholesome moment the two were sharing…
But we weren't out of danger quite yet.
"Sorry to interrupt this little moment you guys have…" I walked over to the two of them, sheathing one of the two swords that I was supposed to have. I could only pray that Fu Hua still had the missing half, because I did not want to be the one to give Asplund the bad news.
I did not want to know what the eccentric scientist would do, especially since it concerned his beloved Caliburn.
"But we need to find a way to get out of here," I moved my head up to look back at the crack in the ceiling we had descended to get here, only now noticing just how big it was. Normally that wouldn't be a point of concern but one had to remember that this all happened because of a honkai angel.
An angel I knew would not be sitting idly by. And judging by how big the hole was it could pass through it without much trouble.
Layla followed my gaze and when she saw what I was looking at, her face quickly paled. "Captain, you don't think the angel will chase us all the way down here?"
In response I turned to face her before giving her a nervous smile. "Not 100% sure of it, but pretty positive that one way or another it's gonna turn up at some point to finish the job." My eyes trailed down to the leg that had the sprained ankle. "And seeing how you have a sprained ankle we're not going to be able to move anytime soon."
"What are you talking about?" She lightly pushed herself off of Mashu so that she could stand on her own two feet, putting on a confident expression. "See, I can stand perfectly on my-!" The sniper hissed as she fell forward, Mashu being quick on catching her before she fell.
"My point exactly," I gave the sniper a disapproving look for worsening her condition to try and seem alright. "We won't be able to go far with your sprained ankle and we can't contact Asplund and the others at the moment for backup or for them to find us a way to get out of here."
I looked around to the dark cavern that we were in now. Even if the darkness made it hard for our eyes to make out much of what was inside, it was very apparent that there was no obvious exit that we could take.
"And while we can try and find a way out of here, I fear that would take too much energy and time. Time that the angel will no doubt use to try and locate either us or Fu Hua." It didn't take a genius to make the assumption that the honkai beast would choose the weaker of the two targets to go after, which just so happened to be us.
Layla and Mashu were silent at the end of my analysis, deep in thought as they comprehended the situation that we were now in. I didn't know how long we were stewing in our own thoughts but it would be broken when the spunky sniper spoke up.
"So Captain, what's the plan now?"
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You're asking me?"
Layla just shrugged her shoulders. "I mean you're the only one here able to make sense of this all, not to mention that it was your plan that helped us get the advantage over the angel back there." Beside her Mashu nodded her head in agreement with the sniper's reasoning.
"A-Are you sure?" I was wary of them placing their trust in me. My voice showed just how nervous I was of the situation we were in. A situation in which we had no clear advantage and all the cards were stacked against us. "What if I lead us to all our deaths?"
"You won't do that Senpai," Mashu's lavender eyes looked at me in stalwart confidence. "I know it."
My jaw slightly dropped as I stared at the two, not at all understanding how they could so easily place their lives in my hands without the slightest hint of fear. Even with my own admittance of failure they still showed unwavering trust in my abilities.
"...Alright then," I closed my open mouth and steeled my resolve. If they were going to be placing their trust in me like this then I had no other choice then to live up their expectations. I turned back around to look at the hole in the ceiling, mentally visualizing the angel coming through it.
After taking a few minutes to make a plan up in my head, I turned back to Layla's and Mashu's expectant gazes and took a deep breath.
"Here's the plan I have."
When the angelic honkai beast flew through the opening in the ceiling, it confirmed the fact that it was ensuring that the cavern collapse had done the deed. No doubt it was checking if the three of us were taken out and if need be to complete the job itself.
From my hiding spot behind a rock I could see the angel's charcoal dead eyes were carefully scanning the room for even the slightest hints of movement. It's grip on its sword was twitchy, ready to act on a moment's notice. That fact was probably the same for its shield arm as well.
Moving my gaze away from the angel I directed my attention to Mashu's hiding spot, giving the Schariac girl a nod of confirmation.
Time to execute the first phase of the plan.
The placements of our hiding spots were completely strategic. We did it so that we essentially sandwiched the thing, flanking this thing's sides.
I watched as Mashu gave me a nod before she went about setting the plan into motion. Shifting a bit the ash blonde and lavender haired shielder made it so that a few rocks began to rattle and make some sounds, nothing to make one suspicious…
But enough to make one curious.
I silently cheered in my mind as I saw the angel's head whipped around in the direction of the sound, having heard the movement of rattling rocks. It wasn't loud enough for it to warrant brandishing its sword but enough for it to cautiously be on guard as it slowly flew in the direction of the sound.
Watching as the angel made its way closer and closer to Mashu's position, I changed my focus from the shielder to where our sniper was currently positioned at.
It had been a stroke of luck that this cavern contained a perch that overlooked everything. At first there had been a problem of getting the Valkyrie with the sprained ankle up there but it was quickly solved when she revealed that she had a grappling hook in her kit that she could use to get up to hard to reach places.
A useful gadget for a sniper like her.
Slightly moving from my hiding spot I gave Layla a thumbs up to which she returned back to me. It was only a matter of time until the angel reached its spot which would then allow Layla to execute the second phase of the plan.
"The success of this plan hinges on the one thing we have going for us, the element of surprise." My mind flashbacked just a while ago, where I was busy explaining the plan I had to manage to build on the fly.
"The angel doesn't know if we're dead or not and that plays to our advantage." I looked around to the dark cavern, seeing the plethora of hiding spots available to us. "It won't be expecting us to ambush it, not till it's too late."
"However the ambush will be ineffective if we can't get our key factor of success as close as possible to it." I looked at Mashu, who's eyes widened at the implication that she was going to be their key to victory.
I gave the timid girl a smile of reassurance. "You were able to force the angel on the defensive with that strength and shield of yours. Its spear attack certainly took us off guard but judging from the fact that it only performed it when its wing got cut off means that it can't use that attack often. Your main focus is to keep going on the offense and not give it time to think."
"However there's a small chance that it can react quick enough if we are too slow to execute the ambush so after we lure it close to Mashu, we'll distract it so that it won't be facing her." I then turned to face Layla, who understood where I was going next and nodded in confirmation that she would be the one in charge of that distraction.
"Once I give you the signal to create the distraction that will be the cue that the ambush has begun. Mashu will strike with all her strength to give us the best window of opportunity and then…" I grinned at the two of them which resulted in them smiling with an equal amount of eagerness
"We go full on offense."
"Hey over here you half winged freak!" Layla shouted loudly, prompting the angel to whip its head around to glare at the sniper for its insult. However it was so focused on locating where the sniper was that it did not hear Mashu right below it charging out of her hiding spot, greatshield already in mid swing.
"HAH!" She yelled as she swung her shield right into the unprotected side of the angel with all of her strength, creating a loud crack as steel met pale marble skin. From my spot I could see fractures on the area where the shield made contact with but that quickly departed from my mind as I left my hiding spot with my sword raised high.
"ATTACK!" I yelled as I rushed to join Mashu's offensive. Layla began to fire away with her sniper rifle on the perch she was on. Due to her sprained ankle she would not be able to leave that place, which meant that neither could she dodge an attack should the angel target her.
Which meant that Mashu and I had to make sure that the angel's attention was solely directed on the two of us.
Speaking of which the two of us rapidly settled into a groove of how we were going to attack the angel. When one attacked the other was readying themselves to take over when they stepped back, ensuring that the aggression didn't die down and that angel was focused on us.
Mashu was the sledgehammer of brute strength and I was the fine scalpel. She would open up the angel's defense with each bash of her shield while I got my hits in with my sword in the most critical areas.
All the while Layla provided covering fire from her perch, careful not to accidentally hit one of us but at the same time trying to blind the angel by shooting at its face. With how effective our ambush had been, alongside the fact that the honkai beast had little to no chance in attacking back, it almost appeared as if this fight would be ending soon enough.
Unfortunately the angel, even being overwhelmed by our attack, still had a wing that it used to cover its face protectively whenever the opportunity arose for it to do so. Whether it be from Layla's bullets, to my attempts in trying to get a strike at the head, it was clear that it was far from a useless appendage.
The wounds we were inflicting on the angel were great, and while many could be seen decorating its body, none of them were life-threatening. I had hoped that with our almost near flawless execution of the ambush that it would allow us to end this conflict early but the angel to a degree could still fight back.
Not to the point where it could push off our offensive, but enough that it could defend against any life ending attacks.
As the offense continued my mind drifted to the rest of the conversation I had with Layla and Mashu as we discussed our plan of attack.
"But our element of surprise won't last forever," My excitement changed to that of grim recognition of the situation that we were in. "Whether we're flawless in our execution or not, the angel will eventually begin to fight back. While I'm confident in our skills it's only a matter of time our offensive will go down and then the situation I'm dreading the most will rear its head."
At my tone Layla and Mashu looked at me in worry. "...What exactly is it that you're dreading, Captain?"
I looked at the duo with a grim determination, no point in trying to downplay the danger we would soon be facing. "The situation where luck will determine whether we succeed or not."
While our skills as a team were exemplary, it was only a matter of time until our inexperience against fighting honkai beasts showed. Especially against an enemy of this caliber.
And to my worst fears when it was Mashu's time to attack with her shield, instead of slamming into pale marble skin it instead clashed with the angel's shield.
I didn't even have time to curse out loud as the angel pushed Mashu off of its shield, sending her a distance away, before it focused its attention onto me as it brandished its sword.
Shit.
I raised my off hand and activated the Luminous Blaze system just in time as the honkai beast's sword swung down on me. I gritted my teeth as the force of the attack slightly pushed me back, the soles of the Caliburn digging a bit into the ground as a result. I didn't have the shielder's heavy strength to use and while the battlesuit was strong it was still dependent on my strength.
Which wasn't much.
Resisting the urge to scoff I backpedaled away to give myself some distance while also giving Mashu the chance to regroup with me. Landing in my new spot it didn't take long for me to catch a glimpse of ash blonde and lavender hair as I could hear Mashu slide next to me.
"S-Senpai," Her breathing was labored, a sign that she was reaching her limits. While I wasn't breathing as heavily as her I could feel my body already getting bogged down by fatigue. Neither one of us was going to be lasting much longer.
"What do we do now?"
Taking a deep breath I gripped the handle of my sword a bit tighter. Things were looking more grim with each passing second. If we continued like this without something drastic happening then we were going to go down.
"We do what we can," Was all I simply said to her, turning to face her. My heart was currently beating in terror but tellling that now would only be detrimental to our spirits. I could see it in Mashu's eyes that there was also a twinge of terror in them so I said the only thing that could bolster our spirits.
"Together," I gave her a reassuring smile. "The three of us will get through this…together."
Mashu's eyes widened at that but they twinkled in determination as she clutched the handle on her greatshield a bit tighter.
The both of us nodded in agreement before we looked back to the angel whose back was currently facing us. The honkai beast had ignored us in favor of trying to locate our other teammate, who had hidden herself to avoid detection.
Catching a glimpse of Layla's gaze I nodded to her to which she nodded in turn, looking over the ledge of her perch as she scooched a bit closer to the edge.
"Mashu this time you'll focus on defense," I whispered to her as the two of us got ready to jump back into the fray. "If you fall then it's over for me and Layla."
"Hai," She whispered back before she surged forward, with me close behind her heels.
Our movement wasn't exactly quiet as the angel turned to face us, no doubt hearing our approach. Raising its sword it brought it down to collide with Mashu's shield, producing a loud bang from the clash.
Right behind her, I used the Caliburn's enhanced mobility to leap over her with my sword in mid swing. This time I wasn't aiming for a part on the angel's body as instead I was aiming to sever the angel's last remaining wing. I knew that if I didn't swing with all my strength then my strike would simply bounce off of the feathers, as it had done previously, so I poured all the strength I had for this attack.
Fu Hua had been able to do it effortlessly and I needed to bring my all in order to match that strength.
"Please connect!" I inwardly pleaded as I swung my blade downward onto the angel's wing with all that I had. The being of honkai was still distracted with Mashu and its wing was in the prime position. Just a few more seconds and my sword would slice it in two!
Time seemed to slow down as my blade's edge got closer and closer with the angel's wing. The entire world around me disappeared as all my focus was on my blade and its objective. It looked as if nothing could stop it…
However, just when it seemed that I would succeed, the wing seemingly got a mind of its own and moved out of my blade's way. I watched in horror as the wing moved out of the way, to reveal the angel's shield arm coming barreling towards me.
It was that moment I realized I had forgotten a very crucial factor about the angel.
That it had the ability to think on its own, make decisions for itself, but more importantly…
Create its own strategies.
I didn't have any time to activate the Luminous Blaze System for this counterattack and could only helplessly try to bring my arms up as the angel's shield smashed into my body. The Caliburn was built out of the finest battlesuit material Schicksal had to offer so it didn't break under the force of the blow.
But that didn't mean it would protect me from getting launched into a pillar. I yelled in pain as I could feel the force of both getting smacked and hitting the pillar affecting my body.
"Senpai!" Mashu yelled as she saw my body flying through the air. The shielder turned around to look where I landed and was about to ask what my condition was. However by doing so she had directed her attention away from the angel.
And in that split second of her lapse of judgment the angel struck.
My eyes watched as the angel used its sword to launch Mashu. I don't know if it was luck that it had smacked the side where Mashu had her shield on, meaning that the strike was not a lethal one as the shield absorbed the sword's blow.
But being woefully unprepared for the angel's retaliation I could only watch as the shielder's body was launched, sending her roughly tumbling to the ground. During the tumble she lost her grip on the shield, the massive steel weapon separated from its user when she finally stopped rolling.
The Schariac tried to pick herself off her spot, reaching for her shield at the same time. But the exhaustion of fighting this angel for an extended period of time, coupled with the fact that she had been exerting a lot of force in both swinging and maintaining her shield, took its toll on her as a few moments later she collapsed onto the ground, this time not getting back up.
"Mashu!" Layla yelled in dismay when she saw Mashu's fallen form. Her green eyes rapidly ignited with raw fury as she glared daggers at the angel and began to fire at it with renewed ferocity. "You bastard!" She roared.
"N-No!" I struggled to stand as I saw the angel turn around, finally locating where she was before its wings began to glow a familiar ominous glow. A pit began to grow in my stomach as I knew what it was doing next and how the sniper was completely oblivious to it. "Get out of the way!" I tried to yell out in warning.
My warning went completely unheeded as an array of radiant spears materialized all around the angel but unlike last time instead of the spears being fired wildly in random directions, they were all shot at Layla's position.
The light constructed spears tore into the perch that the sniper was on, absolutely laying it to waste and rubble. My mouth was open wide as I witnessed the ledge Layla had been on crumble to the floor, no sign of my black and green haired teammate to be seen when the dust cleared.
"N-No," I whispered in dread as I looked to the spots my two teammates had collapsed at, none of them showing signs of getting back up. "This can't be happening."
In my despair I hadn't noticed the angel slowly walking up to me, only to notice its presence right when it drove its foot down onto my back, roughly forcing me into the ground.
Struggling to resist such strength in my current state, I could only turn my head just a tiny bit so that one of my eyes could watch as the angel raised its sword up, making it glow a purple glow that was like a beacon in the dark cavern.
I was reminded of that murky time where I was on the dark cold floor of that warehouse, completely powerless as the imposing form of Iudex towered over me. That feeling of hopelessness as I watched the steel knight raise its sword up into the air…it was the same thing I was feeling right now.
Has nothing changed? Even with all of that training, all that I've learned, was I still that powerless teenager that couldn't change anything for the better?!
Unbeknownst to my current mental state I was no longer that powerless teenager, far from it.
All it would take was a little reminder of that fact…
Without warning my shoulder suddenly started glowing, creating a vibrant light source in the dark cavern. A strangely familiar power began to flow through me and I knew only one thing could be responsible for it.
"My stigma?!" I breathed in shock as I moved my gaze to the shoulder that had the golden stigma, watching the covered up stigma glow radiantly. The emitted light was so strong that it deterred the angel from delivering the final blow, covering its eyes right before a bright flash illuminated the entire cavern.
It was the dead of night, the stars littered the night sky like one might see in a painting and a full moon only added to the enchanting sight.
Two figures could be seen around a campfire, though they had drastically different expressions on their faces. One had a soothing expression on his face while the other had a sullen look on her face.
"I told you, didn't I?" The black haired boy tried to console the blonde girl across from him, only for her to glare at him in return. "That no matter how far you walk you'll just get nowhere."
The blonde girl didn't look convinced as she threw a branch into the fire, watching as the flames grew stronger from the new source of fuel. "Better than waiting around for something to happen."
"I've done that ever since I arrived here and look at me," They proudly motioned to themselves with a bright grin. "I'm doing great! With Big Brother here to keep me company I'm never lonely!"
Bianka simply looked at the black haired boy as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head. Dealing someone with this kind of character was so out of her comfort zone that every interaction with him was a learning experience.
Was there anything that didn't excite him?
And who was this Big Brother figure he kept talking about? He spoke so highly about them yet he had been the only person she had met since she had been marooned in this place.
After some time in comfortable silence she spoke about something that had been bugging her ever since she arrived in this place. Specifically about the other person she had begrudgingly gotten to know better. It wasn't as if she wanted his company…as comforting it was to have someone to talk with in her ordeal…
He just didn't seem to be keen on leaving her alone!
Most people would be deterred in attempting to bond with someone that had made it clear that they didn't want their company but Haruto wasn't normal! Not in the slightest!
With the more time she spent with the black haired boy, the more questions she would get than answers about his existence.
"Tell me Haruto, why is it that you are so…content in staying here?" The blonde girl had an inquisitive expression on her face as she tried to figure out the existence of the boy in front of her.
Why did he show no anger at the fact that he was practically trapped in this bubble universe all by himself?!
Wouldn't the loneliness be too much for him, even if he had this Big Brother to keep her company?
The black haired boy just nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, not at all fazed by the blonde girl's question. "Not really, I've never really thought of it as a big problem."
He moved his head upward so that he could look up to the night sky, his hazel eyes filled with a determination that Bianka had never seen before in him. "Big Brother says that was reason I was placed here, some purpose that only I can fulfill."
"And what if it's not for some grand purpose?! What if you've been waiting for something that will never happen?!" She demanded, an unknown source of anger pushing her forward. Why was she so concerned about how Haruto lived his life? He was just some stranger that she had just met not too long ago, it wouldn't be too long till they went their separate ways.
So why was she so concerned about him?
…
The blonde Valkyrie wished Rita was with her right now. She was always much better with words than she was. Her partner would've known what to do and say in this kind of situation.
Moving from his stargazing the young boy simply smiled at her, his hazel eyes twinkling with optimism and some kind of wisdom that he seemed to possess in events like these. He just had this uncanny ability to know what words to say at the right moment. "I don't know, you may be right about wasting my entire life here. I could be stuck here forever not knowing what it is I'm meant to do." He confessed to her.
"But at the same time the purpose for why I'm here could reveal itself to me at any moment." He picked up a branch near him and began to poke at the flame, watching it react to the branch's touch.
"All I can do is hope that what I'm doing is the right thing, like Big Brother told me."
"There you go about hope again," Bianka for the life of her could not understand what Haruto's fascination with hope was. He had told her to hope that Rita was fine and not in danger, hope that she would find a way out, hope for a way to defeat the honkai…
What was it with him, hope ,and his Big Brother?!
"What's so great about hope?" She questioned, trying to figure out the boy's mindset.
"I mean without it people wouldn't have a reason to do anything. No reason to wake up every morning, no reason to try and be a better person, no reason to stand against adversity." They turned to her and flashed a smile that the Valkyrie had gotten accustomed to ever since she had first met him under that tree.
A smile full of optimism.
"Besides, hoping for the reason why I'm here paid off…" He opened his eyes and they twinkled in delight as hazel met blue.
"I think the reason why I'm here is to help you get back to your world!"
When that vision, or was it a memory, ended I wasn't even aware of the fact that I was still on the floor at the complete mercy of the honkai angel. My mind was still trying to process the sudden vision that I was unaware of what was happening around me.
I was unaware that the stigma on my shoulder was still glowing, albeit in lesser intensity.
Unaware that I had mysteriously gained enough strength to not only force the angel's foot off of me, but enough so that I was back on my two feet with the angel falling onto its back.
Unaware that my sword hand was moving with a mind of its own
Unaware of the fact that the cavern got a little bit brighter.
I would only notice my actions when a severed arm flew past my eyes, a sword in its grasp. Blinking back to reality I watched as the severed that had once been the angel's sword hit the ground, purple mist coming from the area where it had been cut off.
Moving my head I saw that the angel that had been missing half a wing, was now missing the entirety of its arm from the shoulder down. The surprise that I could tell was in the angel's eyes was the same as I was feeling as I watched it tumble down onto its back.
Turning my head only slightly I found what had been responsible for this sudden turn of events, a rather familiar sight if I must say so myself.
The Caliburn's sword that I was holding was glowing in an ethereal light. It didn't feel or look the same like at the Nagazora docks, but I knew the power came from the same source. The glowing sword wasn't a beacon of light, rather it looked like a golden projection of a greatsword had overlapped over my battlesuit's sword.
My stigma could do this?!
I wouldn't be given much time to ponder this as very quickly the greatsword projection surrounding my sword began to dissipate, transforming into motes of light that fizzled into nothingness. When the final motes of light left my sword…
I suddenly collapsed onto my knees, a sudden weight seemingly placed onto my shoulders.
"Hah?!" It felt as if all my stamina had just left in me in one single instant. One second I had the strength to cut the arm of the angel in one fell swoop, and the next it's all gone!
But at least the angel was now out of commission so I didn't have to worry about-!
"Oh come on!" I groaned as I looked back up and saw the honkai beast slowly picking itself up off the ground. "Do you not feel any pain at all?!"
Not only had it lost half of one of its wings, it was also sporting numerous wounds all over its body, and just recently lost an entire arm, yet the damn thing refused to stay down at all!
"C'mon Haruto," I muttered to myself as I tried to pick myself up and finish the job, to raise my sword one last time to finish the job. In its weakened state the angel wouldn't be able to fight back. "Just one more strike."
Yet my body would not move a single inch. That attack that had been boosted by my stigma, that I had no idea how it functioned at all, had drained all of my remaining energy. That left me with the very important dilemma of figuring out how I was going to finish this fight.
As I wracked my brain on how I could fight, the angel was slowly picking itself off the ground. It lacked the recovery speed it used to have, probably because it was so heavily injured, but eventually it was able to stand on its own two feet and took a step towards me.
But before I could react to the honkai beast moving towards me…
!
The sound of something getting fired stole my attention away as I tried to figure out where it had come from. It didn't take me long for my eyes to look at a familiar pile of rocks that had some kind of wire coming from the depths of it and attaching to the cavern ceiling.
Moments later came bursting out of the rocks was an injured, but very much alive, Layla Gunnhildr.
I would've applauded her ingenuity of using her grappling hook to get out of her predicament, but I couldn't because I had no energy to clap my hands…
And also due to the downright furious look she had on her face.
Flying through the air with her sniper rifle in hand, I watched as my teammate detached the grappling hook from the ceiling. In a terrifyingly epic show of acrobatics, the black and green haired sniper landed right on top of the angel.
She hissed as her sprained foot landed on the honkai beast's shoulder, with her other foot resting on the opposite cheek, but pushed it down as she pointed the barrel of her sniper right in the middle of the angel's charcoal eye. The honkai beast's eyes widened for a split second…
"Take this asshole!" She yelled before she pulled the trigger.
The sound of a single bullet echoed throughout the cavern, and with it did the angel finally die. A bullet straight through its skull, there was no surviving that.
The purple honkai lines that could be seen all throughout its body became dim as the angel's now lifeless body fell to the ground unceremoniously, taking Layla along for the ride.
"Layla!" I yelled in worry when I didn't see the black and green haired girl after the fall. "Are you alright!"
A few seconds passed with no answer and I feared the worst until a hand shot up from nearby the angel's corpse, a thumbs up proudly displayed.
"I'm okay!"
I breathed a sigh of relief before flopping down onto the ground. "Thank god," I closed my eyes and took in a much needed breath.
We did it.
Somehow, someway, against all the odds we had been able to survive this ordeal.
I was so exhausted that I didn't even hear the sounds of someone approaching me until they were directly over me, their form casting a slight shadow over me.
"S-Senpai?" Cracking an eye open I saw Mashu looking down at me in concern, her lavender eyes quickly lighting up with joy and relief when she saw me open my eyes.
"You sure you should be up?" I asked her as I looked at her face, which had some minor cuts from her nasty fall. I then remembered how she had been sent flying earlier and knew that she could be sporting some injuries under her armor. "You took a nasty hit back there."
"I'll survive," She winced as her hands went to the side where she had felt the force of the angel's attack, no doubt a nasty bruise was forming under her combat uniform.
"You're one tough snowflake I'll give you that," Layla spoke up as she limped over to us, her sprained ankle hindering her movement. Alonsgide that she had a cut on the side of her head, a bit of blood trailing down her face. "I get some rocks thrown over me and I can't even feel most of my body, alongside a nasty cut on my face, yet you look as if you can go for round two."
"T-That's not true Layla-san!" The shielder's pain was temporarily forgotten as she reverted to the easily embarrassed girl that we all loved. "I'm sure that you're much stronger than me!"
"Hey, what did we say about receiving praise?" The black and green haired sniper sternly placed her hands on her hips, not at all budging from her earlier praise. "Dammit you totally deserve it, hell we would've been toast without you."
"B-But-!"
"I'm inclined to be in total agreement with her," I interrupted as I used my two arms to push my body up so that while my lower half was still on the floor, my upper half was upright. "Without you I doubt that we would be here celebrating our victory."
Even when it was clear that neither one of us were going to relent in our praise, the shielder looked as if she was not going to relent in not accepting it. Just as she opened her mouth to refute us, a new voice echoed in the cavern "Everyone are you alright!"
"Fu Hua!" I shouted in relief as I saw the blue qipao wearing A-Valkyrie running up to us, still holding on to the sword that I had given to her before we had gotten separated "You totally missed out! We were having so much fun moments earlier."
"I can see that…" She trailed off as she turned her head to see the corpse of the honkai angel not too far from us. I had half expected to suddenly wake up but it was truly dead now, no second phase. "Forgive me that it took so long to get here, if I had been faster then the burden of fighting such a challenging foe would have not been so heavy."
"Hey don't be like that sensei." Layla assuaged as she slung her arm over her shoulders, as a way to show she didn't blame her for their injuries and to steady herself. "If it wasn't for you chopping the bastard's wing off we wouldn't have that big of an advantage going in."
Fu Hua's apologetic expression slightly softened on hearing the sniper's words. It seems the little disagreement they had before we had entered that cavern was water under the bridge now. "Still you three should be proud," The Flamechaser looked at all of us and softly smiled. "Fighting an opponent of this caliber is no easy feat for Valkyries. Even us A-Ranks might struggle against it."
"Well what do you expect," The Gunnhildr puffed her chest out in approval and a bit of smugness. "You are talking about the 6th Valkyrja Squad after all. Only the most badass squad to ever be formed in all of existence."
The three of us laughed at that, the seeming stress that had come with all of our lives being put on the line seemingly disappearing. It was as if we hadn't just fought a literal honkai angel and hadn't been seconds from losing our lives.
"Oh wait!" Layla suddenly shouted, a look of absolute panic on her face. "Mashu, Haruto quickly! I need your help with something!"
The two of us shared a look of confusion, not understanding what had made the sniper so worried but we just shrugged our shoulders. Enough time had passed that I had enough energy to stand back up on my own two feet and so I helped the shielder to the side opposite of Layla, being across Fu Hua.
"What do you need our help with?" I asked.
"This!" Using her free hand Layla pulled out a phone that had somehow miraculously come out of that fight virtually unschated. "We need to commemorate our first legendary victory!" Then without warning she used that arm to pull both me and Mashu closer before extending her hand out with the camera pointed towards us.
The way she positioned her phone made it so that we could see how the picture would turn out. With how we all looked it would be memorable for all the wrong reasons. 3 out of the 4 of us were injured, with the worst visible injury being the cut on Layla's forehead.
Not to mention none of us looked remotely prepared for a photo, with the sole exception of the one who orchestrated this as she had a massive grin on her face. Fu Hua had a completely lost look on her face, Mashu wasn't even looking at the camera as she was more focused on not falling on top of me due to Layla pushing her closer for the photo, and my face was a mixture of smiling and looking shocked.
And with how we were positioned you could see the corpse of the honkai angel in the background.
It was definitely a very interesting photo.
But strangely, it fit us.
This squad that was not meant to be, a squad that had so many different backgrounds and stories.
A squad that would most definitely live a very interesting life.
"To many more triumphs to come!" Layla cheered before she snapped the photo.
"OW!" Layla cried out in pain next to me, her hand gripping the armrest of the chair she was in with enough force to turn in her knuckles white. "Be gentle with that okay!" She shouted at the medic who was checking her sprained ankle. The medic gave a sheepish look as they nodded before continuing with their work, this time much gentler in their actions.
"You did well for your first mission, all things considered." Marie praised as she stood next to us, in the mobile command center. Her red eyes filled with relief that we were walking out of a potentially dangerous situation with only some injuries.
"It definitely could've gone better," I mused as I looked to see Asplund and a group of scientists working on the Caliburn battlesuit. From my point of view it didn't appear as if the suit took a lot of damage but with how frantic some of Asplund's actions were when repairing the Kingsbane battlesuit then the damage must've been worse than I thought.
"Don't feel bad about the Caliburn," The black haired scientist assured me. "It would be remiss of us to assume that it would come out unscathced everytime it went out into the field. You didn't totally wreck it, I will take that as opposed to rebuilding it from scratch."
"Besides I'm sure the combat data you guys received will be more than worth it." Marie moved her eyes to Mashu and Fu Hua, whose respective injuries had already been patched up by the medics. "According to Fu Hua this honkai beast would classify around that of a Templar Class/"
"A Templar…" Mashu trailed off as she let that realization sink in. We had just gone toe to toe with the third strongest class of honkai beasts, and on our first mission nonetheless.
It was equal parts exhilarating, and very terrifying to know how close to death we were.
"We've sent word back to St. Freya about what happened here and Theresa-sama has given you all the next day off for you to recuperate from your fight." The scientist revealed, drawing a relieved sigh from me and Mashu.
"Thank god, I feel as if I wouldn't have the strength to survive an entire day of school," I smiled as I brought my hand up to my forehead, internally frowning at what I felt. I didn't know if it was just post battle adrenaline but it felt as if my temperature was higher than usual.
Was I…sick?
…
Nah I probably just needed some sleep, yeah that sounded like what I needed.
My internal conversation went unnoticed as I lowered my hand to see the medic attending to Layla finished wrapping her ankle up in a cast. She probably was benched from any and all physical activity for at least the entire week, even if she had Schicksal medicine to rapidly speed up the recovery process.
"Oh I almost forgot!" Marie spoke up, her hands clasping together in excitement. "The Yggdrasil Advanced Engineering Corps will be receiving a new member today." She clapped her hands which prompted this new member to start walking over to us.
"May I proudly announce the newest member joining our-!"
"KEJI!?" I shouted in absolute surprise upon seeing my brown haired friend walking over to us, my hazel eyes widening in shock. I was so surprised that I stood up from my seat, forgetting that I should be recuperating right now.
Green eyes also widened as the chess enthusiast gained a flabbergasted expression on his face. "HARUTO?!"
Simultaneously we pointed to each other and shouted the same thing at the same time.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"..." Everyone who was present to watch our surprise reunion looked at us in silence, not knowing how to react to this.
"Oh isn't this wonderful!" It would be Marie who would break the silence, prompting all of us to turn and face the scientist. The black haired scientist had a pleased look on her face, no doubt happy that someone in the 6th Valkyrja Squad already had a connection with Keji. "My otouto has a friend here already, what a pleasant surprise!"
"Wait a minute," I looked back to Keji in shock for this new revelation. "Otouto?!" I cried out, not at all expecting Marie of all people to be Keji's older sister.
"Well about that…" Keji in response merely rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "It's a…long story."
"A story you can tell him when the two of you are catching up," Marie interrupted as she walked up to her younger brother, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you should introduce yourself to the rest of the 6th Valkyrja Squad."
Nodding Keji looked to the rest of the squad, who was watching him with curiosity. "I am Keji Furutu, the Yggdrasil Advanced Engineering Corps and 6th Valkyrja Squad's combat operator in training…" He grinned at us.
"A pleasure to meet you!"
Approximately one hour earlier…
Su watched as Schicksal reinforcements surrounded the cave entrance. From his elevated position he could see the forms of the 6th Valkyrja Squad being assisted out of the cavern, fortunately none of them bar the black and green haired sniper had any serious visible injuries as she had some blood covering her face.
Though from here the cut the blood originated from didn't seem too deep so it wouldn't leave a lasting scar on her face.
Watching as they were loaded into a medical transport to get their injuries treated, the Flamechaser directed his attention to see a transport that had been flying a fair distance away from him beginning to rise in altitude. Most noticeably was the cargo it was now carrying, the corpse of the Virtue that Haruto and his squad had managed to vanquish.
If he had to garner a guess, the Virtue that they had fought would be around the level of a Templar Class honkai beast. Nothing that could give him much trouble but it was more than impressive for three warriors in training to take out. To walk out of such an ordeal with only minor injuries spoke testaments of their skill as a group.
And with Fu Hua leading them they would go far, that could be clearly seen even for him.
However…
A frown marred his face as he walked away from his elevated position in the mountains and to the area that had been directly above where Fu Hua and her squad had originally fought their Virtue. Schicksal must've detected the initial awakening of the Virtue but due to the mountain's geographical location it must've messed with their scanners.
Though he had to suppose that was a small miracle. Because in actuality this place had not birthed one or two Virtues…
But a nest full of them.
Walking onto the mountaintop, where at the center of it was the opening that allowed both light and the Virtue to descend from, the entire area was littered with the iconic feathers of the Virtues that had been birthed.
Virtues were not regular honkai beasts, they weren't locked to a single class like a Seraph or Templar Class. Rather they were more akin to a variant of honkai beasts. One could be a mere Chariot Class while another could be closer to that of an Emperor Class.
And while yes you could technically separate what class a Virtue might belong to by their appearances alone, there was a more indisputable way to classify them.
By the hue of their feathers.
It was a rather strange method, one that had definitely gotten some eyebrows raised back in the Previous Era, but it had worked without fail so far.
Walking into the nesting grounds, Su brought out the feather of the Virtue he had faced. It looked so similar to that of a feather of a white dove so he knew that it was a mid-class beast in terms of overall power.
However a shine of light caught the corner of his eye as he walked into the nest, prompting him to change his course over to a pile of feathers that seemed just as similar to the rest of the feathers surrounding the area. However when he had reached down to pluck one of the feathers in the pile, it shined with an almost incandescent glow.
His lips morphed into a frown at this new revelation.
This was troubling…
For he knew that only a Virtue in the range of Templar Class and that of an Emperor Class could create such a hue, which came with its own terrifying ramifications.
There was a Virtue out there with a strength that this era had rarely seen in other honkai beasts and was deliberately choosing to hide itself rather than to try and cause as much destruction as possible.
But that begged the question…
Why was it choosing to do so?
Before he could think of it any further something else near him caught his attention. Reaching down Su picked up the object that had newly piqued his interest. It was certainly a massive contrast to the sea of white weathers that surrounded him.
The object in question was a rose, but unlike regular roses which had a crimson hue to them there was none to be found on this one. Instead it looked as if it had been doused in honkai energy, with its petals glowing a deathly, almost sickly purple.
Su watched as one of the petals fell off the flower and floated down to the ground, touching one of the many flowers littering the ground. However the moment the petal made contact with the feather it instantly disintegrated it, leaving no trace of its existence.
"So was this the change that has happened?" Su mused as he watched the flower in his hand begin to rapidly disintegrate, until moments later its final ashes were carried away by the wind. He did not know what the Honkai was planning but his previous experience in fighting against him had taught him many things about it.
None of them were wonderful.
And the revival of the Virtues were very concerning, especially with what they were synonymous with.
Humanity could not experience that kind of tragedy again.
Taking one last look at the Virtue nesting grounds he began to walk away, leaving no trace that he had been there for Schicksal to discover when they would eventually stumble upon this place. This revelation of information this place had given him had only bolstered his resolve and now more than ever did he need to find Siegfried Kaslana.
Allies were needed, very strong ones at that.
"Prepare them Fu Hua, for if what we fear will come to pass…"
"Then we will need every advantage we can get."
So the plot has been set…so many questions are asked in this chapter…
The reveal of the Virtues(Which I'm so surprised by how many got the reference XD)…
Su and Fu Hua reuniting…
Haruto's first stigma power…
Keji's role in the Yggdrasil Advanced Engineering Corps…
But while all of this is important and all…there were two reveals that are especially important because they set up what will be the main focus of this saga. They were both rather subtle…I wonder if you guys found them.
Curious to see how you guys will react to them. Though don't feel bad if you can't find them because the next chapter drops a very big hint.
Now onto other things, people pointed out that I didn't go into detail about Haruto's stigma and there was a specific reason why I did that and I revealed it in this chapter. With it being tied to a certain character our dear Haruto has yet to meet…
I think you know where I'm going with this…
How did you like the fight scenes in this chapter? It's been a while since I've done something like this and I'm a bit rusty with them so some feedback would be much appreciated.
So there's an idea I've been toying with in my mind for the past week and I kind of want your guys' opinion on it. I've already told you guys how I wanted to commission an artist for a cover/fanart for this fanfiction of the 6th Valkyrja Squad but as you know commissions are expensive…
And I'm also transferring this Fall to another college and we all know how much that costs.
So I've been considering with the idea of setting up a Pat reon or a Ko-fi, though I'm unsure if I'll actually go through with it cause it would just be supporting me with no extra perks(Which I know most fanfiction authors do)
I don't know, what do you guys think about it?
Oh and the 1st Year Anniversary of An Unexpected Impact just past. When I first started this fanfiction I had no idea how far/popular this story would get and even now I'm surprised by how well received this story is…
And I certainly wasn't expecting this story to be so important in my own life as well lol.
I debated writing some kind of anniversary OVA chapter but decided against it as I didn't plan for it and trying to write one will detract from getting this chapter out…
But rest assured that the next chapter will be a treat for you guys, for both the right and wrong reasons.
Hehe…
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! PMing me is the best way for me to respond to your questions.
Peace!