Chapter 3: Empress of Thunder

Schicksal was an organization with a quite literal global reach. A group that had long existed since the medieval days of mankind, Schicksal was the vanguard and wall that defended mankind from the threat that was the Honkai. It was the innovations made in this effort that had driven the organization to rise from a mere structure of the old theocracy to a globe spanning scientific organization with ties to everything from military to government through its Branches.

And in the Far East Branch of Japan, there was a school it oversaw.

St. Freya International Academy. Founded after the Second Impact 14 years, this educational institute was both the main headquarters for Schicksal's Far East Branch and a place for educating those who would become Valkyries in order to combat the threat of the Honkai. Many of its student body were those who had been children during that disastrous event so long ago, others the family of those affected by it, and more still the children of Schicksal affiliation from across the world.

Due to a certain quirk when it came to Honkai adaptability, it meant the grand majority of Schicksal's student body, and thus Valkyries at large, were women. Men who could resist the corrosive effects of Honkai were the rare few in the world, enough so that St. Freya, for as wide of a student body it had, currently only held one male student among its roster.

Surprisingly to no one, said boy was the son of Schicksal's Overseer; a one Octavian Apocalypse. Who, currently, was holed up in the library of the academy, scanning his way through an all too tall stack of books on various subjects. Be it fantasy novels or biographical texts, seemingly anything was in the teenager's stack of material.

Octavian was someone who took after his father in many ways looks wise. The same bright blonde hair and steely green eyes, yet his features were gentler, his eyes lacking the hardened look his father was known for. He kept his hair quite long, styled asymmetrically and kept tied halfway down to keep it in check. And currently, the jacket of his St. Freya uniform sat at the back of his chair, the rest of the modified attire kept it simple, the kind of buttoned shirt and slacks expected of a student his age.

Next to Octavian, a tablet computer was propped up on another book. It was a curious device, its shell a bright golden color, the back marked in the wing emblem of Schicksal in stark black to contrast. The screen currently sat dark, yet occasionally flickered with a green light.

"Hmm… the Berlin Impact reports are always a mess to read through…" Octavian sighed as he shut the current book he was skimming. "Though not like accessing anything higher wouldn't be difficult."

"Of course it wouldn't," a voice came from the tablet, the lilting tone of a man speaking in an all too playful candor. "Though I'm sure Oskar wouldn't be fond of you digging through high authorization records under his nose… if he ever found out you get up to that."

"And who's idea was it to give me access to those records to begin with?" Octavian got an amused chuckle in reply. He took the next book off his stack, letting it fall open to a random page. "Hmm… theory on Artificial Stigmata implantation… this is Professor Einstein's work. Let's see… research in order to reduce the strain on Stigmata implantation… ways to reduce the burden it induces on the body."

"Anti-Entropy has always made their goal minimizing the risk to human life combatting the Honkai entails," said the voice from the tablet. "From even as far back as the First Impact."

"I am aware. The incident that almost caused the North American Branch to separate from Schicksal, the one my great-grandfather kept from getting out of hand by allowing them unfettered research into their robotics and preventative methods," Octavian shut the book, his slim finger tapping on the cover. "Research like this would be a benefit to someone like Major Murata… were she not so stubborn."

4"I've come to think a measure of madness is common among those under Cecilia after so long. Perhaps it's needed, in order to face whatever the Honkai throws at us."

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Octavian tilted his head towards the tablet, getting a chuckle in reply. "Anything from Kiana as of late? She should've checked in a while ago."

"It seems info coming in and out of Nagazora has gotten sparse… or rather, almost as if it's been cut off. Normally scheduled automated programs are running, but anything else? Not a peep."

"Then it looks like your prediction was spot on. All we can do now is wish Kiana luck," Octavian stood and plucked the tablet up, also grabbing his jacket before he got to carting the books back to where they belonged.

"Well, if what I predicted is going as planned, she's already run into someone who'll be very helpful in handling the newest Herrscher. Let the Kaslana girl work her magic. Who knows, she may even end up messing with whatever Oskar is planning."

"Heh… you're so self-assured about all of this."

"Of course I am. I am a genius inventor after all. A mere predictive model based on trends is nothing."

"Sure, just a predictive model… I'll keep buying that one for now. Otto."

Octavian got an amused chuckle in reply. For now, they could only rely on Kiana to handle things. Knowing what they did, they felt there was little to be worried for. After all, thought Octavian, what better Valkyrie to trust than the daughter of the Heroes of the 2nd Impact?

There was a fantastic irony Soleil found in the current situation as he and Kiana worked their way up back to the third floor of the school building. First he'd left to the entrance only to have run back to the third floor and defenestrate himself to get out, only to need to double back thanks to the Source's signal coming from that floor now. At this point, he'd lost count of how many trips up and down he'd made that day.

More than he cared too though, that was for sure.

Thankfully, there were far less shamblers to worry about as Soleil and Kiana got to the third floor, though a stairwell littered with Honkai zombies hadn't made it particularly easy to get up there. The problem would only get worse as more and more zombies were drawn towards the Source, so they had to act quickly. It didn't help Kiana was running low on ammo after such a short time of fighting to get up to this floor.

What made things all the weirder to consider was that the path Kiana was leading him on was right back to his classroom. The one he'd long slipped out of as soon as he'd gotten an inkling of what was to come.

"… well this isn't ironic at all," Soleil shook his head as he put his bat to his shoulder. "Didn't think I'd do two loops back to the third floor in one day… at least, not like this."

"Ahehe, guess you were looking to get to the station, huh?" Kiana checked what magazines she had left as they approached the door, then pulling out her phone to check it. "Let's see… Mei should be around here. Probably in the classroom."

"So why is Schicksal even suspecting Mei is a potential Herrscher at all?"

"Do you know about the Herrscher Gems?" Kiana got a nod in response.

"Course I do. They were recovered alongside the 2nd Herrscher's Core after the Second Impact. Schicksal's been using them for R&D ever since. This… this has something to do with them, doesn't it?"

"Well, it's just a theory, but that friend of my thinks that a game that we had, the Gem of Conquest… well it kind of went missing a couple years ago," Soleil raised a brow, Kiana nodding along. "The theory is that it was implanted into Mei… why? Who knows. Just the theory after all."

"That is… prime trouble asking to happen if true," Soleil couldn't help but let his free hand shift to the Stigmata he had. "Though now I'm wondering…"

"Wondering what, Rei-senpai?"

"Uh… nothing. Let's just see if Mei's around here. I'll take point," Soleil got against the wall of the classroom door, Kiana nodding as she readied her handgun. Soleil put his hand to the slat, Kiana nodding.

Slowly, Soleil slid the door open, seeing a mostly empty room as he peered in. Glancing left and right, he opened the door further and entered, Kiana right behind him as he raised his bat. There wasn't a zombie in sight, any that had been around littering the floor outside the room. What did stand out were just how many desks had been arranged into a barrier in the corner. And just through them, the two could make out someone huddled into the barricade.

"Uh… hello?" Kiana leaned ahead of Soleil. "You wouldn't happen to be a zombie huddled in there, would you?"

"I'm pretty sure we would've had a lunge happen if they were…" Soleil gripped his bat just in case, leaning over the barricade of desk's. What greeted him as he stepped onto one of the desks was thankfully not a zombie. Quite conveniently, it was exactly the person they were looking for, Mei looking up to Soleil in an almost dazed way, barely seeming to register him as she looked up, same with Kiana when she popped into view. "Well… this has made our job pretty easy, hasn't it?"

"Doesn't look like she's turned at all. Hey, you good down in there?" Kiana narrowed her eyes when Mei's only acknowledgement was glancing at her. "Could you at least say something? The two of us are gonna get out of here, how about you come with us, hm? We can get you past all those zombies and somewhere safe!"

"Do you even know if anywhere is safe?" Soleil muttered. "For all we know the Impact spread all the way to the main city."

"Yeah, but this one hit so fast I'm sure the emergency shelters are all clear! There's gotta be a couple here in the Academy City. We'll need a home base of some kind, won't we?"

"Fair enough," Soleil glanced at Mei, who was still dead silent that whole time. "Look, there's too much to explain right now, so…"

"Rei-senpai, we got zombies!" Kiana tapped Soleil's shoulder as loud groans became audible, a group of zombies piling at the doorway. "Look, Mei-senpai, doesn't matter if you'll answer! We gotta get moving!"

"…" Mei didn't answer, even as Kiana shoved some of the desks aside and pulled her to her feet. As Kiana was grabbing Mei, Soleil slammed his bat across the head of the first zombie to lunge at them, the burst of blue flames from his swing finishing it as he knocked it right back into the crowd. Soleil leapt onto another desk, vaulting from it and right towards the coming group.

"Clearing the way!" Soleil raked his left hand down the barrel of his bat, the flames igniting from it more intense as he took hold of it. The swing that followed hit hard enough it blew right through the group piling at the door, even blowing out a few windows from the force of the swing as flames arced through the air.

"Nice one!" Kiana chuckled as she hurried over, Mei in tow as they ran back into the hallway. "So, know where the nearest shelter is we can get to?"

"Should be…" Soleil paused to bat another zombie aside, Kiana felling another with a gunshot. "one between here and the station! It'll be empty what with how quickly this all hit!"

"Better for us, more supplies! Let's head for the old school building first! That should give us some room to breath so we can plan a bit!"

"Sounds good to me!"

As the two Schicksal fighters took the lead, their sudden charge still remained silent. Trailing behind without a word, Mei simply watched as the two carved a path through the zombies ahead of them, the path they had made already overtaken yet again.

"Another… that boy is another…" that voice in Mei's head spoke up, and her eyes drew to Soleil. "Flames… I sense flames."

"Man… escorting someone through a bunch of zombies… is a lot more trouble than I thought it'd be!"

Kiana was left panting as the trio burst through the doors of the old school building, Soleil quickly grabbing the nearest heavy object to shove in front of the double doors to prevent anything from following them in. Without many other ways to go, the three began to head further into the old building. Mei was silent most of the way through, up to the stairwell as Soleil and Kiana looked to get to some higher ground.

"Why… why did you two help me?" the sudden question from Mei brought a pause from the other two, Soleil giving an amused look she chose now to speak up.

"Took this long to say something huh?" Kiana chuckled.

"A person like me should just die…" Mei's muttering brought Soleil and Kiana to a halt. "Maybe even being born was a mistake…"

"Haaah?!" Kiana leaned on the stair's railing, her face stilted into an appalled gape. "What are you on about? Who the heck says the kind of thing about themselves?!"

"You can just leave me behind," Mei stopped moving entirely, Kiana glaring at this point, while Soleil remained more placid. "You can stop pretending to care. I know you only approached me because I'm Raiden Mei."

"Not incorrect," Soleil muttered, "But definitely not for the reasons you're thinking we did."

"Raiden… I've heard that name before…" Kiana put a finger to her chin.

"She's the daughter of Raiden Ryoma, the CEO of Massive Electric Corp.," said Soleil, Mei's expression darkening. "Nicknamed Senba Academy's "Thunder Empress" due to her high status, and infamous for that time she rejected twelve guys all in the same day. Up until recently, she was the darling of the school, the onee-san everyone looked up to and respected."

"Are you just going to mock me?"

"Just stating the facts. We are classmates after all," Soleil leaned on a hand, his eyes drawing to a slight glow peeking beneath Mei's shirt. Kiana noticed it too. "But, we're not leaving you behind. Doesn't matter what people said about you after that scandal happened, I'm not leaving someone to the horde out there if I can save them."

"Let's get somewhere we can rest first, yeah?" Kiana suggested. "This kind of doom and gloom talk isn't good at all in this kind of situation! Positive, positive!"

Despite Kiana pointing out a smile, Mei's look remained glum as the group started up the stairs again. Though considering it was merely an old school building, it wasn't as if there was much around, though the infirmary being on the second floor was at least a tad more convenient for a temporary hiding place. Soleil got to rifling through the medicine cabinet for anything he could shove into his messenger bag. Kiana was checking her pistol, the magazines she'd empty set out on the old desk still in the room.

And Mei was seated at a window, looking out over the grounds with a dour expression.

"People really are… rotten to the core, aren't they?" Her gaze was cast to some of the zombies shuffling closer to the building, the sight of them enough to churn anyone's stomach.

"If you're gonna feel anything towards the people out there, feel pity," Soleil spoke up, clasping his bag shut and picking his bat up. Mei's gaze shifted towards him, and he kept his back turned. "People like us are the lucky ones in situations like this. Being turned by Honkai like that? It's not just death. Everything about the person is just… gone. The body that's left behind is just an empty puppet being dragged along by whatever instinct it has left. Best we can do for them is put them down, so that their souls can rest a bit easier."

"You talk like someone from a church."

"Hahaha, well, the organization I'm with did used to be theocratic," Soleil leaned against the wall as he snickered. "I guess you could say it makes me a modern Knight Templar of some kind. Though I'm not religious myself."

"Schicksal…" Mei's murmur got a nod from Soleil and Kiana.

"Also, don't you think it's kind of cruel to say people are rotten?" Kiana slid a full magazine into her pistol, glancing at Mei as she finished preparing it. "I mean sure, people turning on your for something as stupid as your dad being accused of embezzling funds is stupid, but I also think it's fair to say some people felt kind of betrayed. Someone they looked up to turned out to be connected to something shady, and it hurt them. So, they lashed out."

"You really are mocking me," Mei's voice was venomous, but Kiana didn't look fazed.

"Not at all. I'm just saying that rather than blame everyone else, it's better to find ways to better yourself," Kiana stood and chuckled. "Because who cares what some dumb people say? Anyone who's really worth being a friend won't care what rumors there are about you. And then you just have to prove yourself… if to nobody else, then yourself most of all."

"Huh, didn't take you for the philosophical type," Soleil smirked, Kiana puffing out a cheek.

"I thought it sounded good!"

"Change? That's right…" Soleil and Kiana flinched when Mei started to chuckle. Her eyes were widened, the expression her face broke into anything but a pleasant smile. "It's not me who's the problem. No… it was them… it was this world! This world that deceived me, my father!"

"Crap!" Kiana shot over, grabbing Mei by the shoulders. "Hey, you need to cut it out with saying things like that! Look, I know it may not make sense, but you're in a lot of danger right now! If you start thinking like that, who knows what could happen?!"

BWOOM!

A boom of thunder accompanied the cutting flash of lightning. Violet electricity was crackling along Mei's body. And the glowing mark at her hip was visible.

"Yes… it wasn't me who was wrong…" Kiana seemed entirely shut out as Mei chuckled, her eyes gleaming with violet light. "So, if it was the world that was wrong… then I should just destroy that world!"

"Kiana, get back!" Soleil grabbed Kiana by her shirt's collar as his instincts fired off, yanking the Valkyrie away as the energy around Mei intensified. Their eyes fell to the glowing mark, and they realized what it was immediately: A Stigmata. "Shit! Looks like that friend of yours was right! She's a Herrscher!"

"Pot meet kettle," Soleil growled as his "other" chuckled in the back of his mind.

"Mei-senpai, listen to me!" Kiana shouted. "Whatever you're hearing right now, whatever the Honkai's voice is saying, don't listen to it!"

"And why shouldn't I?!" Mei snarled at the two, electricity sparking at her right hand as the Stigmata's glow intensified. "These people… first they take away Father, then turn my life into hell all because of what they believe he did! They're wrong, all of them are wrong!"

"And what, for that the world should go with it?!" Soleil reached out, Mei throwing her arms up with a scream. And as the girl's arms raised, lightning blasted from her arms, blowing Soleil and Kiana across the room, the two slamming into the wall with remaining sparks of the jolting edging across them.

And a wild smile broke across Mei's face as she looked at her hands. "Something like this… yes… if this deceitful world is destroyed, then it can all go back to how it was. Father… everyone… it will all return to me."

"Don't… listen to it!" Kiana pushed herself to her feet as Mei started for the door. "It's not worth listening to that voice! You won't get anything back by giving into it, much less by destroying the world!"

"Quiet…" Mei's eyes flashed red as she raised her right hand. Kiana braced herself as lightning sparked at Mei's fingers, only for the bolt to be met by Soleil's bat as he jumped between the girls, the weapon burning with blue flames as he caught the strike.

BWOOM!

But with another flash, Mei was gone with the sound of thunder. Soleil growled as he lowered his bat, his arms thrumming from the lingering electricity that had run up them.

"This has just gotten ten times worse…" Soleil grumbled as the booming of thunder resumed, and it was quickly followed by the drumming sound of heavy rain.

"Uhm… Rei-senpai, I think we're about to have more than just zombies to worry about!" Kiana moved to the window, trying to look through the pouring rain as lightning flashed in the clouds gathering above them. "Something's… ah crap! Get down!"

"Not my style!" Soleil spun around as something burst through the window. His bat ignited and slammed into whatever had come barreling in, Soleil carrying the swing down into smashing the offending thing into the floor. What he'd just smashed was something… alien in look.

Its body was plaster white and purple, shaped almost like some kind of large bird, but as if someone had merely drawn the silhouette or one and plastered on a few extra lines while leaving the body and wings separate. Where Soleil had smashed it was broken in like cracked stone, the cracks leaking a bright purple fluid a bit too close to blood for comfort.

"Seraph-type… shit."

"Definitely gotten worse," Kiana stepped over as Soleil withdrew his bat from the creature. "Honkai Beasts already? They shouldn't be showing up so soon. Then again… there is a Herrscher on the verge of awakening."

"Yeah…" Soleil clenched a fist, a burst of blue fire coming from his hand. "The Honkai radiation is also getting stronger. We need to find Mei, fast!"

"But where the heck did she go?!" Kiana readied her pistol as Soleil hurried back to the hallways, the duo being met with a group of zombies that had gotten in all too quickly once they reached the stairs.

"Maybe they'll have something to say about it."

"Is this the time for jokes?!" Kiana snapped as she domed a zombie with a quick shot, Soleil smashing in the head of the first one to lunge for him.

"A bit of levity helps decompress, alright?!" Soleil turned and grabbed the next zombie that leapt towards him with his left hand, flames bursting from his palm and dropping the zombie like a sack. "Let's see if Mei went upstairs!"

"I hope she did!"

The sudden increase in Honkai radiation with Mei's seemingly all too closer awakening as a Herrscher meant that the safety Soleil and Kiana thought the old school building would have offered was cast aside all too quickly. While they were able to rule out the front door, it was likely the shamblers had gotten in either through other, likely less stable doors, or, considering the appearance of the Seraphs, some holes busted into walls from them charging to meet their "liege" and the threats they saw to her.

"God, it's just getting worse with the horde gathering up here like this!" Kiana grumbled as she shoved her pistol into its holster rather than bother to reload it, taking to smashing in zombie heads as she and Soleil broke through to the third floor, quickly looking around for any sign of Mei on this floor. "We're just wasting time and energy on all of these grunts!"

"Then the roof it is!" Soleil wheeled around and shit back up the last flight of stairs, Kiana hot on his heels.

The two went bursting through the final door, right out into the pouring rain. The rooftop of the old schoolhouse was simple as expected. Sparse except for a few benches and an old chain fence surrounding the edge to make sure no… incidents could have happened. Though said fence was long rusted and worn, looking ready to crumple under even the slightest bit of strain.

And standing at the center was Mei, looking up to the eye of the storm with a distant expression on her face.

"Father… just a little more… just a bit more and Mei can finally be what you need her to be."

"That's odd, she's not acting like herself…" Kiana took a step forward, stopping when Soleil put an arm in front of her. "Shouldn't we…?"

"That wasn't Mei talking…" Soleil's voice was edged in caution, and Kiana gripped her bat at the ready as Soleil stepped forward. "Y'know, I think standing out in the rain isn't that fun an idea! Bad for your health, don't you think?"

"Hm?" Mei's gaze turned to Soleil, her expression turning from distantly euphoric to cross in an instant. "You two… are you here to try and ruin my happiness?"

"What are you on about?!" Kiana snapped. "We're trying to help you!"

"Like I need your pity!" Mei swiped her arm, a wave of electricity stopping Soleil and Kiana dead in their tracks. "Everything… everything should just DISAPPEAR!"

Thunder cracked the sky, and a bolt of lightning came crashing down atop Mei, splitting the air in violet light for a brief moment.

For a moment after the flash, it seemed as if almost nothing had occurred. Mei was still standing before Soleil and Kiana, seemingly unharmed, standing with her eyes closed. But that quickly changed.

The glowing mark on Mei's hip grew brighter, the sparking electricity burning away some of her uniform around it. The sparking electricity around her gathered, drawing into her left arm and dying the skin a deep, glowing violet, markings appearing across the limb like some kind of tattoo. And at Mei's shoulder, more lightning gathered, bursting into a wing of condensed power, made up of three "feathers" that wavered and sparked with power.

Mei's eyes opened, changed to a dark red. She flexed her hands as she brought them up. And that placid look changed to a sinister smile.

"Ahhh~, what a feeling this is!" 'Mei' cast her arms wide as she broke out into laughter. "Hahaha! Do you feel this, Raiden Mei? The whole world is by your side now, none shall abandon you again! Your wish for revenge, to reclaim what you lost, allow me to help make that desire reality!"

"So you're the Herrscher that was inside of her!" Kiana spat, 'Mei' looking to the two before her.

"Hah… who I am hardly matters for you two," she raised her left hand, lightning gathering at her palm. "You'll be joining these other corpses soon enough!"

With a mere flex of her fingers, lightning flew from 'Mei's' hand, striking for the two. Soleil and Kiana dodged to the side. A few more bolts followed, the Herrscher chuckling at seeing her targets still unscathed.

"Ohoho~, good job dodging that! You two will make for good practice!" 'Mei' flexed her hand, the lightning at her hand forming into a sword-like shape. "I'll be sure to make this good and slow."

"So where do you think this is coming from?" said Kiana, glancing at Soleil as he was got into a ready stance. "Developed from her frustrations towards everyone around her?"

"That and the obvious incident. Mei must've been bottling up who knows what!" Soleil readied his bat as 'Mei' lifted the lightning blade into a readied hold. "No time for chatter though!"

"Oh, there certainly won't be!" 'Mei' laughed as she charged, the lightning sword meeting Soleil's bat as he met her charge, flames sparking off the blunt weapon as the clash shifted into a flurry of blows. The only interruption to the melee exchange was Kiana looking to line up a shot, the few she fired off being blocked by sparks of lightning from 'Mei's' wing.

Soleil vaulted back as Mei slashed at him with a wave of electricity pulsing from her hand, the sensation of the sparks singing his clothes and tingling his skin. And in the following moment, Mei shot forward with her other hand, a burst of lightning firing from it and slamming into Soleil, sending him careening back across the roof and rolling across the ground. But, Soleil managed to rise, a flickering coating of flames ebbing away as he stood.

"Tch… you'll take a bit longer to kill," 'Mei's' wing shifted and blocked more bullets, the girl drifting back a bit when a kick from Kiana came sailing at her, Kiana quick to follow it up with several more accompanied by shots from her guns. "Stupid human-agh!"

As 'Mei' moved to strike again, she was forced to block when something came right at her head. The deflected item clattered to the ground, revealing it to be a throwing knife with a glowing edge of light, the energy edge flickering away as it skittered to a stop.

"Don't go forgetting there's two of us!" Kiana said, firing again, and as Mei deflected the shot with her wing, another throwing knife from Soleil, coated in azure flames, slammed right through the construct, earning a snarl from their foe. "Nice one Rei-senpai!"

"Always gotta have a sub weapon on you." Soleil said, flicking a few more of the throwing knives into his left hand, holding them between his fingers as their edges activated. The three knives were thrown out and deflected, though that just left an opening for Kiana to land a kick as she also wheeled back, Soleil shooting back to the front. 'Mei' slashed in kind with her wing, though when they clashed this time, Soleil's bat cracked the gathered energy of the wing.

With Mei in place, Kiana aimed just as Soleil was forced back again, the bullets she fired sailing for the nick in the wing… and just as it pulled back, they impacted, 'Mei' yelling as the upper segment of the "feather" shattered off.

"How dare… how could mere humans damage a Herrscher's wing?!" 'Mei' growled, moving her head when another swing from Soleil damaged the wing more. 'Mei' retreated as the damaged "feather" flickered out of form. "I need to gather more power…"

"Like I'd let you do that!" Kiana shouted, grabbing 'Mei' by her right arm. "Perks of being a Kaslana, my Honkai resistance is high enough I can even grab a Herrscher!"

"Ggh, let go!" 'Mei' snapped, her attempt to swipe at Kiana with her left arm being stopped by Soleil grabbing her too, and as she looked at him, his other hand was glowing with blue flames. "You!"

"Let's see if we can't snap you out of this!" Soleil shouted, slamming his hand onto Mei's chest, eliciting a sharp scream from Mei as the blow landed. Lightning arced out in retaliation to the two, Soleil and Kiana gritting their teeth against it.

And then Soleil felt a flash in his mind, and a voice…

"Please… help me… Father! Help me… Don't leave me alone!" Mei's voice, fearful and calling out.

"This… what the Honkai is amplifying in her!" Soleil grit his teeth again, and the arm he had slammed onto Mei was starting to bleed from the backlash of energy from the Herrscher.

"Father! Why did you abandon me… why does everyone treat me so badly now after what happened?! Why? Why?! WHY?! This world… I hate this world!"

"Ggh… get out of my mind!" 'Mei' screamed, another burst of lightning blowing Kiana and Soleil away, both rolling to a stop. Soleil clutched his bleeding arm as he attempted to prop himself up on it, his right hand gathering blood under it. "With more power… nobody can hurt me!"

"Stop it!" Kiana shouted. "You're just being controlled by the Honkai Energy! If you keep giving in to those negative feelings, you'll lose yourself again! Don't do it!"

"It sounds nice, right?" Soleil muttered, panting between the sharp pain coming from his arm. "What it tells you… it sounds nice and pretty… but whatever you're being told by the Herrscher is just lies!"

"Hmph. You really think you're talking to the weakling right now?" 'Mei' muttered, Soleil growling, and then 'Mei' started drifting upwards. "You're one to talk, Flame Bearer. Both of you… I'll never forgive you. Next time we meet, you won't be so lucky, that much I promise you!"

"Hey! Stop running!" Kiana shouted, aiming, but her finger froze on the trigger, leaving 'Mei' to fly off, and the dark cloud above them followed her off further across the campus district. "Well at least we know where she'll be. Hmm… Mom said the worst thing about a Honkai Impact wasn't the Impact itself, but the thing born inside of it. So that's what a Herrscher is like."

"Someone who's sacrificed their heart to "God" to escape their suffering in exchange for power to change their fate. Obviously though, it's not that simple… you stop being "you" when you accept that offer. Talk about the worst-case scenario," Soleil muttered, flinching when he adjusted his grip on his arm. "Damn, this hurts like a bitch. That lightning hits hard that's for sure… definitely lives up to her name."

"Ah, your arm! You okay?" Kiana stepped over and gingerly helped Soleil move the arm up, the older boy giving a harsh hiss.

"Obviously not. But this area should start being safer. The zombies are going to follow Mei since she's the biggest source of power for them to follow. Good thing we swiped all that stuff from the infirmary, huh?" Soleil gave a chuckle, Kiana rolling her eyes as she started pulling him along.

"Laugh about it after I patch you up! Come on!"

With the booming of thunder and a sky flitting with beasts as the zombies on the ground below redirected, what Soleil and Kiana missed was something moving in the sky above. The faintest sound of a small airship, coming to a stop just above the school city.

Someone within looked down at the gathering storm cloud above Senba Academy, a quiet breath passing through them.

"Communications cut off, radiation levels increasing… why would that librarian have only sent the idiot in?"

A light sigh left the small figure, her hand raising to something hovering behind her, silver eyes flashing under the shadow of the ship's compartment.

"Bronya, beginning operation… let's go, Project Bunny 19C."