5:30 pm, December 14th.
"I wanna try too!"
The exclamation resounded throughout the barren cityscape that surrounded the wondering group. Phillip turned slightly to gaze flatly at Kiana, already tired of the girl's inexhaustible energy.
Kiana took to pestering Bronya, who had received a "gift" due to good behavior after Phillip's plunge in the spring: a repaired Project Bunny. Bronya immediately took action with its return by violently… suggesting Mei hitch a ride on the mechanical behemoth to rest her legs. The heiress agreed to the suggestion to Phillip's ire and Kiana's jealousy.
Phillip made little fuss about this, though; he knew he could retrieve Mei at any point as Bronya could never stop him. Kiana, however, made her emotions very well known by stating Bronya was stealing Mei from her while also asking for a chance to be carried by the giant mech. To both, Bronya denied the requests vehemently and stuck to floating in front of her ward.
This time will be nothing different.
"Access denied," Bronya stated monotonously. "Service is purely for Mei-neesama. Any attempts to circumvent this declaration will result in immediate execution."
"Ugh, stop calling her that!" Kiana thrust her finger accusingly at Bronya. "She's not your neesama: she's my senpai!"
Phillip brought a palm to his face in aggravation. This painful play had continued for well into an hour, and it was starting to grind on his nerves.
Apparently, it was also getting to Mei, as she decided it was now time to escape the gentle giant's grasp. "Thank you, Bronya-chan, for the rest. I think I'll be fine for now." Bronya didn't react, but the robot's hand tilted slightly enough to allow Mei to climb off. Once her feet touched the dark wood on the bridge below, Mei turned around to give a swift bow to the two before walking up to Phillip and keeping up with his deceased pace to stay at his side.
"See?! Mei-senpai doesn't even like that ride!"
"Mei-neesama excused herself to cease your infinite complaining, Idiotka Kiana."
Phillip sighed in resignation, confident the two would argue to the end of time. In order to drown out the insistent squabbling, Phillip tried to immerse himself in his surroundings.
They were still within the main parts of the city, seen with the abundance of towering gray skyscrapers. Granted, the buildings would have been more intimidating if the group were on ground level. However, they found an old, wooden bridge extending up and across several buildings.
Why such a highly advanced city still had such architecture around, Phillip didn't know. It's keeping them out of the zombies' hands, though, so he'll take it.
They managed to go several meters at this point with no interference, the bridge carrying them near the top of the smaller buildings and in the middle of the larger ones. From how things are going, they should finally reach the wall separating the city's halves by the end of the day or tomorrow if they get sidetracked.
Which, currently, grew more and more likely due to the two arguing teenagers at the back.
These two will bring hell to us if they don't quiet down.
"Just keep your guard," Gabriel stated, an unusual and unnerving sense of irritation in his voice. "Anything can come at this point, so be ready."
What's wrong? Phillip asked, the angel's agitation slowly making him also anxious. You aren't like under any circumstances prior. Why now?
"… Something is coming that I hope we can avoid. So, as I said before, keep up your guard."
With that, the connection cut, leaving Phillip with a growing sense of unease. Which was just great, as Phillip definitely didn't spend the morning resting to remove his previous jittery behavior.
"Hey, what's that down there?"
Kiana's call yanked Phillip's lament and placed his attention off the edge of the bridge, where she pointed down to the street below that ran perpendicular to them. What was there made Phillip summon the Honkai-forged blade.
Three Honkai beasts slowly lumbered towards them, their shiny white carapace reflecting the golden sunlight. Two stubby legs carried the thin body that led to a bulbous head and two thick arms with wing-like extensions going out of the shoulders. A small tail wagged as they wobbled forward. The dark blue skin beneath showed every other wobble at the front of the head and between the legs and body. What caught Phillip's attention, however, was the giant orb held in front and between the arms. It was the same color as the carapace, with indents leading to wells of magenta energy.
Phillip turned to Kiana in hopes of knowing these incoming enemies. "Do you know these ones?"
"Nope," Kiana said with a pop as she stared at them with mild interest. "I've fought the others before, but these are new."
Phillip changed his attention to Bronya but deflated when she gave a simple shake of her head. "Bronya never needed to battle these beasts before. Scans need time to determine capabilities."
Phillip shook his own head as he brandished the blade. "Better to take care of them now than wait for them to act." He stepped onto the wooden rail to take off and handle the opposition but stalled when a hand grabbed his wrist.
"Wait," Mei suggested sternly. "They're down there, and we're up here. We don't need to go down there and fight them if we can just avoid them."
"Bronya agrees with Mei-neesama's course of action," Bronya stated as she turned to face Phillip. "Encounter would lead to wasted munitions and possible wounds."
Kiana gave a huff at this. "We could take them. It wouldn't even take a second."
"Subject Kiana lacks brain capacity for logical conclusions. Not even Subject Phillip is capable of instantaneous travel."
Phillip forced down on the smirk that almost formed on his face, knowing full well he could if he wanted to, but he wasn't going to tell them that. Instead, knowing this might start another round of complaining from Kiana, Phillip opened his mouth to stop it prematurely. He paused, though, when he saw something happen with the beasts below.
The beasts had stopped their trek towards them and, with an exaggerated wind-up, tucked their arms under the orbs. With a flip that seemed too fluid for their body shapes, the beast back-flipped over the sphere and launched it in their general direction.
Within only a couple of seconds, the ball reached them as it began to generate an eerie, pulsing glow. With very little time on his side, Phillip dived into Mei to protect her, even if it knocked them both down in the process. He saw Bronya set up a shield between her, Kiana, and the orb as the glow increased.
A moment later, it donated, sending the world into vibrant pink as the bridge collapsed beneath them.
5:42 pm, several meters south of the destruction.
"Stupid, son of a bitch!"
Phillip's angry yells echoed through the street as he plucked and plunged his blade into the carapace for what seemed to be the ninth time. After two more stabs, he pulled back from the beast and delivered a swift kick to the bulbous head on the floor. It moved but showed no damage to the already deceased beast.
Phillip didn't care. He needed to vent some frustration at the current events that had transpired. As he slowly calmed his ragged breath, Phillip looked back into the city as he recalled what had happened.
After the bridge gave way, the group managed to land relatively safely on the street below. Phillip cushioned Mei's fall, sure that the impact would not affect him, Bronya was aided by her robot companion, and Kiana… fell unceremoniously into the bed of a truck. Luckily, she survived, her only injuries being a bump on her head and a wounded pride.
Now on an equal level as their attackers, they came up with a plan that Phillip wasn't too thrilled about: split up and handle each separately. Phillip wanted to destroy the beasts without having to leave Mei and Kiana, but Bronya convinced him that it was too dangerous for one group as the narrow space wouldn't allow any movement space around the much larger Honkai beasts.
So, the group separated. Kiana and Mei went together (at Kiana's behest) for one. At the same time, Bronya and Phillip moved to the right and left respectfully to handle their own, distracting two of the beasts into following them.
Phillip shook his head to bring him back to the present. The gunfire sounding deeper in the city meant the fight wasn't finished, so he needed to get moving. Jumping down from the mountainous Honkai beast, Phillip ran as soon as he touched the ground, though not at full speed so as not to pass the girls by.
As he began to close in on the rapidly fired shooting, Phillip noted something above moving roughly as fast as he was. He looked up and found Bronya moving from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of the gunfire. She locked eyes with him and, with a nod, sped up just enough to overtake him. A smirk formed on his face as he followed closely behind.
When Phillip found the other two girls, Kiana and Mei came running into an intersection of the two streets, mowing down a group of zombies in their way in a hail of lead. A loud crunching sound came from Phillip's left, along with the glass shattering. He quickly closed the gap between the three and stood defensively before them, arms crossed over each other with his right hand firmly grasping his weapon.
The towering Honkai beast lumbered slowly forward, leaving behind the fragmented remains of what was once a low-hanging skywalk. Once it was close, the beast rose its arm into the arm and brought it down for a hammering blow. Phillip deflected the attack with a swipe of his blade, sending the components into a nearby food store. As the beast yanked its arm out of the building, Phillip slowly pushed the girls back, earning a displeased groan from Kiana and confused looks from Mei. Soon, they were stationed in a way with the beast standing in front of the triangular building that split the main street.
Phillip quickly glanced at the rooftop of that building and found that Bronya had already decided to jump off; Project Bunny was summoned with lance and shield. With little time on his side, Phillip turned around, pulled the two girls close with their heads down, and forced them to follow to the ground to avoid the coming impact.
A massive crash shattered the ground below and a spray of dust and stone later, and Phillip let go of his wards to investigate the damages.
The beast was obviously dead, with a massive new hole in its head. The creator, Project Bunny, slowly dissipated into light as Bronya evacuated the top of the body with a leap. She clutched the HOMU plushie closet as she grew close to Phillip.
"Mission completed. All beasts are eliminated."
Phillip nodded at this. "At ease."
Mei came over and hastily looked over the two for any injuries. Once her inquiry was satisfied, she sent the both of them an appreciative smile. "Thank you two for coming so quickly. Our weapons weren't effective on that creature, so all we could have done was run."
"We were just taking it to a more open space, was all," Kiana said with a huff, obviously not happy about being saved. "The only time we were close to death was when that brat came out of nowhere with that monster robot."
Bronya's face remained stoic, but her comment showed how appreciative she was of Kiana's statement. "End all protection protocols for Subject Kiana. Expendability set to maximum level."
Phillip pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing an argument was set to begin. Instead of trying to diffuse the situation, he went to join Mei, who was studying the corpse of the Honkai beast with a solemn expression.
"Are you alright?"
Mei jumped at his voice, obviously lost in thought before his question. She regained her composure, though, and gave him her attention. "I'm okay. I'm just worried if these things will start swarming soon."
Phillip couldn't dissuade that fear. For a while now, he could sense the Honkai energy slowly increase in intensity, which could lead these creatures to start gathering here. At some point, the well would explode, but he couldn't tell if it would be soon or years in the future.
Phillip shook his head, knowing it wouldn't help them at the moment. "Right now, the best thing we can do is get out as soon as possible."
Mei gave a sullen sigh at this but nodded in affirmation. "You're right. We should continue on." With this, she turned away from the body to face the other girls, only to find Bronya right behind her.
Bronya looked her in the eyes for one second before looking down and pointing to Mei's right arm. "Mei-neesama has sustained injuries."
Phillip shifted his gaze to the arm and noticed a light scratch on the outside, long enough to go from top to bottom as a small trickle of blood flowed down. While it was a small wound, an infection could show them down.
"Let me-"
"I got the best remedy for that!" Kiana's exclamation interrupted Phillip's order as the girl came over. Once close, Kiana laced her left hand with Mei's right and used her other to lift the wounded arm slightly higher. With the target in sight and reach, Kiana began licking the open wound.
It didn't take Phillip a second to react appropriately, slamming his open palm down on Kiana's head and separating the two girls. "Are you fucking crazy?!"
"Hey!" Kiana cried, hands covering the new bump on her crown. "I'll let you know that my tongue had the best healing properties for Mei-senpai!"
Phillip's eyes flinched hard at this, grumbling incoherently about basic health facts, as he unsealed a bottle of rubbing alcohol. After applying the chemical to a cloth he tore off of his undershirt, he pressed it to the wound, inciting a hiss of pain from Mei.
Once he was sure the bleeding had stopped, Phillip removed the rag and placed his right hand over the injury. A green glow soon encompassed his hand as Phillip focused heavily on healing the wound. So focused, in fact, that he didn't notice Mei's face grow redder and redder.
Once he was finished with the scratch, Phillip rounded back to Kiana, grabbed her cheeks with both hands, and pushed lightly against them. "You don't drink blood, you moron. You'll get sick."
Kiana couldn't make an audible words form with her cheeks squished together. However, what noises did escape seemed to alert him that the girl had done similar actions. Taking a deep breath, Phillip pulled back from the girl and looked at Bronya.
"Make sure Ms. Lick-a-lot stays over here for a moment."
"Bronya requests sanitation from the unclean."
"Hey! I'm not diseased!"
Phillip turned away from the two and back towards Mei. Seeing her blank face and vacant eyes, he grabbed her shoulders and gave her a slight shake.
"Hey, you alright?" Phillip asked in concern, something that didn't die off when Mei returned from cloud nine.
"Y-Yes! I'm perfectly fine!" The speed she spoke and the way her face flushed did nothing but increase his worry. Most infections can be handled by the immune system, with mild symptoms shown, but Phillip couldn't determine the effects of bacteria affected by Honkai energy.
Phillip glanced at the rooftops and noted the orange tinge near the tops, signaling the falling sun.
He made up his mind.
Phillip summoned four clones to his side, and each jumped out up to the rooftops and away. With the task force dealt with, He moved to Mei's side and, with a swift sweep of his arm, pulled the girl into his arms and into a bridal carry.
Mei's eyes nearly jumped from their sockets, and her blush increased drastically. "W-W-Wait! Phillip-kun, this isn't appropriate!"
Philip didn't hear the embarrassed complaint. As soon as he got Mei into his arms, a clone dispersed and sent him an address for a rather comfy-looking apartment nearby.
"We're stopping for the night," Phillip called to the other two as he took a couple steps heading north. "Follow me."
A few more steps and Phillip had to stop himself from falling forward when a weight slammed into his back and two slim arms wrapped around his neck. A quick glance behind him showed snow-white hair and blue eyes looking at him with a pleading look.
"I wanna be carried too!"
10:45 pm, in a more residential area of the city,
Phillip looked down from the cement balcony to the streets below, ensuring no creatures could reach them. He scanned the terrain back and forth, noting only zombies wobbling about.
Phillip turned around to look through the opening that led into the apartment. Mei was seated on the goody, wooden floor next to it where the glass sliding door was placed, legs out while she patted the head of the sleeping Bronya in her lap. Kiana, meanwhile, sat across from the two, pressed against the arm of a couch, with a pout on her face.
Phillip deemed his part accomplished and entered the living room, stepping over the curled knees of Bronya. He made sure to not close the door behind him to leave the group with an easily accessed escape route should they need it. It wouldn't do them any good if a giant beast came barreling through and they got stuck between it and a cement wall.
Phillip sat down on the other side of Kiana, parallel to Bronya's sleeping form. "I'm guessing the bed was unsalvageable?"
"Completely broken," Kiana replied with a disgruntled time, her glaring eyes not leaving Bronya. "The couch isn't much better, though. The only good place to sleep is already taken as well."
"And that would be…?" Phillip asked, wondering what exactly Kiana deemed a good place to sleep. His curiosity diminished, however, when he noticed her hand rise directly up and nowhere else and looked over the arm to see the actual condition of the red velvet couch.
"Kiana, the couch is fine. If you want to sleep, go there."
Kiana's pout deteriorated into a snarl. "Oh, right. I forgot Bratnya is the favorite these days."
"It's true I've enjoyed my talks with Bronya," Mei started, which seemed to upset Kiana even further if her teary eyes said anything. "But that doesn't make her the favorite. I still like you a lot as well."
Kiana bounced back immediately, her face almost wholly a smile with her eyes closed from the sheer size. "Do you really mean that, Mei-senpai?!"
"Of course. It was because of you two," Mei sent Phillip a slight glance at this, "that I'm still here."
Noting the glance, Kiana looked at Phillip with the pout back on her face. "What about you, huh? Mei-senpai says I'm the best, but what do you think?"
Phillip rested his head on his right knee and gestured with two fingers for the girl to come closer. The girl was eager to follow the direction, shuffling over to him at a quick pace. When she was at his side, Phillip raised his right hand and pulled her nose, which caused her to recoil back and cover it with both hands.
"You're being stupid," Phillip stated plainly, lifting his head to place his hands on the knee instead. " I have no reason to play favorites on anything. The only thing I'm worried about is leaving."
Mei sighed at these words, sending a sideways glance out of the open screen door and to the dark, cold night. "I hope we can get out of here safely. Those beasts are starting to worry me."
"Of course we will," Kiana promised confidently, drawing all open eyes to her as she got in front of Mei. "I'll make sure of it, even if it costs me my life!"
Mei stared at the girl in awe as if inspired by the words themselves. However, any inspiration gained was soon lost when a hand grabbed Kiana by the ear.
"No martyrdom actions, thank you," Phillip demanded as he dragged Kiana back to his side. "No one is allowed to throw their lives away."
"You mean, unless it's you."
Shut up.
With Phillip's statement made, the apartment grew silent. With time, the group slowly drifted to sleep, Phillip being the last one. With one hopeful wish of a peaceful night, he closed his eyes.
…Only for them to snap back open when he felt the room rumble.
"Everyone, wake up!" This one shout was enough to awaken both Mei and Bronya, but Kiana had already delved too far into dreamland for it to be effective. Sensing time wasn't on their side, Phillip brought a fist down on Kiana's head, sundering her from sleep's arrest.
"What the hell-"
Kiana quickly swallowed the rest of her complaint as a violent tremor ripped through the apartment, sending priceless vases and picture frames to crash onto the ground. The girls quickly extracted their weapons while Phillip simply readied himself.
After a moment, the shaking began to cease. The group was soon standing silently in a motionless room once more.
"…Is it gone?" Mei was the only one brave enough to ask this.
"Probability is less than 1%," Bronya replied, a blue screen appearing before her. "More likely, the predator is preparing an ambush."
Kiana, however, was simply cranky as she stomped and pressed her hands against her hips. "You woke me up for this?! Really!?"
Phillip didn't respond. He didn't even move to look at her. Instead, he began to focus his senses to focus on nearby Honkai energy signatures.
A few feet outside the door stood a massive source of Honkai, just under the height of the apartment complex. What Bronya said was true, it didn't leave, but it also wasn't preparing anything. Instead, it reared back its right arm and…
Phillip flung himself back, grabbing into Kiana's shirt as he forced the group out of the room and into the balcony. As he did, a massive sword sliced through the complex, cleaving it in two. The cracks quickly spread throughout the apartment and sent the group down to the street below when the balcony crumbled beneath them. This time, Phillip saved Kiana by pulling her into a bridal carry and rolling out of the way of falling debris while Project Bunny shielded Bronya and Mei as it carried them down.
Once on his feet again, Phillip looked down at the still girl in his arms. "Are you alright?"
Kiana's face was completely flushed, and her eyes were as wide as plates. From what Phillip could hear, her heart was thumping like a jackhammer despite her being completely frozen. After a few still moments, Kiana finally gave a rapid and vigorous nod.
Phillip rose a brow at this but slowly placed the girl back on her feet regardless. With a quick scan of the other members to see their condition, he rounded back to the apartment. At that very moment, the creature that attacked them burst through their side of the building, sending more but smaller debris their way.
It was that armored, knight-like Honkai beast from days prior, but there was something different this time. The creature here wielded a lance and a double-edged sword that extended from where its elbow would be, rather than the lance and shield from before. The sword had two large, pink gems near the end, which was a U-shaped edge. The only other difference between this one and the other was this one was significantly taller, larger than the entire complex it just crushed.
Phillip readied himself to attack, but the beast moved first this time. It lunged towards Mei, lance set to pierce through her, only to be countered by Bronya and Project Bunny's own lance.
The two points of the spears clashed with each other for a brief moment before Project Bunny was overwhelmed. It and Bronya were sent flying back and smashed through several buildings as a result.
Mei called for Bronya in shock, not noticing the beast winding up its blade for another attack. Before it could launch, however, Kiana made it to Mei and gave her a strong push.
"If you keep worrying for only Bronya, I'm gonna get really jealous."
The blade swung down. Blood splattered onto the cement.
The two girls fell unceremoniously to the ground, the two cradling each other. Mei wasn't focused on this, however. How could she? Kiana was perfectly fine, if not too theatrical. The person who took the blow, however, wasn't in the best condition.
"Phillip-kun!"
Phillip turned his head to give a sideways glance at Mei, ignoring the end of the blade digging painfully into his left shoulder and the agony caused by that one action. "Get…Kiana…out of here."
"No!" Kiana made this cry instead, quickly jumping to her feet with both guns drawn. " We can fight too!" Mei climbed to her feet and nodded at the declaration as she pulled her own weapon.
Phillip tried to talk them down, to tell them they needed to leave the area before things got worse, but it was for naught. Another tremor shook the street before the words left his mouth. An exact copy of their current enemy broke through the building right behind Kiana and Mei, the two quickly twisting around to meet it head-on. It took the beast only a second to notice the two and make a swing at them. Kiana, once again, pushed Mei out of harm's way and took the blow instead, leaving a deep diagonal gash from her left shoulder down to her right hip.
Phillip's body went cold at the sight. His left eye stared fearfully as the white-haired girl fell like a puppet cut from its strings onto to Mei's shoulder. The heiress stumbled backward, only to trip over her own feet as her focus was locked on the face of her savior.
They lacked any time to truly absorb their current situation, though, as rumbles once more overtook the street. Unlike the other two instances, these shakes felt less like something heavy walking about and more like something tunneling. Extending his senses, Phillip realized it was traveling away from him and towards…
Phillip spun back towards his opponent and channeled as much chakra to his hands as possible as he gripped both sides of the sword. With a tell, Phillip lifted the beast and threw it back several feet. Now free from the constraint, Phillip jumped back as hard as possible, slamming into Mei's back hard enough to send her and Kiana's unconscious body through the other knight's legs.
A spike, white like the Honkai Beast's carapaces, jutted out from the ground in almost the exact spot Mei was in. Instead of landing on the intended target, the spike pierced through Phillip's right calf and forearm.
A desperate and anguished scream sounded out from behind him. It made his blood curd while also bringing his rage to its peak.
Phillip curled his free hand into a fist, reared its back over his head, and punched down with all of his strength. He never touched anything, but the resulting shockwave obliterated the cement beneath him and shattered the rest of the street and buildings within 2 yards of him. The subterranean beast, while not hurt by the action, was still forced deeper into the Earth, freeing Phillip from his impalement.
At the same time, a vibrant and blinding pillar of light sprung out from behind him. It reached into the sky, brightening the moonlit night with its glory.
Once the light diminished to nothing, Phillip fell ungracefully into the crater he made, disregarding the additional hole the Honkai beast was forced down. His right side was shot to hell and back, but he needed to check up on the two girls. Thus, before he hit the ground, Phillip twisted himself to land on his stomach. Once on the ground, he began scaling the wall of the crater back to the main street.
When he got there, Phillip was met with the familiar face of Mei, but something was off. The wings of purple lightning on her left were the biggest indication, though the smug "holier-than-thou" look was also a big giveaway.
"What…are you… doing here?" Phillip said through tagged, painful gasps. It wasn't that he was thankful for her saving Mei and Kiana, but it was never a good thing when she came out.
The Herrscher gave him a cold glare. "I'm saving Kiana from that coward you call 'Mei'." Her expression shifted to a scowl when she turned her attention to the white-haired girl in her arms. "Neither of you are to die without my say-so. I'm the only one allowed to end you."
Phillip disregarded the Herrscher's spiel; it wasn't his focus. Instead, he crawled as fast as he could to the girls and reached up to touch Kiana, resting on his right arm excruciatingly in the vain attempt.
It came crashing down, though, when Herrscher stepped back and stomped down on his left hand.
"These two morons may have noticed it, but I've certainly have." The Herrscher leaned down, never losing her grip on Kiana or shifting her weight from Phillip's hand, a piercing gaze aimed at the boy. "You heal the wound on the other, but it appears on you, doesn't it."
"She's dying!" Phillip grunted, desperately trying to pull his hand out from under the for with his waning strength.
The Herrscher gave a huff at this and returned to her full height. "She will live. As I said, you two cannot die until I deem it so."
Before the conversation could continue, the light of the moon was overcome by a massive shadow. The two looked up to find an airship of unknown origin.
The Herrscher's scowl deepened at the sight. "No one is allowed to be above the queen!" With nary a movement, lightning wrapped around her and then fired out as a massive beam of pure electricity at the freighter. The power of the attack disintegrated the remaining buildings, and Phillip was sent flying back towards the crater. However, he stopped himself from falling in with his list hand.
Phillip looked up and saw the Herrscher fly like lightning up to and past the airship. Seeing as he was grounded from the moment, his focus shifted to the growing horde of Honkai beasts, obviously craving some of the leftover radiation.
Gabriel, I'm really going to need some help here!
"I know," the angel replied with a sigh. "I didn't want this to happen, but I see no other choice."
Phillip felt a tingle coming from the middle of his forehead. At the same time, he began to feel replenished and refreshed as the tingle continued. By the end, his body wasn't in any better condition, but he no longer felt tired.
What did you do?
"The first restraint was lifted. You've regained one of the chakra powers we've sealed."
Phillip's eyes widened slightly at this, but he needed to be sure of something. Which one?
"Well, it's a seal, and it's right there on your forehead."
Phillip grinned at this revelation. If he had a mirror right now, he'd give a dark blue diamond in the middle of his forehead.
Focusing there for a brief moment, the diamond disappeared, sending black markings through his body. With this, his body began to stream as the wounds closed. Even the holes in his arm and legs were quick to disappear. Along with this, Phillip felt his strength increase even more as more and more energy flowed through his body. It was temporary, he knew, but it would last long enough to deal with the current problem.
Stretching his left hand out to his side, his light blue chakra became visible as it swirled around like a maelstrom. Soon, the whirling of the whirlwind ceased as it was encased by a shell of the same color, leaving Phillip to hold an orb of chakra in one hand.
Rasengan!
Phillip wasted no time in lunging forward and slammed the ball into the closest Honkai beast, the other knight-like one that had attacked them before. The knight countered with a thrust of its lance, forcing Phillip to throw his attack earlier to defend himself from the blow. When this happened, two things occurred.
The beast began to bulk up, growing in size and strength as it pushed back harder with time. On the opposite end, the orb also changed, gaining a magenta core while the swirling energy and shell became dark purple. The results became apparent after one more moment.
The lance shattered, breaking into three pieces before disintegrating away. With nothing blocking him, Phillip continued the attack to hit the knight's body. Upon contact, the Rasengan detonated.
A massive blast launched forward, reducing all Honkai beasts in its path to dust. Those that weren't before Phillip quickly fled at the powerful sight, leaving the boy to collect himself in peace.
After that attack, the energy boost gained from releasing the Strength of a Hundred Seal left him just as quickly as the beasts. Either this was why Tsunade seldom used ninjutsu outside of healing techniques, or the Honkai-empowered Rasengan drained him too much. Regardless, he was already panting from the action.
Shaking his head to rid the exhaustion, Phillip looked up to the sky as another energy blast got shot at the battleship, this time at the upper portion of the bridge. Instead of taking more severe damage, the ship held this time. The remnants of the neighborhood, however, were blown away by the impact shockwave.
Phillip withstood this blast, thanks to regaining the footing he lost before, and glared up at the battle scene. He lost any means of reaching up there through a simple leap, so he started running to the closest building at top speeds, which was still miles off.
Luckily, the lightning blast hadn't stopped when he reached the building. Positioning himself at the right angle and gathering the last of the seal's boost, Phillip launched himself towards the ship at extreme speeds, at the expense of the building itself.
Once he was over the ship, Phillip noticed what was preventing the blast from totaling the ship. A voluptuous redhead in crimson techno armor held the destructive blast back with a single silver claymore. The wire that kept the woman attached to the ship swayed wildly at the winds produced.
The truth revealed its brutal self as seconds passed: the redhead was losing ground. The Herrscher was too powerful for her to stop alone. The woman would need help if she wanted to protect the ship.
Phillip didn't want to admit it, but he doubted his current strength could take down the Herrscher. However, looking at the sky above them gave him an idea.
Just like before, a lightning storm was forming thanks to the presence of the Herrscher. Bright blue flashes showed through the pitch-black clouds. With it, the power of the blast seemed to increase even more.
While precarious, this was precisely what Phillip needed.
Sending chakra to his right hand, Phillip rose the electrified hand into the sky as he reached the top of his jump. With it, the clouds just above the middle of the beam parted to show an enormous eastern dragon made entirely of lightning. The Herrscher looked at this monster with both surprise and awe while the redhead gritted her teeth, preparing for another attack.
The dragon's red eyes flashed as Phillip twitched his finger and, when he swiped his hand down, dropped from his position to bite down on the lightning beam, its jagged whiskers wrapping around it. A moment later, the dragon and the blast detonated into an all-encompassing explosion, knocking the Herrscher and the ship away from each other.
Phillip landed on the side of the now tilted ship and began running down to the front. Once there, he leaped after the thrown back Herrscher and collided with her. This impact almost sent Kiana's body flying away, but Phillip grabbed onto her last second and pulled her back.
Unable to hold the combined weight, the group began a fast descent.
"You!" The Herrscher glared at him hard, face morphed with outrage. "What were you trying to-"
Phillip made her swallow her words as he pulled the two girls into a close hug. He then twisted his body just before they slammed onto the rooftop of one of the few remaining buildings in the area.
The impact was dampened for him, thanks to his unique "cushioning." It still managed to knock the wind out of him due to how little he had left. They slid for the length of the building, only stopping when Phillip slammed into the concrete barrier around the roof.
Phillip quickly released the Herrscher, focusing solely on the bleeding Kiana. Pressing his left ear right below her collarbone, he heard her heartbeat, barely within the correct range. He should have been impressed that she hadn't bled out at this point, but time wasn't on his side.
Phillip rolled her onto her front and pressed his palm against the wound. Kiana let out a hiss of pain, showing her body was still working despite the significant wound, but sighed when Phillip's hand began to glow in ethereal white.
The Herrscher wasn't happy about this.
"Insect, are you suicidal or just plain moronic?!" She grabbed his hand hard and yanked it away from the wound. Phillip had managed to transfer most of the injury at this point, blood soaking the back of his jacket. Only a light scratch remained on Kiana's milky white skin, but the Herrscher wouldn't let him continue.
She gave a stern glare, colder than the one before. "Listen, you little ignoramus. If you want to die, then I'll kill you myself. You don't get the choice of tossing it away."
Before the conversation could turn nasty, a hand reached out from between them. The two looked down towards Kiana, whose eyes were open and filled with determination. With all of their lowered positions, Kiana quickly reached her goal.
The Herrscher scowled when Kiana touched the lower parts of her lightning-made wings but made no action to stop the girl as her hand was cut and blood started to spill out. "These wings won't be broken by a human's hand. You should rest for our incoming rematch, where you will-"
Whatever the Herrscher had to say was cut off when, with a single pull, Kiana managed to shatter the wings like glass. At first, the Herrscher was shocked, but her stance soon calmed as she succumbed to unconsciousness. Phillip caught Mei before she could hit her head and laid her softly against the rooftop.
He then turned to Kiana, who remained barely awake despite the trauma her body endured. "Are you alright?"
"Tired," Kiana said honestly before giving him a massive grin to try and ease his worry. "I'll be fine, though. Nothing can stop this Kaslana."
Phillip shook his head and finished his healing, taking up the hand wound and the remaining damage done. Kiana seemed slightly better with this, even in energy, but her expression shifted to concern when she noticed something.
"Why is your hand-"
"Go to sleep, Kiana," Phillip demanded as he clenched his hand to prevent the bleeding. He looked back towards the battle site, where miles of buildings were now reduced to an empty lot. The battleship had managed to correct itself from its near-capsize and was heading directly towards them.
"I've got some guests to entertain."
2 minutes later, the hull of the battleship
"How the hell did you get onto my ship?"
This was the welcome Phillip received when he landed on the ship's hull via similar methods as the last time, given by the same curvaceous woman from before. She wore that same armor, her black visor blocking her eyes, as she placed a hand on her hind and the claymore on her shoulder.
"My method of getting here is none of your concern," Phillip called back, as several meters were between the two. "There are some things we need to discuss. One is an apology, and the other is a question."
The woman snorted at this but waved him to go on, apparently willing to humor him. "Alright. Give me the apology first, and we'll see about that question."
"Alright then," Phillip murmured before straightening his back and bowing deeply. "I wish to apologize for the actions my friend took. She had no control of her actions at the time, and it has been a rather stressful day for those in my group." Phillip straightened up at this, looking the woman into the visor where he assumed her eyes would be. "Please forgive her for this, given the circumstances."
The woman murmured to herself, something Phillip could hear as a "Right," before she called out to him. "Do you or the others in your group know exactly what you were traveling with?"
"That invokes the question," Phillip responded with an even tone. "I'm going to assume you know what she is, considering you have the equipment to withstand their attacks. Thus, I have to ask: what is your objective here?"
The grin the woman gained set off Phillip's agitation. He knew the answer before she could say it.
"To check on the source of the problem, and we found it. That girl is an enemy to humanity. There's a high chance we'll need to kill her."
Phillip sighed deeply to calm his nerves as he summoned his tanto from its seal. "That's non-negotiable. I'll give you two choices: leave, or I finish what my cohort started."
The woman dropped the blade from his shoulder and held it out before her, gripped by both hands. "Sorry, kid. This goes beyond just three kids messing around."
"You're right," Phillip said in the woman's ear, clearing the distance faster than the woman could react. "I can't let her die here at your whim, though." The woman swiped her weapon to the side he was on, only to miss when he jumped over it and stuck to the wall behind her. "I didn't want to fight, but if you're here for her head, then I won't hesitate. Leave now, or I will follow through."
"Kid, I'm a veteran on Honkai battles, "the woman said with absolute confidence. "The worst you've faced are a few beasts and zombies."
"Well, Miss Veteran, here's my response." Phillip walked back down the wall before staring coldly at her. The atmosphere dropped ten degrees as the intensity of his gaze began to unnerve the woman.
"You are alive because I willed it."
The woman rose her blade instinctively, only just blocking the strike that would have beheaded her. Phillip flipped over, landed right behind her, and tossed another strike at the back of the neck. The woman seemed to suspect this and leaned forward to dodge the attempt at her life and landed a kick to Phillip's stomach, sending him back a little bit. The cord attached to her suit was cut, though, which caused the woman to curse and call to the crew inside the airship.
"Drop the Hyperion into the city's altitude. As close to the Herrscher's energy as possible."
Phillip's heart sank at these words, not wanting the girls in any more trouble than what he couldn't stop. Summoning a kunai to his hand, he tossed the knife at the visor to prevent any more communications, but it was too late. The ship had already begun its descent,
The woman looked at him, revealing her golden eyes to him, filled with surprise and a hint of fear. It was probably because that, while the prior interactions had his face stoic, his emotions began to leak out.
With the flick of his wrist, Phillip's tanto glowed as lightning flowed down the blade. He lunged at the woman, a blur to her, and swiped at the woman's neck once more.
Instinct made her bring her blade up to block the blow, but it failed. The smaller sword cut through the claymore like a knife to butter. The only upside was that the block slowed the attack down enough for the woman to back off and avoid the fatal strike.
With her weapon severed into two pieces, the woman raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, seems you've made your point. Let's make a deal before things get worse for both of us."
"You're going to kill her," Phillip spat back, his anger and exhaustion mixed to blind his judgment. "What deal do you think we could reach?"
The woman laid her hands on the back of her head and adopted a lazy stance. " My mission wasn't to fight any Honkai beasts, much less Herrschers. I thought I would nip a problem in the bud, but I'm not going to risk my crew for a minor detour."
Phillip wanted to be thankful that the woman wasn't willing to continue the battle. He had been throwing too many soft strikes at the beginning, both to avoid actually killing her and to reserve his strength. If they continued, he would have likely gone down that path while also having no strength to return to the girls.
His instincts, however, insisted that any deal would only be a trap instead. This, coupled with his anger from both not being able to protect the girls and the other situations leading up to this current moment, made Phillip more jaded than relieved.
Only one thing finally made him relax.
"She's clean. No harm will come to them should you listen to her."
Phillip's arms slumped at this, their weight no longer something he could handle. Similarly, his eyelids felt like lead, and he could barely shuffle his feet around to try moving. Using what little he had left, Phillip turned his head to look behind himself.
They had returned to the building that Phillip crash landed into, hovering just millimeters from the front's edge. Mei, now propped up on the side of a silver air conditioning unit, was sleeping soundly while Kiana stood close by, guns set and ready to fire. It was only when she noticed that Phillip was before her that she dropped her stance.
Phillip shot her a tired yet calm smile as he walked toward her. As he reached the ledge of the ship, he fainted from exhaustion and pain, and his body fell off the airship.
The last thing Phillip registered before he was lost in the realm of unconsciousness was two arms quickly but gently wrapping over him as his head landed on something soft.
At the Schicksal HQ, in the same room as before,
"You'll be heading to a school that Schicksal created for our warriors. They'll teach you the things I haven't."
Sakura gave the man before her a raised brow, not understanding the situation. "Weren't I a warrior prior to this time? Am I not qualified to be your bodyguard at this point?"
Otto shot her a smirk, earning both the woman's ire and a slight blush for his efforts. "My dear Sakura, I don't ignore your capabilities or prowess. However, if you fight something with no knowledge of it, do you truly think you can win?"
Sakura didn't respond to this, not wanting to give the man any more instances of power. Thus, she simply changed the subject. "Is that what this 'school' suppose to do? To teach me what enemies I'm to protect you from?"
Otto simply shook his head, taking a sip from his teacup. Once he was done, he placed the cup down and responded in kind. "No, those aspects aren't of consequence to me. What your attendance at the school will accomplish to show how much the world has changed. Rather than just me telling you, you'll see it with your own eyes."
"Then I should travel," Sakura stated, trying to coax more information from the man. "It would be far more beneficial than staying at this 'school'."
Otto gave Sakura a stern stare but not one of disapproval. It felt more like the man had expected this from her "Traveling has benefits but also many dangers to them. This school will allow you some safety to this while still exposing the world's changes. Will you accept that, Yae Sakura?"
The man's expression became more rigid, and Sakura knew what that meant: the question wasn't actually a question. He's demanding her to accept the proposal and, if she was honest, she could see the reason why. If the world was as dangerous as he was stating in their recent conversations, the likelihood of her unfortunate death was far too high for a comfortable expedition across the globe.
So, Sakura breathed a sigh of resignation and agreed. "Very well, I'll go to this 'school' of yours. When shall we leave?"
Otto gave her a small smile in return. "We'll leave in the morning. For now, why don't you head off to sleep." He gestured to the door behind with a slight movement of his index finger. "Through the door, a squad of Valkyries will take you to a room assigned for you. When you get there, please indulge in something to eat and then rest. It will be a long day tomorrow."
Sakura nodded, stood up from her cushion, and gave her host a low bow in respect for the hospitality. A few seconds later, she straightened her back and turned away from Otto, ready to begin the trek to her quarters.
Once she had left the room, Otto's façade disappeared, leaving him a scowl in place of his smile and analytical eyes to gauge the retreating female. With a swish of his hand, the chains holding the ghastly fox disappeared, and it fled back to its host as a whirling, writhing fume of gas. When it left, the room shifted back to the giant, blue-grey metallic room it was supposed to be, revealing only the tables and cushions to be authentic.
Otto held many emotions toward the woman that entertained him today. Most of them were positive, with thankfulness and kinship being two. However, these hardly contained the envy he felt towards her.
After all, it was her that Kallen loved.
Shaking his head from that worthless thought, Otto recounted the two's recent conversations. They recalled the past, spoke of events that transpired after her sealing and the current war they were facing. In hopes of gaining Sakura's trust, he even told her the morally disdainful actions he had taken during his time as Overseer of Schicksal. Hopefully, she could overlook the actions to see the potential benefits.
To him, Sakura could either become a worthwhile investment or a nuisance. However, that wasn't what mattered to him. So long as she stayed safe, where she could grow to continue Kallen's legacy in this world, it would be worth it.
"Lord Otto."
His musings were interrupted by the voice of his secretary, who stood before him two steps away from the table, a holographic datapad in hand. He looked at her with annoyed but calm eyes as he slowly stood up.
"What is it, Amber?"
Amber scrolled up several pages before handing the datapad over to him. "The Nagazora drones have sent their findings. Some have been destroyed, but most have returned with mild damage to their frames."
Otto stared down at the device in hand for a minute before walking past the table and quickly heading for the door.
"Let's see the videos of these events, shall we?"
In a hidden place, close to Nagazora
"Explain."
Cocolia tapped her fingers impatiently on the keyboard of the massive computer screen in front of her as she waited for the scientists to respond. What she had seen, the events that transpired, baffled her to no end, but she didn't have the time to waste on her employees' incompetence.
Her daughter, Bronya, was set in Plan B at the moment, which is both lucky and unlucky at the same time as it led to her being stuck on a Schicksal battleship. That was fine and dandy. What wasn't, however, was the obliteration of several miles of Nagazora's cityscape due to two specific people.
~We can't be certain. ~ The scientist's reply was, once again, absolutely useless. ~Between the beams and lightning strikes with nuke levels equivalents in power, it's hard to tell if these are simply Herrscher capabilities or influences made by the boy's energy. ~
"Then figure it out!" Cocolia shrieked back, fed up with the lack of answers. She gained a whimpered "Yes ma'am" in return before the radio went silent. She yanked the earpiece from its place and moved to smash it against the floor in anger, but another call came through that paused her.
~ Lady Cocolia? Lady Einstein wishes to speak with you. ~
With twitching eyes, Cocolia slowly brought the radio back to her ear and breathed her response.
"Bring her in."
Once again, the radio quieted, leaving the woman to sigh in frustration and turn to face the glass door of the plain, metal room. Soon, a blue-haired girl walked up to the door and waited for it to automatically open, though only for a slight second. Cocolia gave the girl her most practiced smile, one she brought up whenever she had to face her superiors.
"What can I do for you today, Einstein?"
On the other side of the battlefield, away from the group
"You got all of that, right?"
A hooded woman called up her contact, an odd and distorted sniper rifle in one hand and the communicator in the other. Before her was a crater that once held a substantial number of the city's skyscrapers, decimated by a battle between human super organizations and a Herrscher and her pet. It was only by luck the devastation didn't reach her and her companion.
Looking over her shoulder, the sleeping pink-haired child remained undisturbed against the air conditioner despite the destruction that had occurred only moments before. Either the girl was a heavy sleeper or ignored it all in her exhaustion. Whatever the reason, this made it easy for the woman to call her superior and report the mission briefing.
~I've seen the video sent, but the distance put a hamper on the analysis. ~
"Well, you're shit out of luck on this one," the hooded woman stated, staring out into the crater at the massive ship at the other end. "The battle's won, and I'm not getting closer than I have to. I got that thing of the kid you wanted, so I'm leaving now."
~ Very well. I'll leave you to your little project. ~
At this, her contact left, leaving only the wailing winds of the fading storm as her companion. Across the crater, the battleship soon rose back into the air, likely taking the Herrscher and the blinded along with it. While she was told to stay her hand in murdering the Herrscher, the woman still couldn't help clenching her hand in frustration at the fleeing monster.
With a huff, the woman turned away from the sight. There were bigger fish to fry and survivors to save. They would need to stay low to evade Schicksal's and Anti-Entropy's scans, but these people will live better with her than in either's "camps".
The woman walked over to the sleeping girl and picked her up into her arms. With this, she walked towards the exit of the rooftop in hopes of findings a better place to sleep for her younger companion.
"Come on, Sora. Let's build a new home."
Hello. Welcome back to the story.
Hopefully, this was a satisfying conclusion to this arc. I know it took a while, but we got here.
I can't say the St Freyja Arc won't also be extremely long as well, considering all the things meant to go on there. So, to those that are willing, please be patient.
Beyond all that, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, have a blessed day, and I'll hear from you all later