August 3rd, 11:00 am, Unnamed island off the coast of Shenzou,

"Are you sure about this?"

Phillip stood cross-armed on a random Shenzhou beach, watching the girls as they put on their scuba gear (which only consisted of their battlesuits and a full-face visor connected to two white jets on their backs). Of everyone there, the only ones not getting outfitted for a deep-sea adventure were him and Yuna, who was also asked to remain back, though both had their own visors.

Himeko nodded, wearing the Nexus battlesuit from their clash in Nagazora. "It's best if we didn't have everyone on the same team. With you two as our lookout, we should have an easier time getting what we need."

Phillip looked over to Kiana, who shot him a thumbs up, and Mei, who was still rather sensitive to his gaze when wearing her battlesuit. "Will those two be protected? Not to be a downer, but your track record of keeping those two safe has been rather low."

Himeko let out a laugh, though if it was confidence or nervousness, it wasn't something Phillip could tell. "They'll be fine. Those two are tough, and they have me and Bronya to protect them."

"Yeah, right," Phillip said with crossed arms and a discontented frown on his face. "Are you absolutely certain I can't come down with you?"

Himeko shook her head as a negative at this. "Theresa doesn't want to take any chances until your battlesuit gets the required reserve upgrade. Besides," Himeko winked at Yuna, who refused to look Himeko in the eyes, "we need someone to keep an eye on our little Herrscher trainee."

"Okay, then what's wrong with Yuna, then? Why's she not going?"

"Her training isn't going as smoothly as Mei's has, even if they've both made significant strides." Himeko then slipped closer to Phillip and whispered the rest. "We also don't want another incident like at the training arena. Too much energy might cause her to lose control again."

Phillip growled lightly at the excuse to strand him on babysitting duty but breathed out a sigh when he noticed the girls had finished their preparations. "Alright, I'll leave this to you and Theresa for now. Just make sure those two come back unharmed."

Kiana bounded over with a cheerful jog and latched onto Phillip's closest arm. "Ah, don't you worry too much. With me and Mei on the same team, we'll sweep the place in just a couple of seconds!"

"Kiana idiotka is overestimating her own capabilities again," Bronya muttered to herself before increasing the volume to speak to Phillip. "Da Bronya will safeguard Mei-neesama's return with her being. No guarantees can be placed, however, on Subject Kiana's safety due to overconfidence."

"Oi!"

"I believe you, Bronya," Phillip said, patting Kiana on the head to prevent her from running off to argue with the younger girl. "All I ask is you do your best with both of them." Bronya nodded and walked into the sea. The group stayed there as Bronya slowly got deeper in until her pigtails slipped beneath the waves.

After a couple of seconds, a beep sounded from Himeko's wrist, which caused her to turn to the girls going in. "Alright, you two, Bronya's paving the way with Project Bunny. You'll come after me, one by one, in five-minute intervals." Kiana and Mei nodded in confirmation, and Himeko walked into the water without faltering.

Once Himeko disappeared underneath the surface, Kiana spun around to Yuna with a grouchy expression. "You better not do anything to him while we're gone, alright?! He might be a nice guy, but he's mine and Mei-senpai!"

"H-Huh?!"

"Don't take what she's saying too seriously," Mei stated, pushing Kiana away from Yuna with a strained smile. With Kiana off to the side to huff out her feelings, Mei fixed her smile to be more sincere. "We shouldn't be down there long, so keep watch with Phillip-kun until we return."

Yuna flushed red from the attention. "R-Right! I'll do that, senpai!" Mei gave a friendly smile before patting Yuna on the head, causing the younger of the two to blush harder.

After a few more minutes, Mei followed Himeko, leaving only Kiana on the beach. Kiana spent the rest of her time on land trying to suggest several date ideas with Phillip, something he took in stride until her 5 minutes came. She planted a quick kiss on Phillip's cheek before doing a running jump into the sea.

Phillip rubbed his cheek in embarrassment but heard a loud snicker from his side. He spun his head to look disdainfully at Yuna, who let out a low whistle at his gaze and looked anywhere else but him.

Phillip grumbled under his breath about energetic girls and went over to sit down underneath a nearby palm tree. Seeing as his time along the mission would be spent doing nothing, he decided to talk with Yuna. "So, those times saying your training was fine were just white lies, huh?"

Yuna froze at the insinuation and relaxed just enough to rub the back of her head in embarrassment as she laughed nervously. "W-What do you mean by that?"

"Don't act dumb; that conversation wasn't that long ago," Phillip said blandly as he picked up a displaced stone from the sand and tossed it into the sea. "You know, if you just need someone to talk about it, I am willing."

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that," Yuna said as she walked to Phillip's left side. "It's just... well... Himeko-sensei got this idea that you wouldn't seem all that strong after a while."

Phillip snorted at this and slammed the side of his fist into the tree behind him. This caused two brown coconuts to fall: one in front of Yuna, who jumped back with an audible "eek!" and the other into Phillip's awaiting hand.

"I don't think Himeko's statement holds merit when I've beaten her up and down the school," Phillip stated, slicing the fruit open horizontally with the swipe of his hand. He held the bottom half to his lips and lapped up the translucent juice inside. When his drink was finished, Phillip looked up to Yuna, who stared at her coconut that stayed in the sand.

"Well... have you read about Honkai much?"

Phillip sighed deeply and crushed the coconut half in his hand. "Yeah, yeah. 11-dimensional bull and all that, but I have a battlesuit to counter that problem."

Yuna gave a light sigh as she shifted to the side of the tree and leaned against it. "I know, but if your main method of attacking is countered, then I'm not so sure just a battlesuit will fix it."

"Yeah, well-"

~Land team, come in! ~

Phillip bit back his retort when Theresa's voice spoke out from their headsets, cutting down the mounting argument. Shooting Yuna a stare that suggested the conversation would stall for now, Phillip answered.

"Land team here. What's the situation?"

~Scans have found a large depot of Honkai energy near you. I want you to find it, but not get too close to it, to see if it can be dealt with or sealed off. Co-ordinates will be placed on your visor. ~

As Theresa passed the mission objective to them, Phillip's visor lit up upon receiving the information. With a quick glance, he realized the location was only a few meters from his current position. Another look at Yuna told him that she was rather reluctant on the matter, so he made his decision quickly.

"I'll head over to the source," Phillip alerted Theresa. "Yuna will standby in case the exploration team returned unexpectedly."

~ Understood. Principal Theresa signing out. ~

Phillip heaved a sigh and looked into the sky, where the airship Hyperion sat high above the ocean. He knew there was little chance that Theresa would come down to deal with the situation, as she wanted to keep an eye on Kiana to ensure nothing like her last mission occurred.

He looked over at Yuna and gave a slight smile as he jerked his head in the general direction of the leak.

"Care for a walk?"

5 minutes later, next to a river going down the middle of the island,

"Why the hell are they here?!"

Phillip shot Yuna a look to quiet her down from her whispered fear, hoping not to be caught by the army of AE mechas that stood before a cave.

A quick peek over the rock they hid behind and through the trees showed a cliffside underground tunnel, the outer side eroded to reveal it to the ocean, which led to the cave, which seemed to be the Honkai source Theresa mentioned. Several mechas stood at the entrance while others patrolled the ledge. A group of four, however, kept close to a child that paced impatiently around the army. Luckily, the mechs were large enough to be spotted from across the wide river that separated Phillip and Yuna from them.

Bronya had told Phillip about someone who looked like the girl but decided to double-check. Tapping the outer side of the radio to the correct frequency, Phillip called out Bronya.

"Hey, Bronya. Do you have a quick second?"

~… Bronya is currently collaborating with Class Monitor to establish the main route to the stigmata. Please wait a couple of minutes. ~

Phillip waited down the clock, constantly watching the pacing child. When static filled his ears, Phillip asked his question without shifting his attention from the girl. "Do you mind reminding me about that one girl you didn't like?"

~… Da Bronya requires additional information. There are several females da Bronya has learned to dislike. ~

Phillip squinted to make out the details of the girl, who stopped to yell at some of the robots standing guard. "Uh... short girl with white, messy hair? A white corset-like shirt with black shorts? Has a crazed look in her eyes?"

~ Sin Mal. Is she close to your position? ~

"No, we're fine. Just popped into mind." Phillip closed the call before Bronya could force an inquiry and stood from the hiding place, addressing Yuna as he did. "If all we need to fight is just those bots and the girl, we should be fine. From what Bronya told me before, the girl has mediocre Honkai control."

"But that information is old!" Yuna exclaimed, keeping her down and out of sight. "How do you know she didn't get stronger than before?!"

Phillip shrugged at this. "Honestly, I was hoping her arrogance hadn't been shattered since Bronya last saw her. Look, just stay here for now. This shouldn't take long."

"How do you plan to get over there, anyway?" Yuna asked, eyes tracing the river from the sea to farther inland. "I don't think you can fly, or were you hiding that from everyone?"

Phillip gave a lopsided smile as he held up his hand and showed a tri-pronged kunai, a finger through the ring at the end.

Meanwhile, on the other side,

"This is taking too damn long," Sin Mal growled with a snarl smeared on her face, tapping her foot impatiently as the minutes passed. "All we want is a damn sword and a stigma, but these bots haven't found a lick of anything so far! Matushka better be right about this and didn't drop me here for nothing."

Several of the bots that surrounded her blinked at random before one of them leaned forward down to her height and spoke in a static, robotic voice. "Units that entered Chiyou's corpse lowered. Numbers dropped into the double digits."

"That's nothing special," Sin said, giving the mecha a flat gaze. "You lot get thrashed by seraph-class beasts. I'm surprised you've lasted as long as you have under a light breeze."

"Negative: Tactics are too complex than Honkai Beast capabilities."

Sin snorted at this. "For being called an artificial intelligence, you're rather stupid. Did you forget that Honkai gets better the more humanity advances."

"... Recalibrating calculations." The mecha stood still for a solid minute before standing tall; its red eyes pointed towards the back end of the tunnel. "Enemy has initiated confrontation. Entering assault mode."

Sin looked to where the robot stared out to find several others converging there and being torn to shreds. "Well, well, looks like Matushka wasn't lying about something being here." She held out her hand and, in a flash, summoned a massive scythe with a black handle and silver blade to her hand. "I'll take care of the little traitor. You hunks of junk; go handle her pathetic friends."

"Negative. Sensors indicate -"

Sin jumped upon hearing the whirling sound of the bot powering down and then a loud crunch from behind her. Spinning around, she found Phillip right behind her, twirling the tri-pronged kunai by the ring with a wide smirk on his face.

"Well, well, what's Anti-Entropy doing here?"

Sin didn't answer the question, stepping back slightly to swing the point of her scythe at Phillip's side. Phillip jumped into the air to avoid it and did a backflip to land a kick on Sin's chin. She was launched back and skidded across the ground on her back for a second to be stopped by a pile of destroyed robots. When Sin opened her hetero-chromic eyes and got ready to attack again, she was met with not one, but three Phillips instead.

One of the clones, the left-most one, finished tearing apart the Titan head in his arms. "Did Anti-Entropy actually think these things would be better than Valkyries at some point?"

"Quit screwing around," the one on the right said, face pressed into his palm. "We have a job to do."

Phillip walked past the two, dispelling them as he did, and tucked away the kunai as he squatted in front of Sin. He then pulled his tango out and held it up to Sin's neck, making the threat clear.

"What does Cocolia have to gain from the Xuanyuan blade and signature?"

Sin narrowed her eyes and spat at Phillip's face. "Like I'd tell any Schicksal vermin her plans. Not even the scummy traitor will get me to talk."

Phillip responded by digging the blade into Sin's neck, releasing a dribble of blood from the cut.

"I've killed children younger than you before," Phillip admitted steadily, pressing the blade deeper into the wound. "So, it might be in your best interest to comply. Or don't and make my life easier. Either way."

Phillip's visor flashed red at that moment, indicating a call trying to reach him. A scowl crossed his face, but Phillip stood straight with his back towards the cavern wall and answered the call, lowering his weapon as he did.

"Phillip here. Go ahead."

A screen popped up on the visor to show Theresa, arms crossed against the steel background of the Hyperion's floor. "Situation check. The exploration team said they encountered AE Mech units during their excavation. If you find any, stay out of their way."

"Already found them," Phillip started, raising his blade to block the scythe swing Sin sent to his side. Another swipe removed the scythe blade from the handle, sent it tumbling through the air, and landed a few feet away, the point deep in the Earth. "I took them out quickly while the other hid."

Theresa looked at him with a flabbergast expression for a whole minute before putting her forehead into her hands. "Please, for the love of God, don't do that again."

"Hey, it wasn't all bad-"

Sin Mal noticed the conversation was dragging past where Phillip planned as he turned his back towards her. Once he was completely turned around, Sin jumped towards the broken blade of her scythe, only for three vines to jab themselves between her and the blade. Sin followed the vines to find Yuna, held up by several other vines, hovering above the ravine and over to the cavern with a glare on her face.

A glare quickly faltered when Sin gave her a massive, tooth grin that spoke of nothing more than complete malice.

2 minutes, and a long lecture, later,

"Yes, fine, I'll stay away from fighting AE forces," Phillip relented, hoping to get the annoying conversation over with to tend to the other problem. "So, let me get back to Yuna and clear out from here."

Theresa sighed deeply from the other side of the visor screen. "Fine. Get in touch when you're out of there. Principal out." With that, the screen closed, and Phillip dropped his tense stance. He twisted back to where Sin once was, finding a clone standing there instead.

"Boss, you really can't be getting distracted," the clone said condescendingly. It turned around to show Sin Mal a little way off, bound, gagged, and thrashing about. Right beside her was Yuna, who was leaning against the cavern wall and letting out a series of rough breaths. "Otherwise, something like that could happen?"

"What happened, exactly?"

"Yuna decided she wanted to help," the clone admitted to the original's question. "Almost would have gotten attacked by the crazy bitch, but we took care of it quickly."

Phillip only hummed in response before dispelling that specific clone and walking over to the tied-up Sin. She glared at him harshly, the white cloth rag of a gag muffling the stream of curses she attempted to spew, but stopped when Phillip leveled his blade at her once more.

"Keep trying to speak, and I'll remove the capability," Phillip warned, effectively shutting her up. With a newfound silence in the air, he walked over to Yuna. "Are you doing alright?"

Yuna gulped down some air before replying with a nod. "Kinda got scared there. Guess I'm still not as combat-ready as I should be."

"You'll get there, don't worry," Phillip stated as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "It is your first mission, so no one can blame you for freezing the first time around. Alright?" Yuna gave a shaky nod in return, allowing Phillip to drop his hand. "Good, I'm going to see if I can get anything from her, so I'll be right back."

Earning another nod from the girl, Phillip walked back over to Sin and pulled her to her feet by the collar of her shirt. He cut away the binds and removed the gag, only to be spit on as a result. Giving her a cold smile in return, Phillip dropped her collar for her neck instead, giving the girl a threatening squeeze that made her yelp in pain.

"Why don't we continue with our first round, yeah?"

Another ten minutes of interrogation later,

"And that's all I know! I don't know why Matushka wants to bring back that whiny brat, but I swear that's it!"

Sin's confession received two very different reactions from her interrogators. Being the first time to hear the story, Yuna stared incredulously at Sin as if surprised and disgusted by the plan. Meanwhile, Phillip pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, having hoped Cocolia's motive would change to a more sensible plan.

"I should have known," Phillip muttered, pulling the hand away from his face. He then decided to land a kick on Sin's side, earning another gasp of pain. "Cry about it. What about Anti-Entropy?"

Sin sneered at him as she rubbed the spot she was hit at. "Why should I care about those fools?"

"Because I do," Phillip said threateningly, pressing his foot down on Sin's hand and side painfully. "What would they want from the stigmata that they'd allow Cocolia to move freely?"

"I don't know, damn it!"

Yuna seemed to realize how things were going and moved to touch Phillip's shoulder. "Listen-"

"I suggest you don't."

Yuna jumped at the sudden voice in her head, then shifted to immediate annoyance due to recognizing it. 'Did you have to scare me like that?!'

"Not many ways for me to introduce myself, to be perfectly honest," Gabriel stated directly. "Seriously, though, leave Phillip alone in this state. Friend and foes have become subjective at this point."

Yuna flinched when she saw Phillip ground his heel deeper into Sin's side. 'This is starting to look like torture, though.'

"Phillip will either get what he wants or give up in the next ten seconds; don't worry about it."

True to Gabriel's word, Phillip pulled his foot from Sin's side to relent his questions after ten seconds but knocked Sin out with a kick to the side of her head. With nothing gained from the interrogation, Phillip left two clones to look after the now unconscious girl and stalked over to Yuna with his sword at his side.

"Well, she's not relenting in her stance, so she's either speaking the truth or is too loyal to Cocolia." Phillip sat down at the open side of the cavern and began cleaning the blood from his tanto. "So, that would make another dead end against that bitch."

"Is there something wrong with this 'Cocolia'?" Yuna asked innocently.

"Ever wonder why Nagazora had to be the place where hell broke loose?" Phillip turned his head slightly to gauge her response, which he received as a nod, so he continued. "Cocolia was the cause for it. She's the reason you have those powers, why Mei lost her father and of half of what Kiana had to deal with recently."

"I'm going to guess she has something to deal with Bronya's... stoic behavior."

Phillip shook his head to this, stumping Yuna with that. "What Cocolia did was something Bronya agreed to. Of what I hate about Cocolia, I won't hold her to Bronya doing something stupid."

"I guess so," Yuna huffed, settling beside Phillip and staring into the sea. "But, I guess I'm also glad that Cocolia-san did that. Not the kill millions of people thing though," - Yuna waved her hands in defense when Phillip gave her a flat look - "but I would have never got to this side of the world without these powers. So, ya know..."

Phillip accepted this answer and went back to his sword. "Well, let that be the fuel for your training from now on. The better your grasp of your powers, the more you can stick it to Cocolia."

"Um... phrasing?"

"That's a problem for your mind, not mine," Phillip replied, putting his blade away and pulling off his visor. He looked it over, hoping for a message to come through in vain. "Have you received any transmissions from the others? I mean, besides Theresa?"

Yuna blinked rapidly as if not expecting such a question before she shook her head for a negative. "Sorry, I haven't gotten anything from anyone. Not even from Theresa-sama."

Phillip let out a groan and leaned back to lie on the ground. "Dammit, I don't want to seem overbearing, but I'm concerned about them."

"You mean about Kiana-san, because of her chronic issue of getting hurt on missions?"

Phillip winced at this, something Yuna took as confirming her statement as she gave a wide smirk. However, it was because of something he kept secret from the others, along with Theresa, Himeko, and Hua. No one else knew she had a Herrscher with her, and these four decided to keep it that way.

"Something like that," Phillip said as he picked himself up and stared at the sea. "Between Himeko's low adaptability, Mei's Herrscher persona, and Kiana's habits, I feel like shit just sitting here to wait things out."

"Well, you could always try and connect with Hua-san," Yuna suggested as she swung her legs back and forth over the edge. "She is the one advising the mission to find this Chiyou from the Hyperion."

"I don't want to disturb her for nonsense," Phillip stated, fiddling and flipping the visor over in his hand. "It's just impatience, that's all."

"Is it really that hard to swallow your pride," Yuna asked, earning a pointed glare from Phillip in return. "Just ask her if they're alright and accept whatever answer you get."

Phillip didn't answer immediately as he twisted and turned the device in his hand. After a full minute of nothing, he let out a sigh and placed it back on his head. He pressed the side of the earpiece to dial in the right communication channel and spoke up when it opened. "Hey, Hua-"

~Perfect timing; I was also about to establish communications with you. ~

Phillip sprang to his feet, readying himself for whatever bad news Hua had for him. "What happened?"

~ The search team is currently on their way to your current position. Himeko is currently in bad condition, but everyone else is okay. ~

Phillip's shoulders sagged in relief but contained it from his voice. "So, they achieved their objectives?"

~ Partially. We confirmed the Nine Realms and obtained the Xuanyuan Sword, but no stigmata could be found. ~

"Alright, we'll meet them here," Phillip responded to Hua's statement before cutting the connection. As soon as he did, he allowed the relief to consume him, leaning back and letting go of the breath he was holding.

Yuna smiled at his actions. "I'm guessing it was good news?"

"Better than most," Phillip replied as he began to walk to the cave entrance. "Get ready; they're coming this way and have wounded."

"Huh?!" Yuna shrieked, jumping to her feet and rushing after Phillip as he walked away. "W-wait a second! Who's hurt?! How far are they away?!"

"Well, given Kiana, they should be here-"

"HEY!"

By the time they were close enough to see the entrance, Kiana came running out, carrying the unconscious Himeko over her shoulders. Bronya floated out just a second later while Mei followed them a few steps behind as she dragged a large golden sword behind her.

Kiana stopped immediately in front of them, and instead of a wide smile or a concerned look for the teacher on her shoulder, she instead had puffed cheeks and a pout. "Were you two on a secret date or something?! I told you; Phillip is Mei-senpai's and mine!"

"Huh?! No, that's not-"

Phillip pointed over his shoulder to the pile of scrap metal to pause Kiana's interrogation of Yuna. "Theresa sent us here to investigate an Honkai energy source. We found this cave entrance and AE forces here. We took care of them just in time for your arrival."

"Da Bronya suspected suspicious action upon inquiry for Sin Mal's appearance," Bronya stated, having floated slightly further down to see the full damage. "Similar Anti-Entropy mecha have appeared inside the Nine Realms. They have been dealt with."

"Hold on, I still wanna know what you two were doing here!"

Phillip, deciding it would be better if Kiana fixated on the perceived "date," left Yuna to deal with the raving Kaslana to check on Mei. "Are you doing okay?"

Mei nodded through her pants, hugging the large cleaver of a sword for dear life. "I'm... fine. Bronya and Kiana... argued... needed to babysit..."

"Relax," Phillip said, grabbing onto the handle of the blade. "I'll deal with the sword, but did you find the stigmata?"

"No," Mei admitted as she untangled her arms from the blade and slumped against the stone wall behind her. "We ended up in a battle with Himeko-sensei, and Bronya-chan believes it was because that sword possessed her."

Phillip raised a brow at this and looked over the blade, which was faintly shining gold. "This thing? What makes you think that was the case?"

Mei sucked down more air before she spoke. "We couldn't find Himeko-sensei for a while after we separated, and only did when she claimed the blade to start the fight. Beyond that, Kiana swears she heard a voice about a seal, but that may have been stress."

"I'll talk to her about it," Phillip said, looking over at Kiana for a brief second before bringing his attention back to Mei. "For now, just rest up."

"... Phillip-kun, why are you holding the sword like that?"

Phillip looked back at the hand holding the sword and found it holding the blade off to his side, the glowing now much more intense. Soon, the glow grew to the point of being blinding before it receded. When the light had disappeared, a black-haired girl appeared above Phillip, draped in a golden uniform and holding an exact replica of the Xuanyuan Sword.

"I'm free," the girl said in relief. "After all these years – freedom."

This was all she said before disappearing, and the world began to shake. As Phillip and his clones made sure to steady the girls and prevent any injuries, the sea below them churned violently, sending wave after wave to pound against the land. A little further out, a piece of the ocean shined a brilliant magenta before a massive head burst through the surface.

Phillip noticed this first, and his eyes widened when the head slowly rose higher and higher, showing the massive body beneath it. Not a second later, the beast turned its mountainous self towards the group and let out a roar that made the previous tremor seem gentle. After that, however, the beast remained still with its maw wide open.

The group, now all conscious and fully aware of the beast, stared back at it, waiting for something to happen. It did a moment later when everything, island included, was sucked violently towards the beast. Phillip did his best to get a clone for each of the girls, protecting them with their bodies as they were dragged to the beast.

Not more than five seconds later, the island was consumed, and the group knew darkness.

I don't know how this ended up taking the higher end of a month, but here we are.

Sorry about the wait. I guess writer's block hit because this has been the hardest chapter to think about to write, and, while I don't think it's the best I could have done, I need to put something down.

Thank you all for your patience, and I promise to get the next chapter out much faster.