Chapter: Life Blooms Like a Flower.

Ironically, the first sign of life they found on their way was not alive at all. Although, technically it was more alive than most things, it lacked everything describing a living being.

Mainly the ability to think besides rabid, unfiltered rage.

It was a thing of hideous abomination of what was formerly a man, mutilated beyond recognition besides its most basic form. Its arms were transformed into two sharp, golden blades and its body was covered with similarly colored flowers that constantly emitted some sort of pollen around it, giving an illusion that the thing was divine in this mortal realm.

But that was all to it. It was a thing, a creature stripped of everything except its basic nature. It knew no thought aside destruction and its divinity was nothing but a trick.

Kiana made a mistake by calling it out, right before Himeko could stop her.

What happened next was something straight out of horror movie. Kiana watched, horrified, as it jittered and screeched at her after revealing its disfigured head. The sound alone was unholy, the look more so with it looking like someone had just run head first into a tree, split their skull open and had someone shoved all sorts of vegetations into the gaping void. Its 'mouth' had a branch sticking out of it, appearing to have grown from within its body.

So Kiana did the most natural thing a sane person would do in the situation the moment it began to charge at her with murderous intent.

She unholstered Shamash and promptly fired a shot straight into its head.

"What the fuck?!" She yelled in both terror and shock as it fell onto the ground in a heap, a good portion of its head missing after Shamash's superheated beam obliterated it. Cautiously, she approached it, noting the thick, honey-like liquid that leaked out from its wound. "What in the—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence because it screeched again as it tried to scramble back to its feet despite its missing head.

Kiana, understandably, screamed.

In her bouts of panic, she smashed Shamash together and changed it to its sword form before she swung it at the thing, still screaming, and cleaved it into two. The sword, designed to cut through and melt entities beyond mortal's comprehension, easily went through the thick, fleshly barrier that was its body and only then did it stop twitching.

Kiana kicked the upper part of the thing warily only to jump back and raised Shamash again when it crumbled into golden ember, disappearing from the world as if it was never there.

"What in the fuck was that thing?!" She finished, turning towards Himeko to both ensure her safety and question her, expression tight.

Himeko lowered the briefcase she was holding, where it came from Kiana had no knowledge about, and grimaced. "I think that was what they call Mara-Struck soldier."

"A what?" Kiana asked back, bewildered and lost.

But before the redhead could answer, another otherworldly shriek resonated, followed by another and another all around them. Kiana refocused her attention to her surroundings, carefully taking a step back to close her distance with Himeko.

More of the thing showed up, one and then two and three until it was too much to count. They jumped, climbed and crawled from, between and through the containers around them, all in their own macabre states that couldn't be possible in a living being.

Himeko opened her mouth and prepared her weapon but Kiana extended a hand to Himeko's front and blindly gestured at her to stay behind her as the Kaslana readied herself, all without facing Himeko.

It was mostly instinctive. Fueled by an innate desire within the white haired woman that was born from her feelings towards an entirely different person. It was misguided, but Himeko wouldn't deny her that.

Mei warned her about it before.

Kiana, oblivious to Himeko's thought, charged to meet the incoming threats with Shamash blazing its righteous fury in her grips. It was far from its full power, in fact it was barely a fraction of its power she was willing to use in fear she might set everything around her aflame, but it was far enough than what was needed.

She liberated herself from all manners of considerations, all sorts of holding backs, as she would to enemies like this. Gone was her reservations, abandoning it in exchange for brutal efficiency. In her eyes, she reminisced of her time in Nagazora many years ago, fighting mindless zombies with almost a glee.

Now, it wasn't so different.

The things attacking them were not humans. They were mindless beasts. Kiana didn't have to feel remorse like she would when she killed humans and that put her heart at ease. That made her glad.

So, the first abomination to reach her was quickly dispatched with said brutal efficiency. Namely with a quick swipe of Shamash that cleaved it in two from waist up, leaving it to tumble and fall like tree cut from its roots.

Kiana didn't linger. She didn't watch to see whether her targets were dead or not because she was sure they were. With each swing, an abomination was cut and killed, their healing factor couldn't keep up with the unreserved destruction that was the combination of Shamash and a Kaslana. A combination that once challenged the End itself.

Her expression was serene, the face of a warrior completely immersed in a world belonging only to her and her kin. A fascinating sight to behold, especially from an outsider's perspective like Himeko.

The Kaslana moved with measured steps and weaved with calculated grace, all born from years of experience. Shamash glowed with faint golden shimmer on its edge6, giving an illusion of a trailing star with each swing Kiana delivered to her enemy.

Yet the destruction she left in her wake could qualify her as a black hole, surrounded by the ethereal light of golden sea around its event horizon. Anything got close to it was immediately torn asunder, rendered to pieces and bits of its former self.

Himeko was only pulled from her stupor when she saw one of the monsters sprinting towards her from her left, slipping through Kiana and her destruction. The Kaslana turned and was about to make a short work on it when Himeko beat her to it.

A portion of the briefcase in Himeko's hand opened and out it extended a sharp, circular saw blade the redhead then unceremoniously directed towards the monster. It whirled to life just as it was about to make contact, spinning in speed of thousands RPM.

Suffice to say, the result was just as gruesome as Kiana's attack.

Thick, golden liquid sprayed out of the monster as its torso was sawed open, splattering everywhere and painting Himeko's dress in its 'blood'. It screamed in pure agony, trying in vain to pull itself away from its spinning doom.

Not a second later, just when Kiana saw the blade finally cut through the screaming thing's back, it suddenly bursted ablaze with red flames and burned the monster into crisp from inside out, guaranteeing not just certain death but also an agonizing one.

Kiana who witnessed it all laughed.

She laughed and laughed until she felt tears prickling on her eyes.

Only then she cried.

She cried because even in this part of the Universe Himeko's fire burned bright and fierce.

Just like back home.

Just like before.

"It's my turn now... I hope you don't mind, girl."

The rest of the group found them not too long after hearing the fight, running straight towards the small opening where it took place. What greeted them, however, made them pause after rounding a corner.

They slowed down and approached the two women, eyes critically scanning the various remnants of some things on the floor around them, before finally settling on both Kiana and Himeko. Intrigue and concern were clear in their gazes but it wasn't until Bronya made a move did the questions start coming.

"Kiana," Bronya urgently called out to her best friend and approached her, face morphing into a worried frown when she noticed the tears flowing down her face. "Kiana, are you okay?" She asked, tone true to her feeling as she pulled the Kaslana by her hand closer to her.

Kiana didn't deny the contact, letting Bronya grab her arms in a comforting manner. She turned towards her and blinked, hastily wiping the tears with the back of her hand and laughed airily.

"Ah, yeah." She chuckled then, glancing towards Himeko over Bronya's shoulder who was now talking with Welt and March while Stelle wandered around to check on the dead monsters. The Navigator sense her stare and glanced back and for a brief second their gazes met before the redhead turned her attention back to Welt.

Bronya saw where Kiana's gaze went to and squeezed her arms tighter. "Is it Himeko?"

Kiana nodded, slowly and distractedly until Bronya squeezed once more, regaining her attention. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I just... remembered something."

"Something painful?"

"Something precious." Kiana clarified.

Bronya smiled, small yet genuine as she released Kiana. Her best friend gave a short nod of gratitude which Bronya returned before her expression morphed back to its usual flat.

"So, what are those things?" She asked, gesturing at the three, twitching creatures currently impaled with Kiana's subspace lances a few meters behind the Kaslana. Said Kaslana glanced back and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Himeko said they were Mara-Struck soldiers? I have no clue what that means, though."

"They were Xianzhou natives," Welt joined in with Himeko, March and Stelle right on his tail. Kiana noticed the 'blood' on Himeko's dress slowly disappearing from the white fabric, almost like vaporizing into thin air, returning her dress to its original state. Around them, the corpses Kiana left behind were also slowly disintegrating in similar fashion.

"The natives?" Kiana furrowed her brows, looking at the three still impaled things. They were alive, as horrid as they seemed at the moment with the lances gutting them and keeping them upright but they were. The low groans and hisses they let out were inhuman, fitting more to a monster they were so how could they be the natives?

Welt sensed her unspoken question, seeing it rippling in her blue eyes, and gently tapped his cane against the floor to summon a gravitational ring under the three monsters. The effect was immediate as they suddenly got pulled below, forcing them through the lances until they hit the floor with a scream of agony. Wordlessly, he increased the force until they were crushed under their own weight and stopped twitching altogether.

"They're not human anymore," he finished.

Kiana's opened her mouth, closed it when nothing came out, and opened it again after a second of thought. "That was ruthless, Mister Welt," she settled to say with a lopsided grin.

Welt chuckled to himself. "I wasn't the one who cut them in two... or more," he added after a quick look around him, earning a laugh from Kiana.

March had never seen this side of Welt before so all she could do was to stare wide eyed at the older man. Usually, he was so reserved with his power all he did was to support from behind but after watching him crumple the things with barely a twitch of his fingers she slowly realized how powerful Welt actually was.

Had he been holding back...?

"What is Mara-Struck, Mister Welt?" Bronya asked next, back to the topic at hand. She stood up from her kneeling position near a fallen monster, done observing it with her critical, albeit cold eyes, while Stelle poked it curiously with her bat.

Much like Kiana, she had no remorse in killing mindless zombies. Even more like Kiana she was also glad it wasn't a human they had to kill for Bronya had done plenty before.

None in which she relished.

Bronya didn't have the time to read about the Xianzhou Alliance. Last night alone she spent refining the ideas she had for her new games after touring Herta Space Station before sending the results back to Seele. It was fascinating as much as it was inspiring, to see a space station that wasn't Schicksal's in nature and design, and Bronya couldn't resist the temptations to develop what she had in mind further and send it immediately with excitement only Seele could see.

Seele, too, had been very accommodating. Bronya would never get over the fact of how lucky she was to have her as her other half.

Before Welt could answer, an explosion suddenly interrupted their conversation, coming from somewhere close to their sector. The Crew slipped back to their cautious state smoothly and faced the direction it came from, noticing a thick pillar of black smoke rising high into the artificial sky above. Welt threw Himeko a glance and the redhead nodded, a silent agreement between the two, before he ordered everyone to check.

Stelle stored her bat after watching Kiana holster Shamash back, falling a step behind the older woman as she sprinted to the direction of the smoke. March, meanwhile went with Bronya after the latter told her to follow, going to a different way to find a vantage point so they could use their weapons unimpeded.

Himeko and Welt were slower but not by a large margin, simply because Himeko wasn't much of a fighter despite her ability while Welt trusted Kiana enough to let her handle the problem herself. The Kaslana was a fighter to the heart and if there was something she was excellent at, it was fighting.

And fight they must.

The first sign of the battle was the sight of blood. Red and not gold, meaning there had been normal people and not just monsters out there. It painted the dark floor with sickening crimson, pooling about everywhere.

The second sign was that of a man being thrown against a container with the speed of a car right as Kiana and Stelle about to round a corner, his mauled body stopping on the hard surface with a crunch as his bones shattered while his organs got pulverized from the force alone. Kiana pulled Stelle before she got caught in the way, purposefully shoving her so she wouldn't linger on the gruesome sight for long.

They didn't stop, knowing there was nothing they could do to him. With a quick shuffle, they continued sprinting to where the fighting was.

"Careful," Kiana told Stelle, pointing at the hole in the floor. The 'sky' was visible underneath it and although Kiana could fly, she didn't want Stelle to fall down into the unknown that was Xianzhou space-folding tech.

"We're close," Stelle said, seeing the carnage left behind. She could see bodies, ones covered in that strange gold flowers and aura while the rest leaned more to the normal category. "These are... the Cloud Knights?"

"You heard about them?"

"Dan Heng told me about them," Stelle supplied with a grimace as she stared at one particular Knight on the floor whose head was missing as they ran past them. "He talked about Xianzhou a bit when I called him for breakfast this morning."

"Is he from here?" Kiana asked, curious. Dan Heng's name sounded awfully close to a Chinese name so was Xianzhou. As much as it boggled her mind there existed a space version of China, Kiana couldn't really put off the possibility considering the vastness of the Universe itself.

"I don't know." Stelle scowled. "Now, that's the thing. We don't know about him at all since he's not a talker, you know."

Kiana was about to respond when another explosion interrupted her, this time being much closer, before her eyes widened when a whole container flew high above them and crashed somewhere far, shaking the floor and making the area rumble. She brought a hand up to signal Stelle to save the conversation for later and the ashen haired girl nodded in concession, understanding the weight of their current situation.

When they arrived, it was a scene pure out of nightmare.

They encountered bodies on their way but the first sight they arrived to was of a Cloud Knight being gutted by one of those monsters. The woman screamed until the breath in her lungs was empty as she desperately tried to push the monster away, a useless notion as it simply stared at her through its mutated eyes, before its head suddenly evaporated into a fine golden mist after Kiana shot it.

Much like before, it simply stumbled and gurgled through the stump, blindly swiping its bloodied blades around until Kiana peppered its body with countless superheated beams. With its body being nothing but a smoldering meat, it fell and died slowly into a twitching pile of burnt flesh.

She and Stelle jumped into the fray immediately, putting themselves between the monsters and the remaining Cloud Knights that had been so desperately trying to stay alive. It wasn't much of a fight as it was a desperate fight for survival.

"Who the hell are you?!" One of them asked, surprised and not just a little wary at their sudden appearance. Kiana threw the man a glance, noticing the subtle gold in his helmet instead of pure silver the rest of his friends had.

"We're with the Astral Express," Kiana elaborated, giving Stelle a covering fire as the teenager dragged a wounded Knight back to the rear line. "We're here to help."

"Look, I know you have questions but right now we better focus on saving the wounded," Stelle interjected, rummaging through her pocket for a dosage of painkiller. She always carried some after the incident during the first Warp, fully aware that she would only get hurt more in the future and that she should be prepared for it. Kneeling down, she rather unceremoniously injected the syringe into the thigh of the wounded Knight and he immediately stopped squirming in pain. "There's more of us coming, just so you know."

Right on cue, Himeko and Welt joined them a second after Stelle finished administering the drug. She was about to wrap a bandage around the man's torso where a large slash was when one of the Knights stopped her.

"I'll take it from here," the figure said, voice decidedly feminine despite the helmet she was wearing. Nodding to the woman, she helped lift the wounded Knight to the female medic's back, barely concerned when said medic easily carried his weight.

"Kiana," Welt called out, approaching the white haired woman who was still in a middle of stalemate with the creatures. They seemed to understand the danger she possessed hence the hesitation, growling and hissing at her yet not making a move. Even though Kiana appeared relaxed, her eyes were as sharp as they could be as she regarded the monsters around them. "Bronya and March are in position," he informed, looking up to a certain pile of containers in the distance.

"Yes," Kiana answered curtly as Stelle stepped to her side. "Sorry, Mister Welt, can you please help evacuate the Knights? Stelle and I will handle this."

His answer was immediate and without doubt.

"Of course."

He left without another word to join Himeko. The redhead was already in the process of gathering the wounded, helping the remaining Cloud Knights to reorganize in the mess of a battlefield. Nobody questioned her orders when she told them to move the wounded further back.

"Alright," Kiana exhaled. "Do it," she continued to nobody in particular.

Confused, Stelle was about to Kiana what she meant when one of the monsters suddenly exploded right before her eyes, a bright blue energy beam piercing through its body clean. Then, another one followed and another with each beam instantly killing a monster.

Amongst these beams were a more familiar sights of translucent arrows belonging to a certain pink haired girl. March didn't shoot in quivers, instead opting to use a larger projectile for both accuracy and efficiency.

And efficient they were.

One of her arrows lodged itself in the abdomen of Mara-Struck soldier, not a second later ice bursted out from it and sent frozen guts and viscera into the air. The thing died with ice blooming from its inside, unable to even screech as it fell to the ground.

Despite both supporters' efforts, the sheer numbers of the Mara-Struck soldiers meant Kiana and Stelle had to fight them off still. The former glanced at the latter as she holstered Shamash back.

"Lose your bat," Kiana told Stelle curtly and the younger girl frowned.

"Why?" She asked.

"Blunt force trauma is ineffective against them," Kiana explained and Stelle jumped in surprise when a golden portal emerged beside her. She stared wide eyed as Kiana pulled a white lance out of it. "Get your lance out."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Stelle admitted hesitantly yet she did as told, materializing the control lance into her hand. "I have little experience with this thing."

The Kaslana flashed her a smile. "Don't worry, I'll teach you. After all, no best teacher than experience itself."

Stelle watched as Kiana readied herself, the white surface of her lance glinting under the artificial sunlight. It must be the Divine Key Kiana mentioned before, a lance of intricate design with elaborate patterns resembling flowers on its surface while its tip was painted deep purple. What it actually did Stelle had no idea but she was certain she was going to witness something amazing judging from Judgment of Shamash and its capability in Kiana's hands.

Lost in thought, she almost missed what Kiana said next.

"Lances are special," she began loudly. "They're not your ordinary weapon."

Kiana brought the lance up, positioning its tip towards her first target.

"They require you to have strength, precision, speed and grace. All must be equal and balanced in application."

The thing seemed to notice her intention, screeching as it began to charge at her. Yet Kiana remained calm, eyes almost passive as she regarded the approaching monster.

"They're the weapons of the front liners, a symbol of steadfastness and unwavering resolve. They're meant to be used against enemy head on, to move forward without hesitation. But..."

In a blink of eye, the Kaslana disappeared in a blur, speeding ahead in breakneck speed that was impossible to follow by mortal's eyes. Stelle only saw her again when her lance met the offender, impaling it through its back and more. Stelle thought it was all until she saw something strange happening to the thing.

It started from the lance's point of contact, a webbing of sickly flesh, until it travelled to the entirety of its body. The golden flowers signaling its abundance of life withered and died, turning ugly black like the rest of its complexion before it crumbled and fell onto the ground with a wet plop the moment Kiana pulled out her lance from its body.

And then the smell hit her.

A putrid smell of rotten flesh that made Stelle gag and instinctively cover her nose and mouth.

Her eyes widened in shock, watching the thing rapidly decompose until all that left was a heap of armor, clothes and bones on the floor. She stared wide eyed at the lance in Kiana's hand, just in time to catch the Kaslana's glowing blue eyes looking back at her.

"But, more importantly, it's a weapon to protect what's behind you."

"What... is that lance?"

"... many years ago in a distant past, there existed people in my home world who believed in a goddess. It is said that she has ruled the underworld."

"A goddess who ruled over the dead?"

"Yes. But she's also known as a goddess of rebirth, believed to be reborn every Spring."

"... are you saying that the lance Kiana uses is blessed by that goddess?"

"No, March. This is no more than mere mythology and what you're seeing is a recreation of a Herrscher's Authority. But that goddess has a name; Ataegina."

The sound of battle grew distant as they traversed the winding maze that was Luofu's Cloudford. Between the high piling containers and blockades erected by the Cloud Knights, sound had hard time to reach other parts of the area, mostly respelled back by the artificial walls around them.

That, unfortunately, meant all the sounds they created also bounced back to them in the corridor and Himeko had to force herself to ignore the choking breath of a Cloud Knight as he breathed his final breath on the back of his friend. Said friend sensed the person he'd been carrying went still, turning the urgency in his eyes into despair Himeko could see through the slit of his helmet.

She looked away when he began to sob.

Welt led the way, beside him was another Cloud Knight. He was a little different with his helmet having a hint of gold on it and from what Himeko read about the Xianzhou it signified his rank as a Captain in the Knight rank.

That alone meant he had a lot of experience since the Xianzhou Alliance consisted of long-life races. To reach a rank of Captain meant he had been in the service for at least almost a century and it showed.

None of the Knights was panicking per se, but the Captain held himself together like nobody else. His gait was certain and his orders were clear that after the initial confusion caused by the Crew's sudden intervention had vanished, he immediately regained authority and directed his soldiers to safety.

Said safety was apparently not too far.

"There's a blockade ahead," Himeko heard him say to Welt. "The control panel to remove it is on the other side."

"Can we?" Welt asked calmly, his cane tapping the floor and sending echoes with each step he took.

"We'll have to send someone around to notify the troops on the other side since comm is down."

Welt looked back to the rest of the Knights and shook his head. "With all due respect, Captain, I don't think that's a good idea. The Mara-Struck behind us are being drawn by the fighting but this far ahead there's probably some stragglers. None of your soldiers seems like they can fulfill such a feat, given their current state."

Many of the wounded were in bad condition they simply incapable while those who didn't seemed like they were going to collapse from exhaustion. There was no telling how long these people had been fighting for since Xianzhou ships mostly operated independently in the stellar seas.

"I will perform the action myself," said the man.

Welt shook his head again. "Your men need you, Captain. It is unwise to leave them," he paused, index finger tapping the handle of his cane absently as he pondered on something. "I can help you lift the barricade."

Himeko raised an eyebrow, incredulous not at what Welt said but by the offer itself. She knew he was capable of it, but Welt had never been so active before to offer his assistance so easily. His powers were limited, severely stripped from its original might he usually wouldn't use them unless absolutely necessary, yet here he was.

When they arrived at the aforementioned barricade, Welt nodded at the Captain almost imperceptibly as he stepped forward. The grip around his cane tightened slightly as his fingers flexed, gaze set on the large container blocking their way to exit. After a brief second, he raised his cane up and it glowed with untold power as dark energy thrummed and crackled around in a form of black lightning before an abyss, zapping around his hand harmlessly.

Those who saw could only stare in awe and wonder, both which turned into a shock when Welt all but smashed his cane back onto the floor.

The impact created a particularly loud echo but the noise was drowned by the gaping void that suddenly opened up underneath the container. For a moment, Himeko thought Welt was going to destroy the container and what was inside with his black hole but he simply moved it aside with a swipe of his cane as if it weighed nothing.

It probably is thanks to his power.

On the other side, a squad of alerted Cloud Knights was waiting for them, each in their own state of surprise. Not that Himeko blamed them. Seeing a multi-ton container floating in thin air would do that to people.

Welt eased the flow of Honkai Energy and the black hole disappeared, making the container land back to the floor and shaking it. "After you, Captain," he said while offering the now clear passageway to the Cloud Knights.

"I've had my doubt," said the Captain. "I should've known the Trailblazers would always find a way out of their problems.You have my thanks."

Welt returned the smile he was given with his smaller one. "We're glad to help."

With the Knights successfully linking up again, the danger had mostly passed and Welt stepped back to join Himeko. The Navigator regarded the Herrscher for a moment before she chuckled to herself.

"Something the matter?" Welt asked, looking down to the redhead due to the height difference. Himeko simply smiled.

"You weren't joking when you said you were invigorated."

Welt nodded. "It's because of Kiana,"

"Speaking of which, how is she?"

Welt fell silent for a moment, no doubt communicating with Kiana through their Herrscher Link. With the local network down, they couldn't send messages with their phones so their only option was to use said Link.

"They're doing well."

Just then, the Captain walked back towards them and extended a hand for Welt and Himeko, both which readily returned the handshake. "Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Jian Dao, acting Captain of Cloud Knights Rainbow Orbit Fleet."

"I'm Himeko, Navigator of the Astral Express and this one over here is Welt Yang."

"You can call me Mister Welt, everyone says it has a nice ring to it." Welt gave the Captain a friendly smile. "Pleasure to make you acquaintance, Captain."

"Likewise." He motioned at them to follow and both Himeko and Welt obliged. "I want you to meet our Amicassador Lady Tingyun. She's better fit for diplomatic talks than a measly soldier such as myself."

"An Amicassador, Captain? Here?"

"I didn't know where to start, Mister Welt, but you people came in a bad time. The Luofu is currently in a lockdown after a series of incidents."

"Incidents?"

"How much do you know so far?"

Welt and Himeko shared a glance.

"We tried to hail the traffic control but got no response," Himeko slowly explained, careful with her words. If what the Captain said was true, the Express shouldn't have access to the Luofu much less dock to it.

Who opened the gate for us, then?

"We've just arrived so we know practically nothing," she finished.

"We were dispatched to the Cloudford to reinforce the local units by the General himself following a ship-wide communication failure. When we arrived, almost everyone had turned."

"Those Mara-Struck were originally Cloud Knights?" Welt frowned in thought when Jian Dao nodded curtly. "The local units you mentioned?"

"Some civilians and dock workers, too."

"I still don't see how Lady Tingyun could be here," Himeko admitted. "She's a diplomat, right?"

A nod. "She has just returned from a diplomatic mission when communication ceased throughout Luofu. Many airborn Starskiffs were forced to make emergency landings to avoid accidents," he scoffed then. "There are mouth-to-mouth reports of accidents already but with no solid communication network, there's no way to ascertain the exact numbers."

"Does this happen often, Captain?" Welt asked as they finally arrived at a small clearing the Cloud Knights used as a makeshift forward operation base where the remaining Knights gathered. There was no tents since they didn't have the resources but the Knights improvised by using some of the containers to house the wounded or the command staff along with other necessities.

Jian Dao led them to a certain container where the civilians and non-combat personnel were.

"Sometimes network breakdowns do happen but never in this scale. We have separate systems to prevent that in each sector. Moreover, we Cloud Knights have our own system. It's highly unusual for everything to fail at once like this." He then gestured at a certain woman amidst the crowd of people with his index finger. "That one is Lady Tingyun. I would accompany you but I still have things I need to take care of. Still, you have my utmost gratitude for your help so if you need anything and that anything happens to be within my capability, just ask."

"It is no problem."

"Then, excuse me."

Jian Dao left without another word, leaving Himeko and Welt to deal with the next person. They turned towards where Tingyun was and Welt allowed himself a moment of appraisal of the Amicassador.

He had read about her kind before. Hard to not know about them when their beauty was known throughout the galaxy. Foxian was what they were called and the name itself was pretty self-explanatory. They were human with fox traits, a half-beast if he were to explain it in Fantasy RPG term, mostly with additional fox ears and tail. The first time he learned about them, he had thought about some anime series back home that had similar characters and Welt couldn't help but think how interesting it was to know they actually existed in real life, even if it was galaxies away from Earth.

Some folks back home would truly appreciate the knowledge and he had no doubt that if any of them came to visit, they would be a celebrity with how popular the idea of animal-person was in mainstream media.

Tingyun herself was true to the stereotype, mainly in the beautiful part. She had lively green eyes, long brown hair that darkened to red on the tip, and a bushy tail of similar color to said hair. The way she carried herself also spoke of her experience as a diplomat, cool and collected as she tried to calm the confused civilians around her with the grace of a professional.

All in all, she seemed to be a good person.

"Lady Tingyun?" Himeko called out to her, squeezing through people to get within the woman's earshot. Welt, meanwhile, stayed behind to observe.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

Himeko offered the woman her hand with a reserved smile and Tingyun immediately accepted it into a handshake. "I'm Himeko of the Astral Express. Captain Jian Dao told me to speak to you regarding our visit."

Tingyun made a show of thinking but it was just that; a show. Himeko could tell that the woman before her was also studying her, subtle as it was befitting a person whose occupation demanded her to work along politicians at often times. She wasn't a pushover herself to not notice the way those emeralds lightened up by the end of it.

"Ah, of course. Please do forgive that our honorable Captain is in tight schedule to fully commit himself to be of help for you."

"It is no problem, Lady Tingyun. We've had our own jobs."

"Precisely," Tingyun's smile broadened for a brief second, either because of the double meanings behind Himeko's words or something else Himeko couldn't be sure. "It is rather unfortunate for you to arrive at such... unfavorable predicament, but I'll do what I can to make this visit memorable to you, Miss Himeko."

"That's more than what we can ask for, and please call me Himeko."

"By your will," Tingyun paused, eyes finding Welt who himself had been watching the interaction. She gave him another one of her friendly smile but compared to Himeko's, Welt's response was almost cold.

Cold to those who didn't know him.

He nodded back. "Lady Tingyun."

"And you are?"

"I'm Welt, Ma'am, a Trailblazer."

"Ah, Himeko's friend?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

Tingyun hummed and nodded. "Are there any others I should meet?"

"Well... I'll call them right away."

Contrary to popular belief, Kiana was not one to make a scene. At least, nowadays once she had learned that flaunting her powers was not a cool thing to do especially considering the consequences they might bring forth. Although it took quite an intensive repercussion and equally as intensive grilling from Mei and Bronya, it succeeded into making her a more wise woman she was now.

So, the sudden ruckus she involuntarily made was not her fault. Nope, not at all.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Of course Bronya would take it as a chance to roast her. Every time Kiana made a mistake, she would jump head first like shark to blood. Like those times when they game and Kiana's fingers slipped on the buttons of her controller which would result in Kiana's defeat.

Naturally, she rebutted. Exactly like those times.

"What the hell did you just call me, you little—"

"Guys, can we please not do this?"

She had almost forgotten the existence of two additional individuals with them.

"Um, can someone please remove their foot from mine? And, uh, Stelle I think your lance is poking on my butt."

"Lance? What lance? I've stored mine when Kiana pulled me into her portal."

"Kiana Idiotka, that's yours."

"O-Oh... Sorry, March, I forgot to throw this thing off when we transitioned."

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"What the hell did you just call me, you little—"

Before Kiana could finish, the side of the container they were in suddenly opened up, flooding the cramped and dark interior in bright light of artificial sun. The four of them couldn't help but to squint their eyes as they tried to adjust to the new brightness.

Once they did, however, it was clear that Kiana had just made a ruckus in a scale greater than she expected.

Cloud Knights surrounded them from all directions, their weapons brandished and stance ready the moment the container was unsealed. March and Kiana instinctively raised their hands up in surrender, Abyss Flower fell with a deafening thunk, while Stelle buried her face in her hands and groaned out loud.

Bronya simply looked past the gathering Knights to where Welt was waiting for them, his eyebrows ever so slightly raised at the odd tangle of limbs and bodies that were the four.

"I'm innocent!" March cried out loud and Kiana nodded vigorously in support, hands still raised.

"It's her! The source of the strange energy is that woman with white hair!" One of the Knights pointed at Kiana, a strange device in his hand which beeped rapidly the closer he directed it to her.

"You! Explain yourself! What did you just do?!" Another one demanded.

"Me? I didn't do anything!" Kiana tried to defend herself frantically.

"I think ripping open space counts as something," Bronya mumbled to nobody in particular, strangely looking unfazed by their current predicament. "Why are we inside a container, again?"

"Look, whatever tech they used for space-folding, it's super delicate," Kiana answered in similar fashion. "I didn't want to spend too much time inside my own dimension since it might cause some complications with it so I didn't have the time to pre-see our exit. It was a blind jump."

Bronya hummed in understanding. Usually, in order to use the Void Authority for travel, Kiana would've to 'see' the other side so she could make an estimate of the place they would want to be. In case of blind jumps like this, she could still appear to where she wanted based on a rough estimate of the place. It ranged from a beacon, or description she would then use to imagine the place.

In blind jumps, Kiana could ascertain the destination before they arrived. She described it as 'surfing over the surface of the sea and seeing the bottom before you jump in', some sort of brief vision she could then use as reference. But just like the sea, unless you're trying to see its bottom all you see would be the deep blue covering it.

In this case, Kiana chose a container during the brief time she glimpsed on the area instead of some random places. There's a risk they could be clipping inside someone otherwise.

"Stand down, soldiers," a familiar voice told the wary Cloud Knights and they turned to face the newcomer, realizing it was the Knight they talked to before. "They're with the Astral Express."

Welt made his presence known, stepping forward with a cough to gain the attention of the wary Knights. "We are very sorry for the trouble. These ladies are also the Crew of the Express," Welt finished as he raised his Pass to view before pointing at the ones on the four women's clothes.

"It was thanks to their effort we could evacuate safely," Jian Dao added calmly to his colleagues. "They're trustworthy."

Slowly, the Knights lowered their weapons and Kiana did the same before inconspicuously kicking Abyss Flower into a waiting portal in the floor to store it. The lance disappeared from the world, all the while Kiana kept her eyes on that particular Knight with strange device to note every of his reaction.

When he didn't say anything, Kiana allowed herself a small, relieved smile.

"Thank you, Captain," Welt said to Jian Dao who nodded before taking his leave. The rest of the Knights followed suit, albeit in a more reluctant way. "How are you girls doing?"

"We're fi—" Stelle was about to stepped out when her foot got caught by one of the crates inside the container, making her stumble and sputter out. She would've kissed the floor if not for Kiana grabbing the back of her coat and stopping her fall.

"Careful there," March scolded her friend before she proceeded to do the same except this time it was Bronya who caught her. Stelle who saw it snorted in amusement, much to March's embarrassment.

"Careful there," she teased and March's face suddenly gained a few shades of red.

Welt chuckled before he offered his hand for March to grab, the pinkette readily accepted it as he helped her navigate through the narrow space. He did it to the rest of them before finally managing to get them all out of the container.

"Thanks, Mister Welt," Kiana said as she flashed the man a grin he returned with a nod. "Where's Himeko?"

Welt pointed at a certain direction where he left Himeko at with the tip of his cane. "She's that way, currently discussing some matters with the local Amicassador."

"Amicassador?"

"They're basically Xianzhou's diplomats. The discussion has probably finished by now."

"Let's go check on her?" March suggested and Welt hummed in agreement.

"Follow me."

TBC.