Kiana pulled her claws out of a mech. It fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been severed. She let out small, shallow pants. The dark tint on her skin faded, along with the bony white claws on her knuckles. She wiped some sweat from her brow and smiled.

"So much for a welcome party. I guess HQ doesn't have much in terms of hospitality," Kiana commented.

Himeko pulled Hrungnir out of one of the Schicksal mechs and stabbed it into the ground. "Remember when Ceci asked us why we didn't invest in mechs?"

Kiana looked over to Himeko with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"I was wrong. We do invest in them. HQ just hoards them so they can guard whatever it is in here," she replied.

Kiana let out a small chuckle.

Around them laid the twisted and charred chassis of various mechanoids along with piles of jagged ice. Kriemhilde rested Balmung on her shoulder and turned to Kiana and Himeko.

"We're almost to the terminal. There's a terminal that acts as an access point to the bottom-most layer of Helheim Labs. Beyond that is all new territory to me. I don't possess a Godsbane Battlesuit so I can't speak for what's down in the deepest layers. Ana and Rita most likely know but I never cared to ask," Kriemhilde said.

Tesla sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "At least we can learn from the terminal."

"You said Fu Hua told you something would help us in the deepest layer. Since you can talk to her… somehow, I think you should take point when we get to the deeper layers. At least with you and her, we won't get too lost," Kiana said.

Himeko nodded. She placed Hrungnir on the strap module on Scarlet Fusion. "I know what she did was unforgivable to you, Kiana, but she's taking a big risk to help us out. The least we can do is try and trust her. We did when Bronya reached out to us."

"There's a big difference between what Bronya did and what Fu Hua did. Bronya was brainwashed. Fu Hua wasn't. I'll forgive Bronya since what she did was outside of her control but Fu Hua made her choices. That's all there is to it," Kiana said.

Himeko nodded. At least she had tried to get Kiana to see Fu Hua as something other than an enemy. However, she knew that was a moot point. In the older Kaslana sister's eyes, Fu Hua's existence was barely tolerable.

"You two done being saps?"

The pair looked up and saw Kriemhilde and Tesla a distance away, standing outside a door.

Kiana and Himeko made their way over to Tesla and Kriemhilde. Tesla tapped her foot impatiently before going inside the room. It was a server room. However, to call it a server room was generous. The place resembled an arcade of sorts with various monitors and terminals that were shaped like games at an arcade. At the very center was a large, multi-screened circular terminal with multiple access points in four cardinal directions. Each access point spread out into a ramp that went downward and converged at a single circular platform at the bottom.

"This must be the way to the depths," Kiana commented.

"It looks like an arcade," Himeko pointed out.

"Strange. I'd expect Otto to make this more… I don't know, professional? It does look like an arcade. But be careful, you two. Looks can be deceiving," Kriemhilde said.

"Kriemhilde, I'm going to need your help. If Ana's access code can't get us in, I'll finesse yours into the system and brute force my way into administrator permissions," Tesla said, beckoning her over.

She glanced over at Himeko and Kiana and made a dismissive motion with her hand. "Shoo. I need to concentrate. Go take a break or something. I'll be done in about 10 minutes. Now, Kriemhilde, come here."

Kiana and Himeko stalked off to a corner in the room and slid down to the floor. The two took the time to rest from the constant turmoil of combat they had been embroiled in since they touched down.

Such conditions were familiar to the two, despite leading different yet similar lives.

"You two are hurt."

Kiana looked up and saw an orange translucent form standing in front of them. The figure's features became more defined as more feathers fell around them.

"There you are," Himeko said. A soft smile graced her lips.

Kiana, however, remained impassive in her gaze.

"Is this the place you were talking about, Fu Hua?" Himeko asked.

"... No, not yet. What you want is on the bottom-most floor. You'll find the answers there… and…," Fu Hua glanced over at Kiana. "You'll find the Judgement of Shamash being kept there."

Kiana nodded.

"She's been talking to you, hasn't she?"

Kiana's eyes widened. She looked up at Fu Hua, scanning her face for answers.

Himeko looked between the two curiously. "She? Someone's been talking to Kiana?"

"I can't tell for sure but… I can sense traces of someone else in Kiana's head. It's her… isn't it?" Fu Hua asked.

She opened her mouth to respond but in the end, nothing came out. Kiana said nothing for a few moments. "You knew her?" she asked.

"I do… but that's not important right now," Fu Hua said. "Cecilia is more important…"

"I… Right," Kiana said.

"Cecilia reminds me of her. Scarily so. And you remind me of a friend… no, a brother I used to have," Fu Hua said, smiling sadly. "I think… she reached out to you because you remind her of him too. Those two were twins after all."

Kiana nodded.

Himeko scratched her head, attempting to understand what was said between the two to no avail. After a few seconds, she gave up and turned to Fu Hua. "So what we need is down there? In the deepest part?"

"Indeed." Fu Hua looked at the other two occupants in the room, rifling through information and files. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar symbol on one of the files. "That symbol… actually, I take it back."

"Take back what?" Kiana asked.

"It looks like Otto hid information on his trump card here. No wonder…" Fu Hua muttered. "In any case, there is something important hidden here. You have to find it no matter what." She turned to face the two.

"...Oi! Brat! Himeko!"

Tesla's angry outbursts cut through their minds. The two looked up and saw Tesla standing with an annoyed expression on her face. Her hands were on her hips and she stared angrily down at them.

The pair looked for Fu Hua, only to see that she had vanished.

"...Are you two okay? We've been calling you for a bit now," Kriemhilde asked, looking worried.

"What the hell is wrong with you two? I've been shouting for three minutes. Hmph, once we finish here, I'm forcing you two to take a vacation. I don't care what Theresa says. All that fighting must have given you shellshock or PTSD or something," Tesla said, crossing her arms.

"Bah… forget it. Come here. We found something interesting." Tesla gestured for the two to follow her back to the control terminal.

Kiana and Himeko stood behind her as she pulled up several files. Massive projected screens all with various reports written on it.

"I didn't think Ana's access level was capable of breaking in this far. That's why I had to brute force it the rest of the way with Kriemhilde's access. It seems that… you knew about this," Tesla said, sending a side-eye glance at the older Kaslana.

Himeko and Kiana sent Kriemhilde suspicious gazes, waiting for her to say something.

"Yes. Remember when I said S-Ranks knew things on a need-to-know basis?" Kriemhilde replied. "Well, this was one of them. I was there… when this was deployed."

"What was deployed?" Kiana asked.

Tesla typed in a few words before a single file projected itself on the screen.

[MS-129 - Herrscher Slayer]

"It's a file. There is one audio recording but it's mostly just text and data. And… it's made by Otto," Tesla said.

"Open it."

Tesla nodded and clicked the file.

There was an accident… but the Herrscher Slayer proved its worth in the Second Eruption. The Cascade that threatened to swallow all of Siberia and possibly beyond was nullified. Cecilia's blood seed is nearly completed. I just need final component to perfect the Holy Blood of Schariac.

"Mom…? Mom's blood?" Kiana said.

"During the Second Eruption, Siegfried used the abilities of our family and overpowered the Second Herrscher. He managed to rip out the Gem of Serenity but doing so destabilized her core and caused her to cascade, spreading Imaginary Space to the entirety of Siberia… and if left unchecked, she would have destroyed Asia as well," Kriemhilde said.

"That was the first time the Might of An-Utu had been used in centuries but also, it was the first time I had ever seen the Power of the Saint being used to such a scale," she continued.

"So they've learned how to replicate this Power of the Saint?" Himeko asked.

"Keep reading."

Tesla nodded and continued to read. "Log TBOS-2014-0007. This frustrates me. We spent 14 years looking into this. And yet the last piece of the Holy Blood eludes me. Ana was a lost cause. Despite inheriting the Power of the Saint from the Schariac, the potency of her blood is not up to the point where it actively debilitates the user. In a way, she's luckier than Cecilia. She can purify the Honkai without suffering from the side effect of being as weak as a civilian. However, it lacks the sheer venom that Cecilia's blood possessed to be able to pierce through a Herrscher's cascade.

"Am I becoming impatient? No, I've been patient for 500 years. Still, the project to activate all 3 gems is on schedule. We can still proceed with the testing phase."

"So Otto wanted to possess the Schariac's Power of the Saint," Tesla said.

"Seems like it," Kriemhilde said, placing a hand on her chin.

"Hmm, it looks like he was rushing to finish this Holy Blood, otherwise activating all 3 gems would have been useless. Judging by what's happening outside…"

"You think he finished recreating Mom's blood?" Kiana asked.

"I don't know. We have to keep reading," Tesla said.

She clicked through several more files. All of it was nothing more than useless logs of how many trials Otto had gone through and the various failures he encountered.

"Mmmm? It seems that not even attempting to extract the blood from Subject K could… replicate the effects?" Tesla turned to Kiana. "It looks like… they did more than just clone you, Kiana."

Kiana narrowed her eyes as she read the file. Her jaw tightened. The more she read, the more she wanted to rip Otto's head off.

"We can stop reading if you want," Tesla offered.

"No. If we can find something here that can help… especially this Spear of Destiny, then let's keep going," she replied.

Tesla nodded and opened the next file. "Log TBOS-HV-0001. Dr. Magi is a true genius. He came up with the HSN-b46 serum which neutralizes Honkai Energy in vivo. The way it works is that it dissipates Honkai energy within the bloodstream as heat energy, which results in fevers. He wanted to cure Valkyries that were on the cusp of Cascade but I knew the true value of such a serum.

"This is the final piece of the puzzle needed to complete the Holy Blood…"

Kiana's eyes went wide. That name. "No way… Dr. Magi…?"

"You know him?" Tesla asked.

"I do. Cecilia and Fu Hua went on a joint assignment to Singapore. I arrived later as backup but we were too late. The man had died due to rampant Cascade. I put him out of his misery," Kiana said.

"Alas the good Dr. Magi is no more… Who would've known the White Death was so good at clean-up? She really does live up to her name. It's a shame really. I would have invited him to share a glass or two with me," Tesla read.

Kiana remained silent as she clenched her fists.

"Kiana, it's not—"

"I know!... I know… I just…" Kiana's shoulder slumped. "I didn't know… I was told the scientist cascaded by Fu Hua and the Overseer…I didn't know he was making these serums."

"There's more. Log TBOS-HV-0538. After adding a calculated ratio of [HSN-f-032] and introducing HSN-b46 into the serum, the solution turned bright red. There are 3 experimental groups: normal civilian females who serve as the control, C-Rank Valkyries who serve as Trial Group A, and female Infected to serve as Trial Group B.

"All subjects are 18 years of age. Height, weight, and physiological features are within global average. Civilians are of varying economic statuses. Results were as follows: normal females did not show any visible reaction after receiving the injection. The Valkyries lost their ability to wield the Honkai. Group 3 was the most interesting. The infected zombies entered states of pain and rampage before losing consciousness… and we detected faint brainwave signals from the unconscious subjects.

"More testing is required to prove our hypothesis. However, more resources are required to finish the HSN-b46 serum. The shortage is hampering our progress."

Tesla slammed her fist against the keyboard, startling everyone present. "This damned idiot! Can't you fucking finish your research in one log? I want to see the end result already! I bet you fail every meta-analysis done by other researchers, you effeminate blonde fuck!"

Kiana cringed when she heard Tesla curse. She saw Himeko deep in thought out of the corner of her eye.

"You okay?" Kiana asked.

Himeko's head snapped up and she smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine. Is there more?" Himeko asked.

"Yeah. This one's an audio file. Weird. The rest were text logs. It's the last one so I better see something useful or else I'll have wasted 45 minutes reading all of this bullshit for now reason!" Tesla said.

She clicked the log.

"Mmm? The file name is… corrupted?" Tesla raised an eyebrow as she clicked it once more.

"Ehehe… Ahahaha…. Gahahahaha! Eureka! Injecting the new Holy Blood serum weakened an Emperor Class Honkai Beast at visible rates! Its body could no longer control its inner Honkai energy. Within 5 minutes, the Emperor Class was immediately reduced to ashes. Humanity's Spear of Destiny is finally complete! At last, everything is now in place…

"K-423 and K-423-B are both within St. Freya. My informant is in place, and of course, the Spear of Destiny… All I have to do now is wait and monitor K-423. Finally, the fruits of my labor will ripen and I shall harvest it eagerly."

The audio log ended. A heavy silence fell upon them as they struggled to digest what they had just listened to. The man had known everything since the beginning, from Siegfried's death to their enrollment in St. Freyja. It appeared to have all happened according to his design. Yet, with this knowledge, they stumbled upon something they had least expected.

Himeko turned to Tesla, who remained silent as she stared at the screen full of information. Her eyes showed that her mind yet to catch up with what had been revealed by the information.

She coughed into her hand and spoke up. "Can… Can you recreate the Spear of Destiny? We have the instructions right here," Himeko asked. "And it's about time we use this." Himeko pulled a vial out of her pocket.

The vial contained a viscous red fluid inside of it. On the outside was a serial number in right yellow letters labeling the vial as HSN-b46. A small smile graced Himeko's face as she gripped the vial tightly. "It's about time we used this."

"Where did you…? Wait, was this what you were trying to tell me about before Edelweiss attacked us?" Kiana asked.

"Yeah. Fu Hua handed it over to me and said I can use it to reverse my Honkai sickness at the cost of my Valkyrie abilities but... I think we found a better use for it, right?" Himeko said.

"Himeko... no, we can find another way. Cecilia won't want that!" Kiana said.

Himeko shook her head. "No. It's the right way. It's either this or we put her down..."

"I—"

"No, we're not arguing about this. We have a shot to do this right. I don't want to waste it," Himeko cut her off.

Kiana clenched her fists.

"Not to be pessimistic but there's too little serum in this vial. Even if I do it according to the records and acquire samples of the Holy Blood, we'll only have one shot at making this. That means that… if we mess up even a single measurement, it's over," Tesla said.

Tesla began to type rapidly as she pulled up a manifest on the lab's entire stock. "There's nothing on here labeled 'Holy Blood'. But that serum, HSN-f-032 is located a floor below us."

"Are you sure you want to go through with this, Himeko?" Kriemhilde asked.

Himeko handed the vial to Tesla. "I'm sure."

Kiana clenched her fists. "Himeko… I…"

"Don't get all sappy on me now. Those girls are my life. My job as a teacher is to save them, even if it means… giving up my own in the process," Himeko said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Kiana's eyes widened before biting her lip. She remained silent and nodded mutely.

"Now, let's go. Kriemhilde, can you look after the good doctor while Kiana and I take point?" Himeko asked.

Kriemhilde nodded.

"Let's go, Kiana."

Kiana forced a smile on her face and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go save my sister."

There was no one left to oppose her. She sighed absentmindedly as her Honkai Beasts slowly laid waste to Schicksal's Headquarters. The Herrscher of the Void hovered in the air, looking apathetically at the blood-stained grounds.

The bodies of valkyries and scientists alike lay strewn haphazardly, discarded like yesterday's garbage by her Honkai Beasts. Those with sufficient enough resistance were converted and became Honkai Zombies, mindlessly shambling in the direction of wherever the largest concentration of humans were.

Nothing was spared her hatred.

Valkyries. Scientists. Even staff that had nothing to do with her suffering.

She was going to devour it all.

To get her revenge on the humans for robbing her of everything.

Her family.

Her father… Her mother… Her older sister…

The Herrscher of the Void blinked as foreign thoughts that were not her own began to surface. She held her head as she fought to suppress the influence Cecilia had on the body. However, the more she struggled, the harder it became.

"You… Be still… I'm doing this for us!" the Herrscher of the Void snarled to seemingly no one. "Mom… Dad… Big Sis…" The words that came out of her mouth were alien to her. Cecilia's influence was bleeding into her.

"Khhh…. Be quiet…" she said.

The prodding lessened yet remained, albeit at a degree she could tolerate. She had never once thought of them as family. Those delusions belonged to the weakling that inhabited this body and not her.

She was Sirin and not that weakling Cecilia.

Whatever this weak body had, she would destroy it to snuff out the other self.

It wasn't hers.

It wasn't hers.

That mantra repeated over and over again inside her head.

"Benares…," the Herrscher of the Void said.

At her call, the Dragon landed behind her. It let out a low guttural purr. Its snout and mouth were stained in blood and bits of viscera and meat were caught in the serrated teeth that lined its mouth.

"Hunt down those girls. I cannot afford to have them escape. They will only serve as nuisances in the future. Nuisances I have to eliminate," she said.

Benares roared in response before taking to the skies.

Her yellow eyes gazed back upon the glowing sea of flames that was swallowing Schicksal.

Their warmth evoked a familiar feeling within her. One she knew was not from the other girl inside her. Yet her denial prevented her from recognizing that this feeling was hers.

"Kiana…"

"Himeko! You idiot!"

"It's not my fault! I thought Tesla had deactivated all the security systems!"

Himeko swung Hrungnir and sliced one of the mechs in half. She ran forward, thrusting the greatsword with relative ease, tearing through it like paper. Her breath came out in heavy pants. The relentless waves of enemies were beginning to take a toll on her and with her sickness, she needed to—

An Asleikr Mystelainn raised its blade overhead. However, before it could, Kiana rushed forward. Her hand speared through its metal frame, tearing through it with ease.

The Mystelainn Mech shuddered for a few seconds, its core having been pierced by Kiana's spear hand. In one swift motion, she pulled her hand back, tearing away the core from its torn chassis.

Her clawed hands were stained in black oil as she gripped the spherical blue core in her hand. Her hand closed, shattering the core like a grape. The Mystelainn fell backward.

"Didn't… Kriemhilde tell you… to dial back on your… Kaslana powers?" Himeko asked in between huffs.

"Odd way to say thank you," Kiana said. The black lines on her arms became darker even after Kiana retracted her claws. She pressed the comms in her ear. "Kriemhilde, it's safe. Dr. Tesla can come out now."

After a few minutes, Kriemhilde came walking into the room, eyeing the mechanical carnage with a raised eyebrow. Tesla narrowed her eyes when she saw the state Kiana and Himeko were in.

"Idiots. Are you two still good?" Tesla asked. Despite her crass words, her face was filled with worry, especially at Kiana's state.

"I'm fine. Just…" she winced as a stabbing pain shot through her.

"Kiana. The more you use it, the more it'll strain your body," Kriemhilde said. "Don't forget that Shamash's after effects—"

"I get it already! I'm fine. As long as I don't fully convert like I did back at Nagazora, using this much should be okay," Kiana snapped.

Kriemhilde narrowed her eyes at Kiana's tone before pinching the bridge of her nose and letting out a frustrated sigh. This girl. She was every bit as reckless as her father, even if she was more careful than Siegfried ever was.

Tesla crossed her arms and looked around. "This should be the place. We'll split up from here."

"Wait. Split?" Kiana asked.

"I have everything I need here. And there shouldn't be any more security posted here. There's an elevator leading down to the bottom level. I want you two idiots to go and see what's down there and see if we can pull something out to help us subdue Cecilia... in a best case scenario," Tesla said.

"But—"

"We don't have time. If something comes up like Edelweiss or Rita, Kriemhilde is going to be here to keep me safe. Now go!" Tesla barked.

Kiana and Himeko exchanged glances before hesitantly nodding.

"Oh, and before you go, catch." Tesla threw a small mechanical device at them.

Kiana caught it in her hand and inspected it. "This is…?"

"Backup parts of a Valkyrie battlesuit. I don't think you need this since yours doesn't come with any special mechanical parts but your friend's battlesuit looks like it's going to fall apart. Don't want her fighting naked do you?" she asked.

Himeko's face flushed at the thought.

"Thank you, Tesla," Kiana said.

"Don't die down there. Remember what I said? I don't want to add you to my list of people I need to preplan funerals for, kid," Tesla said.

Kiana nodded.

Tesla and Kriemhilde watched as Kiana and Himeko made for the elevator. As soon as the door closed, Tesla immediately walked into one of the testing rooms and rummaged through their stock.

"I don't like this."

She looked up and saw Kriemhilde leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed.

"Can't you just test it on me?" she asked.

"You should be the last person saying that. If worse comes to worse, you might need to—"

"I know. You… don't have to tell me that…"

Tesla nodded before pulling a vial of violet fluid from one of the laboratory stock cabinets. She opened another drawer and pulled out a small syringe and a subcutaneous needle. After preparing everything, Tesla donned a pair of gloves and set down a small recorder.

"The time is now 15:44. The sample has now been prepared as per protocols. Commencing the testing phase. I have S-Rank Valkyrie, Kriemhilde Kaslana, on standby in the event that I am not able to succeed.

"Now commencing the testing phase." Tesla drew up the solution into a needle and prepared her arm with an alcohol swab. She then injected the contents of the vial into her arm. It was a Honkai solution.

An eerie pinkish-red light began to glow beneath her skin. The surrounding skin became a deathly pallor shade. Pink lines began to emanate from the injection site and make their way up her arm.

She knew what was happening. She had seen it happen countless times. This was the first sign of human zombification but never had she dreamed that she would see it happening to herself.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tesla saw Kriemhilde reaching for Balmung. She raised her other hand, causing the other woman to stop.

"Now… for the second solution. According to all followed protocols, the ratio for this solution is 1:2. According to experimental data, the Spear of Destiny theoretically should be a 1-milligram solution of HSN-b46 mixed in 2 ccs of HSN-f-032," Tesla narrated. "The vial of HSN-b46 contained 1 mg suspended within it. Such is that, I was able to measure out and accurately measure it out to have 2 shots. Within this, there is 0.5 milligrams of the HSN-b46 solution mixed with 1 CC of HSN-f-032. I shall now commence—"

Tesla began to cough violently. She clenched her jaw as the zombification advanced slowly.

"Theories, no matter how well they are embellished are just scratches on paper,... there are no other viable test subjects around. And in a situation such as this, I cannot throw away our most valuable military asset. Therefore… I will now commence the second testing phase."

Tesla pinched her arm and injected the shot of the Spear of Destiny serum. She pulled the needle out and slid down to the ground. There was no change in coloration on her skin. The deathly pallor, marred by pink vein-like lines remained.

"Hilde…," Tesla said.

Kriemhilde nodded and prepared to put her down in case it didn't work.

Tesla waited.

Perhaps the serum took a while to take effect. Perhaps…

No…

Tesla waited and closed her eyes.

According to the logs, the serum should only take a few seconds at most. Yet for her and her companion, these few seconds were the most torturous hours of her life.

"No way…"

Kriemhilde's voice floated through the darkness, forcing her to crack open an eye. Elation filled her body when she saw not the sickly white shade of a Honkai Zombie but the healthy skin on her thin frail arm.

Kriemhilde clasped her mouth. The sight had broken her usually calm facade. "W- It… did it…?"

Tesla let out several breaths she never realized she had been holding in. A wide grin threatened to split her face in half. She turned to Kriemhilde with a thumbs up.

"I'm… I'm a fucking genius…"

"Then does that mean that…?"

Tesla nodded. "Let's… go. Let's go save our brat."

Kriemhilde felt a heavy weight being lifted from her shoulders. "Ceci… wait for me. Your sister and I are coming," she said, mumbling under her breath.

Almost there! We're closing in on the ending.