A sea of fire spread across the earth, and everything in the industrial district had been reduced to scorched ground.
For World Serpent, that sight was unusual, but hardly unfamiliar. What no one had expected was for World Serpent's own industrial complex to be the one burning.
The Valkyries, unable to summon even a shred of strength, had been certain they were about to be wiped out.
Instead, a silver-gray mech dropped from the sky and destroyed the combat machines surrounding them in moments. Judging by its design alone, the mech looked far more like an enemy than an ally.
"You... are Schicksal Valkyries."
A man's metallic voice came from within the mech. Alvitr forced herself to raise her weapon despite the weakness coursing through her body, even though she'd never been the type of Valkyrie who specialized in combat.
"Who are you? Are you reinforcements from Heliopolis Life Sciences?"
Sam had no intention of answering. After confirming Kiana wasn't there, she leaped back into the air and turned toward the only intact structure in the entire industrial district.
It was quite literally a black box—a plain rectangular building with no decoration whatsoever. The black coating that covered its surface clearly wasn't ordinary, but against Sam, whatever made it special didn't seem likely to matter.
--+--
Rita watched Raven's reaction. The tremor shaking the ground had clearly caught the woman observing from the sidelines off guard as well. The figure perched on the overhead beam had pulled out something resembling a communicator and was trying to contact someone.
Whatever had just happened, this was the perfect chance to escape. Yet one look at Kiana made Rita's heart sink.
The white-haired girl wore an expression of fierce resistance. Her brows were drawn tight, and cold sweat kept beading across her face. Her condition was far worse than it should've been.
'That shouldn't be possible.'
Rita was confident she'd left enough room in her estimate for when they needed to withdraw. Kiana shouldn't have deteriorated this badly... Wait. Could the gas from earlier have weakened Kiana's consciousness along with her body, giving the Herrscher of the Void an opening?
That was exactly what had happened.
The Herrscher of the Void had been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time.
She hadn't launched a serious counterattack before because Fu Hua kept getting in her way, and Firefly's appearance had only convinced her that the chances of succeeding were too low.
Instead of constantly making trouble and putting Kiana and Fu Hua on guard, it'd be better to save everything for one decisive strike. The moment she'd learned Kiana planned to take this risk, she'd begun waiting.
And now, her chance had finally come.
Fu Hua was drenched in sweat as she struggled against the Herrscher of the Void's sudden assault. Her own power had been fading for some time, and the reason was simple: she was only a feather.
Even if the Honkai energy Fu Hua had once possessed allowed her to maintain her existence, it could never last forever.
This wasn't the first clash between a Herrscher persona and a human one, but never had it happened under conditions this dire. Fu Hua understood perfectly what Sirin was trying to force her to do.
Either Fu Hua kept resisting until everyone went down together, or she let Sirin seize control of the body. At least then, Kiana herself might survive.
Fu Hua's anxiety mounted by the second, and Rita wasn't doing much better. Of all the moments for something to go wrong, why did it have to happen now?
Then Rita saw the gold slowly flooding Kiana's eyes.
There wasn't much time left.
Stopping World Serpent's plot was important, but in Rita's mind, preventing the Second Herrscher's resurrection mattered even more. World Serpent might destroy one city. The Second Herrscher would unquestionably destroy far more than one.
Raven felt the same way.
For reasons she couldn't figure out, she couldn't contact anyone outside. With the true Second Herrscher on the verge of awakening, there was no way she could keep sitting back and watching.
Several dark-red arrows trailing black feathers shot from her hands without warning. A flash of golden light swallowed them into Imaginary Space, only for them to emerge again and fly straight back at her.
"Hey! How about a temporary truce?!"
Raven dodged the returning arrows and jumped down from the beam. Her face was grim as she turned toward Rita and made the offer in a heavy voice.
"Letting the Herrscher of the Void wake up won't benefit either of us, will it?"
Rita gave her an icy look.
This woman had trapped her. The members of the Immortal Blades were also very likely facing a crisis they couldn't handle, yet Rita had no choice but to cooperate with the person responsible.
"In my current condition, I can't exactly join a fight against a Herrscher."
Her smile held no warmth.
"Don't worry. I've got what you need." Raven didn't hesitate for long before pulling a syringe from inside her coat and tossing it to the weakened Rita. "Anywhere works."
There was no time for suspicion. Rita tore open the packaging and immediately injected it into the side of her neck.
A cold sensation spread through her body, and she could feel her control over Honkai energy gradually returning.
"How do we contact the outside?" Rita asked.
"We can't. This whole building was designed to isolate itself from the outside world. Without outside communication, even getting out of here will be a pain." Raven's tone sounded almost casual, but beneath it she was already panicking. "If we don't act now, we won't get another chance."
Rita didn't bother suggesting that the two of them simply work together to break out. They barely trusted one another to begin with, and who in their right mind would turn their back on a Herrscher? The instant they did, they'd probably be attacked.
Rather than betting on forcing their way out, it'd be more realistic to hope the building collapsed during the fight.
"Cover me."
Rita glanced at the black bow in Raven's hands, then took the role of vanguard herself. Tightening her grip on her scythe, she charged toward Kiana and swung.
Fu Hua knew she couldn't hesitate any longer. She had no idea how long Kiana's subconscious defenses could hold out against an S-rank Valkyrie. But asking her to stand by and watch Kiana die...
'No...'
Letting Sirin out wasn't an option either!
Her emotions felt like a string pulled so tight it was one breath away from snapping.
Yet before Fu Hua could force herself to make a choice, an enormous crash and violent tremor brought everything in the room to a sudden halt.
A silver-gray figure wrapped in searing heat smashed down from above and struck the floor head-on. A vast wave of scorching air exploded outward from the impact.
'Could he be... the one behind those strange tremors outside? Who is he?'
An unidentified third party had appeared at the worst possible moment. Rita nearly ground her teeth together. If not for the composure she'd cultivated over so many years, she might've forgotten every trace of a maid's dignity and let her expression twist outright.
The flame-wreathed mech swept its gaze across the room. Once it noticed Kiana's strange condition, its attention shifted toward Rita and Raven, who were clearly preparing to attack her.
"A Valkyrie... and a Snake."
Sam's voice dropped low, carrying an unmistakable warning.
"Leave now, and no one gets hurt. Otherwise—you'll all die."
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL