"Who are you...?"
Seeing that the newcomer had turned his hostility toward her, Rita was just about to demand why he was helping a Herrscher when Raven spoke first.
(T/N: Using male pronouns now when using descriptions since… in the perspective of people who don't know that Sam is Firefly, with the exception of Raven.)
"I didn't expect you to come here in person... Sam."
Sam?
Fu Hua and Rita both listened closely.
Unlike Rita, who knew nothing about Sam, Fu Hua had met him once before. They hadn't really interacted, but she was still grateful that he'd taken Kiana to Firefly for treatment.
After learning that Heliopolis Life Sciences was backed by World Serpent, and that Firefly herself had received treatment there, Fu Hua had already guessed Sam was probably connected to the organization.
She just hadn't expected him to openly protect Kiana right in front of World Serpent.
Sam answered Raven with silence. The only response was the armor over his chest flaring with even fiercer flames.
"Sam, you still remember why you came to Arc City, don't you? Don't say I didn't warn you. She's about to become a Herrscher. Once that happens, she'll turn into a monster without human emotions, one that'll attack anyone in sight. There's still time to kill her before that happens."
Raven was already starting to think about running.
Fighting an incomplete Herrscher of the Void had been enough to make her hesitate, and now Sam had shown up right before the Herrscher of the Void reached her complete state.
There were plenty of opinions about Sam within World Serpent, and everyone had their own view of Sam. Jackal was far more wary and hostile toward Sam, while Raven herself didn't think she had much against her. But no matter what anyone thought, there was one thing everyone agreed on.
Destructive power.
Calling him a human-shaped nuclear bomb would almost be an insult to nuclear bombs.
According to their test data, this mech's output could completely surpass the Second Herrscher from the Siberian snowfields.
And that had been a fully awakened Herrscher with multiple cores.
"You're on the same side?"
Rita couldn't read Raven's mind, but she could clearly see how badly the woman wanted to back down.
"Up until a minute ago, more or less," Raven said.
'What kind of organization is this? World Serpent just lets people switch sides whenever they feel like it?'
"Sir, are you truly willing to let a Herrscher destroy this city at will?" Rita gave up on expecting help from Raven. Judging by Raven's reaction alone, this armored figure was clearly terrifyingly strong. Rita stepped forward with a grim expression. "If we don't kill her here, this entire city may be buried with her."
Fu Hua hesitated over whether she should reveal herself and say that wouldn't happen. As long as she had enough time, she and Kiana would definitely be able to suppress the Second Herrscher's consciousness.
But keeping track of what was happening outside was already pushing her limits, and she truly couldn't spare any more strength.
Besides, her existence was one of the trump cards she and Kiana still had left.
Fragments of metal hung loosely from the ceiling where Sam had forced his way through. A light breeze made them sway, and the moment one finally snapped free, the thrusters on Sam's back roared to life.
By the time Rita reacted, the silver-gray figure was already right in front of her.
Sam didn't bother answering. Faced with the standoff between the two sides, he chose the most direct response possible.
Rita's heart clenched. Her scythe moved on instinct, crashing into the fist flying toward her. Sparks burst from the impact, and the violent recoil nearly tore the weapon from her hands.
Even though she managed to hold on, numbness and pain shot through both arms.
'My muscles... they tore!'
She didn't dare clash head-on again. Using the force of the blow, Rita slipped sideways and retreated.
Raven had no desire to fight Sam either. The moment Rita drew Sam's attention, she pulled back her bow and aimed an arrow straight at Kiana.
The instant the arrow left the string, the thrusters beneath Sam's feet erupted again. His frame shot across the room like a silver-gray bolt, placing himself between Kiana and the incoming projectile.
He raised his left arm, and red-gold flames swallowed it whole, spreading into something like a curved wall of fire.
The arrow shattered the instant it struck the flames. Scorching air blasted outward, heating the metal debris on the floor until it began to glow faintly red. Sam didn't pause.
Using the momentum of his turn, he swept his right leg around in a blazing kick, the pressure whipping loose rubble through the air as it tore toward Raven.
"You've gotta be kidding me!"
Raven's pupils shrank. There was no way she was sticking around for this.
She wrapped herself in her cloak and blinked backward, barely avoiding the fiery sweep. A charred trench had already been burned into the floor where she'd been standing.
Rita had pulled a muscle, but she still wasn't willing to let Sam protect Kiana without a fight. While he attacked Raven, she tightened her grip on the scythe and rushed in from the side. Pale-gold Honkai energy gathered along the blade as she slashed diagonally toward Kiana's throat.
Both women had the same simple goal: they couldn't allow the Herrscher of the Void to fully awaken. Nothing mattered more than that.
But Rita had still underestimated Sam's speed.
"Action Two—Execute."
There was no such thing as losing momentum and needing time to recover. The thrusters behind Sam's calves exploded with even greater force, driving his entire body sideways toward Rita.
The floor blackened and melted beneath him, and Rita had just enough time to bring her scythe up in front of herself.
CRACK!
Rita stared in disbelief as the cutting-edge weapon forged by Schicksal snapped cleanly beneath the kick. Sam's attack didn't slow in the slightest before slamming into the Valkyrie's abdomen.
"Gah...!"
The pain twisted Rita's beautiful features, but Valkyries were trained to endure punishment, and an S-rank Valkyrie like Rita was especially resilient. Even with her weapon broken in half and her stomach feeling as if it'd been crushed from the inside, she still clenched her teeth and held on.
The remaining half of the scythe whipped through her hands, its tip stabbing straight toward a gap in Sam's armor.
That should've been one of the weakest points in his defense, but when the blade actually struck, the feeling that came back through the weapon made Rita's heart sink.
As she was sent flying, she finally understood why Raven had looked so eager to back down.
Even though Rita wasn't wearing her Godsbane Battlesuit right now, and the weapon in her hands wasn't Schicksal's finest work, she was still certain the result would've been the same even if she'd been wearing Argent Knight: Artemis. Sam simply wasn't an opponent she could defeat through brute force.
Rather than dying in a pointless fight, calling for reinforcements was clearly the better choice. Rita wasn't afraid to die if it meant killing a Herrscher and protecting the city, but there was a difference between falling in battle and throwing her life away. Continuing this fight had no value.
Raven, meanwhile, had completely lost what little desire she'd had to keep fighting after watching Rita get beaten down.
"Wait, Sam."
Sam turned his head toward her after dealing with the Valkyrie, and Raven immediately raised her hands in surrender.
"I'm not planning to die here. You know my situation."
Silence settled over the room for a moment. The silver-gray armor made no move to attack again.
Raven let out a breath of relief. "Then I'm leaving."
The black-clad figure didn't waste another word. She leaped onto an overhead beam, then slipped out through the opening Sam had torn into the room when he arrived.
Rita forced herself to stand despite the pain. When she saw that Sam had no intention of continuing his attack, she wisely kept any parting threats to herself and followed Raven out.
'Anything else can wait until Lady Durandal gets here.'
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL