The white-haired Knight Princess wandered absentmindedly through the desolate urban district submerged in seawater. This was the original site of Nagazora City, which had been abandoned and turned into a Dead Zone following the outbreak of the Third Honkai Eruption.
However, this city held a special meaning for Kiana Kaslana... This was the true starting point of her life's journey, where she met companions and forged friendships that would last a lifetime.
"Senba Academy... I remember this place, Snow, Mei, Kyuusyou, and Bronya..."
Everyone who had spent two years together on the St. Freya Academy campus had now gone their separate ways... While their futures might not be described as brilliant, they could at least be said to have achieved success.
Kyuusyou had become an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. Although her reputation among the Valkyries didn't seem to be very good, she still held a high position, fulfilling Kiana's own dream. As for Mei, she seemed to have slowly stepped out of the shadow of her past, accepted the power of the Third Herrscher, and even went to World Serpent's Elysian Realm for further studies.
As for Snow and Bronya, one would undoubtedly be the future new leader of Schicksal... while the other... Mr. Welt and the others seemed to vaguely have the intention of letting Bronya take over Anti-Entropy's affairs.
"We all have bright futures."
The spokespersons for the two poles of the world... That sounds pretty cool, Kiana thought... then she shook her head vigorously.
"Suddenly remembering Auntie and Overseer Otto, whom I met at the North Africa Base, I'm not so envious anymore..."
Recalling the daily routine of those two, the nominal Overseers of East and West Schicksal, working from dawn till dusk, Kiana shuddered all over...
"I wonder how Snow will deal with all the paperwork of the entire Schicksal after it merges back together..."
Imagining the super-doubled amount of documents Schicksal would have after unifying, Kiana clicked her tongue, secretly breaking a sweat for her friend...
But Snow has split herself into two... The problem shouldn't be too big, right?
She shook her head, tossing the speculations about her companions' futures to the back of her mind...
"Huh... What is that thing—?"
In the ruins of a building struck by lightning in the distance, a dazzling silver reflection caught Kiana's attention.
"Come to think of it... I think this building was split open by Mei back then..."
Flying up to the ruined building, Kiana sidestepped the falling concrete debris and looked at the strangely shaped longsword standing tall amidst the ruins...
The blade radiated waves of cold. The longsword, powered by Honkai energy, had been continuously activated in Nagazora City's high-concentration Honkai energy environment for nearly three years...
And with the help of this peculiar blade, the surrounding area formed a refreshingly cool zone in the summer.
"This is... Snow's sword from back then???"
Pulling the strangely shaped longsword from the pile of ruins, Kiana held the blade that felt a bit freezing to the touch and quickly browsed through her memory, soon finding the corresponding item.
"Was it lost here during the battle back then... Huh? Why are there traces of human activity nearby...?!"
Holding the freezing longsword, Kiana scanned the frozen area around her; a few scattered empty cans and drink bottles were abandoned here, and by the looks of it, they were clearly trash thrown here recently.
"Could there still be people living in this dead city... Hmm, the search and rescue personnel from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy should have been here more than once... Why didn't they leave with the rescue personnel?"
Kiana picked up a cola can and squeezed it, looking at the relatively fresh household trash on the ground, feeling a bit puzzled...
"Could it be that some crazy person deliberately came in here to play some thrilling 'Dead City Adventure'..."
Just as Kiana began to wonder if there really was a lunatic who would sneak into this Dead City, a somewhat unfamiliar young girl's voice brought her consciousness back...
"Um... Hello, talking white-haired Zombie Miss?"
A little girl wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, with pinkish-purple hair... at most around twelve years old, looked timidly at the strange big sister in front of her, who was talking to herself while holding an empty cola can.
"Um... Is the Zombie Big Sister here to collect scrap... If possible, Big Sister, could you not take away the sword stuck in the ground?"
"Ahhh?! Oh... Puh, puh, puh, who's the Zombie Big Sister? You're the Zombie!"
The series of questions from the pinkish-purple haired little girl in front of her completely left Kiana at a loss...
"But Teacher said the white-haired big sisters outside are all Zombies?"
"You can call me Big Sister Kiana, Miss Valkyrie, or Miss Herrscher, but absolutely not Miss Zombie! Wait! That's not right!"
"You almost tricked me into agreeing to that! Kid, this Dead City is very dangerous. You didn't sneak in here, did you?"
Kiana didn't dwell on how the girl knew about Zombies and Honkai. Instead, she looked at the little girl with some concern...
"This city is dangerous. Let Big Sister take you out of here..."
The Knight Princess extended her hand to the pinkish-purple haired girl, making an inviting gesture... However, the response she received was quite unexpected.
"No, Little Sora has always lived here with everyone. Although it's dangerous outside, Teacher clears the surrounding area every time she comes back... And she also brings back a large amount of supplies."
The girl named Little Sora revealed some information that Kiana was very interested in...
"Teacher? Um... So she's your guardian? It sounds like she's fully aware of the disasters caused by Honkai..."
"If that's the case, why is she keeping you in this dangerous city... Could that person be hiding some terrible secret!"
Kiana immediately sensed something was wrong and became alert.
"Ah, this... Big Sister Kiana, you've misunderstood Teacher... Teacher is a good person. She brings us plenty of supplies every month. There's a reason we can't leave this place."
"Teacher says our bodies seem to have some kind of illness... and that we can't leave for now. But Teacher says she will cure us... and take us to live in tall buildings and villas outside—"
Seeing Kiana's misunderstanding, Little Sora hurried to explain...
"I feel like you're making it sound worse the more you explain... Let's not even discuss what kind of person your teacher is for now... Little Sora, right? What's with all the trash all over the ground?"
"Don't tell me you guys usually live here...?"