Shifting the perspective back to the rooftop of Senba Academy, the original erupting conflict had temporarily ceased due to the even greater commotion created by Otto Apocalypse.
"Damn it! Did Overseer Otto activate the Second Divine Key ahead of schedule?!"
Seeing the golden void opened in the distant sky, Durandal's expression changed, turning rather grim.
"Our fight just now must have been too fierce, which stimulated Overseer Otto and forced him to start the experiment early."
"So, Sister Bianca, what could go wrong?"
Kiana, not understanding the situation, scratched her head in confusion.
"As for what could go wrong, even the Overseer can't explain it clearly. Schicksal has never conducted a large-scale experiment like this to open a gate to the Imaginary Tree before. The records from the Previous Era, which were exchanged from World Serpent, only mention it in passing."
"Opening this gate will summon an unlimited number of guardians of the Imaginary Tree, monsters called Imaginary God Constructs."
"And it is said that the higher-ranking guardians of these monsters possess extreme immortality. If they are not completely shattered, it is possible they will recover completely in the next moment."
"Moreover, Rita and the others are not here. Only one squad of the Immortal Blades is participating in this experiment. I must go back and help immediately!"
With that, Bianca stomped her foot, jumped directly onto Krishna, and rushed toward the gate in the distant sky.
"Raiden Mei, I will settle the score with you next time for your improper thoughts about my sister!"
"Eh? Saving people? Then this big sister will help too!"
Palatinus Equinox sent a party invite, and Herrscher of Flamescion joined Palatinus Equinox's team.
"Hmph... I'll help out as well... Also, Miss Bianka, you'd better explain yourself! What do you mean by me having improper thoughts about your sister?!"
Thinking of the children in the Nest, Cioara who must be making a cute little cat-like face right now, and Durandal who just threw out a "harsh remark," Raiden Mei very displeasedly chose to join the problem-solving team.
"Bronya's trivia class: Durandal-oneesan, Mei-oneesan's father is a high-ranking Executor of Anti-Entropy, so she is also from a prestigious family."
Bronya, who had been silent for a long time, began to support Raiden Mei, making the latter feel that the food she had cooked for them all these years had not been wasted.
"Huh??! I have indeed heard others talk about your background, Raiden Mei, but it was only hearsay. We Shenzhou people say that seeing is believing, whether it was our first meeting in Arc City or this encounter in Old Nagazora City..."
"I can't see a single trace of a refined young lady on you...?"
The rooftop brawl in Arc City before Raiden Mei violently clashed swords with her had left Bianca with an extremely strong stereotype of Raiden Mei.
[I don't know if you, the Third Herrscher Raiden Mei, are a refined young lady, but if you're talking about a fierce woman, then I, Bianca, can slap my chest and guarantee it's absolutely the real deal.]
"Uh, Big Sister, Mei really is quite gentle. Back at St. Freya, Mei was always the one taking care of my life..."
Hearing this, Durandal glanced at Raiden Mei beside her, only to be met with a fierce glare from a certain rice-cooking housewife who had matured prematurely...
"Sister, if you're being threatened, just blink... Big Sister will stand up for you."
"Eh? Big Sister, I'm serious! Mei really is very gentle usually!"
"Then what about this...?"
After receiving Kiana's repeated assurances, Bianca glanced suspiciously at Raiden Mei, who still didn't have a very good expression on her face, looking completely confused.
"Hmm... Bronya believes Kiana should take full responsibility for this..."
"That big idiot Kiana hardly ever contacted everyone at St. Freya again after the Schicksal War. She put on a disappearing act for everyone for several months. It's not unusual for her name to be heard without her being seen..."
"Although Mei Sister doesn't say it, she definitely holds a grudge. Besides, the last two times they met, Durandal Sister ruined it again..."
"Once you kidnapped Kiana right in front of her... just now you barged in to be a super-sized lightbulb while Kiana and Mei Sister were reminiscing... and even knocked both of them off the roof..."
Bronya began to list the faults of the two Kaslana Valkyries beside her and finally drew a conclusion...
"It turns out it's the Kaslanas who are in the wrong, not Mei Sister!"
"Even if our Kaslana family is 99% at fault! Could she, Raiden Mei, not have 1% of the problem?"
Bianca, refusing to give up, started to throw a tantrum on the spot, grumbling loudly.
"According to your logic, Durandal Sister, Mei Sister does indeed bear some responsibility. Mei Sister shouldn't have cooked such delicious food, which attracted that starving ghost reincarnated as Kiana back then!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Bronya, this is a blatant personal attack and retaliatory strike! What's wrong with our Kaslana family eating a bit more? Why haven't you said anything about Snow! Sister Bianca, don't you agree!?"
Kiana, the one called the starving ghost, immediately protested, pulling Durandal, who was also from the Kaslana family, into a joint verbal assault on Bronya.
"One point Bronya must correct is that Bronya was only describing Kiana's eating habits back then. Bronya has no complaints about the appetite of your Knight family."
"Pfft, pfft, pfft..."
Seele, who had been hugging Bronya's waist while sitting on Project Bunny's back seat, imagined the White-Haired Knight Princess's eating habits as described by Bronya and burst out laughing.
"If only your eating habits back then had been half as elegant as Sister Snow's, Bronya would not have called you a starving ghost reincarnated."
"You're clearly just bullying the weak and fearing the strong!"
The group continued their verbal sparring as they rushed toward the distant Node Gate, though a few of them seemed to have completely forgotten about a certain World Serpent mercenary far off in another part of the city...
"None of these Herrschers are any good!!!"
Cioara, infuriated, extricated herself from the wails of the children as she pointed and cursed toward the chaotic scene in the distance.
The one who had recently tried to get Durandal and Raiden Mei to stop fighting at the scene was none other than Miss Cioara herself.
The scene, nearly identical to one from years ago, had almost brought most of the children in the Nest to tears, leaving Cioara exhausted from comforting them to the point of purely wanting to die.
"Soothing one child might be fun, two can be a bit troublesome, three might be mentally exhausting... But soothing a whole group... you'll only be left wondering why you picked up so many little brats back then..."