Irene stood up and looked at Himeko. "Teacher Himeko, you should leave with the drones in a moment."
"Mn." Himeko nodded. She was well aware that her current physical condition was no longer suitable for remaining here; staying would only make her a burden.
Since that was the case, she might as well hurry to the Hyperion to take over command. Although she didn't know why Theresa was so reliable this time, Himeko was, after all, the Captain of the Hyperion.
"Mn, leave this hero's body to me." Himeko looked at Danzhu's body. Although the other party's body might have mutated under prolonged immersion in Honkai energy, she was undoubtedly a hero from 5,000 years ago.
No matter what, they couldn't leave her here. She had to be taken away and given a proper burial.
Just then, the sound of propellers came from outside. A drone flew in through the breach that had just been blasted open. Subsequently, the drone's AI automatically determined Irene and the others' location and slowly hovered in front of them.
Irene manipulated Judah's chains to lower Himeko, placing her onto the stretcher bed attached beneath the drone. Immediately after, Kiana didn't waste a moment and lifted Danzhu's body onto it as well.
However, because Danzhu's lower body had turned into a snake tail, it appeared exceptionally long. The medical bed, originally over two meters long, couldn't allow her to lie completely flat.
Kiana scratched her head, but there was no other way, so she simply helped strap on the fixation belts as best she could.
As Irene nodded toward the drone, the drone's AI understood that the loading was complete and flew back out toward the breach.
Seeing them leave safely, Kiana breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward the depths of Chiyou's body. "Alright, now that that's settled, we have no more worries."
"Mn, you're right. Next, we just need to advance quickly." Irene nodded and was the first to jump onto a neighboring rock. "Bronya, lead the way to the next Honkai energy gathering point. I think there should be another hero there."
"Understood!"
*
Hyperion
Upon learning that Himeko was returning immediately, Theresa hurriedly handed command over to the Adjutant and rushed non-stop to the deck where the drone was scheduled to land.
At the same time, she was worried about why Irene needed two beds. Was someone else injured?
When she saw the drone fly over safe and sound, Theresa breathed a sigh of relief, but then she saw Danzhu's corpse, which was crystallized all over.
"Eek!!!" Theresa screamed at the sight of the corpse, then looked at Himeko, who was struggling to sit up from the medical bed and unbuckle her fixation belts.
"Himeko, what kind of thing have you brought back this time? A Honkai Beast? Or a special Deadwalker?"
"It's a hero's corpse. Don't be so disrespectful." Himeko supported herself on the drone to stand up slowly. Thanks to Irene using Judah in time to reduce the extent of Honkai energy corruption, and having now left that environment, Himeko felt her physical condition improve instantly. At least she had the strength to stand and didn't need to go straight to the infirmary, which was good news.
"A hero's corpse?" Theresa tilted her head, then hurriedly asked, "What on earth were you doing in there? Did Irene say anything?"
"Just a minor accident." Himeko shook her head and looked at Danzhu's corpse lying on the medical bed. "And this... is one of the heroes who sealed Chiyou back then, Danzhu."
"Danzhu?" Theresa tilted her head, even more question marks popping up on her forehead. "What exactly is going on? What is the situation with this massive Chiyou? You have to explain it."
"I definitely have to explain, but now is not the time." Himeko shook her head. "Anyway, arrange for her corpse to be taken care of first. Come on."
"Mn, true enough." Theresa nodded and patted the Oath of Judah behind her. Judah automatically extended several light chains, gently detaching the medical bed from the drone and suspending it behind her.
"Oh? You finally stopped using Judah just to smash people?" Himeko looked at Theresa controlling the light chains. It wasn't like she hadn't fought alongside Theresa before.
Back then, Theresa basically just smashed people with Judah or used light chains to link light spears for ranged attacks—the former accounting for the vast majority.
To be honest, she suspected that Judah extended the light chains to attack on its own, rather than Theresa controlling it herself.
"What's with that look? Can't I make progress?" Sensing Himeko's gaze, Theresa looked at her with dissatisfaction. "I am the Principal, you know. Can't you show your Principal a little respect?"
"I am very respectful." Himeko shrugged. "I'll trouble you to settle this body. I'm going to resume command. No problem, right?"
"No problem at all." Theresa nodded. She then walked toward the holding area. The Hyperion was a battleship, after all, and Valkyries had to face Honkai Beasts; danger was unavoidable no matter what.
Therefore, the battleship had facilities and zones like a morgue, though of course, no one hoped to use them.
Taking the express elevator to the bridge, Himeko looked at the Adjutant. "I am retaking control. Adjutant, report the current situation, report losses, and the charging status of the main cannon."
"Understood." The Adjutant nodded. "Currently, drone losses have reached 30%. The Valkyries are clearing out Honkai Beasts, but they cannot get close to Chiyou's main body."
"There are currently no fatalities among the Valkyries. Eight are seriously injured, twelve lightly injured. Three fell into the sea because their drones were destroyed and are currently being retrieved."
"However, because of Chiyou's advance, the sea surface has become abnormally turbulent, and there are many aquatic Honkai Beasts underwater. Rescue operations are very difficult."
Compared to drones, which had no aura of life, Honkai Beasts preferred Valkyries; otherwise, the drone wouldn't have been able to carry Himeko and the others out.
But even so, many combat drones had been destroyed by Honkai Beasts during the process. Still, it seemed there were no reports of Valkyrie deaths yet—though injuries were unavoidable.
As long as there were no fatalities, it was a good thing. Himeko wasn't naive, so she just nodded. "Do everything possible to rescue those three. Without specialized Valkyrie armor, they will be at a huge disadvantage in the sea conditions."
"We are trying our best." The Adjutant nodded and continued reporting. "The Hyperion has also begun to suffer attacks from Honkai Beasts, but the self-defense firepower is sufficient to handle them. The surface shields are running at full power and there are no issues for now."
"Assuming this guy doesn't make a move on us." Himeko looked at Chiyou. She didn't think that Chiyou would just monotonously move forward. It just hadn't taken an interest in them yet.
Honkai Beasts, more or less, all possessed some ranged attack capabilities. Even the seemingly clumsiest Chariot-class Honkai Beast had a roar attack.
Unless they were the type specialized in melee, like Knights or Temple-class Honkai Beasts, most Honkai Beasts had some form of ranged attack.
It was also possible that the enemy was waiting for something—for instance, waiting for them to dismantle the seals.
A Honkai Beast like Chiyou would nine times out of ten have ranged attack methods. Honkai energy beams or something—it had to have at least one. With so much Honkai energy on Chiyou, brute force alone could make even a brick fly; it wouldn't be anything rare.
Thinking of this, Himeko frowned. Right, how could the enemy not have ranged guards? And why are the interfering Honkai Beasts so few?
She had paid attention while lying on the drone on the way back. Aside from the frontal battlefield, the Hyperion, which had been staying behind Chiyou, had suffered very few attacks.
So few, in fact, that it could be called perfunctory. This was not normal.
It wasn't strange for high-level Honkai Beasts to possess intelligence. Moreover, compared to a substitute Honkai Core barely formed through 5,000 years of accumulation, the original Honkai Core was definitely more powerful. After all, one was a derivative, and the other was the pure original. It went without saying which had better performance.
So, was this guy waiting for them to help it break the seals? Otherwise, with a Honkai Beast's intelligence, it wouldn't expose such a huge back to them.
Even the other Honkai Beasts coming to attack were pitifully few, as if they were waiting for the group to continue their work.
"We don't share communications with the Shenzhou side, but the situation over there probably isn't good either," the Adjutant's report continued. "Chiyou's size is simply too massive, and the number of Honkai Beasts is too great."
"We can only wait for the situation inside." Himeko looked at Chiyou. Although she had figured out that the enemy was waiting for them to attack the seals to unseal its own Honkai Core, they had to do it.
Because only this method could stop such a rampaging beast. It was said that attacking other places would, at most, be equivalent to a wasted punch or a pinprick to Chiyou.
The thing Honkai Beasts feared least was a war of attrition. Unless their Cores were destroyed or sufficient damage was dealt to prevent the Honkai energy in their bodies from repairing them, Honkai Beasts would not die.
And for Chiyou, achieving the latter condition was very, very difficult. They could only use the former plan. Now, they could only wait for the signal from inside.
"Is the main cannon ready? Is it charged?"
"It is complete. Ready to fire at any time." The Adjutant nodded. They had already sprinkled sensors resistant to Honkai energy corruption all over Chiyou.
This was why they could rely on Project Bunny attacking Chiyou's internal epidermis to detect the precise location and launch a precision bombardment.
"Then let's wait." Himeko nodded. She stood at the Captain's station and began macro-commanding the Valkyries to fill gaps in the battle line or directing drones to rapidly support specific Valkyries.
Just then, on the large screen displaying the full view of Chiyou, an alarm suddenly rang out. Everyone immediately looked up.
They discovered that Chiyou's epidermis had started vibrating again. Himeko's eyes narrowed. "Lock onto the vibration source..."
Just as Himeko wanted to give the order, she realized the vibrations on Chiyou's surface were continuing but were very scattered. It didn't look at all like the rhythm agreed upon with Bronya and the others.
Moreover, such a large area was unlikely to be marking a Honkai energy seal.
"Could it be that Chiyou discovered the interference... No, that's not right... Shouldn't it also be waiting for them to break the seal?"
Himeko scratched her head and lowered her hand, then continued her orders: "Cancel the main cannon firing command. Reset the alarm. Only detect locations with continuous vibrations in a single spot."
"Understood." The operator nodded, resetting the alarm trigger conditions as Himeko instructed.
Himeko looked at Chiyou on the screen. "I hope everything goes smoothly for Irene and the others."
*
Inside Chiyou's Belly
Meanwhile, after separating from Himeko, Irene was using Judah directly as a flail to swing around. Relying on the Power of Binding from Judah, she stood at the forefront.
Irene stepped forward with force, the Judah in her hand tracing a trajectory as she swung it forward, smashing the Honkai Beasts blocking the way. As for the Honkai Beasts that weren't smashed but merely grazed by the chains...
Flickering golden light surfaced on their bodies. Subsequently, like cannonballs, their bodies lost control and smashed directly into Chiyou's inner wall behind them, producing deafening booms.
"As expected, real combat is best~" Irene retracted Judah. She had merely made a few extra attempts, and finally, she could use 'Binding · Absolute Position' in reality.
Under the speed of the planet's rotation, these Honkai Beasts had no way to escape. Facing high-speed friction and direct impact, their bodies would be torn apart.
[Heheh, how is it? Useful, right? This is my signature move.] Kallen stood with her hands on her hips inside the Palace of Consciousness. [Although it has a tiny flaw, as long as it works, it's fine.]
[Good, good, I know.] Irene nodded at the smug Kallen. She pulled a light chain from Judah and whipped it forward. The Honkai Beasts touched by the light chain flew toward the rear without exception.
[Low energy consumption, forced banishment. Although powerful Honkai Beasts might use the Honkai energy in their bodies to lift the Binding state early, even one second is enough to send them flying a very long distance.]
Behind Irene, watching her performance, Kiana nudged Fu Hua beside her with her elbow. "Eh, Class Monitor, why do I feel like Sister Irene uses Judah even more familiarly than my Aunt? You're an A-Rank Valkyrie too; you should have partnered with my Aunt a few times, right?"
"Perhaps she has practiced specifically." Fu Hua pushed up her glasses. "And it's possible that Irene's compatibility with Judah is higher, which is why she can do it."
"However, thanks to Teacher Irene, our speed of advance has greatly increased."
"Mn." Bronya nodded as well. "According to Project Bunny's detection, we are about to reach the next seal point."
"That should be it." Irene stopped and pointed to a rock in the distance. "We can see it from here—that gigantic Honkai energy crystal."
________________________________________
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