When Kiana woke up, she found chaos all around her. The entire city had become a paradise of destruction. Among the broken walls and crumbling ruins, the density of zombies and Honkai beasts was even higher than in Nagazora City two years ago.
For Kiana, zombies and Charger-class Honkai beasts weren’t too much of a problem; no matter how many came at her, she could fight her way out. But Chariot-class and Temple-class Honkai beasts were more troublesome. They were huge and numerous, completely blocking the roads. To move forward, she had to eliminate them.
“Gungnir execution!”
Kiana, having activated her Moonlight form again, unleashed her ultimate. A massive pillar of light blasted forward, reducing five Chariot-class Honkai beasts and dozens of zombies blocking the path to ashes.
“Pant… pant…”
After fighting for a long time to clear out the nearby zombies and Honkai beasts, Kiana, completely out of breath, rushed into a nearby store. Her eyes quickly scanned the area, looking for anything useful.
It was a department store that originally should have had three floors. But now, only part of the first floor remained; the second and third floors were simply gone.
Fortunately, the food section was still relatively intact. Only a few hours had passed since the Herrscher’s birth. So even though it was summer in New Zealand, most of the food hadn’t spoiled or gone bad.
Having fought continuously for hours, Kiana was starving. Without thinking too much, she grabbed bread from the shelves and started eating, and picked up drinks nearby to gulp down.
Twenty minutes later, leaving behind a mess of wrappers and four empty bottles, she finally filled her stomach.
“Bang”
A Charger-class Honkai beast burrowed out from a broken wall, knocking over a shelf in front of it. Kiana raised her pistol, and a single bullet ended its life.
Kiana understood that Honkai beasts from other areas were wandering here. The appearance of the first one meant another tough battle would begin soon. She had to cherish this precious time to recover her strength as quickly as possible.
Plonking herself down on the ground, Kiana looked at the dazzling array of goods in front of her. With no one to help her, her single-celled brain had to start working. Two choices lay before her.
Stay and hold out in the supermarket, or continue trying to break through.
The surrounding Honkai beasts had been cleared. Apart from one Temple-class beast, the biggest threats were at most Chariot-class. This meant if she chose to hold out in the supermarket, as long as she could deal with the large beasts in time, she could fight a defensive battle using the terrain. This way, she could conserve a lot of energy.
Moreover, the supermarket had plenty of food supplies. Even with her appetite, holding out for a week would be more than enough. By then, reinforcements would surely have arrived.
However, New Zealand wasn’t like the United States. Although the supermarket had food, there would definitely be no ammunition resupply. If she ran out of bullets, she’d have to fight the Honkai beasts hand-to-hand.
Most importantly, holding her ground here meant losing the chance to contact her teammates. What if they were like her, still alive but trapped deep within a swarm of Honkai beasts?
“Auntie Himeko…”
Thinking of Himeko, Kiana made up her mind. She couldn’t waste time here. She had to go find Himeko and the other Valkyries, and do everything she could to save them.
She knew, of course, that this was very risky. Not only would it consume more energy, but she might also encounter Honkai beasts even more troublesome than the Temple-class.
But once she had recovered enough, she still resolutely left the comfort zone she had fought so hard to create.
——-
Under normal circumstances, there were only two ways to enter New Zealand from abroad: by plane or by ship. But now, both methods faced immense obstacles.
After discovering the Anti-Entropy fleet in the South Pacific skies, the Schicksal South America branch immediately dispatched its own fleet to engage them. After Walter’s replica served as a useless sacrifice, Cocolia realized the Herrscher of Wind’s core was not meant for her. To avoid greater losses, she ordered a retreat.
After defeating the Anti-Entropy fleet, the South American branch fleet sped towards New Zealand at full throttle.
Unfortunately, not every ship is called the Hyperion. The South American fleet suffered heavy losses against the terrifying storms. By the time they flew over New Zealand, their combat effectiveness was less than half of what it originally was.
Subsequently, the entire fleet was attacked and lost contact forever. According to the final video footage sent back, an orange-yellow bird-like creature appeared behind the fleet. Based on its Honkai energy levels and behavior, Schicksal Headquarters determined it was a new Emperor-class Honkai beast born because of the Herrscher of Wind.
Reinforcements from other directions faced similar difficulties. Durandal had already arrived over Australia, but her private jet couldn’t get close to the destination.
One can’t make bricks without straw. No matter how powerful she was personally, she couldn’t cross the Stormy Sea on foot, walking from Australia to New Zealand without any bridges.
As for ships, that was even more unthinkable. Even a level 6 tornado, which nature could generate under extreme conditions, would have enough power to snap a heavy aircraft carrier made of dozens of centimeters thick alloy steel right in half.
Schicksal analyzed that even if they used the old method from 16 years ago—having Durandal fall from over 10,000 meters in space—the interference from the Emperor-class Honkai beast would prevent Black Abyss White Flower from hitting the Herrscher.
And if that one strike failed, Durandal would most likely be swept who knows how many kilometers away by supersonic storms.
As for Durandal’s personal safety, Otto wasn’t too worried. After all, when she was six years old, her plane crashed from several thousand meters high, and she landed on her head, only losing some memories. Getting swept into the Pacific by a storm? She’d definitely be fine.
But in the worst-case scenario, Black Abyss White Flower itself could directly fall into enemy hands. It was only reasonable that Herrschers aren’t affected by the negative effects of Divine Keys.
Even if Wendy couldn’t use its rated output, it would only make the already unfavorable situation even worse.
And if Durandal didn’t take the Divine Key, the probability of her being able to wound the Herrscher was definitely zero. Other Honkai energy weapons would likely be destroyed before they even reached the Herrscher.
Although Otto’s actions were always radical, they were actually very steady. Whether in New York over 60 years ago or in Siberia 16 years ago, even if he failed to achieve his strategic objectives, he could still retreat unscathed.
Given that Wendy was clearly stronger than previous Herrschers of Wind, and with the new Emperor-class Honkai beast present, using the 16-year-old method wouldn’t be bold—it would be stupid.
But Otto wasn’t panicking, because he did have a plan with a higher success rate: waiting for Kiana to fully awaken her Herrscher powers, and letting a Herrscher fight a Herrscher.
Even in the worst-case scenario, where Kiana also became a Herrscher like Wendy, the moment the Herrscher of Ice descended, the Herrscher-level energy and the movement of surrounding molecules would disrupt Wendy’s storm. At that point, he just needed to seize the opportunity and get Fu Hua and Durandal successfully into the battlefield.
Based on experience from 16 years ago, once the Herrscher of Ice and Herrscher of Wind joined forces, the Herrscher of Reason, Herrscher of Void, and Herrscher of Corruption would definitely not sit idly by. At that point, he might just need to watch from the sidelines.
“To make her awaken, she has to be pushed to her limit. Her current thoughts are exactly what I want.”
Looking at Kiana’s route on the satellite, Otto revealed a satisfied smile.
But unfortunately, the subsequent developments didn’t follow Otto’s script. Because World Snake had also entered the battlefield.
