“That concludes today’s lesson. Although tomorrow is a day off, I still hope you’ll all go back and review properly for the day after tomorrow’s exam…”
Just before walking out of the classroom, Himeko deliberately glanced over at Kiana.
Kiana: “Zzz…”
Anger immediately welled up in Himeko’s heart. She walked straight over to her, tapping on her desk:
“Hey, Kiana. Wake up. Class is over.”
“Mmm… so delicious… ahh… Himeko-sensei…”
“Sigh. Just thinking about you becoming a Valkyrie to fight the Honkai makes me feel sorry for this world. Alright, I’ll let you off the hook if you can answer one question correctly.”
“Name one form of Honkai disaster manifestation. Answer quickly!”
Still half-asleep, three options floated up in Kiana’s mind:
A: Honkai Beasts and the Dead
B: The terrifying Himeko-sensei
C: Of course, it’s me, the young lady herself!
Looking at the murderous glint in Himeko’s eyes right in front of her, Kiana answered without thinking:
“Umm… the terrifying Himeko-sensei…”
“What?! You brat… I see you really want to experience firsthand what it feels like to get beaten into a state of Honkai by me!”
Kiana swallowed hard, then immediately pointed at herself:
“Of course, it’s me, the young lady!”
Himeko was so angry she let out a laugh, responding in a helpless tone:
“Sigh… your little brain must definitely be one of the Honkai’s forms of manifestation.”
Hearing Kiana’s answer, no one could keep a straight face. Everyone burst into laughter simultaneously, and the atmosphere inside and outside the classroom instantly filled with joy.
Late at night, Kiana returned to her bed, feeling an indescribable sense of distress and irritation in her heart.
“Seriously, normally I’m not this sleepy. Why is it that today, of all days, I want to fall asleep no matter where I go…”
Hugging her Homu plushie, Kiana yawned one after another, and with a faint headache, she drifted off to sleep.
In her dream, Kiana felt she was back in the plaza of St. Freya again. But unlike usual, this time it was surrounded by mist. Within that haze, something was emitting a faint, eerie green light.
“St. Freya Academy… wait… Where is this? Why am I here?”
[Sigh… It seems I have indeed been sleeping for far, far too long… But now, the gears of fate have begun to turn once more…]
The voice, impossible to distinguish in age or gender, seemed to drift into Kiana’s ears from all directions, sounding somewhat eerie.
“Who’s there? Show yourself! I’m the future strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal. Come out now, or you’ll be sorry!”
[Schicksal… Valkyrie… Kiana Kaslana, your life… is truly so pitiable…]
“You… how do you know my name?!”
[I not only know your name, but also what exactly happened in Siberia 16 years ago… Sigh…]
Seeing the other party stop mid-sentence after piquing her interest, Kiana immediately grew anxious:
“You brought me here, what do you actually want?!”
[Bringing you here… well, that’s not entirely wrong either. Anyway, although I know quite a bit, those things are utterly meaningless to me, no different from trash…]
[Alright… It seems if I don’t make this clear to you, our conversation probably can’t continue…]
[Where should I start… Right, the reason I don’t appear before you isn’t that I don’t want to, but that I lack the ability. To use the words of the Third Planet… I am merely a lingering wisp of some existence. My memories are fragmented… I don’t know my own name, nor why I appeared in your dream…]
[However, I can still give you some of the information you want.]
[16 years ago, your mother, Schicksal’s former S-Rank Valkyrie, Cecilia Schariac, was in Siberia… turned to ashes by Schicksal’s Honkai energy fission warhead.]
“What! So my mom was a Valkyrie too, and an S-Rank… Wait, you’re saying she died from Schicksal’s Honkai energy… what bomb?”
[A Honkai energy fission warhead.]
“How is that possible? Why would Schicksal fire a… missile at its own S-Rank Valkyrie? Please at least have a draft ready before lying. Do you really think I, the young lady, would believe such a clumsy lie?”
Kiana placed her hands on her hips and scolded sharply.
[I don’t know, because my memories stop right at this scene… I remember… before that… Cecilia… she was already seriously injured… bleeding continuously…]
“I think you’ve just watched too many horror movies.”
Kiana’s face showed a look of disdain. It was clear she didn’t believe a single word it said.
[Horror movies, what are those…]
“It’s a type of TV drama that scares people. You don’t even know that.”
[Short-lived species live barely a century, yet without fear, they actively seek it out… The short-lived species on the Third Planet are truly bizarre…]
“What Third Planet? Stop adding some alien character background for yourself. That kind of trope is way out of date. Wake up from your chuunibyou delusions already.”
However, the voice seemed not to hear Kiana’s words at all and continued speaking on its own.
[Creating pressure for themselves without any external pressure, using various means to suppress their own instinctual desires… quite similar to the Mourning Actor. Perhaps one day, the gaze of Elation, that Aeon, will also fall upon this galaxy.]
“What nonsense are you talking about? Just tell me how to get out of here! I have an exam the day after tomorrow!”
[An exam… Sigh, alright. It seems solving practical problems is easier for building trust… Kiana, do you want to become stronger?]
Before Kiana’s eyes, the eerie green light suddenly brightened, dyeing the entire haze green.
[Imagine… you can control ice and snow.]
“Huh?”
Kiana scratched her head in utter confusion.
[…]
[Alright. It seems your class monitor’s assessment of you during the day was quite accurate. Imagine… there is an icicle in your hand.]
“Why should I listen to you, young lady?”
[It’s okay. This is how the brains of many intelligent life forms work. The more you try not to think about something, the more it appears in your mind.]
Just as Kiana stopped her defensive action, she felt something emerging from her palm.
“This…”
Staring at the roughly one-meter-long ice spike in her hand, Kiana was speechless with shock.
Facts speak louder than words. The relationship between Kiana and that mysterious existence instantly drew much closer. However, neither of them noticed that from the very beginning, a third person had been present in this space.
Enoxia watched as it gradually guided Kiana to use the power of the Herrscher of Ice, a slight smile curving at the corners of her mouth.
“The hunt… begins.”
