Schicksal Headquarters.
“Extreme East Branch transport ship Helios, you must turn back immediately. Continuing forward will be considered a betrayal of Schicksal! I repeat, Extreme East Branch transport ship Helios, please turn back immediately, or continued navigation will be viewed as treason against Schicksal!”
March 17th, St. Freya Academy.
“What? Principal Theresa is leading the entire Extreme East Branch in rebellion?”
“We’re not going to be purged, are we…?”
“I knew Theresa wasn’t a good person. Why else would Anti-Entropy have invaded so easily a few years ago? She must be the one colluding with them!”
“But… St. Freya Academy is actually Lady Theresa’s personal property, isn’t it…?”
“I trust the principal. There has to be some hidden reason behind all this.”
“…”
As news of Theresa’s betrayal reached St. Freya Academy, the whole campus immediately fell into chaos. People with all kinds of opinions started voicing them in every possible way. Since St. Freya Academy essentially gave its teachers and students maximum freedom within the rules, Theresa never bothered to build a faction of her own loyal followers in the Far East.
That’s why, when she decided to go against Otto, out of all the teachers and students on campus, only Himeko Murata, Raiden Mei, Bronya, Rena, and a few others who were already close to Kiana, along with the crew of the Hyperion, clearly stood by Theresa’s side.
But here’s the thing: even after Schicksal Headquarters ordered other branches to head to Europe to help intercept the transport ship Helios, they were nowhere to be seen. Either they claimed bad reception, or their fleets were still being repaired. Anyone with half a brain could tell they were just making excuses to avoid getting involved.
Because the heads of the other major branches, as well as the teachers at St. Freya Academy, aren’t fools either. Looking at the smaller picture, Theresa is still an Apocalypse by name. Who knows how things will end up? Until all the dust settles, the wisest move is to stay neutral and not pick sides.
Looking at the bigger picture, if the other Schicksal branches started tearing each other apart over Theresa’s rebellion, the world would plunge into civil war because of the intense infighting before the Honkai could even be defeated. In that case, humanity would destroy itself before the Honkai ever gets the chance. That outcome is clearly something none of the Schicksal branch leaders want to see.
And Theresa, who had already arrived over European airspace, was well aware of this situation. She wasn’t asking other branches to side with her. It was more than enough that they were staying neutral like this.
“Deploying the full-domain defense satellites. All Valkyries, prepare for level-one combat. Let’s all welcome the dawn of a new world!”
With a single command from Otto, the headquarters’ Valkyrie forces spread out their defenses across a three-hundred-kilometer radius around the floating island. The forward scout robots had already picked up traces of the transport ship Helios.
Boom!
Several machines were shot down, but even more aircraft swarmed in to surround them. Himeko Murata stood on the deck of the transport ship Helios, sighing as she cleared out the approaching enemies.
“Looks like we’ve entered headquarters’ airspace now. If the Hyperion were still here, these little enemies wouldn’t even need me to lift a finger.”
“Himeko, stop complaining. The Hyperion’s refit isn’t finished yet. Plus, it’s a much bigger target, so breaking through would be even harder…”
Just then, a ship several times larger than the Helios came into everyone’s view. Its main cannon was aimed straight at the Helios, already charging up.
“Wow… I haven’t been back to headquarters in years. I didn’t expect them to throw such a spectacular welcome party for us… Turn thirty degrees to starboard.”
The Helios moved according to Theresa’s directions. The main cannon’s laser blasted out, but it barely grazed past the Helios.
“But wow, their reaction speed is a little too fast… Uh-oh, turn forty-five degrees starboard!”
A second laser shot out from the other side. Fortunately, Theresa reacted quickly enough to save the Helios from disaster.
“I didn’t expect another ship to show up. What’s that ahead…?”
About two hundred kilometers from Schicksal Headquarters, countless special flying devices formed an electromagnetic barrier. If a ship tried to force its way through without the proper authorization, it would almost certainly be destroyed immediately.
“Dammit… I didn’t think we’d run into such huge trouble so quickly, even with the other branches staying neutral. So now we have no choice but to take the cannon fire and try to shoot down the electromagnetic emitters…?”
“Principal, let me go.”
Looking at Raiden Mei volunteering herself, Theresa just sighed.
“No, Mei. You’re the main force we’re counting on to rescue Kiana later. You can’t waste your stamina and Honkai energy now…”
At that moment, another person came to Raiden Mei’s side.
“My queen, let me go instead.”
“Rena… you…”
Theresa knew this wasn’t the time to hesitate. She clenched her fists tightly and slammed them down onto the table.
“Alright. Stay safe. Once the Helios breaks through this defense line, catch up with us as soon as you can.”
Rena glanced at Raiden Mei. Mei nodded, letting her know that Theresa’s word was as good as her own. Only then did Rena walk to one side of the deck and leap downward.
“RAAAAAHHH!”
With a mighty roar, a red dragon roughly the size of the Helios appeared beside the ship. That was Rena’s true form.
She swung her tail in a wide arc, swatting down the aircraft closing in on the Helios.
“This girl… she’s actually this big, huh…?”
Himeko took a brief moment from the fight, gazing at Rena right beside her and studying her carefully.
Rena adjusted her position, unleashed a blast of dragon breath, and pierced straight through two large warships. Then, her whole body crackling with lightning, she charged full force into the electromagnetic barrier.
Bzzzzzt…
Even though the electromagnetic barrier still looked completely intact, Theresa had already noticed something off. She ordered the Helios to shine a light on the target area.
“Rena! Attack the spot the Helios just lit up!”
Rena followed the order. The terrifying electrical current successfully blasted a hole right through the electromagnetic barrier.
“Yes! Full speed ahead! Get through!”
The Helios immediately shot through the gap, with Rena right behind them. In stark contrast to Theresa and her team’s excitement, Schicksal Headquarters was in absolute chaos.
“So… that’s the power of a Judgment-class Honkai beast…”
After witnessing Rena’s attack firsthand, many warships simply stopped in their tracks. After all, whether during the Third Eruption or in Nagazora City in 2014, Headquarters’ Valkyries had never actually seen a Judgment-class beast with their own eyes. It was a word that had only ever existed in their textbooks. And now that they’d seen it for real, they finally understood how terrifying it truly was.
“Lord Overseer, allow me to deploy.”
Cheng Lixue stared at the Judgment-class Honkai beast on the screen, her expression grave. She knew all too well that ordinary attacks wouldn’t pose any real threat to such a creature.
“This one… is definitely a problem. But Lixue, your responsibility is to protect the headquarters’ facilities and ensure its overall safety. The person who’ll handle this beast… has already been sent.”
Just as the Valkyries at headquarters were at a complete loss, a figure appeared in the sky.
It was Fu Hua, wearing the Shadow Knight: Moonfall battlesuit.
