Enoxia waved her hand, and the Honkai beasts beside her immediately and obediently backed away.
“Dr. Tesla, don’t make that face. When we met in Siberia seventeen years ago, you should have seen my abilities.”
“You…”
In Himeko’s memory, Enoxia often skipped class too. But unlike Kiana, Enoxia was the type who wouldn’t attend class and wouldn’t do her homework, yet still managed to score high on exams. Because of that, Himeko never really got after her about it. Still, her instincts as an ace of the Far East Branch told her that this girl was far from simple.
“Teacher Himeko, no need to be nervous. I’m not working with Otto. As for these Honkai beasts… I used the authority of the Herrscher of Corruption to control them, so right now, they’re essentially my familiars. They won’t harm you.”
Himeko glanced at Tesla, who nodded to confirm that Enoxia was telling the truth.
“What you said just now, about the danger already being resolved… what do you mean by that?”
Enoxia snapped her fingers, and the screens in the lab lit up automatically.
“Please watch the VCR.”
What played on the screen was a scene of Sirin brutally beating the Herrscher of Ice, with Enoxia assisting her.
“Right now, the Herrscher of Ice has fled. Based on my estimates, within at most half an hour, it will attack a target that is both large and capable of fighting back: the Hyperion.”
“Now, you have two choices in front of you. First: take off the Vermilion Knight: Eclipse armor, return to the Hyperion to recover, and leave the Herrscher of Ice to me and Sirin to handle. Since we were able to defeat it once, naturally we can defeat it a second time, a third time…”
Himeko looked at the crimson greatsword in her hand and spoke very calmly.
“If that’s the case, how much longer will I live?”
Enoxia thought about it seriously for a moment.
“Considering you’re continuing to fight in your current physical condition… You’d have about one month left. And after about ten days, your organs will start failing rapidly. The last twenty days would have to be spent in a hospital bed…”
“Then I choose the second path.”
Using Vermilion Knight: Eclipse to fight the Herrscher of Ice to the finish—whether she won or lost, her life would burn away completely. Enoxia hadn’t said it yet, but Himeko clearly already understood what the outcome of the second option would be.
“Alright. That’s the kind of choice only you would make, after all. So, I won’t stop you. But… could you spare me ten minutes of your time right now?”
Although Enoxia spoke very politely, her actual actions showed that she had no intention of really asking for Himeko’s opinion. She walked straight up to Himeko and placed her hand on her head.
“This is…”
“Relax. If I wanted to do something to you, I wouldn’t have needed to wait until now.”
Ten minutes later, Enoxia left. Himeko checked her body and confirmed that nothing had actually happened.
Another twenty minutes later, the Hyperion arrived above the southern outer perimeter of the Honkai laboratory, Helheim.
“Four kilometers remaining to the coordinates provided by Dr. Tesla. No abnormalities nearby.”
On the Hyperion, Bronya carefully observed the surroundings.
“Copy that. Begin deceleration and descent. Prepare to search for Tesla and the others.”
Under Dr. Einstein’s orders, the Hyperion began to slow down gradually.
“Dr. Einstein, how are the academy principal and Mei-neechan doing…?”
“Principal Theresa and Mei were injured fighting the Judgment-class Honkai beasts and the Herrscher. Fortunately, their vital areas weren’t hit, but they’ll still need some time to recover…”
Just then, alarms blared loudly on the Hyperion.
“Doctor! Radar detected a large number of Honkai beasts approaching the Hyperion.”
“Prepare to engage.”
Bronya walked out onto the Hyperion’s deck and looked at the swarm of Honkai beasts drawing near.
“Bunny, lock onto targets. Fire!”
Combined with the Hyperion’s firepower, the Honkai beasts were all eliminated before they could cause any major damage to the ship. Just as everyone was starting to breathe a sigh of relief, another anomaly occurred.
A terrifying cold wind swept out from ahead, and the temperature around the Hyperion plummeted rapidly.
“It’s the Herrscher of Ice! All units, be on alert—”
“Report! Main engine—the main engine is under attack! Temperature dropping rapidly… the main engine has shut down!”
Einstein stared at the fading light on the screen, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
“Everyone! Brace for impact!”
BAM!
With a deafening crash, the sound of metal smashing against metal pierced through everyone’s eardrums. The world before Bronya’s eyes began to spin wildly. Her body was thrown by the inertia, tumbling across the ground several times before she finally stopped.
“What… happened? Did the Hyperion… crash-land?”
Just then, the alarms went off again. This meant the second wave of Honkai beasts had arrived.
“No, I have to hurry—”
In the cold darkness, Bronya’s vision slowly began to return. A sliver of light pierced through the darkness. As time passed, the world before Bronya’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. And then she saw it: fire. Burning.
“Hah!”
Bronya pulled herself up from the deck, just as the Honkai beast in front of her was sliced clean in half.
“Teacher Himeko…”
“You did well, Bronya. Leave the rest to me!”
“Dammit. With visibility this bad, I can’t see a thing!”
Dr. Tesla looked around at the harsh operating environment and couldn’t help but curse under her breath.
“I’ll hold the enemy off. Make sure the wounded are safe. Can the Hyperion still launch?”
After a quick inspection, Tesla’s mood sank to rock bottom.
“The main engine is completely dead. Port-side armor has been stripped off. The power room took a direct hit, and the shock absorption system is heavily damaged. Unless the Herrscher of Ice moves far away or is completely destroyed, the Hyperion isn’t going anywhere!”
“Then we destroy it!”
Himeko looked up toward the sky. The Herrscher of Ice was standing right there. It raised its hand slightly and fired an ice spike at Himeko, who was struggling against the Honkai beasts.
BAM!
An explosion rang out. The Honkai beasts tangled up with Himeko were all blasted to pieces, but fresh blood was now seeping from Himeko’s left shoulder.
“This guy is really something else… But even if I’ve lost my blessing, even if I can’t beat other Herrschers, there’s no way I can’t beat you!”
Thinking just that, the Herrscher of Ice dove down from the sky, charging straight at Himeko.
Himeko’s greatsword crashed against the solid ice in front of it. A wave of cold instantly spread through her entire body. She kept exhaling frosty breath, her reactions grew slower and slower, and her body kept retreating. She even felt like she was about to freeze solid.
But the next moment, Himeko felt a warm current surging from within her heart.
Was it because of the Herrscher of Fire’s core? Or was it because her heart had always burned as fiercely as flames? She didn’t know. What she did know was that she had regained her strength.
“Hah!”
Himeko pushed forward again, shattering the ice in front of her and sending the Herrscher of Ice flying back dozens of meters.
“What?! That armor!”
A burning sensation spread through the Herrscher of Ice’s body once more. It looked at the gash cut into its left shoulder, and fury surged within it.
“Why?! I should have killed you a dozen times over by now!”
Seeing the pained expression on its face, Himeko’s confidence soared.
“Sorry, but that’s just how I am. I’m a pain to get rid of!”
Her blazing greatsword whipped up a scorching storm, melting the cold, solid ice completely.
“Damn you! I’ll use every bit of my power to tear you to shreds!”
The Herrscher of Ice focused all its attention on Himeko, forgetting that in the distance, another pair of eyes was watching it.
[System control: ready. Output control: ready. Trajectory control: ready. Target: locked. Distance error: adjusted. Complete.]
“Moonlight Throne. Fire.”
The secret weapon hidden aboard the Hyperion unleashed its full power against the Herrscher. A colossal beam of light erupted from the cannon, washing over the Herrscher’s body in a torrent of luminous energy.
“AAAAAAHHHH…”
The Honkai energy inside the Herrscher of Ice went berserk, leaking out from every part of its body like a wild thing.
To be precise, the Honkai energy didn’t just scatter. It transformed into blinding light and intense heat, rapidly draining away from its form.
“No way… my body…”
The Herrscher of Ice felt itself being torn apart. The torrent of photons seemed to peel away every inch of its being.
Using every last ounce of its strength, it fled into the distance.
“Bird’s nest head! The Moonlight Throne dealt serious damage to it, but it still got away.”
“Forcefully activating it was still too much, I guess… Check the engine status. As soon as conditions allow, we’re evacuating immediately!”
