Fields full of flowers were blown in gusts, with the gloomy clouds dropping down in heavy rain, drenching the Squad U of the Hyperion's battlesuits. The thundering storm crackled violently, creating a flash within the gray clouds.
All of the squad looked above with shocked expressions while simultaneously being cautious and posing their defensive stance in this situation.
The glowing Stigmata insignia marked on the back palm remained stretched to the side in front of Kiana. It was now static in a teal hue glow.
Kiana's eyes widened in horror. She couldn't get herself focused on the opponent, as not only was she shocked to see Wendy's Herrscher form, but the insignia on his palm mattered a lot, making her more horrified and worried about him. Her eyes twitched up and down.
What's more terrifying was how the mark reminded her aunt's that it almost assimilated her life had Mei not interfered and his cure not been done.
'Y/N... you have that mark like Aunt Teri...?'
Raindrops splattered, and thunder crackled across the sky.
Wendy, who was watching the squads with her sinister smile, started to flap her energy wings, creating a gust of wind at 90 meters all around the area, enough to send people away with the pressure of the wind.
The momentum of the flaps gathered more gusts over time, creating more rapid winds and thus creating a fog environment, losing their visibility into the atmosphere.
They tried to resist the gust, as their bodies got dragged back by the pressure, but they managed to get on foot. The blow fused with the rain drops resulted in a sudden temperature decline on the squad's body, causing their strength to deplete and weaken as they dropped to their knees.
Y/N still bore the cold he inflicted, still struggling to keep himself standing. He crossed his arms to block the gust with his eyes barely open since it would sting him with the cold wind.
"It's so cold!" Kiana exclaimed, as her body was starting to freeze.
Her words and the sensation of the frost thriving on his skin suddenly triggered the painful experience he had been through in his head. His eyes widened in shock, as if the trauma he had endured came up again, not caring if it had stung his eyes.
'!!!! It's the same thing again! I was in that forest....'
"Kiana-chan! Kuso!!" Mei gasped and exclaimed in a panic at seeing her friend freezing to death.
She glared up at Wendy in rage, then immediately slammed in her Knight Brace with the Knight Blade, transforming into her Ultra-suits Hikari.
[Ultra-Suits Hikari: Activate!]
Right after her Ultra-suit had been put on, She swiped the bracer channeling the yellow energy blade, and attacked Wendy by swinging her sword in a crescent slash energy.
Wendy glared her eyes and saw the attack, smiled widely, and deflected the slash with her wind power. She quickly thrust her arms, unleashing a vortex wind toward Mei.
Mei gasped in shock and leaped away from the attack while rolling herself. The stained ground caused her battlesuit to be covered in mud, but she didn't care, as she kept slashing at her until it hit while also dodging the oncoming attack. The armor of her Ultra-suits could resist a heavy blow from the gust.
However, she realized her attacks remained futile if she kept slashing. "Kkhh! Nara!"
Mei sheathed her Knight Blade and immediately stretched her arms to the side with her hands clenched. Her Ultra-suit was switched to Arb Armor, covering her face with the helmet to protect the gust from entering her sights. The armor started to absorb the gust and convert it into energy while simultaneously, she let out her groan of struggle to keep up.
Bronya summoned the Bemstar Shield and the barrier dome to block the gust, but it was much more intense that she had to hold it off with all her strength and her Project Bunny. "Wind Speed rated at 90 meters per second! Absorbing attack!" Her shield started to absorb the gust.
Meanwhile, Y/N stepped forward in front of Kiana to protect her from the freezing gust.
Kiana felt the freezing wind no longer breezed her body as she let herself drop her arms and looked at what was happening, only to find out that her closest friend had put himself in the front line to protect her, which almost made her stunned.
"K-Kiana, I'm sorry!" He struggled to erect his right arm forward in a raised direction to summon his energy shield due to the pressure of the wind, but not long after that, he got it straight and successfully summoned it.
'I shouldn't be in her position! Aghh! What is this pain?!'
However, a painful throbbing feeling had occurred in his palm, and he thought that his arms had taken too much damage by the attack or the insignia had started to harm him, causing him to let out a pain of groan.
Then all of a sudden, half of his body raised in agony as if the ache had spread downward, and his head were the worst one, the exact spot where he inflicted severe wounds with blood streaks streaming down, even though there was no blood trickling out.
"Arghhhhhh!!!" It became more hurtful to bear, causing him to scream out of agony as he clasped one of his affected heads with the other hand as if that scar had reopened again.
Kiana clasped her heart in anguish when she heard his hurtful voice as if her heart had shattered. "Y/N!"
Her eyes widened in horror. Her body remained paused from witnessing her own closest friend apologizing, even though he didn't do anything wrong to her. She then clenched it hard, unable to bear seeing him.
'He did it again....'
While trying to bear his pain, he moved from his head to his holder, holstered on his waist. He managed to open it and took out the yellow-colored Ultra Gem after the check with his barely opened eyes.
"Use— this!!" He tossed it to her under his arms.
Kiana caught it with her hand and observed the yellow-colored Gem, the Victory Gem. She clenched it, knowing she had no time to show sorrowful emotions and had to do it for him. In her determined face, she nodded and loaded the Gem into her battlesuit.
[Victory! Stigmata Charge: Victorium Especially!]
"Light Wings, Deploy!"
Her White Comet battlesuit transformed into her power-up form, Knight Moonbeam Battlesuit. The light wings emitted from her back, and she blasted a salvo of V-shaped energy blasts from her wings passing through him.
Wendy got struck by Kiana's Victorium Especially deathblow attack, stopping the gust attack at once as well with the fog fading away.
Y/N dropped his affected hand with his body swaying and dropped himself to the knee in exhaustion while clasping the right side of his agonizing face with his same hand.
"Y/N! Y/N! Are you okay?!" Kiana exclaimed in anguish, rushed to him, and clasped his shoulders with her soft hands, trying to ease his agony.
He was panting hard while staring at the ground, still clasping his face and almost not hearing her cries. The glowing Stigmata on his palm had put him swooning and mentally drained his health, most specifically the right side of his body.
He was lost in thought until suddenly, a soft and warm touch thrived on his hand where he clasped his face. He could feel his back fingers getting intertwined gently and his right temple getting pecked by wet lips, and the agony sensation that had been attacking him mentally, was now replaced with blissful relief.
Kiana lowered his hand while still intertwining him, and he couldn't resist it. She was still in her Knight Moonbeam form with her yellow energy wings sprouted, and wrapped around them, cocooning themselves from the cold.
"Kiana... sorry..." He felt his upper body wrapped gently by her slim, soft arms around his shoulders. He could feel his left shoulder growing in soft warmth from her exposed underarm, adding more relief and bliss inside his mind. He inhaled her sweet scent lingering in the air, even if it got deterred by the heavy rain.
Kiana closed her eyes with a smile of love, while she kept peppering his temple with kisses. "It's alright, Y/N... It's alright. You did nothing wrong...."
She then moved her wrapped hand to stroke his affected face softly and caressed his eye with loving affection.
Kiana lowered her head to his neck and started to smother herself, which gave him a tickling sensation of bliss. His minty scent was still attached to him, and she happily inhaled it deeper.
She let out a hum in her calming voice then nibbled his neck, having the urge to taste him for herself and leaving her love bites to him.
"Ah... K-Kiana..." He let out a purr of bliss while tilting away from her to give her more headroom to play around with.
After she absorbed the wind, Mei thrust her arms vertically upward, unleashing a bluish stream from her palms while grunting loudly. The stream hit the Herrscher again, causing her to fall off the field, leaving a crater around.
Wendy was struggling to stand up after the deathblow attack left massive damage on her, only to find out too late that Bronya had burst forth with her Bemstar Shield equipped on her Project Bunny, coming through the fog.
"Nghhh!" She rammed her directly, emitting sparks from Wendy's body and causing her to get knocked away in the air and roll over on the ground.
Wendy clicked her tongue in frustration and noticed things were going wrong, so she retreated. She quickly stood up and formed a massive tornado around her, creating gusts in the field.
The Squads defended themselves from the gust, and as soon as the blow no longer struck, they discovered that there was nobody in their sight other than the fading fog and rain.
They realized that Wendy had escaped from the field when they tried to look for her in the gray sky.
Soon, the gray sky had disappeared from view, replaced by the brightening blue skies with white clouds drawn, and the rain also stopped. And the place where it was full of flowers reverted back to where it originally was.
Kiana and Y/N had already removed themselves from their intimating moments concealed behind the fog before their friends could spot them. She held his chest and his back with her hands to help him stand up while also looking to the sky, where Wendy had gone away.
Her battlesuit had already reverted back to her White Comet default form.
"Wendy... has flown away..." She murmured while subconsciously moving one of her hands from his back to his shoulder.
Y/N had already recovered from his agonizing pain thanks to her intimate touch. He no longer felt the dizziness of his body and head as he stared blankly at the sunny sky, having his thoughts of that Herrscher who could manipulate wind elements.
He shook his head, denying seeing Wendy in her sinister Herrscher form. "That wasn't Wendy..."
He didn't forget that Stigmata put him in distress and raised his right hand to check on it. It had already vanished from his palm, much to his confusion.
"It's gone...?" He muttered.
"Why did you have that mark too, Y/N...?" Kiana gazed at him expressing her deep concern for him, almost tearing her eyes in tears. She had also looked at it since she was still in her grip, sharing his thoughts.
He slowly stirred his head to her innocent face, expressing his frowning face. He didn't have any valid answers to spill out, so he deflected her questions by patting her arms and caressing her head with one of his hands, which was soaked by the rainstorm, but it still didn't stop him from caressing her.
He stroked all the way down to her cheek and held it gently. He caressed and rubbed her eye with his thumb, feeling her almost soaked skin that he tried to wipe off the moisture.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head, almost letting out her silent hum and purr in affection. Her glistening beautiful blue eyes become dilated in love with his presence in her sight.
"Report this to HQ. Dispatch S-rank Valkyries to capture her." Himeko's voice came in through their comms, but they didn't listen to their commander for a moment.
He let him loosen her grip from his arm and stopped caressing her. "Sorry. I-I don't know... thank you, Senior Kiana..." He murmured while he started to walk away from her, but he was still not fully recovered as his legs were staggering, and he could not walk properly.
Kiana pouted in disappointment at him, no longer getting her face caressed as she looked at him, walking improperly, with her face still expressing her concern. A caring affection had developed stronger in her heart through her throbbing feeling, expressing her desire to take care of Y/N's safety.
'I guess we have to wait a bit longer... but, Y/N....'
"Y- Y/N—"
She was about to reach and catch up with him.
"Kiana-chan!!! Thank goodness you're safe!!!"
But she got tackled by Mei, who was in her panic and feelings for her friend's safety. She embraced Kiana with all of her heart. Her Ultra-suit had already been deactivated back to her default battlesuit.
"M—Mei-Senpai!" Kiana was stunted and stammered out of the unexpected action from Mei.
She eventually hugged her back, but for some reason, she didn't feel anything of having her affection toward Mei. Even she was confused when she wasn't like she used to be when they were together. Nonetheless, she kept hugging her just to not make her upset.
'But... why...? Why can I no longer give my body and spirit to Mei?'
Y/N had been watching their moments indirectly without having to look back, and he couldn't help but put a smile on them.
He only wished to protect his friends from danger, but he did not expect the more incredible outcome received from one of his closest friends, which was Kiana. He intentionally left her behind for Mei to let her express her concern to Kiana like they always did.
He then stopped on track and looked at the ruined building where they stood in the first place. He subconsciously had the urge to rub the right side of his neck with his left hand.
The spot where Kiana almost left a love bite on him. It felt good for him, but at the same time, hoping that it was barely noticeable from their friends. Otherwise, he would be in trouble if Mei found out the truth.
He snapped his neck sideways, pretending he had a sprained neck.
Meanwhile, Bronya eventually joined him and patted his shoulder with encouragement. Both didn't look at the other, but it was unnecessary for them.
"The Bronya does not think Wendy will hurt anyone."
"We can't afford the risks. She has Herrscher powers. Her mind and ego might have been corrupted by the Honkai." Himeko still insisted.
Eventually, the duo behind them joined on his other side. Kiana was standing beside him.
She clenched a fist in determination while looking up. "I trust Wendy, too. Back in Nagazora, Mei-senpai was also controlled by the Honkai, but she managed to resist it!"
"Kiana-chan's right. We can restore Wendy if we help her." Mei supported her words.
Kiana gave the nod to her, and she stirred her head to Y/N.
"Y/N, you still have that Cosmos Gem?"
He quickly complied with her words, took out the Cosmos Gem from the holder, and showed it to her indirectly. "I got it ready. She got away before I could heal her."
She gave a big smile and nodded in spiritual support. "Alright! We won't miss it this time!"
Mei stared blankly in front, trying to hide her jealousy and her sulking behavior toward him. At one point, she wanted to burst out her jealousy in front of him, but she didn't want to put him to blame for taking Kiana away from her.
'What's wrong, Mei? Hurry and smack out of him!'
'Urusai!'
'Fine... I'll do it myself.'
'No! Nooo!'
"I'll report this to HQ. The S-rank Valkyrie will be here in 30 minutes." Himeko's voice received again from their comms.
"You hear that? You have 30 minutes to do whatever needs to be done." Followed by their Captain's stern voice.
"Thank you very much, Captain Müller and Commander Himeko...!" Bronya thanked them with all of her heart.
————
The time limit remaining was 25 minutes for the Squad U of Hyperion. They have been searching for Wendy's whereabouts but have yet to find her. While they were searching, it was obvious to them that they had to deal with the Honkai Beasts in their way.
They found themselves walking past the demolished and abandoned shops. Their comms eventually received a voice call from their Captain.
And it wasn't a pleasant message to hear.
"2 bad news... first: HQ has tagged Wendy as the 4th Herrscher. 2nd: The S-rank Valkyrie from the European HQ has been deployed to bring her in."
"S-rank Valkyrie, huh? I would have loved to spar with them in school... but this is definitely not the time to meet them." Kiana replied.
"S-rank Valkyrie, Durandal has been deployed. She is clad in black armor and wields a massive lance. Word is that she's the most powerful S-rank Valkyrie we have."
The Captain's comms ended, returning their focus to finding Wendy.
The name Durandal rang a bell for the squads, as they used to meet her in the introduction during their cadet time, but they only encountered her at once.
"Bianka "Durandal" Ataegina... she has unparalleled talent with her lance. Abyss Flower, huh?" Y/N said, expressing his opinion on the particular S-Rank Valkyrie while also recalling his past when he was still a low-ranked Knight.
"Yeah. S-rank Valkyrie... It's something that I wanted to achieve...." Kiana remarked while staring at him with a smile.
She also thought of her hypothetical future had he not been present in their circles, where she wished she had thanked him.
'I might have been stuck at B-Rank forever... if it wasn't for him...."
He stirred his head to her while giving her his supportive smile. "You'll eventually get promoted, Kiana."
His reply caught her off guard with a pleasing feeling. She stammered out with her mouth gasping weakly and felt her face flushing in heat.
"Y-you must too, Y/N. Who should I be with if I'm the only one who becomes S-Rank Valkyrie?" She said in her cute and sulky voice.
Hearing her persuasion made him put on a warm smile, but at the same time, he was hesitant when he knew the dark secrets behind Schicksal, especially with their Overseer still on the chair.
"Mei-san, maybe? And Senior Bronya? I'm just here to help and protect you until you get promoted. While me? I don't expect much, but it's a welcoming experience. I-I don't know when, but I only wish for the best in this beautiful world. Right, Senior Bronya?" He gazed at Bronya.
Bronya gazed back at him with her genuine smile. "The Bronya couldn't agree anymore. But, Subject Y/N seemed hesitant about getting promoted."
He then stirred his head to Mei, whose face remained blank and not showing any emotions, and kept her eyes on the road. "How about you, Mei-san?"
She didn't retaliate and intentionally ignored his words, as if she were deaf whenever she heard him talking.
Kiana noticed this as she tilted her head, trying to reach her out. "Mei-senpai?"
With her call, she finally retaliated but with her passive-aggressive attitude as she slowly glared her head at him. Her eyes had turned into deep violet irises, indicating she was taken over by her persona.
"Suit yourself."
The word she spouted was like a venomous tone for him. It may sting his heart, but he had already set his expectations for her negative response, which he shrugged off through his scuff chuckle while smiling, although he was deeply heartbroken.
He gazed up to the sky, trying to hide his hurtful feeling. "I may be talking big, but we still have a long way to go."
His dejected tone may be unheard by the others but not by Kiana. Her heart almost shattered to pieces and her eyebrows slammed down. Having to feel his mental pain and thought she wanted to lash out at her friend for giving him her unexpected rude response, which she knew Mei wouldn't do such a thing.
She didn't hold back. She wanted to teach that persona a lesson for the first time in her life.
"Mei-senpai!" She snapped out loud.
Suddenly, Mei's whole body twitched and her eyes blinked repeatedly. "Eh, Kiana-chan??"
Before she was about to give Mei a lecture, she was immediately stopped by Y/N by tapping on her shoulder to prevent her from going further.
"Kiana, it's alright...."
She immediately stirred her head to him in surprise. "Ah!"
"If you start making a scene, we won't be concentrating either... it's alright. Sorry, Mei-san..." He stroked her shoulder with his thumb.
"Y/N-kun... did I say something bad...?"
He waved his other hand, trying to forget everything he had said.
"Nothing... forget it." He eventually removed his hand from Kiana's shoulder and regained his focus on the mission. He momentarily gazed at Bronya and gave her an apologetic smile for almost making a scene.
Bronya's eyes remained focused and not bothered of interrupting their conversation, but she wished she wanted to, especially when one of her friends felt dejected. All she could only do was pat his right arm.
Kiana, hearing his plea for not wanting her to go any further with his somewhat hurtful tone, made her want to hug him with all of her heart, making sure that he wasn't alone and safe in her arms, but she couldn't since she was right beside Mei.
'Who or what made you like this... Y/N...?'
She knew he was right. It wasn't worth consuming her energy to let her anger flow since she might lose her concentration on the mission. After all, this was done, she wanted to spend more time with him.
Eventually, she calmed her inner rage down as she took a deep breath and let it out in exhalation. "Sorry..."
Things had been settled for now, until suddenly, Y/N stopped walking on track and quickly raised his palm in a halting gesture.
"Hold!"
All of his friends stopped, much to their confusion.
"What's wrong, Y/N?" Kiana asked in confusion.
He didn't know why he stopped, but his sense triggered in his mind, where he could sense danger converging on their position ahead.
It was something way more threatening, something they hadn't fought before.
Before it was too late, he quickly urged his friends to take cover inside one of the abandoned shops as he pointed with his index finger at the shop where it had enough debris to cover their presence.
"Go here! Hide... hide... hide...!" He whispered while running to the shop, followed by his friends. He took cover behind the counter, crouched down, and the trio followed.
They could hear a large convoy of the robots moving past the shop where they hid, but the four remained unseen.
Y/N's instinct was confirmed true, as Bronya's X-Devizer screen-detected what appeared to be one of the Anti-Entropy's troops, but it was different than they used to fight.
"Anti-Entropy convoys... let them pass..." She whispered with her lowest possible voice to inform them.
The four didn't move a muscle and remained their mouths shut until the convoys were not heard anymore.
Bronya watched as the Anti-Entropy wasn't on her radar anymore, and she blew her mouth in relief.
"Clear..." She gave a green light, allowing them to continue with their route as they immediately left the shop.
Y/N started the conversation, wanting to know what that robot that he didn't know. "Senior Bronya, did you see something behind? 'Cause, that noise was new to me."
Bronya put up on the holographic screen from her X Devizer, displaying the image of the new robot called Modules. Each featured three colors corresponding to the Types, such as Bio, Mech, and PSY.
"The Bronya confirms Y/N's suspicions. These are the new Anti-Entropy robots. It's better to avoid it until we learn more about the fighting patterns."
"Why don't we just smack down straight?" Kiana asked in curiosity.
"There were at least 100 of them. Engaging with them would take 25 minutes. Our time limit will be well-spent if we try to engage them. By the time it's over, Subject Wendy is already captured by the S-Rank Valkyrie."
For once, she agreed with her suggestion as she nodded repeatedly. "I see..."
Kiana then peered her head at him, wondering how he could prevent them from getting spotted by the foes. "How did you know, Y/N?"
He spun his index fingers by his ear and glared his eyes at her while smiling. "I have keen ears."
————
17 more minutes before the S-Rank Valkyrie, Durandal approached the landmass. The Squad U of Hyperion was already on the exit from the alley shops.
Himeko's voice received again from their comms, informing more unpleasant news.
"More bad news... Schicksal satellites picked up 5 aerial battleships flying across the Pacific. Exact location: unknown."
"Aerial battleships? Could that be Anti-Entropy?" Mei asked in a hypothetical subject.
"Who else? Alright squads, give up your search if you run into Anti-Entropy. I'm not losing any of you on this chase." Captain Müller warned them with his stern caring voice.
Then, a new voice channel was put on their comms, Theresa's.
"Kianaaa-Chann. Lemme give you a hand this time! Anti-Entropy is on the move? Sounds like a great opportunity to me. Heheh."
Kiana raised one of her arms to watch her aunt's face in the holographic video call. "Give me a hand? What do you mean, Aunt Teri?"
"You'll know soon enough." She replied with her typical cute squeaking voice before she ended the call.
While they were almost out of the alley, the squad spotted what appeared to be overcast weather in that land part, which they found strange since the area around was shining bright in the sun.
At the same time, Y/N felt that same breezing sensation from his right hand. He knew that Stigmata had triggered again, but he decided to ignore the sense this time.
"Are? Why has that part of the sky become overcast?" Mei's eyes focused on the overcast sky, expressing her confused face.
Bronya took a step forward, confirming the sign whenever the 4th Herrscher was active. "That means Subject Wendy is right ahead."
"Let's go!" Kiana exclaimed as she started to rush toward the area with overcast, followed by her friends
When Bronya confirmed her existence, it almost came to a conclusion for Y/N, where his Stigmata would be active again if a Herrscher was in sight. However, there was one thing that he found rather strange.
It didn't react to Mei's Herrscher persona for some reason.
'So this Stigmata will trigger a certain Herrscher? It didn't seem to react to Mei-san's, though. Could it be a more specific one?'
—————
Minutes passed, and They finally found Wendy hovering in the air surrounded by the storm and hurricane. They were at the land where everything turned into a small terrain, and grounds raised up.
They then stopped still behind the building hidden in plain sight from Wendy.
Y/N had the Cosmos Gem ready in his hand, and he gave it to Bronya, which she took and loaded into her Project Bunny.
"Okay... okay. Senior Bronya, here's the Cosmos Gem. Take a position to shoot anywhere you can get a clear shot and at least hidden."
"Roger, Y/N. The Bronya will be taking a position to shoot. Good luck."
They nodded to her before they left her alone to take a position to shoot the target. Bronya glided toward the back of the ruined building and entered it.
"Found you! Wendy!" Kiana shouted to the top as they stood still ahead of Wendy.
Wendy heard the girl's voice which she recognized as she quickly descended to see them clearly.
"Why follow me? Do you seek death? I've spared you out of my kindness. You have no idea who you are dealing with." She spoke in her sinister tone.
"The Bronya is in position. Taking a better angle to shoot."
Bronya informed, confirming her position through their comms. They didn't respond to her, since it would be evident for the Herrscher to spot someone talking to the third party.
She was on the rooftop, adjusting her crosshair to Wendy with her Project Bunny in the stationary state.
"Wendy, please come back with us! It's dangerous here! Schicksal deployed an S-rank Valkyrie to capture you. Anti-Entropy is coming, too!" Mei exclaimed, trying to persuade her to join so no harm would be done.
"S-rank Valkyrie? Those with Herrscher-level powers? Fine then, I really want to know if I can take on an S-rank myself."
"Moonlight Smash: Fire!"
As the squad heard Bronya's confirmation, Y/N took a step forward while still keeping his stoic face.
"Not so fast, Herrscher. I'm going to put you to sleep."
Before Wendy could register what he was saying, she reacted too late as she suddenly got struck by an oncoming yellow beam.
She yelled in agony as her power was depleted to zero, and she had to forcefully descend onto the ground.
The Herrscher had been put to rest, reverting her back to her original human body. She was in the crawling position, with her head staring at the ground while panting.
The trio slowly walked to the beaten Wendy.
"That's so arrogant you had there. You'll have to get through us first! I was just careless. Even Herrschers are no match to me if I get serious." Kiana taunted her.
As they approached, Wendy suddenly thrust one of her arms and showed her palm to them as if she wanted to keep their distance from her, which they stopped in an instant.
"Stay away, everyone! It's going to be back to me!! I won't upset Sister Bronya nor fight you! Stop following me!!"
Her heart suddenly felt like it was grasping by talons mercilessly as if she had a heart attack.
"Nggrhhh!! Rghhh!" Wendy grasped her heart and writhed in pain, as she tried to resist whatever was striking her.
The squad expressed gasps of shock and panic at seeing her writhing. Wendy's tibia part was glowing green again, indicating her Herrscher had reactivated.
Not long after that, a blow of gusts struck them right when Wendy yelled to the top, obscuring their vision to see what was going on as they covered themselves with their arms.
As they dropped their arms to check the scene, they found nothing in sight, with the fog fading out.
Bronya joined their line as she slowly landed on the ground after leaping from the building.
"She flew away again...." Mei murmured as she looked up, where the sky was no longer overcast.
Y/N remained frozen and dead-stared in shock, unable to process everything in his brain. "It wasn't enough...? Shit..." He raised his left hand, and touched his temples with his fingers, expressing his disbelief that his expectation went wrong.
For some reason, he could still feel the Stigmata active on his right hand, even though the Herrscher wasn't near ahead of their position.
"Y/N, what was that?! I thought we cured her!" Kiana exclaimed to him.
"S-sorry! Has the Herrscher evolved?"
Bronya poked his arm to reach him out, to which he responded by turning his head to her and found out that she had already stretched one of her arms where the Cosmos Gem had placed.
"Subject Wendy's Gem of Desire HW level is 2000 HW. The Cosmos Gem can only neutralize Honkai Energy for up to 1000 HW."
He heard her information while grabbing the Gem. "Tcihh... Herrschers are built differently...."
After hearing their reasons why it didn't work, Kiana shook her head and hardly waved her hand. "That's fine, that's fine! We just have to keep shooting it then. Come on, let's go!"
Bronya did not buy into her words. "The Bronya suggests persuading Subject Wendy one more time."
————
"Found Wendy? We're out of time. The S-rank Valkyrie will arrive in New Zealand in 2 minutes, and Anti-Entropy battleships are coming too." Himeko informed them in her urgent tone.
"Damn it! Are we running out of time?!" Kiana swore in frustration, realizing they were running out of time to search for Wendy.
However, the cute voice of their principal joined their conversation through their comms, this time giving them rather pleasant news. "Don't worry about the S-rank Valkyrie or Anti-Entropy."
"Don't tell me, Principal Theresa managed to stall the S-rank Valkyrie?" Mei said in her assumption.
"Unfortunately, I can't do that. But I know where she is."
"Could that mean... What?" Kiana asked.
"That's right! I aired the S-rank's position on a public channel. I'm sure Anti-Entropy intercepted my message. They probably went off-course to intercept the Valkyrie."
Kiana nodded off, hearing her aunt supporting them. "I see. So that's what the explosions are."
"Selling out one of our own doesn't feel good, but she'll be doing okay. I hope Anti-Entropy gives us more time."
"All right! It's our turn now!" Kiana exclaimed in her spiritual tone while shaking her fist vertically.
Meanwhile, Y/N had been wondering about that Stigmata, which started to throb in a breezing sensation. He looked down to check on it, and it was pulsating in a teal hue again.
'Can this thing just go away from my skin...'
Kiana had a feeling to peered her eyes at Y/N, and she spotted his right hand was glowing in hue again. She knew that Stigmata was about to attack him again, but she had to focus on the mission as long as he didn't suffer any pain.
'Y/N...'
———
Himeko and Captain Muller were inside the Bridge of Hyperion, keeping an eye on their squads in check. She was standing in front of the projected monitor, having a video call with Theresa in a projected holoscreen.
However, for the Captain, he was standing a bit distant from her. He was minding his business of taking care of his precious bonsai tree, which he managed to keep in a healthy state. He was cutting any dead leaves with his utmost care using his clipper.
"I just talked to Durandal."
"And?"
"How is it?" The Captain asked in his cold tone without paying attention to the screen.
"I got her coordinates. Talk about gullible, huh? I guess I can give her a star for honesty. Can't help it. We must give Kiana and her friends more time."
"But exposing her location to the enemy? Durandal is supposed to be an ally...."
The Captain could only glare his yellowish eyes at her out of amusement.
"Ally? That nagging little brat is definitely no ally of mine! She gave me a really hard time back then! We'll have to deal with Anti-Entropy anyway. Durandal can soften them up a bit. But you're giving Anti-Entropy quite an advantage by telling them where she is. Oh. But Durandal is uber-powered, you know."
"You really don't like her, do you? Hmmh." Captain Muller scoffed with a smirk at the different tone that he used to speak, which was his cold, fluent Japanese.
Theresa saw him and expressed her cute dismay at seeing her Captain not focusing on his job. "Kanchou! Stop playing with your bonsai!"
————
The Squad U of Hyperion had reached the suburban area surrounded by the cliffs.
Long after that, their principal put them in line again in their comms, which this time was a piece of helpful information they heard.
"Hmph! Alright. We've fooled the S-rank Valkyrie. You'll have more time!"
"Terrificcc! I love you, Aunt Teri!" Kiana replied while showing her love to her aunt in her exaggerated expression.
"Stop playing coy and find that Wendy. Now!"
"I was really hoping to meet an S-rank Valkyrie."
"You should feel lucky, lazybones! She'll PT you to the kingdom come if she is your instructor."
"PT? What's that?"
"PT stands for Physical Training. And she's really good at that. Of the three S-rank Valkyries of Schicksal, two were naturally talented. Durandal got hers with hard work. To be on par with the other two Valkyries, Durandal was expected to put in 10 to 20 times the effort. But, the truth was that she put in 100 times the effort."
"Maybe she was super untalented. Did it work for her?"
"She thinks it did. She now believes that hard work can solve everything. If she knew you flunked your theory test, she'd force you to study 26 hours a day. She'll get you through hundreds of practice questions. You can forget about sleeping."
Hearing the S-rank Valkyrie's description made Kiana slam her eyebrows and retract her thoughts of wanting to spar with Durandal. "Hnggh... she sounds like an evil witch! Textbooks are written by the most boring people on earth."
Afterward, they fend off any hostiles in their sight. Everything, the Honkai Beasts, Zombies, and more.
———
They had already reached the beach, where they were walking on the sands, with the sound of shorelines and waves breezing in the environment.
Kiana and Theresa talked to each other again through their projected video call from the former's arms.
"Heh... do you or Aunt Teri know that S-rank Valkyrie?"
"Oh... I don't know her very well, but I trained her for a while after she became an A-rank Valkyrie."
"A subordinate and her direct superior? Then you two should be close!"
"Hmm... really? But things didn't turn out that way...."
"The way you said it... I'm sure something weird happened between you two."
"Nothing weird happened between us two. I told you that she's serious and believes in hard work, right?"
"Yyyeah..."
"She had the nerve to think that superior officers should be serious and believe in hard work, too. Every time I tried to take a little break, she'd lecture me on and on."
"Gosh... I guess I should be thankful that Himeko is a slacker and deadbeat drunk...."
As Kiana shamelessly joked about her teacher's behavior, it was bad timing for her with Himeko joining on their call at the same time.
"Ahem, Kiana, stop thinking out loud." Himeko didn't sound too offended to hear her close student joking around.
"Anyway, I found a way to get her off my heels." Theresa interrupted it.
"A way? What way?"
"That's a secret. But it has to do with the keyword "Rowland." Once she opens her trap, I'd say the word "Rowland" to shut her up."
The call ended there. At the same time, More Honkai Zombies and the beasts converged on them, but nonetheless, the squad struck them with their variety of skills.
————
"Waaa! We're in trouble!"
Kiana heard her aunt's panicking voice, which she thought wasn't good news for her.
"What's wrong?" She asked softly.
"Durandal messaged me. She sent Anti-Entropy packing."
"I guess S-rank Valkyries are indeed powerful." Himeko joined the call.
"She asked me about the Anti-Entropy ambush since I'm the only one who knew her location."
"Let's walk away with the lesson that lying is wrong," Mei remarked.
"Q-Quick! Think of something smart to say! Or else!"
"Or else...?" Kiana repeated.
"Or else... she might not report this, but she'll be here and nag us for a day...."
"Oh... I'll avoid your office when she comes by, then." The Captain shamelessly responded in his cold tone.
"I'm not leaving you out of this, Kanchouuuu...."
After the call ended, they proceeded on their track to find Wendy.
Meanwhile, Y/N's right hand was throbbing in a subtle stinging sensation, but he tried to bear it, not wanting to show his troubles to his friends. He writhed silently in a hiss as he looked down, only to find out in surprise where the Stigmata had seemed to worsen, as it pulsated rapidly in a teal hue.
And suddenly, he felt the right side of his head start to inflict a migraine again, but it was still subtle.
'Does it mean we are near to her...?'
—————
"Any smart excuses for Durandal...? I need one quick."
Mei pointed her index finger up, having come up with an idea. "I thought of one, Principal. Tell her there's an Anti-Entropy mole in Schicksal."
But, Theresa denied it. "Don't! It'll create a huge mess in the Schicksal."
Eventually, Bronya came up with another solution. "The Bronya thinks we should tell her: Anti-Entropy initiated this Honkai incident to lure and ambush an S-rank Valkyrie. She was marked from the start. The Bronya thinks this will work."
"It sounds good, but the logical flaw is that Anti-Entropy would have sent better troops if that's their aim from the start." Theresa still didn't agree with her idea.
Until Kiana came up with her idea. "Hey, listen to my brilliant idea! I noticed that Durandal took the Gold Coast Oceanfront Line to get here. That's why we'll tell her that Anti-Entropy was on holiday and happened to bump into her...."
Himeko heard her student's idea and thought it was the worst one. "That's the dumbest and most idiotic thing I've ever heard of."
However, Theresa seemed to agree with it." It actually might work. It has zero logical flaws. Lemme try this... wait."
While the trio was minding their business of hearing the response from their principal, Y/N silently walked away from the group. He suddenly struck a fever from the side of his body, as if that same illness he suffered when he encountered the 4th Herrscher had returned. His migraine was worsening, and his right hand was throbbing violently inside his skin. The Stigmata was infecting half of his body and putting him in distress.
He writhed in pain, slammed his right eye, and clasped the right side of his face with his palm. His breaths were increasing in temperature, making his nose thrive in the heated air and his mouth. His throat had suffered inflammation.
However, he could sense a certain Herrscher with the wind power, not far from where they stood. Half of his mind wanted to chase the Herrscher in no time.
'I could feel she's near to us...!'
"How did it go, Principal? She's coming to nag us out, right?" Himeko asked in curiosity.
"She actually bought it. People say she's honest and frank. If you ask me, I think she's just an idiot!"
"I feel Durandal is a very reasonable person. Perhaps we can be friends. Wait, did you just call someone an idiot?"
When she was about to continue, she suddenly felt something was missing in her presence, and she tilted her head up in confusion.
The minty scent lingering around the air was no longer existent in her senses, the scent that kept her calming down and staying focused in a fight.
She tried to sniff it, but there was nothing she could smell other than the typical breezing fresh air, almost causing her to panic in her heart. "Y/N? Wait, where's Y/N?"
The two suddenly struck in realization as they looked around to find him, and he wasn't in their position.
Not long after that, Kiana eventually found him staggering across the shoreline while clasping his right head in the distance.
"Y/N!" Without wasting any time, she immediately rushed toward him, deeply worried about seeing his state.
"Kiana-chan! Wait!" Mei exclaimed as she followed her along with Bronya, where she expressed deep concern in her heart about him.
Kiana reached him and quickly wrapped his upper body with all of her heart. Deep inside, she wanted to break her emotion of seeing him get hurt, but she tried to hold on.
"Y/N! Y/N! Don't wander off like that!! Oh... you're sick..." She realized she felt a heating sensation thriving on the side of his body. She embraced him tighter from under his arms, smoothing her face on his back shoulder pad while giving her loving kisses to him, and letting her warmth thrive on his body. She may finally get his minty scent back to her senses, but she was more concerned about his safety.
"Y/N... are you okay? Do you wish to call off from the field?" Captain Müller joined in their comms, showing his sympathetic and caring tone.
Bronya and Mei quickly joined together to check on his condition.
The former was standing beside Kiana on the right side. She looked at his worse condition, expressing a very remorseful expression. However, she gasped in shock at seeing the strange 4 diamond-shaped mark on his hand, something she had seen when Theresa also had the same kind of mark on her back.
"Temperature reached up to 50 degrees Celcius. That mark... Stigmata?!" she muttered in shock.
Y/N couldn't register everything around his surroundings, except he could feel a warm sensation coming from his back. He finally had the strength to speak his words, while he kept looking down at the sand.
The voice was different from what they used to hear.
"She's here... She's here." He muttered in his deep, masculine hoarse voice.
"Wendy?!" Kiana exclaimed in panic while she kept embracing him.
He raised his head slowly, clenched his right hand on the side of his face, and let out a gritting weak growl from his teeth, that almost scared them in his heart.
Everything in his sight flashed in white.
.........
Massive tornadoes, hurricanes, and heavy storms damaged the whole landmass of the building. Everything was torn apart, the grounds, the skyscrapers, the cars, killing many humans.
Behind the worsened storm was a girl clad in a white and greenish dress, featuring her gold eyes and greenish hair in a distinctive theme as her outfit.
She levitated in her pride pose and ruthless expression while manipulating the weather with her own likeness.
It was the Seraphim Prince of Wind, named Avrora.
.........
He had seen enough, everything in his sight that made him outraged in justice.
"Avrora!!! I'm coming to get you!!!" He snarled in his cracked voice as he violently swung his right hand from his face, causing him to accidentally smash Kiana right on her upper body and freeing him from her embrace, but he wasn't aware of it and immediately sprinted to where the Herrscher had been hiding, not caring of his friends leaving behind.
Not aware of his friends, his right eye, which was once dyed dark brown, was replaced with sapphire eyes with a diamond-shaped stamp in the center of his pupil.
Kiana was hurt by his accidental hit on her upper body, but she didn't care as she tearfully tried to chase him down. "Y/N! Y/N! Wait!! Y/N!!!"
"Y/N!!"
All the squads shouted at him, including Theresa, Himeko, and Captain Müller.
—————
Y/N had finally stumbled upon Wendy, standing in the field full of flowers, the same place the squads had trapped inside. Rain was pouring down hard, with thunderstorms crackling in the gray sky.
"There you are! I've had enough of your cat-and-mouse game!" He thrust his index finger in anger at her.
Kiana eventually caught him at his side, as she panted from her running to chase him. The rest of the two eventually joined him as well.
"You girls don't know when to give up! I'll have to teach you a lesson! And how do you know where I hid, boy?" Wendy snapped in her rather annoyed voice.
"Hey, that's my line!" Kiana retorted, but she tried to hide her hurting tone after seeing Y/N's unstable condition.
"Enough! Get out of her body, you monster! Fight Wendy, fight!" He swung his left arm in a snapping gesture, having enough of her game.
"Wendy-chan, please trust us! You're not yourself! Honkai is misleading you!" Mei exclaimed in desperation.
Kiana was about to engage Wendy, but Bronya quickly held her off by blocking with one of her arms stretched.
"Kiana, hold on. The Bronya wants to talk to subject Wendy."
Kiana was at first hesitant, but she eventually let her do it. Bronya moved forward in bravery without showing any fear marked on her face.
"No! Stop! I don't want to talk with you, Sister Bronya!" Wendy exclaimed in a scarred voice. Her good side was starting to fight over the influence.
"The Bronya remembered a younger sister named Seele back in the orphanage. Subject Wendy reminds me of her... Seele was strong and kind, like the subject Wendy. Seele was corrupted by Honkai, but she fought hard and got herself back. The Bronya endured a lot of pain during the modifications... and still suffers to this day... But, there is hope. The Bronya understands subject Wendy's pain. The Bronya knows subject Wendy can overcome this pain."
Bronya then clasped her heart in determination. "That's why do not give up. The Bronya believes in you."
When Wendy heard everything she had said, her Herrscher's influence had finally weakened to the point where she reverted back to her normal human form.
A thundering storm crackled over.
"I... I trust you, too, Sister Bronya... All right! I'll give myself another chance!" She clasped her heart with both of her hands.
Y/N gave her a nod of spirit after she managed to fight her lousy influence and successfully regained her trust in them.
"Thank goodness! Wendy came back to us." Mei said in her cracked voice of happiness.
Kiana put her hands on her hip in relief and let out a sigh. "Phew... That was really close... alright, back to the Hyperion. We're all kick-ass Squad U! If you get controlled by Honkai again, I'll defeat you in no time! Hey Y/N, thank you... Next time, don't run away on your own okay?."
Y/N didn't bother to turn his head to her, but he could only pat her shoulder gently in appreciation. "Hmmh. Sorry, I smacked you out...."
Kiana chuckled, grabbed his hand, and moved to her face, and she let her stroke her eyes in an affection which she giggled. "That's better...."
Mei, who had been looking at them, almost wanted to break her jealousy as she couldn't but wanted to cry. Her face may be soaked by the raindrops, but among them, there was a natural tear streaming down from her eyes.
"Wendy, there's nothing to be afraid of. The Bronya will take you home." Bronya reached one of her arms to her, asking her to come along.
"Bronya, can I sit on your robot again? Can I?" Wendy formed her big smile of plea to her.
She nodded warmly. "No problem. Project Bunny: Unite!"
The Project Bunny summoned itself from her back, and Bronya was about to reach her to retrieve Wendy safely with her smile formed.
Suddenly, an unknown feminine voice rang in her ears, which caused Bronya to freeze on track.
Y/N noticed this as he observed her sudden stop, with his mouth agape in confusion. He could see data corruption of the red linings streaming all over her body.
The two also shared the same thoughts when they noticed something was wrong with one of her Russian friends.
"Bronya, your matushka commands you to recover the 4th Herrscher. The 4th Herrscher is an important test subject. We can't let Schicksal get hold of her. We must destroy her if we can't get her back."
Her gray eyes widened in denial as she felt something was messing with her brain. She gasped in panic and clasped her head in desperate attempts to resist the mind control as she sharply shook her head repeatedly.
"No...! No!!!!!" She yelled wholeheartedly.
Y/N knew something was wrong with Bronya's unstable condition, so he immediately rushed to her to stay away from Wendy, releasing his grip on Kiana, much to her surprise.
"You rebellious little brat. No matter. You can't fight it. By the highest level of authority: Delay the 4th Herrscher if you can't defeat it! Our main forces will be here shortly."
"By the highest level of authority: Project Bunny, switch to attack mode. Target: 4th Herrscher."
Y/N was about to reach her, but he ended up getting smashed by the Project Bunny's cannon in his right face, which he got knocked away and rolled to the ground, suffering a severe injury on his right temple, where the blood poured down from his wound. He groaned and writhed in the unbearable pain he inflicted, and eventually, he lost consciousness.
The Project Bunny blasted a beam toward Wendy's position, but luckily it missed the shot as it was right below her on the ground.
Kiana felt her heart had sank and dropped into shattering pieces, and she wished she hadn't seen him getting hurt. She gasped rapidly as if she had suffered a panic attack, and her blue eyes were about to tear apart in anguish.
"Y/N!!!!!" She yelled tearfully in her anguished voice while she rushed to him. She then crouched, lifted him up, and rested on her lap. She sobbed even harder when she looked at his wounded right temple, streaking with plenty of blood. Tears streamed down from her elegant blue eyes, concealed among the raindrops.
"Y/N! Y/N! Wake up, Y/N! Y/N!! Why did you keep pushing yourself?!! Don't leave me alone, you idiot!!! Hey!!!" She cried in her hoarse, shaking scream of despair to his unconscious face, with the bottom of her heart.
Kiana suffocated and sobbed so hard, she wanted to tear herself apart of seeing him. She couldn't bear of seeing his blood flowing out, as she tried hold the wound gently with her trembling hand, making sure his suffering was subdued.
"Bronya-chan! What happened to you?!" Mei also rushed to both of them and quickly put herself in her fighting stance, shouting in her cracked voice of disbelief.
'Why do you protect him?! He's taking your precious Kiana away!!'
'Damare!!!!'
Wendy's eyes widened in shock and realization when the person she thought was trusted shot her, instantly losing her trust in everyone.
"Sister Bronya?! Why did you attack me?! Everything you told me was a lie, was it...? No one... there's no one I can trust...." Her whole body was glowing green again, indicating her Herrscher influence had activated again.
Bronya, even with all of her might, resisted the orders taking over her brain. She failed to oppose it as she dropped her whole body danglingly.
Not long after that, her whole body had transformed into a darker battlesuit, and her eyes opened wide, revealing her deep red eyes instead of her normal gray eyes.
Then, she vanished to thin air, leaving her squads alone to let them deal with the Herrscher.
At this moment, they felt that their backs were getting stabbed mercilessly. Her Russian friend, Bronya had once again taken control for the first time a year ago, and she was ordered to turn their back on her friends.
"Wendy, no! No! It's not like that! You got it all wrong!" Kiana exclaimed tearfully when she knew it wouldn't work anymore since Wendy was already back to her Herrscher form.
"Wendy-san!! Yamete!!!" Mei exclaimed tearfully.
Wendy hovered herself up and charged an energy wind from her body.
"Goodbye... human."
She thrust her arms, unleashing a massive green energy vortex toward the trio.
Mei and Kiana shrieked while defending themselves when they knew they didn't have time to dodge the attack.
Time had stopped the world, and before her time was up, Kiana dropped her head to him to embrace him with all of her heart and, at the same time, gave him a kiss on his lips, having finally enjoyed her moments with him where she wished she would have spent more time ever since they first met.
She smiled and closed her tearful blue eyes while kissing him hard with her tongue entering his mouth, creating an erotic feeling in her heart and a quiet smack noise from her lips. She showered her genuine and pure love on her beloved boyfriend. He had always protected her like a true knight.
'Ich liebe dich, Y/N...'
The vortex hit the ground, creating a mass of craters and an explosion that potentially killed them in an instant.
Wendy eventually stopped firing and let out her laugh and wheeze of evil, for finally having to kill them on sight so no one could interrupt her again.
The crater dust and the explosion smoke faded away by the rain, revealing a blue shield carved in a clockwise four rhombus-shaped layer blocking the attack and, at the same time, saving the trio's lives.
"What?!!" Her eyes widened in disbelief when her attack was blocked by the shield she didn't recognize.
As it got more apparent, it was Y/N who held the shield and successfully protected his friends from death. He still had the wound on his right temple and the blood streaking, but he didn't feel any pain as he kept his face stoic in determination and his arm stretched upward.
Kiana and Mei thought that they already died until they found out they didn't do any damage to them. Mei lowered her arms to check what was happening, only for her to gasp out in surprise.
Kiana slowly opened her eyes, but she gasped in panic as her lover in her grip was suddenly missing, thinking he was already gone and that she wanted to burst into tears. She looked to the front desperately and only to find out in realization as her eyes widened in surprise at seeing someone she loved standing in front of them with the rains pouring down in sight, followed by the flashing lightning.
What's more surprising was that he held the shield she wanted to see him use.
It was the Hero's Shield that he earned.
Her heart sank in warmth and love. Another developing affection in her. She clasped her heart with her hands and smile widely and agape full of lovestruck. "Y/N..."
Mei remained silent and agape at seeing him standing in front.
Y/N lowered the shield in a swaying gesture and stirred his head to them with a reassuring smile. "You did a good job, both of you. Leave this Herrscher to me."
He then walked to the Herrscher through the heavy rain that didn't slow him down, as he kept his face determined. His right eye had changed to a completely different look, which featured the sapphire iris and the light blue diamond-shaped line marked in the center of the pupil.
"You're cheating!" Wendy insulted him as she fired the same energy vortex at him.
He let out a grunt while thrusting his right arm toward the vortex, blocking the beam attack, and it instantly rebounded the beam back to her, causing her to receive damage from her own attack and emitting a spark from her body.
Kiana watched in awe when he could deflect the Herrscher's vortex attack. She stood up in the administration of his brave act. "Cool..."
Wendy writhed in pain and panted and observed him closer from a distance. She could spot that unique look in his right eye, along with his blood that got washed off by the rain, but she didn't know who he was. "Who are you?!!!"
He lowered his shield again and tried to persuade her one more time. "Wendy... I'm so sorry for what they did to you. Even if you feel betrayed... even if you lose your trust... one thing you should know... I will never lie to you."
"You know nothing about me!"
"I will save you. To save you, I have to defeat you."
"Don't get in my way!!!"
The Wind Herrscher unleashed three massive tornado attacks whirling towards him. Y/N with his quick reflex, Y/N spun his body while swinging his Hero's Shield, releasing the energy slash from the shield, effectively nullifying the tornadoes at once.
He quickly leaped to the sky and dashed toward Wendy while grunting. Wendy went off guard in panic, and she got smashed by the shield, emitting an energy wave impact that dealt moderate damage to her.
Wendy fled the scene in frustration, and Y/N chased after her. Both collided mid-air in the rain and thunderstorms, entering their dogfight battle.
While battling the Herrscher, Y/N expressed excitement when he discovered he could fly without transforming into his Ultra-suits.
"Fly! I can fly!" He shouted and smiled in a spiritual voice, having himself enjoyed fighting the Herrscher in the air.
"Y/N! I'm helping you!" Kiana stepped forward in determination as she looked to the sky full of flashes blended in the rain. She held the Ultraman Trigger Sky Type Hyper Key and pressed the button.
[Ultraman Trigger: Sky Type!]
She inserted the cartridge into the GUTS-Sparklence.
[Boot up: Runboldt!]
Kiana opened the barrel, accessing her Ultra-suit mode. "Dominate the Sky, The Light of Speed! Trigger!!"
She swung her arms to the front and back before raising her hands in the air and pulling the trigger.
Her whole body transformed into her indigo armor, the Ultra-suit Trigger Sky Type form, which allowed her to fly in aerial combat. Not wasting any time, she leaped into the air and dashed toward the battle to assist him.
At the same time, her battlesuit beneath her armor had changed into her power suit, the Knight Moonbeam. Her energetic wings sprouted from her back while she was flying toward him.
[Ultra-suits Trigger: Sky Type!]
Mei remained on the ground, as she looked up to the sky where the battle was ongoing. She couldn't do anything to help them. She could only clasp her heart in giving them a little spiritual support.
"Ganbare... Kiana-chan... Y/N-kun..." Her lips quivered, wanting to break her emotion of her jealousy, but she accepted with all of her heart.
Wendy shot numerous blasters of her energy bullet at him, and Y/N blocked it with his Hero's Shield. Little did he know that the shield could also absorb her attacks, which he immediately noticed when the shield was glowing green.
"It can absorb attacks?! Then!"
Wendy stopped attacking in the realization that her attacks weren't effective. Y/N took the opportunity by pushing the shield back, twisting his body before he threw it forward in a swinging position. The Hero's Shield released in the form of a green cutting disc and struck Wendy, dealing more damage to her.
"Wow! This is awesome! Empress Xuanyuan, Nuwa, Fuxi, Thank you!" He observed the shield with his spiritual and exciting act, then he shifted back to the battle with his smile of spirituality.
"Curse you! Curse you, vermin!!" Wendy snapped in rage, and she was about to shoot another one of her attacks at him.
However, she suddenly got struck by an unexpected attack from the front side, leaving sparks in her chest.
Y/N shook his body forward and stirred his head to the right, only to find that Kiana was hovering amid heavy rain, with her vibrant wings lightening some dark clouds.
'Hahaha... you really are a denial....'
"Y/Nnnn!" She glided forward to his side and expressed her excitement and cheerful face for having to fight alongside his side.
He was mesmerized by her looks with the Ultra-suits armor and her wings, which he expressed with his genuine loving smile. "How could you be so beautiful, Kiana?"
Kiana felt her cheeks blush at his faltering and chuckled in her sweet smile while she adjusted her body to the front. She noticed one of his right eyes was different from his other eye, which she found fascinating. "You have a beautiful eye, too, Y/N!"
He was confused at first but chuckled back and shifted his body to the front as he posed in his fighting stance. "Let's go, Kiana!"
"Yeah, Ultra-Y/N!!"
They both flew together in unison, but as they approached Wendy who was flying in a circle until it formed an enormous tornado, they both got trapped in a spinning tornado, unable to regain their control to fly.
"No! Whooaa!"
"This is bad!! Waaaa!"
They were struggling to regain their aerial control, due to the tornado's power being too strong for them to free from it. The heavy rain splattered on them, making their body temperature drop slowly.
Y/N suddenly came up with an idea through his gasp. He remembered at one point when he could try to counter it from one of his favorite superheroes.
"It's just like Gue-Basser. Oi, Kianaa! Reach my hand!" He lunged his left hand, trying to reach for her hands.
Kiana heard his desperate screams, and she struggled to reach for him, but she kept pushing it.
"Okayyy!!!" She reached with her hands, trying her best to get for him.
Even though the tornado intensity made them struggle to reach their hands, they finally grasped their hands to each other and intertwined their fingers securely.
Both shared their sweet smiles with each other, with their bodies remaining still and no longer caught by the tornado.
"Hold on tight! It's about to get dizzy!" He gave her a warning in his fun tone.
"W-wha! What are— Whoaaaaaa!!!!"
Kiana yelped in surprise when Y/N dashed himself in full power and was able to accelerate at a more incredible speed. They circled around the tornado counter wise, leaving energy trails marked.
She, at first, didn't register everything but eventually regained her senses as she smiled sweetly and flew together with him, their hands still intertwined. Her vibrant wings glowed even brighter, signifying her inner power had been unleashed.
"Ngahhhhhh!!!" Both yelled their battle cries in unison, doing their best to stop the attack at once.
Their acceleration gradually increased to the point they could create their own enormous tornado that he intended to use to counter Wendy's attack.
Not long after that, Wendy's tornado was nullified in an enormous gust and overpowered by Kiana's and Y/N's flying speed. The former ended up crash-landing on the ground, leaving dirt on her body.
Right when both were hidden behind the gusts of the leftover tornado, Kiana happily reached for his other hand, and she immediately pulled him closer to her arms, much to his surprise. Without hesitating, she embraced him and pressed his lips.
His eyes widened in surprise when his lips were slammed down by her soft lips. Eventually, he embraced and kissed her back, as they desperately wanted more from each other. Both tongues entered their mouths and started to brawl with each other, creating their loud smacking noise dampened by the storm.
Kiana moaned into the kiss as she moved her left arm to the back of his head and her other arm wrapped around his neck. She desperately pushed him further until their bodies touched, deepening her kisses with love.
He groaned as he desperately embraced her back tighter and returned his intimate kiss to her. He couldn't help but feel melted when her exposed underarms were tucked on his shoulder, having to feel that warmth and soft sensation thriving on him. Her exposed back was very warm and soft to touch, which he happily scratched her gently out of his temptation.
These moments will never be forgotten. The moment they shared their intense intimacy with affection and love toward each other.
Kiana and Y/N landed safely together and their hands had already split apart, with the former landed in a soft manner, while the latter landed on his knees.
He stood up and took a step forward, and posed his shield.
"Lend me your power, Herrscher of Light!"
As if his prayer had reached, his holder glowed in the light, opened by itself, and four glowing blue Gems glided toward the Hero's Shield, and it inserted themselves into the slits.
[Cosmos! Agul! Hikari! Blu! Ultra Synergy!]
He then pressed the button on the front handle under the tip of the shield.
[Slash! Azure Mystic Ring!]
The Hero's Shield splashed in a teal aquatic energy water, generating an energy buzzsaw disc corresponding to the shield motif on top of it. It started to rotate around in slow motion.
He raised his right arm in arm, with the disc starting to increase on a large scale before he threw it while grunting.
The dismembering disc skidded toward the defeated Herrscher as it sliced through her body, leaving energy marks on half of it. She screamed in agony when she felt the Honkai Energy was neutralizing to zero.
Y/N dropped to the ground knee and panted in exhaustion, with his energy almost drained from the previous battle amid rain.
"Y/N!" Kiana rushed to him and gripped his hand with her hand, ensuring he was alright and not fainted. Mei joined beside her as she kept looking at the defeated 4th HerrscherS
The field with flowers and the bad storm had faded in particles, as they were returned to real life where the sky was painted in orange, indicating a dusk time.
Wendy had returned to her normal form. This time, she no longer felt the Gem of Desire put her in distress. To her surprise, she could finally feel her legs as if her legs were already healthy in the first place. She tried to crook her feet fingers to ensure it was working.
She tried to straighten her body up for the first time since she had been trapped as a handicapped valkyrie for long, and she finally managed to set it on her foot, even though she almost staggered by the wobbling feeling which she had to balance herself.
Wendy managed to get herself balanced and slowly gazed at the squads, who she thought would never set her up and they proved her wrong.
"I owe you my life... Brother Y/N... kia ora." Her voice returned to her natural kiwi accent as she smiled happily with a weak expression. For the first time, she expressed her genuine love of happiness for them to be able to get her back to walking. She then took a step forward, which was a success, but she needed to get used to it first as she staggered when walking.
"Wendy-chan!! You're really back!"
The trio smiled happily back at her, with Kiana helping him to get up, and he was about to reach for her.
"What a pity... I've got no more time for you!"
Their victory was short-lived by the deep feminine Russian voice interrupting their moments. All of them looked above with shocked faces as the red insignia barrier was summoned on top of them.
For no reason, Y/N decided to retreat back to his Squad position. He immediately recognized that voice, where she was behind the eruption in Nagazora, and almost doomed Singapore when Dr. Magi told everything. It triggered him to the point it was unforgivable for her.
"All tactical mechas, invisible mode off. Target: the fourth Herrscher!"
Wendy was surrounded by the invisible mechas in panicking expressions, which uncloaked themselves and immediately opened fire at her with their stunting weapon, putting her unconscious and soon capturing her.
Y/N's eyes widened in agony at seeing her getting harmed mercilessly.
"Wendy!!!!!" He yelled, his voice cracking up in anger.
"No way! One hit, and the Herrscher went down!" Mei retorted.
"Cocolia!!! You've gone too far!!"
"That new tactical mecha is something else! Well, I have to thank you for wearing her down first. Oh, right! Almost forgot! There's another Herrscher right here!"
The trio widened their eyes in realization as they felt something was about to get hit from behind, and they immediately swayed their bodies to the front, and they were even more shocked.
"Bronya, my daughter, supreme authority command: capture the third Herrscher!"
Y/N gasped in shock, wishing it was all a dream of all he saw. Their known close friend, who backstabbed them under the control of her mind, Bronya. She was back in her dark form, the same black battlesuit she possessed in the Selene. The Project Bunny's cannon pointed at Mei, which was already fully charged.
"Da... Matushka..."
Kiana glared at Mei with her shocked expression when the voice announced to attack Mei. "What?!"
Everything slowed in time for Y/N's view. His reflexes were triggered as he glided in a supersonic speed to Mei's side, and he bashed them away with his elbow from the oncoming attack by Bronya, which caused Mei to get stumbled upon Kiana in mid-air.
Kiana didn't precisely register what just happened as she only knew that she got bounced to the side in the air by Mei's accidental stumble.
The portal, shaped after his Hero's Shield, had opened on its own for Kiana and Mei to teleport them to another safe location.
He quickly took off his holder and tossed his shield and the holder to the portal. Kiana and Mei were still in mid-air as they got phased into the portal, to the safe location, still in their disoriented faces.
The portal was about to close shut before he left them a smile, the smile that they didn't get to see.
"Safe, Kiana... Mei..."
Time returned to normal, and Y/N didn't feel anything, and darkness had consumed his visions into nothing. He couldn't move at all, not even a muscle, but little did he know that he was still breathing.
Y/N went down by Bronya's attack that was intended for the third Herrscher, named Raiden Mei
"L/N Y/N has been neutralized. Two targets have escaped." Bronya announced flatly, watching him mercilessly drop to the ground in his face. And his body got carried away with her Project Bunny.
Then, she detected a hostile converging on their position.
"Schicksal troops detected. Approaching."
"Hmmph... that boy is cunning, and they got lucky this time. All troops——retreat."
The Anti-Entropy tactical mechas were cloaked in their invisibility mode, concealing their physical appearance as they started to retreat from the site.
The Knight of Hyperion, L/N Y/N, and their essential mission asset, Wendy, had been captured and abducted by a Schicksal backstab named Bronya Zaychik. At the very least, the rest of the squad had moved to the safe place, thanks to the Knight's determination.
—————
Kiana and Mei got rolled over on the pavement, writhing in the pain of the minor damage they inflicted on every roll.
The Hero's Shield bounced, leaving a small crater on the surface, while the holder dropped too hard and caused the cover to open by itself.
Both stopped rolling as they struggled to stand from the damage they received, with Kiana facing down and Mei facing up.
The Hero's Shield stopped bouncing right in front of Kiana. She almost recovered but realized she was missing something important. She couldn't get that sweet minty scent present around her.
She writhed in pain, crawled the ground to the Hero's Shield, then tried to reach it with her right hand, and she finally managed to grip the handle below.
Meanwhile, Mei also struggled to stand up while writhing in pain. As she rolled her body face to face to the ground, she craned her head and spotted the opened holder lying in front of her. She recovered it and stood crouched afterward but was more confused when looking at the content inside.
"It's empty...?"
There was nothing inside the holder. It was completely empty.
Kiana managed to get her body straightened up and stood up with two legs. After some staggering, she needed to balance. The Hero's Shield was on her hand.
She looked around the surroundings, but for some reason, she was starting to hyperventilate from anxiety. The sky painted in orange was now covered in a black and orange sky with stars twinkling. Everything was dead silent apart from the sound of the seashore.
But she mattered to him a lot, with her anguish increasing to the point she couldn't breathe, as her beloved knight wasn't standing on her side, especially when she couldn't sense the iconic minty scent that always made her positive and safe around him.
It was then her emotional state was tearing her apart. Her breathing had become more painful, her heart rate had increased to the point it hurt her, and her twitching beautiful blue eyes glistened in tears as they started streaming down her cheek.
She felt like her heart had been torn with a missing piece.
Kiana couldn't bear it anymore, as she inhaled repeatedly and unleashed her cries in her loudest scream, hoping she could get her beloved knight back.
"Y/N!!!!!"
Her blue eyes were full of tears, and she wanted to find him as she walked forward in a staggering gesture, her head shaking in denial. Her legs became too mellow to walk, but she kept going without care.
"Kiana-chan! Don't go!"
She was stopped by Mei's cries and embraced her from the back. Kiana tried to shake her hug off, but she couldn't do it as she no longer had any strength to fight her off. She could only drop herself to the ground by kneeling and hugging the Hero's Shield with the bottom of her heart as if that was the only thing her lover was here.
"Kiana, Mei, Y/N, Bronya! Come in! This is Himeko! Are you all alright?! Respond, please!"
Kiana's mouth stammered, having a hard time replying to her desperate and worried commander's voice, but to her for once, she imagined Himeko as her mother.
"Aunt Himeko! Y/N!!! Y/N was...!" She finally had the strength to shout in her cracked, broken voice. She embraced the Hero's Shield even further.
She was unable to continue, as she kept hyperventilating with her anxiety which worsened her mental state.
"Kiana, calm down! Explain what happened there!" Himeko said in her stern voice, but simultaneously, she expressed her worried tone when she heard Kiana's unstable response and talking about Y/N's situation.
"Y/N was...! Y/N was...! Y/N was...!"
Her panic attack made her unable to produce a word that she thought was too offensive in her state like that. She sobbed hard, and her eyes were still full of tears of sorrow and loneliness, even though Mei was right behind her, embracing her in hopes she soothed her down.
A slight hope had struck her mind as Kiana looked down at the precious shield belonging to him, and she wanted to try something that she hoped she could get him back. She remembered the portal that unexpectedly appeared out of nowhere, which she assumed was from this shield.
She craned her head with a slight hope.
"Come back to where Y/N is!!! Come back!!" Kiana chanted loudly while thrusting her arms, wielding her Hero's Shield, hoping she could summon the portal.
Nothing happened, and she thought her mantra wasn't strong enough as she retracted the shield back and looked at the shield momentarily before she looked back to the front.
"I said come back!!! Come back! Come back!" She yelled desperately while thrusting the shield back and forth and forcing herself to consume her remaining energy until she managed to get it right.
After several attempts and nothing went as she expected, she panted hard and began to feel hopeless as she lowered her head in sorrow, with tears still flowing down her cheek.
"Damn it!!!!" She smashed the pavement with the shield, and instead of the shield getting dented by her unparalleled force, it pierced through the rock, creating shattering cracks sound of the pavement.
"Kiana-chan... I'm sorry...." Mei couldn't help her, and all she could do was soothe her by embracing her in the back, ensuring she wasn't alone.
Kiana knew that her close friend was still here, and she was very grateful to still have her side, but for once, she didn't bother her time to respond in Mei's comfort. She sobbed hard, and her tears still flowed in the anguish of losing her loved ones. Her sclera eyes was becoming swollen, dying in a slight reddish color.
"Kiana, Mei.... stay still... I will be there for you. I can see you on sight."
They could only wait for their Commander to pick them up back to the Hyperion.
The sky had become dark at night, filled with infinite amounts of twinkling stars and a moon starting to unveil itself from the dark clouds.
Captain Müller had been watching the extraordinary powers of Y/N and Kiana, where they could overpower the 4th Herrscher without breaking a sweat. The dynamic of their tag team was unparalleled. He found it astonishing as if he had watched a romance show.
However, he felt disheartened when he heard Kiana's cries of despair ringing from the integrated comms of the bridge room, but he still kept his face intrigued by seeing her angsty voice.
He sipped his cold cappuccino through the straw with an amused expression, and he was about to leave the bridge since he couldn't stand to hear her cries forever.
While waiting for the elevator, he had the mood of initiating a conversation with his AI of Hyperion.
"Ai-chan."
"Aye, aye, Sir!"
"Un coup de foudre... do you know what that means in English?"
"French for "A sudden unforeseen event", right?"
Captain Müller hummed while nodding and smirked in the impression of hearing Ai-chan answers correctly, but he also wanted to educate her more as she missed the point behind the meaning.
"A bolt of lightning. It's used to describe love at first sight."
The elevator was already stationed, and the electric door slide opened automatically, and he calmly entered the elevator.
"Kanchou, I don't remember you're that poetic. Have you been reading a book about romance poetry?" Ai-chan spoke in her distinctive deep voice whenever she was curious.
"For a long time." He said with a smirk before the door closed and the elevator descended.
While waiting on the designated floor, he shook his head after hearing one of his reliable knights had been captured, and a certain Russian valkyrie had turned on their backs. The mission was a failure.
Captain Müller slipped his hand into his admiral suit and took out an item that appeared to be dyed in purple, then he admired it with a smile.
"Tell me how to rescue my beloved knight... Herrscher."
He was holding a Gem with a monster illustrated on it. It looked similar to Y/N's Ultra Gem, but it was a Kaiju Gem instead.
It was a Maga-Orochi Gem.
———————
Maga Orochi Kaiju Gem