[3rd POV]
The squad arrived at the location and the five of them quickly put on their diving suits. Kaito already prepared his Katana, Yamato, and Himeko with her red greatsword that she put on her back.
"Major, a large cave has been detected below and looks like it contains a high spike of Honkai energy," Fu Hua said.
"Alright, everyone. It is time for us to dive down there and explore," Himeko said.
Kiana noticed Kaito who was holding his chin and it seemed like he's thinking about something.
"What's wrong Kaito ?" Kiana asked the boy.
"Hmm... It's really odd for a Mangaka to know such a place like this. Like, where did he even get the information about this place ?" Kaito said with suspicion.
"Well... My theory is that he must've paid some dudes with his money, from making manga, for this kind of stuff since he owns a Yacht like this. So, there's no doubt that he actually does that kind of thing," Kiana theorized.
Kaito lowered his hand from his chin.
"That also can prove to be true, or maybe he accidentally stumbled upon a lost scroll or something else ?" Kaito assumed.
Then, they heard something fall. They looked at the source and it turns out to be Nintou who went unconscious and just from that alone, Kaito already knew the culprit that made the Mangaka go unconscious.
"I see... So this is your plan all along," Kaito said, looking at the unconscious Nintou.
"He is such a stubborn guy, so I have no choice but to do this to make him not come with us. And besides, it's also dangerous for him because of the high spike of Honkai energy that Fu Hua mentioned before," Himeko explained while wiping her hands.
The squad wore their diving helmets and went down below the water before swimming down vertically. They then looked around, searching for the cave.
"Where's the cave ? All I can see are just beautiful corals and fishes," Kiana said.
"The readings said that the cave is still deeper than this point," Fu Hua said.
"Then, let's make haste. We can follow the Honkai Energy trace," Himeko said, swimming forward.
But all of sudden, a danger sign appeared on their helmet.
"Beneath us!!" Kaito shouted.
Five of them looked down and saw a shadow with glowing eyes, slowly swimming up towards them.
"Are those...." Kiana was stunned to speak.
"Yes! Honkai Beasts, and there appears to be a horde of them," Kaito said.
The Honkai beasts resemble a shark with glowing lines and razored eyes.
"Let's get out of here! Everyone, activate your Propulsion Jets!!" Himeko shouted and they did what she said.
The squad blasted off away from the hordes but the Horde of Honkai Beasts still chased after them.
"Crap! At this rate they're going to catch up to us!" Kiana panicked.
The wreckage of a submarine caught Himeko's eyes and she spent no time telling others.
"Over there! Follow me!" She said and the rest followed her to the Submarine wreckage.
"Hey, Himeko, where are we going ?" Kiana asked.
"There's a Submarine wreckage," Himeko said.
"Submarine wreckage ? You wanted to use it as a hiding place from these honkai beasts?" Kaito asked.
"You're wrong Kaito, I'm going to use it as a trap," Himeko explained.
"A trap ?" Kaito said, clearly surprised.
"Yes, if we can lure the Honkais insides and smash the boulder underneath the hull, we'll be able to trap them inside," Himeko told them her plan.
"But how are we supposed to break a large boulder ? We don't even bring any explosives," Kiana exclaimed.
"Fu Hua, I'll leave that to you. Meanwhile Kiana, Kaito, both of you are with me," Himeko said.
"Understood! But I will need three minutes to get ready," Fu Hu said.
The squad went inside the Submarine through the broken hull and Fu Hua quickly went to the boulder under the Hull.
Kiana grabbed her pistols from the holster and pointed it forward.
"Come at me! Stupid Fishies!" She taunted them only to have Himeko pull her from behind, followed by Kaito who gripped Yamato.
The three go further inside but are only greeted by a dead end.
"A dead end," Kaito said.
"They followed us in!" Kiana warned them.
"Stubborn bastard, huh ? Never give up," Himeko said.
"What should we do ?" Kiana asked in panic but suddenly Kaito moved to their front.
"We just have to hold them off for three minutes until Fu Hua informs us," he unsheathed Yamato from its scabbard and pointed it towards the honkai beasts.
"Hmmm... Nice thinking, Kaito," Himeko smirked and grabbed her sword from her back.
Kiana loaded her pistols as she pointed it forward.
Meanwhile, Fu Hua is focusing on herself and her palm is only an inch from the boulder. She's trying to break the boulder as Himeko planned.
"Focus... Focus..." She muttered.
She steadied her mind and body for a moment while closing her eyes.
Inside the submarine, Himeko and Kaito slashed some of the honkai beasts.
Kaito plunged himself forward pointing Yamato from the front, Yamato pierced through 2 honkai beasts like a skewer with ease while Himeko performed a circling slash with her sword that took down a bunch of them. But all of a sudden, another one showed up behind her but fortunately, she was saved by Kiana who kicked it and shot its head with her pistols.
Kaito swung the Yamato upward, cutting one of the Honkai in half, then spoke up, "There's too many of them!"
"Yeah... These things keep coming and coming! And I think three minutes should be up by now," Kiana said while spraying bullets with her pistols.
"Fu Hua, are you ready ?!!" Himeko spoke through the comms trying to contact Fu Hua.
But she didn't respond.
"Fu Hua, please respond!" Himeko said once again.
Kaito and Kiana tried to hold some honkai beasts from going near them with Kaito stabbing its body and Kiana supported him by shooting its head.
"Himeko! We're in a dangerous situation right now and also heavily outnumbered!" Kaito exclaimed and continued slashing some Honkais.
"Fu Hua!!!" Himeko yelled.
"Right Here!" Fu Hua's voice can be heard from the comms.
[Back to Fu Hua, still 3rd POV]
She thrust her fist forward smashing the boulder, breaking it to pieces and the Submarine wreckage began to collapse, locking the honkai beast as well as the three.
But then, a square cut formed on the Sub's hull and the hull steel collapsed, letting Himeko, Kiana, and Kaito out with Kaito also sheathing Yamato prior to him making the way out.
They finally regrouped. But all of a sudden, someone comes towards them.
"Hey there!"
They looked up and it was Nintou who wore his diving suit as he made his way down to them.
'What's with this guy ? I didn't put all my strength into that punch. But no normal human could possibly recover that quickly,' Himeko thought.
Just as Himeko finished her thoughts, a massive honkai beast appeared behind him.
"What the-" Kaito said.
"That thing is huge!" Kiana said in shock.
The beast opened its jaws so wide as it went closer to them.
"Get out of there!" Himeko shouted.
Fu Hua and Kiana quickly moved away but unfortunately, Himeko, Nintou and Kaito, couldn't get away in time and ended up being devoured whole by the honkai beast.
"Himeko!! Kaito!!" Kiana yelled as she looked in horror.
The massive Honkai beast then swam away with them in its mouth.
"WE HAVE TO FOLLOW IT!" Kiana yelled as she followed the beast with Fu Hua following closely behind her.
[Himeko's POV]
I opened my eyes trying to gain my consciousness and when it did return, I looked around my surroundings. It seemed that my helmet was broken, so I decided to take it off.
"Where am... I ?" I said in confusion. I looked around and my eyes stumbled on Kaito, who was lying on the ground with his katana near him.
"Kaito!!!" I quickly rushed towards him before immediately checking his vitals. And good grief, he is still alive and was only unconscious. I removed his helmet so that he can breathe easily and gently lay him down on the ground.
After laying him down I heard a weak voice behind me.
"Ouch..."
It was the Manga boy who got struck down by a bunch of rocks. I approached him and saw a familiar glowing line on him.
"My head... It hurts," he said again.
"You've been corrupted by Honkai energy and you're going to turn into a zombie," I explained.
I reached deep into my diving suit pocket and let out three pills.
"Here, take these pills. It should suppress the effect for now," I said, giving out to him.
He then took it and swallowed the pills. Suddenly, his eyes closed as he fell unconscious.
'That pills can only delay his death... I must remove the rock that fell on top of him.'
Then I realized that my sword was gone.
I tried looking around for it but ended up seeing something that took me by surprise. I saw a golden sword being impaled through a rock. I then walked closer to the sword.
"This sword... It's the legendary sword, none other than the Xuanyan sword..."
I grabbed the sword handle, curled my fingers and grip it tightly. Then I pulled it out from the rock before inspecting it closer from its appearance alone and other things such as its weight.
"I expected to be heavier, but it turns out to be so light..." I tried to swing it a little.
Suddenly, a mirror like a rock rose from the ground and I looked at it only to be surprised by what I just saw.
[Meanwhile, Hyperion, Alan's POV]
We are on our way to Guangzhou, China, due to the urgent mission by none other than Principal Theresa. Since there's an intel that said something about Himeko and the others' disappearance, she sent us to check, and possibly, help them too in the process.
Not just that, but a Shicksal ship being under attack alo reached her ears. And I'm pretty sure it's related to the Anti Entropy... and her.
Turning my head around, I see Mei sleeping, maybe due to her being tired about classes and others. While Bronya, who was sitting silently on the chair, seemed to be thinking about something.
"Bronya," I called.
"What is it Alan-nii ?" She replied.
"Are you thinking about something?" I asked her.
"It's nothing..." She straightforwardly answered, just as I expected.
"Don't lie to me. Is it about Matushka? DId she contact you?" I asked again and her body jolted a bit.
Bronya then kept silent, and that is already a strong proof about Matushka contacting Bronya.
"So she actually contacted you... Be honest with me, Bronya, what is it that she wanted from you ?" I asked her again with a lighter tone.
"It's about something that involves the mission that Kaito-nii and Himeko-sensei attend."
"I knew it... She must've been after the sword."
"Da!"
Then both of us heard a squirm and it was Mei, who moved in her sleep. She seems to be having a nightmare.
"Kaito!!" Her eyes shot blood open, surprising both of us.
"Mei-neesama, are you ok ?" Bronya aided her.
"I'm fine... Just a nightmare... It's no big deal..." Mei said with small pants in between.
"You sure? You were screaming Kaito's name before, did something happen in your dream ?" I asked her.
"It's....." She stopped midway.
"Sorry, but I don't want to talk about it right now..." Mei held her head.
"The Bronya understand," Bronya nodded.
Then the alarm rang and a warning sign came.
"Warning! Warning!"
"What's happening ?" Mei asked in panic.
"It most likely doesn't sound good," I said.
Theresa runs toward us. Huh, didn't know that the Loli Baba can run as fast as that.
"You three, be prepared, something just emerged from the Sea," she said.
"What ?" I heard Bronya and Mei say in unison but I kept silent.
'Just... what are they up to?' I referred someone and it's not to Kaito, Himeko, Fu Hua, and Kiana.
[Moments before, 3rd POV]
Kiana and Fu Hua entered a large underwater cave that could be fitted by the honkai beast earlier. They removed their diving gears and helmets due to the cave not surrounded by water anymore.
"This is the place where Major's Himeko and Kaito's signals are and it looks like they're here somewhere," Fu Hua said.
Kiana looked around for both of them and noticed two bodies lying down on the ground. She looked closely and was surprised that they were Kaito and Himeko.
"Look! There they are!!" Kiana exclaimed and quickly went towards them, followed by Fu Hua.
Fu Hua went to Kaito and told Kiana that he is in a fine condition, but when they turned to Himeko, they saw that she had been impaled by the Xuanyan sword.
"Himeko!!" Kiana shouted worriedly. But as they got closer, Himeko suddenly rose and removed the sword that had impaled her body.
Her eyes looked like she'd seen something terrible. She lifted the sword and performed a slash that summoned a wave of flames, coming towards Kiana and Fu Hua.
"Move!!!" Fu Hua said and both of them took cover behind stalagmites.
"What was that ? Himeko won't hurt us!" Kiana said.
"Kiana... I believe that is not the Himeko we know... And I believe that the day has finally come," Fu Hua said.
"Kiana, you would know that as a Kaslana, this doesn't apply to you. But as normal valkyries, our power comes from an artificial Stigmata. But, there's a catch from that. The stigmata also acts as a fatal poison that makes our bodies slowly being taken over by honkai energy. Himeko had only four years left to live before eventually getting corrupted by the Honkai," Fu Hua explained.
All of a sudden, the stalagmites that they were using as cover broke. They got pushed away as a result.
Kiana slowly rose up
"Himeko! It's us!!! Don't you remember?!" Kiana said but it's no use as Himeko didn't respond and only raised the flame engulfed Xuanyan sword.
She was about to swing it toward them but something unexpected happened, the awakened Kaito blocked the sword with his Katana, Yamato. Oddly enough, his katana didn't break even from directly receiving Xuanyan's massive power of force.
"Ughhh.... Get out of here!!" Kaito commanded them and both of them quickly moved aside.
"Kaito! Move! You will only hurt yourself if you try to fight her!" Fu Hua shouted.
"Then I will just have to remove that sword from her!!"
Kaito pushed Yamato upwards, freeing himself before punching Himeko's gut with Yamto's grip. Seeing her staggered state, he took the chance by grabbing the Xuanyan.
The possessed Himeko resisted as her grip tightened and tried to pull the sword from Kaito's hand. But eventually, Kaito proved to be far stronger as he removed Himeko's palm from Xuanyan and pushed her away.
Himeko crashed on the ground as the aura around her disappeared and her eyes closed.
[Kaito's POV]
I finally managed to grab the Xuanyan from Himeko-sensei, but a second later, I felt a great headache in my head. Suddenly, my surroundings changed into that of a ruined city.
"Where... Am I ???" I looked around and saw something shocking.
My friend's bodies were lying on the ground and it turns out that they were... dead...
"No....!"
"Kaito... Why....." The lying body of Kiana said.
"You failed to protect us....." Now it's Mei.
"Because of you..... we are.... dead....." Now it's Alan.
Then a large honkai beast appeared and tried to attack me but I quickly dodged and ran away. After running for a moment I stumbled upon a snowfield with a bunch of dead trees due to the snow that occurs.
"This place......" I looked around.
"Kaito....."
My eyes widened hearing that because of the sounds. The sounds that i am very familiar with, I turned around and.....
I saw my parents.
"Mom ? Dad ?"
"Kaito.... Why.... Why did you fail to save them....." Dad said with a disappointed look.
"Kaito..... You let my death be in vain......." Mom said as a hole appeared on her stomach and tears fell from her eyes.
"No.... No...."
[Back to Fu Hua and Kiana, 3rd POV]
The two looked at Kaito in horror as he started screaming in fear and a glowing spectral demon-like figure emerged from him. He looked at them and started attacking.
"Guh! Now it's Kaito who got possessed!" Kiana said.
Kaito dashed in front of Kiana and tried attacking her, but Kiana rolled to the side and held both of his arms.
"Kaito! It's me Kiana! Your friend, please snap out of it!" But sadly, Kaito released himself from her grip and planted the Xuanyan on the ground, creating a shockwave that made Kiana get thrown away.
Kaito's attention turned to Fu Hua as he also dashed and attacked her, but Fu Hua managed to block his attack.
Kaito swung Yamato and the Xuanyan rapidly, making Fu Hua step back repeatedly, dodging his attacks.
"His swordsmanship skills are not to be underestimated..." Fu Hua said as she jumped above his head and landed behind him before quickly delivering a strong punch, causing Kaito to take a few steps back.
'At this rate... he will most likely become more dangerous!' Fu Hua thought as she dodged his attacks that were coordinated.
'It looks like I have no choice but to use it!'
Fu Hua then kicked Kaito, stunning him, before performing an uppercut that made him fall to the ground.
Kaito quickly regained his balance and lunged himself forward while pointing the Xuanyan towards Fu Hua. And just like before, Fu Hua dodged before attacking Kaito by kicking him.
Kaito immediately blocked her blow and the spectral demon figure behind him quickly slashed its claw toward Fu hua.
"Gah!!!"
Fu Hua stumbled but managed to regain her balance by kneeling. She quickly stood up and dashed towards Kaito. While she was dashing towards him, Kaito made a wave of cuts using the Xuanyan but Fu Hua easily dodged it.
Feeling that she was coming near him, Fu Hua jumped and locked her thighs to Kaito's neck. She then moved her body downwards and proceeded to smash Kaito's head against the solid cave ground.
Fu Hua grabbed her hair tie, making her long hair fall freely behind her back. She then pointed her hair tie towards Kaito.
Her hair tie glowed and the demon-like figure behind Kaito slowly emerged back inside him, followed by the blue aura around him that slowly dimmed down.
At the same time, Kaito's eyes slowly closed as he went unconscious.
"A close call," Fu Hua said as she tied her hair back.
"Class Prez!" She heard Kiana's voice from afar.
Kiana ran to Fu Hua only to notice that Kaito had fallen unconscious.
"Class prez... Did you just take Kaito down by yourself ?" Kiana asked.
"Yeah..." Fu Hua adjusted her glasses.
"What did you do ?" Kiana asked her again.
"I just did some martial arts on him that made him go unconscious," Fu Hua lied.
"I see... Wait, if you can do that, why didn't you apply the same thing to Himeko earlier ?" Kiana asked but only earned a silence from Fu Hua.
"Anyway... Let's get both of them out of here!" Fu Hua said, But all of a sudden, the ground beneath them shook violently.
"What's going on ?!" Kiana shouted. Then, the ground beneath them cracked as a purple light glowed through the crack.
[Back to present]
"We're reading a high spike of honkai energy from the seabed and it's slowly rising towards the surface," One of the crew said.
"Proceed to the location at full speed!" Theresa ordered.
"Principal Theresa, how about others ? Did you have any information about them ?" Alan asked her.
"I'm picking up their life signals and it looks like Fu Hua and Kiana are fine," Theresa said and the three of them looked a little relieved after hearing that.
"What about Kaito and Himeko-sensei ?" Alan asked again and Theresa just made a concerned look.
"For Kaito and Himeko... We've temporarily lost their signal," Theresa said, lowering her gaze as she answered.
Mei's eyes widened and her face smeared with shock.
"No..."
"Don't worry, Mei. I can guarantee that they are still alive. I know Kaito too well. He is the type of guy who would never go down just from that," Alan said to Mei.
"But, what if he...." Mei said with anxiety.
"He will not die easily! Mark my words. And I do believe that applies to Himeko too. Right, Principal Theresa ?" Alan said.
"Yeah... That's right, Himeko is a hot headed and tempered woman that can't go down easily, so, don't worry Mei. I believe both of them are fine," Theresa assured Mei.
"Ok..." Mei let out a relieved sigh trying to calm down.
"Alright! Prepare and reload all Hyperion weapons!" Theresa ordered again and the crew nodded.
Mei looked like she still had some anxiety based on her face.
'Kaito... Please be okay....'
[To Be Continued]