One month later.
“Overseer!
Schicksal’s Siberian sensors have detected a Judgment-class Honkai energy signature!
And its location is right at Babylon Labs!”
At Schicksal Headquarters, Amber hurriedly rushed in to report to Otto.
“Hmm?
A Honkai eruption occurred in Siberia?”
Otto was taken aback upon hearing the news.
“Negative.
Observational data indicates there is only the Judgment-class Honkai Beast reaction!”
“Are you certain?” Otto’s expression turned stern.
“Yes, Overseer.
Multiple scans confirm the exact same result,” Amber answered immediately.
“That makes no sense…” Otto furrowed his brows.
A Judgment-class Honkai Beast was supposed to accompany a Herrscher born during a major Honkai eruption.
From his research into Ancient Civilization ruins, Otto knew that every Herrscher in the Previous Era had a companion Judgment-class Honkai Beast.
Though he wasn’t entirely clear on why the First Herrscher, Welt, had no companion beast and chose to side with humanity instead…
One thing was absolute: the appearance of a Judgment-class Honkai Beast meant a major eruption and a Herrscher had to be involved.
So why?
Why did energy readings of a Judgment-class Honkai Beast pop up out of nowhere at Babylon Labs in Siberia?
“What about the regular reports from Babylon Labs?” Otto inquired further.
“They report that everything is operating normally!”
Amber’s response made Otto realize the truth almost instantaneously.
“Investigate all recent report files sent back from Babylon Labs immediately!
Notify Theresa and the Snowwolf Squad to stand by.
Also, tell Cecilia to prepare for battle.”
Otto swiftly issued his directives.
“Understood,” Amber replied.
“It seems Babylon Labs has already fallen under the control of the Second Herrscher,” Otto deduced.
Before long, preliminary investigation results of Babylon Labs were placed before Otto.
Even though Babylon Labs had consistently reported business as usual, Schicksal’s investigators quickly uncovered numerous anomalies once they dug deeper.
Most of the surveillance footage sent from the facility turned out to be looped fakes.
Everything pointed to one conclusion: Babylon Labs was indeed controlled by the Second Herrscher, who was maintaining a facade of normality.
This was a Herrscher who knew how to lay low and hide her tracks.
This series of revelations left Otto feeling a subtle thread of unease.
“Have Theresa lead the Snowwolf Squad and deploy immediately.
They must uncover exactly what the Second Herrscher is up to!”
Otto gave the command without delay.
…
Theresa, who had been on standby, received Amber’s orders shortly after.
Seeing Theresa’s cute, unusually serious little face, Cecilia asked softly.
“Yeah.
Grandpa’s investigation showed that the Second Herrscher has likely awakened.
We still don’t know what she’s planning, so we’re deploying to investigate Babylon Labs directly,” Theresa nodded.
“Stay safe out there.
If anything happens, I’ll head over right away,” Cecilia said, cradling her newborn daughter Kiana in her arms.
“Mhm!”
“Kiana, be a good girl for mommy, okay?
Auntie Theresa will be back as soon as she kicks the bad guy’s butt!”
Theresa giggled and tickled little Kiana for a moment.
“Alright, squad—move out!”
When Theresa stepped out of Cecilia’s home, the five members of the Snowwolf Squad were already lined up outside waiting for her.
The Snowwolf Squad was Schicksal’s premier Valkyrie team, comprised entirely of A-rank Valkyries.
Originally led by S-rank Valkyrie Cecilia, the squad had temporarily disbanded during her pregnancy.
Only now, with the emergency at Babylon Labs, had the team reassembled under Theresa’s temporary command.
Standing by the window, Cecilia watched Theresa and the Snowwolf Squad depart together.
For reasons she couldn’t quite name, an ominous premonition suddenly washed over her.
Am I overthinking this?
With Theresa and the squad’s strength, even if they can’t defeat the Herrscher, they should easily be able to pull back safely, right?
Though Cecilia had read extensively about Herrschers, she had never actually fought one in real combat.
Thus, she had no real benchmark for how terrifying a Herrscher’s true power could be.
I hope I’m just worrying over nothing…
Cecilia let out a quiet sigh.
…
“Looks like we won’t be able to keep this a secret much longer~”
Sirin stared at the nearly 100-meter-tall egg before her, her golden eyes sparkling brilliantly as she popped marshmallows into her mouth one after another.
The Honkai energy surge generated by Benares nearing full maturity let Sirin know that Schicksal would be sending troops very soon.
However, compared to Schicksal’s reaction, Sirin cared far more about Benares’s rebirth.
Just then, a silver-and-blue dragon swooped down from the sky.
Over 20 meters long with a wingspan stretching 40 meters, its appearance closely resembled Benares.
However, its body was rendered in gleaming silver and blue, with eyes as crimson as dripping blood.
Elaborate, glowing purple glyphs patterned its back, and its head was adorned with purple feather accessories identical to the ones in Sirin’s hair.
Furthermore, its wings were fitted with metallic armor plates and thruster nozzles, while miniature cannon muzzles were subtly integrated into its four claws.
As the silver-blue dragon drew close to Sirin, a flash of purple light flickered, and the dragon instantly transformed into a gorgeous girl with silver hair, red eyes, and purple feather hairpins.
“My Queen, we’ve spotted a Schicksal helicopter heading straight toward our location!”
The girl was one of the members of Sirin’s newly established Queen’s Imperial Guard.
“Did you get photos of them?” Sirin tore open another bag of marshmallows.
“Yes, we’ve captured them already.”
The girl pulled out a stack of photos.
While in her dragon form, she had used active cloaking around the Schicksal chopper to automatically snap these pictures.
As lifeforms born of the Imaginary Space, these Imperial Guard maidens could also manipulate a small portion of Imaginary space.
Creating temporary gear consumed very little energy for them, yet yielded tremendous tactical utility.
“Pass them over, let me take a look.”
Sirin munched on her marshmallows, the sweet taste putting her in a delightful mood.
The girl promptly held up the photos for her.
“Theresa the Dummy and the full Snowwolf Squad, huh?”
Seeing the faces in the photos, Sirin wasn’t surprised in the slightest.
During this era, Schicksal only had a handful of Valkyries capable of putting up a decent fight.
Still, their combat capability was pretty formidable—they had managed to heavily wound Benares and exchange blows with Sirin in the original storyline.
Of course, that was in the original timeline.
“Assemble.”
Sirin gave the order calmly.
Opening a spatial rift behind her, a magnificent throne crafted from purple crystal and solid gold manifested, and the noble Queen gracefully took her seat.
The Imperial Guard maiden’s main body in the Imaginary Space immediately broadcasted to the rest of the unit.
Moments later, all 220 members of the Queen’s Imperial Guard materialized before Sirin.
Every single one was clad in gleaming silver armor engraved with purple intricate patterns, matching the glyphs on their dragon forms.
Carrying spears on their shoulders, bows on their backs, and long swords at their waists, they looked every bit like an ancient royal army—at least on the surface.
Standing straight as arrows, they formed a tight, orderly square formation.
While roughly a month had passed in real space, they had spent an incredibly long period training inside the Imaginary Space.
Years?
Decades?
Or even longer?
Time carried no meaning in the Imaginary Space, and without the burden of mortality, the Imperial Guard didn’t care how much time went by during their training.
“Schicksal’s forces have arrived.
Go, my Imperial Guard—vanquish these humans and bring them before me!”
Sitting atop her throne of purple crystal and gold, Sirin looked down at the fanatically loyal maidens below.
“Understood, My Queen!”
The girls of the Queen’s Imperial Guard shouted in unison.
“Everything for the Queen!”
With that, they transformed into a fleet of silver-blue dragons and soared into the sky.
…
“Once my future mother-in-law gets here, I’ll assimilate her too!
Though…
should I assimilate Theresa as well?”
Ren was extremely fond of Cecilia.
Hot moms were truly top tier!
Mother-in-law?!
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