Year 2016.
Schicksal Far East Branch, St.
Freya Academy Dormitory.
Raiden Mei slowly opened her eyes, gazing blankly out the window.
Warm morning sunlight bathed her face, and birds chirped softly as they fluttered across the clear sky.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, a light, cheerful smile gracing her lips once more.
After washing up, she kicked off her morning routine.
“What should I make for breakfast today?”
Mei expertly walked into the kitchen, prepping breakfast for a certain white-haired dummy and a certain single lady past her prime.
Before long, the food was ready.
She walked over to Kiana’s bedroom.
Kiana’s room was a bit of a disaster area.
Seeing undergarments scattered haphazardly around the floor, Mei let out a helpless sigh and tidied them up.
“Kiana, time to wake up and eat breakfast!”
Mei gently shook the sleeping girl, trying to wake her up.
“Ugh…
Mei, let me sleep five more minutes…
It’s the weekend…”
Kiana’s lazy, sweet mumbles made her look exactly like a sleepy little kitten.
“Sigh, fine.
Just make sure to get up soon and eat, okay?”
“Mmm…”
By the time Kiana ambled out of her room while yawning, Himeko and Mei were already eating.
However, as Kiana pulled up a chair, she noticed an extra breakfast plate sitting on the table.
“Mei, is someone else coming over?”
It wasn’t just Kiana—Himeko was equally curious.
Mei frequently cooked enough food for four people, even though there were only three residents in the dorm: Kiana, Himeko, and Mei.
“Huh?”
Mei froze for a moment.
Looking at the empty chair and the fourth plate of breakfast, her mind drifted into confusion.
In her subconscious intuition, there should have been one more person here—an emotionless kuudere girl who loved playing video games.
Yet, her actual memories told her that throughout the two years since coming to St.
Freya Academy, no such girl had ever existed.
Kiana and Himeko were already used to this quirk, brushing it off as Mei just miscounting by habit.
“Himeko!”
The front door burst open.
Theresa rushed inside with a dead-serious expression.
“What happened?”
Himeko instantly shifted into battle readiness.
“We just detected a Judgment-class Honkai Beast signature in the South China Sea!
Kiana, Mei—gear up immediately!
You’re deploying with me and Himeko!”
“Wait, what?!
They’re only B-Rank Valkyries!”
Himeko nodded at first, but then gasped in disbelief.
Kiana and Mei were only B-Rank Valkyries—how on earth could they participate in a mission involving a Judgment-class Honkai Beast?
Theresa sighed softly.
She didn’t want to drag Kiana and Mei into danger either, but right now, almost every Valkyrie squad in St.
Freya Academy was away on missions outside the Far East.
“Fu Hua is coming too.”
“And who else?”
Himeko pressed.
Every other Valkyrie squad at St.
Freya is currently deployed off-site.”
Theresa looked apologetic.
“I’m sorry, Himeko, but this is an emergency.
We have to move out ASAP and stop that Honkai Beast.”
Himeko still hesitated.
“Himeko-sensei, have some faith in me!
Yours truly isn’t that weak!”
“I’ll help too!”
Both Kiana and Mei spoke up right away.
“Fine, but you two stick close to me at all times,” Himeko conceded with a sigh.
Before long, Theresa took Himeko, Fu Hua, Kiana, and Mei aboard the Hyperion, setting course for the South China Sea region.
Meanwhile, at Schicksal Headquarters in Europe…
“Lord Overseer, Lady Theresa’s squad has departed,” Amber reported as she entered the office.
“Understood,” Otto replied with a nonchalant nod.
His grand scheme had officially kicked off.
Barring any unexpected turns, everything would unfold strictly according to his script.
Whether it was Kiana or Raiden Mei, Herrschers were nothing more than pawns on his chessboard.
However, as Otto pondered his next move, a lingering question crossed his mind: two years ago in Nagazora, the girl suspected of being the true Herrscher of Reason—Bronya—where on earth had she vanished to?
Beep-beep!
Beep-beep!
Just then, the emergency alarm blared on the office’s communication terminal.
Frowning, Otto picked up the line.
“What on earth happened?”
“Lord Overseer!
The Germans have declared war on Poland!
At the same time, they launched an armed assault on our squad!
We had no choice but to retreat!”
Appearing on the comms projection was the squad leader of Schicksal’s Valkyries stationed in Germany.
She was practically screaming in utter disbelief.
Behind her, several members of her Valkyrie squad were knocked out cold, while others were severely wounded.
“???”
Otto was completely dumbfounded.
Beep-beep!
Beep-beep!
Another emergency alarm blared.
Otto instinctively accepted the incoming transmission.
“This is bad, Lord Overseer!
The Russians declared war on neighboring countries under the pretext of rebuilding the Soviet Union!”
“We’ve completely lost contact with all our Valkyrie squads in Eastern Europe!”
The simultaneous reports breaking out from Germany and Russia left Otto thoroughly stunned.
Schicksal maintained control across the globe thanks to the overwhelming combat power of its Valkyrie squads.
Even if most Valkyries could only handle ordinary Honkai Beasts, sending them against regular human military forces was an absolute dimensional stomp.
That sheer dominance had always been the foundation of relative peace across Europe and the rest of the world.
So how could Germany and Russia possibly deal with Valkyrie squads?
What capacity did they have to counter Valkyries?
Human technological advancement had been intentionally suppressed by Otto all along—how could they possibly stand against Valkyries?
Beep-beep!
Beep-beep!
“Lord Overseer!
The French have expelled our Valkyrie squad!”
“Lord Overseer!
Africa is…”
“Lord Overseer!
Asia is…”
Bad news flooded in one after another.
In an instant, Schicksal transformed into a pariah, like a rat crossing the street that everyone chased after and reviled.
Virtually every major nation began expelling Schicksal’s Valkyrie squads.
The whole of Europe erupted into a boiling cauldron, with nations launching wars left and right under all kinds of excuses.
Otto didn’t care much about the wars themselves.
What shocked him was what was happening to the Valkyrie squads.
“How are they dealing with the Valkyries?”
With a Valkyrie squad’s combat prowess, wiping out standard human troops should be a walk in the park.
How could they possibly be driven out?
Meanwhile, Amber had been rapidly gathering intelligence from across the globe.
Before long, she brought in fresh reports.
“Lord Overseer, those Valkyrie squads were targeted by a special type of anesthetic round.
The chemical compound inside inflicts neural anesthesia on Valkyries in a very short frame of time.
As of right now, we have no effective countermeasure.”
Amber reported calmly.
“Anesthetic rounds?”
“Correct.
One year ago, a high-tech conglomerate known as Future Technology Co.
developed this high-potency neural anesthetic, which was subsequently adopted widely across major hospitals.”
“Our Valkyries are still flesh and blood after all.
They cannot withstand this specialized neural agent.”
Otto quickly issued commands.
“Summon all medical scientists across Schicksal immediately to start breaking down and countering this neural anesthetic!”
“Contact Durandal and have her return to Schicksal HQ on standby.”
“Notify all regional branches that all Valkyrie squads are to fall back to branch bases for now.
No unnecessary outings.”
“Understood.”
Is someone targeting Schicksal?
Otto narrowed his eyes slightly.
But if it was just this, it posed no real threat to Schicksal.
Durandal alone was far beyond anything the nations of the world could handle.
Still, he was genuinely curious as to what faction possessed the pull to manipulate so many nations into turning against Schicksal at once.
Since they wanted to play games, Otto didn’t mind playing along.
…
“Durandal is indeed a tough nut to crack,” Ren muttered.
Ren knew full well what the Super Goose Girl was capable of.
Leaving everything else aside, clapping Bronya in a fight would be smooth sailing for her.
But then again, he never intended for Bronya or Gray Wind to go out and fight the Super Goose Girl face-to-face.
“Lord Overseer…
times have changed,” Ren chuckled pleasantly, watching the Honkai energy inside Bronya’s Herrscher Core skyrocket as war erupted across the globe.
Whether it was Future Tech’s neural anesthetics or the massive stockpiles of weaponry supplied to the nations of the world, Ren had quietly provided all of it by controlling Bronya.
Naturally, the Honkai energy generated from the casualties flowed straight back into Bronya.
And up next, there was a whole bunch of “little” surprises waiting for Otto.
Ren was sure it would put a big smile on his face.