Theresa Apocalypse was playing with her niece, Kiana, beneath the fond gaze of Cecilia Schariac.
It was a peaceful, monotonous day like any other.
Filled with quiet joy, Theresa absentmindedly watched Kiana wave her tiny hands around while Cecilia smiled softly nearby.
Then, a notification arrived from her grandfather.
Theresa blinked.
And then blinked again.
Mass Murder at Babylon Labs!?
[Dear Granddaughter,
There has been a slight hiccup at Babylon Labs.
Around three hundred scientists have died in a Honkai explosion.
I suspect a Herrscher may be involved, though I am ultimately unsure.
I would like you to take Judah and investigate.
The power of Binding may prove useful if there truly is a Herrscher involved.
Do not inform Siegfried or Cecilia yet.
It may be a false alarm.]
Theresa stared at the message in disbelief.
Her grandfather did not do false alarms.
Nor was he ever unsure about something.
She slowly handed Kiana back to Cecilia, who looked at her curiously.
“Grandpa wants me to handle a mission,” Theresa muttered sheepishly, awkwardly whistling as she looked away.
“It’s not serious enough to require an S-rank, so you should stay home and rest.”
She very intentionally neglected to mention the possibility of a Herrscher.
Cecilia simply nodded tiredly.
She looked utterly exhausted after Kiana’s birth.
Between caring for a newborn and Siegfried waking up multiple times every night, neither of them had much energy left to spare.
So Cecilia failed to question why Otto had sent the Oath of Judah, but not her, nor Siegfried.
What could possible warrant the divine key of binding, instead of Abyss Flower or Judgement of Shamash.
New mothers rarely had room in their minds for anything beyond sleep and their child.
[Note: The Honkai Eruption occured six months earlier than canon.
This means Kiana is younger, a newborn.
The abysmal stage at which an infant cries at the world for existing and parents get no sleep]
This had all happened only a few hours ago.
Now, Theresa was en route to Babylon Tower.
‘…Or what’s left of it,’ she grimaced internally as the ruined structure entered view.
Was the universe messing with her!?
All she wanted was to spend time with her newborn niece for one peaceful week, and somehow she still ended up dragged into a disaster.
Couldn’t Grandpa have sent someone else!?
However, as her transport jet descended toward the snow-covered landscape below, violent turbulence suddenly rocked the aircraft.
A girl clad in an ornate black-and-purple dress raised her hand calmly into the air.
A shadow surged forward.
Covered in radiant purple-and-gold armour, a massive dragon tore through the sky with a magnificent roar, clouds splitting apart in its wake.
Sirin commanded it effortlessly, an eerie calm surrounding her.
She had already realized she couldn’t fully trust the old mercenary’s words.
Looking down at her palm, flexing her fingers and feeling the effortless power coursing through every inch of her body, Sirin concluded they may have simply lied to provoke her anger and force her awakening.
Her brother was far too incredible to die at the hands of such inferior pests.
And so, until she personally saw his corpse with her own eyes, Sirin would refrain from annihilating the world.
She still lacked proper control over her newfound powers.
Accidentally damaging the area around Seiya and their cabin would be an unforgivable sin.
The scientists she had just slaughtered?
She felt absolutely no remorse for them.
‘Seiya wouldn’t scold me for killing them if he were here.’
She reached that conclusion rather easily.
They were worthless insects who experimented on innocent girls and caused countless deaths.
Utter trash.
Beings unworthy of her personally lowering her hand to kill them.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the jet launched a missile directly at her.
Sirin scoffed.
With a snap of her fingers, a black cube surrounded by golden energy materialized before her.
The missile vanished into it instantly before the construct collapsed inward upon itself, erasing both the attack and itself from existence.
A newborn Herrscher should not have been capable of that.
Normally, she should have used her companion Honkai Beast to intercept the attack.
The dragon’s scales would have shrugged off ordinary missiles effortlessly.
Her connection to Imaginary Space should still have been unstable.
Yet Sirin wielded her authority with unnatural instinct.
Just moments earlier, she had even used her powers to cleanse the surviving children inside Babylon Labs of Honkai corruption.
‘Brother would be proud.
His goddess is truly benevolent.’
She had thought smugly at the time while suppressing the destructive urges surging through her transformed body.
Preposterous.
Did that strange voice truly think it could command her?
“There is only one being in this universe allowed to tell me what to do,” Sirin said coldly to the Will of the Honkai echoing in her mind.
“Know your place.
I’ll consider destruction once I’m certain he’s dead.”
The dragon rushed anxiously to her side after spotting the missile attack.
Sirin smiled softly at the creature’s worried expression.
She hadn’t allowed it to shield her for one simple reason.
‘I’m fine, Seiya.
Worry about yourself.’
She had named the dragon Seiya.
There was no way she would knowingly allow it to be harmed.
Meanwhile, Theresa had already abandoned the jet entirely.
She crashed toward the snowy ground like a meteor.
A dragon-type companion beast for a Herrscher!?
Nope.
Absolutely not.
She was not dealing with that.
Theresa slammed the Oath of Judah into the earth to brace her landing, snow exploding outward beneath her boots.
Sirin descended moments later, calm and graceful, deliberately mimicking Seiya’s composed demeanor.
As she landed, “Seiya” curled protectively around her, its spiked tail turning toward Theresa threateningly.
Theresa sweat-dropped nervously, tightening her grip on Judah in a very unconvincing display of courage.
“Human…”
Sirin began.
Theresa immediately stiffened.
Herrschers were supposed to be mindless monsters driven only by destruction, weren’t they!?
But Sirin looked… innocent.
Young.
Barely fourteen.
Surely relaxing her guard a little wouldn’t hurt?
Theresa very naively thought.
“Leave,” Sirin said dismissively.
“I have no desire to kill you.
I do not have time to waste on you.
Run away.”
The sheer dismissal in her tone made Theresa’s pride flare instantly.
Her ahoge twitched violently.
She was Theresa Apocalypse!
She couldn’t just run away like a coward!
“Judah!”
Golden chains exploded outward from the Divine Key like slithering serpents.
A single Void Lance emerged from a black-and-gold portal in response, slicing cleanly through every chain before stopping barely an inch from Theresa’s face.
It would have hit Theresa on the face.
Sirin had redirected it at the last second.
Theresa let out a tiny, terrified:
“Eep—!”
Sirin stared at her flatly while “Seiya” bared its massive teeth.
Theresa slowly shuffled backward through the snow.
This Herrscher wasn’t behaving normally at all.
She hadn’t attacked immediately.
She even warned her to leave.
And besides!
This was not cowardice.
This was a strategic retreat to report valuable information to her grandfather!
Yes.
Exactly that.
With no backup available, Theresa wisely chose survival.
“Ehe~”
She laughed awkwardly before turning around and fleeing with her tail practically between her legs, waving nervously behind her as she ran.
Whipping up snow, as she ran away at extreme speeds with an embarrassed blush.
Sirin snorted softly.
Well.
That had been easy.
Now then…
Time to find her brother.
Here’s the chapter.
A few hours later than usual.
I had stuff to do!
I’ll respond to every comment.
Throw me all your power stones!
If I don’t respond, the answer to your question is in the next chapter.
Baiii~