Kitty Snuggles: What’s going on?!
How did the gentle, timid Wendy from a second ago turn into a completely different person?
That laugh is kind of terrifying.
Wants to Buy an Island: Wait.
This change… don’t tell me—
Chlorinated Kiana: Heh.
Exactly what you’re all thinking.
The one existence no human can match: a Herrscher.
No Exams Thanks: Huh?
What nonsense are you spouting up there?
There’s no way a little angel like Wendy could be a Herrscher!
Impossible.
World’s Cutest: This… I…
Theresa and Kiana had settled onto the dorm sofa.
Kiana, rubbing her aching head, read the Queen’s comment and shot back at once.
Theresa, meanwhile, stared blankly at the Wendy cackling on the screen.
She simply couldn’t reconcile the Wendy before her with the strong, gentle, soft-spoken Wendy she’d once known.
She wasn’t a dummy like Tuna.
Seeing Wendy’s personality flip so drastically, she knew exactly what it meant.
Remembering the agony Wendy had endured at the Oceania Branch, a deep self-reproach welled up and filled Theresa’s heart, smothering her.
Because Wendy was her student, her finest student.
What Wendy didn’t know was that the reason she’d gone to take part in the Gem of Desire implantation experiment… was Theresa’s own recommendation.
Which meant it was she who had pushed her finest student into the abyss.
At the thought, Theresa trembled uncontrollably, struggling to breathe.
And just as the air seemed to fail her, Kiana glanced over.
But Tuna didn’t catch what was wrong with her.
“Auntie, did Wendy-san really turn into a Herrscher?”
At Tuna’s words Theresa’s mind was in chaos, yet watching the story-Wendy, she still believed her student could never be controlled by a Herrscher persona.
“No.
It can’t be, Kiana.”
“Wendy is an exceptional Valkyrie.”
Hearing this, Kiana broke into a goofy grin again and turned back to that Chlorinated Kiana.
“Hmph hmph, knew you were just talking nonsense.
There’s no way Wendy-san would turn into some rotten Herrscher!”
Chlorinated Kiana: Imbecile.
The real Wendy watched her own image, and there was no surprise in her teal eyes, because for three years now, the thing called Honkai had been gnawing at her will, and she had no idea how much longer she could hold on. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Still, seeing herself in the stream, she let out a quiet sigh.
Sensei.
I’m sorry.
I let you down.
The story rolled on.
The Herrscher-form Wendy twisted her body and vanished from the Hyperion.
After Himeko’s cool-headed analysis, the matter was reported up to Schicksal HQ, and an S-rank Valkyrie was to be dispatched as reinforcement to capture Wendy.
Even so, Kiana and the others still refused to believe Wendy was some wicked Herrscher.
They still believed in her.
Bronya: “Bronya believes Wendy would never do anything to hurt others.”
“Her personality has very likely been eroded and twisted by the Honkai.”
Himeko countered, but Tuna fired right back.
“Himeko-sensei, I believe in Wendy too!
A Herrscher can’t always control a human, right?
In Nagazora City, Mei was taken over by the Honkai as well, and in the end didn’t she beat it with her own willpower!”
“That’s right, Kiana.
As long as we help her, Wendy will surely find her true heart again.”
The real Wendy, watching the three of them still believe in her, felt a tangle of emotions.
Part of her thought these people were hypocrites, yet another part of her believed in Bronya, knew that Bronya and the others were sincere.
Kitty Snuggles: I believe in Wendy-san too!
Herrschers are all bad news, everyone where I’m from really hates them!
Kitty, who lived in Sundown Alley, had never seen a Herrscher.
But she’d seen plenty of people infected with Honkai sickness there, far too many, and she knew just how much they suffered.
And since Herrschers were apostles of the Honkai, in Kitty’s eyes they could be nothing but bad.
She, too, refused to believe that this soft-natured Wendy could become a Herrscher.
A pity Elysia was still out cold, or she’d surely have had something to say.
And the unconscious Elysia was, at that very moment, the target of Mobius’s furious revenge, payback for all the things Elysia had done to her these past few days.
The story continued.
Himeko gave the trio thirty minutes to chase Wendy down, and offhandedly told Kiana and the others just who the S-rank Valkyrie Schicksal was sending happened to be.
“The S-rank Valkyrie being deployed this time is Durandal, a Valkyrie clad in black armor who wields an enormous lance.”
“They say she’s the strongest of all the current S-rank Valkyries.”
The one most thrilled to hear this was Kiana.
Eyes shining, she stared at Himeko and murmured:
“Schicksal’s strongest Valkyrie.
What an awesome title!”
Because there’s only one strongest Valkyrie in Schicksal, and that’s Kiana Kaslana!
Reading Tuna’s comment, Xiyue couldn’t help a knowing smile.
This version of Tuna really was something.
Still playing through the story, she said to Tuna:
“Mm-hmm.
Kiana Kaslana is Schicksal’s strongest Valkyrie.”
Kiana grew even more excited at that.
What she didn’t know was the line Xiyue tacked on in her head.
The real Kiana Kaslana, that is.
She sighed inwardly.
The rest of the plot was simple enough: as Schicksal deployed its Valkyrie, Anti-Entropy sent out a warship of its own.
Himeko urged the trio to give up the chase, but as if Kiana and the others would ever listen.
They kept right on chasing.
Meanwhile Xiyue, piloting the Queen, went on a merry slaughter, and between kills she tossed out a quip.
“Ahh, after getting so used to Herrscher of Flamescion and Herrscher of Human: Ego, going back to the Queen feels a little off~”
“The patch where the Queen ruled the meta is long gone, you know~”
The Queen herself, hearing this, caught the note of disdain in Xiyue’s words and instantly bristled.
A mere ant, being allowed to control her character at all was the greatest fortune it could ever ask for, and it dared turn up its nose at her?
Poor Tuna felt that stab of pain again.
Chlorinated Kiana: ?
This Queen is the strongest.
Can you not see that, ant?
Xiyue didn’t bother replying to the Queen’s comment.
She just curled her lip and gave a faint little smile.
And the Queen, catching that little laugh of hers, detonated all over again.
“I’ll kill you.
Kill you.
Kill you, you ant who doesn’t know its place!”
“Once I get out, you can sit there and wait to die.”
“Worm!”
Kiana, gritting through her headache, read Chlorinated Kiana’s comments and Xiyue’s response, and for some reason felt absolutely delighted.
She twisted the knife at once.
No Exams Thanks: Hahahaha, “the strongest,” sure.
How embarrassing—obviously Kiana’s the strongest!
The instant Kiana hit send, her head throbbed something fierce.
Luckily, if there was one thing Tuna wasn’t afraid of, it was a headache.
Thank you all so much!