“Theresa, are you close with that S-rank Valkyrie?”
Both the in-game Tuna and the real-world Tuna asked Theresa at the same time.
Theresa thought of that blonde, unsmiling girl, and answered slowly.
“Not all that close, really.
Back when she’d just made A-rank, she served under my command for a while.”
At this, Kiana’s eyes lit up, fairly radiating gossip-energy.
“Hehe, don’t tell me it was one of those close boss-and-subordinate relationships?”
At Kiana’s words, Theresa thought of something horrifying and shook her head.
“Hardly.
She was a deathly serious sort.
In her eyes, a superior ought to be stern and unsmiling, brimming with authority, working day and night to clear away every last unfinished task.
So the moment I slacked off even a little, she’d lecture me for half a day.”
Kiana shivered at that.
“Whoa, just hearing it sounds terrifying… Thank goodness my boss is the coast-and-freeload type, like Himeko.”
Watching this scene, Xiyue, who’d felt nothing about it before but now knew the full story behind it, really wanted to tell Theresa one truth to her face.
Theresa, Durandal is your own flesh-and-blood niece!
And here you are saying you’re “not close.”
She also wanted to tell Tuna something.
Tuna, don’t be scared.
She’s your big sister!
Of course, that was out of the question.
She’d just have to wait until Durandal joined the stream and watched the Durandal main-story arc together with the trio.
That was when things would get really fun.
She could hardly wait.
Wants to Buy an Island: Ugh, I’d kill for a boss like that too.
One who lets me coast, freeload, and still get paid.
Raven, brimming with envy, looked down at the mission brief in her hand, saw the not-exactly-generous pay, heaved a long sigh, and hurriedly typed off a message.
“Jackal, you there?
Any chance you could bump up my pay?”
In the story, Theresa’s gambit worked: it bought time against Durandal’s approach, and Kiana’s trio caught up to Wendy once more.
“You just won’t quit, will you!
Fine.
Let me teach you a proper lesson.”
With that, Wendy moved to attack.
After all, even the most even-tempered person would lose patience after being chased down three times in a row.
But just as Wendy and Kiana were about to come to blows, Bronya stepped forward, floating up in front of Wendy and meeting her gaze.
Seeing Bronya approach, though, Wendy grew agitated again.
I don’t, I don’t want to talk to you.
Bronya, stop coming closer!”
But Bronya kept moving in, until she was right before Wendy.
Looking into those teal eyes, she said slowly:
“Wendy, seeing you always reminds Bronya of someone.
Of a little sister named Seele, back at Cocolia’s orphanage.
Seele was a strong, gentle child, just like Wendy.
And though Seele’s mind was once seized by the Honkai too, in the end she overcame it.”
“When Bronya underwent her own modifications, it was agonizing too.
Even… even now, it still…”
“But as long as there is a sliver of hope ahead, one should press forward without wavering.
Bronya understands the pain in Wendy’s heart.”
“And so Bronya also understands the strength it took for Wendy to bear that pain!”
“So please, don’t give up.
No matter what, Bronya will always believe in you.”
As Bronya won her over with both heart and reason, Wendy gradually returned to normal, becoming once more the timid girl she’d been.
Kitty Snuggles: Wahhh, if these two don’t end up together, that’s just a crime against nature!
Miss Pink Elf♪: Oh?
I log on and the very first thing I see is a scene this sweet?
But it’s just so sweet~ Bronya’s one lucky girl!
No Exams Thanks: Why does Bronya give me the vibe of a male lead from a novel?
No, impossible, impossible.
That rotten Bronya is so NOT!
Wants to Buy an Island: Looks like I’m getting old.
Can’t keep up with the times anymore.
Chlorinated Kiana: Self-deception, a mouth full of lies.
How utterly hypocritical.
Definitely Not Embarrassing: Is everything Bronya said… true?
The real Wendy, hearing Bronya’s words, felt her frozen heart stir, and asked, uneasy and unsettled.
No Exams Thanks: It’s true.
Before Bronya met us, she had it really rough.
At Kiana’s confirmation, Wendy’s emotions churned, excited and frightened at once.
Mercifully, she’d already returned to her dim little room, so the experiment staff noticed nothing amiss.
She just huddled in the corner, arms wrapped around her legs, teal eyes glistening with tears.
Back then she’d found this part a little contrived, why did Wendy cave to Bronya’s talk-no-jutsu so easily?
Watching it again now, though, it actually made sense.
As an A-rank Valkyrie, Wendy was gentle by nature and never forgot anyone who’d been kind to her.
Even after being recommended for the experiment, she’d willingly endured its torment for the sake of saving more lives.
It was just that those Schicksal researchers were truly inhuman. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
To push the experiment forward, they subjected Wendy to all manner of unimaginable torture, and even so, only the faintest thread of hatred ever rose in her.
Even with her emotions amplified by the Honkai, Wendy was never fully taken over, which was a big part of why, facing Kiana’s trio, she chose to flee rather than fight.
Anyone else with a normal temperament would’ve wiped out everyone in that lab long ago.
Sirin of the Babylon Lab, for instance.
All you could really say was that the little angel lived up to the name: even outside of Guns GirlZ, that little-angel nature still lived on in Wendy.
It was just that everyone got distracted by the question of Wendy’s raw combat power instead.
After all, the Wendy of Guns GirlZ was known as Emperor Wendy, the strongest combat force beneath only Finality itself.
Back to the story: just as Wendy settled onto Project Bunny once more, a voice rang out.
“Bronya, my dear daughter.
Now, retrieve the Fourth Herrscher.”
“The Fourth Herrscher is the final experimental specimen.
If you cannot retrieve her, then destroy her.
She must not fall into Schicksal’s hands!”
But the moment Bronya heard that voice, she refused outright.
Highest-authority command: Stall the Fourth Herrscher.
Await the main force.
As the woman’s voice fell, Bronya’s eyes flushed crimson once more, and her body began to shift, little by little, toward Dark Bronya.
Highest-authority command input: Project Bunny, switch to sniper mode.
Attack the Fourth Herrscher.
Then Bronya fired a shot at Wendy, and Wendy snapped, exploding into a Herrscher’s berserk rampage.
At this, Kiana and Mei could only join forces with Bronya, the three of them forced to fight back together.
Meanwhile Xiyue, controlling the Herrscher of the Void, effortlessly beat Wendy down into the scripted defeat state the story called for.
In truth, the Wendy boss had been quite the hassle to beat back in the day.
After all, in that patch when Herrschers hadn’t dropped yet and Knight Moonbeam ruled the meta, Wendy was a real challenge.
So the official team itself even stepped in and released a tutorial on how to beat Wendy.
Xiyue, however, had felt that was a bit insulting to players’ intelligence.
She’d taken one look and stopped watching.
As a player, having to look up a tutorial just to beat a dinky little boss like that, if that wasn’t embarrassing, what was?
And just as Xiyue finished off Wendy and the story rolled on, the Queen’s comment popped up.
Chlorinated Kiana: This pathetic?
And this is supposed to be a Herrscher?
Thank you all so much!