"Fu Hua, you seem to know something."
The sudden voice rang in her ear, causing Fu Hua, who was deep in thought, to glance slightly.
It was Mei.
"From your expression, I can tell you have some understanding of what's being asked."
Mei smiled, her lavender eyes appearing unusually deep through the mirror, as if they could see through everything.
"I think, at the very least, you must know something about that version of yourself?"
There was a hint of certainty in her tone.
Fu Hua raised her eyebrows. "Is it that obvious?"
However, she didn't intend to dwell on the issue. After hearing Mei's words, she slowly began to speak under the gaze of the others.
"I really don't have any recollection of the others."
"But, the Shadow Knight mentioned in the title..."
"That seems to be the Valkyrie Battlesuit Otto customized for me. He called it the Fourth Generation Godsbane Battlesuit."
"Before coming here, I took part in the testing of that Valkyrie Battlesuit."
"Although Otto said it wasn't perfect, I did feel something different about that Shadow Knight—a power grounded in the secular world," Fu Hua commented.
"I see..."
After listening to Fu Hua, Mei had likely gathered some useful information.
Except for Bronya's Yamabuki, judging from the names alone, the other three battlesuits likely belonged to Otto's Fourth Generation Valkyrie Battlesuit series.
However, this information didn't help much in answering the question.
After all, the key point of the question was: who helped the trapped Theresa and suppressed the Herrscher of the Void?
And for a completely future event, there was no way to deduce the answer. The question simply couldn't be reasoned out from existing information.
Even if Mei was smart, she had no good solution.
Theresa naturally had no clue either.
She couldn't even rule out Rita as an answer.
Although Rita was Grandpa's confidant and generally wouldn't disobey hisorders...
Since the question involved herself, Theresa couldn't be sure whether Rita would actually help her.
Mei, who was in charge of intelligence, and Theresa, who pretended to be in charge of intelligence, were both helpless on this one.
Fu Hua and Himeko who were from the combat faction naturally had no leads either.
Let Kiana answer?
No, definitely not.
Kiana was still in a poor state. Let her rest for now.
Wait...
Speaking of which—wasn't there still one more person?
"..."
Off to the side, Bronya silently drew circles on the ground.
With Sister Mei and the others fully in thinking mode, occupying the place she once had, Bronya felt completely invisible.
Her character setting was suddenly thrown to the side! Damn it!
Suddenly, Mei, who was deep in discussion with Theresa, turned around. Theresa also followed.
"...What is it?" Bronya looked a little uneasy being stared at by the two of them.
Mei walked a few steps forward, patted Bronya on the shoulder, and spoke sincerely.
"After discussing with the dean and the others, we believe it's most appropriate for you to answer this question."
"Hmm..."
Bronya was quite surprised.
They were discussing it just fine over there—so why did it suddenly shift to her?
"You're smart and sharp-minded. Mei and I both believe that if it's you, you'll definitely be able to answer the question correctly," Theresa added, giving a thumbs-up for encouragement.
"...Really?"
Bronya's voice remained calm, but her heart fluttered a little at Theresa's praise.
Ah... has Bronya's limelight finally arrived?
She thought to herself in secret.
But why does it still feel a bit off?
Putting aside those noisy thoughts, Bronya glanced at the question again.
And then—
She instantly figured it out.
So they didn't know the answer at all, and decided to dump the responsibility on her.
Alright, alright...
Although she felt a bit dissatisfied with this obvious leftover handoff, Bronya didn't complain.
At least this showed they trusted her, right?
Tsk, a one-in-four choice.
The odds were 25%. Not high, but not low either.
"Bronya chooses B."
Anyway, there were no clues to the answer, and to preserve her dignity—since her name was one of the options—Bronya would unhesitatingly choose herself.
Right or wrong, what mattered was saving her dignity.
[Correct]
The air fell silent.
Mei looked at Bronya in mild surprise.
She hadn't expected...
The correct answer was actually Bronya?!
...Yes, Bronya really was powerful.
After the answer was confirmed, the screen changed.
An image appeared.
In the video, Theresa who wore Violet Executer was being strangled by a white-haired figure.
The moment she saw this figure—
Kiana sitting nearby trembled slightly.
...It was undoubtedly herself.
That was her appearance after awakening as the Herrscher of the Void.
Seeing her future self, the once-calm Kiana felt her heart stir again, and the light in her eyes grew erratic.
Until she was gently embraced by a delicate arm.
Looking up, she saw Mei shaking her head slightly, offering silent comfort. Kiana relaxed a little.
"That's... the Herrscher of the Void?"
Fu Hua and Himeko's expressions turned solemn at the sight of the Herrscher.
Even through the screen, they could feel the immense threat she posed.
The video continued.
The Herrscher of the Void stared at Theresa, her golden eyes filled with mockery and faint nostalgia. Her tone was laced with ridicule.
But in the next moment—
"Bronya is returning to the team now!"
A cold, immature voice echoed, accompanied by a terrifying gravitational force pressing down on the Herrscher of the Void.
The camera shifted to reveal Bronya's figure in bright yellow armor.
"Star of Eden, maximum power output—Let go!"
She extended her palm slightly. The mechanical arm of Project Bunny behind her glowed with a dark purple sphere.
Freed from the chokehold, Theresa seized the opportunity to activate the Oath of Judah.
Chains extended from the golden cross like flexible serpents, wrapping around the Herrscher of the Void's limbs and neck with blinding speed.
Generally speaking, if a Honkai creature was bound by the Oath of Judah— it was over.
As the Key of Binding, Judah's chains would suppress Honkai energy.
Combined with the Ninth Divine Key—Star of Eden's—maximum gravity output focused on a single target...
Dual suppression like that should defeat most enemies.
However, this enemy was a Herrscher—far beyond ordinary Honkai creatures.
Moreover, Otto had tampered with the experiment beforehand, which significantly weakened the suppressive effect on the Herrscher of the Void.
And so—
"Click"
Under the Herrscher's power, the chains suppressing the Honkai energy snapped instantly.
Seeing this, everyone both in and out of the video was shocked.
But before the next part of the scene could unfold—
The video abruptly stopped.
Leaving the audience, who had been full of anticipation, on the verge of high blood pressure.