"What do you mean someone in the Far East is trying to trigger a Honkai Impact?!"
At St. Freya Academy, Theresa Apocalypse, who was happily slacking off, bolted upright as if waking from a dying dream upon hearing this. She looked at her grandfather on the communicator, whose face was... well, how to describe it, just a very weird expression anyway.
"The intelligence comes from S-Rank Valkyrie Rita," Otto said, looking at his granddaughter and the Homu Manga in her hands. He sighed and lightly chastised, "Theresa, at least do some real work. At the very least, don't read useless books during working hours..."
"Is this about the manga?" Theresa swiftly put the manga away. "Is someone really going to trigger a Honkai Impact? Grandpa?"
"Rita is a meticulous person," Otto's expression was somewhat strange. "Although I find it somewhat incomprehensible... the intelligence is indeed so."
This was a lie.
After hearing the intelligence Rita sent back, Otto could completely understand Cocolia's approach. For the sake of her daughter, she would press forward even if it meant triggering a Honkai Impact. And he, for Kallen... his hands were already stained with the blood of innocents.
Of course, Otto still couldn't quite figure it out. Even if Cocolia had the resolve to become a sinner, what would she rely on to fight against the Third Herrscher?
This was what he couldn't understand, and precisely because he couldn't figure this out, he hadn't noticed Cocolia's little schemes all this time.
Naturally, this was also because Cocolia was basically just a nobody on the side of the road to Otto; there was no need to bother paying attention to her.
But who would have thought that Cocolia, who had always been obscure (to Otto), would suddenly pull off such a huge stunt!
To be honest, when Rita reported the intelligence to him, even Otto was bewildered.
"The person trying to trigger the Honkai Impact is Anti-Entropy's Executive Cocolia. According to Rita's intelligence, she has placed an excessive amount of Honkai Crystal next to the Honkai Reactor at ME Corp headquarters, Anti-Entropy's local asset, which is enough to plunge an entire city into a Honkai disaster."
Otto continued, "Schicksal cannot just watch a Honkai Impact happen. In response, Durandal has already boarded a warship and departed. She is expected to arrive in Nagazora City in four hours."
"Alright, I understand, Grandpa." Hearing this, Theresa straightforwardly picked up the Oath of Judah. "I'll board a warship right now to suppress it..."
"No, Theresa, you can't go." But before she could finish, Otto shook his head.
"You must stay at the Far East Branch to preside over the overall situation."
"But Grandpa, that's a Honkai Impact!" Theresa subconsciously retorted.
"Don't forget, you are no longer just a Valkyrie. You are the commander of the Far East Branch, Theresa," Otto said solemnly upon hearing this. "You cannot only think about charging at the front by yourself; you must shoulder the responsibility of the highest commander of a war zone!"
"Let your deputy go. Murata Himeko is an A-rank Valkyrie, and the Hyperion has the Nexus System. If there's still time, a warship plus an airborne reinforcement led by an A-rank Valkyrie will be enough for Rita to temporarily control the situation. They just need to hold out until Durandal arrives."
"If they don't make it in time and the Honkai Impact has already erupted, I require the Hyperion to stand by on the outskirts of Nagazora City and search as thoroughly as possible for the birth of a Herrscher."
"If there is one, we need to gather all the forces we can to defeat her directly in Nagazora City. Only then will you need to take up arms and go to the frontlines, Theresa! Listen to your grandfather and don't be willful!"
"I can still command troops from the frontlines!" Theresa wasn't that easily fooled. "Grandpa, are you keeping something else from me?"
"...Theresa, I can tell you that this Honkai Impact will definitely give birth to a Herrscher." Otto sighed; everything was within his expectations. She was still too easy to read.
"Therefore, we cannot resort to piecemeal tactics and send S-Rank Valkyries to their deaths one by one! The primary objective of the Hyperion is to ensure Rita's survival and salvage all usable forces as much as possible."
"Why are you so certain, Grandpa?" Hearing this, Theresa looked at Otto. "Why keep the intelligence Rita shared hidden from me, the commander of this war zone? You tell me to shoulder the responsibility but then hide things from me. What exactly happened in Nagazora City?"
"Rita... she was captured," Otto said, looking as if he could no longer keep it hidden. "A highly terrifying individual has appeared in Nagazora City. A single glance from her was enough to make Rita lose consciousness."
"How is that possible?" Theresa's eyes were full of disbelief. "She's an S-Rank Valkyrie! Who could make someone like her..."
"The Third Herrscher, is that enough?" Otto said.
"But hasn't the Third Great Honkai Eruption not happened yet?" Theresa was instantly stunned upon hearing this.
"At the very least, that person is aiming to become the Third Herrscher," Otto frowned and brought up a photo from the database. On it was the coldly expressive Acheron. "She is extremely confident. After capturing Rita, she didn't torture her, nor did she even confiscate her communicator and weapons. She simply had Rita serve as her maid."
"Not long ago, right in front of Rita, she said she would use Cocolia's plot to become a Herrscher herself, and then she let Rita go!"
In fact, this was a smokescreen set up by Xia Yu. Because of her interference, Rita was unaware of the problem with Mei's body, and Xia Yu had always spoken very vaguely about the topic of Herrschers.
To the informed Bronya, she was trying to let Sister Mei become a Herrscher. But to the uninformed Rita, coupled with the other party claiming to be the Third Herrscher during their first meeting...
Didn't this perfectly look like Acheron wanting to seize a Herrscher's power?
Even Otto's intelligence had been led astray as a result.
"People like this exist in the world, Theresa. Don't forget the true identity of that burst of energy in space a week ago."
"Even though it only lasted for a few short seconds, its output reached the Herrscher level. And according to our intelligence, this person named Acheron quietly appeared in Nagazora City on that very night."
"An opponent whose strength is no less than a Herrscher's, coupled with the fact that she has absolutely no Honkai energy in her body, your Oath of Judah would be completely useless against her, Theresa. The reality is laid bare here. It's not that I won't let you go, but that this person is far too unfamiliar to us."
A trace of apprehension appeared in Otto's eyes. "Therefore, as Schicksal's Overseer, I cannot throw all of Schicksal's top-tier combat power into a battle completely shrouded in fog!"
"No Honkai energy? How is that possible?!" Hearing this, Theresa's face was filled with disbelief.
"This has been confirmed by Rita," Otto shook his head, saying with deep meaning, "Don't forget, Theresa, she appeared in space, and in this dazzling Milky Way, humanity is never alone!"
"Regarding such close encounters of the third kind, we must be extremely cautious!"
So, letting Himeko go... was it asking them to risk their lives to obtain intelligence?
Theresa really wanted to ask this, but she didn't voice it out.
Because she knew her grandfather would definitely answer, yes.
He never hid such things.
And Theresa, having realized the severity of the situation, also understood that this was not a time for her to be willful.
"Durandal has already set off," Otto nodded, looking at Theresa's silent demeanor. "You know what needs to be done, Theresa."
"I understand," Theresa lowered her head. "Grandpa."
The communicator call disconnected.
But Theresa still had a lot of things to do.
She turned around and pressed the combat readiness alarm. After all, St. Freya Academy was still an academy that trained Valkyries.
"Himeko," Theresa opened her communicator.
"Combat readiness alarm?!" Himeko on the other end of the communicator had just woken up. She didn't have any classes today, so she had drank to her heart's content last night.
"Theresa, what happened?"
"Headquarters reports that someone is trying to trigger a Honkai Impact in Nagazora City," Theresa didn't dare to look into her eyes. "They ordered St. Freya Academy to deploy immediately and control the situation."
"What? There are actually such idiots in the world?!" Hearing this, Himeko instantly jumped up, hurriedly putting on her clothes while saying, "Who the hell has something so wrong with their brain?!"
"It's an Executive of Anti-Entropy named Cocolia," Theresa kept her head lowered. "I've sent all the specific intelligence to your phone. But she isn't the main problem. The real problem lies in... someone named Acheron."
"She possesses Herrscher-level combat power, yet she doesn't rely on Honkai energy. Headquarters believes she is inextricably linked to that energy eruption in space a week ago, so this might be a close encounter of the third kind. S-Rank Valkyrie Rita was defeated by her with just a single glance..."
"Close encounter of the third kind?" Hearing this, Himeko's movements paused, memories of the past surfacing in her mind. "...Alright, I understand. Theresa, wait for me on the Hyperion first. I'll be there right away!"
"No... Himeko, I cannot deploy," Theresa's head was practically bowed to the ground as she said with difficulty. "I must stay at St. Freya. As the war zone commander, I..."
"I understand, Theresa, I understand it all." Hearing this, Himeko finally finished putting on her clothes and flashed a smile at her phone. "Don't forget, Theresa, I'm a veteran. How could I not understand something like this?"
"You are an S-Rank Valkyrie, a decisive force. Naturally, you cannot be rashly thrown into an unknown battle like this. If I were the one making the arrangements, I would do the same. Everything is for the sake of defeating the Honkai."
"Leave it to me, Theresa. Rest assured, I will investigate everything clearly."
"...I'm sorry, Himeko."
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Theresa. This is the mission of a Valkyrie, we all know that."
St. Freya Academy was filled with sorrow, while over on Otto's side...
"Contact Anti-Entropy for me!" He looked at Amber, who was standing by on the side. "Let them see, is this what they call fighting the Honkai?"
"S-Rank Valkyries are not to be deployed lightly, so let Welt pave the way for us," a smile crept up the corners of his mouth. "After all, this is a problem that their Anti-Entropy caused themselves, isn't it?"