2014→1991.
At the Danish border, an armed transport vehicle under Schicksal was secretly heading toward the Second Laboratory. The purpose of this operation was to deliver a newly developed weapon codenamed [Herrscher Killer].
"Gulp gulp~ So good!"
"Stop drinking during the mission, Patricia. This is a task personally issued by the Overseer, at the very least show some respect."
"What's the big deal? We're almost at the destination anyway. Cheng Lixue, you're just too stiff. With two A-rank Valkyries like us, plus that young lady from the Schariac family over there, what could possibly go wrong unless a Herrscher descends?"
The Valkyrie named Patricia spoke carelessly.
The armed transport vehicle the three of them were currently riding in had no offensive weaponry whatsoever, but that was because none was necessary.
A-rank Valkyries Cecilia Schariac, Cheng Lixue, and Patricia—three A-rank Valkyries in total—were more than enough to suppress any enemy of this era short of a Herrscher.
"..."
Cecilia stood silently beside the crate, gazing at the sealed cargo compartment with a trace of regret.
In truth, the weapon codenamed [Herrscher Killer] did not exist. Or rather—she herself was that weapon.
Not long ago, Otto had awakened within her the Schariac Holy Blood capable of eliminating Honkai energy in an instant. To proceed with the next phase of experiments, she was to head to Schicksal's Second Laboratory.
This mission was merely a smokescreen to mislead others.
Of course, the other two Valkyries were unaware of this. At the moment, they were discussing Cecilia herself.
"I didn't expect the young lady of the Schariac family to be assigned here too. I heard she'll become an S-rank Valkyrie soon. She's only seventeen, right? That kind of talent is terrifying."
"Seriously? The position of S-rank Valkyrie in Schicksal has been vacant for so long. I heard whoever gets it will even receive that legendary Divine Key as their weapon."
"But she hasn't said a single word since boarding the vehicle. I don't even know how to get along with her."
"Ah, don't think too much about it. It's already rare enough for this young lady to leave headquarters. I heard that ever since she became a Valkyrie, she's never stepped outside headquarters. After this mission, who knows if we'll ever see her again."
Knowing that A-rank was the limit of their own abilities, the two of them couldn't help but feel curious as they looked at Cecilia—hailed as the next S-rank Valkyrie—and speculated about what this favored daughter of heaven might be thinking.
But no matter how much they guessed, they would never get it right.
At this moment, Cecilia's heart held only regret.
(Sigh~ I finally get to leave headquarters for once, yet inside this sealed compartment I can't even see the scenery outside. Is my life destined only to exist for the sake of becoming a Valkyrie?)
At this time, Cecilia was like a doll—or a robin locked in a cage. Her life and destiny had been decided the moment she was born.
The young girl had accepted her mission as a Valkyrie, but she had yet to find a reason to fight for all the beauty in the world. She simply acted because she had been ordered to do so.
Listening to her two colleagues discussing her, Cecilia felt as though they were talking about someone else. The future S-rank Valkyrie and all that—she was not such an extraordinary existence.
Right now, she was nothing more than a bird in a cage who couldn't even catch a glimpse of the outside world.
Cecilia did not yet know that the cage binding her would be torn open tonight by a certain boy.
Bzzz!
Suddenly, the truck carrying the three of them began to levitate.
"It's floating?"
"What's going on?!"
"Enemy attack!"
Cecilia reacted the fastest.
She grabbed her weapon and rushed out of the compartment. The other two, worthy of their A-rank status, followed closely behind, escaping the transport vehicle that would have become a gravity prison in the next second.
Then the three of them saw a brown-haired man wearing glasses floating in midair. In his hand was the Divine Key known as Star of Eden. He looked down at them from above.
"The crate inside the transport vehicle is empty. The [Herrscher Killer] mentioned in the intelligence report wasn't found. Was the information wrong?"
Not yet the older man he would become, the still-young Welt frowned slightly. Upon learning that Schicksal possessed a weapon codenamed [Herrscher Killer], Anti-Entropy naturally could not sit idly by.
Thus, as its leader, Welt personally came to ambush them. What he did not know was that the true [Herrscher Killer] was not a weapon at all—but Cecilia, who had awakened Holy Blood.
"Who are you?! Die!"
"I can't believe there really is an enemy attack!"
Patricia and Cheng Lixue moved first. The former pulled out a heavy machine gun and began spraying bullets, while the latter wielded a longsword and prepared for close combat.
During this era, Schicksal's standards for Valkyrie evaluation were extremely high. An A-rank Valkyrie possessed considerable strength—each of them roughly two-thirds as strong as Rita.
But unfortunately, they had encountered Welt at the height of his power.
"Star of Eden."
Welt summoned the Star of Eden engraved into his DNA, manipulating gravity to halt the bullets fired toward him. At the same time, Cheng Lixue, who had circled behind him to launch a surprise attack, found herself completely immobilized.
The two women were instantly shocked. They had never encountered an opponent capable of manipulating gravity. With a single move, their long-trained combat techniques were rendered meaningless.
Moreover, Schicksal at this time possessed no particularly impressive Valkyrie battlesuits. The two of them simply could not contend with the Herrscher of Reason in peak condition.
(Just who is this man? He's this strong? Could he be from Anti-Entropy… No, this isn't the time to think about that. We haven't lost yet!)
Cheng Lixue grit her teeth and glared at Welt.
She was obedient only in front of the one who had adopted her, Fu Hua. When facing enemies, she had always been ferocious.
"Hey! Young lady! It's your chance!"
"Understood!"
While the two of them distracted Welt, Cecilia leapt high into the air, rising more than ten meters up. From that blind spot, she aimed the lance in her hand and thrust straight at him.
However, not yet an S-rank Valkyrie and lacking the support of the Divine Key Abyss Flower, Cecilia was likewise no match for Welt at his peak.
The gravitational field constantly surrounding Welt effortlessly blocked Cecilia's unexpected strike.
"Valkyries, I have no intention of being your enemy. But neither will I allow you to interfere with me."
The Star of Eden intensified its gravitational force once more. Cheng Lixue and Patricia were slammed straight into the ground, losing consciousness instantly.
As for Cecilia, what was applied to her was repulsive force. She was sent flying in the opposite direction at tremendous speed.
Welt muttered to himself, "With strength like that, she probably won't die from the fall. I should investigate the scene quickly before Otto gets wind of this."
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"System, you didn't assign me any identity this time? And why is it free fall from ten thousand meters up again?!"
The moment Elias opened his eyes, he found himself in the sky at an altitude of ten thousand meters. Violent winds blasted upward, whipping his hair wildly as the ground rushed closer and closer.
[Host, you have traveled to the year 1991. We wish you a pleasant temporal journey. PS: The system upgrade is complete. Correction capabilities have been enhanced. You may behave a little more freely now.]
"That's it? No other new abilities?!"
[Of course there are. Please look forward to them. By the way, time until landing: 3, 2, 1…]
"What the hell!!"
Elias' eye twitched. Though with his current strength it was impossible for him to die from the fall, landing face-first was still unacceptable. He immediately adjusted his posture, striking the ground feet first while smashing his right fist down as well.
He executed a classic superhero landing.
"Stylish!"
Elias was extremely satisfied with his improvised performance.
He stood up and stretched, glancing around while thinking about what had happened in 1991.
(Nothing major should be happening around this time. The First Herrscher—Welt—has already appeared. The Second Herrscher—me—won't show up for another nine years. Everything's still early.)
"And didn't I travel back to Cecilia's past? Where is she now?"
"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here this late? If you don't want to run into danger, you'd better leave quickly."
Just as Elias was puzzling over the situation, a young man's voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Hm? That voice sounds familiar…"
Elias frowned slightly. Turning around, he found himself staring at a white-haired husky that instinctively made his hands itch.
Of course, it wasn't Kevin. That guy was still swimming in the Sea of Quanta at this time. But the iconic white hair, blue eyes, the aura of the Kaslana stigmata, and that familiar face—Elias recognized him instantly.
"Siegfried Kaslana? What are you doing here?"
"Huh? Who are you? How do you know me? Don't tell me Schicksal sent you to drag me back?" Siegfried froze for a moment before immediately raising the baseball bat in his hand, staring at Elias warily.
"Drag you back… Oh. So you're running away from home."
Elias paused, then suddenly remembered. The Siegfried before him wasn't even twenty yet.
In his youth, influenced by the Anti-Entropy-produced mecha anime Arahato, Siegfried had refused to be bound by the Kaslana family's mission. Seeking freedom, he chose to run away from home.
If not for his mother pleading on his behalf, Otto would have long since sent troops to capture him.
Still, one had to admit the Kaslana bloodline had remarkable survival instincts. He ran away at fifteen and spent four years drifting around outside. Now he had become a private detective, wandering the world.
(…I'm not really in a position to judge.)
Thinking back to the Previous Era—when he had run around the world with Elysia at the age of ten—Elias decided not to comment.
"Relax. I'm not from Schicksal. In fact, I hate Otto."
"Oh? That's good. You scared me for a second."
"Hm? You're dropping your guard just like that?"
"Well… my intuition says you're a decent guy. And anyone who hates Otto can't be a bad person, right?"
Siegfried waved his hand casually.
"…Fair enough."
Elias nodded in agreement.
"But you should still leave quickly. Since you know about Schicksal, you must know about Honkai Beasts too. A few slipped through here. I'm here to deal with them."
Siegfried swung his baseball bat as he spoke.
Elias couldn't help but laugh. Did all Kaslanas enjoy beating Honkai Beasts with baseball bats?
If someone had forged a baseball-bat-shaped Divine Key for them, maybe it would've had better compatibility than Judgment of Shamash…
Vroom—!!
"Tch. They show up right on cue, these guys!"
Several Chariot-class Honkai Beasts suddenly appeared. The moment they saw Elias and Siegfried, they launched their attack.
"Hey, leave this to me. You just—"
Vroom! Vroom!!
"What the hell is going on?!"
Siegfried had barely struck a pose when the Chariot-class Honkai Beasts suddenly let out agonized howls. Within seconds, they collapsed to the ground, completely motionless.
"Chariot-class? They're not even qualified to approach me."
"Uh… did you do that?"
"Mm-hm. Don't worry about it. Just a few small fry."
Elias yawned. His extremely high concentration of Schariac Holy Blood was the nemesis of Honkai. Even the mere aura it emitted was enough to cause low-tier Honkai Beasts to die the instant they approached him.
At present, unless it was at least Judgment-level, Elias didn't even feel like devouring or subjugating it.
"What kind of dangerous person did I just run into…"
Cold sweat trickled down Siegfried's back. It was his first time seeing someone eliminate Honkai Beasts without even lifting a finger.
"Relax. I'm not a bad guy. If anything, there aren't many better people in this world than me."
"Is it really okay to say that about yourself? And hey—the commission to eliminate those Honkai Beasts was mine. You stole my kills. How about we split the reward thirty-seventy?"
"No need. I'm not interested in money."
Elias waved his hand dismissively. Sharing wealth with Eden meant he had no need for small sums like that. Siegfried immediately gave him a thumbs-up, silently praising Boss Elias' generosity. He, on the other hand, was quite short on cash.
The two of them began walking toward town.
And this energetic Kaslana husky had already completely lowered his guard around Elias.
"Heh, Elias, let me tell you— the one who gave me this commission is a real beauty. Maybe she'll fall for my strength and handsome face."
"Heh~ With me around, do you really think you stand a chance? By the way, you've got some nerve. In all of history, there have only been two instances of a Kaslana heir running away from home."
"Two? I thought I was the only one. Honestly, I don't want to save the world or anything. I know our family is incredible, but I don't want to be bound by its mission. I want to use my own eyes to figure out the meaning of my life!"
Siegfried thumped his chest as he spoke. Looking at this hot-blooded youth, Elias seemed to glimpse Kevin's shadow.
"Not a bad idea. Your life and your destiny should be decided by you. After all, we are born free. The Kaslana mission isn't a set of chains—it's an honor. Whether to inherit that honor is your personal choice."
Elias spoke in approval.
The mission of [Preservation] was noble and glorious. But whether to shoulder that glory should always be a decision made by the individual.
"Haha! Elias, that was beautifully said! My life should be my own to command! I'll treat you to a meal sometime!"
"Sure… Actually, forget it. It'll definitely just be noodles."
"Huh? How did you know?"
"When a Kaslana treats someone, what else could it be besides noodles? I got sick of it fifty thousand years ago." Elias rolled his eyes.
Back in the Previous Era, every team-building event Kevin organized ended up being noodles. And always plain noodles at that. By the tenth time he did it, everyone had shoved him straight into the dough.
"By the way, do you know someone named Cecilia Schariac?"
"Who? Never heard of her."
"Oh. So you haven't met yet."
"Hm?! Elias, look up! Someone's falling from the sky!"
Siegfried suddenly pointed upward and shouted.
Elias followed his gaze—and his eyes widened.
A white-haired girl was plummeting from the sky. He recognized her instantly. It was Cecilia.
"What timing. I've got her!"
He didn't move a single step. Simply raising his arms, he caught the falling Cecilia perfectly in his embrace.
Looking at the unconscious girl in his arms, Elias was momentarily at a loss for what to do.
"What the—! A Valkyrie from Schicksal!"
Siegfried was startled.
A Valkyrie falling from the sky— for a split second he thought Otto had sent someone to capture him. But the next moment he realized that wasn't the case. After all, she was unconscious.
Though he refused to shoulder the family mission, no Kaslana would ever stand by when someone needed help. Still, Siegfried couldn't help worrying whether contact with Schicksal personnel would expose his whereabouts.
After all, if there was one Valkyrie here, there might be others nearby. And if someone happened to recognize him and casually dragged him back, that would be the end of it.
Siegfried hadn't had nearly enough fun outside yet.
(Wait… I'm not the only one here!)
Siegfried cleared his throat loudly.
"Ahem! Elias! I'll leave this woman in your care! I just remembered I've got something urgent to do, so I'll be heading off first! We'll meet again someday—see you!"
Elias blinked.
"Huh?"