"No… then you are the Three Valkyrie Sisters-nyan?!"
"Precisely. We have found each other once again in this life."
"I see-nyan…" Faris was completely caught up in the story.
Shiina pressed on. "But as we were reborn near him this time, we realized something horrifying. The Empress of the Ancient Empire has already been reborn by his side, and she's already claimed the space next to him. There's no room left for us."
"Nyan-nyan?! You mean the legendary Empress is already here-nyan?!"
"Yes. It seems the ritual of reincarnation was imperfect, and she was slumbering until recently. But she finally broke through her shell, and now we're on the defensive."
"That's terrible-nyan…"
"So, I have a proposal," Shiina said, ignoring the baffled expressions of the other three girls. (The doll remained strategically silent). "You once loved him too. That lingering affection must still be there. Meeting you here was fate. Faris-san, let us fight this Holy War together so we can all stand by his side!"
"Shii-nyan… I understand-nyan! Faris will fight with you-nyan!"
"Faris-san!"
"Shii-nyan!"
As the two girls shared a dramatic embrace, the others looked on in shock.
"Uh, Eiko? What happened to Shiina?" Mii whispered.
"M-maybe her past life memories really did wake up…?"
"It's a bit, right? It has to be a bit, because it's Shiina," Shino prayed.
"I come back with cake and find a surprise yuri ending?! I love it-o!" Daru shouted, re-entering the room. He glanced at the screen. "Oh? Is that the famous Valhalla Garden? The headquarters of Valhalla Resort?"
The girls scrambled back to the monitor.
"Hachiman-kun, what exactly is Valhalla Resort?"
"It's the strongest guild in ALO," the doll explained. "A collection of absolute monsters with Hachiman at the top. And Valhalla Garden is their base."
Mii squinted at the screen. "That plain-looking tower is Hachiman-san's base?"
"The exterior is in a lot of videos, but the interior has never been made public-o," Daru added.
"Whoa… is it okay for us to be seeing this?"
"Hachiman is the one showing us, so why not?"
As the avatar stepped inside, everyone (except Shino) held their breath. But the first room was just a simple, modest house.
"It's… smaller than I expected-nyan?"
"Rumor said it was a massive palace-o," Daru noted, sounding disappointed.
"Wait, he's going further in."
The moment Hachiman passed through the inner door, the space exploded into a vast, majestic hall.
"What?!"
"It's huge!"
"It really is a castle-nyan…"
"YOOOOO! The true form of Valhalla Garden is real-o!" Daru screamed in pure otaku bliss.
Shino, meanwhile, was scanning the background for familiar faces. A woman's avatar waved from across the hall.
"Is that… Leafa-tan?!" Daru yelled.
"Who is she?"
"A Sylph Magic-Swordswoman. She's one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Sylph territory-o!"
Shino burned Leafa's appearance into her memory.
"They're moving again."
"Wait, is that an arena?"
"Someone's fighting!"
(Is that… the NPC, Kizmel?) Shino thought. (She can actually fight like that?)
A massive man in crimson armor was clashing with a beautiful dark-skinned woman.
"That's General Eugene-o! He's not a Valhalla member, but he's the military head of the Salamanders-o. But who's he fighting?"
Shino spoke up without thinking. "That's Kizmel. She's a Dark Elf NPC."
"An NPC?! And a Dark Elf?! A secret Valhalla member no one knew about?! This is legendary-o!"
"Hey, Shino," the doll muttered. "Is it okay to let it slip that you know Kizmel?"
"Ah! Crap, I—"
Daru was vibrating with excitement, but the other four girls were looking at Shino with narrow, suspicious eyes.
"Shino-chi… how do you know that?"
"You didn't seem surprised by any of this."
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