Meanwhile, deep within the Heliopolis biomedical park, Raven received a call.
A nearby monitor flickered to life.
The image of Jackal appeared on the screen.
She was a woman with tanned skin and flowing dark-brown hair that reached all the way to her hips. A black animal mask covered her face, matching the jackal motif of her name. Its yellow eyes possessed white pupils, while yellow Eye of Horus markings surrounded them. Gray markings decorated the nose, lightning-shaped patterns sat above the eyes, and an ankh was emblazoned across the center of the forehead.
Behind the mask, her real eyes were a piercing gold.
She wore a beautiful white coat over a black shirt and dark-blue skirt, with gold accents throughout her outfit and long black nylons completing the ensemble.
Her expression was hidden behind the mask.
Her voice was not.
Jackal: "What is our current progress? The secret of Heliopolis was exposed. The experiment is running out of time."
Raven folded her arms.
Raven: "I've deployed our entire forces. You can't expect me to wave a magic wand and wish those problems away."
She glanced toward the damaged facilities.
Raven: "The Schicksal Valkyries left the place in a mess and delayed our plan. But that is not our greatest concern."
Raven's expression hardened.
Raven: "We need to worry about the Herrscher of the Void. She knows about us, and she will try to sabotage our plans."
Jackal answered without hesitation.
Jackal: "Stop her."
Raven scoffed.
Raven: "Stop her? Hmph."
Her hood shifted slightly as she turned toward Jackal.
Raven: "True, I hate her, but I'm not insane. You can throw 10 times more of your monsters at her and it won't even slow her down."
Raven: "Think about what she did in the 2nd Honkai War. No army in existence is a match against this Herrscher."
Jackal calmly brought up several recordings.
Footage of Kiana fighting the zombies and mechs appeared on the screen.
Jackal: "I have checked site recordings from an hour ago. That girl did not display any Herrscher-level powers."
Jackal switched to another recording.
The footage showed Kiana summoning the transparent warriors.
Jackal: "and those summon of her may have some unique abilities and look similer to that one person we tried to recruit long ago but they seem to relies on her honkai energy since she seem like she need to focus to summon them."
Jackal leaned back.
Jackal: "She may be a nascent Herrscher with little control over her powers. Your childhood trauma is making you afraid."
Raven remained silent.
Jackal: "My intel tells me this Void Queen dealt some damage to Schicksal HQ but was defeated just a few hours later."
Jackal: "There were three S-rank Valkyries stationed there. Rita Rossweisse, whom you fought before, was one of them."
Jackal's tone became almost mocking.
Jackal: "And is Rita really any good? Our clever trap took her out of the game."
Jackal: "All this shows that the nascent Herrscher may not be as powerful as you feared."
Raven's eyes narrowed.
Raven: "May not be as powerful? Your intel is doubtful. I've heard that the Schicksal Overseer made secret weapons…"
Jackal laughed.
Jackal: "Otto? Pfft. Everyone knows he's just a coward hiding behind his Valkyries."
She tilted her head.
Jackal: "You might as well tell me that Otto made a retiring Valkyrie wear a powerful battlesuit to take out the Herrscher."
Raven stared at the screen.
Raven: "Your sense of humor is so reassuring…"
Jackal ignored the sarcasm.
Jackal: "Raven, we have spent years preparing for Project STIGMA."
Her voice became serious.
Jackal: "A densely populated city under curfew with limited evac. We won't get another perfect setup like this."
A long silence followed.
Jackal: "Our Sire is watching. The future of humanity must rise from this place. There's no going back for either of us."
Raven's hooded face tensed when she heard those words.
She lowered her head.
Raven: "…As the Serpent wishes."
Later that night, Kiana infiltrated the biomedical park.
She moved carefully between buildings, avoiding every guard and staying out of their line of sight.
The entire facility felt strangely quiet.
No alarms.
No shouting.
No obvious signs of activity.
That made Kiana even more suspicious.
Fu Hua's voice broke the silence.
Fu Hua: "It's too quiet here."
Kiana stopped.
She looked ahead.
Fu Hua: "Something up ahead."
Kiana crouched behind a wall and carefully peeked around the corner.
A convoy was preparing to depart.
Standing beside it was Raven.
The same woman who had ambushed Rita.
Raven was issuing orders to the convoy crew.
Kiana narrowed her eyes.
Kiana: "These guys are up to something."
Fu Hua watched the convoy.
Fu Hua: "We seem to be just in time, but this feels like more than just a coincidence."
The engines roared to life.
The convoy began moving.
Kiana: "The convoy is leaving. I guess it wasn't a coincidence after all."
Kiana leaped from the building.
She landed on the road and immediately pursued the convoy.
Arc City Highway — Night
The convoy sped through the outskirts of Arc City.
Highway lights flashed across the road.
Kiana accelerated after them.
As she gained ground, her body transformed.
Her Void Drifter battlesuit materialized around her.
The white-and-black armor formed across her body as she accelerated.
She launched herself into a graceful leap.
WHOOSH!
Kiana landed softly on top of one of the vehicles.
She crouched low.
Kiana: "I'll start my attack once we're far enough from the biomedical park."
Fu Hua immediately warned her.
Fu Hua: "Watch out for the caped woman, Kiana. Someone who could defeat Rita must be well-versed in underhanded tactics."
Kiana nodded.
Kiana: "I know. Those Valkyries were incapacitated because of some poison gas they released."
Fu Hua considered the situation.
Fu Hua: "The gas that took out the Immortal Blades… it may be a chemical weapon for neutralising Honkai in the body."
Fu Hua: "But this weapon has two obvious weaknesses."
Fu Hua: "First: friendly forces reliant on Honkai energy must stay away from the gas or be incapacitated as well."
Fu Hua: "Second: gas weapons only work best in enclosed spaces."
Kiana's eyes widened.
Kiana: "…Oh, right! That caped woman didn't fight Rita face-to-face. She ambushed her in the lab instead."
Fu Hua nodded.
Fu Hua: "We should isolate and fight her in an open space, and be prepared for anything that could happen."
Kiana looked toward Raven's convoy.
A thought occurred to her.
Kiana: "I think I have a plan, Fu Hua…"
She paused.
Kiana: "…But I still need to fight her first."
Kiana reached for her fire-colored crystal necklace.
She pushed some of her willpower into it.
The crystal immediately responded.
Orange-red particles gathered beside her.
A transparent warrior materialized.
The red-and-silver armor appeared.
Kamen Rider Faiz.
Kiana looked at him.
Kiana: "Hey …."
Faiz turned toward her.
Kiana waited until she had his attention.
Kiana: "Can you and you necklace friend stop saving me when i'm in danger?"
Faiz froze.
His entire body language seemed to scream absolute horror at the request.
He slowly reached toward his belt.
He pulled out the SB-555P Faiz Phone.
After typing something, he turned the screen toward Kiana.
The message read:
Faiz: "Absolutely not."
Kiana clasped her hands together.
Kiana: "Please i really need this for the plan to work."
Faiz stared at her.
For a long moment.
He clearly looked like someone already regretting whatever decision he was about to make.
Finally, he typed another message.
He held the phone toward her.
Faiz: "Fine, you can also use your will to hold us back if we are about to auto summon if you don't need help, but the moment you're facing some thing dangerous, we will auto summon regardless if you don't want us to be summon."
Kiana smiled.
Kiana: "Thank you."
Faiz lowered the phone.
His body began breaking apart into orange-red particles.
The particles flowed back into Kiana's crystal necklace.
With that done, Kiana returned her attention to the convoy.
She braced herself.
Her body became a coiled spring waiting to be launched.
The convoy continued speeding through the night.
Nothing appeared unusual.
Then—
BOOM!
An explosion erupted beneath the lead vehicle.
The convoy swerved violently.
Several trucks crashed into one another.
Metal twisted.
Glass shattered.
Smoke and fire filled the highway.
From the flames—
Kiana emerged.
Her Void Drifter form stood untouched amid the wreckage.
Mechs immediately deployed around her.
They surrounded her from every direction.
Kiana raised her pistols.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
One mech exploded.
Kiana spun.
Another shot tore through an exposed joint.
The machine collapsed.
She vaulted over a third mech and fired downward.
BOOM!
The machine exploded.
Kiana landed.
Another mech charged.
She sidestepped its attack and fired directly into its core.
It fell.
Then—
A sudden roar came from behind her.
Kiana turned.
Another convoy vehicle was speeding directly toward her.
Kiana: "What?!"
The truck accelerated.
A shadow suddenly leaped from the driver's seat.
Kiana barely had time to react.
The vehicle slammed directly into her.
BOOM!
Fire engulfed the highway.
For several seconds, everything was silent.
Then Kiana stepped out of the flames.
Not a scratch.
But something was wrong.
Gas began spreading around her.
Kiana's expression changed.
She immediately felt her Honkai energy being drained.
A figure emerged from the smoke.
Raven.
The hooded woman stood several metres away.
Raven: "I see your Herrscher body is holding on quite well, huh?"
Kiana stared at her.
Kiana: "Now you can't use Honkai energy either."
Kiana raised her pistols.
Kiana: "Finally looking to fight me fair and square?"
Raven reached beneath her cloak.
She pulled out an injector.
Without hesitation, she stabbed it into her neck.
A purple line appeared around the injection site.
Her body tensed.
Then she pulled the injector away.
Raven: "For you…
Raven: "…There's no such thing as "fair"."
Raven lowered her stance.
Raven: "The hunt starts now."
Raven vs. Kiana
Raven attacked.
She fought like a ranged-to-mid-range assassin.
Her bow fired explosive flechette arrows that scattered across the battlefield, forcing Kiana away from safe positions.
BOOM!
Another arrow exploded.
Kiana jumped aside.
A throwing dagger followed.
She twisted her body and narrowly avoided it.
Raven closed the distance.
Her fighting style changed instantly.
Fire-infused martial arts.
A clawed strike.
A kick.
Another explosive arrow.
Every movement was designed to force Kiana exactly where Raven wanted her.
Kiana answered with her pistols.
Her Gun-Kata fighting style allowed her to fire while moving, turning every dodge into an attack.
BANG! BANG!
Raven blocked one shot.
Another grazed her cape.
She vanished into the smoke.
Kiana spun.
A dagger came from her blind spot.
CLANG!
Kiana deflected it.
Then Raven appeared above her.
The gray cape unfurled like a raptor's wings.
She moved so quickly that she became little more than a blurred shadow.
Kiana fired.
Raven had already moved.
Kiana tried to evade.
But Raven read her movements.
A razor-sharp talon tore across Kiana's chest.
SLASH!
Kiana staggered backward.
Her breathing became heavier.
The gas was taking effect.
Her body felt increasingly sluggish.
Her limbs moved as though she were swimming through a mire.
Kiana forced herself to stay upright.
The crystal necklace around her neck suddenly began glowing.
Her transparent warriors were trying to answer her call.
Kiana clenched the crystal.
She pushed them back.
She couldn't allow them to interfere with her plan.
Not yet.
She looked at Raven.
Kiana: "What… are you… trying to do… to this city…?"
Kiana could barely maintain her balance.
Raven slowly approached.
Raven: "I do not need to answer your questions."
Kiana tried to raise her pistols.
Her arms refused to cooperate.
Her knees buckled.
She fell.
THUD.
Kiana's consciousness faded.
Heliopolis Convoy Route
Raven looked down at the unconscious Herrscher.
She contacted Jackal.
Raven: "It's done, Jackal."
Jackal's voice came through.
Jackal: "Heh. It's just as I thought. Even a Herrscher can be defeated by the right strategies."
Jackal immediately gave an order.
Jackal: "Bring her to the lab, Raven."
Raven frowned.
Raven: "I advise against it. I saw we kill her now."
Jackal's voice became excited.
Jackal: "What?! That's such an outrageous waste! We've captured a Herrscher! A living specimen of a Herrscher!!"
Her excitement bordered on disturbing enthusiasm.
Jackal: "I can't wait to take her apart and see what makes her tick…"
Raven stared at the unconscious Kiana.
Raven: "…You're insane."
Raven tossed the unconscious girl toward the waiting automatons.
The machines caught Kiana and carried her toward one of the transport containers.
Raven turned toward the remaining forces.
Raven: "I'm bringing her back. The rest of you will carry on with the mission."
The automatons secured Kiana inside the truck container.
The doors slammed shut.
CLANG!
The convoy began moving.
None of them noticed the figure watching from a distant rooftop.
Rita stood in the darkness.
She had witnessed the entire battle.
Her eyes followed the departing convoy.
Rita: "Oh my, and I've only waited for a short time before setting off. I didn't expect to see you captured like this."
She looked toward the road.
Rita: "But at least I'm walking away with good news. There is an antidote for that gas."
Rita's expression softened slightly.
Rita: "Miss Kaslana… please try to bear with them for a while."
A faint smile appeared.
Rita: "You did treat me as a creepy maid and ordered me around. Treat this as a serving of karmic justice."
Rita turned away from the departing convoy.
Rita: "In any case, we should hope that my humble prayers for aid are answered."
She disappeared into the darkness.
Behind her, the convoy carrying Kiana continued toward Heliopolis.