The threat posed by the three Honkai Beasts was significant. While not fatal, the commotion they caused would attract other Honkai Beasts in the city.
Their seemingly clumsy bodies could leap several meters with great ease, and even falling from a great height wouldn't cause them any harm.
Facing three Honkai Beasts, ordinary attacks would cause very little damage. She could only strengthen herself and her weapon through Magic Power Release before attacking them.
However, as she fought, Inaba Tsukiyo discovered that even without using Magic Power Release, her attacks could still damage the Honkai Beasts, though it would be slightly more troublesome.
It took her quite a while to kill the three Honkai Beasts. After they were defeated, the surrounding buildings were riddled with holes and utterly unrecognizable.
"Seriously… I just killed one Honkai Beast, why am I being ganged up on? This feeling, why is it so much like a dungeon crawl? Is a boss going to come out next?"
Inaba Tsukiyo, having sheathed mikazuki munechika, prepared to continue forward. Although she was walking with what could be considered no particular destination, a strange premonition in her heart was guiding her onward.
On top of a skyscraper not far from here, a figure was watching Inaba Tsukiyo.
Long pink hair fluttered in the wind, the Skin Care around her neck swayed, and the sword at her waist gleamed with a pink edge.
This was a young girl with fox ears, azure pupils, wearing a miko outfit. She was as delicate as a cherry blossom, yet exuded a dignified aura.
She gazed gently at Inaba Tsukiyo's figure, her mind recalling her beloved. Although five hundred years had passed, she still remembered her name, her face.
"Kallen…"
After a day of rushing, Inaba Tsukiyo felt herself getting closer and closer to her destination, closer and closer to that person.
[Today at 10 AM, Changkong City lost contact with the outside world. The United Nations has issued a statement confirming an outbreak of the infectious disease BH in Changkong City.]
As she passed through the plaza, Inaba Tsukiyo heard the plaza broadcast announcing the situation in Changkong City.
Infectious disease BH? While she didn't know if this was an excuse to prevent the Honkai outbreak in Changkong City or some other reason, this was no damned infectious disease.
Honkai Energy is an infectious disease? Inaba Tsukiyo had never heard of it. At least a few months ago, Inaba Tsukiyo hadn't heard that old woman Cocolia say Honkai Energy was some kind of infectious disease.
Although she wanted to complain, Inaba Tsukiyo didn't think too much about it. She continued forward. It was very close now, very close to that place.
But what was strange was that every time she entered that area, there were an unusually large number of Honkai Beasts, as if they were deliberately appearing to block Inaba Tsukiyo's advance.
"I don't have time… to waste on you all!!! Get out of my way!!!"
With Magic Power Release and the unconscious activation of her Stigmata, Inaba Tsukiyo's power increased once again, and her original kill range expanded further.
Five rooms? Six rooms? Seven rooms? These no longer mattered. Inaba Tsukiyo wanted to get there quickly and see what it was that she cared about so much.
[Thud!!!]
A Honkai Beast, similar to the ones that had blocked her path before, appeared before her. This time, before she could even launch an attack, Inaba Tsukiyo cut it in half.
Not only Honkai Beasts, but even Death Soldiers, upon approaching Inaba Tsukiyo's kill range, would be cut in half, as if an invisible force was attacking them.
"What's the big deal! Suddenly appearing and slashing wildly! And you almost dragged me into it!"
"Bronya believes Kiana's safety priority is zero. There's no need to care about her life or death, only Older Sister Mei needs to be protected."
"You scoundrel! Do you want to fight! I knew I shouldn't have picked you up! I should have just left you there!"
'Bronya… impossible. Bronya… wasn't she doing that quantumization experiment with that witch?'
At that time, Bronya had already made up her mind to die when participating in that experiment. Changkong City was quite a distance from Russia, so she shouldn't be here.
She didn't understand, couldn't understand what was going on, but that didn't stop Inaba Tsukiyo from quickening her pace. She wanted to see what was happening; she wanted to know the truth.
Finally, Inaba Tsukiyo arrived at the street not far from them. There, she could sense three people, and the commotion just now had come from them.
"Who's there!?"
Inaba Tsukiyo's appearance attracted the attention of one of them. The person raised her weapon, aiming it at Inaba Tsukiyo, while the girl beside her also picked up her weapon.
Since the Honkai outbreak, they had been evading attacks from Death Soldiers and Honkai Beasts. Every slight movement made them extra cautious.
"Is this… a Shrine Maiden? A Shrine Maiden with a sword? What kind of combination is this? Is it cosplay?"
"I don't know… but she's different from the Death Soldiers we've seen before. It's just… the aura around her is very terrifying."
The power of Magic Power Release combined with the Stigmata release made Inaba Tsukiyo emit a suppressed aura. This aura made the two girls standing in front somewhat afraid, yet they calmed down, watching Inaba Tsukiyo warily.
"Thump… thump… thump…"
At this moment, a petite girl standing behind them walked out, looking at Inaba Tsukiyo with shock.
"Wait! Bronya! Be careful!"
It was too dangerous to step out now, as they hadn't yet confirmed whether Inaba Tsukiyo was an enemy.
However, Bronya ignored the call. As Bronya approached, the terrifying aura around Inaba Tsukiyo gradually dissipated, and tears streamed down her tightly closed eyes.
'Older Sister Tsukiyo…'
'Older Sister Tsukiyo…'
'Older Sister Tsukiyo…'
That intimate address echoed continuously in her mind. This was the voice Inaba Tsukiyo heard every night.
Although it had only been a few months since she last heard this voice, Inaba Tsukiyo felt such a strong sense of nostalgia.
"Is that you, Bronya? Am I… not dreaming?"
"If Bronya is also dreaming, then this must be a dream. A dream one wouldn't want to wake up from."
Finally, Bronya walked up to Inaba Tsukiyo. Her face no longer held that adorable smile; she was expressionless. Although her eyes were a little red, she didn't shed any tears.
"It's you… it really is you, Bronya. But, why? Your legs, and your voice, what happened?"
Inaba Tsukiyo noticed Bronya's legs. Unlike human soft legs, these were exoskeletal armor, and Bronya's emotional fluctuations had also become very strange.
Inaba Tsukiyo remembered that she was a child who loved to smile, although that was mostly when she was with Seele. But Bronya's voice shouldn't be so flat.
"Older Sister Tsukiyo…"
Bronya cupped Inaba Tsukiyo's cheeks, just as she once did to Seele. She licked Inaba Tsukiyo's tears, which made Inaba Tsukiyo understand Seele's feelings at the time.
Unusually, Inaba Tsukiyo's cheeks reddened, and she even felt a sense of shyness.
(fuhai: Is Bronya actually the protagonist?)
Even the two girls who had been watching Inaba Tsukiyo warily from behind looked at Bronya in surprise.
They had never seen Bronya make such an intimate gesture; not even they had ever done so.
"Older Sister Tsukiyo's tears are so bland."
"I'm sorry, Bronya. I wasn't there for you. As your older sister, as the person you should rely on, but I ran away because I was scared."
"If you also left like Seele, then the only person I care about in this world would be gone. I… I didn't want to hear that witch say you died in the experiment. So… so…"
"Bronya knows that even though Older Sister Tsukiyo has always protected Bronya, Older Sister Tsukiyo's heart is actually very fragile."
Interrupting Inaba Tsukiyo, who was trying to explain something, Bronya gently hugged Inaba Tsukiyo.
Bronya, who was slightly taller than Inaba Tsukiyo, easily held Inaba Tsukiyo in her arms, just as Inaba Tsukiyo used to comfort her and Seele.
Although she could no longer feel joy or smile, at this moment, her heart was filled with immense happiness.
"Bronya saw Seele. Although Bronya didn't want to be separated from Seele, Seele didn't want Bronya to give up hope. No matter how slim the hope, Bronya decided that she must find a way to save Seele."
At this moment, a giant robot with only its upper body appeared behind Bronya. Its appearance was very majestic, holding a spear in its left hand and a giant shield in its right. Its lower body seemed to wrap around Bronya like chains.
The giant robot placed the spear and giant shield on the ground, and like Bronya, reached out to embrace Inaba Tsukiyo and Bronya.
This feeling was as if it wasn't a robot but a human, embracing Inaba Tsukiyo, embracing Bronya.
"Older Sister Mei… what exactly is going on?"
The girl with the double helix hairstyle looked at the girl called Older Sister Mei in confusion and asked.
Shaking her head, she also didn't know what was happening, but she was certain that this girl who suddenly appeared here was not their enemy.
"Is this… what Seele gave you, Bronya?"
"Yes, project bunny 19c. This is the power Seele uses to protect Bronya, and also the power Seele uses to protect Older Sister Tsukiyo. So… Older Sister Tsukiyo, will you join Bronya to find a way to bring Seele back, okay?"
"…"
Inaba Tsukiyo opened her mouth, felt Bronya's strength, and couldn't help but laugh.
"I never thought that I, as the older sister, would be lectured by my younger sister. I really am an unqualified older sister, truly… this feeling… it's so annoying."
"As an older sister, helping her younger sister, isn't that natural?"
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