Ignoring Kiana's idle chatter, Bronya walked through the dining area, which was strewn with the corpses of the slaughtered ghosts.
Catching a glimpse of her hovering silhouette in a shattered, blood-stained mirror, the girl hesitated for a moment. She ordered Project Bunny to deactivate its suspension module, and her small feet, clad in blue sneakers, stepped onto the solid ground.
Fuli had told her to walk on her own two legs more often, as it was beneficial for the development of her legs and body.
Bronya was willing to listen to her big brother's words.
Before long, relying on her calculations, the girl eliminated another group of Kheshig troops that had been forcibly separated.
Unlike Kiana, who needed the excuse of the Gluttony's Blood Feast to rationalize her killing, Bronya—raised as a mercenary since childhood—obviously didn't need such psychological preparation.
What? Since it's confirmed to be a misunderstanding, why not reconcile?
Heh, I've already sent so many of your teammates to the Eternal Heaven. Given the situation, surely you must be joking.
"Fifty-seven... sixty-two..."
Combining the data from the other side, the girl quickly deduced that the enemy had 3 A-Ranks, 10 B-Ranks, and 14 C-Ranks remaining.
Whether she could handle them was one thing, but the fact that she still hadn't seen Arlan was troubling her.
That was a guaranteed fifty million Crystals. If she pulled it off, her idiot brother would surely hug Bronya and praise her: "My little sister is amazing! Good job, here's a kiss, Mua!"
Cough!
Her large, dull gray eyes darted left and right. Finding no one else present, the guilty, cringe-inducing duck finally breathed a sigh of relief, her pretty face slightly flushed.
Project Bunny 19C: Am I not a person?
Bronya: You certainly aren't.
After a brief internal self-reflection about not becoming a "down bad" girl like Kiana, Bronya expanded her life detection radar again.
In contrast to the previous groups, this time she detected two signatures in the Crew Rest Area.
The Kheshig troops always fought in groups. A lone signature like this had a very high probability of being an A-Rank.
The girl's choice was to go alone.
Kiana's combat power had skyrocketed over the last three months, and Bronya, who shared a rivalry with her, naturally didn't want to fall behind.
Especially with Durandal's weekly challenges looming in the background. Bronya, not wanting Fuli to be snatched back to Schicksal by the blonde, big-breasted female knight for "sword fighting" sessions, had also been working hard in secret.
And actual combat was often the best place to test one's results.
With a thought from Bronya, six psychokinetic floating units materialized from the void to reality. They hovered around Project Bunny in a formation covering up, down, left, right, front, and back—leaving no blind spots—with their beam particle cannons charged and ready.
She also deployed [Dimensional Shut] in front of her. This shield was created by Mei, referencing Kiana's spatial powers. Once activated, it unfolded a pseudo-space fault line capable of blocking attacks (including nuclear explosions) and completely absorbing their kinetic and thermal energy.
Armed to the teeth for both offense and defense, the girl strode into the Crew Rest Area where she sensed the life signs. Without a word, she prepared to give them a particle cannon facial as a sign of respect.
A weak voice stopped her: "P-Please wait!"
"You have three seconds to explain."
Possessing a 360-degree field of view, Bronya had seen the white-haired boy, Arlan, huddled in the corner from the start. On the other side of the room was a heavily injured Kheshig Attendant.
Bronya was aiming at the Attendant. She didn't know why this A-Rank enemy was covered in wounds and on the verge of death, but she certainly wouldn't miss such a perfect opportunity to secure the kill.
Meanwhile, hearing he had three seconds, Arlan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, that's enough."
He struggled to pull out a book and tore out a page depicting himself and the Attendant.
Just as the three seconds were up, Bronya gave the order without hesitation. A dense net of firepower instantly blasted the enemy into elementary particles.
She then approached Arlan, first taking out a MEI-brand healing spray developed by Mei to stop the bleeding, then injecting a rapid-acting healing agent—also created by Mei by analyzing the material of healing bullets—into Arlan's body.
The dying boy's condition improved visibly. Bronya nodded to herself in satisfaction.
100 Million Crystals Get☆Daze!
Of course, the girl hadn't forgotten what she just saw. She asked bluntly, "What was that book?"
As Asta's servant and semi-butler, Arlan had read the files on the Hyperion crew members.
Combined with the fact that Bronya was clearly a friend and not a foe based on the recent events, he stood up using the wall for support and gave a bitter laugh. "That is a copy of the Zoroastrian Scripture, a passive-type item that only activates after being attacked."
Its ability was to return the damage suffered by the holder back to the attacker exactly as it was—a rare damage-sharing spell, a pure retaliatory curse.
Since this item carved the wounds onto the soul, as long as the holder's injuries didn't heal, the injuries of the person sharing the damage couldn't be cured or healed either. The activation conditions were: [Can only be used once per opponent] and [The holder must not die from the first hit]. Once the conditions were met, it ignored the opponent's physical capabilities and inflicted incurable wounds upon them.
Cough!
Spitting out a mouthful of clotted blood, Arlan, feeling much relieved, explained, "I used the invisibility of Phantom of the Opera to cause the A-Rank Kheshig Attendant to misjudge, preventing him from killing me in one hit."
"Realizing that killing me would kill him too, he had no choice but to stay put and wait for his allies to rescue him."
Noticing that most of the wounds on the boy were self-inflicted, Bronya deduced, "While waiting, you tried to commit suicide multiple times to drag the enemy down with you, but unsurprisingly, you were stopped."
Extremely low margin for error, basically a "first-encounter killer," emphasizing the "if I die, you don't live either" mechanic. What kind of ultimate toxic death-rattle item was this?!
While appearing calm on the surface, Bronya was cursing up a storm internally. If she had encountered that broken piece of junk, she would have been depressed to death.
Seeming to sense Bronya's displeasure, Arlan kindly added, "The copy only works on targets up to two ranks higher than oneself, and it has no effect on existences S-Rank or above. It's not as excessive as you might imagine, Miss."
That's not excessive?!
The girl felt even more depressed now.
Fortunately, she wasn't the only one feeling that way.
"Even a Critical-class can be cursed? That is truly terrifying..."
An overly theatrical middle-aged man's voice echoed inside the Crew Rest Area.
Squelch!
An energy scimitar descended from above, piercing straight into the crown of Arlan's head faster than the speed of sound.
"Space Barrier!"
Bronya's gaze sharpened. [Dimensional Shut] unfolded behind Arlan, severing the space between the servant boy, whose eyes were rolling back, and the sudden mysterious stranger.
To bypass her radar and launch a sneak attack, the enemy must be the hidden Critical-class combatant.
Presumably realizing that letting the girls continue their slaughter would ruin the original plan, he finally couldn't resist showing himself.
Luckily, the opponent was wary of Arlan's Zoroastrian copy and didn't choose Bronya as the primary target for the sneak attack; otherwise, she wouldn't be faring much better right now.
The only pity was Arlan's death. She didn't care much about a person she met for the first time, but losing half of that one hundred million Crystals was regrettable.
Then, next step: guide the enemy to the deck as planned.
Bronya lifted Arlan's corpse, preparing to execute a fighting retreat with the assistance of Project Bunny.
Unexpectedly, just as the girl made up her mind—
Squelch!
Arlan, who should have been dead, raised the dagger in his hand and slashed ruthlessly into her delicate shoulder.
...
"Flames, incinerate!"
The Flamescion fire surged like a scarlet python, melting steel into liquid iron wherever it passed and burning the enemies' corpses to ash.
Kiana, having finished her follow-up attacks, wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Took out another three. Counting the ones from earlier and the ones on Bronya's side, there shouldn't be any Kheshig left, right?"
"Y-Yes!"
Asta, following behind the girl, responded. She placed her hands over her chest, muttering to herself, "Miss Kiana, you're so amazing..."
Honkai adaptability was purely a matter of talent. Some people had 6500HW adaptability at age 8, while others, like Asta—born noble but with resistance comparable to an ordinary person—could only rely on expensive items to walk on the edge of the Honkai world.
So, seeing Kiana use her natural advantages and the terrain map sent by Bronya to slice through the enemies like a hot knife through butter, Asta couldn't suppress the envy showing on her face and filling her heart.
Ordinary people living in a magic-less universe yearned to become superhuman, let alone a girl who hung around these "Honkai Supermen" all day.
"Amazing? That depends on who you compare me to."
The white-haired Tuna holstered her dual guns and scratched her head, answering honestly, "The Kheshig troops are essentially quick-grown products created by the Golden Family through the Eternal Heaven Pact. They're okay for bullying the weak, but against anyone who can actually fight, they're just slightly tricky. Plus, this young lady used the environment to break up the military formations they're best at."
"The truly troublesome ones are those who climbed up from being ordinary people, one step at a time."
She spoke with lingering fear, "Whether they're strong or not is debatable, but their life-saving tricks are endless."
"Like you, Miss Kiana?"
"Me? I don't count!"
The girl waved her hand. From the moment she opened her eyes and roamed Siberia with Siegfried, her strength had stayed around B-Rank without much change.
Siegfried hadn't specifically demanded anything of her in that regard. His daughter was still at a growing age—she wasn't one of those Naruto fanfic protagonists who became a Jonin at seven and Kage-level at ten. Randomly training before her body fully developed could easily cause problems.
Part of this was also because she needed a long period of recuperation to stabilize her genes after leaving the incubation pod. In a sense, K423, having been taken away early, was a premature baby who hadn't fully developed.
Of course, she herself knew nothing about this.
"Speaking of which, I haven't contacted Bronya's side for a while."
Kiana stretched lazily. Her fine figure, especially the slenderness of her waist, made Asta—who was only a year older—extremely envious.
It was strange. The food on the Hyperion was amazing, and the girl had gained a full 0.9kg recently, yet not a speck of fat settled on that tiny waist. It remained in prime condition, slim enough for Fuli to encircle with a single arm during their intimate moments.
"Should we contact Miss Bronya?"
Asta, withdrawing her envious gaze, suggested. She had searched a third of the ship while Kiana was fighting but found no trace of Arlan, and she was anxious to contact the other team.
"Sure—Watch out!"
Just as the girl was about to raise her hand, she suddenly sensed approaching danger. With deceptive ease, she kicked Asta, sending her flying to a safe distance.
Using the recoil, she activated Radiant Blaze, a move that allowed her to burst instantly into the high air, projecting massive weaponry like a meteor shower.
Kiana used only the first half of the effect, dodging a supersonic shell that had pierced through several steel walls and locked precisely onto her position by a hair's breadth.
The 'shell,' having missed its target, crashed into the storage room, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. The terrifying heat from friction with the air quickly ignited the dust, causing a small-scale dust explosion.
The violent blast confused Kiana's sound perception. When she finally saw the environment clearly, her voice cracked: "Bronya!"
Yes, the 'shell' that had been thrown over was Bronya.
The petite girl clutched her dislocated shoulder. She looked mostly intact, except for blood dripping from the corner of her pale mouth, clearly indicating internal injuries from the impact.
And the culprit who had chased her here—
"Arlan!"
Asta screamed in disbelief.
The call from his young mistress failed to bring back the boy's reason. Activating Phantom of the Opera, he vanished into the darkness again, dagger in hand, ready to deliver a fatal blow to the girls.
"What happened?"
Kiana, rushing to Bronya's side, asked quickly while swinging her Galactic Baseball Bat to repel a dagger striking from the shadows.
The stealth level of Phantom of the Opera exceeded the sound detection of Tango Sickle. Fortunately, she had recently developed advanced applications of spatial perception relying on the Void Stigmata; otherwise, she would be fighting blind.
"Arlan is being controlled by an enemy weapon."
Hiss!
The healing injection built into the Silver Wolf ether battlesuit was pushed into Bronya's body, continuously repairing her injuries.
Judging by the damage on her shoulder, the battlesuit had blocked Arlan's sudden attack earlier, resulting only in a dislocation.
"Controlled? Then just knock him out, right?"
Kiana moved to step forward. A mere B-Rank? She could take him down in two moves.
"No."
Bronya quickly explained the curse of the Zoroastrian copy.
When Arlan attacked, the girl had instinctively punched back, accidentally fulfilling the curse's activation condition.
That was why she was in such a sorry state. If killing Arlan meant victory, the Silver Wolf of the Urals wouldn't have hesitated for a second. The problem was that killing him meant she would die too, all while a Critical-class enemy watched from the shadows.
Hearing this, Kiana's eyes lit up. She grinned, cracking her knuckles. "You mean, if this young lady beats up Arlan right now, the pain he feels will be synchronized to you exactly as is?"
Bronya: ?
Bronya: You son of a—!
Asta, who had rushed over: ?
What kind of grudge do these two have? At a critical moment like this, that's what she's thinking about?!
"Haha! As long as we're sure!"
The white-haired Tuna gleefully swung her Galactic Baseball Bat, smashing it down onto Arlan, who was hiding in the darkness.
BAM! BAM!
In just a few hits, she beat him black and blue. Asta, standing frozen, heard Bronya's suppressed gasps of pain and a string of earthy Russian curses.
Seeing that this scumbag woman truly didn't care about her teammate's life, Arlan had no choice but to cancel the curse on Bronya and transfer it to Kiana, who was frantically outputting damage on him.
Crash!
A sound like shattering glass echoed in their ears. The curse, effective even against Critical-class opponents, surprisingly failed against the white-haired Tuna in front of him!
Asta suddenly realized something. "Absolute Honkai Resistance!"
The Knight Clan [Kaslana]'s ancestral, powerful resistance to Honkai energy. Its effect was strong enough to let them swim in a sea of liquid Honkai energy.
The curse, in the end, was an application of Honkai energy. Just because Bronya's resistance wasn't enough to counter it didn't mean Kiana, a Kaslana, couldn't!
"In other words, Miss Kiana deliberately acted like she didn't care about Miss Bronya to bait Arlan into transferring the curse to herself!"
The curse only worked once per person. Since it had been triggered against both of them now, it was purely dead weight!
"Heh heh!"
As Asta voiced what she believed to be the truth, Kiana wiped her nose confidently.
However, Bronya, lying on the ground groaning, gritted her teeth in hatred. She dared to swear on her brother's lower-body happiness that this white-haired bastard did it purely out of revenge!
Bronya will remember this!
...