Within a towering pillar of violet, crimson, and black light, the Second Herrscher—who had previously inflicted devastating losses on the Moth organization—vanished into nothingness.
A dull, visibly cracked Herrscher Core fell from the sky, landing squarely in the palm of the white-clad girl astride a strange, blue-black armored steed.
The sight left a profound impact on the surviving Fire Moth soldiers who had fought the Second Herrscher. Even if they were to encounter more powerful beings in the future, nothing could ever erase the sheer awe of this first encounter.
"Is she even human?"
That single question echoed in the minds of countless Fire Moth soldiers.
There she sat, poised upon her steed—a girl with wavy, pale-golden hair streaked with a few strands of white, her blue eyes calm.
She looked like a mythical war goddess, both awe-inspiring and strangely reassuring.
It was as if every soldier present instinctively knew that the massive black lance in her hand would never be turned against humanity.
During the earlier battle, the howling winds and whipping sand had thrown the soldiers into disarray.
Yet, that same gale had also stripped away the disguise of a certain girl, lovely as a blooming flower.
Her helmet was swept away, revealing flowing, wavy pink hair.
Unlike the disheveled soldiers around her, her sweet, fair face showed only a trace of bewilderment as she gazed up at the girl who had appeared at the heart of the battlefield.
She had been ready to intervene.
Humanity simply couldn't be allowed to fall in this early Herrscher incident.
But shortly after infiltrating the battlefield disguised as a soldier, she witnessed this unknown girl descend from the sky and, in an astonishingly short time, annihilate the Second Herrscher—a being the Fire Moth had sacrificed countless soldiers and expended immense firepower to barely contain.
'A super-soldier like this shouldn't exist at this point in humanity's development,' the pink-haired girl thought to herself.
As her gaze remained fixed on the girl atop the steed, those piercing blue eyes turned and focused squarely on her.
The white-clad girl dismounted, her gaze unwavering as she strode step by step directly toward the pink-haired soldier.
With her advance, the Moth soldiers instinctively parted, clearing a path and removing any barrier between the two girls who seemed so out of place amidst the brutal battlefield.
Finally, the white-clad girl stopped, roughly three paces away.
She tightened her grip on the Gnius and the Herrscher Core.
The Gnius informed her that her previous mission—to eliminate the Second Herrscher and protect the human world—was complete.
The reward had been issued: the very Second Herrscher Core she now held.
But it was fundamentally different now.
It was no longer a mere inert object, only useful for forging a Divine Key. Instead, much like the Second Herrscher Core of the next civilization era, it had become a 'living' core, capable of being transplanted into another person.
This meant she could use it to create a new Second Herrscher.
Of course, that depended on solving a critical problem: in this era, every Herrscher—except, or perhaps including, Elysia—became an enemy of humanity upon awakening.
And the solution to that problem now stood just three paces away.
Yet, approaching her wasn't about finding that answer just yet.
Her current form was that of Bianka 'Durandal' Ataegina: a S-Rank Valkyrie in Schicksal's history, the true Kiana Kaslana, the one who had fully unleashed the power of her Stigmata and Kaslana heritage from the depths of the Kaslana Stigmata space.
But she was more than just Durandal.
She retained most of Durandal's essence, yet she also held onto her own original emotions—those of an ordinary female college student from Earth, a simple fan of the game Honkai Impact 3rd, and her affection for all the characters within it.
"The Flame-Chasers need no Fire Moth," Durandal silently affirmed.
Then, she extended her hand. "My fair lady, would you care to join the Flame-Chasers?"
"The Flame-Chasers?"
Had it been anyone else standing before Durandal, they likely wouldn't have refused the offer.
But the pink-haired girl was different. She'd never heard of an organization with such a peculiar name.
She simply shook her head. "But I've already joined Fire Moth, you know?"
"Fire Moth..."
A faint, almost mocking smile seemed to flicker across Durandal's face.
What did the current Fire Moth truly have to offer?
Only Dr. Mobius held any slight interest for her.
Yet, Durandal understood perfectly.
The pink-haired girl now was much like the original owner of this body had once been—convinced that a well-established organization like Schicksal was the key to saving the world, willing to execute certain 'necessary evils' for Otto's plans.
But in the end, when faced with Otto's 'unreasonable' plot to end the world, hadn't Durandal herself confronted him?
While it turned out Otto hadn't truly intended to destroy the world, the feeling of having the fate of the world rest in someone else's hands was something Durandal never wanted to experience again.
Thus, upon finding herself transmigrated to the Previous Era, joining Fire Moth had never been an option.
One could only say the pink-haired girl before her still didn't understand humanity—and even less, its politics.
She believed the Fire Moth, backed by the United Nations' immense resources, offered the best chance to save the world.
So she chose to infiltrate them, planning to officially join during the Second Herrscher's emergence.
But she failed to grasp that a deeply rooted organization also meant intricate internal power struggles.
Humanity had never once disappointed when it came to the disappointing art of infighting.
"Rather than wasting your time in a place like this, I believe the Flame-Chasers would suit you far better. What do you think, Elysia?"
Durandal smiled warmly. "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. You may call me Durandal."
She didn't say 'Bianka Durandal Ataegina.'
This era's civilization didn't seem to use surnames. Offering her full name, while honest, would only make her seem more suspicious.
At the same time, she didn't fabricate a nonexistent identity.
In a highly developed civilization like this, inventing an identity was tantamount to announcing yourself as a fraud, needlessly damaging your own credibility.
No, she would simply call herself Durandal.
Whether others could uncover anything beyond that was their concern, not hers.
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