...Beneath the giant tree's green canopy, an awkward standoff was underway... On one side was the kidnapper, Student Durandal, carrying a burlap sack with a person inside.
On the other side was Student Raiden Mei, who had sped all the way here, running red lights and scaling walls, completely disregarding Arc City's law enforcement, desperate to find her beloved.
"Hand over Kiana, you villain!!!"
Having just arrived on the scene, Raiden Mei took one look and thought, I know this scene! It's a kidnapping! I've been kidnapped before when I was a kid.
Then she drew her blade and charged—
"Villain? Where's the villain?! Where?"
Durandal, still processing, blinked and glanced around, seemingly searching for this so-called villain. Then she turned her head just in time to see a sword blade slashing down at her—
"Whoa, you have no martial ethics! A sneak attack..."
Durandal raised her arm, using the gauntlet of her Valkyrie Battlesuit to block Raiden Mei's slash, and with a light flick, tossed the powerless "Miss Rice Cooker" away...
"So it was you..."
Realizing who it was, Durandal tightened the burlap sack containing Kiana on her back, seemingly preparing to flee without further entanglement.
"Hand Kiana over to me—now!"
Although Kyuusyou and Rita had repeatedly assured her that Kiana would be safe, seeing the golden-haired Valkyrie with Kiana stuffed in a sack on her back, only her head visible as she slept soundly (played dead)...
The scales of impulse and reason once again tipped to one side...
"What a pain... I'm the worst at dealing with this kind of messy situation..."
"Hey, Raiden Mei! If you want her, then come and take her with your own strength!"
Durandal pulled Black Abyss White Flower from the ground and slung it over her back, then drew her other lance, Hler's Serenity, and pointed it at Raiden Mei.
Always straightforward, Durandal chose the simplest, most direct method:
Defeat me, and I'll give her to you. We Schicksal Valkyries always let our strength do the talking.
-
Lance and tachi clashed beneath the giant tree, each constantly launching attacks at the other.
Or rather, only Raiden Mei was on the offensive; Durandal was merely earnestly dodging her opponent's high-frequency slashes, seemingly treating it as a dodging exercise.
"Too bad it's not Houraiji Kyuusyou. That woman never wants to fight me... not even for a spar. She runs faster than a rabbit whenever she sees me..."
After dodging another wave of Raiden Mei's attacks, Durandal muttered to herself, seemingly dissatisfied at not getting the fight she'd long desired.
"Sigh..."
Growing more frustrated, Durandal gradually changed her defensive rhythm. She stopped dodging and began to counterattack with her lance, pushing back against the seemingly relentless storm of blows.
The effect of her counterattack was immediately obvious. Raiden Mei, who had already been swinging her blade with all her might, began to show signs of faltering after Durandal's repeated parries, thrusts, and strikes with her lance...
-
"Are you going to keep this up, Raiden Mei?"
After repelling the purple-haired Valkyrie's attack again, Durandal looked at the panting woman before her and posed the question.
Raiden Mei gazed at the golden-haired Valkyrie, who still held her lance without a hint of fatigue, and once again felt a sense of powerlessness... Durandal stood before her like an insurmountable mountain.
"I... will not give up!!!"
Unintentionally stealing Kiana's line, Miss Mei charged forward again, clearly having no intention of backing down...
"Sigh... What a pain. Rita and the Overseer always say I'm too blunt and tend to offend people..."
Durandal planted her lance in the ground, settled into a horse stance, and prepared for a straight punch.
The white-haired Knight Princess on the golden-haired Valkyrie's back could no longer keep up the pretense. Kiana stealthily cracked open an eye to observe the battlefield...
Big Sis, that's your little sister's girlfriend! What are you doing?!
"But, Raiden Mei... while it's admirable for the weak to challenge the strong, if you just charge in recklessly like this..."
"...it's not courage, but foolishness!"
Durandal's inner cosmos flared, boosting her power to 990,000 horsepower. She unleashed a punch at Raiden Mei, who was charging forward with her blade raised.
"My apologies, Miss Raiden Mei."
Boom!
Under Durandal's unrestrained attack, a massive explosion erupted. The purple-haired Valkyrie was sent flying, tumbling across the ground several times before collapsing face down.
"Don't worry... she's just unconscious. I controlled my strength."
Sensing the White Blazing Cat on her back twitching its ears frantically with anxiety, Durandal offered reassurance, casually stroking the small cat ears.
"Hmm, this feels even better than petting Stan...?"
"Anyway, it seems you have no objections. Let's get going now!"
After petting the cat, Durandal lifted the Cat-worm above her head, activated the thrusters on her Valkyrie Battlesuit, and flew off into the distance...
-
"Give Kiana... back to me!"
The girl lying on the ground muttered something, and lightning began to arc across her body again.
-
"Huh!?"
Imhotep, who had been casually chatting with Kevin on their way to confront Jackal, sensed something was wrong.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Seeing Imhotep's expression change, Kevin's face in the quantum projection also grew serious.
"The Honkai energy accumulated in this city is reactivating and converging. A Herrscher is about to awaken here!"
Imhotep, always sensitive to Honkai energy fluctuations, looked toward the distant, cloud-shrouded Arc City District. The sound of thunder reached the ears of the two Kaslanas.
"Sigh... I had Gray Serpent bring Shamash to you. It's in its original spot. You don't need me to provide support over there, do you?"
"No need. It looks like the Third Herrscher is reawakening. Hopefully, that's all it is. But if the Herrscher of Domination ever tried to fish in troubled waters..."
Kevin didn't finish his sentence, merely nodding at Imhotep before ending the projection call.
"Then we'll just have to let it fish in troubled waters."
-
"Metatron..."
Imhotep summoned the giant angelic figure from behind her, casually kicking back Tezcatlipoca—a creature Kevin raised himself—which was peeking out from the residual quantum energy left by Kevin, trying to join the fun.
"Go on, go play with your Uncle Kevin."
"We're heading to the center of the storm, Metatron."
"How can they have a fight without me?"
Wielding Shamash, Imhotep stepped onto the giant hand of the angelic figure and issued her command.
The latter gently flapped its wings and lunged toward the target its master had indicated...