Chapter 129: Heading to Oceania
St. Freya Academy · Hyperion
"Oh, we're here~" Kiana carelessly pushed the door open, looking at Irene who had already returned. "Mhm? Sister Irene, Teacher Himeko's exam this time wasn't that hard, it was a piece of cake~"
"Himeko hasn't returned yet; right now, it's just me." Irene turned her head, looking at Kiana who had swaggered in with a face full of smugness, and smiled.
"As for it being easy, are you sure? Your performance wasn't exactly stellar."
"If I recall correctly, you were sent flying directly by Ganesha right at the start, weren't you? If your armor hadn't blocked the impact for you, and Project Bunny hadn't hurriedly pulled you back, you would have been eliminated right then and there."
Kiana's expression instantly stiffened. She opened her mouth, thought about it for a long time, and finally offered a rebuttal. "W-well, as the first to make contact, it was only natural for me to test out its attack patterns."
"And the final result was that I managed to test out several of its moves... Mhm, so you could say I made a contribution too."
"You sure know how to make excuses for yourself." Irene looked at Kiana and smiled somewhat helplessly. "I have to say, the people of the Kaslana family sure can take a beating."
"You were sent flying back and forth several times, yet you stubbornly refused to go down. I don't remember the White Comet armor having such good performance."
"That's because I'm naturally gifted, of course." Kiana put her hands on her hips and started acting smug again, clearly taking the comment about 'taking a beating' as a compliment.
"How could a mere Emperor-class Honkai Beast possibly do anything to me?"
"Don't hold onto that kind of thinking once you're on a real battlefield." Irene reached out and flicked Kiana's forehead. "You only have one life on the battlefield. Don't get injured. Unless absolutely necessary, you must preserve your own life, understand?"
"I know, I know. I won't do anything stupid." Kiana rubbed her head. "Anyway, this level of difficulty is a piece of cake for me. This means I've basically secured my A-Rank Valkyrie title now, right?"
"Now Auntie won't have any reason to keep hiding my stupid dad's whereabouts from me."
"Wait until you get back to find time to ask her." Irene brought the dishes from the pot onto the dining table one by one. "As a reward for your performance this time, Teacher Himeko and I agreed to take you guys on a trip. Mhm, or rather, sightseeing."
"Oh, right, speaking of which, where's Seele? Shouldn't she have passed by now too?"
Seele definitely participated in the Valkyrie assessment this time too. Although it was a B-Rank Valkyrie certification test... well, logically speaking, Seele's strength as an A-Rank wouldn't stop her from trying for that instead, but...
Schicksal had explicit regulations stating that, unless an individual possessed exceptionally unique combat prowess, all Valkyries had to start from the B-Rank. Irene was an exception because she could solo a Pseudo-Herrscher, and Theresa was willing to vouch for her.
That was why she was able to directly obtain the A-Rank Valkyrie certificate. But for Seele, the Valkyrie test was very simple anyway. Although she stumbled a bit at the beginning...
Relying on her phantom-like Quantization, she didn't take any damage from the bombs, and she managed to dish out quite a bit of damage herself.
However, towards the end, she must have swapped out for her substitute player. After all, White Seele's combat style involved using her scythe like a pickaxe, relying on sheer brute force to wedge it into the enemy's carapace and pry it open.
Those final few finishing scythe slashes, along with the proficient use of Quantization, were clearly the handiwork of Black Seele. It just wasn't clear if White Seele voluntarily handed over the controller or if Black Seele snatched it.
But regardless, relying on the damage output at the end and the application of her abilities, certifying her as a B-Rank Valkyrie was more than enough.
As for the Quantization Seele used in combat... ever since Seele returned to the real world, Irene hadn't been idle either. She had been trying to help stabilize it or find a way to utilize it. After all, Seele's Quantization was something that needed attention.
Since Cat only had one of Teacher Vill-V's inventions on hand, if Seele truly had another issue and slipped away, they'd have a hell of a time figuring out how to fish her back out again. It would naturally be best if they could resolve it once and for all.
However, Irene soon realized she was somewhat working in vain. Perhaps, just like Kevin, Seele's previous inability to return was simply because she had lost her coordinates.
Now that she had returned once, as long as she left coordinates, Seele could come back on her own. It was even possible that, since her Stigmata was inherently responsible for this aspect, Seele could utilize Quantization to fight.
But White Seele was relatively resistant to this, barely ever using it in combat. This was also why Irene was certain those final few Quantized scythe slashes were Black Seele's doing.
"As for Seele..." Mei turned to look at the doorway. "Mhm, she should be back very soon, right? The logistics Valkyries' results will take a bit longer to announce."
"Oh, right." Kiana suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Bronya strangely. "Why didn't you come back together with your Seele?"
These two were practically glued together every second in the villa. Just these past few days, the time Kiana and Bronya spent staying up late playing games together had decreased, as Bronya was chased to bed by Seele every single day.
Hearing Kiana's question, Bronya fell silent for a moment. After a while, she finally spoke up. "...Kiana, are you only noticing this now? Haven't I been coming back together with you guys recently?"
After all, most of the time, the logistics Valkyries' training subjects were not grouped with theirs, and their class dismissal times were different. They would just meet up on the way back to Himeko's villa.
Perhaps in Kiana's mind, she hadn't noticed this detail at all and simply assumed she and Seele always came back together?
"...I-is that so?"
"She's a logistics Valkyrie, after all." Irene nodded. "Alright, your certification documents might take a few more days, but you already have A-Rank Valkyrie privileges now. Congratulations. And congratulations to Kiana as well."
"Mhm, mhm. Once this matter is settled, I'm going to go find Auntie." Kiana cracked her knuckles. "I'll definitely interrogate her thoroughly about my stupid dad's whereabouts."
"Then I wish you success." Irene nodded. "Anyway, there's a mission. You guys have to accompany me to the Oceania Branch. Though, for you, it'll probably just be a sightseeing trip."
As she said this, Irene's eyes flickered slightly, and she added a mental note: Provided Wendy doesn't suffer a mental breakdown right at this moment. If she does, this sightseeing mission will turn into a retrieval and combat mission.
However, that child could still be saved. In the original plot, she had almost been convinced. If Cocolia hadn't meddled, everything would have been fine.
Wendy joining St. Freya Academy would have been a great addition to their combat power, but that troublemaker Cocolia just had to stir things up.
Who knew what was going through her head, thinking her daughter Bronya could blast away a Herrscher with one shot? That action slapped Wendy's already fragile mind right over the edge.
It also led to the subsequent minor version storyline and the most classic "Wendy fighting three Herrschers," as well as being punched down by a Titan later. Not to mention kidnapping Mei and triggering a whole series of events like "Betrayal is a Silver Smile."
From a story perspective, for the incident of the Queen's descent, aside from Otto bearing the primary responsibility, joint and subsequent liability could even be pinned on Cocolia.
After all, Theresa only entered the underground archives to search for information on the brain chip. That prompted Kiana, who cared deeply for her companions, to follow her in, leading to the subsequent events.
Of course, even without that incident, given that the Queen was already awakened, Otto would have eventually found a time to kidnap Kiana anyway to force the Queen's descent.
Ah, my thoughts seem to have wandered a bit far. Irene looked at Kiana, who had grown excited again upon hearing it was a sightseeing mission.
"Oh, awesome! I don't have to attend classes for a while! Here comes my vacation~"
Kiana, immersed in her own excitement, felt like she had scored some free vacation time, completely oblivious to the slightly condemning gazes of the others.
Because this idiot had clearly forgotten one thing: they were originally supposed to have a vacation after their exams anyway. Now that they had to go on a mission, wouldn't that eat up their vacation days?
"Since this matter involves you all, it's highly necessary for you to participate." Irene turned her head away, avoiding the critical stares Mei and Bronya were currently giving her.
As for the reason... normally, after the Valkyrie exams were completed, they would wait two days for all the tests to finish and the scores to be tallied. Then, following a formal evaluation ceremony, they would go straight into vacation.
So the 'vacation' Kiana thought she was earning was merely one or two extra days at best. Only Kiana hadn't realized this yet.
"Wait, why do I feel a sudden chill?" Kiana suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked at Irene. "Sister Irene, did you do something you should be sorry for?"
"You can't just spout nonsense like that." Irene turned around and hurriedly changed the subject. "Anyway, just treat it as your first mission after becoming A-Rank Valkyries."
"Alright, if there are no problems, get ready to board the battleship after lunch. Teacher Himeko will head over before us."
Hyperion
"Yo, you're finally here." Himeko turned around and looked at Irene and the others who had just entered. "Enjoy this vacation properly. Once this trip is over, you'll officially be A-Rank Valkyries, and you'll need to shoulder real responsibilities."
Just like Fu Hua, once they reached the A-Rank, St. Freya's general academics would no longer be as important. They would no longer be squads requiring an A-Rank Valkyrie to lead them, nor would they just handle straightforward, minor tasks.
They had become official A-Rank Valkyries, and Headquarters would start dispatching direct missions to them. Things wouldn't be as relaxing as before.
"I'm already prepared." Kiana patted her chest. "We are ready to face anything."
"Alright, I was waiting for you to say that." Himeko nodded. Subsequently, the entire battleship let out a faint hum before slowly ascending into the sky, heading in the direction of the Oceania Branch.
"Just treat this mission as a drill for you all."
Now that they were airborne, Irene clapped her hands and turned to look at the others. "Alright, let's leave the rest of the work to Himeko. You guys can go get some rest."
Himeko turned her head and sighed as she watched Irene usher the girls away, knowing she was just messing with her, the teacher. However, Wendy... it had been three years since they last saw each other.
Three years without contact. This time, heading to Oceania, she absolutely had to bring that child back. She never should have agreed to let Wendy transfer to Oceania back then.
She had already seen the transfer notice sent by Headquarters and fully understood that Wendy had been treated as a lab rat by the Oceania Branch. Regardless of whether there was something fishy going on with that unmanned battleship...
She definitely had to find a way to extract that damn gem.
In the corridor outside, Mei turned around to look at Irene, who was following behind them scrolling through her phone. "But, coming back to it, Sister Irene, why are we going to the Oceania Branch?"
"It's related to that ghost battleship called the Moonlight Throne." Irene looked at Mei. "The Thunder of Conquest, the Blaze of Plague, the Storm of Desire, and the Death of Serenity."
"We know the Thunder of Conquest refers to you, Mei. If they wanted to run experiments, they could have just started directly with you. But since that battleship came from Anti-Entropy..."
"We have to ensure your safety, so naturally, we need to use something else for the experiments."
"So, the Oceania Branch has another Gem of the Herrscher?" Kiana scratched her head. Even she had caught on to the reason for their trip to the Oceania Branch.
Irene nodded. "Correct. The Oceania Branch houses another Gem of the Herrscher: the Gem of Desire, which can also be called the Herrscher of Wind Core."
"I see. But what about the other two gems?" Bronya nodded, then looked at Irene with some confusion. "Isn't the Oceania Branch currently researching the Gem of Desire? If we just go over there like this, will they give it to us?"
"Headquarters said we can go get it." Irene waved her hand, offering no further explanation. After all, the Gem of Desire was the only one they could get right now anyway.
The Gem of Haste was likely already mounted onto the Blank Key by now, becoming the Vermilion Knight: Eclipse. That was part of Otto's plan. Naturally, Otto wouldn't yank it off and hand it to them for some research.
As for the Gem of Serenity, Otto probably believed it was currently inside Kiana's body. So the only one available for them to take was the Gem of Desire. Otto most likely wouldn't pull any other tricks.
This matter wouldn't result in a loss for him either way. Otherwise, why would the Gem of Desire be left at the Oceania Branch instead of in his own hands?
Following his plan, coming into contact with the Gem of Desire this time might cause Sirin's activity to rise again, moving the plan he anticipated one step further.
At worst, this gem might provide Theresa with some extra resistance. In Otto's plan, Theresa was bound to rebel anyway. She needed some form of resistance so his subsequent 'going easy on her' wouldn't seem too abrupt.
Otherwise, going by the original story... if Otto really wanted to crush Theresa's rebellion, he could just toss Durandal out there. Even if Anti-Entropy's mechs were lined up in a row, they wouldn't be able to stop the Goose's charge.
Not to mention that his pursuit efforts were pitifully weak.
So they didn't really need to worry about Otto. Wendy's mental state had also been gradually recovering over the past few days, so there wasn't much to worry about there either.
Right now, their main concern was whether the Oceania Branch would have any radical ideas about this matter. After all, the Gem of Desire had been in their hands for far, far too long.
[Oh, about that, probably not.] Wendy's voice echoed in Irene's mind.
[I'm still chatting with my other self, and she just mentioned that the entire Oceania Branch's attitude towards her has done a complete 180-degree flip.]
[Even today's experiments were just going through the motions. Nothing unexpected will happen.]
[If that's the case, then that's for the best.]
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