"How do you feel?"
After the Archangel disappeared, the curious Theresa looked at Himeko with her eyes closed.
Opening her eyes, Himeko shook her arms.
"I feel much lighter than before, not so heavy anymore."
"Maybe it feels like I'm back to my teenage years?"
There was some uncertainty in her words. Feeling the lightness in her limbs and the vitality bursting from every cell in her body, Himeko looked eager to try. In her current state, she felt she could fight on the front lines for another ten years.
However, Himeko soon realized something, and her face changed slightly.
"What's wrong?" Theresa asked quickly, keenly noticing this.
"..."
Himeko didn't answer but began to take off her clothes on the spot.
Startled by this sudden move, Theresa took a few steps back and shouted in dissatisfaction, "Hey, what do you think you're doing, Meat Bomb Girl? Are you being a hooligan? This is the dean's office, you'd better not do anything rash!"
Although she said this, Theresa didn't do anything practical.
Himeko took off her upper body clothes and turned her back to Theresa.
"Ha... the artificial stigmata on your body are gone?!" Theresa exclaimed, a little surprised at the smooth and empty back.
As a battle-hardened Valkyrie, Himeko's back had never been pleasant to look at, as it was covered with scars. But now, all of them were gone.
Also, the artificial stigmata she had been using had disappeared.
"...Is it because of the Archangel?" Theresa immediately figured out what had happened. Artificial stigmata have various disadvantages, and this kind of defective thing, which harms the host's body.
This probably seen as a negative state in the eyes of the Archangel, right?
"...Huh, it seems I'll have to implant another stigmata later."
Himeko put her clothes back on, her expression somewhat helpless.
Although artificial stigmata had many disadvantages, without them, she wouldn't be able to fight against the Honkai creatures at all.
"Let's talk about this later."
Theresa was not happy with Himeko's idea of re-implanting artificial stigmata.
In her opinion, that thing was not beneficial. If there were no other way, she wouldn't allow her students to implant such things.
Himeko had just gotten out of the sea of suffering, but now she looked liked she wanted to run back into the quagmire.
Looking at Himeko with a bit of displeasure, Theresa immediately remembered that she still had things to do.
"I'm heading to Nagazora City next," she said briefly.
No further explanation was needed; she had almost said as much when she told Himeko about what had happened in that space just now.
"Meet your niece? Okay, I'll make arrangements."
Himeko didn't object and immediately turned to make arrangements for Theresa's trip.
Saint Freya Academy is located on a small island in the Far East, surrounded by the sea.
To leave, airships are typically used. However, for the current secular world, airships which are far beyond current technology are impractical. A blatant departure would cause a lot of trouble. Therefore, the most suitable way is to travel by water.
Normally, traveling by water from Saint Freya to Nagazora City takes at least half a day.
...
...
...
Basement of ME Building, Anti-Entropy Base
"Cocolia, the female vixen, is really dead?"
The pretty face of the red-ponytailed girl, wearing casual clothes and glasses was full of disbelief.
People of Anti-Entropy were always good at surviving, and Cocolia—especially the female vixen—was extremely skilled at survival. Once she sensed danger, she would typically escape without being caught.
Such a cunning female vixen with excellent survival skills died so easily?
It was unrealistic. Tesla looked at her companion and asked, "Hey, Mophead, do you think this female vixen is faking her death?"
Although Cocolia's body was covered not far away, as an experienced scientist, Tesla wouldn't conclude anything so hastily.
Didn't her own leader often play similar tricks?
Well... although Welt was better at leaving only the core and no body.
"Not sure, but she shouldn't have any reason to fake her death."
Einstein, with messy hair and dark circles under her eyes, shook her head slightly.
To be honest, she didn't think Cocolia would die so easily. But if you carefully considered Cocolia's motives, there was no need for her to pretend to be dead.
"There's surprise and confusion on her face. Maybe something unexpected happened that she didn't anticipate," Einstein guessed about Cocolia's death.
"...Okay, let's assume she's dead."
Tesla didn't want to waste time on this. She curled her lips and said bluntly, "This woman deserves to die, even if she managed to plan that kind of plot."
After Bronya communicated and took over the base, they learned almost everything about Cocolia's plans.
But the more they knew, the more terrified they became.
If that bastard Cocolia's conspiracy had succeeded, Nagazora City, with a population of one million, would have likely turned into a dead zone in an instant.
Fortunately, the conspiracy was finally uncovered.
"I'm curious about who stopped that bastard Cocolia."
Tesla's face was full of curiosity. Although there had been a lot of communication, Bronya hadn't told Tesla and Einstein about her, Kiana, and Mei's plan to stop Cocolia. Plus, the monitoring system inside the base had been destroyed, so Tesla and Einstein had no way of knowing.
"Ha, let's think about that later. Now... let's get Ryoma out first."
Einstein had been working on experiments all night and rushed over almost immediately after receiving the news, so she looked tired and yawned listlessly.
"That's right."
Tesla nodded. Ryoma was still in prison. One of their goals was to get Ryoma out. This wouldn't be easy, as their main operations were based in America. It was a bit too far to extend influence to the Far East. However, America still had a strong presence in the Far East, so it wasn't entirely hopeless.
...
...
...
Meanwhile, Theresa is on her way to the Far East by boat.
Einstein and Tesla are hunting for Electric Ryoma.
Kiana and Mei are in the hospital.
Bronya...
While Bronya is in the hospital, she is also handling some follow-up matters.
Although Cocolia was a pit, some of her industries were very important to Bronya. For example, the orphanage in Moscow.
As the place where Bronya spent her childhood, the orphanage's funding had all been supported by Cocolia. After Cocolia's death, this effectively meant the funds had been cut off.
To fill the gap, Bronya has been using the funds at her disposal to make money on the online stock market to support the orphanage while recuperating.
Since Sin still holds the identity of the Anti-Entropy executor, there will be no issues with the orphanage.