This Is Not a Love Triangle!

"Have you had any conflicts with His Holiness the bishop?"

Rita tried to recall, but found that she had absolutely no memory of these two people.

"You were there too... Here's a hint: 2015, London, Stan." Raven smirked.

"..."

This time, it's Rita's turn to be in trouble.

As a believer in the principle of "revenge should not be delayed overnight," Rita rarely suffers a loss— Rita usually gets revenge in the afternoon if she suffers a loss in the morning.

Even so, Rita still had a few frustrating experiences where she couldn't get revenge—for example, when she was beaten up by a cat.

Well, although in reality it was just a matter of being suppressed, for Rita, who was always proud and arrogant, it was no different from being beaten up by a cat.

"Oh... so you were the ones who planned that assassination attempt on the bishop, and you also owned Stan's cat?"

"Stan was Jackal's doing, it has nothing to do with me. Besides, I only shot Otto to force him to revive once, I didn't do anything else."

The Raven immediately severed all ties.

What do you mean by only forcing out one resurrection?

Even with Rita's personality, she couldn't hold back after Raven glossed over the matter.

"... So you were the one who fired that shot."

Looking at it this way, the fact that I almost lost to the cat is actually insignificant.

That shot in London was probably the most serious injury Rita could remember her bishop suffering. His Soul Steel body was completely destroyed. If his memories hadn't been uploaded in time, Otto would have been resurrected 12 hours later at the cost of losing some of his memories.

Hmm, this cat is the Jackal's creation, right? She noted that down.

As for Stan the cat... she's already Durandal's pet, so it's clear she can't take revenge.

"Since you fired that shot... that sniper rifle you were carrying..." Rita seemed to realize something.

At the time, she didn't notice anything unusual about the sniper rifle; she simply tossed it aside.

"The Third Divine Key: Purging Thunder." Raven smirked. "Don't ask me why it's useless in the building. The reason is that ladies need to make an appointment in advance to work the night shift."

Like the Void Imaginary Archive, the Purging Thunder of Purification are God Key with self-awareness.

However, the Purging Thunder is not as Imaginary Archive. Its... or rather, its self-awareness is only manifested in its ability to adapt to different occasions and users, and to skip work when it is unhappy.

For example, when the Purging Thunder were at their most frustrated, Raven's sniper rifle was firing perfectly fine, but suddenly it turned into a slingshot. Luckily, Raven was quite skilled, otherwise, the grass on his grave would be knee-high by now.

"...?"

Rita simply couldn't understand what it meant to "need to make an appointment in advance to work the night shift".

Raven wanted to explain to Rita that the Purging Thunder tonight were just a fire poker, but he was afraid of being Purging Thunder in the future, so he had no choice but to give up.

"So, it can't be used right now?"

"That's right."

Raven nodded with a headache.

"As for that incident back then... now that you mention it, I do remember. The Jackal did jump in front of Otto. I reckon even if he took off his mask, Otto would have recognized him as soon as he opened his mouth."

"Then you..." Rita's eyelids twitched. You better not mess with me.

"Don't worry, I absolutely did not expose myself. I really only shot Otto once."

Yes, you shot Otto dead, but he really didn't know you and had no chance to get to know you.

"Captain! Honkai Beast invasion has been detected in area D-2322 of the northern city!"

Alvitr's urgent notification interrupted their casual conversation.

"Gather the team! Proceed to the target area immediately!" Rita immediately went into battle mode.

What a coincidence! The two of them are currently in a location not far from the site of the Honkai.

"Furthermore! All units must immediately take cover and get into position upon entering the disaster site, while also taking care to protect and evacuate civilians!"

Rita and Raven then sped off towards their target area at full speed.

"By the way, Rita, do you really want to bring K423 back?" Raven asked abruptly as they ran.

"Of course, this is His Holiness the Bishop's order," Rita replied flawlessly.

"Heh... Although I can't stand that Herrscher who brought disaster, I don't think handing her over to Otto is a good choice."

"..."

"The Honkai Beast and Death Soldier today seem much weaker than usual..."

A white-haired girl with heterochromatic eyes, dressed in smart armor, wielded two pistols and moved freely among the Honkai Beast and Death Soldier.

Almost every shot took the life of a Death Soldier or Honkai Beast.

"Rather than saying that today's Honkai Beast and Death Soldier are weaker, it's more accurate to say that today's Honkai Beast and Death Soldier are at their normal strength."

Fu Hua's voice echoed in Kiana's mind.

"Normal?"

Kiana was somewhat confused after hearing Fu Hua's words.

"Seriously, Kiana, didn't you notice that something's missing from today's Honkai Beast and Death Soldier?" Fu Hua's voice was somewhat helpless.

Although she has matured a lot, Kiana still retains her naive and innocent side.

"Something's missing... Ah! That glowing pattern, like Stigmata, is gone!"

With Fu Hua's prompting, Kiana immediately realized something was wrong.

"However, this is actually a good thing."

The weaker the opponent, the more confident Kiana is in ending the battle as quickly as possible.

Amidst the fierce gunfire and dazzling flashes of light, the number of Honkai Beast and Death Soldier is rapidly decreasing.

BOOM!

As the gunshot rang out, the last Honkai Beast perished.

But Kiana showed no joy.

"Are we still going to hide?"

Under the cover of night, Kiana's white hair on her back seemed to solidify into moonlight.

The mountain of wreckage at her feet made Kiana seem so fitting for her name, which was taken from the Norse goddess of the moon.

"Come out, Miss Rita."

"... It's been a long time since I've greeted you, Miss Kiana. Or should I address you as the Herrscher of the Void?"

Rita, leading a team of Unfading Blade members, slowly emerged from the shadows and surrounded Kiana.

Looking at Kiana, whose face was as cold and warrior-like as a warrior, Rita felt a pang of emotion.

When I first met him at the St. Freya Academy, he was just a spoiled, competitive kid who did whatever he wanted.

And now... without a doubt, the opponent is now a calm and collected warrior, no longer the B-rank Valkyrie that I could easily deal with with a cat-and-mouse mentality back then.

No, using the word "back then" is not appropriate.

If you think about it carefully... it's only been a few months since St. Freya's guidance battle.

At this moment, Liu Bai was no less shocked Rita.

Because...

[Detected a re-encounter with host Fu Hua (spirit)]

[Host Fu Hua's condition is abnormal! Compatibility reward cannot be issued!]

[Special circumstances detected!]

[Special circumstances are being handled...]

[Processing complete! Loading new host— Kiana Kaslana (K-423)]

Chapter 84 This is not a Shura Field!

"Rita Losweiser, I remember you, the inspector sent by headquarters. I saw you a few months ago during the exam at St. Freya."

Kiana looked coldly at the maid in front of her, offering no words of reply.

But... why does it suddenly feel like there's something else around me?

... Is this guy playing some kind of trick?

Thinking of this, Kiana's expression grew even colder.

"I'm so glad you still remember my name." Rita smiled, her eyes narrowed, as if from the bottom of her heart. "You must have had a hard time wandering around for so long. I'm here on the orders of His Holiness the Bishop to invite you back to the Schicksal Headquarters."

"I will not go with you."

She is no longer the naive girl she once was.

What they called an invitation was nothing more than an ultimatum.

"Ha..." Rita showed a look of "I knew it".

"You should understand that your condition is very unstable. This innocent city is proof of that. Because of your existence, it is frequently attacked by Honkai Beast. The only thing that can help you is Schicksal. Go back to the laboratory for treatment, and no one will be hurt because of you. This is better for everyone."

I don't want to repeat myself.

Kiana gripped her gun tightly, and the tension between them instantly escalated.

"You're really being willful."

Rita shook her head in disappointment, gesturing for the others to move away.

—The battle is about to begin.

"... Kiana, remember to stop when you've hit the mark."

An unexpected male voice sounded in Kiana's ear.

"???"

The sudden sound startled Kiana.

Squad leader?

No, that's a male voice. Am I hallucinating?

Oh no!

Kiana, realizing she had been lost in thought, suddenly focused her attention.

Will Rita attack from that direction?

Left?

Right?

Or in the air?

... Damn it, I lost the initiative because of auditory hallucinations.

However, Kiana hadn't been feeling annoyed for long when she saw Rita in front of her also staring blankly.

Moreover, compared to himself, who had already recovered, the other party seemed to have not yet reacted.

Could it be that the other party also heard that sound?

"... Really."

Rita suddenly sighed.

This is bad.

For the first time, Kiana saw displeasure on the maid, who she remembered always had a smile, even a fake one.

"Although, although a lady should be broad-minded, if you think that being broad-minded means you can just find any woman outside... I'm sorry, Miss Kiana, it seems I need to teach you a lesson."

"Rita, um..." Liu Bai wanted to say something, but seeing Rita's expression...