Should I Save Them or Not? / Yanwei: This Is How Fast Our Curse-Healers Work

"Going on a trip."

"Like hell I believe that!"

Save Them, or Not?

Anna had been living quite comfortably lately.

Having become an A-rank Valkyrie at the young age of sixteen, she had now lived in the scenic city of Manila for half a year.

As a European, Anna had initially found the humid heat and year-round springlike climate difficult to adjust to, but after some time, she had gradually adapted to the local seasons.

After half a year of grassroots experience, Anna had also successfully been promoted to vice-captain of the Snow Lotus Squad. The squad's captain was a veteran A-rank Valkyrie. Though she was quite strong, she was already nearing thirty.

For a Valkyrie, that age could already be called old age.

Therefore, it would not be long before Anna might be promoted to captain. Then, through her continual battles against Honkai, she would improve herself and eventually become an S-rank Valkyrie, reaching the same rank as her friend Durandal.

With pleasant living conditions, manageable work intensity, and stable promotion prospects, if Anna had not been a naturally disciplined workaholic, she might have become complacent long ago.

Still, May 22 was also a special day for Anna.

There were no fewer than six Valkyrie squads stationed in Manila. With three squads guaranteed to be on patrol every day, this day was one of the Snow Lotus Squad's few monthly rest days.

Although Anna usually chose to improve herself even during breaks, whether after work each day or on rest days, this time, she chose to go out for a stroll.

The reason was simple: a strange "guest" had recently appeared outside her training base.

She was a girl dressed lightly and wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat. Since she always wore a mask, Anna had never seen her face, but judging by her smooth skin and well-proportioned figure, she was undoubtedly in the bloom of youth.

At first, Anna had thought she was just an ordinary passerby. But after deliberately observing her several times, Anna discovered that she appeared at very fixed times and often lingered outside her training base.

After all, in Southeast Asia, the existence of Schicksal Valkyries had always been an open secret. Officially, her training base could not be classified as a military restricted zone. Besides, it was not Schicksal's public property, but a private detached villa under her name that had been converted into one.

The Saniat Family was, after all, somewhat well-known within Schicksal, and Anna, as one of its standouts, naturally was not short on money.

After this continued for several days, Anna suspected that she might be an Anti-Entropy spy, so she asked the Manila government to check her entry records. To her surprise, the girl was a painter from Europe with complete identification documents. No matter how one looked at it, she had nothing to do with Anti-Entropy.

With no other choice, Anna took action personally. After questioning her as the villa's owner, Anna found that the other party insisted she had only come to gather references. She had stayed because the scenery here was beautiful and she wanted to collect more material.

Though the painter would not interfere with her training, if Anna caused too much of a commotion and caught the painter's attention, the confidentiality regulations would become a whole new headache.

So Anna simply decided that if she could not deal with her, she could at least avoid her. At worst, she would not train on this rest day. The painter would leave before long anyway.

Having finally gotten a chance to relax, Anna planned to visit the mall and buy a few new dresses.

Although Schicksal uniforms were stylish and highly personalized, a cute girl could not wear the same clothes every time. So Anna had always been quite attentive when it came to buying clothes.

However, the mall seemed a little different today.

Amid the mall's noisy music, Anna suddenly seemed to hear something else.

The sound was both familiar and unfamiliar. It was familiar because she had heard it countless times during drills.

It was unfamiliar because this was the first time Anna had heard an alarm of this level in reality.

Along with the alarm came the roars of Honkai Beasts, the shrieks of the dead, the crash of collapsing buildings, and the tremors of the earth splitting apart.

Before her mind could even react, years of training had already made Anna instinctively pull out her communication terminal and contact headquarters.

"Calling headquarters, calling headquarters. This is Anna of the Snow Lotus Squad. I need—"

Before Anna could finish, the terminal signal was forcibly silenced by intense Honkai Energy interference, leaving behind only bursts of crackling static.

Anna's situation had now become completely passive.

No weapons, no supplies, no Valkyrie armor.

No contact, no mission instructions, not even warnings of high-risk targets.

All Anna had left was the physical ability of an A-rank Valkyrie.

Grabbing a steel pipe from a fence by the wall, Anna smashed the heads of several dead who approached her.

Before she could catch her breath, the sounds of buildings collapsing beneath the advance of a Temple-class Honkai Beast, civilians screaming as they were chased by the dead, and citizens crying for help beneath the rubble all flooded into her ears.

The sense of responsibility instilled by both the Saniat Family and Schicksal's Valkyries drove Anna to hurry and help the civilians, defeat the Honkai Beasts, and lead the people out of here.

But the remaining rationality in her mind immediately rejected that unrealistic thought.

Leaving aside whether she would be turned into Anna-chan beneath the iron hooves of Honkai Beasts without Valkyrie armor, weapons, or supplies, even if she truly gathered a group of civilians, they might still be unable to break through the encirclement under the Honkai Beasts' relentless pursuit.

Reason told her that she could not concern herself with these civilians right now. She had to preserve herself, withdraw to the rendezvous point, and retrieve her equipment and weapons. Only then could she save more people.

But the rendezvous point was still quite far from here, and before reaching it, all those cries for help she would leave behind along the way were simply too heavy for a sixteen-year-old girl to bear.

Anna gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore those cries as she ran swiftly toward the rendezvous point.

"So that was it. This was the choice Anna faced during the Manila Honkai Eruption."

"But in the end, she still failed to reach the rendezvous point. Before she even got halfway there, the guilt and sense of duty in her heart crushed her, so she chose to save Chen Tianwu."

Yes. But even if Anna had reached the rendezvous point in the end, it would have been futile.

According to my observations, there were several major Honkai Energy eruption points in Manila right now. One was at Schicksal's Manila branch, while another was near their rendezvous point.

"In other words, even if Anna reached the rendezvous point, she still would not receive any support?"

That's right. In fact, one reason the Schicksal personnel in Manila suffered such heavy casualties was that they were too close to the Honkai eruption points.

They were not Herrschers, nor were they freaks with absurdly high Honkai Energy adaptability like Dumb Goose. The intense radiation could make them lose their combat capability immediately.

"I see... No wonder Anna was commended by Schicksal after she chose to save civilians halfway through... If you ignore the reason, compared to going to the rendezvous point to die, that choice really was decisive."

"Since that's the case, I'll give her a little more help."

Flame Willow: This Is the Healing Speed of Us Curse Healers

"Sorry, sorry, sorry..."

Anna lowered her head and ran with all her strength, leaving the cries for help behind her.

In truth, there were not that many people crying for help. To survive the first moments of a Honkai eruption, one first had to meet two conditions.

One was having sufficient Honkai Energy adaptability. The other was being in a sufficiently safe location.

In fact, Anna running through the ruins was not enough to make survivors risk being discovered by calling for help, while the cries of those truly buried deep underground could not reach her ears.

The cries that had been following the girl all along were merely an obstacle she could not overcome in her heart.

Until...

"Save me... save... save me..."

In the shadows of roadside ruins, Anna saw a little girl with gray hair.

Unlike most survivors, she showed no signs of turning into one of the dead from Honkai Energy corruption. What was truly taking her life was the massive rocks and broken walls crushing her body.

Dust filled the air, while blood slowly flowed through the gaps between the stones. Seemingly hearing Anna's footsteps, the little girl struggled to raise her head.

"Big sister... save me..."

Excessive blood loss, multiple abrasions and crush injuries all over her body, possible internal injuries, and obvious fractures...

Anna's medical knowledge as an A-rank Valkyrie allowed her to quickly determine the severity of the girl's injuries.

If such injuries were not treated in time... she would die within an hour. But in a city that had just suffered a massive Honkai eruption, let alone finding a medical station within an hour, whether they could safely leave Manila was itself unknown.

Should she give up heading to the rendezvous point, spend a great deal of time rescuing this girl, and then watch her die? It was a question whose answer almost anyone would give without a second thought.

But Anna hesitated, because she was the one standing in the middle of that question. The hand the girl reached toward her and her hoarse pleas for help were like a raging flood and savage beast, making Anna tremble.

She knew that taking one step out of the ruins would be equivalent to sentencing this girl to death.

"I-I'm sorry..."

Anna lowered her eyes and squeezed out an indistinct apology, almost using all her strength as she prepared to lift her foot and leave.

"Hey, are you saving her or not? If not, make room for me."

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind Anna.

"W-what?!" The sudden voice startled Anna, and she sprang away on reflex.

A figure with long golden hair approached along with the voice.

"You're... that painter!" Anna instantly understood why the voice had sounded so familiar. Not long ago, she had questioned her about why she had approached the training base.

However, compared to their last meeting, the painter now clearly had a few more things on her body. For example, the long dragon horns growing from her head, and the flaming tail swaying behind her.

You really aren't ordinary! Flame Willow had expected Anna to say something like that, yet what Anna blurted out was completely different.

"Y-you said you can save her? Please, save her quickly! She can't hold on much longer with that much blood loss!"

"Tsk, you really are worthy of being a Valkyrie from the Saniat Family..."

Shaking her head helplessly, Flame Willow walked past Anna and took the girl's hand.

"Don't be afraid. Close your eyes and sleep peacefully. When you wake up, your injuries will be healed."

Accompanied by Flame Willow's gentle voice, Chen Tianwen slowly closed her eyes. The dizziness from blood loss and the comfort of her pain being soothed made her fall asleep almost instantly.

"Hey, Anna, lend me a hand. Slowly move the stones pressing on her off."

Seeing that her ability had begun to take effect and the outer wounds on Chen Tianwen's body had nearly healed, Flame Willow called to Anna behind her.

"Hurry up. Didn't I call you? Or was the name you gave me back then an alias?"

"Ah, right, right."

Anna snapped out of it and hurried over, moving the stones and broken walls off Chen Tianwen one by one.

Then, before Anna's shocked eyes, wisps of golden flame appeared over Chen Tianwen's mangled wounds, and the injuries rapidly healed as if time were reversing.

"S-so amazing... It's just like the Black Abyss White Flower..."

Once the injuries had mostly been repaired, Flame Willow picked Chen Tianwen up and prepared to leave.

"W-wait... You're leaving?"

"What, do you want me to stay for dinner?" Flame Willow turned back with a light laugh.

"Schicksal Valkyrie, we aren't on the same side. If you want to keep me here, you don't have the ability. The only reason I'm not attacking you is because saving people is more important right now."

"N-no, that's not it... I wanted to say thank you..."

"..."

"Ugh, you idiots really are impossible."

Flame Willow put on a sigh, then tossed Anna a map.

"I remember Schicksal should have a headquarters here, along with an emergency rendezvous point. You were planning to go there, right?"

"Don't waste your effort. Look at this map. It shows the locations of several Honkai Energy eruption points I recorded on my way here."

"Unfortunately, both your headquarters and rendezvous point are among them."

"H-how could that be?" The moment Anna picked up the map, her body felt as though it had been struck by a heavy hammer, and she nearly lost her footing.

"So stop thinking about rendezvous and support. You have no support anymore."

"If you still want to fulfill your duty as a Valkyrie, I have a suggestion for you."

"On the way toward your rendezvous point, there's a police station. Go there and get some weapons. Save as many survivors as you can, then lead them in a breakout toward the outskirts."

"As long as you can outrun the spread of Honkai Energy, there's a good chance you can get them to safety."

"I understand. Thank you for the information..." Anna forced herself to pull herself together and looked at the child in Flame Willow's arms. "Where are you going next? This child..."

"She's not out of danger yet. I need to take her for treatment as quickly as possible."

Flame Willow seemed to see through Anna's concerns and directly interrupted her. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to her. But my treatment does not come without a price."

"Unlike the Black Abyss White Flower, my treatment squeezes out her body's potential and energy, stimulating her metabolism and allowing her to recover through something close to self-healing. Treating injuries of this severity will nearly drain her body dry."

"Since I can't directly inject Honkai Energy into her, I need to replenish her energy through conventional means. So I have to send her to the rear first. Otherwise, when she wakes up, she'll only die a more painful death."

"Thank you..." Anna could no longer remember how many times she had said thank you today. "What's your name? If there's a chance in the future, I..."

"Then we'll talk if there's a chance in the future. As for my name... forget it. You'd better not know too much."

"My codename is Reed. I hope we can get along pleasantly the next time we meet."