Jormungandr

Such a massive disturbance naturally drew the attention of the Hyperion in the sky. Theresa and the senior Valkyries from the other branches rose and walked to the observation windows of the Hyperion's command room. As they watched the giant Honkai Beast move below, leaving collapsed buildings and ruined homes in its wake—a disaster scene like the mountains splitting and the earth cracking—they were briefly lost in thought.

"Branch Leader Theresa, with a body that huge, it has to be at least an Emperor-class Honkai Beast!" Sophia, Minister of the Oceania Branch, stared at the enormous body writhing amid the dust and clicked her tongue in amazement.

"Yes. This new type of Honkai Beast has its energy level obscured by the special exoskeleton covering its body, making it impossible for us to determine its exact rank..." Himeko was explaining in front of the screen when a pop-up suddenly appeared. Valkyrie Amber appeared within it, exchanged a few words with Himeko, and then vanished again.

Only Himeko remained, staring at the vanished pop-up with an astonished, thoughtful expression.

"Major Himeko..." The Minister of the Middle East Branch turned to Himeko, whose expression had grown grave. "What happened?"

"Destiny Headquarters has sent a message. We are to cease clearing the Honkai monsters within Singapore and temporarily classify that Honkai Beast as an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, codenamed: Jormungandr."

"Terminate the mission? Oh, I get it. The Bishop must want to concentrate our forces on that Emperor-class one first!" The Vice Minister of the Oceania Branch rubbed her fists together, seemingly greatly anticipating the assignment.

In her view, the Hyperion's command staff currently had one S-Rank Valkyrie and six A-Rank Valkyries stationed here, with the massive Hyperion as backup. Dealing with a single Emperor-class Honkai Beast should be easy.

"Yes. Notify all teams in the area to return first." As the highest-ranking Valkyrie present, Theresa made the decision directly.

"Yes."

Beep, beep, beep—

"Attention, all Far East Branch squads. A new variety of Emperor-class Honkai Beast has appeared in the mission area. Codename: Jormungandr."

"All teams, evacuate the mission area immediately and return to base. I repeat, all teams, evacuate the mission area immediately and return to base."

Shortly after Theresa issued the retreat order, the teams still within the mission area received it almost simultaneously.

"Damn, that thing just now was an Emperor-class Honkai Beast? No wonder it caused such a huge commotion. Come to think of it, we were really lucky!" Mary poked her head out through the car window and swallowed as she looked at the streets outside, scattered in ruins as though they had been bombed by missiles.

Only Emperor-class?

Xina frowned, then quickly relaxed. Honestly, she could not escape responsibility for her bonded Honkai Beast receiving such a low rating...

Less than an hour after becoming a Herrscher, she had hidden herself away and pretended to be an ordinary person. As a result, her Vassal had been forced to halt its incubation before accumulating enough energy, leaving it with no choice but to sleep underground.

If not for the "firework" she had launched this morning waking it up, the child would probably have slept forever.

"Codename... Jormungandr?" Rosa thought for a moment, then said with a strange expression, "Isn't that the snake from Norse mythology that encircled Midgard?"

"A snake... Eek! Don't mention snakes, I'm terrified of them..." Mary rubbed her arms and turned her head away toward the window in disgust.

"Come on, what's so scary about a snake? If the mission hadn't been terminated, I would have taught that Honkai Beast a proper lesson!"

"Idiot Kiana only knows how to brag. An Emperor-class Honkai Beast would be the one teaching you a lesson!"

Even while driving, Bronya did not forget to express her disdain for Kiana's confidence.

To be fair, when Bronya delivered scornful remarks in that level tone and calm voice, they really did hurt.

"Mei~ Look at Bronya, she's bullying me again~"

The crafty Kiana let out a wail, seizing the opportunity to burrow into Mei's arms and beg for a hug again.

Boom!

A tremendous explosion shattered the cheerful atmosphere inside the car. The group looked toward the source of the sound.

The Hyperion, which had just been hovering in the sky, was rapidly following behind the Emperor-class Honkai Beast. Its powerful main cannon fired without pause at the Honkai Beast speeding underground.

Screech!!

A piercing sound wave rose from underground. The giant Honkai Beast struck by the barrage let out an enraged shriek, its high-pitched tone making everyone's eardrums ache faintly.

Don't do that!

Xina turned her head to glance at the Hyperion. As she propped her head up with one arm, her palm covered her left eye.

Then, the huge black-and-red eye of the Honkai Beast racing underground changed color, becoming a gold nearly identical to Xina's eyes.

The giant Honkai Beast under Xina's control poked its head out of the ground to assess its current location, then swiftly changed direction. Ignoring the harassment of the Hyperion's main cannon, it charged nonstop toward the sea like a high-speed train.

As Xina's Vassal, Jormungandr possessed extraordinarily powerful concealment abilities. So long as it entered the boundless ocean, even Schicksal's most advanced Honkai energy detection equipment would be unable to locate it.

"Not good, it's trying to escape! Stop it!"

Several Valkyries following behind Jormungandr, trying to break through its surface armor with their weapons, saw the distant Sea Level and their faces darkened terribly.

Clearly, they had also seen through the Honkai Beast's true intention. But could they stop it from escaping into the sea?

The answer was no.

Jormungandr's ability to travel swiftly underground relied on its exoskeleton armor, whose thickness had to be measured in meters.

And so, after the Valkyries' futile scratching, Jormungandr rapidly burrowed beneath the sand and entered the seabed from below Sea Level, leaving behind only a deep pit flooded by seawater.

"Damn it, it actually got away! What kind of monster was that? That exoskeleton was ridiculously hard!" The Minister of the Oceania Branch looked at the Katana in her hand, which had failed to pierce the enemy's armor despite hacking at it for so long, and stomped her foot in frustration.

"At least you hit it twice! Look at me!" The Minister of the Middle East Branch expressionlessly shook the pistol in her hand, which had been nearly useless, and consoled herself. "Even the Hyperion's main cannon couldn't break its shell. It's normal for a pistol to do nothing, isn't it?"

Outside the Hyperion's command room, a figure in the shadows connected a communication. Otto's image appeared before Fu Hua.

"The interception mission failed."

Otto stood with his hands behind his back in the projection, a complicated smile on his face. "I saw it all. With such sturdy exoskeleton armor, wouldn't it have been stranger if it had been held back?"