Codename: Jormungandr

Such a massive disturbance naturally caught the attention of the Hyperion hovering in the sky. Branch Leader Theresa and a group of senior Valkyries from other branches rose and walked to the porthole windows of the Hyperion's command room, gazing down at the colossal Honkai Beast as it moved, toppling buildings and causing devastation like an earth-shattering calamity. For a moment, they were all somewhat lost in thought.

"Branch Leader Theresa, with a size like that, it's at least an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, right?" Sophia, the head of the Oceania Branch, watched the massive body writhing in the dust and couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.

"Hmm, this new type of Honkai Beast's energy level is blocked by the special exoskeleton on its body surface, making it impossible for us to determine its exact rank..." Major Himeko was explaining in front of a screen when suddenly a pop-up window appeared. The Valkyrie Amber inside spoke a few words to Himeko before vanishing again.

Leaving Himeko staring at the vanished pop-up with a look of surprise, her expression turning thoughtful.

"Major Himeko..." The head of the Middle East Branch turned to look at the solemn-faced Himeko and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Destiny Headquarters sent a message. We're to cease all elimination operations against Honkai monsters within Singapore's borders and temporarily classify that Honkai Beast as an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, codename: Jormungandr."

"Cease operations? Oh~ I get it. The Bishop must want to concentrate our forces to deal with that Emperor-class first!" The deputy head of the Oceania Branch rubbed her hands together, seemingly eager for this mission.

In her view, the current Hyperion command center had one S-Rank Valkyrie and six A-Rank Valkyries on standby, backed by a battleship as large as the Hyperion. Taking down an Emperor-class Honkai Beast would be a piece of cake.

"Yeah, first notify all teams in the area to withdraw!" Theresa, as the highest-ranking Valkyrie present, made the final call.

"Understood."

Beep beep beep—

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

"All teams are to immediately evacuate the mission area and return to base. Repeat, all teams immediately evacuate the mission area and return to base."

Just as Theresa issued the retreat order, every team still in the mission area received the evacuation command almost simultaneously.

"Damn, so that thing was an Emperor-class Honkai Beast! No wonder it made such a ruckus. Honestly, we got pretty lucky!" Mary poked her head out of the car window, looking at the shattered street that looked like it had been bombed by missiles, and couldn't help but swallow hard.

Just Emperor-class?

Xina frowned slightly, then relaxed. To be honest, she bore no small responsibility for her companion Honkai Beast being rated so low...

Back when she became a Herrscher, she hadn't even lasted an hour before shrinking back and pretending to be an ordinary person. That forced her spawn to stop incubating before it could gather enough energy, leaving it to sleep underground.

If it hadn't been for that 'salute' she fired this morning waking it up, the kid might have slept on forever.

"Codename... Jormungandr?" Rosa thought for a moment, a strange look on her face. "I remember that name is from Norse mythology—the serpent that encircles Midgard, right?"

"Snake... Ugh! Don't mention snakes, I'm terrified of them..." Mary rubbed her arms, grimacing as she turned her head toward the window.

"Come on, what's there to be afraid of snakes? If the mission hadn't been called off, this Miss would have taught that Honkai Beast a good lesson!"

"Stupid Kiana's all talk. It'd be the Emperor-class Honkai Beast teaching you a lesson!"

Even while driving, Bronya didn't miss the chance to express her disdain for Kiana's confidence.

To be fair, when Bronya's flat tone and bland delivery carried such contempt, it was really demoralizing.

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

The cunning Kiana let out a wail and seized the chance to burrow into Mei's arms, seeking a hug.

Boom!

A loud crash shattered the cheerful atmosphere inside the car. The group turned to look at the source of the sound.

The Hyperion, which had just been hovering in the sky, was now moving rapidly behind the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, its powerful main cannon firing nonstop at the beast burrowing swiftly underground.

Squeal!!

A piercing shriek came from beneath the earth. The giant Honkai Beast, struck by the cannon fire, let out an angry screech. The high-pitched tone stabbed at everyone's eardrums, making them ache.

'Don't do that!'

Xina glanced sideways at the Hyperion, propping her head with her arm while covering her left eye with her palm.

Then, the color of the massive, black-red single eye of the Honkai Beast moving underground changed—it turned a gold nearly identical to Xina's own eyes.

Controlled by Xina, the giant Honkai Beast poked its head out of the ground to gauge its current position, then swiftly changed direction. Ignoring the harassment from the Hyperion's main cannon, it charged toward the sea like a high-speed train, without pause.

As Xina's spawn, Jormungandr possessed an exceptionally powerful stealth ability. Once it dove into the boundless ocean, even the most advanced Honkai energy detection equipment from Destiny Headquarters wouldn't be able to track it down.

"Damn it, it's trying to escape! Stop it now!"

Several Valkyries who had been following Jormungandr, trying to breach its surface armor with their weapons, saw the distant sea level and their faces darkened with dread.

Clearly, they too had seen through the Honkai Beast's true intent. But could they successfully stop it from fleeing into the sea?

The answer was no.

Jormungandr could move swiftly underground thanks to its exoskeleton armor, whose thickness was measured in meters.

And so, after the Valkyries' futile scratching, Jormungandr burrowed rapidly beneath the sand on the beach, diving into the seabed from below sea level, leaving only a deep pit flooded by seawater.

"Damn it, it got away! What the hell is this thing? That exoskeleton is ridiculously tough!" The head of the Oceania Branch stomped her foot in frustration, looking at the katana in her hand that hadn't pierced the beast's armor despite all her hacking.

"At least you got a couple of hits in! Look at me!" The head of the Middle East Branch shook her nearly useless pistol with a blank expression, comforting herself: If even the Hyperion's main cannon couldn't crack its shell, it's only natural a pistol couldn't do anything, right?

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

"The interception mission failed."

Otto in the projection clasped his hands behind his back, a complex smile on his face. "I saw it all. With such solid exoskeleton, wouldn't it be stranger if it had been held back?"