Knight on the Main Street (Valkyrie) and the Runaway Princess (Herrscher)

Welt, after handing over most of what he knew to Xina, wailed and begged with tears streaming down his face: "That's really all I know, please just give me a quick end!"

"Fine. I keep my word."

With that, Xina condensed Black Mist at the tip of her right index finger and lightly tapped it against Welt's brow.

Watching the Black Mist begin at his brow and rapidly decompose Welt into black particles, the expression on Xina's face shifted.

It seemed her role as this Apostle of God wasn't going to be easy!

Counting herself, four Herrschers had emerged so far. The First Herrscher had turned traitor, his current status unknown, but he was most likely alive.

The Second Herrscher had been blown to bits years ago by that big bomb from Schicksal, with the corpse and gems separated for research.

The Third Herrscher was at that... what was it called... academy, currently in—mm, what was the term? Right, an observation period.

As for herself, the Fourth Herrscher, setting aside the fact that the Serenity Gem on her came from the Second Herrscher, just thinking about the focus of her current work sent a chill down Xina's spine.

The newborn Herrscher Miss believed that if she wasn't careful and just waltzed around foolishly in plain sight of so many people, the Second Herrscher's fate would most likely be a vivid portrayal of her own bleak future...

Destroying human civilization was a massive project, not something that could be finished overnight. Rather than being hunted across a thousand miles after wrecking this city, it was better to find a place to lie low and settle down first...

Right! It's not that I'm slacking off—I just need to find a safe spot to draft a meticulous work plan first!

Having found an excuse to coast, a bit more smile finally returned to Xina's face.

After casually sketching out a half-decent plan, Xina turned and commanded the group of Honkai Beasts kneeling before her: "You lot, go cause a ruckus! The bigger, the better! That'll buy me time to get out of here."

Roar—

Receiving the Herrscher's orders, these Honkai Beasts let out excited, unintelligible roars, then scattered like birds in all directions.

Turning back toward the hotel entrance blown apart by the explosion, Xina had just set her left foot on the steps when her right leg froze mid-air.

Returning, she picked up the strange gem fragment Welt had left on the ground—one that resembled a Herrscher Core yet was vastly different—and curled the corner of her mouth in disdain: "But come to think of it, even that waste can be recycled!"

"I just need to set up a 'target' to draw those guys' attention, and my goal will be accomplished."

With that, pitch-black mist flowed from Xina's palm into the strange gem fragment, dyeing it a sinister, eerie black-purple.

But choosing the right person for this target gave Xina quite a headache—not because there were too few, but because there were too many.

When the Pseudo-Core Sublimation Eternal Gem first formed, Xina had absorbed a massive amount of Honkai energy to catalyze and solidify the core.

As a result, the vast Honkai energy that leaked outward when the Serenity Gem entered her body was also captured by her own Herrscher Core.

Compared to the large-scale casualties caused by the Second and Third Herrschers at their birth, Xina's greatest achievement as the Fourth Herrscher was apparently the car accidents caused by Honkai Beasts rampaging down the main road after she released them.

Honestly, that was pretty embarrassing.

"Hahahaha! Perish, you ants!"

A piercing shriek shot straight into the sky. Under the guidance of the 'Herrscher of Death,' the churning dark clouds hovering overhead rained down lethal black droplets.

Eroded by these black droplets, streets were flooded with Death Stalkers and Honkai Beasts. Acting on instinct, they attacked every living thing indiscriminately, trying to turn the city into a living hell.

"That thing found an Adept that fast? Tch, with that much killing intent... that's a bit surprising," Xina muttered, standing by the hotel's floor-to-ceiling window, watching this fake Herrscher from an observer's perspective. She shook her head in mild frustration.

After standing by the window and watching for a while, seeing that this 'target' hadn't done anything novel, a shadow passed through Xina's eyes. She sighed: "Forget it. They won't live long anyway. If they want to make a scene, let them!"

With that, Xina walked through the dim corridor and stopped before a full-length mirror at the end of the hall. She tilted her head slightly, looking at her own somewhat pale, shadowed face in the glass, and unconsciously furrowed her brow.

To be honest, she didn't like this face much. Every time she saw this frail-looking visage, it reminded her of some unpleasant memories.

Just as she was debating whether to use the Serenity Gem's power to swap for a better-looking face, an arrow sliced through the air, grazing Xina's earlobe, and embedded itself in the wall inside the corridor.

"Huh?!" Xina turned around, following the arrow's fletching to find its owner.

The arrow's owner was a Death Stalker in the building across the street.

Perhaps because Xina had sealed most of her Honkai energy frozen inside her body, that Death Stalker mistook her for an ordinary person and decided to add a glorious notch to its kill count.

"You blind piece of trash..." Xina glared at the Death Stalker, still unaware of the severity of its mistake, and clenched her right hand, intending to turn it from a Death Stalker into a corpse.

"Watch out! Dodge!"

Just as Xina was about to pull out her forty-meter ice blade, a freshly woken Paramecium burst out from some corner and tackled Xina to the side.

"What are you doing?!" Xina was startled by Kiana's sudden appearance.

Not expecting anyone to show up beside her, the unprepared Xina slammed her head hard against the wall during the tackle, the strong recoil rattling her uncomfortably.

"Saving you, of course!" Kiana ducked behind the wall, warily watching the Death Stalker, and flashed Xina a Full of Energy smile: "I don't know what's going on here, but as a Valkyrie and Kiana Kaslana, who carries the blood of knights, it's my duty to protect ordinary people like you from those nasty things!"

"Mm..."

Xi looked awkwardly at this Full of Energy knight-girl, opening her mouth, then closing it again...

For some reason, looking at that goodwill-filled smile, Xina didn't really want to discourage this... slightly chuunibyou knight-girl.

But speaking of Valkyries... a shadow flickered in Xina's eyes, as if she was wrestling with something.

Using the reflection in the full-length mirror, Kiana watched the Death Stalker disappear from sight and finally let out a sigh of relief. She waved at Xina and said softly:

"Hey, don't be scared. That Death Stalker seems to have been lured away by something else. Just keep your back bent and walk over slowly. Don't worry—this young lady is Schicksal's future strongest Valkyrie! I'll definitely protect you!"

"Protect, huh..." Xina murmured the words. The Honkai energy she had just started to release was frozen back inside her. She squeezed out a faint, weak-looking smile and nodded at Kiana: "Then I'll leave it to you, brave Knight Miss!"

"Mm!"

As Xina bent down to walk through the corridor, Kiana hoisted the girl's slender frame onto her shoulder and dashed toward the Safety Passage.

"Kiana, aren't you scared?" Xina, slung over her shoulder, asked curiously.

"I'm not scared, because I'm a true Kaslana. In the name of a knight, I'll fight to the end for the ones I love—that's what my Stinky Dad told me."

Dad, huh? What a familiar yet unfamiliar term!

Carried over several streets, Xina lifted her head slightly and patted Kiana's back with her palm. "You've been running for a while, you must be tired. Put me down, okay?"

"You're too light, carrying you isn't tiring at all. But speaking of which, we've run so far and haven't seen a single Honkai Beast! I remember seeing a lot from upstairs just now." Kiana looked around. The empty streets were scarred with signs of Honkai Beast rampages, but for some reason, they had all strangely vanished.

No need to ask, right? Naturally, they were scared off by This Lord's kingly aura!

Xina grumbled inwardly, but on the surface, she still wore that frail expression. "Maybe we're just lucky and happened to miss them."

"Lucky?" Kiana scratched her head, seeming a bit skeptical about that explanation.

Fine, I save you the effort and you still doubt me? Then I'll just find you some work!

Closing her eyes to sense the nearby Honkai Beasts, Xina casually grabbed a few and ordered them to scurry over and report.

Clatter, clatter, clatter...

In a string of loud hoofbeats, several 'passing-by' Knight-class Honkai Beasts made their grand entrance.

You ask why it's Knight-class instead of Temple-Class or some other class? Well, that's where Xina's twisted taste comes in.

Knight-class Honkai Beasts have 'knight' in their name, and Kiana is also a knight.

In Xina's mind, a knight naturally has to duel a knight!

The Knight-class Honkai Beasts turned at the end of the street and charged straight at the two.

"Stay right here and don't move. I'll lure them away!"

Kiana settled Xina in a corner, spread her arms, leaped out of cover, and shouted at the Knight-class Honkai Beasts: "Come on! Let me, the future strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal, end your sins!"

Just as the Knight-class Honkai Beasts charged at full speed, Kiana suddenly jumped to the side, letting the one that couldn't brake in time crash headfirst into a building.