The Art Style of This Chat Group Is a Bit Different Chapter 24

Where did this bunch of God-kin come from?

Are you guys a damn phantom thief crew? See something and just want to take it?

So this is what Raiden Mei meant—the ace squad that can lock in victory even against a full-form Herrscher and the strongest S-rank Valkyrie?

"I see, I get it. Here, take this." Kiana pulled out a sleep mask and handed it to Himeko.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Himeko blinked.

"Sister Himeko, if you put it on, you won't see anything. Then we won't be doing it right in front of you," Kiana said.

Himeko: ?

Young lady—no wait, she's not a young lady anymore.

An auntie's blush says more than any sweet talk.

AIEEE! A scene like this—even Himeko had to shut her eyes. Oh, Principal, can you see this hellish sight?

She felt what little life she had left instantly halved. How could she carry out a mission with this bunch of God-kin?

Still, she decided to play nice. This time she was the captain, and the mission's success hinged on getting that Divine Key, the Xuanyuan Sword. And around that sword, there might be Ji Lin's stigma. If she could get that stigma, her body might heal, buying her a few more years. Sigh, time to tough it out again.

Phew, after all, girls in school uniforms really are the best.

Watching Hiiragi Tina crouched in a corner reading manga, Himeko thought this kid was just like Mei—a breath of fresh air, totally different from the other God-kin. She decided to go say hi, but as she got closer, she heard strange muttering.

"Obasan, obasan, obasan... Why is it an obasan? An obasan magical girl? No way, no way."

Expecting a bunch of lively, cute young Valkyries on the mission, Tina had skipped class in excitement to join. But when she saw the lead Valkyrie was an auntie, all her drive and ambition drained away, leaving her a little goldfish.

The moment she saw that auntie approach, Tina flinched and blurted out: "Old auntie!"

Himeko: "..."

In an instant, Himeko lost all color, turning into white ash.

She felt her life burn out.

???

Under the pretext of stealing, Qianyi and the others had scoured the luxury cruise liner, confirming no Honkai energy fission bombs or other big weapons were buried below. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they all headed to the cinema to watch a movie.

Talulah watched the story of "Saint Karin" and asked her companion beside her: "Qianyi, are we really going to deal with Chi You? I keep feeling it's a trap."

"How could it be? Heavenly Mandate has so many Valkyries, yet they dump this mission on St. Freya Academy. Isn't it obvious they're testing Kiana's strength—or rather, testing ours?" Qianyi said, grabbing a handful of popcorn and shoving it into his mouth.

"Then we're still going?" Kiana popped her head in.

"Just a transfer stop. With this cruise liner's speed, from St. Freya Academy to Jiu You in the Eastern Shenzhou Sea, it'll take at least three days. With Ksitigarbha's power, we can make Otto think we're still on the ship until he sends someone to check. That gives us a lot of room to maneuver," Qianyi said.

"What kind of maneuver?" Seele asked.

"Heavenly Mandate isn't an easy organization to deal with. We need to go all out, draw up a detailed battle plan, and pull off some diversionary tactics." Qianyi snapped his fingers. The "Saint Karin" film playing in the cinema switched to a beautiful woman in a maid outfit, seemingly on an infiltration mission. A small map in the bottom-left corner marked her current location: London, England.

"I remember that maid. She's rich, and her weapons are valuable too," Shoko suddenly said.

"Right. And she's close with Durandal. If she gets kidnapped, the first one to come rescue her will be ninety-nine percent Durandal. In other words, by kidnapping Rita, we can get Durandal to leave Heavenly Mandate headquarters, leaving not a single S-rank Valkyrie stationed there." Qianyi paused. "That's our chance to blitz Heavenly Mandate headquarters and take Otto's head."

"Do we really need to be that wary of my sister? I feel like beating her wouldn't be that hard for us now," Kiana suddenly asked.

"Fine." Qianyi gave a thumbs-up and assigned Kiana a task: "D-rank Valkyrie Kiana, step forward. I order you to split off and attack Durandal."

Kiana went silent.

Talking tough online was one thing, but she still remembered the last time Durandal had strung her up and whipped her for two hours. She didn't want another two-hour session.

She decided to obediently go after Rita instead.

Somewhere in London, the Herrscher of Lust, on a mission, suddenly felt a wave of malice from beyond the world.

Chapter 48: Kiana, You Lazy Bum!

Rita Rossweisse, one of Heavenly Mandate's three S-rank Valkyries, vice-captain of the strongest Valkyrie squad "Blade of the Unbroken," and the direct adjutant of the strongest Valkyrie, that blockhead.

As a named Valkyrie in the Honkai world, Rita was one of the few without a bizarre backstory.

Not an artificial human, parents still alive, no messy origins. Maybe that's why her strength was just average.

Call her S-rank, and she was indeed S-rank—just not as absurd as the others. Even her hobbies were refreshingly simple.

She liked being a maid.

In her spare time, she'd work part-time as a maid in a café. For her, it was a way to relieve stress and a method of gathering intel.

Her purpose in coming to London this time was to complete the Overseer's mission: find clues about a Divine Key, retrieve it, and bring it back to Heavenly Mandate.

But before she could find the Divine Key, trouble found her first.

A van suddenly stopped at the alley entrance Rita was about to walk into. The door slid open, and before anyone stepped out, a flash of cold light appeared. Then four people got out, blocking her path.

"Oh my, Lady Mei, I recall you were supposed to be heading off to besiege Chi You. Why are you here?"

Through the eye not covered by her bangs, Rita saw Artoria, Raiden Mei, Bronya, and Toyokawa Shoko.

"Miss Rita, please surrender quietly. I don't want to hurt you." Raiden Mei gripped her sword hilt, drawing it an inch. Purple lightning crackled, and a chill spread through the air.

"Lady Mei, am I to understand that you mean you could easily take me down if you got serious?" Rita couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

Clearly, this group was here for her.

But she wasn't flustered at all. She'd watched Raiden Mei's practical test when she joined St. Freya Academy—only B-rank Valkyrie level. Without mastering Herrscher powers like Kiana, there was no way she could defeat her.

As for that Toyokawa Shoko, she remembered her as just an ordinary person, the kind of fragile woman who'd fall apart if she so much as touched her.

The rest—Artoria and Bronya—were somewhat threatening.

But as long as she was careful about Artoria turning into light and unleashing the Sword of Promised Victory, her odds of winning were high.

A maid must always maintain her elegance.

"Lady Mei, confidence is a good thing, but trying to take me down with just four people—isn't that a bit delusional?" Rita said confidently.

"Huh?" Raiden Mei blinked, counted the people around her, and couldn't help retorting, "Look closer. There are nine of us."

"?"

Rita froze, brushed aside her bangs, and saw the five she'd missed earlier because her hair was in the way: Qianyi, Kiana, Talulah, Hiiragi Tina, and Seele.

You need this many people to take me down?!

Did you take a wrong turn? Lady Durandal isn't here!

Rita's gaze swept over the nine generals blocking her in the alley, their backs to the sun, shadows making them look dark and overwhelmingly oppressive.

One Qianyi—with his strength, skill, and finesse—was already too much for her. And there were eight more just as capable.

Completely beyond her ability to handle.

She couldn't imagine any possible victory.

I can't picture myself beating the Prison Nine.

"Can I surrender?"

Rita silently emitted a special signal, trying to contact Heavenly Mandate headquarters to report the situation, while casually chatting to build rapport: "Lady Kiana, you, Lady Mei, and Lady Bronya are all Heavenly Mandate Valkyries. Ganging up on a fellow Valkyrie like me—that's not very nice, is it?"

"I remember when my sister was beating me up, you were right there watching, even handing her water and a towel," Kiana said, cracking her knuckles, clearly holding a grudge.

Hearing that, Rita's heart sank: "Lady Kiana, isn't it a bit wrong to settle personal scores like this?"

"Hmph, Rita, I've got a small heart. Offend me and think you can get away? No way. Brothers, charge!"

The moment Kiana finished speaking, Rita had already summoned her scythe, quantum-tech transferring her Valkyrie armor onto her body. Her gaze was sharp as a blade as she struck first.

Even without Lady Durandal, having to hold up all of Heavenly Mandate with one hand, I'm still an S-rank Valkyrie!

Then, a Space Gate opened behind her head, and a Folding Stool emerged, smacking her hard on the back of the skull.

"Bam!"

The invincible Folding Stool, hailed as the number one hidden weapon, instantly broke Rita's attack, sent her stumbling, left her wide open—and then—

Total assault!

Midway through the beating, Shoko suddenly thought of a question: "Hey, wasn't our plan to kidnap her? Why did we suddenly start beating up Rita?"

"No idea." Artoria shook her head.

"I don't know either." Hiiragi Tina also shook her head.

"Since we don't know, let's just keep hitting her," Seele said. "We've already started anyway."

"Seele's right." Bronya agreed.

Having all joined in on beating up Rita, it seemed their bond had grown??

Ten minutes later, Rita lay sprawled on the ground in a star shape, eyes vacant, her pretty face hidden by strands of hair, making it impossible to read her expression—but it probably wasn't peaceful.

"Mm, I've altered the message Rita sent to Heavenly Mandate. Now they'll receive news that Rita was ambushed by the World Serpent in London and got wrecked. Whether rationally or emotionally, that should lure Durandal here. Once Durandal leaves Heavenly Mandate headquarters, it'll be our turn to seize the world." Qianyi sheathed Ksitigarbha, and despite the tense, serious moment that allowed no levity, his voice still carried a faint smile, as if everything was going according to plan.

That is, until he asked the next question.

"Kiana, how's your contact with the Three Great Families going?"

"Huh? What Three Great Families?" Kiana blinked.

"..." Qianyi's smile vanished instantly. He stared straight into Kiana's heterochromatic eyes and asked with a murderously kind tone, "I remember asking you to contact the Kaslana and Sanyate families, right?"

Now that the real Kiana—Durandal—was clueless about her own origins, Kiana's public identity was as the heir to both the Kaslana and Sanyate families. If Kiana became the next Overseer of Heavenly Mandate, those two families would probably be overjoyed and definitely choose to help.

Even if they were too afraid of Otto's five-hundred-year influence to help, at least they could be persuaded not to side with Otto in the coming moves.

"Uh... I don't know!" Kiana had completely forgotten about it. Plus, she didn't have the phone numbers or chat accounts of the two family heads.

"What about Theresa?" Qianyi pressed. "You should've at least convinced her to rebel against Otto. That's the easiest task, and you see her every day."

"Uh... well..." Kiana's eyes darted away.

"Report, Captain." Raiden Mei suddenly spoke up. "These days, Kiana's been reading manga and playing games. She doesn't even take class or training seriously."

"Whoa! Mei, you ratted me out!" Kiana was shocked. She never expected her closest ally to betray her. I could even accept Bronya selling me out!

Mei, you actually betrayed me!

The next second, Qianyi's face was right up against Kiana's. His smile was as friendly as ever, but it sent chills down her spine:

"You lazy bum, all you do in this world is drive up the price of rice!"

Chapter 49: Raiden Ryoma, You Cowardly Lizard! I Shall Correct You!

Kiana felt immense pressure as Qianyi's face pressed right up against hers, growing larger and larger, with an expression that seemed ready to devour her.

This pressure was ten times, even nine times more terrifying than when her sister hung her up and whipped her for two hours!

No way! She was going to die!

Quick, Kiana, use your brain, think of a way to survive.

Even a rabbit bites when cornered, let alone a Husky!

Staring at Qianyi's face so close, Kiana knew that if she didn't come up with a good reason today, she might really be in for it. So, steeling herself, she closed her eyes.

The next moment, a soft, tender sensation rippled across her lips.

The touch lasted only an instant, but it froze the atmosphere on the spot.

Phew, that should be enough to fool him.

Thinking this, Kiana glanced at Qianyi's expression from the corner of her eye, only to find that he showed none of the joy or shock of suddenly being kissed by a beautiful girl. Instead, his face wore a disgusted look that screamed, "WTF, I just got bitten by a dog."

Her fists clenched, clenched tight.

"Phew!"

Qianyi exhaled deeply. He had wanted to pry open Kiana's brain and see if this Husky Qi's head was full of water, but then he remembered being bitten by her. He couldn't settle the score with her, nor could he just let it slide.

Deciding to cut his losses and move on, he said, "Calm down. Since we're here, we have to change the plan. First, find Siegfried and Raiden Ryoma. We can't track Siegfried's whereabouts for now, so prioritize Raiden Ryoma. Pull in the conservative faction of Anti-Entropy—they definitely have Siegfried's contact info. Mei, I'll need your help with this. Mei? Mei, are you listening?"

"Huh?" Hearing her name, Mei looked flustered, pointing a finger at herself and asking weakly, "You mean me?"

"Can you get in touch with your father?"