What had decayed was not people, but the military.
Meanwhile, Sirin, who had only brought back the pseudo-Herrscher of Flame, called it useless. The puppets she had created were nearly wiped out, but Sirin had already achieved her goal. By destroying human cities, she had gathered enough power.
"First—"
"I'll start with this continent!"
Several violet pillars of light shot into the sky from the Tower of Babylon. Otto, stationed at Schicksal, immediately noticed the intense Honkai energy reaction in Siberia, spreading outward at a rate of 200 kilometers per hour.
"Is she planning to destroy all of Siberia in one go?"
Otto realized he did not have much time left. He immediately ordered all troops to be notified. It was time to meet the Second Herrscher.
"Is the final battle finally here?!" Kevin said excitedly.
More than an hour had passed since the movie began, but the plot was so tightly paced, with not a single dull moment, that it did not feel like much time had passed at all.
"It looks like Bishop Otto is about to make his move too," Su said. Although he understood Otto's goal, he did not know how Otto would enter the battle.
Unfortunately, the movie did not develop as they had expected. The scene suddenly shifted to a month earlier, at the B-17 military supply base in Siberia.
A young lieutenant named Cocolia caught Colonel Alexei selling military supplies and stealing weapons. Yet despite the irrefutable evidence, the corrupt upper ranks of the military imprisoned Lieutenant Cocolia in solitary confinement, while Colonel Alexei walked away unscathed.
A month later, perhaps burdened by guilt, Colonel Alexei came to the cell. He told the young lieutenant, whose passion had not yet faded, everything. It turned out that General Ivan, who was presiding over her court-martial, had ordered the military supplies sold on the black market.
Cocolia could not tolerate the corruption within the military. She argued with Colonel Alexei. Because of this country's corruption, even orphanages could not receive enough subsidies.
"Do you know how many orphans are going hungry now, just like I did when I was little?!"
Faced with Cocolia's soul-searching question, Alexei had his own hardships. He took out a pocket watch from his chest and looked at the photo inside. He had not wanted to do this either, but with his meager salary, he could not support his family or the daughter who was about to be born.
"For them, I can pay any price!"
Just as Cocolia lamented that even the once-righteous colonel had fallen, and wondered whether one could truly abandon one's principles to achieve an important goal—
At that moment, the cell suddenly collapsed. Cocolia hid behind a wall and watched the Honkai Beasts retreat into the distance.
A weak cry for help pulled her back to reality. Buried beneath the rubble, Alexei was still worrying about his wife and daughter before his death. But in the end, he never saw his daughter enter the world.
Cocolia found the car keys on Alexei's corpse and escaped Siberia with Alexei's wife as her hostage.
"The children at the orphanage are still waiting for me. No matter the cost, I have to escape from here!"
In the end, under the great Honkai eruption unleashed by Sirin, five hundred thousand Honkai Beasts ravaged the Siberian Snowfield. Only a little over one hundred people survived.
"It is impossible to determine who was right and who was wrong."
The movie posed another difficult question to its audience.
Was Alexei wrong for wanting to protect his family?
Was Cocolia wrong for wanting to serve her country and protect the children of the orphanage?
If neither of them was wrong, then who was?
"They were not wrong. What was wrong was the corrupt military and the corrupt country," the rational Mei concluded.
"Bronya..." Kiana called out cautiously. She had not expected her lousy uncle to be so bold. He clearly knew Bronya had never met her parents, yet he had portrayed Bronya's father in the movie as a villain who sold weapons illegally.
As for how Kiana knew, Alexei's wife's distinctive drill curls would be recognizable at a glance to anyone who knew Bronya.
"A niece pays her uncle's debts! Hit me or scold me, just take it out on me! If I so much as furrow my brow, then I'm not a Kaslana!" Kiana patted her chest with a righteous expression, though she shut her eyes in fear.
"What spirit! Bronya, if you can't bear to do it, I can do it for you!" Little Knowledge hurried over after sensing some fun.
"Ah, Class Monitor, save me!" Kiana could not keep it together anymore. Others might not know, but she knew Little Knowledge all too well. With her martial arts training since childhood, one punch from her could probably break Kiana's ribs.
Kiana hid behind Fu Hua, only daring to poke out her kitty head.
"Pfft." Bronya was amused by the two clowns.
Kiana and Little Knowledge, who had been lively just moments ago, looked at each other.
"Idiot Kiana, Seele told me about this a long time ago," Bronya said with a smile.
"Mmph, Bro~nya, don't call me an idiot!" Kiana pounced onto Bronya and began tickling her sides.
"Haha... let... let me go... hahahaha."
Raiden Mei helplessly rubbed her forehead as she watched the two start fooling around again.
"Hah, they even wrote in that bad woman Cocolia?" Tesla said in surprise.
"It suits her. Although Cocolia is very forceful when it comes to company decisions, she is gentle with the children in the orphanage," Joyce said approvingly. "Though it would be better if she stopped opposing my decisions next time."
Joyce did not know why, but every time the board held a meeting, Cocolia's response to every decision he made was always just two words: no money.
He wanted to make a sequel to Ahalato. No money!
He wanted to make a HOMU movie. No money!
He wanted to produce tokusatsu merchandise. No money!
"Heh." Einstein's mouth twitched. With Joyce's habit of doing whatever came to mind, the company would have gone bankrupt long ago if Cocolia had not cut off his funding.
Far away in Siberia, Cocolia sneezed.
Watching the happy children, Cocolia's heart settled into peace.
"That's Mama Cocolia!" A child pointed at the large screen in the orphanage classroom.
"It really is Mama Cocolia!"
"Mommy, Mommy!"
Anzu wore a deeply unwilling expression, yet silently carried a child on her back while warning the child standing on the table to get down quickly.
Seele was flusteredly comforting a child who had been frightened into tears by the Honkai Beasts.
The Arlene sisters acted like the leaders of the children. Though they were already sixteen, they played together with the seven- and eight-year-olds.
Cocolia smiled as she watched the scene before her.
"I'm so cool! That's it, launch a fierce attack on humanity!" Sirin danced excitedly.
But this "Second Herrscher" was quickly punished by Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, who pulled her into her arms and vigorously kneaded her pretty cheeks.
"Mommy, st-stop squishing my face."
Benares, who came to rescue her, was also held back by the strongest Valkyrie with one hand pressed against her head. Her little paws flailed nonstop, but she could not touch her enemy at all.
The long night would soon break.
At 22:05 on February 16, 2000, Ziegfried returned from Anti-Entropy to Schicksal Headquarters and was greeted by Amber, the bishop's secretary. From Amber, he learned that Cecilia and Bishop Otto were in Siberia, preparing an operation to eliminate the Second Herrscher. He was also required to board a plane in two hours and arrive in Siberia before the next morning to join the operation.
During those short two hours, Ziegfried returned to his home on the floating island. Looking at little Kiana's sleeping face, he revealed a long-lost smile and gently stroked her head.
In her sleep, little Kiana murmured, "Daddy... Mommy... it's so cold..."
Ziegfried abruptly pulled back his hand and stared at his right hand in horror. The skin of his palm had turned black, his five fingers had become claws that shimmered with an icy blue glow. They had clearly transformed into the claws of a Honkai Beast.
Ziegfried shook his head. Looking closely, it seemed like an illusion. His hand was still the same as before.
Kiana got up, rubbing her sleepy eyes, but Ziegfried was nowhere to be seen.
In the living room, Ziegfried received Amber's notice that he would soon board the plane, along with Bishop Otto's combat orders.
"Little Kiana is so adorable."
The one who said that was not Elysia, but Kevin. Yaqing, seated closest to Kevin, gave him a strange look and immediately understood. This guy was fantasizing about the daughter he and Mei would have.
Yaqing looked at him contemptuously. They had been together for five or six years, yet Kevin had not even considered marriage. He only fantasized about things every day. Yaqing was starting to wonder whether Kevin had some kind of problem.
"Kevin, if you like children, hurry up and get married," Su said, as expected of Yaqing's mouthpiece.
"Mar... marriage..." Kevin fell into deep thought. It was not that he did not want to marry Mei, but his current salary could not support a family. He did not even have a house or a car yet.
Mei knew Kevin was proud at heart. He wanted to give her the best, which was why he worked so hard.
Ziegfried had been smiling, but when he saw his hand in the story make little Kiana feel cold, he could not help but grow solemn. He asked himself whether, in order to protect this world, he could give up the chance to embrace his family.
Ziegfried thought for a long time before giving up. He was not the Ziegfried Kaslana in the story, nor did he have such lofty goals. Between saving the world and Cecilia, he would choose Cecilia without hesitation.
Suddenly, a soft hand clasped the fist Ziegfried had clenched tight. He looked up and saw Cecilia's smiling face.
By February 16, after three hours, Honkai energy had spread across the entire Siberian Snowfield. Due to the effects of the high concentration of Honkai energy, Schicksal's satellites could not locate the Second Herrscher.
Therefore, Otto ordered all of Schicksal's Valkyrie forces to split into two teams.
The northern force would be the European Headquarters force, led by Ziegfried Kaslana, with a total of 203 members.
The southern force would consist of the African Branch and Oceania Branch, led by Cecilia Schariac, with a total of 212 members.
Otto's battle plan was to use heavy weapons to conduct a carpet bombing of all Siberia, with an estimated ninety percent of Honkai Beasts eliminated. The two forces would then enter Siberia from the north and south to search for the Second Herrscher. Once her location was confirmed, all forces would gather and eliminate her in one strike.
Otto and Cheng Lixue, along with ten guards, would remain at the command center in western Siberia and provide support at any time.
"This is the first battle to save the world. Schicksal stands with you all!"
"Well said, well said! The final battle is finally about to begin!" Kevin excitedly snatched the bucket of popcorn from Yaqing and crammed a huge handful into his mouth.
Yaqing was stunned. He looked at his empty hands, then at Kevin, then finally at Mobius. That bucket of popcorn was not even his. He had only taken it from Mobius to eat a few pieces, but now Kevin had taken the entire bucket.
Veins bulged on Mobius's pale forehead. It looked like she had added Kevin to her grudge list.
"Hey, Mobius, do you want some of mine? It's really sweet~"
"No!" Mobius gritted her teeth.
"The final battle is finally starting. I just hope Otto doesn't hold them back," Walter Yang sighed.
"By the way, do you still appear later, Yang?" Dr. Tesla asked uncertainly.
"I do."
Walter Yang's expression suddenly became a little strange. In the later plot, it seemed that he also held everyone back.
At 7:50 a.m. on February 17, Cocolia and Alexei's wife, still fleeing, were unexpectedly surrounded by Honkai Beasts. Their car had run out of fuel as well. Just when Cocolia thought they could not survive, they encountered Cecilia.
Under Abyss Flower's spear, the few Honkai Beasts quickly became souls fallen beneath the weapon. After saving the two, Cecilia received notice from Bishop Otto that the bombardment was about to begin. Her rescue operation would immediately end, and she had to retreat to a safe area at once.
Faced with Bishop Otto's order, Cecilia could only agree helplessly.
Before Schicksal began its carpet bombing of the Siberian Snowfield, S-Rank Valkyrie Cecilia personally led a team to search for and rescue possible survivors. However, even she only managed to save a dozen or so people...
Five minutes later, the decisive battle between humanity and the Second Herrscher officially began.
"Ah, Lady Cecilia."
"Who the hell is dating a girl who's both beautiful and gentle like that?!"
"I swear I'll kill Ziegfried in this life!"
"Same!"
Before you continue