Welt Makes His Entrance

"No, it's not that nobody cares. At least I'll care about them."

Theresa gently took hold of the brown-haired girl's arms. Her grip was light, as if she feared even the slightest force would touch the girl's wounds.

Theresa promised them that she would send them away.

"Wait, Theresa, that violates regulations..."

Patrick grabbed Theresa by the shoulder. According to protocol, the test subjects had to be sent back to headquarters. Besides, she believed that releasing people who had been injected with Honkai energy would endanger society—endanger the public.

In response, Theresa merely glanced sideways.

"You know St. Freya Academy, right..."

Patrick froze.

The scene shifted at just the right moment. Birds sang amid fragrant flowers, and Nordic-style castle-like buildings stood beneath a blue sky, completely unlike the dark filter surrounding the Tower of Babylon.

"Not long ago, I submitted an application to the Bishop..."

"One day, they'll be able to return to normal lives, or... become outstanding Valkyries like you."

Theresa's heartfelt smile left Patrick completely stunned.

She reluctantly agreed.

"Heh, Schicksal really is ugly." Kalpas snorted coldly.

"Uh... Kalpas means the Schicksal in the story." Sakura was equally angry, but she hurriedly tried to smooth things over. After all, aside from Yaqing sitting behind her, her best friend was still the president's wife of Schicksal.

"I know, Sakura." Yaqing nodded. "Every beautiful story has a villain. Maybe it's President Otto, or maybe... me."

"Mm..." Elysia pulled Yaqing's arm over, her beautiful face fixed seriously on him as she said sternly, "Yaqing, you're not allowed to write yourself into that kind of role."

"I won't, Elysia."

Crack. The sound of something breaking came from somewhere, but after Kalpas punched through the armrest of his seat, no one paid attention to it.

Only Su shook his head.

Whether Elysia believed him or not, she had already turned back to the screen. Light flickered in her eyes as she clasped her hands together excitedly. "What a wonderful idea~ Fairy Miss wants to get to know Theresa more and more~?"

"Hehe." Kevin hurriedly held his girlfriend tighter in his arms.

"Pardo, do you have any more chips?" Vill-V asked.

"Yes, yes, Sister Vill-V. Thanks for your patronage." Pardo, sitting in the front row, suddenly perked up her ears. She pulled out a bag of chips from beneath her seat, money practically glittering in her eyes.

"As expected of my little Theresa. Even after growing up in that kind of environment, she still managed to keep such a pure heart." Otto sighed sentimentally, utterly lacking the awareness of being the mastermind behind it all.

After learning that the real Schicksal had never done any of this, Kallen had felt relieved. But upon hearing Otto's words, she rolled her eyes in irritation. Settling old and new scores together, she kicked Otto straight off the bed.

"Ow."

"So St. Freya Academy has that kind of meaning too?"

Perhaps because she had put herself in the story, Sirin—nominally a student of St. Freya but perpetually on leave—was stunned.

"Hey, that's you, Sirin~" Bella pointed at the giant screen, then suddenly got an idea and leaned close to Sirin's ear. "Queen~"

"Bella, don't call me that! Seriously." Sirin's pretty face reddened.

Cecilia, sitting beside them, watched the pair interact with a fond, motherly smile.

Ziegfried's expression was awful.

One trip to the company, and he discovered his eldest daughter had yuri potential with Rita.

One trip to the academy, and he discovered his third daughter had yuri potential with Raiden Mei.

Then he came home and found that his second daughter also showed yuri inclinations.

Ziegfried wanted to cry, but all three of his daughters were going to leave him without descendants!

"What pretty words."

The purple-haired girl walked past Theresa, but Theresa acted as though she could not see her.

"Did someone just say something?"

Theresa looked confused, but she soon thanked Patrick.

Patrick had no time to pay attention to Theresa. Looking at the obvious traces of Honkai energy on the iron bars, she fell into deep thought.

That night, at midnight, beside the Honkai reactor.

The purple-haired girl stood before the mysteriously activated Honkai reactor. The intense concentration of Honkai energy, enough to infect ordinary people upon contact, was the finest nourishment to her. Just as she reached out to absorb it, Patrick's voice came from behind her.

"This ends here, Miss Criminal."

The purple-haired girl turned around, curious how Patrick had discovered her. But for Patrick, who bore the title of genius, all it took was simple deduction to connect everything.

"Did you come alone?"

"I'm enough by myself. Too many people would only alert the enemy."

Hearing Patrick's words, the purple-haired girl found them amusing. Her smile gradually became wild laughter directed at the sky, sorrowful yet unrestrained, as though it proclaimed both her suffering and the joy of impending revenge.

"Hahaha, wonderful! I finally have a chance to take revenge on the Valkyries!"

"Revenge?!"

The purple-haired girl stood beneath the glow of Honkai energy.

"Those damned researchers once smiled at me and said:"

"The experiments performed on us were meant to create the stigmata carried by Valkyries."

"We orphans should feel honored to sacrifice ourselves for the Valkyries, for Schicksal."

The purple-haired girl raised her head. An eerie light flickered in her golden eyes as she clenched her right fist.

"To hell with your honor. I'm not some sacrifice!"

"Today, I'll use my power to prove that I'm stronger than Valkyries☆!"

Just as Patrick was about to act, her expression abruptly changed.

"The light nearby is distorting. This is..."

Amid Patrick's shocked gaze, the screen went dark.

"Sirin, what do you think about your first appearance?" Cecilia hugged Sirin and asked in a teasing tone.

Although she sounded playful, Cecilia's shoulders were visibly trembling.

"Mm... She was pathetically weak!" Sirin offered her review. "And why am I the villain?! Stupid Uncle, he must be targeting me!"

Targeting her?

Cecilia did not think so. Since she was fifteen years older than Yaqing, Yaqing had only been fourteen when she adopted Sirin. When Sirin first came to their home, she had been very shy. To help her fit in sooner, Yaqing would tease her from time to time. Sirin had greatly disliked this uncle who was not much older than herself.

When it came to targeting her, Cecilia could feel that Yaqing loved Sirin no less than she did. Perhaps in Yaqing's eyes, he did not treat Sirin as a niece, but as a younger sister.

The screen lit up again. Otto sat on a sofa with two buttons of his white shirt undone. His eyes on the screen seemed disdainful yet serious; no one knew what he was truly thinking.

Amber's somewhat cold voice rang out.

"A-Rank Valkyrie Patrick has mysteriously disappeared. Near the Honkai reactor, only a small amount of her blood and her weapon were found."

"Even an A-Rank Valkyrie could not escape disaster. After receiving the report, Bishop Otto increased his attention on the incident."

"He not only dispatched the other two former members of the Snow Wolf Squad to Babylon Laboratory."

"But also... him!"

The screen showed the back of a man.

Seeing this, Kiana, who was still bringing chips to her mouth, froze on the spot. She did not even react when the chips fell to the floor.

"Waaaaah, Stupid Uncle is unfair! No princess!"

Whether it was her shut-in second sister casually killing an A-Rank Valkyrie in the story, or her stupid father's grand entrance at the end, both made Kiana so furious that she spun around on the floor, crying and making a scene.

"Kiana, the floor is dirty." Mei's gentle voice was helpless.

"Aaaah!" Theresa started up too. "I'm not that short! What do you mean, a twelve-year-old child's body? This academy principal is clearly a perfectly normal one point five three meters tall! Yaqing, I'm not done with you!!!!"

Himeko helplessly rubbed her forehead.

Only Bronya silently took out her phone and started recording. Then she noticed a gaze upon her. Looking over, she saw Fuhua Shishi holding up her own phone.

The two exchanged smiles.

Welt's Entrance

Siberian Snowfield, five kilometers from the Tower of Babylon.

Snow was still falling. Tesla and Einstein, wrapped in thick coats, stood on the snowfield amid the biting wind, staring at the distant tower. Dr. Einstein said calmly, "Our finest spy has already entered the Tower of Babylon..."

Einstein's tone was indifferent, but it revealed much.

For instance, their finest spy was inside. Now they only needed to wait for intelligence from her, or perhaps she could secretly capture "that person" and bring her back, thereby avoiding a clash with Schicksal's forces. Walter Yang also hoped to resolve this incident peacefully.

"Someone's coming." Walter Yang, standing beneath a pine tree, suddenly spoke.

In his line of sight, a figure was staggering toward them from afar. As Walter approached, the audience finally saw clearly that the so-called spy was Patrick.

Patrick no longer had yesterday's high spirits. Her right arm had been severed and was gone, while blood continuously seeped through her hastily wrapped bandages. Only with Walter's support did she barely manage to remain standing.

"Thanks for the effort."

"I'm sorry, Lord Alliance Leader. The mission failed..."

Patrick's voice was weak, but she still forced herself to report the situation to Walter. That person's power had awakened, and she was still growing stronger.

"Don't worry. Leave the rest to me."

Faced with Walter's promise, Patrick neither agreed nor disagreed. She only hoped that Walter would do his best to protect her friends in Schicksal.

In the premiere theater, Shub could only frantically message Patrick in the division group chat to avoid disturbing others.

"Who would've thought, Patrick? You thick-browed, big-eyed girl, and you're actually an Anti-Entropy spy." Shub had read the script, but that did not stop her from teasing Patrick.

"Slander! This is pure slander! I'm utterly loyal to Schicksal!" Patrick could only type furiously on her phone. Even she could not understand why Yaqing had given her an undercover-agent setting.

What if the president misunderstood?

Patrick was overthinking it.

The truth proved that Patrick was completely overthinking it. When Otto saw that scene, he did not even remember who Patrick was. It was only after Kallen reminded him that he recalled her.

The scene shifted elsewhere. Sirin, drained of all energy, sat against a wall. Her pretty face was exhausted, yet she let out a hysterical laugh. Swaying as she stood, she wanted to absorb energy from the Honkai reactor again.

"What... is this?"

Sirin looked curiously at the mosquito-like creature flashing with purple light in her palm. She felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity from the unknown creature.

"You're saying... you'll help me lure them away?"

Before the Honkai reactor, Theresa stood guard, looking at the obvious bloodstains on the ground and the Snow Wolf Squad emblem. Someone beside her reported on the reinforcements sent by headquarters.

Before Theresa could remain dejected for long, a piercing alarm rang through the silent space. Amid panicked voices and stirring background music, Theresa immediately made her decision.

"Don't panic. Bring me my Judas—"

"I'll hold them off!"

Theresa had barely finished speaking when a communication forcibly cut in. Then came a slightly roguish yet reassuring voice.

"There's no need, Theresa. Just stay inside the tower and command."

The screen shifted outside the Tower of Babylon. Facing a countless horde of Honkai Beasts on the hills, Ziegfried, holding dual pistols, showed no fear. Behind him stood the other two members of the Snow Wolf Squad, Shub Nicholas and Salome Jokanaan.

"Leave the Honkai Beasts to us."

"Awesome!!!" Ziegfried clenched his fist and nearly jumped up in excitement.

Sirin curled her lips.