Cocolia and Alexandra

Across the endless snowfield, a military vehicle sped along. Cocolia kept her foot on the accelerator, hoping to get through the area as quickly as possible. An area filled with monsters at every turn was simply too terrifying.

In the back seat was Alexandra, whom Cocolia had saved through a Russian Rescue. Her husband, her superior, Colonel Alexei, had entrusted her to Cocolia in his dying moments.

Amid the raging blizzard, the vehicle suddenly came to a stop. No matter what they tried, it would not move forward.

"Damn it, why did it have to break down now!" No matter how much Cocolia pounded on it, the vehicle remained motionless.

"Thump, thump, thump!" A dull sound rang out, and Cocolia felt her heart beating in time with it. Several Chariot-class Honkai Beasts strode toward them from not far away. Although Cocolia had been a soldier, facing a group of colossal creatures she knew nothing about still made her heart pound.

But aside from her, the vehicle contained only Alexandra, a pregnant woman who could barely defend herself. Since they could not escape, Cocolia could only steel herself and fight. She drew her pistol and fired at the nearest Chariot-class Honkai Beast.

The tiny bullet struck the Chariot-class Honkai Beast and immediately bounced to the ground. Not only did it fail to cause any damage, it did not even slow the creature down. At the same time, several Charge-type Honkai Beasts appeared around them.

Alexandra stroked her slightly swollen belly, her eyes filled with despair. She knew all too well what kind of terrifying monsters could remain completely unaffected by bullets.

"Look out!" A loud shout rang out, interrupting their thoughts. They looked up to see a white-haired, blue-eyed girl flying through the sky. With a casual wave of her hand, a large number of the Honkai Beasts before them vanished.

"Wha—!" Before Cocolia and Alexandra could recover, the girl began darting back and forth at a speed the naked eye could not follow. In the blink of an eye, every Honkai Beast around them had been annihilated, as though they had never existed.

Staring at the stunning woman wielding a Lance, the two of them were so shocked that they could not speak.

Cecilia turned around, tears streaming down her face.

"It's wonderful that I could still meet you two at a time like this!"

A question mark slowly formed in Cocolia's mind. What's wrong with this woman? She was the one who saved us, not the other way around. Why is she so excited?

What she did not know was that Schicksal's bombardment was about to begin. If the Herrscher of Corruption had not hacked into her communicator and told Cecilia that there were two more survivors nearby, they would have died beneath Schicksal's missiles even if the Honkai Beasts had not killed them first.

"Being able to save two more people in the face of the Great Eruption—what a delightful thing that is." This had always been Cecilia's belief, and it had never changed over the years.

Schicksal HQ, Floating Island.

"Schicksal's Third and Fourth Armories. The missile launch procedures have been initiated, and the targets have been confirmed and locked."

"Begin the attack." Otto issued the order coldly. Schicksal's carpet bombing of Siberia had begun.

"It's more thrilling to watch it from the scene." Enoshia hovered in the air, watching countless missiles draw graceful arcs across the sky before pouring down upon the earth like a dense rainstorm. Flames erupted below, accompanied by billowing smoke. The sight was truly spectacular.

Since she was within the target area, countless missiles should theoretically have made intimate contact with her before reaching the ground. However, none of that happened. Every missile automatically turned around when it came within a hundred meters of her. She now seemed to be trapped inside a cage formed by the smoke streaming from the missiles' tails.

To prevent Otto from backstabbing her while she fought other Herrschers, Enoshia had altered the programming of every missile in Schicksal. The moment a missile recognized her, it would immediately turn away. No matter how many there were, they were completely useless. It would be rather laughable if the Herrscher of Corruption were struck by weapons controlled through human electronic terminals.

"Hey, you pillar, you missed!" Enoshia watched as quite a few missiles landed in empty areas. Their shock waves had not even hit a single Honkai Beast. Even if Otto did not care, she did. Every missile fired cost money. Conservatively speaking, even the cheapest one probably cost tens of thousands of currency units.

At 2:00 p.m. on February 8, 2000, as the bombardment ended, large numbers of Valkyries entered Siberia and began the decisive battle against the Herrscher of Frost. Watching the transport aircraft continuously arrive, Enoshia furrowed her brows.

After the bombardment ended, tens of thousands of Honkai Beasts still remained throughout Siberia. Moreover, an area roughly ten thousand square kilometers around the Herrscher of Frost had become a region of abnormal gravity. Although the greatest number of missiles had been fired toward this area, it also had the greatest number of missiles veer off course.

Although the Herrscher of Frost was right there, if the Valkyries wanted to eliminate her before she could grow stronger, they first had to deal with the Honkai Beasts surrounding her in the abnormal gravitational environment.

Otto divided the Valkyries into three teams. Theresa and Siegfried led the left wing, while Cheng Lixue led the right wing. Shub, Salome, and Shigure Kira were all part of that team.

Cecilia personally led the third team, which was responsible for support and covering the retreat. Otto's intention was for her to serve as the main force against the Herrscher while conserving as much of her strength as possible before the decisive battle.

"Parvati, Ashwatthama, and two others... I've never seen them in the game. Then again, the Thirteen Flame-Chasers have the genes of more than a dozen Emperor-class Honkai Beasts in their bodies, so there should actually be far more types of Emperor-class Honkai Beasts than just the Ice Pig, the Twins, and the White Pig. But four Emperor-class Honkai Beasts? Otto really doesn't treat the Valkyries' lives as lives at all." Enoshia silently mourned for them, then immediately flew toward one of the Emperor-class Honkai Beasts.

At around 3:30 p.m. on February 8, Cheng Lixue's team was attacked by several hundred Honkai Beasts. The most eye-catching among them was naturally the Honkai Beast that stood over three meters tall and measured more than fifteen meters in length, resembling a scorpion.

Its pincers and all its legs were ice-blue, while its body was a deep green. The front of its body consisted of four stacked layers, with its head growing from the foremost one. Its mouthparts were silvery white, and the upper half of its body was covered in raised hexagonal protrusions. These protrusions densely covered its front half and its six long legs. Both of its front pincers were a meter long and likewise covered in diamond-like hexagonal protrusions. Only the foremost clamps, like its mouthparts, were silvery white with a mirror-like sheen. Its eyes were yellow and hexagonal as well.

Aside from its size, the feature that distinguished it most from a scorpion was its tail. The whip-like tail had no stinger; instead, it looked like a straw pointed at everyone else.

But none of that was the most important thing. The most important thing was that every scan indicated this was an Emperor-class Honkai Beast that had never been seen before! Cheng Lixue ordered the Valkyries at the front to retreat the moment she received the results, but it was still too late. The Honkai Beast's tail sprayed out a massive amount of icy mist, and several Valkyries who were too slow were instantly transformed into ice sculptures.