A Corner of Siberia

Siberia, in some nameless village.

Due to the ravages of the Honkai beasts, the entire village was already in ruins. By the time the Valkyrie squad arrived, more than half the villagers had already lost their lives forever.

Fortunately, there were only low-level Honkai beasts and Zombies here. With the cooperation of three B-rank Valkyries responsible for rescuing ordinary people, they managed to wipe out the enemies cleanly.

But post-disaster reconstruction was not something these three B-rank Valkyries could handle. They could only do what little they could, like pulling people trapped under rubble and giving the injured basic bandages.

"Captain, a large Honkai Energy reaction detected ahead." Outside the village, a short gray-haired, blue-eyed Valkyrie reported into her communicator to the tall, sharp, capable Valkyrie with wavy blonde hair beside her.

Her name was Olga. Due to a shortage of personnel, this 13-year-old B-rank Valkyrie had set foot on the battlefield for the first time. Being sent to the rear for search and rescue was undoubtedly lucky, since theoretically her survival rate was far higher than fighting a Herrscher.

"Prepare for battle. How many are there?" The captain picked up her weapon and started to head out.

"Less than a dozen, but..." She swallowed hard.

"Spit it out. Don't dawdle." The decisive captain was displeased with her attitude.

"Yes, Captain! Among them, one is... an Emperor-class Honkai Beast."

Olga stared at the massive monster not far away. Its two thick forelimbs had three fingers each—one with pink markings, the other blue. And what looked like its eyes had colors reversed from its arms.

Facing a Honkai beast she'd never seen before, Olga double-checked that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Even though it was her first battle, she knew all too well what an Emperor-class Honkai Beast meant for B-rank Valkyries.

"Captain, should we request backup from headquarters immediately?" The third, slightly plump Valkyrie beside the captain suggested.

Hearing this, the captain smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"Not only is there no time, but there probably aren't any spare personnel right now."

The slightly plump Valkyrie nodded, a look of despair on her face.

"How far away is it? How strong are the remaining Honkai beasts?" Having been on the brink of death many times, she quickly calmed down. Getting more detailed intel was the top priority.

"Less than five kilometers. The rest are just Assault-class and Knight-class. I can handle them alone."

The captain took a deep breath and spoke solemnly into the communicator.

"Don't move yet. Wait for me to come over. I'll lure the Emperor-class Honkai beast away. You two finish off the other beasts, then immediately evacuate the villagers who can still walk."

"What! Captain! That's an Emperor-class Honkai beast!" An excited voice came from the other end of the communicator, nearly bursting her eardrum.

"Olga, calm down! Precisely because it's an Emperor-class Honkai beast, me luring it away is the right call. That's an order! Tell me its exact location!"

Inside a relatively intact house in the village, a beautiful woman lay on a bed, her complexion terrible. A doctor-like figure beside her sighed and shook his head gravely.

"Alas, my condolences."

Kneeling by the bed was a girl who looked five or six years old, with wine-red hair and deep gray eyes. As the doctor had said, her mother on the bed had already passed away.

"Alas, poor Ivan. Her father died in an accident last year, and now her mother... No good deed goes unpunished..." An old man leaning on a cane sighed repeatedly. As the village chief, he knew well that in recent years, nearly everyone in the village had received help from them.

But Ivan's parents' deaths only brought her more criticism. The reason was simple: when Ivan was born, there was a strange pattern on her back. Many superstitious people believed her parents were killed by her, this jinx.

Now, with her mother just dead, a few village gossips had already started spreading rumors. Ivan listened as more and more people believed this utterly baseless slander, but she had no way to stop it.

Just then, a girl with purple hair and yellow eyes in a purple skirt, and another with gray hair and blue eyes in a white top, arrived. In Siberia in the year 2000, no one else could look like this except Sirin and Bella.

Kai the Village Chief was about to ask them about their strange clothes when two Valkyries rushed in urgently.

"Chief Kai, tell everyone to evacuate immediately! A very powerful monster is coming from outside. We can't beat it. The captain is holding it off. Hurry!"

Seeing the Schicksal Valkyries, Sirin recalled her time at Babylon Tower.

"You lot have no value in living anyway. You should feel honored to sacrifice for Schicksal's research and the Valkyries' victory!"

The researcher's voice echoed in her ears like a demonic chant. She clenched her fists tightly, suppressing her rage toward the Valkyries as much as possible. Behind her, Bella was ready to strike the moment Sirin gave the order.

"Boom!" A loud crash came as something was thrown into the village. Many who looked at it felt nauseous, because what had been thrown in was half a person's body. Though it was a bloody mess, the two Valkyries knew clearly that this lower half belonged to the captain who had been talking to them moments ago.

But they didn't grieve—there was no time. The monster that killed the captain soon reached the village entrance.

"Thud."

"Thud."

At the village entrance appeared Ashwatthama, alternating its thick, powerful blue left forelimb and pink right forelimb. Every step left deep marks on the ground.

Seeing Ashwatthama, Sirin felt a strange familiarity. In that egg that had fully awakened her as the Herrscher of Void, she seemed to have seen its figure.

"Please get everyone who can leave out of here. We'll hold it off." The two Valkyries raised their submachine guns and fired a burst, but unfortunately, for Ashwatthama, such damage was just polishing its shell.

Ignoring the two Valkyries, Sirin and Bella followed the crowd running into the village. While everyone else fled in panic, a girl who refused to leave a house ahead caught Sirin's attention. She walked to the window and saw Ivan kneeling before her mother. The young woman on the bed had clearly lost all signs of life.

Seeing this, countless memories flooded back into Sirin's mind.

"Bang."

Ashwatthama swung both arms, sending the two Valkyries flying. It moved over to Ivan's house. With a "crash," the entire wall collapsed. Then with a "rumble," the roof was torn off by Ashwatthama, leaving only a little girl curled up beside her mother, shivering in the howling wind.

Her survival instinct told her to run, but fear made her legs weak, unable to stand. Suddenly, she noticed someone standing on the monster's head. It was Sirin, just snapping out of her own memories.

Without any flashy moves, Sirin snapped her fingers and tossed it straight into the Imaginary Space. The entire village fell silent, even the sound of snowflakes hitting the ground became clearly audible. Except for Bella, everyone stared wide-eyed at the scene before them in disbelief.