Stigmata Bearer

"Ah... I... am still alive?" Olga crawled up from the snow, shaking her head as she gradually regained consciousness. Ashwatthama's casual strike had nearly shattered her armor completely. Fortunately, although her entire body looked red, she had not actually suffered any vital injuries and could still move.

It was impossible not to be afraid when her first battlefield assignment had brought her face-to-face with an Emperor-class Honkai Beast. But as a Valkyrie, her sense of duty had still driven her to charge forward. In the end, she had only thrown her life away.

After briefly treating her wounds, Olga began searching for Sophia, who had only become her teammate a few days earlier.

"Sophia... Ah."

Unlike Olga, Sophia had not been so lucky. She, too, had been sent flying after Ashwatthama casually shattered her armor, but she had passed out inside a damaged house. The entire house had then collapsed, burying Sophia beneath the ruins.

Olga walked to the edge of the rubble. Seeing bright-red blood continuously flowing out, with not the slightest sign of movement from within, she knew that her comrade had left her forever.

"Right, what about the Emperor-class Honkai Beast?" She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and turned her head. The villagers were kneeling and bowing toward the same direction in groups of two or three. After asking around, she learned what had happened while she was unconscious.

"It destroyed an Emperor-class Honkai Beast in one strike?!... Wait, purple hair, that appearance... She's the Herrscher of Void!" She clearly remembered that the Herrscher of Void had fled after fighting the Herrscher of Reason. That was when she had seen her face.

At that moment, Sirin paid no attention to the prostrating villagers. She went to Ivan's side and examined the red pattern faintly visible on her back. Having never attended a day of school, she did not know what it was. She even guessed that Ivan had some kind of illness and planned to use the power of the Herrscher of Death to treat her.

"Stigmata?"

Sirin did not recognize it, but as a Valkyrie, Olga knew it all too well. She had never imagined that this half-isolated village would contain a natural Stigmata bearer. If she was willing to join Schicksal, she would certainly become a key force in the fight against the Honkai in the future.

"Stigmata?" Olga's words immediately stirred Sirin's memories. She remembered that the purpose of the experiments those researchers had conducted on her and the other orphans was to advance research into Artificial Stigmata. Judging by the Valkyrie's astonished expression, this child was probably, like her, a special individual who met certain conditions.

She looked at Olga, who was about the same age as her, and muttered to herself:

"These Schicksal bastards not only conduct human experiments on orphans, making them suffer, but also force such young children onto the front lines? As expected, they're all damn scumbags."

"That's not true! I came here to protect ordinary people and destroy Honkai Beasts entirely of my own free will! As for the human experiments you mentioned, they're complete nonsense. Schicksal is a righteous organization that protects humanity and fights the Honkai!" Hearing Sirin's words, Olga's face immediately flushed red, and she instinctively retorted. Only after the words left her mouth did she realize that the person standing before her was a Herrscher, an apostle of the Honkai. She had clearly brought disaster upon herself by speaking out.

"But shouldn't a Herrscher be the ruler of the Honkai Beasts? Shouldn't we be on the same side? Why would she destroy an Emperor-class Honkai Beast to save people?"

Although Olga's heart was filled with confusion, she clearly understood from Sirin's expression, which had turned from sunny to overcast, that her career as a Valkyrie was probably about to end. She could not even withstand one strike from an Emperor-class Honkai Beast. Facing a Herrscher, she could not imagine any possibility of surviving.

"Well, as a B-rank Valkyrie, I encountered both an Emperor-class Honkai Beast and a Herrscher on my first mission. I doubt even several A-rank superiors have had an experience like this. Facing enemies stronger than us, my comrades and I upheld our duty as Valkyries and fought until the very end. I didn't disgrace Schicksal..."

Olga gently closed her eyes. Compared to her teammates, she was undoubtedly lucky. At least before dying, she still had the chance to look back on the past and let her thoughts run wild.

On June 7, 1986, she was born in Novosibirsk. Aside from being somewhat more energetic, she had been no different from the other children her age.

That lasted until 1999, when her entire family was attacked by Honkai Beasts while traveling. By the time the Valkyrie forces arrived, only she, a girl with far greater-than-normal resistance to Honkai Energy, had survived.

Afterward, she naturally joined Schicksal. After more than a year of training, she set foot in Siberia as a newcomer under the guidance of her instructor...

The Deathbed Vision seemed to be lasting a little too long. Olga reviewed the important events of the year and more since she had joined Schicksal, yet the death she had imagined still did not come. After several minutes of torment, Olga's mental defenses began to waver.

Although she possessed physical abilities far beyond ordinary people, she was still only a thirteen-year-old girl with dreams for her future. When she thought about how her ideals would end before they had even begun, fear quietly crept into her heart.

"Take good care of her."

"Eh?" Olga opened her eyes in surprise. Although the Herrscher before her was still glaring angrily, she clearly had no murderous intent.

Sirin still wore a dark expression, but judging from Olga's reaction, she guessed that Olga knew nothing about the Babylon Experiment. Since Olga was about the same age as her, Sirin had no intention of killing her.

Objectively speaking, although this place was remote, once she left, low-level Honkai Beasts might still attack it. Clearly, even against the lowest-level Charge-type Honkai Beast, Olga was the only person in the entire village capable of putting up a fight.

Of course, as a Herrscher, Sirin could summon Honkai Beasts that obeyed her and have them serve as guards against other Honkai Beasts. But recalling the fear on Ivan's and the others' faces when they had faced Ashwatthama, and considering that low-level Honkai Beasts lacked intelligence and might not carry out her orders properly, having a Valkyrie serve as a guard would obviously be easier for the villagers to accept.

"Do not hand her over to Schicksal under any circumstances. Otherwise, you'll bear the consequences. Bella, let's go." Sirin said it coldly, then the two rose into the air, their figures quickly vanishing into the horizon.

Only then did Olga, whose brain had frozen up, finally react. The Herrscher wanted her to protect this child.

"Although she has some inexplicable hatred for Schicksal, why... Why does she act like a normal person when she's clearly an apostle of the Honkai?"

In the distance, a blue pillar of light tore across the sky. Extremely high concentrations of Honkai Energy spread outward from that location in all directions.

At worst, the entire Eurasian continent could disappear.

It was powerful. Only if you joined the battle could victory be guaranteed.

Recalling the words of the Herrscher of Corruption, Sirin understood, despite never having attended a day of school, what would happen when the Herrscher of Frost passed through human cities.

Thinking of Ivan, and of the children who might still be in Siberia with experiences similar to Ivan's and her own, Sirin activated the power of the Herrscher of Void and began locating them.