"Cough... My head hurts... Where... where am I?" The boy woke amid the ruins. At the same time, his senses gradually began to return.
He was pinned beneath a section of wall in the rubble. At some point, a torrential downpour had begun, and raindrops pelted his head one after another, making it hard for him to open his eyes.
"Tianwen... don't be afraid... Your brother's here." The boy strained with both hands, trying to push the wall off himself, but it was no use.
"Hey, hey, sir, are you all right?" A timid voice suddenly came from beside him.
Chen Tianwu caught sight of the speaker by the brief flash of lightning overhead. She was a young woman with chestnut hair, wearing a standard Schicksal battlesuit. Her pink eyes were full of concern.
"Hang in there, sir. Don't worry, I'll get you out!" The girl bit her lip and strained to push the slab pinning Chen Tianwu down. In less than a minute, she had moved it completely off him.
The girl hurriedly helped Chen Tianwu up. "Are you all right, sir?"
"...I... I'm fine. Thank you... kind miss." Warmth welled up in Chen Tianwu's heart. When disaster struck and everyone was too busy running for their lives to care about anyone else, being treated so kindly moved him deeply.
"It's all right. I'm a Valkyrie, after all. Protecting you is my duty~" The girl smiled, her face smeared with dust. "I'm Anna, a Valkyrie of Schicksal. What's your name?"
"I'm Chen Tianwu. It's nice to meet you, Anna... Have you seen my younger sister?"
Chen Tianwu pulled a photograph from his clothes and handed it to Anna. In it, a little girl hugged a tiny red cloth doll, her face glowing with happiness.
The moment Anna saw the girl in the photograph, her pupils contracted. A flash of panic crossed her face. "I... I don't think I've seen her."
"Oh..." Chen Tianwu's eyes visibly dimmed. Anna patted him. "Don't worry. I... I'll help you look for her in a bit!"
"Thank you, Miss Anna."
The two of them slowly made their way through the rain, leaning on each other.
Chen Tianwu took a closer look at the girl beside him, who wore a beret. Her face was covered in dust, but it couldn't hide how beautiful she was.
"You... you're really beautiful..." Chen Tianwu blurted out, then lowered his head, embarrassed.
Anna froze, then giggled. "Thank you, Mr. Chen. You certainly have good taste~"
"What about your teammates? Aren't they with you?"
Anna's expression changed. She gave him a bleak, bitter smile. "They... were killed in action... I failed to protect them... I was still too cowardly..."
Chen Tianwu sighed sympathetically. "It wasn't your fault. Everyone is afraid when facing death. What matters is whether we can do more meaningful things before it comes."
"Thank you, Mr. Chen."
"Um... if we make it out of here alive, will you go on a date with me?" Chen Tianwu grinned as he met Anna's gaze.
"Wha—what?" Anna instantly turned red as a ripe apple. She looked at the battered buildings around them, then at the boy before her, who still held on to hope despite being trapped in a living hell. She took the heart-shaped pendant from her chest, broke it in two, and handed him one half. "This is the most important thing I own. If we make it out of here, I'll go on a date with you. Let's make this our wager!"
"Okay, it's a promise!" They hooked their little fingers together to seal the deal.
Crash! A huge hole burst open in the building ahead, and a massive shadow emerged through the breach. A Temple-class Honkai Beast appeared before them.
"Get down!" Anna covered Chen Tianwu's mouth and hid with him beside an abandoned car, barely daring to breathe.
The Honkai Beast stood nearly twenty meters tall. It turned its blood-red eye, searching carefully for prey. Its gaze passed over the wrecked car, but it noticed nothing amiss.
"Are... are we going to die?" Chen Tianwu clenched his fists, unwilling to accept it. "I still haven't found my sister..."
"Don't worry. I'll protect you!" Anna gently patted his hand.
Just as the Honkai Beast turned to leave, and the two thought they were safe, Anna's communicator suddenly began beeping repeatedly. She immediately held down the power button and looked up. A huge eyeball was staring at them.
Anna screamed in fright and dragged Chen Tianwu into a desperate run.
"Roar—!" The Honkai Beast let out a piercing bellow, flipped the car over, and charged after them.
Anna turned around and drew her sword, facing the oncoming Honkai Beast. "I... I'm not afraid of you! Come on!"
The Honkai Beast grinned wickedly and swung the spear in its hand. Just as it was about to strike Anna, a shell came flying from afar and hit the beast squarely in the back, knocking it to the ground.
"Heavy Trooper Bunny, target hit. Reloading," said a mechanical voice from nearby.
"Are you two all right?" Himeko came over and asked.
"We're all right. Thank you for the support," Anna said gratefully to Himeko. "I'm Anna Schariac, an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal and the captain of Schicksal's Snow Lotus Squad stationed in Manila."
"Pleased to meet you, Miss Anna. We're a rescue team from the Far East Branch. I'm Murata Himeko, the team leader. Leave things to us. We'll escort you out of here."
"Excuse me, Miss Himeko, have you... seen my sister?" Chen Tianwu asked hopefully. "My sister and I were together when the Honkai erupted, but I got separated from her after I drew the Honkai Beasts away."
Bang! Another armor-piercing round hit the Honkai Beast. This time, it didn't get back up.
Himeko took the photograph and glanced at it, then her face brightened with recognition. "We just rescued a girl who looks a lot like your sister. Come with me!"
"Okay!" Chen Tianwu perked up immediately. He tried to run, but stumbled and fell to the ground. Anna helped him up, and the group slowly made their way into an abandoned building.
"One, two, three—look! You won!"
"Wow, really?! Big sister, you're amazing!"
Kiana sat beside the little girl, cheering her up. Sheng Jiu and Yae Sakura kept watch over their surroundings, their hands never leaving their weapons.
"Tianwen!" Chen Tianwu ran over and threw himself in front of the girl.
"B-Big brother!" The little girl hugged Chen Tianwu tightly, tears streaming down her face. "I've been waiting for you for so, so long. Everyone left. I was so scared!"
Chen Tianwu held the girl's head close, tears streaming down his own face. "I'm sorry. It was my fault. We'll never be separated again!"
Kiana watched the touching reunion, wiped the tears from the corner of her eye, then nudged Sheng Jiu and whispered, "Hey, aren't you going to cry at such a moving scene? How can you be so heartless?"
"??? You win." Sheng Jiu's face was covered in exasperation.
Himeko walked to the window and pulled back a corner of the curtain to look outside.
It was already pouring rain, and the fog made it impossible to see the road. Honkai Beasts and the dead were gathering around the building and below it. The corpses of the Temple-class Honkai Beast they had killed earlier were surrounded by the dead, who were feeding on them. In the distance, a faint purple light flickered intermittently.
"Ah... So this is what hell on earth looks like..." Himeko murmured.
The sun was slowly setting. Yae Sakura watched it sink and furrowed her brows. She glanced at her watch. "A storm is coming. Tonight may be rough. We have eight hours before the bombing. We have to evacuate this area before then, or else..."
Sheng Jiu calmly wiped the Honkai Beast fluids off Jueying. "Don't worry. We'll get out of here."
Before you continue