Sparring Partner

Although Sirin had chosen to stand on the side of humanity's destruction because of what she had endured, she still retained a complete sense of self.

Well, if one counted carefully, most Herrschers of this era had retained their own consciousness.

Even Anna had nearly held out against the Herrscher's will until the very end.

In any case, since she had not displayed an intense desire for destruction, she could be negotiated with.

At this point... she was probably like the Herrscher of Sentience—both had only just been born.

The difference was that Fu Hua's fifty thousand years of memories had thoroughly "brainwashed" the Herrscher of Sentience, while the girl before him had merely accepted a little over a decade of memories and did not yet have a clear sense of self.

"...What are you doing here?"

The black-haired girl asked indifferently.

This human who had appeared before her had not been infected and eroded by Honkai energy like the others, turning into a Dead Soldier.

"Of course, because you're here."

Ming Yu answered bluntly.

"You came for Raiden Mei?"

The girl narrowed her eyes slightly and questioned him.

From Raiden Mei's memories, she knew that large organizations called Schicksal and Anti-Entropy existed in this world.

This human named Ming Yu might belong to one of them.

What did they intend to do by seeking out Raiden Mei?

Capture her and take her back for research?

The first two Herrschers, the Herrscher of Reason and the Herrscher of the Void, seemed to have gone through that process. They had once been captured by Schicksal and subjected to research, while the Second Herrscher had suffered inhuman torment for a long time.

But she had no intention of repeating their mistakes. Anything that tried to harm her would be destroyed by the lightning in her hands.

"I can't say that isn't part of it, but... it's more because of you."

"...Me?"

The girl raised her head in confusion.

"You aren't Raiden Mei... right? The two of you should be regarded separately."

During that incident with Bronya, she had said that she was not Raiden Mei.

That was indeed true. The one controlling this body now was the will of the stigmata, born from the fully awakened stigmata brought about by this Honkai outbreak.

Well, fundamentally, her relationship with Mei was probably similar to Seele and Dark Seele's. They were both two souls in one body.

It was just that Mei clearly did not possess Seele's innate talent for stigmata awakening. Otherwise, her father would not have implanted the Gem of Conquest in her to keep her alive.

Therefore, throughout her past life, there had never been another consciousness of herself accompanying her.

Only when the Honkai outbreak planned by Cocolia occurred did the stigmata will finally come into being completely.

She had borne the Honkai Will's temptation in place of the Raiden Mei who could not withstand everything, taken control of the Herrscher of Thunder's authority in her place, and considered herself the Third Herrscher.

"..."

The girl nodded, then shook her head and said instead:

"So, what are you trying to say?"

Here came the important part.

Ming Yu smiled and said:

"...I'm saying that perhaps we could become friends."

"...Friends?"

The girl murmured.

Raiden Mei had never truly had any friends in the past.

As the precious daughter of ME Corp, she had never lacked people who wanted to be her friends.

But those surrounding her were nothing more than flatterers, wanting to profit from having once been her friends.

And once the young lady's halo had faded, they had vanished from Raiden Mei's side in an instant.

So that coward had never had a real friend.

Perhaps this was a longing buried too deeply in Mei's heart, but it was also the thought of her, who had only just been born.

"..."

The girl fell silent for a moment.

In her heart, she pondered—were those sincere words, or false lies?

Her ability to control electromagnetic fields allowed her to easily destroy anything, yet it was powerless when faced with the truth or falsehood of a few words.

She wanted it to be true, but she was also afraid it was false.

Taking a deep breath, she used the Herrscher's authority to create a purple katana and pointed it at Ming Yu.

"...Then let's see whether you have the right to say that, human."

Battle was the simplest method of testing someone.

Whether he was boasting could be determined through battle.

If they were merely false lies, he certainly would not be able to withstand the agony brought by battle—

"Gladly."

Ming Yu nodded slightly, placing his hand on the Spirit Blade: Sakura Snow at his waist.

—Actually, he could have chosen to find Kiana, who was still inside the academy, and face this Herrscher of Thunder together with her.

Since she did not yet have a name of her own, Ming Yu would continue calling her "Big Sis Thunder Herrscher" for the time being.

The reason Ming Yu had come here alone before Kiana was because he wanted to try changing something.

Since he had already decided to join St. Freya Academy and take part in the "main storyline," he had no intention of watching everything unfold according to the original timeline.

After all, while the original story eventually reached an ending where Finality was defeated, the road there had been filled with countless regrets.

On the Herrscher side, there was Wendy, who died after Cocolia took the Gem of Hesperia from her, and Anna, who struggled against the Ice Herrscher's will until her consciousness was extinguished...

And of course, there was Aunt Himeko, who had sacrificed herself because of Otto's scheme.

Perhaps he could do something to change that future filled with sacrifice.

If possible, he hoped more people could survive.

Of course, those things were still some distance away in the future. For now, he would start with Big Sis Thunder Herrscher, who stood right before him.

—This Stigmata Personality of Raiden Mei did not have as happy an ending as Dark Seele, the other Stigmata Personality, would in the future.

Bearing most of the Herrscher's power, she would, according to the original timeline, sacrifice herself one day in the future so Mei could once again become the complete Herrscher of Thunder.

But! In Ming Yu's view, that still carried a great deal of regret.

After all, if one really thought about it, the one Kiana had saved on the rooftop in the original timeline was clearly Big Sis Thunder Herrscher, not Mei, who had already fallen asleep at that time.

Big Sis Thunder Herrscher had given up her mission of destroying humanity because of Kiana, yet later on, Kiana barely seemed to care about this Herrscher personality and had even developed some dislike for her.

Perhaps her wariness toward the Herrscher of the Void personality within her had also made her somewhat hostile toward this Herrscher of Thunder personality.

So why couldn't he... find a timeline where Big Sis Thunder Herrscher also survived and coexisted with Mei like Dark Seele and Seele?

If he was going to do this, he might as well do something big.

To avoid the misfortunes of the future, he would begin now.

Near Changkong City, an aerial battleship was rapidly making its way over.

"How much longer until we reach Changkong City?"

A mature red-haired woman asked the adjutant beside her.

"Reporting in, approximately fifteen minutes until we reach Changkong City."

The bespectacled adjutant answered truthfully.

"Fifteen minutes... Mm, I should get ready too."

Himeko nodded, handed command of the battleship over to her adjutant, and left the command room.

Outside the command room, a petite white-haired girl had already been waiting.

Though she looked like nothing more than a young child, the massive cross standing behind her clearly signified her extraordinary identity.

"I've been waiting for you for ages, Himeko."

"...I didn't expect you to take part in this mission too, Theresa."

Himeko helplessly rubbed her hair.

After being picked up by her adjutant aboard the Hyperion, she had discovered that the leader of the Far East Branch was also on the ship.

"Of course. This mission is to capture the Third Herrscher alive. Your Fifth Squad alone would probably find it somewhat difficult, wouldn't it?"

Theresa said seriously:

"If we want to capture a Herrscher alive, my Judas is naturally the most reliable support."

As the Key of Binding, the cross possessed the authority to restrain Honkai energy. It was indeed indispensable for an operation to capture someone alive.

"And call me Principal when we're outside!"

"Yes, yes... I've never seen a real Herrscher either. Rather, on this ship, aren't you the only one who has truly seen one, since you experienced the Second Honkai Eruption?"

Himeko teased.

The last large-scale Honkai outbreak had happened more than a decade ago.

"...I'm not the only one. There's one more."

Theresa shook her head.

"Hm? Who else—"

Before Himeko could finish speaking, another woman appeared at the end of the corridor.

As she approached, she said:

"Principal, we will arrive in Changkong City soon. Please make your combat preparations immediately."

The newcomer was Fu Hua. She had already changed into her Valkyrie armor and could deploy into battle at any moment.

Though she was nominally only an A-Rank Valkyrie, Himeko, who had sparred with her several times, knew that Fu Hua was far from as simple as she appeared.

At the very least, Fu Hua's strength far surpassed Himeko's, despite them both being A-Rank Valkyries.

Himeko said, "This counts as all of St. Freya's elite being deployed, doesn't it? Do we really need to make such a huge fuss?"

"...A Herrscher incident deserves this level of full commitment."

Fu Hua adjusted her glasses and continued:

"Actually, after headquarters learned of the Third Herrscher's appearance, the Bishop also arranged for an S-Rank Valkyrie to make her way here."

A Sparring Partner

"This is... Hokushin Ittō-ryū."

Just as Ming Yu began sparring with Big Sis Thunder Herrscher, Yae Sakura suddenly spoke in his mind.

Hokushin Ittō-ryū, an ancient Far East martial art, was a sword technique created by Hokushin Mei, a famous Far Eastern swordswoman from the past. Even she, a shrine maiden living in the remote Yae Village, had heard of it.

This swordsmanship, designed for killing on the battlefield, aimed with every move to strip the opponent of their ability to fight and end the battle swiftly without injury.

While it might not be of much use against enormous Honkai Beasts, it held a tremendous advantage against human-sized opponents like Ming Yu.

"Is she a descendant of the Hokushin line? With such practiced form... I think she has probably reached the level of full transmission."

Yae Sakura evaluated.