Play the Tiger Against the Wolf

"Is that so...? To be honest, this was my first time in Britain too."

Durandal spoke with some emotion.

Just then, a female voice came from nearby.

"If that is the case, please allow me to serve as your guide and show you both around properly."

A dark blonde-haired girl approached them as well, smiling warmly at Ming Yu.

"Ming Yu, we meet again."

"Hello, Senior Rita."

Ming Yu returned the greeting with equal politeness.

Although she had called herself merely a maid when he first met her aboard the Hyperion, whether based on the Captain's memories from his previous life or as a member of St. Freya, he had naturally long known that this maid's true identity was one of Schicksal's only three S-Rank Valkyries.

Moreover, compared to the straightforward Durandal, Rita, who never revealed her true intentions and always thought things through meticulously, was perhaps the more difficult one to deal with in a certain sense.

"Speaking of which, are you two seniors here on vacation as well?"

Ming Yu asked.

"Yes. Britain is Rita's hometown, and the Bishop gave us a few days off to travel here and relax."

Durandal explained.

...They were just here on vacation?

Yeah, right. Like I'd believe that.

Ming Yu grumbled inwardly.

For all he knew, Otto, that paranoid bastard, had sent these two to London to monitor him under the same pretense of taking a vacation.

Well, Durandal was uncertain, but Rita had probably received some sort of order from Otto.

It was not as though he had never considered Otto sending someone to keep an eye on him. That was why he had been cautious all along, even summoning only a single chain from Oath of Judah to locate Chariot of Sanctus.

But he truly had not expected to run into these two S-Rank Valkyries.

Dealing with World Serpent's guards had already been troublesome enough. Now, with two more S-Rank Valkyries thrown into the mix, it seemed his plan to find Chariot of Sanctus was about to fall apart.

However, since these two Schicksal S-Rank Valkyries just happened to be here... perhaps they could become his "helpers."

A rough plan swiftly took shape in Ming Yu's mind—using the tiger to devour the wolf.

He would use the S-Rank Valkyries to contend with World Serpent.

Using the Tiger to Devour the Wolf

Evening.

After unexpectedly running into the two S-Rank Valkyries by the river, Ming Yu had ultimately declined Rita's offer to guide him despite her repeated invitations. He found a random hotel near the Thames River and checked in.

Of course, Ming Yu knew that doing this would obviously draw Rita's attention, but that was exactly the effect he wanted.

—For most Valkyries, seeing the S-Rank Valkyries at the pinnacle of Schicksal, the people they admired, and seeing two of them at once no less, they would probably have jumped up in excitement on the spot. How could they possibly refuse an invitation to travel together?

His repeated refusals were precisely to attract Rita's attention.

He opened the window facing the Thames River and looked toward a certain spot above the water.

He had already pinpointed Chariot of Sanctus's approximate location. All that remained was to wait for the right moment to act.

It was still a little too early, though. It would be better to begin in the latter half of the night.

On one hand, darkness made things easier. On the other, there would be the fewest ordinary people on the streets then. If a battle broke out, he could minimize casualties and destruction as much as possible.

With time to spare, Ming Yu simply shut the window, drew the curtains, lay comfortably on the bed, and pulled out his phone.

As it happened, several new messages had appeared in their "St. Freya Family" group chat.

Kiana: "Hey, Ming Yu! Remember to bring back some delicious food from Britain!"

Ming Yu: "...How about I bring you a Stargazy Pie?"

This country really was a culinary wasteland. There was practically no cuisine worth mentioning. If he had to name something, fish and chips were probably alright.

Mei: "Are you getting used to staying there?"

Ming Yu: "Everything else is fine. I just miss Mei's cooking a little~"

Theresa: "Remember to take lots of pictures and send them to the group!"

Bronya: "...Be careful."

Ming Yu: "Alright, alright, I will."

Himeko: "What are you all talking about?~"

(Suddenly sent a rather revealing selfie. She was probably drunk.)

(The group owner Theresa revoked a member's message.)

(Himeko has been muted.)

Keeping in touch with these girls he had grown familiar with was always pleasant, and time passed swiftly like that.

To obtain Chariot of Sanctus's projection, he would do anything. Yet at the same time, it could also be said that he would do nothing.

The latter half of the night finally arrived as expected.

Ming Yu looked at the mechanical watch on his wrist. The hands pointed exactly at three o'clock.

Now was the time to act.

Save point, recorded.

Ming Yu opened the window. Faint sparks of electricity flickered across his body, then he leaped down and landed on the street.

The pitch-black street was silent. Only he, like a bolt of lightning, darted into an alley.

After arriving near the Thames River, he did not immediately move to destroy the seal. Instead, he stood still, closed his eyes, and began sensing the surroundings.

More precisely, he used the reflection of electromagnetic waves to grasp the environment and structure around him.

This was another application of his electromagnetic abilities, one that could help him determine whether any hidden pursuers were nearby.

Relying only on his eyes and his own powers of observation, there was no way he could discover whether Miss Rita was nearby—as an S-Rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, she had received professional assassin training and possessed exceptional skill at concealing her presence.

But no matter how exquisite one's concealment techniques were, they could not erase one's physical existence. Sure enough, Ming Yu discovered the Valkyrie's figure roughly a hundred meters away.

Only after confirming that she had indeed followed him did Ming Yu relax.

It would have been inconvenient if she had not come.

And aside from Rita's presence, there also seemed to be several other special detection devices aimed in this direction. They were likely World Serpent's arrangements.

Neither side would be easy for him to handle alone.

But with both sides present, he could use the tiger to devour the wolf and reap the benefits.

Then... let's begin.

A coin materialized in Ming Yu's hand.

He raised it and aimed at a spot roughly fifty meters above the water directly ahead.

Although there appeared to be nothing there, according to the detection response provided by Oath of Judah, there was indeed a considerable Honkai energy signature there.

It was probably a transparent container floating high in the sky, using technology from the Previous Era similar to the one Joyce had seen preserving the Star of Eden.

But he did not have the necessary authorization to slowly crack the container's seal, so he could only break it by force.

Taking a light breath, Ming Yu gathered electricity at his fingertips and fired a Railgun.

A dazzling white beam shot from the ground into the sky, striking something invisible to the naked eye.

After a brief delay, space began to twist and shatter, revealing the true form of something that had remained hidden and unchanged for thousands of years.

An enormous train appeared directly above the Thames River and began falling toward the water.

And... a little fellow whose appearance was small, yet impossible to ignore.

—An armed puppet modeled after Kevin Kaslana.

The white-haired little fellow held an imitation miniature Judgment of Shamash and fell from the sky alongside Chariot of Sanctus.

It looked toward Ming Yu without expression, then raised the greatsword in its hand and swung it down without the slightest hesitation.

—Heavenly Fire: Unleashed!

Dazzling flames spread from the river's surface to the streets in an instant.

"Bishop, the mission you mentioned was to monitor Ming Yu's movements, correct?"

One day earlier, Rita looked at Otto's mission assignment on her terminal and confirmed it once more.

"That's right, Rita. Report to me at any time if anything happens. If nothing happens, simply treat it as taking a few days off with Durandal."

The voice on the other end of the terminal spoke casually.

"Then, if he goes beyond the London area..."

Rita pondered.

"Don't worry. I have naturally made arrangements in the other areas. You only need to handle London."

"Understood."

The dark blonde-haired girl thus began another mission she had grown accustomed to.

Unlike the other S-Rank Valkyrie, Durandal, who spent most of her time fighting Honkai Beasts on the front lines, Rita more often carried out missions like surveillance, infiltration, or assassination.

Everyone had their specialty, after all.

And given her personality, she was more skilled at carrying out missions of this sort.

After their destined "chance encounter," Rita concluded that Ming Yu was indeed planning to do something in London because he had repeatedly evaded their invitations to travel together. She began monitoring him seriously.

In the middle of the night, she witnessed Ming Yu leave his hotel and finally begin acting. Rita concealed herself and quietly followed behind him.

Then she witnessed Ming Yu fire a Railgun, shatter the container holding something, and bring it back into the light of day.

She had long known, and personally witnessed, information regarding Ming Yu's combat ability to manipulate electromagnetism. Therefore, Rita focused more of her attention on the object that had reappeared in the world.

"...A train?"

The dark blonde-haired girl murmured to herself in confusion.

She truly did not recognize the thing before her.

She did not recognize it, but someone did.

Otto, who had been remotely observing the situation through the camera device on Rita's body, abandoned his usual composure and confidence. In a rare tone that Rita found somewhat unfamiliar—a tone called "excitement"—he said:

"The readings show that device possesses the same Honkai energy signature as the other God Keys. It is likely... the Second Divine Key."

At present, most God Keys were already under Schicksal's control. Only a few remained outside Otto's grasp, and the Second Divine Key was one of them.

Therefore, he had reason to infer that the device resembling a train could very well be the Second Divine Key.

This inference had grounds. Otto had always believed that the Second Divine Key was in Britain.

The whereabouts of this God Key had an inseparable connection to a certain British myth.

—More specifically, the legends surrounding King Arthur.

The familiar Western legend told of a boy named Arthur who, with the help of the great mage Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, drew the sword from the stone and became the king of Britain.

Of course, Otto was not concerned with how that king rose to power, how he established the Knights of the Round Table, or how his empire eventually declined.

What he cared about was another legend related to it.

—The legendary island of faeries, the paradise isolated from the mortal world, the place where King Arthur ultimately rested: Avalon.

Naturally, no place called Avalon truly existed on Earth. However, Otto did not believe it was merely a myth fabricated by later generations. He believed it truly existed.

If it was not on Earth... then it must lie beyond the boundaries of space and time.

Legend said that the great magician Merlin gave King Arthur a sword, one capable of severing space itself, and that it also connected to a path leading to another time and space.