Chapter 457
However, Freya and the others were initially prepared for an accident on the moon and at headquarters. No one expected that the battle for the Penglai Si Jiuxiao would occur first, followed by a large number of Humanoid Honkai Beast and Honkai Beast advancing towards headquarters.
Originally, this was still within the scope of the reserve forces, but with the addition of the Ocean Honkai Beast, the Alliance, which was severely lacking in combat power, was left helpless.
"No problem, the opportunity is rare..."
"I see."
Bianca, who was on the front line, said to Sophia next to her.
"Sophia, inform the troops that they can go all out when they enter the city, but remember to avoid damaging the city as much as possible. With the Alliance's current technology, even if they can repair the equipment of the Previous Civilization, it will take a lot of time."
"Yes."
Sophia nodded in agreement, then swung her greatsword and cleaved the Honkai Beast in front of her in two.
She immediately notified the participating Valkyrie squad in the main battle group's channel.
"Notify all squads that have entered the city that they may use all their strength to minimize damage to the city; repeat, notify all squads that have entered the city that they may use all their strength to minimize damage to the city."
Sophia's voice relayed the orders to all the Valkyrie had stormed the city through the main battle group's communication channel.
The Valkyrie, who had been fighting on the front lines, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
While they understood that the alliance's higher-ups wanted them to conserve some strength in case of unforeseen circumstances, and also to protect the integrity of this Previous Civilization city, fighting with such restraint was naturally very painful.
As the order to lift the ban was given, all the Valkyrie raised the Key of Reason in their hands.
One by one, the Key of Reason detached from the Valkyrie's palm and floated upwards. Honkai Energy enveloped each of the shining Key of Reason, and a large number of Key of Reason formed Starmap in units of a Valkyrie squad.
The moment the Starmap was created, every Valkyrie squad was enhanced, and their ability to borrow power from the newly formed star map, instead of just a small amount of the Key of Reason they could borrow the power of the newly formed Starmap.
On average, a Valkyrie can manipulate three to eight Key of Reason with her spiritual power. In other words, a Valkyrie can only exert three to eight parts of the power of the Stigmata.
After the Key of Reason resonates to form Starmap, a Valkyrie squad of at least five members can exert at least fifteen and at most forty parts of the Stigmata's power.
As for the mental energy required to use the Key of Reason, it is naturally shared by all members of the team. By connecting everyone's consciousness to form a network, the burden of using the Key of Reason is reduced. This is one of Freya's research achievements in a parallel world.
Although not all types of Key of Reason can be combined, forming a single Starmap is the current limit, while the resonance between multiple Starmap is the goal for the next stage.
You may not know what it means for a Valkyrie to be able to unleash at least fifteen units of Stigmata power. In the past, we generally called this "hanging over the wall".
However, this situation is not unusual in the league right now.
Of course, if everyone bears the burden of the Key of Reason Starmap, it will cause everyone to fight together, which will quickly consume mental energy and make it impossible to maintain this state for a long time. However, if some people are responsible for bearing mental energy and others fight with all their might, the battle time of this state can be extended.
The Starmap of swords, guns, and bows shone brightly. After the Valkyrie of the Ritsu unleashed her full power, the Honkai Beast in the city were completely stunned.
The Fusion Warrior's spiritual power is not as strong as the Valkyrie'. They focus on strengthening their physical strength and cannot manipulate too many Key of Reason. Even so, with the support of Starmap composed of more Key of Reason, the power they unleash is no less than that of the Valkyrie.
The most eye-catching team is undoubtedly the Immortal Blade Squad.
Bianca and Sophia selected from among the graduates of the St. Freya Academy to form a ten-person knight squad, and then added Bronya's Silver Wolf Squad and Aisha's Radiance Squad into her knight order.
However, the Artificial Herrscher from the Silver Wolf Squad and the Radiance Squad are temporarily forming Herrscher Squad to operate together in this operation.
Losing the core of the team does not mean they have no achievements on the battlefield. The most important thing is that the Key of Reason they chose are highly versatile.
The Starmap easily formed a sword, knife, and spear. Bianca connected them with her own will, forcibly combining the sword and knife into a bow, and using the spear as an arrow, forming a completely new Starmap. This is the only Key of Reason Starmap that the Alliance can combine.
From a certain perspective, Bianca's will is also about to break through its limits.
With the enhancement of the Golden Archer's Starmap, Bianca can unleash the power of over five hundred Stigmata on her own.
"Sophia, help me with the mental energy consumption of the Resonance Starmap. In this state, my accuracy will decrease, and I need to concentrate."
"... Yes, Captain Bianca."
Sophia didn't say much. As long as Bianca used this Starmap called "Golden Sagittarius," she would basically only be a tool.
That being said, the burden of Key of Reason being shared by three teams is still extremely heavy for the others, even with a powerhouse like Bianca among them.
"This strike! Pierces through the stars!"
Bianca, clad in her golden armor, leaped high into the air. Her target was not some city rabble; empowered by five hundred Stigmata, her aim was naturally the Judgment-class Honkai Beast she sensed.
In mid-air, Bianca used her feet as arms to draw back a large bow made of parts of her Gold Cloth, a strike imbued with the power of five hundred Stigmata.
The bow was drawn, and the golden spear shot forth like an arrow.
The attack pierced through the city's surface, then penetrated multiple Judgment-class Honkai Beast slumbering deep beneath the city's earth, and shot out from the other side of the moon.
As the literal meaning suggests, it pierces through the stars.
532. Everywhere, it's all for the Saintess Lord.
A golden light pierced through the moon.
It also killed several Judgment-class Honkai Beast hiding underground.
"Once you have more than two hundred Stigmata powers, the accuracy drops drastically, let alone manipulating five hundred Stigmata powers at the same time."
Having completed her attack, Bianca deactivated her attack mode and reverted to her golden armor.
Sophia, who was acting as a mental energy recharger, rolled her eyes several times.
"Among us, only you can do this. There aren't many people who can control the power of a hundred Stigmata at the same time."
This is also the reason for the adjustment of the squad structure within the Knights Order. Even Valkyrie who are good at supernatural abilities and mental power rarely have the ability to control fifty copies of the power of the Stigmata at the same time when sharing the consumption of the Key of Reason with their teammates.
Even though the Stigmata inscribed in different Key of Reason are differentiated into simplified, general, and specialized types, and different combinations can extend the usage time by reducing the Stigmata consumption, this is equivalent to allowing one person to exert the power of ten or even dozens of people.
The Valkyrie squad and Knight squads have now been split into smaller teams of five to ten people. At the same time, when choosing Key of Reason, each person does not simply choose a specialized type that enhances their own strength, but rather a more general and simplified type that is more suitable for combining into Starmap.
In this way, the less the Key of Reason are consumed, the easier it is to form Starmap. At the same time, it can enhance the power of the Stigmata for the team without depleting their mental energy all at once.
Within the Alliance, the current record for the number of Key of Reason that can be manipulated simultaneously belongs to Bianca, who can manipulate a total of 157 simplified, general, and specialized Key of Reason on her own.
In Starmap mode, she can unleash the power of up to 729 Stigmata simultaneously.
Bianca, in that state, shattered an asteroid one-tenth the size of the moon.
However, that state only has the power of a single strike and is extremely difficult to control.
The most suitable number of Key of Reason Starmap Bianca to utilize are the Bow-type Starmap Key of Reason Golden Sagittarius], the Sword-type Starmap [Holy Sword Durandal], the Gun-type Starmap [Holy Lance Schariac], and the Flower-type Starmap [Cecilia Holy Lily].
To be honest, none of the Valkyrie are stupid.
Even if Freya tries her best to conceal it, her identity as a clone of Aurora is still inevitably exposed.
However, Freya's worst fears did not come true; even though she was a clone, it did not diminish the Valkyrie's love for her.
Bianca's performance has led many Valkyrie to speculate whether she is also a clone of Kiana.
As the record holder, Bianca's gap with the second place is too large. It should be noted that from the second place onwards, Valkyrie are from the Schariac Family.
But neither Maria Schariac, nor even Angelina Schariac, nor even Anna Schariac, who became the Artificial Herrscher of Ice, could surpass her.
Even so, the number of Key of Reason they could manipulate simultaneously did not reach three digits.
Given that Bianca is increasingly resembling Cecilia Schariac, it's no wonder that other Valkyrie would make the same connection.
Of course, at first they thought Bianca should be Otto and Cecilia's daughter.
That's right, it's still about Otto and Cecilia being the daughters.
Previously, this "daughter theory" applied to Freya, since Freya's behavior and mannerisms were too similar to Otto's, and Otto's favoritism towards her was obvious to all, naturally leading many Valkyrie to believe that this was the case.
After all, what qualifications does a girl from the Schariac Family and Kaslana Family families have to be the second in line to succeed the Apolcalis Family?
The only explanation is that she was born out of wedlock.
In fact, this kind of daughter theory was still popular among some Valkyrie until recently, which caused them to unconsciously cast pitying glances at Siegfried when they encountered him.
However, as Freya's identity became increasingly difficult to conceal, this theory of daughterhood disappeared.
But at this time, Bianca grew up and had a very similar appearance to Cecilia, and the dormant theory of daughters was revived.
Especially at this time, Otto joined the League. Although Freya had already executed him through social death, everyone in the League knew that a bastard like Otto would never die.
Coincidentally, Bianca in this world was discovered by Otto by chance, and it was he who arranged for Bianca to join the League, which led to a relatively close relationship between Bianca and Otto.
Therefore, the illogical "daughter theory" is increasingly showing signs of being substantiated.
This caused Siegfried to be stared at with tender gazes wherever he went for a period of time, which made him feel very uncomfortable.
Sophia complained irritably, even with the consciousness network sharing the Starmap, there are indeed very few who can manipulate the power of five hundred Stigmata like Bianca, and even restrain the power from spreading.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that Bianca's precise control over Honkai Energy is even more exaggerated than that of Artificial Herrscher.
The three teams formed Starmap, and as a result, apart from Bianca, the others could only honestly act as energy rechargers, allowing them to unleash the power of the Stigmata at the same time. Just one strike was enough to knock them to the ground.
Even if the Key of Reason has a consumption limit, the feeling of consuming a large amount of mental energy at once is still unpleasant. It's like having someone dancing around your bed the day after a hangover.
Sophia's sarcastic remarks made Bianca chuckle a few times. However, her background was still unknown. But she was definitely not a clone of Kiana. Instead, she was herself from a parallel world, the Kiana of that world.
"Lady Bianca, I hope the attack just now didn't have any impact on the moon."
"No, I've controlled the power."
Upon hearing Sophia's question, Bianca quickly replied.
The attack just now was mainly to kill the Judgment-class Honkai Beast hiding underground, not to destroy the planet. That's why she chose the Starmap instead of the more destructive Holy Sword and Holy Lance.
Bianca was very confident in her self-control. After all, in the entire league, including Freya, there were few who could surpass her in self-control. Only Aurora and Kiana were slightly inferior to her in this regard.
Of course, as for Freya, it's not that her control is stronger than hers, but rather that her will transcends limits, allowing her to manipulate the Key of Reason with virtually no upper limit. If we're talking about control alone, Bianca is only slightly inferior to her.
However, it is very difficult for willpower to break through the limit. If you say there is no threshold, Fu Hua, who was originally thought to be the second person to break through the limit of willpower, did not break through, but Kevin did. However, if you say there is a threshold, there are many Valkyrie in the League who are on the verge of breaking through the limit. But in terms of mental strength alone, few of them have reached the level of Fu Hua and SU. However, the two are still very far from breaking through the limit.
At this moment, Bianca was unaware that Fu Hua, in her own consciousness space, had successfully broken through the limits of her will by facing repeated denials from her superego.
Bianca was also on the verge of breaking through her will, but her personal mental strength far surpassed that of the other Valkyrie.
While physical constitution can vary from person to person, it is much harder to say who has a higher or lower level of willpower.
As Freya has always emphasized, although the third system, which has been separated out, is called the Consciousness System, the Willpower System is the true name of this system.
Soon, the Starmap Sagittarius reorganized and formed a beautiful white Holy Lily in the sky.
The floral Starmap is for Cecilia Holy Lily.
By recombining the Starmap formed by the Key of Reason, completely different effects are produced.
If the bow-type Starmap is for penetrating targets, then the flower-type Starmap is for reducing burden and increasing one's mental coverage range.
"Sophia, An, Aisha, Rosalia... it's your turn to make a move. I'll cover the rest of the expenses."
"Yes, Captain."
"Knew."
"Hmph, if Bronya and Seele weren't absent, a team of Silver Wolf and Death Scythe would have been even more lethal."
"Xing, don't complain. Bianca's Cecilia Holy Lily can restore mental energy and also make our combat power explode fifty times. It is currently the most effective Starmap in the alliance in actual combat."
The knight squad belonging to Bianca replied that being forced to act as a power bank to support Bianca's needs was not a pleasant experience.
However, after Bianca adopted the flower-themed Starmap, it meant that their combat power was unleashed.
Simply put, a simple enhancement Starmap amplifies the Valkyrie's combat power, making her attack power stronger, her defense power stronger, and so on. Starmap shaped like guns, bows, and other weapons also show this effect very clearly, simply enhancing penetration, breakthrough, and other effects.
For example, Bronya's Silver Wolf Starmap is composed of sixty Key of Reason from her squad, which mainly grants her powerful agility and mobility, and also comes with environmental effects that ignore snowfield terrain.
Seele's Death Scythe Starmap is also composed of sixty Key of Reason from her own squad, primarily inflicting undefendable soul damage.
Bianca's Flower Starmap is a special type, most importantly possessing a mental energy recovery effect that other Starmap do not have. It also consumes very little mental energy and enhances the Valkyrie's strength, stamina, agility, and other attributes.
Reminded by Aisha, Xing immediately became angry. With Bronya and Seele not around, she was naturally a little smug, but she hadn't forgotten her current task.
The use of Starmap by frontline troops meant a significant increase in the intensity of combat.
After all, the power of the Starmap is obvious to all. Even an ordinary Valkyrie squad can increase its combat power by at least fifteen times. If there is a Knight squad with a core figure, the combat power it can unleash is far more than that.
In exchange for overwhelming power, the Valkyrie's battle time would naturally be greatly shortened. This is why Freya arranged follow-up troops at the lunar base and also placed some members of this campaign at the Alliance headquarters.
"Be careful, don't stray outside Cecilia Holy Lily's area, and don't go into other people's Starmap areas to interfere with them."
"Understood, Lady Bianca."
"Understood."
"Sister, let's go."
Although the current Starmap still has many flaws, its powerful enough force allowed the Immortal Blade Squad, Silver Wolf Squad, and Radiance Squad to slaughter all the Honkai Beast in their path as easily as killing chickens and dogs.
Although the underground Judgment-class Honkai Beast were not completely wiped out, Bianca's attack terrified the surviving Judgment-class Honkai Beast, giving the other assault teams time to react.