Honkai Dimension, Imperial Standard Calendar Year 1030 (converted based on the standard day of the Akame ga Kill world), five years later, deep winter.
...
Imperial Capital Southern Lake Barracks. Snowflakes like willow catkins drifted with the wind through the sky, lightly scattering across the land that had already been dyed pure white, coating the streets of the Imperial Capital in a heavy layer of winter snow.
The densely packed buildings of the Imperial Capital, set against the snowy scenery, appeared even more majestic and imposing. Heaven and earth blended into one, with only a vast expanse of silver in sight, as if the entire world had been decorated with silver.
"Kofuku, so much time has already passed..."
Walking through the Southern Lake Barracks—now enclosed within the Inner City after the expansion of the Imperial Capital—and gazing at the surroundings that felt both unfamiliar and familiar, the blonde woman among the three high-ranking members of the 'Sisters of Battle' let out a long sigh filled with complicated emotions, speaking with a hint of sentimentality.
However, she was no longer the girl she once had been. That complex surge of emotion brought on by the scenery quickly settled down.
The 'Cursed Children', who once trembled merely under the gaze of Astartes warriors, had finally grown up.
One year ago, after the 'Sisters of Battle' completed their reorganization, they officially entered the battlefield of the Empire's outward wars of conquest under Selene's orders, undergoing a full year of uninterrupted, real combat.
Visibly, the childishness on them had completely faded away.
Now, according to orders from the Ministry of War, the 'Sisters of Battle' had begun their combat rotation, being withdrawn back to the Imperial Capital for recuperation, larger-scale manpower replenishment, and the outfitting of new-model weapons.
Naturally, during the conquest wars on the expeditionary front lines, losses in manpower and equipment among the 'Sisters of Battle' had also been continuously replenished.
It was just that replenishment carried out directly in the Imperial Capital was larger in scale and faster in speed.
That was right. They were precisely the 'Cursed Children' who had once been received by Selene in the Grand Imperial Palace and had passed Sebas' high-standard tests.
On that day, as expected, they had all chosen to swallow the mixture of Super-class Danger Beast Tyrant cells and Honkai Cubes personally prepared by Selene.
Some were eliminated because they could not withstand the excruciating pain brought by the enhancement. Others lost their qualification as warriors due to excessive erosion by Honkai energy. Those individuals were then reassigned as attendants within the Grand Imperial Palace.
In the end, only the three of them endured the potential enhancement. While retaining extraordinary potential, the DNA bodily defects caused by infection with the Gastrea virus were healed, and their red pupils faded and returned to normal.
After passing the potential enhancement, although the three of them still nominally belonged to the 'Sisters of Battle' sequence, in a sense, they had already become elite Royal Guard personally micro-enhanced by Selene.
Even after five years, the realization of their potential was still far from reaching its limit.
Thus, they were valued by Arisa and, after undergoing continuous training in combat skills, command ability, and many other aspects within the recruit barracks, were formally granted military ranks to assist Arisa in managing the 'Sisters of Battle'.
"Yes. After four years of nonstop training, we went straight into combat. Now, in the blink of an eye, another year is about to pass," replied the silver-haired woman in violet armor, the one called Kofuku.
All three wore commander-type customized female power armor with differing color schemes.
"An, coming here—does this scenery remind you of the Overseer?" she asked, turning the question toward her blonde companion.
"Let things take their course. Now that we belong to different military units, we shouldn't overstep our bounds. If fate allows us to meet again, we can offer our thanks then," the blonde woman in black armor said, shaking her head.
She adjusted the finely crafted cross-shaped powered longsword magnetically secured at her waist.
Returning once more, everything had already changed. They had never imagined that, as 'Cursed Children', they would one day be able to walk freely under the sunlight, enjoying the cheers and admiration of the people.
Those Imperial Auxilia who had once ignored them now stopped to salute them one by one upon meeting them again. Truly, yesterday's dust had become today's gold—their circumstances were utterly different now.
"...Eh? An, what are you all doing?"
As she spoke, noticing the abnormal silence of one companion who had not said a word, the two walking in front turned around, stopped, and looked toward the partner who had frozen in place.
She wore brass-colored finely crafted power armor. Compared to the other two companions, her figure was taller and more robust. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail braid, and her smooth forehead was adorned with red markings.
"Ah? Oh, I was looking at these slogans... These are talking about the Astartes Legions, right? Compared to them, our 'Sisters of Battle' are still a whole tier lower in Her Majesty's eyes," said the black-haired woman in bronze armor called An, turning back toward them, her words carrying a trace of competitive unwillingness as she pointed at the imposing relief text carved into the Inner City wall.
Hearing her words, the two ahead also turned around and followed the direction she indicated. Beneath the golden Imperial double-headed aquila emblem, grand calligraphic reliefs carved the proclamations of the great Empress Selene.
"They are the warriors I created, the ones of whom I am most proud, willing to give their lives for me. They are like pure ore; I send them into the crucible of war to temper wills and bodies like refined steel."
"I shall clad them in armor that cannot be broken and arm them with divine weapons that never fail. Plague and disease shall not touch them. They shall learn the arts of war and master ingenious machines, and by these means none shall be their equal."
"They are the bulwark against fear for the Empire, its defenders. With blade and steel they shall expand the Empire's dominion. They are my Astartes warriors, and they shall know no fear."
Among them, the blonde woman in black armor called Ang read the words aloud softly.
"Isn't this obvious... How many people are there in the Astartes Legions? And how many are there in our 'Sisters of Battle'? Besides, we don't even have the qualifications to compare ourselves with those original generals," said the silver-haired woman in violet armor called Kofuku with a wry smile after straightening her posture and respectfully sweeping her gaze across the relief.
Unlike the 'Sisters of Battle', whose current manpower mainly came from conquered worlds—namely the Black Bullet world—the legion commanders and core cadres of the twenty Astartes Legions currently campaigning abroad all originated from Selene's original former Imperial Guard units.
Leaving aside their attached Imperial Auxilia, the Astartes warriors alone numbered at least over one hundred thousand in each legion. Among them, the Second Legion—Retributors—led by Great General Budo was the largest, having already reached two hundred thousand.
Generals Alex and Liver followed closely behind. The First Legion, Dark Angels, and the Third Legion, Black Marlin, both exceeded one hundred fifty thousand in strength.
Meanwhile, their 'Sisters of Battle' currently had only around seventeen thousand combat personnel. Their recruitment world was not even under their sole control, but temporarily managed by the First Legion, Dark Angels. Tell me—was there any comparability at all?
"Hmph. Sooner or later, we'll prove to Her Majesty that we won't be inferior to them!"
Hearing this, the black-haired woman in bronze armor called An rubbed her forehead irritably, speaking with clear regret.
"This time, our luck in outward conquest was terrible. In one year we took down three and a half worlds. The efficiency was indeed good, but not a single one could become a recruitment world!"
"One was a savage beast world. One was a slave society still stuck in the Bronze and Iron Ages. One did enter modern society with decent technological levels, but by its system, it still couldn't serve as a recruitment world."
As she spoke, the displeasure on her face grew even stronger.
According to the recruitment world standards set by Empress Selene, worlds that had entered modern society—especially relatively peaceful ones with highly developed networked communication media in the twenty-first century—were generally not permitted to serve as recruitment worlds.
The reason was simple: they knew too much, their thinking was overly active, and at the slightest disagreement they would rebel. For a feudal ruler like Selene, they all had the potential to become troublesome subjects. The cost of making them loyal was far too high.
"Although we did capture some special cannibalistic individuals hidden among ordinary humans who could release flesh tentacles and blades—mm... according to their world's terms, ghouls with kagune organs—sigh, it's a pity they eat people."
Feeding on ordinary humans was fundamentally different from abilities that obtained information through consuming a target's flesh. The latter was a tactical capability, while the former could be labeled heretical and alien.
"Imperial civilians given even minimal training in the Imperial Auxilia recruit camps are stronger than them. At best, they can only be sent to the Imperial Science Bureau as individual experimental subjects—barely better than nothing."
If talent was insufficient, then Honkai Energy would make up for it. But the racial upper limit of ghouls was already low, and now with such a massive physiological defect added on top, there was simply no need to consider them.
"Hehe, wasn't a life-suitable world discovered recently? It's a world largely covered by oceans. After observation, it has abundant life, vast disparities in individual strength, and uneven technological development."
"It should be a suitable recruitment world."
Resting her arms on the shoulders of her two companions, the blonde woman in black armor said with a giggle, displaying joy and childishness wholly mismatched with her mature appearance.
"But Ang, you should know that we aren't the only ones who discovered that world. While we were returning to the Empire for rest and reorganization, I heard that the next operation won't involve only the Astartes Legions..."
"Even the Imperial Assassination Unit and the Imperial Special Jaegers units will be participating."
"Kofuku, you're so long-winded... I just hope Lady Arisa can help our 'Sisters of Battle' fight for a bit more opportunity in front of Her Majesty."
...
Imperial Capital, Grand Imperial Palace, Schönbrunn Palace.
"Lion, Fulgrim, Angron..."
Reclining against a luxurious sofa painted in gold and crimson, Selene murmured as she looked over the report submitted by Arisa.
"It seems they passed the test. The contingency plan can be canceled."
After a year of baptism by war, the 'Sisters of Battle' had proven their worth. Naturally, Selene would not disband them without cause.
Rapidly flipping through the illustrated report, Selene was quite satisfied with the 'Sisters of Battle' conquering three small worlds in a year and discovering one new world.
Especially that modern world containing ghouls—the detailed explanations of kagune cells, Koukaku, Ukaku, Bikaku, and Rinkaku stirred a sense of familiarity and reminiscence within Selene.
And as for the newly discovered world...
"...Three joys at once?" Stirring the red tea in her glass cup, Selene could not suppress the smile at the corner of her lips.
Not long ago, the Ninth and Thirteenth Astartes Legions had almost simultaneously sent in reports regarding new worlds. Because the Ninth Legion operated along the same conquest direction as the 'Sisters of Battle', the world they discovered was the same.
The Thirteenth Legion, on the other hand, had discovered another new world where technology, civilization, population, and supernatural forces all coexisted.
Carefully reviewing the information—ocean-dominated geography, large numbers of gigantic creatures, the Eurasian Sky Disaster, spacequakes...
At this point, Selene had been worried that her subordinates might lack sufficient strength to handle it. But with Esdeath's revival, everything became easy.
Even without Selene saying anything, Esdeath—having completed her Herrscher of Ice transformation—would certainly be unable to resist testing her new powers.
Like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, Selene placed these two rather troublesome new world conquest tasks before Esdeath. She would surely be unable to resist. The only question was which one she would choose.
And just then—creak~
Click, clack...
Speak of the devil.
The heavy palace doors slowly opened under the push of two golden-armored Royal Guards. The crisp sound of high heels striking gilded floor tiles echoed repeatedly through the vast and deep hall.
The ice-blue beauty looked around the palace furnishings with interest, showing not the slightest intimidation toward the golden-armored Royal Guards on duty, until she found the object of her loyalty.
"Your Majesty! This subordinate has lived up to expectations and completed the Herrscher transformation."
Selene looked toward the voice. At the doorway, Esdeath—her aura now far deeper—knelt on one knee. Facing Selene, her posture was exceptionally respectful, showing no arrogance despite her surge in power.
Upon closer inspection, Esdeath's appearance had changed drastically. Her hair was still ice-blue, but her former white military uniform had been replaced by a arresting attire befitting a Herrscher.
She wore a white crown and a deep-blue veil. Her entire upper body was clad in black-blue attire adorned with white hexagonal decorations. Her forearms faded into deep blue, with both hands entwined by ice spikes. A deep-blue-to-white gradient cape flowed behind her, from which two ice chains hung, and on either side of her body floated an ice candle.
The design left her thighs bare and smooth, their fair contours uninterrupted by the short hem. The clean lines emphasized a shapely firmness that contrasted with the cold motifs above, as if the ice itself had yielded to deliberate restraint in their exposure.
Below, white thigh-high stockings traced upward only partway, patterned in blue before giving way to skin. Seven-inch high heels lifted her stance, lending the form a sharp elegance that aligned closely with Selene's own taste.
Clap.
Closing the report folder and setting it on the table, Selene rose to her feet. Her gaze settling on Esdeath with clear satisfaction.
"Esdeath, you came at the perfect time. Two tasks—choose one, as a warm-up for completing your Herrscher of Ice transformation."