Bronya panted heavily, dragging her battered and exhausted body, step by step, across the Sea of Quanta.
Was her strength reaching its limit?
No—she couldn't fall here. Seele... and everyone else was still waiting for her.
Relying solely on her willpower, she moved forward slowly, forcing her shattered body onward.
No one knew how much time had passed before she finally stood before the Core of Reason.
"Finally... Seele, I'm here to save you," she said, steadying herself with one hand as she reached for the core.
"Aaah!!"
A surge of Honkai energy surrounding the core repelled her fiercely, eating away at her arm. A scream of pain escaped her lips.
"I cannot give up here! Seele is still waiting for me!" Bronya screamed in her heart.
Her arm inched forward through sheer determination. She grasped the Core of Reason—just as joy flickered in her heart, an even more violent wave of Honkai energy erupted from the core. The force of it made the core tremble violently in her palm.
Then, from the ground, dozens of tendrils shot up and wrapped around her before she could react, constricting tighter and tighter.
"Hold on... I must not give up!" Bronya cried, enduring the searing pain, clinging desperately to the Core of Reason. But it began slipping from her hand, little by little.
"Aaahh!!" she screamed.
Just as she was on the brink of collapse, a blue butterfly fluttered across her vision and gently landed on her hand.
"Is that you, Seele...?"
As if responding, the chaotic Honkai energy calmed. In Bronya's stunned gaze, the Core of Reason floated into her chest and merged with her being.
The Herrscher of Reason... was born.
With a burst of overwhelming energy, Bronya shattered the tendrils restraining her into dust.
"Seele, I'm coming for you."
RRRAAAHH!!!
Before she could leave, a colossal shadow burst forth from beneath the earth. Towering dozens of meters tall, it loomed over Bronya, cloaking her in its shadow.
Tlaloc—the gigantic Honkai beast of the Sea of Quanta—stronger even than a Judgment-class beast.
"I'll deal with you first."
Behind Bronya, Heavy Bunny locked onto its target.
But something unexpected happened.
In the once-desolate Sea of Quanta, over a hundred people suddenly appeared out of thin air.
"What the...?" Bronya froze. "Wait—is that... Miss Himeko?"
The flood of new information hit her so hard that her brain simply froze.
Even Tlaloc seemed stunned by the sudden crowd. It stopped, not attacking.
"Where the hell did these people come from?" was the shared thought in both their minds.
"Where are we exactly?" Rimuru looked around curiously.
"Hmm, this place is weird!" Whitebeard scratched his head, wide-eyed. "Hey, look at that in the sky... is that a cellphone? Since when were phones that huge?"
"I think this is the Sea of Quanta," Rimuru guessed. After all, he only knew about it from the game.
"Wait, isn't that Bronya?" Himeko said, pointing excitedly toward the distance.
ROAAARR!!
Ignored for too long, Tlaloc let out a deafening roar and charged at them.
"How rude," Whitebeard said casually, brushing off the massive hand swinging toward them. "Marco, it's yours."
"Hmph!" Marco erupted in a blue-violet flame—yes, violet now, after being strengthened repeatedly through the guild. His phoenix powers were more ferocious than ever, and the flames now had destructive force.
Marco leapt forward, kicking the monstrous hand with a power that clashed midair with the massive beast. Despite the size difference, neither budged.
"BREAK!!" Marco roared. The fire around him surged, and with a violent burst, he shattered Tlaloc's arm, engulfing the beast in purging flames.
RAAARGHH!!
The flaming Tlaloc screamed, but no matter how it writhed, the fire showed no signs of extinguishing. After several minutes of struggle, the Honkai beast crumbled to ash and vanished into the air.
"What the heck...?" Bronya still couldn't process it.
That massive Honkai beast was defeated... just like that? And they weren't even Valkyries?
"Bronya!" Himeko ran over and hugged her tightly.
"Aunt Himeko..." Bronya felt Himeko's warmth and hugged her back.
"You're okay... Thank goodness." Himeko wiped her tears and smiled.
"Aunt Himeko, what's going on? Who are they?" Bronya asked, bewildered.
"Who are we?" Whitebeard stepped forward with a laugh. "We're the good guys here to save the world, kid." He crouched and gave Bronya a warm smile.
Then came the usual line: "Wanna be my daughter?"
"I don't know what's going on... but I refuse." Bronya replied with her usual deadpan expression.
"Another rejection?! Do they have to be so cold about it..." Whitebeard wilted, trudging away with a gloomy face.
"Uh... Grandpa Whitebeard means well," Himeko explained awkwardly. She'd heard of Whitebeard's strange habits, but seeing them firsthand was something else.
"Bronya understands. I didn't sense any ill intent." She nodded, still as expressionless as ever.
"Are we done chatting?" Rimuru poked his head in with a smile.
"Can we tell her everything?" Himeko asked. She was still new to the guild and wasn't sure about the rules yet.
"Of course," Rimuru said with a grin. "Why don't you explain it to her?"
So, Himeko explained the guild's origins, and their mission in this world. For the first time, Bronya's stoic face cracked with surprise.
"I never imagined... there was a guild like this. I'm genuinely shocked," Bronya said. Then she glanced at Rimuru, hesitation in her eyes.
"If you have a question, just ask. No need to be shy," Rimuru reassured her with a smile.
"Can you tell me where Seele is?" Bronya asked, eyes full of hope. "I need to bring her back."
"Hold on a sec," Rimuru said, closing his eyes. His immense mental power swept across the Sea of Quanta, probing the vast space.
Suddenly, he "saw" something—a giant sakura tree blooming in the distance.
"Found her," he said, opening his eyes.
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