Patiently waiting for Lia to finish her explanation, Saori then picked up the broadsword resting nearby. While choosing a direction and moving forward, she ordered, "That's all that's important for now. You can discuss the details on the way. Right now, we need to find where those Honkai Beasts are."
Hearing their captain's words, Ming Yu and Lia felt too embarrassed to linger any longer and quickly followed.
"While I was waiting, I already scouted the surrounding area and found some tracks of the Honkai Beasts. You two should be prepared at all times; we could encounter them at any moment."
Striding at the front of the group, Saori observed the environment, changing direction from time to time, while not forgetting to alert the two rookies behind her.
The helicopter had only dropped them off at a location where Honkai Beasts had appeared; it hadn't dropped them directly on top of them. So, although their mission was to eliminate those Honkai Beasts, finding them was Squad 16's first priority.
Undoubtedly, tracking and locating the enemy was one of the requirements of this mission, and it was also something the two rookies needed to learn.
Or perhaps, was it only something Ming Yu needed to learn?
Saori was at the front, searching for clues and explaining as she went, while Lia seemed to be understanding, nodding at the tracks. But Ming Yu, on the other hand, was completely bewildered. He could only widen his eyes and try his best to remember every word Saori said, planning to cram this knowledge after the mission was over.
There was no helping it. Who was to blame for him not completing all his courses at St. Freya High School?
To be honest, although many of St. Freya High School's courses were similar to those of a regular high school, as the Far East Branch's Valkyrie training institution, it still had many of Schicksal's specialized courses.
At least in terms of Valkyrie training, it had all the content that other branches had, just that the study period and intensity were more relaxed.
If one could complete all the courses in St. Freya High School's teaching plan, becoming an official Valkyrie was entirely possible.
Unfortunately, not only was Ming Yu a transfer student, he was even on the verge of graduating early. He simply hadn't had time to learn the knowledge that was extremely important for an ordinary Valkyrie.
And St. Freya High School's instructor, Auntie Himeko... sis, had no intention of giving him extra lessons. After all, tutoring was obviously less interesting than drinking.
Thus, while his two teammates were busy searching for Honkai Beasts, Ming Yu could only rest one hand on the hilt of his Sakura Fubuki and openly slack off.
Fortunately, his teammates had invested quite a few skill points in this area and quickly found traces of the Honkai Beasts, ending his embarrassing situation.
Just ahead in the bushes, a huge white wall stood tall, and occasionally, a few loud "bangs" could be heard.
Looking at that massive white figure, Ming Yu couldn't help but exclaim, "It's so huge~"
Although he had already prepared himself mentally, when he truly saw a Chariot-class Honkai Beast that was about twenty meters tall, Ming Yu still felt a profound shock in his heart.
A behemoth of this level could make the ground tremble with just a casual stomp.
As they slowly got closer, Ming Yu finally saw the full view of this Honkai Beast, as well as another fifteen-meter-tall Chariot-class Honkai Beast.
The two Honkai Beasts, dozens of meters tall, moved forward with an extremely slow pace. The dull thuds of their forelimbs stepping down spread with the trembling of the ground, traveling far into the forest.
Due to their size, the Honkai Beasts' speed couldn't be called slow, yet it gave off a strange sense of leisure, as if they were simply taking a walk.
Watching the approaching Honkai Beasts, Saori pondered for a moment, then said to Ming Yu and Lia behind her, "I'll hold off the big one first. You two take care of the smaller one as quickly as possible. Any problems?"
Although the three of them were currently in a squad, aside from Ming Yu and Lia who had trained together for a while, Saori had absolutely no rapport with the other two. If they were to fight together from the start, let alone coordinating, it would be a great success if they didn't get in each other's way.
It was out of this consideration that Saori made this arrangement, temporarily splitting the three of them into two groups. Even though, in theory, Ming Yu and Lia could take care of both Honkai Beasts without taking any damage, Saori still wanted to make the rookies' first battle a bit simpler, and also to see their true strength.
Nodding, neither Ming Yu nor Lia objected. It was a very simple plan, but also a very reasonable one. There was no need for either of them to argue.
"Then, let the operation begin!"
With that, Saori immediately tightened her grip on her broadsword and charged towards the larger Honkai Beast, leading the way.
"Let's go!"
Glancing at Lia, Ming Yu said as he drew his Sakura Fubuki and followed his captain's steps, charging towards the smaller Honkai Beast.
Seeing the human figures, the two Honkai Beasts also changed their previous leisurely pace and became violent.
Honkai and civilization were mortal enemies, and there would be no coexistence between Honkai Beasts and humans. There was only a battle to the death.
Seeing that Saori had intercepted the larger Honkai Beast, Ming Yu didn't hesitate to swing several sword waves at the other one, simultaneously drawing it away to create a separate battlefield and leave enough space for their fight.
Dodging a stomp from the Honkai Beast, Ming Yu glanced at Saori dozens of meters away, then refocused his attention on the Honkai Beast in front of him.
"Next, let's have some fun."
Looking at the behemoth before him, Ming Yu revealed a playful smile.
"Roar!" But all he got in return was an unromantic roar.
Although this Honkai Beast was much larger than the ones simulated by the training devices, and its speed and strength were also much greater, Ming Yu's strength had not stagnated. What's more, he now had the enhancement of his armor.
Honkai Energy flowed through the blue patterns on the armor, and Ming Yu gradually felt his body become lighter and more powerful.
With a swing of the spirit blade in his hand, a whooshing sound was heard as a bright red sword wave shot out, leaving a deep gash on the Honkai Beast's shoulder.
The bodies of Honkai Beasts are silicon-based. Do such structures have nerves? And do they feel pain when their bodies are damaged?
Maybe they do, maybe they don't. That was a question Ming Yu couldn't answer. But there was no doubt that they reacted to attacks.
After taking a sword wave from Ming Yu, the Honkai Beast showed no sign of retreating. Instead, it charged towards Ming Yu even more fiercely.
It swung its right limb heavily, and a small, ten-meter-tall tree was snapped in half at the waist, flying straight towards Ming Yu, branches and all.
To the Honkai Beast, it had just broken off a branch and thrown it. But to Ming Yu, the scale of this "branch" was clearly a bit too large.
Although Ming Yu felt he was in good shape, he also knew how foolish it was to go head-to-head with a Honkai Beast, so he dodged without hesitation.
Slicing through the branches he couldn't dodge in time with his spirit blade, Ming Yu looked up again to find the Honkai Beast's figure, only to see a huge white cylinder smashing down towards him.
Evidently, the intelligence of these Honkai Beasts was much higher than those simulated ones; they even knew how to use the environment to their advantage in a fight.
Flipping over to dodge the giant limb, Ming Yu charged up briefly and then leaped towards the Honkai Beast's other forelimb, the already unsheathed spirit blade in his hand glinting with a dangerous cold light in the air.
"Slash~, Slash~"
As several sharp flashes of sword light appeared, one of the Honkai Beast's forelimbs was instantly chopped into several pieces, and the Honkai Beast itself lost its balance and fell.
"Roar—"
The amputated Honkai Beast let out an unwilling roar, still trying to continue its attack.
But the next moment, a black long spear suddenly pierced through its head, silencing the unpleasant roar.
And next to it, a blonde girl in blue and white armor was holding the spear's shaft, slowly pulling the weapon out.