"Miss Bella, I said I mean no harm to Sirin!"
Cecilia gripped the Black Abyss White Flower, a dark mist swirling around her as it neutralized Benares's nearly continuous Honkai energy blasts.
"I want to save her too! In fact, of everyone here, I'm the only one who can stop Otto from killing her. Just calm down, and we can work together to find a sol—"
Before she could finish, her words were cut off once more by Bella.
"Do you truly believe," Bella's voice was icy, "that after you schemed and caused Lynelle's death, our Queen would ever trust any of you again?"
Bella pivoted, having taken human form for combat, her long tail sweeping forcefully to push Cecilia back.
"At the very least, I will never trust you again. If you wish to approach our Queen, you'll have to go through me first!"
"Tch…"
A flicker of anxiety rose in Cecilia's heart.
She had seen Otto taking Fu Hua towards Sirin's location with her own eyes.
She knew all too well the power of the Red Kite Immortal—even if Cecilia fought with her life on the line, her chances of victory were slim. And Sirin had almost no real combat experience.
Just then, an earth-shattering pressure suddenly erupted from the distance. Nearly everyone on the battlefield heard Fu Hua's soft, yet clear, murmur.
["All my past, entrusted to this blade…"]
["Fenghuang Down, First Power—"]
["Taixu Divine Sword—"]
"Oh no!"
Cecilia's face paled. Even though she had never witnessed Fu Hua going all out, she had seen Siegfried's Judgement of Shamash.
And the power behind Fu Hua's strike now… it far surpassed even that.
'There's no time to hesitate now…'
Cecilia gritted her teeth.
Her original plan was to temporarily disable Bella's wings and then rush to Sirin's aid. But Bella seemed to have seen right through her, maintaining her human form to engage her in close quarters, forcing Cecilia to fight cautiously, holding back.
But now, with Sirin's life hanging by a thread, if Cecilia wanted any chance at redemption for the girl, this was it.
She could no longer afford to worry about seriously injuring Bella. The black-and-white lance in her hand began to glow faintly as she channeled her Honkai energy into it.
"What—?"
Bella was startled as Cecilia suddenly vanished from sight. Before she could locate her opponent, Cecilia had already reappeared behind her.
"I'm sorry, Miss Bella!"
This time, the pitch-black tip of the lance didn't merely scrape against Bella's skin as before. Instead, it erupted with a corrosive black mist and plunged decisively through Bella's chest.
"Ugh…!"
Ignoring Bella's cry of pain, Cecilia instantly activated another function of the Divine Key. A pure white light enveloped Bella's body, containing the spreading black mist around the wound and, crucially, shielding her core.
'That should… take her out of the fight for a while.'
Cecilia wiped a bead of sweat from her temple. Controlling the Divine Key with such precision was a significant challenge even for her. And because Bella's true form was that of a Honkai beast, the energy drain was far greater than she had anticipated.
'No matter. I can't worry about that now. I have to get to the main battle.'
After carrying the unconscious Bella to a relatively safe spot, Cecilia vanished again, speeding towards the location where Fu Hua had unleashed her ultimate attack.
It was a testament to her status as Schicksal's strongest S-Rank Valkyrie. Even while weakened from recently giving birth to Kiana and having expended a great deal of Honkai energy, Cecilia still managed to arrive in time for the tail end of the battle.
However, the scene before her was far from what she had expected.
"Ahahaha! AHAHAHAHA!"
Her assumption—of finding a gravely wounded Sirin, forcing her to cry out 'Spare her!'—had not materialized.
Instead, on their own side, Otto was laughing like a madman, shouting nonsense about "The truth of the Honkai, I have comprehended it!" Fu Hua, meanwhile, looked on the verge of death.
"Captain!"
Cheng Lixue, who had moments before worn a look of grim determination, now had hope shining in her eyes at the sight of the newcomer.
"What happened?"
"The Bishop's experiment backfired! Master used her ultimate technique to slay the Second Herrscher, but it was blocked by something. The Herrscher is completely unharmed! I was just about to—"
"Alright, I understand."
Cecilia wasn't sure what she should be feeling at that moment. "Bishop, if you're still coherent, take Miss Fu Hua and Lixue and leave. I'll handle things here."
"…"
Still seemingly reeling from the impact of the Will of Honkai, Otto merely gave a weak nod. Taking hold of Fu Hua, he turned and retreated without a second glance.
"Hmm…"
Across from Cecilia, Sirin stared at the crimson feather floating near her hand, her consciousness slowly returning from its state of shock.
That last attack… without a doubt, it should have annihilated her. Even with the five Cores currently within her, it would have been utterly useless.
So why… did it feel like that sword strike had missed?
'Will of Honkai, do you know what happened?'
'Will of Honkai?'
'Wait… my connection to the Will of Honkai… it's been severed?!'
It dawned on Sirin then. Something had interposed itself between her and that final strike.
'Heh… How useless am I? Even with power like this, it's always others who have to pay the price…'
A bitter, sorrowful smile touched Sirin's lips as she snatched the few remaining crimson feathers from the air.
If these things had severed her link to the Will of Honkai, then in theory, by mastering their power, she could reconnect.
Her gaze swept the ground below.
The flat-chested grey-haired woman who had nearly killed her and that obnoxious blonde man were gone, having likely retreated. In their place stood a gentle-looking woman with long white hair.
This white-haired woman was the same one who had almost killed Bella.
Sirin, through her shared senses with her servant, had confirmed that much. But she had also confirmed that at the last possible moment, this woman had used a strange power to stabilize Bella, preserving her life.
It was… perplexing.
More importantly, there was something familiar about this woman—a feeling that gave Sirin the strange illusion she was looking at Lynelle. It was a gentleness tinged with a hint of maternal warmth…
Almost instinctively, Sirin categorized Cecilia in the 'possibly a good person' box, similar to that Anti-Entropy Sovereign she'd met before.
Sirin was self-aware enough to know she was likely the villain in this story, so for these 'good people,' she preferred to avoid killing them if possible.
'Whatever. This is a good chance to test the power of these feathers. I'll just pull them all into an illusion…'
But just as Sirin drew Cecilia, Siegfried, and the others into the shared illusion…
Otto, who had retreated far away to a secure location, suddenly opened his eyes. Then, without warning, he struck the completely unprepared Cheng Lixue from behind, knocking her unconscious.
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T/N: Gacha x Multiverse Fic Up!
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.