[When it comes to telling people what they want to hear, and ghosts what they want to hear, this System will call you—the strongest!]
Upon hearing the System's words, Leo felt that the System had a great misunderstanding of him.
Alright, maybe not a misunderstanding, but couldn't the description be a little more positive?
What do you mean, 'telling people what they want to hear, and ghosts what they want to hear'? This is called prescribing the right medicine for the illness!
[Yes, this is called prescribing the right medicine for the illness.]
[With this thought, you are quite certain that the words you spoke were undoubtedly a strong dose of medicine for those two girls.]
[Yuno does indeed need something to distract her, and Bronya working hard to atone for her sins is indeed a feasible path—in the original story, if it weren't for her, Cocolia might not have survived.]
[Since this 'medicine' can solve the problem, then it's naturally good medicine. As for the problems inherent in the 'medicine' itself...]
[Every medicine has its side effects. Sometimes, necessary sacrifices must be made. Wanting to arrange everything perfectly without a single flaw is something not even Otto Apocalypse can achieve.]
[How could you, who are far inferior to him in both intellect and ability, possibly do better?]
*Yeah, you're right.*
*I never intended to completely solve the problems in that little girl's heart from the start.*
*My actions now, whether towards Yuno or Bronya, are essentially just giving them a reason, giving them more time to see for themselves what they should do.*
*As for what the future holds, I'm still confident in certain aspects.*
*Cocolia will definitely not 'disappoint' me, even as she disappoints Bronya.*
[Right? After all, she's Honkai's number one surrealist.]
[Setting aside other frequently appearing female characters for now, a buxom blonde with a pretty face like her has never been your target.]
[Firmly believing that if she doesn't kill herself trying, she'll keep trying until she's dead, you think—it's better for this woman to die sooner rather than later.]
*Setting aside bizarre terms like 'target', I strongly agree with your last sentence.*
*As for whether Bronya will be sad... ha, to put it bluntly, I still can't cover all the bases.*
*She loves her mother, and her mother is a monster. In that situation—making her see her mother's true colors is also for her own good.*
*I can't be bothered to talk about the Valkyrie System. Cocolia will play that card sooner or later anyway.*
*Even if I mentioned it beforehand, not only would I be unable to explain how I know about it, but it would also give Bronya time to prepare herself psychologically.*
*Only when she is 'betrayed' at a time of complete trust will she realize what kind of person Cocolia really is...*
*Ha, watching a little girl almost certainly get screwed over by her own mother, and I don't say a word, just watch...*
*How depraved.*
"Um..."
Seeing a complex emotion appear in Leo's gaze as he watched her, Bronya immediately asked.
"Do you think... Mother Cocolia really has no chance of winning?"
"By asking that question, don't you already have the answer in your own heart?"
Leo stood up and, without lingering, walked towards his room.
"Staying at Schicksal HQ for two or three days might not be enough for you to understand the full extent of Schicksal's power."
"Once you've stayed in Schicksal for a while longer, you'll find that Cocolia's remaining forces can't even take on the Far East Branch."
"Don't think I'm trying to fool you. What I just said is actually feasible, and might even be Cocolia's only way out in the future."
"For the sake of your beloved mother, you should think carefully about what you should do next."
After he finished speaking, a character profile template popped up in front of Leo.
[Name: Bronya Zaychik]
[Status: Anti-Entropy member forced to join Schicksal, Cocolia's adopted daughter.]
[Current Favorability: 10]
[Note: She is skeptical of your proposal, but due to her current confused state of mind, she hasn't thought of a better solution, nor has she considered the flaws in this plan.]
*Ah, finally, one with a low favorability score.*
[To be fair, compared to the original negative favorability, this has already improved quite quickly.]
[But this is good too. Thinking about the girl's current figure, you feel that...]
[Making a move on a child is still not appropriate. It's obviously better to wait until she's older!]
*Whatever, I can't be bothered to talk to you—you promised I could rest tomorrow, work five days, rest two!]
[Oh, right. This System won't pop up unless there's a special situation.]
*...The way you say that, I get the feeling a special situation is bound to happen.*
*We're already at St. Freya. What kind of life-threatening crisis could there be?*
[Hehehe, this System doesn't know.]
*Whatever, I'll just get some rest.*
*Tomorrow... I'll show a little bit of my strength, then act like a lunatic ready to risk my life...*
*I just hope Fu Hua doesn't dig too deep then.*
*Five days since I crossed over, and I've been acting every single day.*
*Sometimes, I do feel a little tired.*
On the other side, Bronya watched Leo leave, finding that her emotions were still unstable.
But even in this state, unable to think completely rationally, Bronya only needed to think for a moment to realize that—what Leo said really made sense.
After Cocolia caused the Honkai Eruption, the social standing of the radical faction was completely ruined.
Anti-Entropy's enemies would seize the opportunity to slander her, and Anti-Entropy's potential allies would have a thorn in their side when cooperating with Cocolia, due to her backstabbing Raiden Ryoma and blowing up Nagazora City.
Her enemies would laugh themselves to death and press their advantage, while her allies would either fall silent or become enemies.
In addition, Cocolia's Titan mechs were mostly wiped out by a single blast from the Hyperion. Bronya felt that with Cocolia's current forces...
Leo's statement about 'not being able to take on the Far East Branch' was actually being very polite.
The Far East Branch had a warship's main cannon that could annihilate an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, and a former S-rank Valkyrie like Theresa with powerful equipment. Even without counting the two new Herrschers, it was considered one of the strongest branches in Schicksal.
With Cocolia's current forces, Bronya felt they should be thankful if they could fight a normal branch to a draw.
Thinking about it now, it might not have been a bad thing that Bronya had, on a whim, blocked the communication system on her chip.
Whether Bronya chose to sincerely join Schicksal or not, the Anti-Entropy radical faction couldn't afford any more turmoil for the time being.
*Mother, right now... she must be angry with Bronya.*
*But now, Bronya can't be willful over such small things.*
*After losing Seele, Bronya doesn't want to lose any more important people.*
*So for now...*
*I'll just follow that man's advice for the time being, join Schicksal temporarily, and see how things develop.*
*Yes, he was right.*
*Bronya did not betray Mother Cocolia.*
*This isn't a betrayal, it's an action taken to help find a way out for Mother Cocolia.*
*So...*
*—There shouldn't be anything wrong with Bronya's actions... right?*
....
Next Day. St. Freya High School. Training Grounds
On the training grounds, Himeko and Theresa looked at the few special new students before them and exchanged a glance.
Then, under Theresa's frantic glare that screamed [This is so troublesome, you do it], Himeko spoke up helplessly.
"Alright, everyone, Fu Hua has already told you about the entrance exam."
"This entrance exam is more of a formality, but I still hope you'll take it seriously. After all, in the near future, you'll be participating in missions with other Schicksal Valkyries and knights."
"The organization can only assign you suitable missions after knowing your specific strength. Whether it's for your own sake or for the organization's, I hope you'll all be a little serious."
"I won't say any more unnecessary words—Fu Hua!"
At Himeko's call, Fu Hua, who was standing beside Himeko and Theresa, naturally walked to the center of the training grounds.
At this moment, not just Fu Hua, but Leo and the others had also changed into their St. Freya uniforms.
However, since they had just enrolled, they could only wear the spare uniforms left by the school and couldn't customize their own uniform styles as was customary.
"Everyone, this entrance exam will mainly test your practical combat skills. Each of you will fight me, and Major Himeko and Branch Commander Theresa will evaluate your scores."
"Eh, just you?"
Kiana, who had already drawn her dual pistols, looked at the uniform and bracers on Fu Hua and asked, puzzled.
"But in that case, what if you're defeated or even knocked out at the beginning..."
"Then the test will be continued by Major Himeko."
Fu Hua, who had already taken a fighting stance, said calmly to the group before her.
"So, who's first?"
*Wow, this girl didn't say anything, but she's giving me an 'I can handle all you rookies' vibe.*
*Hmph, I'm someone who's fought Honkai Beasts in the snow for years. How can I take this lying down!]
*I'm pissed—I've decided, I have to beat her!*
With this thought, Kiana proactively walked up to Fu Hua with her weapons and said confidently.
"Then let me, the great Kiana, be your opponent, classmate Fu Hua."
"Alright, then now..."
Seeing that both were ready, Himeko felt as if she could already see the future.
"—Begin, you two."
The moment Himeko said this, Kiana, dual pistols in hand, had already locked onto her opponent's vitals.
Well, that was her plan, but unfortunately, the ideal is beautiful, but reality is cruel.
Siegfried did teach Kiana the Kaslana Gun Kata, but for certain special reasons, he didn't teach her the complete essence of the technique.
With Kiana's modified, half-baked Gun Kata, bullying ordinary Honkai Beasts was certainly no problem, but against stronger Honkai Beasts—she wasn't stupid, she would definitely go around them if she couldn't win.
This situation led to the current awkward predicament.
She could stomp on the weak, but she had never fought the strong and didn't know how. Moreover, Fu Hua was a human opponent, whose mobility and combat intelligence were incomparable to that of Honkai Beasts.
With all these factors combined, Kiana, who failed to adjust her mindset and tactics, was closed in on by Fu Hua the moment she raised her weapon, and a heavy punch was sent into her abdomen.
Watching Kiana get owned on the spot, Himeko shook her head helplessly.
"Fu Hua is getting serious."
"Yeah, that little girl Kiana..."
Watching Kiana being relentlessly beaten by Fu Hua on the field, Theresa also let out a helpless sigh.
"Looks like she's going to have to learn the hard way."
In fact, the two battlefield veterans watching now knew very well that if this wasn't a spar, Kiana would be facing a much more tragic fate.
The St. Freya High School uniforms they wore were essentially Valkyrie protective suits, and the defensive power of a protective suit was far inferior to that of a battlesuit.
If it weren't for the fact that the equipment Fu Hua and Kiana chose was for sparring, Fu Hua's combo would have taken at least half of Kiana's life.
Kiana failed to adjust her mindset at the beginning, and her own strength was inferior to Fu Hua's. Under the combined weight of these disadvantages, Kiana couldn't even fight back.
Her physical constitution was good, and her reaction speed was much faster than an ordinary person's.
But in front of Fu Hua, an expert in close combat, Kiana, who had already exposed her weaknesses, could only rely on this advantage to take a few less hits.
*Damn it, damn it—I don't want to lose like this!]
But unfortunately, Kiana, with this thought in mind, had no chance to turn the tables.
After Fu Hua's fist slammed heavily into Kiana's forehead...
—The invincible... okay, not-so-invincible Kiana, fell resentfully in front of everyone.