As they pushed open the door to Himeko's private villa at St. Freya Academy, the aroma of cooking food wafted over them, accompanied by Kiana's anguished wails.
"I can't accept this!"
"Kiana has now lost to Bronya 98 times. Friendly reminder: Bronya is about to achieve the 'Hundred Kills' achievement." Bronya calmly informed the white-haired furball who had thrown her controller aside and was now rolling around on the sofa.
"I can't accept this!"
"Again!"
"Bronya, 99th consecutive victory."
"Aaaah, again!"
Ding-dong! Bronya has achieved the 'Kiana Hundred Kills' achievement.
"I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS!!!"
"...Again!"
"Bronya believes that Kiana, as a scrub, no longer presents a worthy challenge. Therefore, Bronya rejects this request. Bronya will go find Sister Kyuusyou instead."
"...Mei! Bronya's bullying me—!"
Smack—Smack—
The two figures at the doorway simultaneously facepalmed, their expressions screaming they couldn't bear to watch.
"Ah, Teacher Himeko and Sister Snow. Good afternoon." Ignoring Kiana's wails, Bronya noticed the commotion at the door and greeted them.
"Good afternoon, Bronya."
"Good afternoon... Kiana, if you keep rolling around on the floor like that, you'll be on cleaning duty for the rest of the week!" Himeko's veins bulged on her forehead as she watched Kiana start to roll across the floor, seemingly trying to mop it with her body.
"Ugh... Is this what they call 'all enthusiasm, no skill'?" Snow sighed, gazing at the mess Kiana had made of the carpet.
"It's you again, you golden-haired demon! If you've got the guts, come fight me!"
"No—I still prefer chess." The golden-haired girl once again mercilessly rejected the white-haired furball's challenge.
"Bronya thinks that... Sister Snow is looking for Sister Kyuusyou?"
"Mm, yes, but... how did you figure that out, Bronya?"
"Sister Snow's attention hasn't been on the living room since she greeted Bronya. She also didn't look toward the kitchen where Sister Mei is. Therefore, Bronya deduced that Sister Snow is looking for Sister Kyuusyou."
"Hmm~ Well then, my clever and adorable little sister Bronya, can you tell me where Kyuusyou is?"
"Sister Kyuusyou went upstairs to rest after she got back. Her room is the third one from the left on the third floor. Will Sister Snow be staying here too?"
"Ah, yes... And Himeko stuffed me into Kyuusyou's room. I'll go check on her first. See you later, Bronya." Waving goodbye to Bronya, Snow headed upstairs.
"See you later, Sister Snow." Bronya waved back and returned to the sofa, resuming control of her game character alone.
-
The villa's floors were remarkably soundproof. As Snow reached the third floor, the clamor from the first seemed to vanish completely.
"Third room from the left on the third floor..." Her gaze followed the hallway. The door wasn't closed; a faint light spilled from the crack.
Creeeak—
She gently pushed the door open. A purple-haired girl was resting on the room's sofa, eyes closed, a faint smile on her face as if reliving a pleasant memory.
"Sirin..." The sound of the door opening didn't seem to disturb Kyuusyou's dream. Her sleepy murmur was clearly audible in the quiet room.
Just as I suspected...
"What is Sirin~?" To confirm her suspicions, Snow quietly leaned in and whispered into the purple-haired girl's ear.
"Sirin is... Sirin is, of course, the cute magical girl, the Savior Lord's follower..." Tickled by Snow's breath near her ear, Kyuusyou frowned slightly and continued murmuring, almost drooling onto the floor.
"...Cough, cough, cough! Great Savior Lord~" A violent coughing fit startled the resting Kyuusyou awake.
"Ah?! Oh... it's you." Kyuusyou scrambled up, flustered, staring at the girl before her.
"I think we need to have a proper talk, Lord Houraiji Kyuusyou." Snow closed the door behind her and turned to face Kyuusyou, who looked as if she were facing a formidable enemy.
"You..."
"I heard everything you said in your sleep," Snow said, a mysterious smile playing on her lips.
"Sirin is... Sirin is, of course, the cute magical girl, the Savior Lord's follower~" Snow mimicked the purple-haired girl's tone, perfectly recreating her dream-mutterings.
"...You're not a typical transmigrator. In your world, there was also a disaster called the Honkai—with organizations named Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, and a Second Herrscher named Sirin... Am I right, Miss Houraiji Kyuusyou?" Snow stared intently at the purple-haired girl.
"...Time is the Horizon, Gravity is Desire, the Future is the Past, the Past is Ruin—" Instead of answering, the purple-haired girl began to hum a strange melody the blonde girl couldn't understand. A black ring started to spin within her pupils.
"The brilliant starry sky that shrouds the celestial canopy, the World Tree rooted in the firmament... You, who stand on the earth yet hang inverted from the Tree—on every leaf, in every possibility, I have never seen your place."
"So, what kind of... sublime or erroneous existence are you, Little Snow?"
Within the small room, the light was devoured by the profound darkness emanating from the purple-haired girl's hands. Formless time began to accelerate, causing the entire room to age and decay. Dust piled up on the floor as the authority and power from another timeline silently eroded the present world.
This was a warning to the girl before her: the person she faced was not as simple as she thought. She should restrain her pointless curiosity. It was also a challenge—if you believe you have the right, then step forward.
"If you accelerate it any further, the house is going to collapse, you know—" Golden branches crept across the room's surfaces, their faint, dark-gold glow blocking the formless power of time.
The room was plunged into a bizarre tableau. Half the walls were consumed by glowing golden patterns, while the other half was shrouded in lightless darkness.
Then, bits of sand and concrete crumbled down, landing on their hair and noses.
"...Hiss... Oh, great, it's actually collapsing. Hey! Let go on three!"
"Alright—"
The room instantly returned to normal. The golden branch patterns vanished, the profound, lightless darkness dissipated, and all traces of the recent aging and decay disappeared.
"Tsk, tsk... So it really is the Imaginary Tree. To wield authority directly from the Tree itself... you're the most outrageous human I've ever met. No, are you even human? You didn't even pay a price...?"
"The feeling's mutual, my Lord Kyuusyou. You were just playing with time... If the Overseer found out, he'd probably slide-tackle you to your knees."
"Forget it. Manipulating time doesn't mean resurrection. Simply rewinding it is meaningless... As long as the anchor points of established events aren't pulled up, it will only lead to that person's disappointment all over again."
"Alright... let's have a proper introduction—"
"I am Houraiji Kyuusyou. Just as you guessed, I come from a universe similar to this one—Anti-Entropy, Schicksal, Honkai, it had them all. And finally—I am no longer a Savior."
"As my home universe reached its end, when time and space collapsed into a single point, and paradoxes intertwined and twisted into a knot—at that very moment, a collective of desire and consciousness was reborn there—"
"Got it. Bug Mom loves me!"
(spy-is this a joke? I dont get it)
"Get lost... Being your mom would probably shorten my lifespan!"
"Wait... 'As my home universe reached its end'... Does that mean you're tens of thousands of years old?"
"Shut up, you shameless blonde!"
"Anyway, your turn!" Kyuusyou glared at the golden-haired girl, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
"I don't know!" The voice was utterly, unapologetically confident.
"Huh?" Houraiji Kyuusyou stared at the blonde girl with an expression that screamed, Are you kidding me?
"All I remember is that this power has been with me since I can remember. At first, I could only reflect a single branch. As I grew, it gradually became the World Tree you saw in Nagazora City."
"...To be precise, that's the Imaginary Tree. Herrschers are born from Honkai, and Honkai originates from the Imaginary Tree. That's why you could instantly suppress that Herrscher and why you treated her so harshly."
"—Rank hath its privileges. Besides, company policy forbids subordinates from kissing their superiors~" Kyuusyou explained on Snow's behalf.
"Fair enough..."
-
"Mhm... I see a glimmer of hope in you."
"What kind of hope?"
"The hope of resurrection. With your power, we can uproot the anchor of established events from the Tree and revive a friend of mine."
"Let me guess, Little Sirin? But a Herrscher can be revived through their Core, right? It's much easier for a Herrscher to come back from the dead than an ordinary person."
"That's only if her Herrscher Core still exists... That child... the last remaining fragments of her soul are dormant within Kiana Kaslana's clone... That's why I came to this leaf of the Tree."
"I came here searching for the fragments of her past..."
"So, will you be my ally?" Kyuusyou looked at the golden-haired girl with anticipation.
"Mhm, I don't see any reason to refuse," Snow shrugged.
"I won't ask for your help for free, of course. When it's time to pin your scumbag father against a wall and beat him up, count me in."
"How did you... You were spying on me just now, weren't you?!"
"Can a time traveler's actions really be called spying? Ouch—! Stop pulling my hair, it's gonna fall out!!!"
A small alliance between the two was forged in a little room at St. Freya Academy.