170 The birth of the Second Herrscher.
Babylon Lab or Tower of Babylonia.
A Schicksal research facility located in Siberia, Russia.
The tower is the second largest research site in the world and also houses the third largest Honkai Reactor in the world.
The tower of Babylonia consisted of 50 floors with the Honkai Reactor on the 20th floor and below while the research centres were on the other 30 floors.
Unfortunately, the tower was destroyed by the Second Herrscher and eventually became nothing but rubble.
...
"Did I... go to the past?"
(E/D: Back to the Future lore in a nutshell. The one who explains it the best gets to know the Dojinshi code from last chapter.)
Kouro stared at the tower of Babylonia with a dumbfounded expression.
His brain couldn't comprehend how he got here after opening that door.
If it wasn't for the fact that he could touch all the objects here and feel the cold from the snow, he would have thought that it was only his consciousness that went here, similar to when he met Elysia.
Kouro was silent for a few minutes then quickly tried to calm himself down, "Calm down... Kouro, you have to calm down."
Kouro exhaled which was really noticeable due to the cold weather.
[Users have exited the special area, 'Potion', 'Mall' and 'Status Recovery' have been unlocked.]
Seeing this, Kouro finally accepted the fact that he had gone to the past, no, maybe this world was just a special Dungeon created by the system.
Kouro became calmer after thinking of that possibility, after all with the power of the system something like that is still possible.
But just in case, Kouro took out the black-coloured mask he got from the ancient temple and put it on.
Right after that, he heard the system notification.
*Ding!*
...
[Job Change Quest is about to start]
[Main Quest: Change the future]
[The more the future is changed, the higher the job rank that will be obtained.]
[Time remaining: 30 days]
...
Looking at the system notification in front of his eyes, Kouro's brows furrowed.
He understood his mission now was to change the 'future', but what he was concerned about was... Whether this world followed the original plot or not.
Moreover, the time he currently had was 30 days, the same as the number of days of leave he had been given.
If this world followed the original plot then Kouro would be calm and could clearly think of a plan to get a high-rank job.
But if this world followed the history of his world that had changed because of 'KOURO'...
Kouro's hands seemed to be clenched when thinking about this, if the future follows the new future, then...
'I must ensure my mother's safety first!'
He didn't care even if this world was just a simulation created by the system.
If he was given the chance to save the parents of 'Hanagami Kouro', then he would definitely take that chance, even if the stake was his own life!
Because... He had made a promise to 'Hanagami Kouro'...
Thinking this, Kouro then raised his head, he felt the snowfall getting heavier before finally looking up at the Lab tower.
From behind the mask, Kouro's violet eyes could be seen shining brightly.
...
February 2, 2000.
A few hours ago.
Theresa who was currently inside an aeroplane was wearing a pensive expression.
She recalled the mission given by her grandfather.
Babylonia Tower in Serbia, Russia, which consists of 50 floors, and had 324 staff, it has been reported that the 322 staff have disappeared for no apparent reason simultaneously early yesterday morning.
And now Theresa is on a mission to investigate what happened in the Babylonia Lab tower.
For the two remaining staff who survived... They were indeed declared safe, but as for the specific reason how they survived, she was not told, perhaps her grandfather felt that information was not important.
'Hmph! Why did this mission appear when I was having fun together with Kiana-chan and Cecilia!' Theresa thought with a sullen face.
She promised herself to complete this mission quickly.
Too bad... This mission would be imprinted in her memory.
...
A few hours later, a plane was seen descending near the Lab tower.
"We have landed, Miss Theresa." a female pilot said to her.
Theresa nodded and walked out of the plane, her hair and clothes visibly fluttering from the wind impact of the plane's propellers.
She raised her hand slightly to shield her eyes before hearing someone's voice from behind her.
"Welcome to Siberia, Theresa! I have received orders from the Overseer that you come here to help me."
Hearing the voice, Theresa turned her head to look at the person before finally putting on a happy expression, she seemed to recognize the person who greeted her.
"Pat!? It's you!" she said in a surprised tone.
A short silver-haired woman with violet-coloured eyes and mature skin wearing only thin white clothes was raising her hand to greet Theresa.
She was Patricia Highsmith, codenamed "The Wiz", she was an A-rank Valkyrie, a former member of Squad Snowwolf, and she was now working in the intel department.
Seeing Patricia, Theresa let out a sigh of relief, "Phew, if it's you then this mission can be completed easily."
Theresa then realized that there was another woman she didn't know besides Patricia.
"You are?"
The woman beside Patricia had long white hair with silver eyes, she was wearing a thick dark green coat.
"Hello, my name is Hanagami Luna, it is truly an honour to meet you, Theresa-sama. I am one of the staff who survived."
After a little conversation, they entered the Lab tower.
Inside the Lab, there were several people who were investigating something.
"Is there any info so far?" asked Theresa while looking at the people.
"Sorry, Theresa, the answer is no, although the CCTV in the tower is not damaged and is operating as usual. But we haven't found the culprit yet." said Patricia.
Theresa then turned to look at Luna, "What about you?"
"Uh... I wasn't in the Lab tower at the time, so I don't really know." Luna said with an embarrassed expression.
"What about the other staff?"
"The other staff wasn't in the Lab tower at the time either, it's said that he went to Japan to do something for a few days. By the way, the other staff is also Luna's husband." said Patricia.
"Yes. Sagaki went to Japan to see our child..." Luna said with a slightly sad expression.
Hearing this, Theresa put on a confused expression.
Seeing her confused expression, Patricia then whispered to her.
"They have a son, so I think you know what I mean."
In this world for ordinary families, having a son is both a blessing and a curse because every boy will contract HB disease that attacks their bodily functions.
Especially 'Hanagami Kouro' their son who has HB disease that is stronger than normal.
It must be very painful for a parent to see their child suffer.
Theresa put on a sober expression and immediately apologized to Luna.
Luna shook her head gently and said it was okay.
After that Patricia showed Theresa footage of the Lab tower's CCTV monitor.
"I have a team member who can look at recordings professionally. With her help, we found a strange sound recording."
Theresa stared at the monitor screen that clearly showed a translucent silhouette that looked like a human.
The surveillance camera recorded this on the day before yesterday at midnight to be precise.
"This... Is this the footage you mean?" Theresa stared at the faint figure with some uneasiness.
"Yes, it looks like a ghost that was accidentally recorded by the surveillance camera." Patricia muttered.
"Gh-Ghost?! You said Ghost?!" Theresa's tone rose an octave when she heard the word 'ghost'.
It seemed like she had an excessive fear of 'ghosts'.
"There is no such thing as ghosts, almost all supernatural sightings are always related to Honkai." Patricia said with a calm expression.
She then opened another screen and typed something before showing it to Theresa.
"Luna and I were previously looking for data related to the Honkai reactor in Babylonia."
She then pointed to a particular screen, "See this? 5 minutes' worth of data disappeared last night."
Patricia rubbed her chin with a thoughtful expression, "So... My intuition says that the Reactor could be a clue for us."
She then continued, "The other monitors recording the reactor's data have been locked down by the security system, and unfortunately I don't have access either. Luna doesn't have enough authority to open the security system either."
"Sagaki should have enough authority, but unfortunately... He's not here right now." Luna added.
Patricia then sighed before looking at Theresa and patting both her shoulders.
"The reactor has a high concentration of Honkai energy, and all of my team members don't have enough resistance, which is why we need to go down and check things out, Theresa. Because we are Valkyries."
"We? You mean just the two of us?" asked Theresa with a worried expression.
"Yes, just the two of us. Unfortunately, Luna isn't a Valkyrie, so she can't follow us." said Patricia with a smile.
"We're leaving first Luna, you just wait here." she said glancing at Luna before pulling a slightly frightened Theresa.
"Be careful." Luna said as she waved her hand to the two of them.
...
The two of them then went downstairs or rather, the floor where the Honkai reactor was located, using the elevator.
Patricia got out first and looked for something that could be a clue
Theresa came out following her with a scared expression, she turned to look around nervously, "Hey, Pat. No ghosts came out, right? Did you hear me?"
Patricia who was looking for clues crouched down, "Hm... What is this? Honkai's remains?"
She stared at the fragments of an unknown substance that had a purple colour.
"Hmm... This is strange, there is too little evidence to draw conclusions." she muttered before standing up and turning to look at Theresa who still looked terrified of 'ghosts'
Patricia could only shake her head helplessly, seeing Theresa who was an S-rank Valkyrie and was afraid of something that didn't exist.
But right after that, they both heard a girl scream.
"PLEASE SOMEONE HELP US! IS ANYONE OUT THERE? HELP US!"
Hearing that scream Theresa screamed in fear, "Kyaa! That must be the ghost we saw in the recording earlier, she came looking for us!"
Compared to Theresa who was hysterically frightened, Patricia turned towards the source of the sound with a calm expression.
"No, Theresa, this... It's a girl's voice."
After saying that, Patricia did not immediately go to the source of the voice, but instead put on a thinking expression.
'How can there be someone nearby? Luna never told me about this... Did she deliberately not tell me? No, I've known her for a long time and I know she's not that kind of person...' Then... Is the girl who asked for help related to the secret of this Lab tower?'
Although she didn't show it, Patricia was actually a little aware of the rumours of what this Lab tower was doing.
Mass killings, inhumane human experiments, and so on...
If what she thought was true, then the source of the voice must have come... From the guinea pigs of those mad scientists...
Thinking about this, Patricia finally walked towards the source of the sound followed by Theresa.
It was unfortunate, but a terrible tragedy had already begun to visit them both.
The birth of the second Herrscher.
...
The next day, February 3, 2000.
It was a sunny day with heavy snowfall.
"Acho! Damn! it's cold in here... Hey Mophead! Do we have to wait here forever? Let's go to this tower and quickly complete the mission!" said a red twin-tailed girl with a body trembling from the cold to a blue-haired girl beside her.
Even after wearing a thick coat and clothes, she still felt cold.
By the way, the red-haired girl was Tesla and the blue-haired girl was Einstein.
(E/D: Now add the furry Edison from the Fate series for fan service and Hawkings for BS. I wonder how Tesla and Edison would react to each other.)
The two of them were currently on a snow-filled plateau about 5 kilometres away from the tower of Babylonia.
Behind them were some special mecha that were probably there to protect the two of them.
Hearing Tesla's complaint, Einstein calmly replied, "There is virtue in patience, Tesla."
Einstein seemed not to take her attention away from the Babylonian tower at all before putting on a thoughtful expression.
"We have an agent inside the tower, we must wait for news from her. If we're lucky we can leave with the results of the 'kidnapping'..."
She then continued, " And we'll use 'Her' as a hostage to avoid conflict with Schicksal."
Einstein finally turned to look at Tesla, "Remember that our Sovereign wants to solve the problem without violence as much as possible."
At the same time not far from the two of them, a man with short brown hair and brown eyes wearing glasses was staring ahead with his arms crossed, ignoring the cold.
He was Welt Yang, the Sovereign of the Anti-Entropy organization and also the first Herrscher.
Welt seemed to be waiting for someone, and sure enough, about fifteen minutes later a woman was seen staggering around with her left hand cut off.
The woman turned out to be Patricia.
Seeing Patricia in such a state, Welt picked her up before calmly saying, "Glad to see you're still alive Pat, you did your best there."
"Sorry, Sovereign, the mission has failed. She has been growing and getting stronger all this time."
Welt seemed to lower his eyes for a moment before his expression returned to calm, "I see... Looks like we're too late."
He seemed to have expected this to happen.
"Don't worry, Pat. How can I meet her?"
Patricia was helped by Welt to lean against the tree, she touched her left shoulder which was very painful before saying, "I have an idea where you can meet her, but before that, I need your help first."
"I'm listening." Welt said calmly.
Patricia raised her head and looked at Welt before saying, "I have some good friends in Schicksal, please... Save my friends..."
Those were her last words before collapsing from lack of blood.
Staring at Patricia who had collapsed, Welt raised his head to stare at the Babylonian Lab tower before muttering.
"...Don't worry, I will definitely save your friends."
...
In the sky, about a hundred meters from the ground, the floating Kouro was seen looking at them with a pensive expression.
[Time remaining: 29 days]
(E/D: The cliff is unreal and the excitement is killing me. Just bribe the Author for moar.)
