Chapter - 48

"Tricked once again...you humans are liars and cheaters...like always" Sirin muttered clenching her fists

"Everyone, lay down your weapons" The Empress ordered, her voice echoing in the minds of everyone. She then started walking towards Sirin and once she was standing less than a meter away from her, extended her hand "I always keep my word, Sirin...give me the cores and I'll give you the life you desired"

Theresa stared at her sister in shock, just her appearance was shocking for her but her actions were on another level.

Samus was staring at Anastasia with a serious expression, she was perfectly still, she didn't want to cause an unnecessary fight to break out, managing to acquire the Herrscher cores would be achieving a Great Victory.

Sirin looked conflicted and looked down at the battlefield...soon the imperial forces will eliminate all of the honkai beasts, the sky was already cleared of all of her projected battleships "What about Bella?"

Anastasia's mind halted as she blinked a few times "You mean the judgment-class Honkai?" she asked getting a nod from the Herrscher, she used her psychic powers to look over the battlefield, searching for the humanoid honkai

She saw Najenda standing over it with her hammer raised, ready to deliver the second and final blow that would have destroyed the pseudo-core inside the honkai and end its life "Najenda stop!" The Empress boomed inside the Primarch's head "Capture her"

Najenda slowly lowered her hammer and sighed "There's no need to shout" she muttered as she picked up Bella by the arm "Bring me something to keep her bound" she ordered to her Astartes

Anastasia looked at Sirin "She has been captured" she said calmly "If you join us, no further harm will be done to her"

Sirin looked down at her hands "What will happen once I give you the cores?"

"Sirin will die" Anastasia replied without any hesitation "killed by the Empress of Mankind"

the herrscher clenched her fists "So you lied to me...like all the ot-"

"The Empress of Mankind, on her way back to Moscow, found a girl who became Orphan because of an Honkai beast and decided to take her with her as her own daughter" Anastasia interrupted her "At that point, the girl will decide what to do in her life and how to live it"

Silence fell, even the sounds of battle couldn't be heard in that moment, Sirin slowly placed her hand on her chest causing the cores to slowly come out of her body.

Imperial defensive trenches

At the same time, Otto who was standing in the backlines, standing next to him there was Fu Hua and the Vice Commander of the Valkyrie Order Cheng Lixue. The group had been sent away from The Empress much to Otto's disgust and rage, in that moment, he was so close to getting the answer he wanted from the Honkai God but once again, Anastasia took away his possibility...

Suddenly the Overseer felt a splitting headache and fell to the ground as his vision went blank. When he was able to see again, he found himself standing in a white void, in front of him there was a throne, sitting on it there was a person without any feature, just like a mannequin. As soon as the two looked at each other, the figure took Otto's appearance.

The overseer felt an immense pressure upon him and was forced to kneel...he immediately understood that he was standing in front of the Honkai God. He was about to speak his question when God created a projection of Anastasia

"W-What?" Otto muttered confused

Kill the child of the Anathema and I'll give you what you want the most

Those words filled the Overseer's mind before he found himself back in the real world, he was surrounded by Fu Hua and Cheng who were looking at him with a worried expression. He pulled himself up before looking at the Babylon tower with a determined expression

"Overseer?" Cheng asked confused by the man's behavior

He raised his hand and placed on his ear where his earpiece was "To all Valkyries and Schicksal troops, the Imperium of Man has been confirmed to be plotting with the Honkai, our truce is over, attack before they can react!"

All the valkyries across the battlefield froze in place, dread filling their hearts as they looked at the thousands of thousands of Imperial soldiers all around them unknown to them, the transmission was also caught by BB who has been monitoring both of Anti-Entropy and Schicksal's communications, she immediately informed Anastasia of course.

The reply came shortly after...

"To all Imperial Forces, Schicksal has turned hostile in our regards, if any Valkyrie engages combat with you, it is your duty to defend yourself with any mean necessary...even deadly force if it is impossible to neutralize the threat"

At those words, the guardsmen who found themselves around the Valkyries immediately turned their weapons against them, the only thing holding them back from opening fire was the Empress' orders, usually, the Krieg never gave the luxury of surrender.

Back on top of the Babylon Tower

Anastasia internally sighed after giving that order to her forces, Samus and her Astartes were focusing on Sirin though they also kept an eye on Cecilia, Siegfried and Theresa, they didn't want any surprise coming from them.

Sirin had her cores in her hand and was about to hand them over when suddenly she like she had been struck by lightning and the cores flew back inside of her.

Anastasia's expression turned into one of pure shock "Samus take all of our forces and retreat back to the trench line, tell our fleet to go in Orbit and if you find him, capture Otto" she ordered grabbing her sword and pointing it at the Herrscher

"I can help you!" Samus shouted back

"No! You must coordinate our troops!" Anastasia barked back "Cecilia, Theresa go away"

"NO!" Theresa shouted "I will not leave alone again!" she shouted as Cecilia nodded in agreement

Siegfried grabbed his sword "We are not your soldiers your orders mean nothing to us!"

Anastasia threw a glance at the man which forced him to pale "You're not ready" she shouted before looking at Sirin and pointing her sword at her "You finally showed up...God of the Stolen throne"

Sirin's hair turned white and an amused smile appeared on her face "Said the instrument of the Anathema" she replied with an ethereal voice "Just like your brothers, you are nothing more than a mean to an end. You think you're free but in reality, you're just a pawn in his schemes...in the end, you're still chained by the will of someone, once it was Otto's and now it's the Anathema's, why are you letting them do this to you amuses me greatly"

Anastasia pointed her sword towards the God with an emotionless expression "If you think that these words of yours will make my resolve weaker than you're more naive than I was told...It is true since I was just a child I've been manipulated and used for someone's else objective and when I was freed I discovered that most of my life has been a lie...but not all of it, I encountered people who genuinely love me and was shown the potential of humanity, I could have chosen to just destroy everything or to leave to never return but instead, I chose to be chosen, I chose to follow the objective of the Master of Mankind."

"Do you think that this idea is yours? Do you really think that he didn't implant this idea into your mind?" The Honkai God replied with a smirk

"And so? If that's the case I wouldn't be able to tell anyway, I just know that protecting humanity and the people I love from you is the right thing to do and I'm willing to die for it" Anastasia replied with a stoic expression

The God looked at Anastasia with disgust "You're just like all the other fanatics of the Anathema" she said as a massive pair of wings made of Honkai Energy sprouted out of her back.

The sky turned pink as a storm seemingly appeared out of nowhere, the Imperial Ships went into Orbit and their navigators confirmed the presence of a Warp Storm. The Imperial army made its way back to the trench line under the order of Samus, the Valkyries who had surrendered were also brought to the trench while those who chose to fight found their end.

Another storm appeared out of nowhere, this one generated from Anastasia. The earth itself was shaking due to the sheer power of the Honkai God and Anastasia. Cecilia and Theresa felt an immense amount of pressure which made them feel like they were about to faint...They looked at the Honkai God and Anastasia who started flying thanks to their wings, the two stared at each other for a few moments...time seemed to have slowed down as the storm creates hurricanes around them, their bodies flickering with pink and golden electricity.

It happened in the blink of an eye, with what could be compared to the loudest thunder ever heard, the Empress and the Honkai God clashed each other, a sword of Honkai energy fought against the Empress's sword, their psychic powers were clashing against each other as with each strike the earth was caught by Earthquakes while the winds sent flying whatever was on their path.