Alvitr

Most of the Immortal Blades members had already fallen unconscious. Kiana carefully helped them lean against the wall and lie down to prevent further injuries.

Just then, the gray-haired Valkyrie seemed to stir, waking up from her unconscious state. Her eyes widened in shock as if she had just seen a ghost. She tried to move away, panic evident in her movements.

Alvitr gasped, "Herrscher of the Void!! Stay away from me…"

Kiana felt no particular reaction as she looked at the terrified Valkyrie. After everything she'd been through, she no longer rejected the title of Herrscher of the Void. Calmly, she replied, "Your injuries aren't serious. What exactly happened here?"

Alvitr, still on high alert, shook her head vigorously. "I won't tell you anything. You're... you're the enemy."

Seeing Alvitr's reaction, Kiana couldn't help but feel a little helpless. It seemed Ren had been right all along. Always trying to be gentle only made things more complicated. These people couldn't be reasoned with.

She pointed to the other Immortal Blades members, still struggling in battle. "If you don't tell me, then all of your teammates are going to die out there."

Alvitr, finally noticing the dire situation of her comrades, hesitated. Though still afraid of the Herrscher of the Void, her concern for her teammates outweighed her fear. "They're despicable," she muttered. "They used some kind of tear gas. If you come into contact with it, you'll lose your strength."

"Who are they?" Kiana quickly responded. It seemed that Schicksal had already begun their investigation, and seemed to have suffered a devastating blow.

"It's Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical," Alvitr said weakly. "The Vice-Captain said they're World Serpent."

She paused, as if suddenly remembering something important. "Also, Ms. Rita is still in the underground of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical. I beg you, please save her…"

Kiana nodded, her voice firm. "I understand. Stop talking now. Get some rest. I'll save your teammates."

After speaking, Kiana gently laid Alvitr down and headed toward the area where the Immortal Blades squad was fighting.

As she neared the scene, she could already sense the lingering presence of the unique gas in the air. Though it had become much weaker, it still interfered with Honkai energy.

"It's good that I didn't approach rashly," Kiana muttered to herself. Breathing a sigh of relief, she raised her hand. Several Void Lances materialized, shooting through the air to pin down the zombies in the distance. With a burst of Honkai energy, the remaining gas was completely blown away, saving the Valkyrie squad.

After confirming the area was safe, Kiana didn't linger and continued on toward Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical.

With the Herrscher of the Void's departure, the area fell silent once more. Alvitr, still feeling the effects of the gas, reluctantly tried to support herself. She attempted to stand, but before she could manage it, a shadow suddenly loomed over her.

Looking up, Alvitr saw a familiar face.

"Herrscher of the Void?" she gasped. "Aren't you going to save Ms. Rita?"

Kiana tilted her head, a strange smile spreading across her face. "Hmm? I just remembered something. Of course, I can save her. But it wouldn't make sense to do so without asking for a reward first."

Alvitr's eyes widened. The Herrscher of the Void in front of her seemed different now. The smile was unsettling.

"Then, Ms. Alvitr," Kiana continued, "you don't want your teammates and Vice-Captain to die here, do you? So, what can you give me?"

"Reward…" Alvitr's voice trembled. At that moment, she didn't notice the difference between the Herrscher of the Void in front of her and the Kiana she had seen before.

Looking at the girl before her, radiating an oppressive aura, and thinking about Rita, who was underground with an uncertain fate, anxiety gripped Alvitr. "As long as you can save them, I'll do anything."

Ren, observing how easily Alvitr was being swayed, felt a sense of satisfaction. His voice dripped with temptation. "Is that so? Then listen closely. Lower your defenses. Let me inside your body."

Alvitr shuddered at the words. "Y-You… what are you planning to do?"

She felt something was wrong, but time was running out. Her only choice was to listen to Ren's instructions. Hesitantly, she lowered her guard, trusting him for the moment.

「What else? I'm going to make you mine.」

Darkness instantly enveloped the surrounding area. Alvitr's fading consciousness became weaker in the haze. She didn't notice the growing number of transparent threads wrapping around her body. All she could vaguely sense was that the Herrscher of the Void seemed to have placed a massive sphere inside her.

A sudden gust of wind swept by, and the cold air shocked Alvitr out of her dazed state. She looked around—nothing had changed. She was still in the same spot, and her teammates were still unconscious.

"Did I… just have a dream?" Alvitr muttered to herself, but quickly dismissed the thought with her usual carefree attitude. She forced herself to stand again and began tending to the injured Valkyries around her.

What had happened here remained unclear.

...

Meanwhile, Kiana had already reached Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical. But by the time she arrived, the facility had gone into full combat mode. Armed robots patrolled the area, and all of the staff had been evacuated. What remained was a battlefield, prepared for Rita.

Kiana stood there, thinking. "For Rita to have been trapped so easily in a place like this… it's hard to imagine." Before the Herrscher of the Void had awakened, Kiana's dream had been to become Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie. As a result, she knew quite a bit about the S-ranks. A high-rise building like this could be turned into ruins in just over ten minutes.

However, remembering the tear gas Alvitr had mentioned, Kiana began to understand how being trapped here wasn't so unbelievable after all.

Not only were there patrol robots, but there were also a significant number of zombies. As Kiana scanned the area, she noticed faintly glowing patterns on the backs of the zombies lurking in the shadows. Her anger surged.

"It's this disgusting experiment that ruined everything for him!" Kiana thought, her anger rising.

With that, she stopped hiding herself. The golden light in her right eye grew even brighter. Over time, as she had gradually accepted the Herrscher of the Void's power, she had become more adept at using its abilities. Though her consciousness was still under constant threat of erosion, her mental barriers had grown stronger after numerous repairs.

Buzz—

A faint buzzing echoed through the air. Suddenly, a black sphere appeared in the middle of the robots. The intense fluctuations disrupted space, pulling all nearby enemies toward the black hole.

Then, large numbers of Void Lances rained down from the sky, bombarding the gathered robots and zombies.

With a chain reaction of explosions, the entire area was cleared, and a huge portion of the Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical building was destroyed.

「Enemy attack detected!」

After Kiana's strike, the robots quickly regrouped, turning their attention to her. Guns and grenades were fired in her direction. Kiana jumped high into the air, evading the first wave of attacks. But the mecha robots, equipped with AI, quickly calculated her predicted landing spot.

However, Kiana didn't fall as they expected. A pale purple disk appeared beneath her feet, allowing her to perform a double jump in mid-air, narrowly dodging the incoming fire.

Moments later, a new black sphere appeared in the midst of the robots, pulling them all together.

"It's Kiana time!" she shouted softly.

With that, she raised her Void Lance and brought it down like a sharp sword, cutting through the gathered robots.