Chapter 116

A girl with white hair styled in a long ponytail is running down the long metallic hallway of MANTIS HQ. She could probably go faster but she did not want to ruin or melt the hall using her ability as this place is a memento for her to remember her dead comrade in arms. Why does the girl seem to be in a hurry well that is because her best friend Dr. Mei told her to come to the gate for something important. This girl is Kiana The Tuna as Mei and Elysia called her.

Kiana Kaslana wears a distinctive outfit that combines a form-fitting bodysuit with a sporty jacket. The bodysuit is primarily white with black and orange accents, highlighting her athletic build and allowing for full mobility. Over the bodysuit, she dons a red and black jacket, which adds a pop of color and an extra layer of style. The jacket features star motifs and has a casual, yet edgy vibe, complementing her energetic persona. 

Her leggings are white with black and orange patterns, matching the color scheme of her jacket and bodysuit. The outfit is completed with red and black shoes that are both functional and stylish, perfect for her active lifestyle.

At the back of Kiana's waist are twin pistols with a futuristic design and its color accents are red and black, giving an intimidating vibe.

Kiana Kaslana is the leader of the MANTIS, the strongest warrior of the group, and the savior who was meant to save this era as per Elyisia's mention during their last Suffer together. As anyone would know, she completely failed to save humanity in this current era. This made the remaining MANTIS decide to fight another day or in this case, another era and go into hiding in the hibernation chamber that their best Scientist and Engineer created. So in the future era, they can help future humanity to resist the onslaught of the Herrschers sent by the Will of the Honkai as per Mei's theory. 

Though they lose the war against the Herrschers, Kiana doesn't have a plan to give up just yet, unlike Eden who plans to die in this era as she gives up fighting because it's not her war to fight anymore. Kiana is hopeful that in the future someone from the future generation of humans will have a capable and strong individual to help her save Future Era from the nuisance that was trying to hinder the progress and evolution of humanity.

Kiana arrived not far from the entrance and saw two of her comrades and friends. These two have the high authority in this place just like her. They are not the leader type but having them around for future battles can boost the morale of the future humans if they start fighting and not just the morale, they are also valued force in the battle because her friends were just as strong as her in terms of fighting honkai beast individually.

They might not be able to fight Herrshers like Kiana but they can stall them if she is not there at the Honkai Eruption on time. However, one of them whose name is Aponia doesn't really want to fight in the front lines even though she is a capable fighter to a boot and the reason or answer she always gives when asked why she does not help the front line is 'The Lord and Savior already sent someone to solved the problem'. The said someone did not even know or met this Lord that she had been spouting since met sometime in the past in some kind of abandoned Church when she was trying to find some survivor after a Herrscher descent.

Kiana then invited Aponia to join them as per Elysia's instruction at the time and at that time she didn't understand why Elysia wanted Aponia to join them but when they started talking and understanding each other, she came to know that she could see some glimpses of future. Though it's just a glimpse it is still helpful in small things and changes something but in the grand scheme of things it's not really useful because Kiana and the MATISES can't change the fate of this current era of humanity.

The other familiar figure at the gate besides Aponia is Fu Hua, one of her best friends and fellow soldiers who train or serve under Captain Murata Himiko. Sadly, she was not able to serve under Himiko for that long as she was promoted way past Captain rank because of her excellent prowess in fighting and it was also because she was able to pass and adapt to the gene modification that Mobius and Mei did to her. What they did was combine the genes of Honkai Beast to her. This resulted in her having an enhanced physical and having a higher resistance to Honkai Corruption. It also gives Kiana the ability to create and use ice. This resulted in her being able to wield Judgment of Shamash to its full potential as she countered the extreme heat it generated with her ice prowess.

However enough about Kiana, Fu Hua also did gene modification to a Honkai Beast, and from what she can remember the Honkai Beast is called Garuda. The ability Fu Hua received from fusing with it was fire generation and manipulation. She will be extremely valuable in future confrontations. The same can be said of Aponia because she plans to upload her consciousness to Elysian.

After all that musing from her, Kiana arrived in front of them. "Aponia. Fu Hua" She said gently with a smile even at the end of the world she still gave others a warm feeling with that smile.

Aponia only nodded while her eyes closed at Kiana's greeting which made Kiana scratch her cheek a bit in embarrassment at being ignored again by Aponia but her face returned to normal because she is already used to it or even others are already used to it as this woman is unsocialized. "Well, at least this time she didn't ignore," She said inwardly.

 Aponia has long, flowing light blonde hair that partially covers one side of her face, enhancing her mysterious allure. Her soft yet piercing blue eyes convey calm and introspection. She wears a white hooded cloak adorned with a delicate chain and a white flower on her right shoulder, giving her an ethereal appearance. Underneath, she dons a black dress with a high collar, white ruffled sleeves, ornate patterns, and a cross-like design on the front, lending her a clerical elegance. The dress's blue, wing-like motif at the bottom adds a touch of otherworldly charm.

Unlike Aponia who just nodded to Kiana, one of the two verbally greeted her.

"And here I thought Mei would come back first from her errand before you arrived," Fu Hua said with a smile.

"Mou, Who are you? My superior? I'm clearly the leader around here" Kiana said with an angry pout while her arms were crossed.

"If you plan to lead the future humanity then you have to be a proper role model" Fu Hua explains and reprimands with a hint of seriousness to Kiana like she is her mother who wants her child to be disciplined.

Hearing Fu Hua's explanation, Kiana had a smug smile while wagging her finger "Hm, Hm, Hm, Fu Hua, being strong is good enough to be a leadership figure in our group, and besides, being late is not a bad trait. I mean what's the worst that could happen?"

"Imagine you being late in a fight against Honkai Beast in the future but multiply it by 100" Fu Hua explains in simple terms so Kiana the Tuna Brain would be able to understand.

"The sucks but I don't do math! so you lose" Kiana shut down Fu Hua with dumb logic but in this case, it works as Fu Hua just sighs and gives up.

"Well, at least you need to think before you act in the future" Fu Hua reminded with a raised eyebrow.

"Thinking and doing smart things is Mei's job, my job is to fight and do things with my heart to save all the beautiful in future eras" Kiana declared proudly with a bright smile while doing a peace sign.

Fu Hua sighed hearing this but she smiled too just like Kiana as she got influenced by her optimism "You're going to give Mei a lot of headaches with that mindset" She explained.

"Hehehe" Kiana laughed dumbly while scratching the back of her head.

"However, I'll also help and support the both of you to the best of my ability." Fu Hua declared proudly.

Kiana nodded in acknowledgment to Fu Hua "Then let's save the future era" Kiana shouted while doing a fist pump in the air and Fu Hua responded the same. 

Aponia just smiled at these shenanigans, she wanted to tell them it was futile as that thing wouldn't happen because her Lord had come to save them personally and bring them in the right direction.

After calming down their emotions, Kiana around the vicinity for a bit "Oh right! Where's Mei?" She asked with a frown as Mei was the one who called her to be there but she was nowhere to be found.

"Mei said she is just going to take something before we leave." Fu Hua answered casually.

"Leave?" Kiana question.

"Something came up, Aponia here saw that her Lord is going to meet Eden" Fu Hua explained a bit while pointing her chin to Aponia.

Aponia just nodded in response,

"However, we don't know what's her Lord's goal in meeting Eden" Fu Hua added to her explanation with a serious tone in her voice as she was not sure what about this 'Lord' that Aponia was talking about.

"I see" Kiana nodded sagely "So if this Lord has a bad idea for Eden then we beat the Lord up and interrogate or at worst we kill it." She said with a feral grin while cracking her fingers.

Aponia who was silent the whole time spoke up "The Lord won't hurt Eden as she will receive the Lord's warm embrace" 

She explains passionately with eyes turning into whirlpools.

"We'll see about that then" Kiana replied while backing off and distancing herself a bit from Aponia. She knew she was weird and she's already used to but this is a new level of weirdness for her. 

It's even borderline crazy for anyone but she never knew that there were people out that were really into that.

Fu Hua, who likewise finds Aponia to be weird and crazy today? Back away like Kiana "Let's find Mei as I don't want to hear her ramble crazy thoughts." Fu Hua said seriously but a bit scared of Aponia right now.

"Umu" Kiana agreed

"I'm here"

The Trio of Aponia, Kiana, and Fu Hua turn their head to the source of the voice. They see Mei hovering not far away from them and is now wearing something else other than her White coat and stuff. She is also carrying a black briefcase.

Mei did a superhero landing in front of them which is really unnecessary because she can just casually land gently on the surface but she had to show off as this is the first she uses this suit.

"Hello there"

As she landed, Mei stood confidently, exuding a strong and captivating presence which can be seen as the Duo of Kiana and Fu Hua stared at her in awe especially because she did a stupid superhero landing. Aponia on the other hand did react much.

Mei's new outfit is a form-fitting, futuristic bodysuit in white with black and yellow accents. The suit features strategic cutouts, revealing her toned physique, and a high collar adorned with fluffy white fur for a touch of elegance. The asymmetrical design covers her right arm and leg while exposing her left arm and leg, with a high black stocking on her left leg adding allure.

"Mei!" Kiana shouted, jumping and hugging Mei tightly, but they separated for a long time. Mei also hugged Kiana back which made the latter giggle like a child.

"Did something happen while I'm gone for a bit?" Mei asked just to make sure but she already knew the answer as Kiana always does this to her whenever they meet. 

Fu Hua walks towards Kiana who's still hugging Mei. She easily grabs Kiana by the collar like she's a cat. "Nothing really happens. She just wants to hug you just like she always does" She sighed tiredly at Kiana's behavior before she answered with a smile as Kiana's happy-go-lucky demeanor affected her.

"Kiana.." Mei stared at Kiana with narrow eyes as she scrutinized her before she smiled warmly at her and said "Glad to see you too even if we always meet each other in the hallway.

"Hehehe" Kiana laugh dumbly while scratching the back of her head.

Mei liked Kiana's childish personality from the moment they met and she liked it even more as even in this kind of grim situation she was still able to be as optimistic as she could get, And this optimism easily infected her too, granted they were childhood friend so she got influence pretty much early on. Unlike her, the other MANTISES did not really get infected by her from the get-go when their group was formed in the past but it slowly spread to the others as they fought together against Will of the Honkai and its minions of Herrshers.

After removing and placing the cutely pouting Kiana in her comedic chibi version on the ground, Fu Hua turns to Mei again. She looked up and down with her narrow eyes "So this is your secret weapon that you were talking about earlier" She asked.

"Umu, Mobius and I made this together and it's Key of Blankness," Mei said proudly while thinking about Mobius's eccentric quirk which made her solemnly smile but she erased that thought, she explained it even further to them that this suit could use the Herrscher core to its full potential and whoever achieves that they will become a Herrscher for as long as their body can handle the strain or as long as they drew their last breath. 

Kiana and Fu Hua were shocked hearing this, Kiana grabbed Mei by the shoulder "Then why are you wearing that" She shouted loudly while looking at Mei with concern.

"We understand that you're worried about Eden but you don't have to do this as that is just too much," Fu Hua said in concern too while also reminding Mei that she is important for the future era.

"That's right if a fight broke out, you don't have to be concerned about that. You should leave that to me and Fu Hua." Kiana said proudly while swirling the pistols.

Mei gave them a warm smile after hearing their concern for her. "You don't have to worry about me yet as currently I'm not even using the suit" She explained. She's happy for them treating her nicely but she is a capable fighter though that was in the past because of an injury. However, with the help of the Key of Blankness, she'll be able to reach her potential and the ability to go toe to toe against a Herrsher like Kiana here.

Kiana stared at Mei with confusion while Fu Hua was waiting for her to further elaborate on what she meant by not using it.

"As the name implies, this suit is currently blank" Mei explained while using the briefcase that she had been carrying the whole time. "In the words, I'm not using this core" She added further clarifying it for Kiana. She sighed inwardly before thinking "I need to educate Kiana myself because I won't be able to bear to see the Leader embarrassing herself in front of the future generation" 

"I see" Fu Hua nodded sagely "Keep it that way then because just as Kiana said leave the fighting to us while you do the Science and talking" She added with a smile. Though she does have some knowledge in the same area it's not really comparable to the cream of the crop like Me and Mobius or even just the normal Scientist.

"Umu, I won't use the Herrsher core unless it's necessary to help both of you or you in dire need of it because once I use the core it will disappear completely," She said with certainty while also thinking if would be a shame to let the core go to waste but it much better than losing a family and best friend. "I need to think of a way for the core not to disintegrate" She inwardly said.

"That won't happen, trust me," Kiana said proudly with a wide smile as radiant as the Shounen protagonist. Fu Hua also smiles but it is just a simple smile without showing the teeth, unlike Kiana. Aponia really wants to retort to them that it's not going to happen but she refrains from it as she does not want to change the possible future and it's not like she did not trust the vision that she received from her Lord. She is just scared the Lord will leave them behind with Eden. if she does something but that's on her only.

Mei wanted to retort that Kiana had jinxed herself but she top herself as Kiana might outjinx the jinx. "Let's go!" She walked to the Armored Jeep that was prepared for them by the soldier at the front gate.

The Trio of Kiana, Aponia, and Fu Hua followed suit.

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