Chapter 149: Benares' Crisis
Hyperion · Sortie Deck
"Sister Irene, will it really be alright?" Bronya, followed by Project Bunny, arrived at the main deck. "The opponent is the current strongest S-Rank Valkyrie."
"She is very powerful. She once cleared out a massive amount of Honkai disasters worldwide within a dozen hours."
"It's fine, she's probably just here to block us." Irene shook her head. "Besides, aerial combat isn't exactly what you excel at, Bronya, right?"
"Furthermore, you guys still have to head to Schicksal's Third Airport to rescue Kiana next."
"Regarding that matter, Dr. Einstein asked me to wait a moment before going." Bronya glanced at Project Bunny behind her. "They said they have a weapon to hand over for my use."
"A weapon, huh." Irene nodded. That should be referring to the Star of Eden. The weapon engraved into Old Yang's DNA was indeed handed over for Bronya to use during this period.
"Then we'll just have to leave it to Mei for now. But it should be fine, Little Corruption and Rin will take good care of her."
With two Herrschers acting as escorts, plus Mei being a Herrscher herself, even if she hadn't figured things out yet, it wouldn't be possible to interfere with Mei under normal circumstances.
"Bronya understands." Bronya nodded. "Then please be careful as well, Miss Irene."
"Mm, I know." Irene nodded, then hesitated for a moment before asking, "By the way, Bronya, knowing that I've been hiding things from you all this time... aren't you angry?"
"A little, but the care Sister Irene has shown us all this time isn't fake, right?" Bronya already knew about Irene's condition and her true identity.
Although she was somewhat surprised, and Irene's past actions were indeed a bit infuriating, they had genuinely lived together for two years.
During these two years, Irene's feelings for them were absolutely not fake. Moreover, Aunt Himeko had also explained Irene's past life to them.
Having experienced all of that, she understood many things. Everything Sister Irene did was definitely not in vain.
Whether it was Wendy or Himeko, they had both been helped by Irene. That help was absolutely genuine. And this time, it was merely because it was completely unavoidable.
"It's great that you can understand." Irene breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at Wendy, who was pushing her wheelchair over. "Let's go. Durandal has probably been waiting for us for a long time."
Irene took out Pardo's card from her pocket and placed it against her body. Amidst a flash of light, Irene transformed into Pardo's appearance after a long time.
Bronya looked at Irene's body, recalling what Himeko had told them earlier—that the transformations Irene underwent were the souls of the deceased, the powers she possessed.
And the Irene she had seen had transformed into at least two different figures. Aunt Himeko also said that the Wendy from another world was residing within Irene.
Furthermore, Aunt Himeko had mentioned that Irene carried two other Herrschers. In other words, Sister Irene bore the weight of at least four souls. How incredibly heavy.
An exile whose world had been destroyed, yet who stubbornly wanted to save another world that had experienced a similar fate to her own.
In that case, they couldn't possibly just do nothing. Sister Irene's efforts were worth seeing through to the end.
After completing her transformation, Irene didn't stop her actions. She reached into her pocket, took out Wendy's card, and tucked it inside her clothes over her chest. She intended to give Durandal a massive surprise later.
Wendy also left her wheelchair. The golden whirlwind swirling behind her gently lifted her up. Using the methods of the Taixuan Sword Qi, Irene condensed thrusters beneath her feet. Finally, the two turned into streaks of light and disappeared into the sky simultaneously.
Durandal casually thrust her lance into the body of a Temple-class Honkai Beast beside her, then pulled it out, turning to look at the two figures flying toward her.
"Bored of waiting, so you started cleaning up Honkai Beasts?" Irene gave Durandal a friendly greeting. "Looks like we made you wait a long time."
Compared to the somewhat friendly Irene, Wendy's words were much more direct: "Step aside, or hand Kiana over."
"My orders do not include that matter." Durandal raised her lance, looking straight at Irene. "However, Miss Irene, I would very much like to test your strength."
"Don't tell me that guy Otto said something again?" Irene raised the edge of her sword. "But could Miss Durandal please tell me what exactly our Overseer Otto is trying to do?"
"Overseer Otto's orders were simply for me to attract your attention." Durandal honestly stated her purpose for coming.
"I figured as much." Irene looked at Durandal. "But how about doing us a favor? Step aside. We have no intention of getting involved in your conflict."
"Otto, I know you're watching, and I know you've probably guessed a few things. Why must you continue pushing this forward?"
What Irene couldn't understand the most was why Otto was still pushing things forward now. If Sirin truly sided with humanity, then Otto should have no reason to continue his mission.
The response Irene received was a charge from Durandal. Not to be outdone, Irene gathered heavy purple crystals in her hand, forcibly catching Durandal's sweeping lance from the side, then slashed her longsword straight at Durandal.
"What?!" Durandal was somewhat surprised to see Irene acting completely unafraid of injury. But seeing the longsword swinging over, she simply raised her fist and punched the flat of the blade directly.
"Oops, didn't land." Irene waved her hand, dispelling the heavy crystal fragments. Seeing that the fight was on, Wendy beside her immediately whipped up a hurricane.
Countless sharp blades mixed within the hurricane scraped toward Durandal. Sensing the Honkai energy and wind power contained within the gale, Durandal's armor immediately flared with Honkai energy.
A tall figure holding a shield instantly blocked Durandal. Beside Irene, a blue figure wielding a greatsword also appeared, cleaving down heavily toward her.
"Clang!" A mirrored Judah appeared behind Irene, forcefully blocking the greatsword. Subsequently, Judah rapidly erupted with a massive number of chains, tightly binding the figure.
"King and Queen, huh." Irene glanced at the two figures, then directly hefted Judah like a warhammer and smashed it toward Durandal.
Seeing Judah hurtling toward her, Durandal didn't dare block it head-on. Getting entangled by Judah was no joke, so she quickly dodged out of the way. "Miss Irene, why do you have Judah?"
"And why does it look like this?" Durandal looked at the Starry Judah in Irene's hands. "It's completely different from Senior Theresa's."
It wasn't that Durandal hadn't seen Theresa's Judah. If Theresa's Judah gave off a solemn and holy vibe, then the Starry Judah in Irene's hands radiated an intense, murderous aura.
"I don't just have Judah." Irene held Judah in one hand and her longsword in the other. "I have a few other things as well. Want to see for yourself?"
"I'll wait and see." Durandal swung her lance, clashing with the longsword in Irene's hand. As for Judah, Durandal had no desire to clash head-on with its Honkai-sealing abilities, constantly evading it.
During a gap in her evasions, Durandal fiercely thrust her lance forward. The weapon, swirling with faint blue particles, stabbed directly into Irene's arm.
Durandal originally wanted to keep pushing, but she found that the skin on Irene's arm seemed as though it was welded shut. It was like stabbing into a solid, unyielding object.
Irene swung Judah, forcing Durandal back. White mist gradually seeped from her arm, mending the punctured hole.
"I'm not here simply to cause destruction, Durandal. Do you really believe Otto's actions are right?"
"I know the Lord Overseer has done many wrong things, but sometimes these are necessary." Durandal responded to Irene. "The world cannot be entirely just; it requires some necessary evil."
"But he clearly could have done less." Irene took a stance. Just as she was about to continue her pursuit, the voice of [Irene] suddenly echoed in her ear.
[Irene, something's wrong. We have a situation.][Irene]'s voice sounded somewhat anxious. [I sense the Celestial's aura, and she is currently with Benares.]
"What?!" Hearing the voice in her ear, Irene immediately felt that things were bad. Benares was practically one of Sirin's last remaining friends now.
If something happened to Benares, Sirin would definitely go berserk. And the chances of the Celestial holding back against Benares were genuinely low. Could this be what Otto was aiming for?
Thinking of this, Irene immediately called out, "Wendy!"
"I'm here!" Wendy responded instantly. "I'm fine, Irene."
With a clench of Wendy's hand, countless gusts of wind swept around the King. With the aid of the whirlwind, countless wind blades acted like a spinning meat grinder, slicing the King's body apart layer by layer until it dissolved into faint blue particles in the air.
"Help me hold off Durandal! Something went wrong on Benares' end, I need to go protect her."
"..." Wendy was slightly taken aback by Irene's words, but quickly nodded. "Understood."
As soon as Wendy finished speaking, the surrounding sky gradually began to darken. Durandal frowned, feeling the wind around her gradually intensifying.
Moreover, this wasn't an ordinary hurricane. Even the light breezes blowing around her were laced with wind blades, cutting against her armor. However, it was still a bit difficult for an attack of this level to break through the autonomous Honkai energy defense of her armor.
As the sky grew darker, the wind grew stronger, and the mixed wind blades became sharper. Visible cyan storms even began to form.
Piercing cyan halos flickered in Wendy's eyes. She wasn't her other self; she couldn't manipulate the weather to form a massive storm in such a short time.
But by using her Authority to gradually influence the surrounding weather, she could still manage it. The Herrscher of Wind was different from other Herrschers; from the very beginning, she was a Herrscher whose primary ability was ultra-wide-area attacks.
If the area of effect wasn't large, how could it be called wind? Just like the typhoons naturally generated in nature—which of them didn't have a massive area of effect?
Durandal watched the cyan hurricane gradually enveloping her. Faint blue particles slowly coated her body. The Queen's body, originally entangled by Judah, gradually dissipated and reappeared beside Durandal.
The King, which had been shredded to pieces by Wendy, also instantly reformed and stood beside Durandal. The two massive figures acted like towering guards, protecting Durandal.
"Is this the Herrscher of Wind?" Durandal looked around but didn't feel any tension. After a quick scan, her gaze rapidly locked onto Wendy.
As long as she could suppress Wendy, the surrounding hurricane would pose no threat. Besides, she wasn't afraid of this hurricane to begin with. As for Irene...
Durandal looked left and right, only to find that Irene had just used the assistance of the wind to rapidly fly away, heading in Benares' direction.
Schicksal HQ
Through the monitors, Otto watched the hurricane gradually taking shape. "Tsk tsk tsk, it seems Miss Wendy's compatibility with the Gem of Desire isn't low at all. Compared to that one in Siberia back then, this scale is vastly superior."
The gap between a Pseudo-Herrscher and a true Herrscher really was like a chasm. However, although the spectacle was grand, satellite readings indicated that the Honkai energy level wasn't exceptionally high. This level of power wasn't enough to defeat Durandal.
At the same time, he also noticed Irene's departure. Otto looked at the screen. "Finally noticed, huh? But if Miss Irene hadn't noticed, it would have been less than perfect."
Just as he thought this, a few alerts flashed on another screen beside him. Opening them, he found that a small assault ship had forcibly broken through the satellite blockade and had already arrived above the Third Airport.
"It seems things are proceeding steadily on this side as well." Otto observed the figures appearing on the monitor. They were just about who he expected: Mei, Dr. Tesla, and Miss Himeko.
Presumably, his granddaughter and Dr. Einstein had stayed behind on the Hyperion to prevent any accidents and could provide support via the Hyperion at any time.
That was actually a pretty good strategy. It seemed his granddaughter had grown. This was good; this way, he could be at ease. However, right at that moment, an unexpected anomaly occurred.
The perfectly functioning monitors suddenly went black. And it wasn't just a simple blackout—after going dark, as if playing a prank, a large 'X' resembling police caution tape was drawn across the screen.
"..." Otto stared at the screen that had suddenly changed like this, a bit stunned. Tesla and Einstein did possess abilities in this area, but this style didn't look like theirs at all.
"Interesting. It seems my granddaughter is hiding some other tricks up her sleeve."
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉