Traveling from Schicksal Headquarters to the Far East Branch did not take much time.
At least, that was the case with Schicksal's technological capabilities.
The application to go to the Far East Branch was approved on the afternoon of the first day, and although it was delayed for more than a day due to procedural reasons, Durandal and Rita arrived at St. Freya Academy on the third day.
Originally, Durandal wanted to come alone, but Rita was determined to follow Durandal, so she reluctantly agreed to Rita's request.
Her purpose in visiting St. Freya Academy this time was very clear: she was going for two people.
One was named Kiana Kaslana, and the other was named Mei.
And ostensibly, her reason was to meet the Third Herrscher.
Durandal had already thought it through: she had ample reason to visit Mei, as she was one of the few known Herrschers currently siding with humanity.
As Schicksal's Strongest Valkyrie, the First Herrscher and Second Herrscher were out of her reach, so meeting the Third Herrscher to understand her future enemies was a perfectly valid reason.
Not only Theresa, but even Otto didn't think much of it.
So Durandal met her target, Mei, without much fanfare.
Others might have thought Durandal was only there because of the Herrscher, but Mei understood Durandal's true purpose the moment she saw her.
As the saying goes, enemies meet with blazing eyes. Although the two girls were not enemies, in a sense, they could be considered rivals.
After all, the battlefield of love…
Even if one party outwardly expressed no objection to sharing with others, the other party did not delve deeply into the matter.
But possessiveness is a psychology everyone has; if possible, who would want to share their loved one with a stranger?
It's not that they couldn't get along; after all, the two actually had quite a lot in common on this matter. But when it came to asserting dominance, they refused to back down.
Their cryptic dialogue left the unaware onlookers bewildered.
Even Rita, who considered herself to know Durandal very well, didn't understand why her Durandal-sama would suddenly show such hostility towards someone she was meeting for the first time.
The result was… they came to blows…
Though it was under the guise of verifying the Third Herrscher's strength.
Actually, things were still relatively fine at this point.
Even Takatsuki didn't know about this matter, and the reason he knew was because…
Seele came to "tip him off."
Because Mei and Durandal grew angrier the more they fought.
Durandal's own strength was Herrscher-level, and after a series of enhancements and awakenings, let alone a newly awakened Herrscher, even veteran Herrschers would not fare well against her.
After all, eighty percent of Herrschers are talent-based, relying on naturally high baseline combat abilities.
Durandal, on the other hand, was a strong individual who surpassed the former through rapid growth talent and acquired effort.
The result was…
Mei was so enraged that she directly unleashed her Herrscher Mode. The two fought from the training ground to the sky, and then to the sea, now completely out of the sea area around St. Freya Academy.
"..."
Takatsuki was speechless after listening to Seele's narration; he had never imagined things would develop to this extent.
No way…
Why did Durandal suddenly appear?
Though confused, he knew there was no time to ponder such questions and immediately activated his abilities.
"Gone!?"
Takatsuki clearly sensed that the Nen he had left on Mei and the Nen he had left on Durandal had both disappeared.
It wasn't uncommon for Nen to disappear; Nen itself would slowly be erased by others' aura, or even accelerated if the opponent actively channeled energy. However, Mei had never done such a thing.
He unleashed his aura sensing, instantly enveloping several kilometers around him, but still found no trace of their auras.
Clearly, their battle had moved beyond Takatsuki's perception range.
Fortunately, even though it was outside his perception range, in this world, devices for Honkai Energy monitoring easily pinpointed areas with intense Honkai Energy bursts.
After all, Mei was the Herrscher of Thunder; if she and Durandal fought with all their might, all their attacks would carry powerful Honkai Energy reactions.
After confirming the general direction, Takatsuki instantly ascended, with the Zodiac's floating combined with Godspeed erupting simultaneously, and he vanished into the sky in an instant.
"Please don't let anything happen."
Takatsuki was still a bit worried about their meeting. Although in his impression, neither of them was someone who lacked discretion, if they truly got carried away in a heated battle, losing their heads was a distinct possibility.
Then Takatsuki saw 2B flying around in a YoRHa aircraft.
"Lord Master."
Upon seeing Takatsuki, 2B immediately greeted him, still maintaining her usual poker face.
"2B, why are you here?"
Takatsuki looked at 2B's uniform and her re-donned blindfold: "Did a Honkai incident occur nearby?"
"No."
2B shook her head: "We detected a strong Honkai Energy reaction at sea, so we came to investigate. We found it was the battle of the Mistress and… no, it was the battle of the two Mistresses."
"Mei and Durandal!? Where are they!?"
2B's words reminded Takatsuki, but what confused him more was how 2B knew about his relationship with Durandal; he hadn't told YoRHa about it.
"The two adults are over there."
Just as 2B pointed a direction, Takatsuki instantly vanished.
"So fast…"
Suppressing the shock in her heart, 2B spoke to the Pod mounted on the aircraft: "Pod."
"Understood."
The partners, who had worked together for so long that they were almost telepathic, immediately understood 2B's meaning. The aircraft instantly changed form and chased in Takatsuki's direction.
When Takatsuki arrived at the direction 2B pointed, he realized that things...
…seemed a bit different from what he had expected?
Mei and Durandal were sitting side by side on a small island—or rather, a reef—less than ten square meters in size, while A2 stood guard not far away.
Naturally, they noticed Takatsuki when he arrived.
Under their greetings, Takatsuki landed on the reef.
"Um… what's going on with you two?"
Takatsuki was a bit unsure of the current situation.
He quickly scanned the two girls before him.
Mei was in full Herrscher of Thunder form, even more complete than when she transformed in front of him before, having fully become the Herrscher of Thunder, with a distinctly Far Eastern appearance.
She had two horns on her head, and two massive red ghostly armors floated beside her.
Durandal also maintained her Bright Knight Excelsis armor form.
This was clearly not a harmonious scene! They had obviously just finished fighting!