"Durandal, head to the destination at maximum speed."
Otto gave the command.
"Understood, Overseer!"
The warship of the Immortal Blades was already approaching Nagazora City at its highest velocity.
"We will arrive shortly... wait, that is... detecting ultra-high Honkai Energy readings! The Herrscher of Thunder has spotted us!"
On the ME Corp rooftop.
Xia Yu glanced at the rapidly approaching warship and said regretfully, "The spoilers have arrived."
She then pulled a long blade from the void.
"Wait, that's a Schicksal warship!" Himeko tried to intervene upon seeing this.
Xia Yu remained unmoved. "Don't worry, I won't kill them. But right now, I don't want to see her."
The long blade remained in its scabbard, yet with a gentle swing, it carried a massive amount of Honkai Energy that slashed toward the distant warship.
"Evasive maneuvers, now!" the Immortal Blades crew shouted.
"No time, it's too fast!" The pilot had barely finished speaking when the slash arrived at the bridge.
"All personnel! Brace for impact!" Durandal shouted at the top of her lungs.
The words had just left her mouth when the slash, flickering with lightning, swept past the Immortal Blades warship. The massive influx of Honkai Energy combined with the hidden Power of Nihility instantly crippled all of the vessel's systems.
However, the Valkyries received no direct attack.
"Warship systems are failing! We're going down!" The pilot scrambled to regain control, but the warship was no longer responsive.
"Prepare for an emergency landing!" Seeing this, Durandal kicked open the hatch. "I'll go ahead alone!"
She leaped out immediately.
Fortunately, the Valkyries of the Immortal Blades were accustomed to her methods and skillfully prepared for the emergency landing. They were currently over the waters on the outskirts of Nagazora City; landing in the water would not cause significant casualties.
At the same time, Siegfried suddenly felt a chill in his chest and quickly reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a letter, where a flicker of heart-palpitating power formed an arrow.
No matter how curious he had been these past days, he had resisted the urge to open the letter.
He hadn't expected it to react at this moment.
Siegfried looked in the direction the arrow pointed and saw a Schicksal warship falling from the sky.
'So, it wants me to intercept the Valkyries on board?' He sighed, picked up Shamash, and rushed in that direction.
There was no time to wait for Welt; when it came to matters involving Cecilia, he was already burning with anxiety.
As for the airborne Durandal, she used her absolute physical prowess to control her descent, landing in a river near the city district. She immediately charged out and scanned the surroundings.
"On guard! Unknown personnel ahead... ack! Captain, what are you doing?"
"Idiot, that's Lord Durandal!" The captain of the St. Freya Valkyrie evacuation squad gave her subordinate a hand-chop to the head, looking at her with exasperation before turning back to look at Durandal, who had just emerged from the river, with a face full of adoration.
"Lord Durandal, this is the St. Freya evacuation squad," she reported with a salute. "We are currently carrying out evacuation missions!"
"Good work," Durandal nodded to her. "The Immortal Blades squad was hit by a warning attack from the Herrscher of Thunder. Our warship went down in the outer sea; squad members will be landing shortly."
"Please coordinate with them when the time comes."
Durandal knew very well that while the attack looked imposing, it actually lacked lethality. Otherwise, besides herself, not a single person would have survived.
"Understood, Lord Durandal," the captain nodded repeatedly.
"I have other objectives; I must reach ground zero," Durandal looked at the Erdtree in the sky. "We will do our best to stall the Herrscher. You must execute the evacuation at maximum speed."
"Yes!"
Durandal nodded to them and then sprinted toward the ME Corp headquarters without a moment's pause.
"Lord Durandal? Was that really the Lord Durandal?" the foolish Valkyrie finally remembered.
"Who else could it be?" the captain said crossly.
"Hehe, Lord Durandal spoke to me..."
"Stop daydreaming, we still have a mission!" The captain became furious just thinking about it. "That damn Far East Government, they aren't doing a single thing! If it's just us, the evacuation will take forever!"
Evacuating an entire city was no easy feat. Without the cooperation of the local government, relying on a dozen Valkyrie squads to evacuate millions of people was nothing short of a pipe dream.
"Has the support arrived yet?" The captain was on the verge of overheating as she yelled into her communicator, "What? They're still bickering?"
"Then put a damn blade to those bureaucrats' necks! If they don't work, cut them down! Major Himeko and Lord Durandal are risking their lives to deal with the Herrscher to buy us time. We are operating on the front lines under the threat of the Great Honkai, and they still dare to drag their feet?"
"What? Consider the consequences?"
"To hell with the consequences! This is a Great Honkai; execute wartime regulations immediately! You're worried about this and that, why don't you worry about us on the front lines and the millions of Nagazora City citizens?"
"I don't believe for a second that the vast Far East is so short of people that no one wants to be an official. If they won't do it, plenty of others will. Do it! Cut them down from the top! If they resist, cut down their whole families! Their whole families, you hear me!"
"What? Am I from Shenzhou? You guessed right! If you won't do the cutting, then I will. You come to the front lines!"
She finished her tirade almost in a roar.
It couldn't be helped; Theresa was usually so easygoing that the Far East bureaucrats had become increasingly brazen, even daring to slack off with Schicksal now.
The branch clerks also lacked the dominance of other Schicksal branches. Most of them being locals made them appear far too weak in the eyes of the Valkyries.
As the branch head, Theresa had already received numerous reports.
"Branch Head, that Valkyrie is simply too much!" a local clerk at the branch complained indignantly. "She actually told us to kill people, even their whole families. It's too barbaric. Politics isn't so..."
"Why haven't you executed the orders?" Theresa looked at the clerk, beginning to reflect on whether she had lived too comfortably these past years.
To be honest, she hadn't managed the overall framework of the Far East Branch much. Most of Theresa's attention was focused on St. Freya Academy.
Because she didn't like interfering with the local government, the branch usually held little actual power, functioning like a quiet backwater office. After all, if you don't stay active, where does power come from? The true power of the Far East Branch resided entirely within St. Freya Academy.
It was precisely because of her easygoing nature that she remained at peace with the local government and Anti-Entropy, and St. Freya Academy was quite peaceful.
Usually, this seemed fine, but now that an incident had occurred, these people responsible for communicating with the local government had delivered a massive failure.
"Do exactly as she said! Execute wartime regulations and kill anyone who doesn't cooperate," Theresa thought of Himeko still dealing with the Herrscher and spoke with bloodshot eyes and urgency, "I will have a squad of Valkyries assist you. Can you get it done?"
She simply didn't agree with Otto's way of doing things; she herself was a Valkyrie who had fought through countless battles and wasn't truly soft-hearted. Usually, she just couldn't be bothered to manage things, but at a time like this, she had to strike decisively!
"I..." The clerk panicked. "But those are prominent families..."
To be honest, those who stayed in a quiet office had no ambition and naturally couldn't be forceful in such matters. The Far East had been like this since ancient times. What? You're asking about subordinates overthrowing superiors?
If he had that kind of courage, why would he stay in a branch with no power?
"You just lead the way for them!" Theresa said through gritted teeth. "Let them do it! By the way, that captain is from Shenzhou, right? Her squad can't be pulled out for now. Let Fu Hua lead a team instead. An A-rank Valkyrie will be enough to quickly sweep them aside."
At the same time, she made up her mind that once this was over, she had to prioritize taking control of the local government.
On the other side, Durandal, who was rushing toward the ME Corp headquarters, suddenly bent down. Abyss Flower was thrust violently into the ground, and the massive resistance acted like a brake, stopping her instantly.
Boom!
Before her, a flash of fire swept across most of the street, kicking up countless sand and rubble.
Fortunately, this street had been mostly evacuated, so it didn't cause any casualties.
It was precisely because of this that Siegfried felt safe attacking.
"Miss," he walked out of the alley carrying his greatsword, blocking Durandal's path, and said with a grin, "This road is closed."
"Siegfried Kaslana," Durandal recognized the man before her. "A Schicksal S-rank fugitive. You're stopping me here? Do you know what you're doing?"
"Of course I know," Siegfried's smile remained. "But I'm doing a favor for someone, no choice. If you ask me, at a time like this, we shouldn't ruin the harmony. Why don't we go to the bar next door, order a drink, and have a detailed chat?"
"So, Anti-Entropy has defected to the Honkai, hasn't it?" Durandal raised Abyss Flower, ignoring his nonsense. "You have betrayed humanity!"
"I can't take the weight of that accusation," Siegfried shook his head and thought seriously for two seconds before saying, "Like I said, I'm doing a favor. But honestly, it is the Honkai after all."
"How about this: wait for me to read a letter first. Anyway, she said as long as I block you, it's fine. I've blocked you now, haven't I?"
"After I finish reading, I'll decide whether or not to fight you. How about it?"
Durandal thought for a moment and then nodded. "I'll give you one minute."
"One minute is a bit harsh, Miss," Siegfried said with a grin as he pulled the letter from his pocket. "If she wrote a long... one..."
The smile on his face froze.
The content of the letter was very simple.
'Bianka Durandal Ataegina, formerly known as Kiana Kaslana. Back then she fell into the snow mountains and survived miraculously, but her head suffered a severe impact and she forgot her past.'
'She was later cured by Otto, her hair color changed, and she was renamed. Yes, Siegfried, she is your biological daughter. I hope you didn't hit her too hard.'
Slap!
Siegfried gave himself a slap.