The Awaited 50 Thousand Years

~~~~~~Meanwhile, with Marcus~~~~~~

The Inventor brought Bronya over to a massive room full of glass containers.

Some of them had people inside of them!

The girl looked both intrigued and horrified by the sheer scale of this place!

There were thousands of these things here!

"What are these?" She asked him with a nervous tone.

"Bio-chambers. These containers can manipulate biological lifeforms to the smallest of things. It can create life or heal anyone who is made from flesh. You can call this the cauldron of life."

Her eyes widened when she heard that! The last room she saw could make any item…even a person, but this one could make the literal life of her choice!

'His faction… are like gods…' 

The girl realised that the titles that he has… are real! Why is he embarrassed to call himself by them!?

"Then…"

"If you want these in your city, we need to establish some rules, " he answered before she could ask.

But Bronya understood that she needed to perform her duties before she could ask for such miracle things!

"I understand."

"That's Good. I will prepare a schedule for you. The special baths inside these will improve your performance and survivability," Marcus told her with a small nod.

"..."

"It's the same thing I gave to Erina. I do want you to be around me for a long time, though by this point, I can manipulate time itself." He said the last part to himself.

"C-Can we continue with our… date?" 

The moment she mentioned 'date' the moment he 'returned' to her.

Such a response made her realise that he likes these small things. But his powers are so vast that it made her realise how contradictory this guy is.

"Of course~~, let's go." Once again, he took her hand and let her out of the room and back to the main corridors.

"Next is the armoury. I will show you some of the things which you could use if you want." Marcus commented with a smile as he imagined some of the rifles he could make for her.

But then he recalled that he would need to give her a ring.

"That reminds me, I need to give you a ring."

"Ring?" Bronya immediately remembered Erina looking at a ring on her finger.

"Yep, engagement ring." He sagely nodded.

"I could give you a symbolic one, but only after taking your first altering bath will you see actual use for it."

"...What kind of use?" She asked him with a slightly weary tone.

"Relax, it's only access to magic, and make it easier to use," he joked as he saw how she was acting. 

"...Magic? I can use magic?" She asked with disbelief in her voice.

"Of course. Leave such a thing to me, and I could make you an esper, too." He smirked once more.

"...One thing at the time, please."

"Alright."

~~~

The pair arrived at a place that was finally familiar to Bronya! She could see weapons on racks all over the place.

There are bulky armours behind a glass wall and other gadget-like tools on the tables. All of these items are made from materials unknown to her.

Curiously, the girl strolled over to inspect a rifle placed on a table. It looked exquisitely built from metal, and it had no ammo cartridges of any kind. There were glowing parts, too, which made her nervous. What are they for?

Before she could touch it, an invisible force field blocked her from touching it.

[You are not permitted to touch these weapons; ask the Supreme Commander to lift the restrictions.] A translucent window with a warning sign appeared before her. 

Bronya slowly lowered her hand. She was about to speak, but Marcus was already standing beside her.

"Give me a minute, and you will get your access, but first—" He showed her what he was holding in his hand, lifting it to show her. 

It was a golden ring with small snowflakes carved into it.

"This is your engagement ring~." His voice was quite excited as he showed her the design of the ring.

"Look at these snowflakes. They look gorgeous, especially from the different angles when you look at them." Marcus showed the snowflakes from different angles, as depending on the source of light, they have different colours.

"...Yes." With small awe, she looked at the ring in his hand.

A few moments later, he lowered the ring and looked directly into her eyes.

"Now, shall we~?" 

Bronya turned stiff for a second. For some reason, this decision carries quite a bit of weight.

Not that she can turn back now…

The girl offered her hand, but Marcus shook his head. "Your other hand." With a silent nod, she offered her other hand, and the inventor placed the ring on her right hand ring finger.

The moment the ring smoothly settled in, a unique feeling washed her over.

"I put several protections on this ring." He explained to her as he saw her curious gaze on the ring.

"For now, this will do, as I will give you something better later on~." 

Bronya grimaced slightly as she started to feel the pressure descending on her. As someone who is taught from a young age to pay back her favours, the person before her is the worst kind of person to own any sort of favours.

Oh, she knows that things like favours should not exist when it comes to romance, as they make a relationship a farce. But the issue with that is that she doesn't want to be a vase, which needs to be taken care of.

"Heh… I can read that expression ~ why don't we go to the city and you spoil me? If you think this was bad for you?" He pulled her closer as his hands wrapped around her waist.

"...O-Okay…"

The next Supreme Guardian bashfully nodded as she thought about what she could possibly do…

~~~~~~Meanwhile, with Sirin~~~~~~

The white-haired girl looked at her supposed, very distant relative. Kallen looked nervous as those vivid images she saw terrified her very soul.

She realised the playing field had reached the heights she can't even fathom. She might have been the best fighter of her faction, but she doubts she could even grace the bottom tier of this void travelling faction!

Hell! Her being here was an extra! She understood that her world was nothing more than some strange simulation! All of it was for the girl before her amusement! It was simply insane!

"So, here she is, Kallen Kaslana." With crossed arms, Sirin pointed with her chin at the fellow white-haired girl next to her.

Kallen looked at MEI, Elysia, and Sakura. The pinkette assassin frowned as she saw how Kallen was looking at her.

Was that…infatuation?

"You do know that you belong to Marcus," Sirin commented with a frown, making the Saint girl tremble from fear.

"I-I understand."

"I hope you do. My punishment style originated from Marcus; these three can attest to how cruel they can be. I hope you realise what the price for your life is." 

The trio trembled the moment she mentioned 'punishment'. Kallen noticed that, making her realise that whatever they did was bad.

"I-I understand." Kallen nodded seriously this time around.

"Fufufu, we shall see. Because the ship itself is watching you." Sirin shook her head as she wondered why Marcus wanted a lesbian girl for his collection…

But then she stopped in her tracks, realising that she, in a sense, was one too. But after what he did to her, she stopped having such thoughts.

'Don't tell me… he is planning to 'straighten' her out?' Her lips twitched from that realisation.

"Hmm…" Kallen walked over to the trio as she decided to restart introductions.

"I am Kallen Kaslana." The maiden slightly bowed as she introduced herself again.

"MEI."

"Elysia, nice to meet you." The pinkette Herrscher waved her hand in a friendly manner. This left Sakura, who looked weirded out by this Kallen.

"...Sakura." The pink-haired assassin introduced herself and looked wearily at the white-haired girl.

"For Kevin's descendant, she is strange," Sakura said to MEI as she was not holding back.

"...Kevin? Who is Kevin?" Kallen looked confused.

"Your very distant ancestor. My guess is that it's been around 49 thousand years since that time," MEI said while pushing her glasses up.

"...49 thousand years ago? You mean the previous civilisation?" The girl looked like she realised what this meant!

These girls are from a previous civilisation! This made her feel several different emotions. First, she wanted to know all about their foods, and second, she wanted to know about their civilisation and how it ended.

"Yes… sort of… you see…" 

MEI looked at Sirin, who was standing some distance away and very close to the window projection.

"She made time flow very quickly in the Earth below. She wants a certain someone to be born so that she could fight her… or something like that." The Nerd version of Raiden Mei explained from her perspective.

"...I know, she showed to me." Kallen trembled while saying that.

This makes the three realise that this girl had a flash course to catch up to them rapidly.

"In that case, you know what you are dealing with." 

The white-haired girl nodded. At the same time, Elysia looked closely at the maiden girl; she could see Kevin in her.

"Ohh~~ but you are so cute!" Out of nowhere, Elysia hugged the girl.

Kallen immediately blushed as she didn't expect it.

"You can call me Aunty Elysia~ as I am a super close friend to Kevin~." 

"Umm…" Kallen didn't know where to look as she got girlhandled by this pink menace.

"Let her go, Elysia." MEI sighed as she looked at Sirin, who was ignoring them.

But then, out of nowhere, the Void Queen turned around and began her instructions.

With a hand motion, she said, "Cease with rapid time flow." She ordered the crew to send her orders to the Assimilator.

"Exiting time slip." The Captain nodded at the command.

"We are entering the atmosphere. I want my vanguard fleet to follow."

The ships began to move.

As several hundred of them began to descend.

The maids looked with bated breath, hoping to see how the world had changed. For three of them, it was 50 thousand years, and for Kallen, it was 500 years.

~~~~~~Planetside~~~~~~

"What is that?" Kiana looked at the sky in disbelief. One moment, they were preparing for Anti-Entropy's birthday, and the next, people started to panic.

"First was this mysterious Herrscher with missing people. Next moment, there are constructs in the sky." Kiana commented even more.

As she, alongside Seele, was shopping for products.

"K-Kiana! What is that?" Seele, the blue-haired girl, pointed at something moving towards them.

Kiana followed her gaze, and her eyes bulged when she saw a huge spaceship descend towards their location.

Seconds later, city-wide alarms started to blare. It was not a test! This was the real deal!

'An alien invasion!' the white-haired girl pondered in disbelief. First, they had Honkai to fight. Now they have this! Could it get any worse?

"We need to return to the base!" Kiana swiftly said to the girl.

"Y-Yes! You are right! Let's go!"

The pair began to dash towards the base where Anti-Entropy is situated.

But by the time they were close, they could see more spaceships—there were a countless number of them. It was… horrifying.

"...We finally meet…"

Kiana stopped in her tracks when she heard that voice.

It sounded like her!

The white-haired girl looked up. She saw… herself!

"...You… are…"

This girl was like her, but those clothes, that energy wing, the subspace lances, those eyes…

She knows these well enough!

"You are my Herrscher persona! But this is impossible! How can you be outside of me?"

"Fufufufu– hahahaha! That look on your face! I waited for months for this!" The evil self of her began to laugh like a crazy woman.

'Did she lose it? Wait! She CAN'T be outside me! I can still sense HER!' 

Kiana immediately got extremely defensive. This made no sense to her, and it only made her feel more danger!

"Who are you? You are not me!" The girl pulled out her pistols as she was ready to fight with Seele next to her as she summoned her scythe. Not that Sirin cared about the extras.

"I am you. As disgusting as it sounds, I am a version of you that you defeated for control over Herrscher's powers." Sirin began to explain with a disgusted frown. Kiana could see how deeply annoyed the Void Queen was.

"...Then you are from the future…" The white-haired Valkyrie said with a realisation. Such an answer made Sirin smile a bit.

"Not quite, but close enough. I come from an alternative timeline. I was about to cease to exist when my future husband rescued me and gave me a new body." The Void Queen proudly showed her ring to Kiana, almost mocking her for being a failure in finding a husband.

"...F-Future Husband!?" Kiana lost her serious visage and looked at her with a gawking gaze! No way! This pit of vipers is to be married!? Who? Why? How!?

The Kaslana Valkyrie could never believe this without the proof in front of her!

'She even has a golden engagement ring!' For some reason, she was feeling jealous, especially of her Herrscher persona. Kiana could feel envy and jealousy radiating from her other half.

"Precisely! This time around, no amount of friendship power will save you, and no amount of bonding with your weakling friends will spare you from me! I have brought an entire planetary occupation force to deal with you!" 

That declaration made Valkyrie realise that these spaceships and all of the knight-like soldiers she could see around were all for her.

"In that case, there is no need to attack the innocent. Regular people did nothing to you!" Kiana gnashed her teeth while saying all of that. She can't allow other people to suffer in her place.

"Hahaha, naive… how long do you think it has been?" 

"...Hmm?"

At that moment, buildings, roads, and even plants began to turn into glass-like particles and rise into the air.

"...What is going on?" Kiana and Seele looked around; it seemed that portions of the city had ceased to exist. Some of the people even went *Puff!*

"I conquered this world and Honkai 50 millennia ago. After the conquest, I simulated the next 50 thousand years of history to make sure you appeared."

Kiana's eyes trembled, and she felt weak in her knees. 'What is this girl talking about?' This was all she could think of!

"Don't look that shocked. As the future Empress of Technocracy, my future husband's advanced technology is at my fingertips."

Sirin chuckled as she landed on the ground.

"Shall we begin?" The Void Queen clenched her fist intensively to the point that her hand was trembling.

"I am going to crush you. There won't be an atom left."

"...Why? What did I do to make you feel like this?" Kiana grimaced. She felt powerless. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected this to happen. Something like an alien invasion is less than 1%, and what she is experiencing is even less.

How is she supposed to fight the entire invasion fleet that has been waiting for her for the past 50 thousand years?

"I was victorious the whole time until you started to believe that things like friendship and bonds give you power-ups!" Sirin exclaimed with frustration.

"Why not? YOU are engaged to a man! Don't you feel a thing?" The Valkyrie exclaimed with her frustration.

"Precisely why I am back! No amount of friendship and bond you have will surpass mine!" The triangle device on Sirin's chest began to glow as a beam of light erupted into the sky, forming a multicoloured cloud where lightning danced and condensed right above the Void Queen.

"This is what real power looks like!"

[Bio Evolution!]

A pillar of light slammed into the white-haired girl with orange-golden eyes. Kiana blocked her eyes with her left hand because the light was too bright. Seele did the same, wondering what was going on with this strange situation…

Once the light settled down, the pair of girls could finally see the aftermath.

[Void Monarch, Time Empress!]

"This is the power he gave me! Something you could not fathom!" 

Kiana and Seele looked with a sweaty forehead at this new form.

'Is this a Herrscher form? No… it's something else…entirely!'

"Now, defend yourself!" The Void Monarch disappeared and appeared in front of Kiana. She was about to attack, but her evolution form, out of nowhere, got dismissed!

Sirin's eyes slowly widened in disbelief as she slowed down considerably, making Kiana able to dodge the attack.

The Valkyrie looked confused for a second, but then she opened fire on Sirin.

The Void Queen clicked her tongue as her gaze alone was enough to rust the bullets away before they even reached her.

After a short exchange, Kiana and Herrscher of Void made some distance from one another.

'What is going on!? Why my evolution was dismissed!?' The girl looked worried for a second.

'Did something break in the device?'

But at that moment, she could sense that the device was offended that she even considered that!

'Then why did you dismiss my form!?'

"It appears your feelings for him are fake," Kiana smirked and began to provoke the Void Queen.

"...You are asking for a torture."

Second later, Sirin appeared next to Kiana, grabbed one of her pistols and yanked it away before delivering a kick to her gut.

*OOF*

The kick removed wind from her sails as the Valkyrie wheezed from pain, collapsing on the ground while holding her stomach.

"Kiana!" Seele tried to assist. But Sirin scoffed at the attempt.

"You are not necessarily extra."

The Void Queen caught the incoming scythe with her hand before throwing it away the girl along with it.

"Now that the nuisance is gone, I can begin with your torture."

"...Oh...yeah?" Kiana slowly stood up. Her breathing was haggard, and that single kick nearly erupted her organs, but she could continue.

However, at that moment, the pair were surrounded.

Sirin looked around, seeing forward knights with their pikes and assault knights with their rifles.

'Wait a second! Did I break the Protocol!?' 

"Combat inside a territory designated for a project between two high officers is not permitted." the leading knight proclaimed.

"..."

"...Hah?" Sirin looked dumbfounded when she heard that.

"What do you mean between two?" the Void Queen asked with a frown. This conversation confused Kiana, too. She thought these people were her enemies…

"Review standard protocol if something you do not understand."

Sirin's swiftly opened her HUD and skimmed through everything.

For a second, she was confused and anxious! She was so close to dealing with Kiana, yet she was stopped!

"IMPOSIBLE! WHY SHE HAS SAME ACCESS AS ME!?"

Sirin exclaimed with deep anger. She looked pissed beyond reason!

At the same time, Kiana looked around and saw all the knights standing there. None of them looked like they would attack her.

'What is going on? Nothing makes sense to me.'

At that moment, a heavy presence descended on the whole area, making Sirin stop her ranting.

She looked pale. Her expression on her face showed that she knew who it was.

It made Kiana curious as soon after, glass particles formed a tornado and merged into a tall…hologram of a male Kiana had never seen before.

"M-Marcus…" The Void Queen lost her 'edge' as her voice returned to normal. The Valkyrie had never seen her this meak-looking.

"I-I can explain myself!"

'Explain what? Did she appear here without his permission? If she mobilised this many troops, the logistics behind them could be enormous." Now, she was interested in what would happen to her evil self.

"No doubt you could. Do you know why I interfered at the very last second?"  He began to speak. His voice was everywhere; it was like he was speaking directly into her mind. It was soothing and terrifying at the same time, like a sweet poison that one wants to continue drinking even when knowing that it's poisonous.

"...I went against your wishes?" Sirin replied with despair in her voice.

"B- But that is because I needed to discard my past so that I could be with you!" She tried to explain herself.

"You have been with me anyway, regardless of these things. If I didn't want any of it, I would have done your resurrection in a different way."

His explanation made her bit her lower lip until she started to bleed.

"It's not what I meant. I needed to improve myself to be worthy. The only way was to get rid of her." She pointed at the clueless-looking Kiana.

"It appears you misunderstand something. Collect all your things and return them to your ship. We need to talk."

Sirin's whole body trembled when she heard that! Even someone as 'sheltered' as she knows what 'We need to talk' means!

"Oof…" Kiana grimaced as well.

"And you. You are coming too." The big image of Marcus faced Kiana, who looked dumbstruck.

"Me?" She pointed at herself.

"Kiana Kaslana, you will come with her. There is nothing else for you to do but join my Technocracy." 

"...B-But…"

"Are you sure you want to decline that?" He asked with a small smile.

She immediately understood the meaning behind those words.

If she is to decline, a similar episode with Sirin will happen again!

"What about Honkai?" The Valkyrie asked. She needed to double-check on that.

"Ask Sirin. She will explain what happened." After saying that, his hologram disappeared, and all the knights began to retreat.

"Damn!"

"DAMN!!!"

"DAMN!!!!!"

With a hand motion from Sirin, an entire mountain chain in the distance simply ceased to exist as the burst of green light turned it into a cloud of dust.

Kiana needed to take a step back. She didn't expect her Herrscher persona to be THIS strong!

'What did he do to her to make her this strong?' The white-haired girl won't be going to lie, this kind of power…

She would want to have it. If she had it, none of the bad things that had happened to her would have happened!

"Of course! It makes sense! Fufufu…" Sirin calmed down as she began to giggle.

"He wants to bring you with me so that he can show me that he can easily replace me." 

…"Umm... are you okay? Because you sound… deranged." Kiana is slightly concerned about her evil half; she sounds desperate and very dangerous.

"OKAY–?" The girl seamlessly manifested before Kiana and was about to grab her by her neck, but she stopped a few inches away, her nails touching her neck.

The Valkyrie looked spooked as this Herrscher Persona was way, way too fast! She couldn't even follow! That one time she was able to dodge was out of pure luck!

And maybe because Sirin wanted her to dodge?

"Hmph! Though I should not be this concerned, after all, it's you." Sirin's voice morphed into a mocking tone, making Kiana frown.

"What is that supposed to mean!?" The Valkyrie snapped back in an annoyed tone.

"What it means that you are incapable of pleasing him enough to make him forget about me." the evil self snorted back. She finds her show of 'fangs' amusing.

"Why would—" Kiana stopped before asking in a more grounded tone. "Why would I try to seduce your future husband?" 

"Why? Use your walnut-size brain, you simpleton. Because I won't stop, even if my rights to use his military are revoked, I will regain his support, and when that happens, I will return and end every single one of you."

Kiana reeled back, looking horrified. What she just said made sense to her!

"In that case, I have as good a chance as you do! We are one and the same! Besides, my old man taught me a couple of tricks!" The girl blushed slightly while saying that.

*Snort*

"He taught you to pick up girls, and even if you end in bed with him and most likely will, then what are you going to do? He has a harem with Goddesses, Devils, Heroines reborn and girls of his creation.

Sleeping with him is a basic among basics."

Kiana's mouth opened and closed as she had nothing to say.

"Today, it can be you, and tomorrow it could possibly be your precious Mei." 

For a second, Kiana's hand trembled as she was about to get snappy at her counterpart.

"Don't speak of Mei-senpai like that!"

"Or what? She will help you by leaving you behind. Hahaha…" Sirin shook her head in amusement as she turned around and began to walk away. At that moment, three gunships landed not far from them.

The side doors opened, revealing Royal Guards.

Sirin grimaced, seeing these arrive to pick her up.

"Come with us." 

The Void Queen raised her hands.

"I won't resist." The white-haired girl said in a resigned voice.

As she entered the gunship, she turned around and looked at Kiana.

"Not coming with me? Getting cold feet?" 

The Valkyrie frowned for a bit before slowly walking over.

'What am I doing?' For a second, she wondered, but it was too late as the golden, bulky, armour-wearing knights surrounded her.

She could feel dread radiating from them. Whatever powers or technologies they wield made her feel weak in their presence.

"So…you have enough brain power to understand what is important."

Sirin's comment made Kiana look at her.

"Unlike you, I know boundaries. I am not insane enough to abuse the power given to me."

The reply from the goody-two-shoes version of her made the Void Queen show a strained smirk.

"That is why I want to stab you to death."

Such a reply confused Kiana. She wanted to know what Herrscher's persona thought.

"You don't like responsibility?" 

"You jest; I do accept it. What frustrates me is your belief that you are a hero and need to rescue someone. It makes me sick."

As they talked about the usual 'good vs. evil' issues, the gunships rose into the air and began to fly towards the flagship.

Kiana's gaze went to the sides, seeing how they had left the atmosphere and the void had begun. It was not as empty as she initially thought, as it was full of spaceships. 

"What? Never been in space?"

These annoying mocking teases are starting to annoy the Valkyrie.

"No, I haven't been there in person. As you can see, I don't have an intergalactic conqueror for a boyfriend."

"Pity. I got used to being worshipped by countless knights." Sirin bragged for a second.

"Until you got stripped away by doing unauthorised experiments with time." Kiana offhandedly commented as she saw the massive centrepiece of the Assimilator.

All she can think is that this space empire is likely a huge deal.

The sheer size of their creations humbles her. Eventually, she sees a huge warship they are flying towards.

"And that is my flagship; I haven't decided on a name yet," Sirin commented as she saw where Kiana was looking.

"...Not bad. But it begs the question if you will ever have a chance to name it." The Valkyrie 'stabbed' back.

"Hmph."

"If you are my rival in all of this, then I have nothing to worry about.

After all, I have my ways to get out of trouble." She showed her ring.

"I have beaten Goddesses for this." 

"..."

Kiana wondered what kind of 'things' Sirin did to win that guy over.

"...I don't even want to know what you did to get that." 

"Ha. You know better than anyone to pretend to be an innocent girl. I was part of you, after all." Sirin mocked her for pretending to be an innocent and pure girl. She knows what kind of ideas she used to have for her 'Mei-senpai'.

"T-Those are simple ideas! What YOU did is different! You actually engaged with some space conqueror who HAS a Harem!"

Kiana could only imagine things Sirin did to please him! 

"...Hmm, you will see."

Eventually, the gunships arrived, and the middle one landed next to a wide red carpet. 

There is always one ready when the commanding officer returns to the ship. However, this time around, a red carpet like this made Void Queen feel a certain dread.

The amount of Royal Guards in the hangar indicated that Sirin's wings of Freedom had been plucked off.

"Red carpet treatment?"

Kiana commented as she exited the gunship, and her eyes scanned the hangar bay.

Her lips started to tremble when she saw the size of this placr and the amount of weaponry on stand bay, from support craft that looked like jet fighters to mechs to rows and rows of silvery grey knights with pikes and rifles.

This was the entire invasion fleet.

'Does all of his fiances get a legitimate invasion fleet? This has to be a one-of-a-kind moment!' The girl was feeling… jealous. In her opinion, the guy loves this evil witch so much that he gives her an entire invasion fleet to play around!

"Indeed. This is how we travel." Sirin casually motioned as if this was nothing. However, Kiana could read her body language. The girl was nervous, especially with how many golden armoured ones were around them.

They were behind them, on the sides of the red carpet, and at the end of the carpet, a train was waiting for them.

This was not an 'honour guard' but more like a prison guard.

Or at least this was the vibes she was getting from them.

The pair began to walk towards the train, which took them to the main lift that could take them to the bridge, Kiana kept on gawking at the tech in the trai,n but Sirin ignored her as she kept on thinking how to save her butt.

Everything was on the table, from throwing her catch to selling Kiana as a pet!

In the end, she decided to hand over everything as a gift. She collected an Honkai God, the Final Herrscher, the MOTH research data, and the Nerd Version of Raiden Mei. These things should interest him, right?

~~~

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