Chapter 93: Miss Theresa, You Wouldn't Want...

Clang—

Casually blocking Raiden Mei's counterattack, Rita seemed somewhat disinterested.

"I'm wondering, did Theresa ask you to distract me?" Rita, like an elegant dancer, twirled her scythe, smiling as she asked.

"..." Raiden Mei remained silent, but her silence seemed like the correct answer. Rita, understanding, continued to smile. Silver light shone on her ash-gold short hair, making her appear even more elegant.

However, Raiden Mei didn't share the same sentiment. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and the intense battle had left her arm muscles sore. Though she had several cuts, none were fatal, and the vibrant blood seeped into her clothes.

Breathing heavily, Raiden Mei calculated the remaining time of the battle and her dwindling stamina. She felt somewhat discouraged; she might be reaching her limit, even though she didn't want to admit it. 

At this point, she was somewhat exhausted. Facing an active S-rank Valkyrie with B-rank strength was proving to be quite a challenge. One truly understands the terror of an S-rank Valkyrie's strength only after engaging in combat. Despite the residual Honkai energy from the Conqueror of the Abyss empowering her actions, she still felt somewhat inadequate.

Rita also abandoned her playful attitude. Even though she approached the battle with a playful mindset, being dragged into such a prolonged fight by a B-rank Valkyrie made her somewhat uneasy.

If things went south, she would truly lose face in front of Otto.

"I didn't expect you to last this long, but it's time to end it," Rita said, lifting her scythe to charge at Raiden Mei, intending to conclude the battle swiftly.

Rita abandoned her playful attitude this time, aiming to quickly resolve the fight and then arrest the remaining two individuals. She could also gather information on the Herrscher of Void in one go, killing two birds with one stone. After that, Bishop would surely praise her intelligence.

Being stubborn was meaningless, struggling would only bring pain, and weakness was the original sin.

Charging at the visibly exhausted Raiden Mei, Rita swung her scythe. The blade cut through flesh, and blood sprayed, decorating the cement floor with tiny droplets.

However, the blood wasn't from Raiden Mei but from Rita herself.

Intense pain spread through Rita's body from the wound. Filled with strong anger, she pressed her shoulder wound, looking toward the direction of the attack with disbelief.

"Miss Mei, you are a bit reckless," mocked the masked man with a White Dove motif, Chase, as he appeared. "Knowing when to quit is a virtue. Why challenge a Valkyrie from Schicksal?"

Raiden Mei looked at him gratefully. She didn't know how Chase appeared here, but he had saved her. She thanked him, "Thank you, Mr. White Dove."

Chase nonchalantly waved his hand. "No big deal, just remember to pay extra."

Raiden Mei's smile froze. Give me back my emotions!

"The audacity to intervene in the work of a Valkyrie. That's quite bold of you," Rita said, feeling the burning pain from her wound. She gripped her scythe tightly, her tone carrying both anger and dissatisfaction.

A guy who shows up and pokes his nose into Valkyrie affairs... she thought in her mind.

"Sweeping the battlefield is also a maid's duty. After the battle, Schicksal will handle it. Please don't worry, Master White Dove." Rita smiled. "However, it seems you've become my cleanup target as well."

"Cleaning up me? Do you have the strength for that?" Chase retorted. As an S-rank Valkyrie from Schicksal, Rita's information had long been in World Serpent's database. For Chase, who promised World Serpent to gather information, obtaining such details wasn't difficult. Moreover, with his condition to join Schicksal being World Serpent's information, he knew more than an ordinary member. Facing an S-rank Valkyrie wasn't much of a challenge for him.

Now that he possessed all the abilities of the Herrscher of Void, he was the true gigachad.

Giving Raiden Mei a meaningful look, she instantly understood. Just as she was about to leave the battlefield, Chase held her back.

The man with the White Dove mask spoke to her, "Let me borrow the sword for a bit."

"???"

....

Rita watched as Raiden Mei left, not because she didn't want to stop her, but mainly because she couldn't. The man with the White Dove mask stood nearby, watching her. Judging from the sudden attack moments ago, he was a formidable opponent.

"Are you with World Serpent?" Rita frowned, her eyes full of vigilance.

"Whether I am or not, I believe Miss Rita can make her own judgment," White Dove spread his hands. "After all, regardless of whether I am a member of World Serpent, our hostile relationship won't change after I saved Raiden Mei and let her go."

"Or perhaps, Miss Rita is ready to let go of past grievances and let me leave?" White Dove held the katana he took from Raiden Mei, casually swinging it to test its feel, finding it satisfactory.

"Hehe," Rita chuckled. The wound on her shoulder kept sending pain signals, and fresh blood continued to flow. Was it possible for her to let the other go now?

"I'm afraid not, Mr. White Dove. I think Schicksal would be very interested in you. Would you please give up resistance and accompany me to Schicksal?" Rita suggested.

White Dove sighed with a hint of helplessness, "It seems we have nothing to talk about."

Why, why force me?

Despite being wary of Otto's presence, Chase didn't want to expose his abilities unnecessarily. Although he had already revealed himself to World Serpent, it was a necessary sacrifice. Besides, World Serpent and Schicksal were not necessarily allies, so there was no need to worry too much.

Moreover, facing Rita, he didn't need to use his powers at all.

Without much verbal probing, the two with different stances couldn't reconcile. Soon, the clash of the katana and scythe echoed on the streets. Fortunately, the residents had already been evacuated, or it would have caused panic.

In their first confrontation, neither gained an advantage. Without the use of his powers, Chase felt somewhat awkward and unaccustomed to this combat rhythm. Rita, on the other hand, was surprised, sensing the challenging nature of her opponent through the hand that held the scythe.

A simple strength test, yet Rita gained no advantage. She, Rita Rossweisse, the S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, couldn't find any opening.

Increasing her vigilance towards World Serpent, Rita decided to report this to the bishop after the battle.

Chase was in a good mood. The combination of Tai Xu sword energy and Kallen Kaslana's combat style, though still somewhat unfamiliar, proved useful. In previous battles, he often adhered to the principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble. If he could use his powers, he would, and if not, he would run.

Now it was time to pick up the practice of Tai Xu sword energy again.

Chase was eager to try, his steps gaining a bit of force.

Boom!

With the ground under his feet suddenly cracking, Chase's body shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, the cold light of the katana clashing with the scythe once again...

...

After a long decryption process, Bronya finally broke through the network blockade of the Grey Serpent's base and found the information they were hiding here.

"Is this guy really insane? He actually collected all the network information of the entire Sky City," Bronya frowned in confusion. "More importantly, Grey Serpent hasn't organized any of the data—no classification, tags, or indexing. All the information is in complete chaos."

Hearing Bronya's words, Theresa, who was on guard, felt a slight sinking in her heart. "Is there no information about Kiana?"

"It might be there, but it will take me several days to find it at least, and even longer to transfer it," Bronya said, searching for information about Kiana amid the vast database, with little success. "As an information dealer, Grey Serpent's method of collecting information without any filtering is quite strange."

"Unless he has a more efficient processing terminal—found it." With Bronya's movements, the gate of the base slowly opened, revealing a little girl in front of them.

Theresa was surprised. How could there be a child in such a place? But she quickly realized that this little girl was connected to a large number of pipelines.

"This is a modified person, just like the modification Grey Serpent did to himself. Most of the body of this little girl has also been modified..." Bronya explained patiently, attempting to crack the system using a biochip, but she failed.

The brain of the humanoid machine had been completely modified, fitted with a quantum computer, providing astonishing computing power. This explained why Grey Serpent didn't bother processing information anymore.

Unable to crack it because of the lack of core permissions.

Theresa, who was good at getting along with children, asked the humanoid machine, "Do you know anything about Kiana?"

"Without the owner's permission, I am not qualified to access the database. Besides, I don't have time to answer a child's questions. Let your adult come. Payment standards apply as usual," the humanoid machine shook its head and refused. "And I won't answer questions from children without the owner's permission."

Theresa: ???

"A child?! You're really rude. My age is..." Feeling a touch on her shoulder, Theresa closed her mouth. Now was not the time to care about this.

"Then use this to pay the bill." Seeing Theresa's emotions stabilize, Bronya raised the cannon, saying expressionlessly.

Humanoid machine: ...

"I'll go contact Mei for communication..." With the problem of the humanoid machine temporarily solved, Theresa was ready to let Mei, who was investigating information outside, return. However, before she could finish her words, a familiar voice came from not far away, causing her to stop her actions.

"No, no need. Headmaster, I'm already here." Raiden Mei's condition wasn't great. The previous battle had taken a toll on her.

"Mei, are you okay?" Theresa noticed Mei's condition and asked with concern.

Mei shook her head, cast her grateful eyes on White Dove and expressing her gratitude to White Dove, "Encountered a little trouble. Thanks to Mr. White Dove for helping me out, or I might not have escaped unharmed."

Having just experienced a battle, although Chase had a few more injuries than before, it didn't seem to have a significant impact on him. He still appeared calm and composed.

Heh, S-rank Valkyrie, not bad even though she's an enemy.

"No problem. Remember to pay extra, as this time it incurred medical expenses for saving you," Chase said calmly, shifting his gaze to Theresa. "I suppose the mature and stable headmistress wouldn't want to end up on the list of untrustworthy people, right?"

Theresa gritted her teeth, feeling that the man in front of her with the mask emitted a rather unpleasant aura, as if he owed her a lot of money.

"It will be transferred to you later." Theresa gritted her teeth, telling herself that this was a necessary sacrifice to find Kiana. Trying to console herself, she then realized something and reminded the nearby Bronya, "Bronya, put away your cannon."

Bronya withdrew it expressionlessly, feeling a bit embarrassed about involuntarily taking out the cannon when the topic of payment came up.

Just when Chase mentioned payment, she unconsciously pulled out the cannon again...

Looking at the gray-haired twin-tailed girl in front of him, Chase seemed curious and couldn't help asking the question in his mind:

"By the way, your name is Bronya, right?" Chase looked at the gray-haired girl and, after thinking for a moment, asked his question.

Bronya, with an expressionless gaze, tilted her head in confusion.

"Siberian?"

Bronya didn't answer, "Do you know Bronya?"

"No, maybe I know your mother." Chase shook his head, smiled, and seemed to recall a snowy scene. A gray-haired woman took in two siblings still in escape, provided them with bread and hot water, and even gave them a coat for warmth before they left...

"Is it Kiana?" Bronya frowned in confusion.

"No, it's your birth mother."

Bronya: ( ? ? ? )

(TN: That's all for today... if you want to motivate this translator, then please send here degenerate pics of Honkai girls)