The Unremarkable Durandal

Stan never imagined that the target he was ordered to intercept, or even eliminate, this time would be the blonde girl who had once saved his life when he was being chased, who was also very kind to him, would chat with him, and would gently stroke his fur…

So her name is Durandal?

Stan felt like he had vaguely heard this name before. It was when he was being held by that girl, a strange man who suddenly appeared seemed to call her that.

But firstly, as a cat, he was not interested in human chit-chat. Secondly, he was later frightened by the other dangerous eyes he vaguely felt from the man's eyes, and he completely forgot about it.

And he, naturally, had no idea what this name represented.

This was also a matter of course.

Stan was just a cat, and more than that, he was a tool, a weapon. Jackal would not have the mind and patience to squat down and explain the Schicksal personnel structure to one of her creations…

And it was precisely this ignorance that made him treat Durandal as an ordinary human girl he liked very much from beginning to end, without any defense against her. In their several encounters, he was happy to play the role of an ordinary kitten in his memory.

And it was precisely this undefended friendliness that made Durandal, who always had a keen intuition and a top-notch sense of crisis, not feel the slightest hostility from him, only intimacy and friendliness.

Precisely because of this, Durandal repeatedly did not think in a more dangerous direction – even though Overseer Otto had reminded her early on that there was a cat-type Honkai beast in this city.

"But, how could there be such a coincidence, you say?"

Durandal scratched Stan's chin, watching him close his eyes and enjoy, and thought to herself.

A simple-minded girl, and a cat that was quite intelligent but still simple-minded compared to humans, had a warm memory of each other by chance, under the blessing of various accidental factors.

Until, not long ago, Jackal entered all the information she had mastered about Durandal into Stan's collar. And Stan, whose nerves were connected to it, was once stunned by this information.

The beautiful girl with blonde hair and wearing a dark blue uniform, with a confident smile, and a heroic demeanor, the S-rank Valkyrie, was actually identical to the blonde girl who gave him a big bag of jerky as a gift when they parted.

When that bag of jerky was burned to ashes in the fire, he felt extremely lost and sad, as if he had lost something very important…

"My enemy is her?"

Stan felt that at this moment, it was like a dream, unreal. But when the familiar blonde girl, in blue and white armor, with faint streams of light behind her, strode in front of him, he finally realized that this was reality.

This meeting was really unexpected, and the atmosphere was inevitably awkward for a moment.

"Meow…"

After a few seconds, Stan took the lead in breaking the silence and meowed softly.

Leave here, I don't want to hurt you…

Stan thought to himself, if someone else appeared here, he would not have the slightest hesitation, and in the first second she appeared, he would transform, and then tear her to pieces with his claws, which were extremely sharp after transformation.

However, for Durandal, he, who still remembered the taste of that jerky, couldn't bring himself to do that. He couldn't even think of transforming in front of her…

After holding back for a while, seeing Durandal frowning and not moving, he meowed pitifully again.

"Meow…"

Please…

"…"

Durandal frowned, lowered her gaze slightly, and looked at Stan, who was squatting obediently and cutely at the end of the corridor.

Seeing this familiar kitten here made her feel very surprised, but after a moment of stunned silence, she quickly sorted out the cause and effect.

So, it's the cat-type Honkai beast that Overseer-sama mentioned? It's ridiculous that I didn't even realize it for so long.

Durandal thought, reflecting on herself.

This person and cat had previously encountered each other. As a simple-minded cat, Stan naturally would not think in the direction of "conspiracy," but simply felt surprised and at a loss.

Durandal, on the other hand, obviously thought of this possibility. But at this moment, she didn't want to consider these meaningless things anymore.

She just frowned slightly, and quickly accepted this reality. Then her brows relaxed, she took another step forward, and said softly,

"Move!"

I have important things to do, I don't have time to waste with you here!

Even now, she still didn't want to fight with it, so she issued such a stern warning.

Whether it was her simple understanding of it from several encounters, or the fact that this cat was blocking her alone in the current situation, it made Durandal extremely certain that it could understand what she was saying. Therefore, she did not feel that this was a waste of breath.

Of course, if it really wanted to fight her, Durandal would not hesitate to knock it to the ground.

"Step, step, step…"

The crisp and rhythmic footsteps were particularly loud in this closed underground space. This sound was originally quite pleasant, but in Stan's ears, each crisp footstep was like a knife cutting flesh, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

He couldn't help but bristle his fur, raise his voice, and make the sound that an animal should make when defending its territory:

"Hiss~ Meow!"

The sound was high-pitched, short, and full of threat:

Don't come over! If you come any closer, I won't be polite!

Stan didn't remember when the last time he made a similar sound was.

He only remembered that it was probably on a cold morning, when the air was so cold that even rats and birds were unwilling to go out.

He was starving and finally caught a pigeon sheltering under an eaves, but before he could enjoy it, he was targeted by a stray dog that was wandering nearby, also starving.

The look in its eyes seemed to indicate that it not only wanted to snatch the food from his mouth, but also intended to turn him into part of its meal.

At that time, Stan didn't remember whether it was to defend his territory, food, or to protect his own life. In short, a scrawny-looking kitten viciously bared its teeth at a stray dog that was obviously stronger than it.

Naturally, he didn't keep his prey, but he also didn't become the other party's prey, and even scratched out one of the other party's eyes.

In short, it was hard to say who won or lost that short and long battle that day.

And the sound Stan made that day was this kind of instinctive, threatening sound:

"Hiss~ Meow!"

"Hmm?"

This originally quite high-pitched sound sounded even more piercing in this enclosed environment.

Durandal stopped in her tracks when she heard the sound, and even prepared to counterattack, but nothing happened.

She even lowered her gaze slightly and unexpectedly saw that after the cat made the threatening sound, its aura suddenly wilted, it lowered its head, hunched its body, and took a few steps back – after the momentary impulse, it still didn't want to fight.

"…"

Durandal was speechless for a moment. Why does it feel like I'm bullying you?

She took a step forward, and the kitten took a step back, took a step forward, and the kitten took a step back…

Until it retreated to the wall, Stan looked left and right. It was another corner here, and he felt that if he retreated any further, he might not be able to pass his master's test. He stopped hesitantly, his big, pitiful eyes looking at Durandal at a loss.

Retreating was not an option, and advancing was not an option… Stan felt very aggrieved now!

Retreat was not an option, naturally because guarding this place was a direct order given to it by Jackal.

Advancing was not an option because Stan felt that he was not in control of his strength, and was afraid that he might accidentally hurt the human girl opposite him…

Although it sounded ridiculous. But in the eyes of animals, things are often so simple – the level of danger they perceive from the other party is directly proportional to the threat the other party can actually pose.

Therefore, even in the cruel natural world, when the lion is full and not interested in hunting, zebras will also casually drink water shoulder to shoulder with it.

Durandal, through long-term, arduous, and self-disciplined training, had already contained her aura within herself. Therefore, before she really made a move, at least on the surface, she really just looked like an unremarkable, beautiful girl who loved sports…

But Stan didn't know this.

It was just a cat that had been biologically transformed, not a cat that had gone to college. So the clear and stupid it didn't understand those complicated human concepts.

What "S-rank Valkyrie" had no intuitive concept in its world – can you expect a cat to distinguish between "ABCD"?

Instead, its long-standing biological instinct told it that this seemingly aggressive blonde girl seemed… to pose no threat?

If it and Durandal didn't know each other, then things would be simple – I don't care who you are, just transform and slap you, and then be slapped to the wall, game over…

And if it and Durandal knew each other and had a good relationship, but it could clearly perceive obvious danger and powerful aura from Durandal, then things would also be very simple – everyone is a warrior, each for their own master, each according to their ability.

The proud Stan did not dislike such things.

Of course, although the ending would probably be "being slapped to the wall by Durandal, and then game over"…

No matter which of these two scenarios the situation was, the result would be the same – Durandal quickly broke through Stan's weak line of defense, broke into the depths of the base, wreaked havoc, and then met up with Otto as quickly as possible…

But if the situation was like this: Stan and Durandal knew each other and had a good relationship, but he didn't feel any threat from her, then things became complicated and subtle:

"This is a good girl, I really can't bear to hurt her. If I can avoid fighting, it's best not to fight…"

Stan's mentality was probably like this.

And this made the situation in front of them complicated and subtle –

Stan retreated step by step, and finally had nowhere to retreat, looking at Durandal with pleading eyes.

Although Durandal was pressing forward step by step, her aura and fighting spirit were constantly being dissolved and melted in this step-by-step advance, and finally she even became a little embarrassed:

She always felt like she was bullying a cat!

Who came up with this idea? It's too despicable!

"…"

Durandal didn't want to waste time here, but now, it seemed that she had to waste it…

But even so, she still wanted to make a quick decision.

"Little cat, I know you can understand what I'm saying. So, let's make a deal."

Durandal stopped, frowned and said.

She didn't know Stan's name, so she directly called it "little cat," and then directly expressed her attitude.

"Fight me. If you win, you can naturally stop me here. If you lose, let me pass, and I'll go into the depths here to find your master and one of my friends."

Saying so, Durandal even waved her hand, dispersing the Valkyrie armor on her body, returning to her everyday attire, and said confidently,

"I won't bully you either, I'll fight you barehanded, how about that?"

Durandal thought that she had already made a great concession, but she saw the hateful little cat shaking its head like a rattle.

When Durandal was wearing the Valkyrie armor, it was okay, and Stan felt somewhat unfamiliar. But when she took off the armor, she completely returned to the appearance of the blonde girl he was most familiar with. Now, he didn't want to fight even more.

"This human girl, why did she even take off that strange armor? Isn't this bullying her even more? No, no!"

Stan shook his head desperately.

It has to be said that the communication between this person and this cat was somewhat off…

"Don't want to fight? Then move!"

Durandal, who was in mission mode, didn't have the mind to play with a cat, and planned to just push past it and go inside.

"Meow!"

Stan jumped out and blocked her from a distance.

"You…"

Durandal was exasperated for a moment, and even wanted to kick this little guy away.

But seeing its pitiful big eyes, she still couldn't bring herself to do it…

...

"Ha, that's it, hold her back…"

On the other side, Lin Wei, who was waiting on the rooftop, smiled and closed the communicator. He had just seen this scene through the hacked underground surveillance system.

"As long as you can hold her back for a little bit of time, it's enough, not much, one or two minutes is enough…"

Lin Wei turned his gaze to the other direction, clearly seeing that Jackal had already walked to "Yuno's" side, and couldn't help but smile.

"Next, as long as Otto shows his true self, it's enough…"