"The MOTH is Here—!!"

At this point, what were the odds of a Knight-class Honkai Beast against Himeko in a Titan mech?

Let's call it a 3-7 split. The Titan throws three punches, and the beast cracks open.

The battle that followed could only be described as a slaughter. Himeko pinned the Knight-class Honkai Beast to the ground and pulverized it with a few punches. A creature whose strength relied on its charge was utterly useless in close-quarters combat.

Its only weapon, which could be considered somewhat durable, was unceremoniously snatched away by Himeko and used against it.

The other two Chariot-class beasts were tougher, but facing the relentless assault of two Titan mechs each, even the thickest tortoise shell couldn't withstand such a beating. They finally had their heads smashed in and their cores dug out.

The last few Deadwalkers, seeing themselves surrounded, showed great courage by launching a final charge with their weapons, only to be unsurprisingly annihilated on their way.

"Phew! Finally done!" Kallen declared, looking at the "spoils of war" before them with immense energy. She proudly put her hands on her hips. "That was pretty simple! Is anyone hurt? Need any healing?"

Kallen chattered endlessly, pacing in front of the group. Durandal stared at her for a long moment before leaning over to whisper in Rita's ear.

"Senior Kallen... is she always this... hyper?" Durandal felt something was off. While Senior Kallen was certainly unconventional on a normal day, she wasn't usually this active, was she?

Rita maintained her smile, as if the battle she had just endured had nothing to do with her.

"Lady Kallen is likely just a bit excited by the victory."

Theresa looked at the overly exuberant Kallen, wanting to say something but holding her tongue. Her eyes couldn't help but drift to the small pouch on Kallen's hip.

As expected, it was empty.

"We're all done here, right?" Kallen said, stretching her shoulders. "Then I'm off to help everyone with the horde! I'll leave entering the shelter to you guys. I'm not good at that sort of thing!"

Without waiting for anyone's approval, Kallen jogged off, heading toward the frontline.

Himeko watched Kallen leave and gave an order to one of the mechs. "Number Two, you stay here on guard. Follow Judah's squad into the shelter to receive the survivors. The rest of us are going to support the horde battlefield."

"Understood, Captain Himeko!" Number Two was a female pilot, the very one who had been injured during the initial impact.

"Let's go, to the shelter," Theresa sighed, her hand unconsciously resting on her waist.

Durandal blinked and walked over to Theresa's side. "Senior Theresa... are you hurt?"

"Huh?" Theresa looked up, bewildered. "No, I'm not..."

"Then your hand..." Durandal looked down and only then saw that Theresa's hand was pressing on a vial. "Eh? What's this...?"

Durandal also touched her own waist, but there was nothing there. She was probably the only one in the squad not equipped with such a vial. She couldn't recognize what a Breaker Serum was.

In fact, she didn't even know what a "Breaker Serum" was.

"It's nothing!" Theresa dropped her hand and strode to the front of the group. "Let's hurry to the shelter and get those trapped people out! We still have to take them back to the train station."

Durandal still had her doubts; Theresa's flustered expression was just too obvious.

Rita came up from behind and gently patted Durandal's shoulder, shaking her head slightly. "Let's go, Lady Durandal."

With that, Rita walked past Durandal and headed straight on.

Durandal could only swallow her questions and follow the others.

The shelter was a standard Chinese school, enclosed by iron fences and concrete walls. The gilded characters for "Sapphire City No. 2 Middle School" hung over the main gate.

The tightly shut gates were deserted. Only by listening carefully could one hear faint movements from within the school, but it was impossible to tell if they were made by people or something else.

Could there be anything else making noise at a time like this?

After some thought, Theresa decided to open the closed gates. She simply stood on her tiptoes, pulled the latch, and pushed them open.

The Titan mech remained parked silently at the school gate while Theresa led the others inside.

"Everyone, let's search. We're not familiar with this place, so let's maintain order and stay quiet," Theresa instructed the group behind her. They all nodded and began searching the few buildings on the school grounds.

The middle school wasn't large: four academic buildings, two dormitories, one cafeteria, a small sports field, and a few decorative flowerbeds that were better than nothing.

Durandal was like a curious child, looking everywhere. She was amazed by the cafeteria, marveled at the red-painted academic building, and even let out a sigh of wonder at the clothes hanging from the dormitory windows.

"Lady Durandal, what do you think?" Rita couldn't help but smile at Durandal's "country bumpkin" act. "Have you never seen a school like this before, Lady Durandal?"

"Uh... Indeed... I haven't..."

In truth, Rita hadn't seen much of them either. Unless it was necessary for a mission, Rita generally avoided setting foot in China.

There were far too many rules here. Normal life was fine, but the moment you tried to do anything out of line, the rules of China would let you know you'd come to the wrong place.

As for why Durandal had never seen such a place... It's probably because Lady Durandal has lived within the MOTH's environment since she was a child. Her entire education and upbringing have been isolated from the outside world...

Thinking of this, Rita couldn't help but give Durandal another look.

This method of raising her... is the MOTH trying to groom Durandal into the next Shu?

---||---

Although the group made no noise, the sudden silence outside was noticed by everyone in the shelter.

Just moments ago, there was a raging battle, and now all that was left was the distant rumble of cannons?

In a classroom, a huddled mass of survivors formed a circle, crouching on the floor and staring intently at a radio in the middle.

"It's been quiet for a long time..." a refined-looking man in a white shirt whispered. It was clear that before the Honkai, this man had been a high-ranking executive in a suit.

Young, rich, with a future—the kind of man who was a hot commodity on the marriage market.

But now, he was crouching here, disheveled like everyone else.

Looking at the silent crowd, he swallowed dryly and pushed himself up, using the person next to him for support.

"You all stay here and don't move. I'll go take a look..."

With that, he shakily squeezed his way out of the crowd, went to the door, and peered outside.

With that one look, he froze.

The others watched him, waiting anxiously for an answer.

Then, they heard the man's hoarse, yet explosively excited cry.

"The MOTH is here—!!"