Chapter 82: Elysia - "Her Hatred Is Because Of…

Chapter 82: Elysia - "Her Hatred Is Because Of…

As the conversation ended, the game transitioned into gameplay.

Kiana continued her stealth mission through Arc City, carefully evading the mechanical sentries.

With the help of explosives, she bypassed the enemy defenses and advanced toward her objective.

Meanwhile—

The maid she had left behind in the hideout… suddenly opened her eyes.

Throughout all of her past missions, Rita had never encountered something so… illogical.

A Herrscher—an existence meant to bring destruction—was instead uncovering a city's buried conspiracy.

Her prey—the one she had relentlessly pursued—had turned around and saved her life in the midst of disaster.

And just moments ago—

She had witnessed Kiana speaking to someone.

Someone invisible, someone… who wasn't really there.

『Maintaining Elegance Is a Maid's Duty:』 "I must admit… everything happening here is quite unreasonable."

A purple-colored comment drifted across the screen.

Rita herself was commenting on her future actions.

And just as her comment appeared—

『Your Great Inventor:』 "Heh. Whether it's logical or not is irrelevant. What matters is that she's still alive."

『Pink Fairy Miss:』 "That makes complete sense~"

As Rita responded to her superior's remark, the in-game Rita also began speaking.

["…Was she contacting someone?"]

["A shame. I couldn't hear more clearly. If I had moved, she would have noticed me."]

["No matter… I can't afford to stay here any longer."]

["Kiana, I'll leave it to you to keep World Serpent's eyes on you. As for me, I have my own mission to fulfill."]

She activated her communicator and awaited a response.

After several tense seconds—

A familiar voice finally answered.

『["Vice-Captain? Thank goodness, you're safe!"]』

Hearing Arvette's voice, Rita let out a breath of relief.

She quickly inquired about the other team members.

Upon learning that they, too, had been saved by the Herrscher of the Void,

Rita wasn't particularly surprised.

She simply instructed them to regroup as soon as possible.

As Rita's conversation concluded, the game entered gameplay once more.

In this mission, the player had to guide Rita through another stealth section, avoiding surveillance drones.

It wasn't particularly difficult, and after carefully maneuvering through the industrial area, the mission ended.

Then—

The screen switched perspectives to Kiana.

At the same time, within the heart of the industrial district—

Raven was on a call with Jackal.

And after so much build-up…

Jackal's face finally appeared on the screen.

She held a black wolf mask in one hand, partially covering her face.

A faint smirk tugged at her lips.

Her outfit—a standard researcher's lab coat—contrasted sharply with her unsettling presence.

["How's the progress? The secrecy of the project has been compromised. We don't have much time left."]

Jackal's voice was cold.

And as her question hung in the air—

Raven appeared on the screen.

["I've committed all available resources to the operation."]

["I'm not a magician—I can't conjure miracles out of thin air."]

["Schicksal's Valkyries left me with a mess to clean up, delaying our plans."]

["But that's not the real issue here…"]

["The real problem… is the Herrscher of the Void."]

["That girl will completely destroy this plan."]

Jackal gave her response without hesitation.

["Then stall her."]

["…Stall her?"]

Raven let out a bitter chuckle.

["Oh, don't get me wrong—I do hate her."]

["But I'm not a fool."]

["Even if you created ten times the monsters we have now—and sacrificed every single one of them—it still wouldn't stall the Herrscher of the Void for even a second."]

『Pink Fairy Miss:』 "Huh? Why does this Raven girl sound like she really hates Kiana?"

Clearly—

Elysia had noticed something odd.

『Pink Fairy Miss:』 "Maybe she's just bitter about her plan getting ruined?"

『where did the little lab rats hide?:』"Hmm~ Good guess! If my experiments got ruined, I'd want to lock her up in a lab and study her thoroughly, inside and out~"

Meanwhile—

Back in the game, Raven was still resisting Jackal's command.

["Think back to the Second Eruption."]

["Think about everything she did."]

["You know better than anyone—fighting a Herrscher isn't about numbers."]

But Jackal had an answer for that, too.

["I reviewed the battlefield reports from an hour ago."]

["That girl hasn't displayed anything close to the destructive power of a full Herrscher."]

["Perhaps she's too inexperienced to fully control her abilities."]

["Your fear of her is nothing more than a lingering scar from your childhood."]

Jackal's words were clinical, detached.

She spoke as if Kiana was nothing more than another test subject.

["According to my intelligence reports—

this new Herrscher of the Void lost control at Schicksal Headquarters, went on a rampage…"]

["…but within mere hours, she was swiftly defeated."]

["Apparently, there were three S-rank Valkyries present at the time."]

["One of them… was Rita Rossweisse."]

["And just earlier, you fought her yourself."]

["What happened?"]

["She lost."]

["Doesn't that prove something?"]

["Maybe the power of this 'new Herrscher' isn't as untouchable as you think."]

But—

Raven wasn't so easily convinced.

["Maybe?"]

["'Supposedly?'"]

She wasn't going to risk her life on a handful of vague assumptions.

The conversation continued—

But for now…

The livestream audience had caught onto something bigger.

Raven's hatred.

Where had it truly come from?

The answer to that question… would soon be revealed.

["Rather than trusting Otto to solve this issue, you might as well tell me that Otto miraculously invented some incredible battlesuit, put it on a nearly retired Valkyrie, and had her defeat the Herrscher of the Void in a single strike."]

"Hmm~ I need to correct that. It wasn't Otto who invented it~"

A pink-colored comment floated across the screen.

Clearly, Elysia knew that the creator of the Blank Key— the God-Slaying Armor, Vermilion Knight: Eclipse —was Mei, not Otto.

So, of course, she had to defend her friend's intellectual property.

However, the in-game Raven couldn't hear this.

Her only thought at that moment was—

["Your sense of humor is… strangely reassuring."]

Jackal: ["Raven, World Serpent has spent years preparing for the Stigmata Plan."]

["You know what must be done."]

At the mention of 'our Lord,'

Raven's expression tightened beneath her gray hood.

["As the Serpent wills."]

With this final declaration, the scene ended.

The game transitioned into gameplay, tasking players with guiding Kiana into infiltrating Shencheng Pharmaceuticals in search of Raven.

She soon found her target—

Raven, standing among her troops, inspecting them like a general before battle.

After consulting Fu Hua, Kiana decided to launch an ambush.

And so—

The next mission began.

The scene shifted to the highways of Arc City at night.

The neon lights flashed past like streaking stars as Kiana sprinted, keeping pace with the convoy below.

With a single leap, she landed atop one of the transport trucks, completely undetected.

["Once we're far enough from the industrial zone, I'll make my move."]

["Kiana, stay alert. That woman in the cloak—she fights dirty. Rita experienced that firsthand."]

["I know. Those Valkyries were taken down by the gas she deployed."]

["If their gas can incapacitate Schicksal's elite troops, then World Serpent must have developed a chemical weapon capable of draining Honkai energy from the human body."]

["Given what we've seen, their chemical weapons must have a critical flaw."]

["So that's why the woman in the gray cloak didn't fight Rita directly—she chose to ambush her in the lab instead."]

["I need to find an opportunity to fight her in an open area."]

["Still, I have a plan… but first, I need to fight her and test her abilities."]

Kiana lowered herself, gripping her pistols tightly, waiting for the perfect moment.

The conversation ended, and the game transitioned into a CG animation.

The scene opened with several transport trucks speeding down the highway.

Suddenly—

One of the trucks erupted into flames.

As the fire spread, the screen momentarily went black.

When it came back into view—

Kiana stood atop the wreckage, dual pistols drawn.

Surrounding her was a swarm of mechanical sentries, their glowing eyes locking onto her.

As the CG faded, the battle began.

Players had to fight through waves of unidentified mechs and battle-enhanced test subjects.

After defeating them all, the mission concluded.

The next mission opened with another CG.

Kiana was still standing amidst the burning wreckage, eliminating enemies one by one.

Then—

A massive truck suddenly flew towards her!

The screen went black again.

When the light returned, Raven was walking toward her.

["Herrschers truly have tough bodies."]

Raven smirked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

["So, does this mean you can't use your Honkai energy anymore?"]

["Are we going to have a 'fair' fight now?"]

Kiana narrowed her eyes, raising her pistols.

["You sure you don't want one?"]

Raven didn't answer.

Instead—

She silently pulled out a vial of serum… and injected it directly into her neck.

As the liquid drained into her veins,

purple Honkai energy surged through Raven's body.

Her veins darkened, glowing with unnatural power.

『Your Great Inventor:』 "Interesting. So this is the antidote to their chemical weapon?"

A green-colored comment floated across the screen.

Clearly, Otto had immediately deduced what the serum was.

And he was right.

As the gameplay resumed, Kiana faced off against Raven.

But when Raven's health dropped to half—

Suddenly—

A black gas began spreading across the battlefield.

Kiana felt her strength rapidly drain.

Her limbs felt like they were sinking into wet cement.

Above her—

Raven soared, her gray cloak spreading like a pair of wings.

She was moving faster than ever—

Too fast for Kiana to react.

In an instant—

Raven's claw-like fingers slashed into Kiana's side, drawing blood.

["What exactly are you planning to do to this city?"]

Kiana staggered, struggling to stay on her feet.

["I have no obligation to answer that."]

Raven turned on her communicator.

["Jackal, it's done."]

Jackal's cold voice responded immediately.

["Heh. Just as I expected."]

["As long as we use the correct methods, Herrschers aren't so invincible after all."]

["Raven, bring her to the lab."]

["Kill her now. Leaving her alive will only cause trouble later."]

["Tch. That would be such a waste!"]

["A living Herrscher… a real, breathing Herrscher…"]

["I can't wait to dissect her and see how she works!"]

『where did the little lab rats hide?:』 "Haha~ Finally, someone with some real scientific sense!"

A gold-colored comment flashed across the screen.

Clearly, Mobius found Jackal's logic quite agreeable.

If she had the chance,

she probably would have dragged Kiana into her own lab for 'research purposes' herself.

『Your Great Inventor:』 "No, no, no. Studying her all at once would be too wasteful."

『where did the little lab rats hide?:』 "Oh? And what, exactly, does this 'viewer' suggest instead?"

『Your Great Inventor:』 "Control is a far superior approach. A living Herrscher can provide far more valuable data than a dissected one."

『where did the little lab rats hide?:』 "Tch. Theoretically possible, but do you really think a Herrscher is that easy to control?"

The scientists in the chat had begun debating their 'research' methods.

Meanwhile—

Back in the game…

Kiana was completely at Raven's mercy.

 End of Chapter 82