Chapter 006 : As Everyone Knows, Anby is a Break Character

Within Schicksal, A-rank Valkyries are granted the privilege of having "nicknames."

For example, the nearly wiped-out "Snow Wolf Squad" from over a decade ago, aside from the S-rank Valkyrie "Cecilia Schariac," consisted entirely of A-rank Valkyries.

These individuals all had their own nicknames.

For instance: "Frostblade Swordsman" Cheng Lixue, "Floating Solar Flare" Shi Yuqiluo, "The Comb" Salome Jokanaan... and so on.

Their nicknames were all related to their combat styles.

Now, Edelweiss, also an A-rank Valkyrie, was no exception.

Because her combat style leaned toward agility and versatility, and she was highly skilled with her pair of ring blades, she was given the nickname: "Spirit Butterfly."

"Hah, if I didn't know better, I'd think she wandered over from the Marvel universe!"

Inside the Domination Theater, Ling Ke remotely synchronized the senses of a Domination Puppet located in the control room, rapidly browsing through classified information about the Silver Lotus Squad.

At the moment, he wasn't worried about the 100 Domination Puppets losing the battle.

After all, in the original Honkai Impact 3rd storyline, even when the main cast was nearly fully deployed, it took them a lot of effort to eliminate the initial Domination Puppets, who hadn't yet stolen any Herrscher authorities.

What was the main cast's lineup?

Hua after "Awakening," Seele with "Starchasm Nyx," Kiana who had just begun to master the Herrscher of the Void's authority, Bronya who had inherited the Herrscher of Reason's core...

Not counting the others, just these four alone—who among them could be challenged by a mere A-rank Valkyrie?

So...

"According to the records, among all the currently active A-rank Valkyries in Schicksal, Edelweiss's strength is only mid-tier."

"Even after the Second Eruption, over the past decade or so, Valkyrie armor has undergone multiple iterations, and the 'Time Fracture' system has been added, her combat rating is still far below that of the strongest A-rank Valkyrie from back then—Cheng Lixue."

Without a doubt, if she couldn't even compare to Cheng Lixue, she stood no chance against Hua, whose physical abilities had now fully recovered.

And so...

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Inside the West Asia Branch base, in that not-so-narrow corridor, Edelweiss was desperately fending off wave after wave of attacks.

The two B-rank Valkyrie squad members she had brought with her were already dead.

There was no helping it. As mentioned earlier, the initial, unupgraded "Domination Puppets: Anby" already possessed combat power comparable to B-rank Valkyries, and now... there were 100 of them.

Not to mention, they could also resurrect infinitely.

Now, Edelweiss was drenched in sweat.

As an A-rank Valkyrie, she certainly had the ability to defeat one or two "Anbys."

But the process was nerve-wracking.

For example, right now...

Swish!

As she dodged, her ring blades spun horizontally, swiftly slicing across the neck of one of the short-haired girls.

Normally, a person hit by this would have their head flying off.

But the short-haired girl in front of her only showed a faint shimmer of rainbow light where the blade struck.

Then she swung her blade back, trading injury for injury.

Faced with this suicidal fighting style, Edelweiss was utterly exasperated.

"Tch!"

Clicking her tongue, she narrowly dodged another slash, but didn't dare to continue attacking.

Because more short-haired girls were closing in from all sides.

They all had the same face, the same outfit, the same weapon...

Edelweiss felt that if she stayed here any longer, she would develop a phobia of crowds.

No, before that, she'd have to worry about surviving.

Clearly, Edelweiss didn't know that Ling Ke, hidden behind the scenes, would temporarily spare her life.

But for her, this wasn't good news.

After all, anyone with a bit of intelligence should understand a simple truth: in the face of a fully corrupted avenger, death... is a luxury.

For a moment...

"This is the broken aspect of the 'Game Character Templates'!"

Inside the Domination Theater, Ling Ke, who had been watching the entire battle, couldn't help but sigh.

Currently, the Domination PuBilly besiege Edelweiss hadn't even tried switching to "Billy."

They were just using the "Anby" template...

Health mechanism, infinite stamina, indestructible equipment.

"Anby" had many "Character Traits," and these were just three of them.

The previously mentioned "Character Switch" was also one of her "Character Traits."

According to the system's introduction, each game character template had its own "Character Traits," "Game Skills," and "Background Talents."

For now, let's set aside the latter two.

The so-called "Character Traits" were actually various mechanics-based settings inherited from the original game's "omission of realistic factors."

For example, in Zenless Zone Zero, the game characters wouldn't lose limbs or suffer fractures and blood loss during combat. Only when their HP dropped to zero would they instantly lose their ability to fight.

This was the "Health Mechanism" character trait.

As for "Infinite Stamina" and "Indestructible Equipment," they were even easier to understand.

Since Zenless Zone Zero didn't have a stamina bar or weapon durability, naturally, as long as they weren't dead, they could fight until the end of time.

Now, Edelweiss was facing a group of such "monsters."

Using tactics meant for ordinary humans to fight them, she was naturally in constant danger, as if dancing on the edge of a blade.

The truth was, if Ling Ke hadn't been intentionally using her as a training dummy to test the various traits of the game character templates, she would have lost long ago.

"Has this woman not realized that, aside from the initial wave of attacks that instantly killed her two teammates, most of the Domination Puppets have been slacking off the rest of the time?"

Looking at the scene, it was like watching a Hollywood movie full of post-production special effects, where the hero fights alone.

A large group of onlookers surrounded her, but none of them attacked.

Only two or three "Domination Puppets: Anby" were actually fighting.

Their purpose seemed more like a precaution to prevent Edelweiss from breaking through.

So, they were just there to keep her in check.

Of course, Ling Ke had a bit of a twisted sense of humor.

Because he had been slowly increasing the difficulty for Edelweiss.

One initial, unupgraded "Anby" couldn't beat her, so he sent two.

Then three, four...

"Huh, she can't even handle four?"

"You're supposed to be an A-rank Valkyrie, right?"

"Whatever, dragging this out is pointless."

Ling Ke diverted his attention to the situation in other areas. "Oh, the other 'guests' have already been found!"

"Perfect timing..."

He grinned, "Accept my 'invitation,' Miss Edelweiss."

"You don't have the right to refuse."

As soon as the words fell...

Splat!

A strange sound, like the bursting of blood plasma, reached Edelweiss's ears.

She didn't know that from the moment the battle began, while she was fighting multiple "Anbys," there had been an invisible yellow progress bar above her head, slowly filling up.

This was a special mechanic from the original Zenless Zone Zero game, called the "Imbalance Value."

(TL/N: I'm not play ZZZ because the TV mode so I don't know the true terms if its wrong)

Once this progress bar was filled, the corresponding unit would be completely paralyzed, temporarily losing the ability to move.

And the damage they received would also multiply.

As for "Anby," her "Break Trait" had a bonus in this regard, allowing her to push a target into the Imbalance state faster.

Honestly, if the current "Anby" template wasn't only at Lv.1, and if the 100 Domination Puppets hadn't held back, Edelweiss would have been Imbalanced long ago.

It was at this moment...

Swish! ×2

In the corridor, two "Domination Puppets: Anby" suddenly appeared, swiftly passing by Edelweiss at an incredible speed.

She didn't even have time to react.

In the next moment, she felt her body suddenly freeze...

"Huh?"

Her vision abruptly lowered.

She helplessly fell backward, collapsing to the ground.

In pain, she instinctively looked up, shifting her gaze...

In her field of vision, she saw two severed legs.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the area.

But all around her, only cold, indifferent gazes met her.

Just like how she had once looked at Ling Ke, helplessly curled up in the underground prison.