As the Honkai concentration in Nagazora City grew higher, Schicksal began to organize large-scale evacuations, going door-to-door to persuade people to leave for a period of time. This was Schicksal's final ultimatum. But people are sometimes blind; unless disaster is imminent, they follow the herd mentality. In the end, only a few hundred thousand people evacuated Nagazora City.
Academy City also held its school trip ahead of schedule, with all students and their parents leaving the city. The remaining people in Academy City were all sent away from Nagazora City by Ryn. Ryn, Mei, Kiana, and Kika all stayed behind at Senba Academy to await the arrival of the Herrscher of Thunder.
Ryn distributed specially made mobile phones to Mei and the others. These devices were made of special materials and were all equipped with a sub-program of Cortana, allowing everyone to call for her support at any time. They were also equipped with Schicksal's black technology, capable of detecting Honkai Beasts and Honkai concentration reactions.
Suddenly, the phone in Mei's hand instantly disintegrated, dissipating into a bizarre ball of light. Mei gripped her arm and immediately moved away from the others.
"I feel... I feel like something's wrong with me. You guys stay away from me."
"Mei, are you okay!" Kiana ran over, wanting to check on Mei's condition, but was stopped by Ryn.
Ryn had Cortana analyze the situation immediately, to see if Mei was starting to become a Herrscher or if something else was wrong.
"According to the scan results, matter was instantly electrolyzed into a quantum state. This may be the ability of the Herrscher of Thunder. Raiden Mei is becoming a Herrscher! Be on alert!"
Ryn frowned. They were still some distance away from reaching the concentration for the Great Honkai. Why was she becoming a Herrscher now?
"Mei, can you control this power?"
Mei tried to touch the nearby flowers and plants, but they also turned into a quantum state and dissipated into the air upon contact. Mei shook her head at Ryn and the others, saying, "I can't control it, but it should be fine as long as I don't touch things with my hands."
"We still don't know what will happen next. Everyone, stay alert..."
At this moment, Cortana's alarm began to sound, and numerous light spots appeared on the phone screen. "Honkai Beasts detected! They are now surrounding our position! Prepare for battle!"
"Kiana, take Mei and hide in the rear. Kika and I will clear out these Honkai Beasts."
Ryn materialized his Phased Weapon Array, then had Kiana take the now combat-ineffective Mei to the rear while he and Kika stayed to fight the Honkai Beasts.
Kiana nodded without saying much and took Mei to the rooftop of the school building. The rooftop had a wide field of view, which would allow them to spot for Ryn and the others.
Kika began to channel her Honkai energy, and the exosuit Sabayon started to materialize around her.
Kika fired a shot at a distant Honkai Beast, blasting the 20-meter-tall Ballista-class Honkai Beast to smithereens. Then she turned to Ryn and said, "Remember to protect me later. I can't engage in close combat. If a Honkai Beast gets close, I might be taken out instantly."
"Don't worry, leave the close combat to me. You just focus on shooting." Ryn planted a heavy cannon form into the ground, then materialized another heavy cannon and planted it as well. He repeated this several times, surrounding himself and Kika.
The heavy cannon forms, when planted in the ground, would continuously release energy pulses to attack and slow down enemies within range. Ryn used this effect to form a perimeter, so that if any Honkai Beast broke through into close combat range, he and Kika would have time to react.
Meanwhile, inside the school building, Mei and Kiana encountered a new enemy: Bronya Zaychik.
Bronya stood not far from them, with Project Bunny hovering behind her.
"Bio-signature detected, quantity: 2. Honkai signature scan initiated."
"Hey, who are you? What's a little kid like you doing here!" Kiana took out her baseball bat and assumed a combat stance.
Bronya ignored Kiana's question, continuing to speak in a cold, emotionless tone. "Scan complete. Honkai signature detected. Confirmed as recovery target 'Subject A'. Executing countermeasure protocol, commencing recovery operation."
Mei held her arm and tentatively asked the person opposite them again, "Um, excuse me, little girl, who are you? What's with that mecha behind you?"
"I am the embedded general-purpose decisive weapon, Project Bunny's compatible host, Bronya."
"A Girl-Weapon?!" "Mei, be careful!"
Mei was still in shock that the other party was a Girl-Weapon, but Bronya had already ordered Project Bunny to open fire. Kiana used her baseball bat to deflect all of Project Bunny's attacks, then said angrily to Bronya, "You brat, since you attacked first, I won't be holding back!"
"Target is resisting. Requesting removal of armament restrictions... Approved. Project Bunny entering combat mode."
The two sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle. During the fight, Mei also stealthily approached Bronya and used her own ability to attack Project Bunny. Because she was tied up with Kiana, Bronya did not immediately react to Mei's attack. A part of Project Bunny that Mei touched instantly quantized and disappeared.
"Combat capability assessment complete. Capture probability 24.36%, lower than estimated value. Changing plan, initiating retreat." Sensing that Project Bunny was severely damaged, Bronya stated her intention to flee with a blank expression. Then, Project Bunny directly carried her, smashed through the ceiling, and flew away.
"Damn it! Don't run! That brat... what's her deal! Showing up out of nowhere, fighting, and then running away! So shameless!" Kiana was furious. The other party was the one who started the fight, and now she was the one running away.
"Should we chase her? Or should we stick to the original plan and go to the rooftop?" Mei looked at the enemy's escape route and felt that she hadn't gone far. She was probably preparing an ambush somewhere.
"Let's go to the rooftop. The view is better. Seriously... I knew we shouldn't have gone into the school building. We can't even fight properly."
"Alright, alright, since we're here, let's just keep going!"
"Hmph, next time I see that little brat, I'll definitely teach her a lesson." Kiana stomped her foot in anger, then suddenly remembered something and took out her phone. "By the way, Cortana, can you analyze what's going on with that mecha?"
Cortana's holographic projection appeared on the phone, showing the scan results for Bronya and Project Bunny.
"Bronya has a tactical chip installed in her body. Based on the scan results, she is likely being controlled by the chip. The technological structure of Project Bunny cannot be scanned, but it can be confirmed that it has automatic recovery capabilities and its attacks are driven by Honkai energy. It definitely has missiles, but they were not fired during the recent battle."
"Can you pinpoint her location?"
"Yes, but there is a high probability that it is a decoy. Pursuit is not recommended."
"Then let's continue to the rooftop. Since her target is us, she will definitely appear again!"