Due to certain genetic defects, Theresa's body would never grow up, her physical age forever stuck at 12. She possessed the strongest bloodline for fighting the Honkai—the blood of the Kaslana family—and through her own efforts, she had met the requirements to be an S-rank Valkyrie.
Otto, Theresa's grandfather, had always taught her that her purpose in life was to protect humanity. But the people in the organization treated her like a monster... a monster more terrifying than any Honkai Beast. The fear and disgust in people's eyes made Theresa feel suffocated and powerless.
She had lost her friend Amber, and Otto was often too busy with his affairs to pay her much attention. Theresa was very lost; she didn't know if her purpose for existing was right, and she couldn't find any meaning in protecting those people.
That was until Theresa met the Holy Maiden of the Schariac family—Cecilia. Only Cecilia didn't treat her like a monster, always treating her with gentleness.
At that time, Theresa, who had never accepted the meaning of protection that Otto spoke of, found for the first time someone she truly wanted to protect.
But fate played a cruel trick. Cecilia, the Schariac Holy Maiden, was married off to the Kaslana family's playboy, Siegfried.
When Theresa heard this news, it felt as if her world was collapsing. But Cecilia's happy smile every day left her at a loss. She didn't know if this was right or wrong, but Cecilia was very happy.
Cecilia became pregnant and later gave birth to a daughter. Under the moonlight, at the request of Cecilia and Siegfried, Theresa became her daughter's godmother and gave the girl a name—Kiana.
Theresa also promised Cecilia that she would always protect Kiana.
Watching Cecilia embrace her daughter, her face filled with happiness, Theresa felt that it would be wonderful if things could stay like this forever.
But then the Second Honkai War broke out... The incident ended with Otto ordering the launch of twelve Honkai fission missiles at Cecilia, Siegfried, and the others.
Cecilia died in the Second Honkai War. After the war, Siegfried took Kiana and defected from Schicksal.
Theresa had lost the person she most wanted to protect, and she had also lost the person she had promised to protect.
She lived like a zombie, hiding away in St. Freya High School, until she met Kiana...
Looking at Higokumaru, who was staring at her with scarlet eyes, eagerly awaiting her reply, and at Ryn, who had another pair of red eyes but was looking at her with concern.
Theresa let out a long sigh and then smiled weakly.
She slowly walked towards Higokumaru, then summoned all her strength to force a smile as she embraced her.
Theresa gently pressed her forehead against Higokumaru's, leaving herself completely defenseless before her. Theresa had felt it when Higokumaru had invaded her memories before, but now, Theresa was actively asking Higokumaru to take another good look at her memories.
"I'm sorry... I've fought alongside countless great Valkyries, and they taught me many precious lessons.
I did indeed feel hatred towards my grandfather, but in the end, hatred brings us nothing...
So... I chose to forgive my grandfather. Also, I forgive you too~ What's your name? Can you tell me?"
Higokumaru's eyes widened at Theresa's response. She looked at Theresa in disbelief. Not believing it, Higokumaru read Theresa's memories once more. This time, she looked very carefully, very meticulously...
In the end, Higokumaru laughed at herself. She said to Theresa, caught between tears and laughter.
"I really didn't expect you to reply like this... My name is Higokumaru, but that's not the name I want. Can you give me another one, Theresa?"
Seeing the now-calm Higokumaru, Theresa smiled and put her hands on her hips.
"Let's call you Hiyokumaru!"
"Heh, Higokumaru, Hiyokumaru... Hiyokumaru it is, then."
Hiyokumaru's scarlet pupils gradually turned sea-blue, but her face was extremely pale. She gave everyone a faint smile before fainting again.
Theresa looked at the battered and miserable Hiyokumaru with some sympathy. She waved her hand for Ryn to retract the pseudo black hole, for Kika to lower her weapon, and for Judah to... well, Judah didn't listen to her.
But Judah still seemed to understand what Theresa was thinking and silently retracted her chains.
Theresa gently picked up the unconscious Hiyokumaru and began to wipe the wounds on her body. Hmm... most of them were from her and Fu Hua.
"Herrschers... they're all pitiful creatures. The Honkai amplified their desire for revenge, but it didn't completely stifle the human side of them. Although I don't know what Hiyokumaru went through, it's clear her past was very tragic," Theresa couldn't help but remark.
"Hmm? Perhaps..." Judah seemed to have thought of something, but she wasn't sure, because she didn't have self-awareness back then. Besides, her master at the time didn't use her much; after all, those guys were monsters.
Well... the main reason was that although Divine Keys could provide great assistance to MANTIS soldiers, the way most Divine Keys were used conflicted with their fighting styles. So, even though most Divine Keys were made in the form of weapons, they were generally used for support.
Someone like Theresa, who directly smashes people with Judah, is a serious heretic!!!
"That's right. The few Herrschers I know of all suffered great setbacks and tragedies. The First Herrscher, Welt, carrying the souls of those 300,000 people...
The Second Herrscher, Sirin, and the unacceptable human experiments performed on her. Those weren't experiments to fight the Honkai, but rather inhumane atrocities committed by people who had despaired in the face of the Honkai.
The Third Herrscher... after Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned, the malice of society at that time completely crushed Mei. And that Pseudo-Herrscher, Yuno..."
Ryn couldn't agree more with Theresa's words. After all, he had learned a lot about Herrschers from Otto and had personally met three of them.
"If another Herrscher appears in the future, should we try to persuade them?" Kika asked curiously. She was then promptly smacked on the head by both Ryn and Judah.
After the smack, seeing Kika's resentful little look, Ryn helplessly rubbed her small head for her.
"Don't even think about it. Herrschers are not easy to talk to. They are born from tragedy; their will can't be changed with just a few words. Fighting them isn't some galgame; how could you just persuade them so easily?"
"Ryn is right, but it's not impossible to try. However, before we try to persuade her, we must first render her powerless. It would be best for me to bind her with my chains of binding. My authority of binding can directly neutralize her Honkai energy, leaving her completely unable to resist."
Ryn gave Judah a look, and Judah nodded at him. Ryn would be in charge of killing, and Judah would be in charge of burying. The next time they encountered another Herrscher, if she seemed salvageable, they'd try to talk-no-jutsu her. If not, they'd just bury her.