Deadwalkers—humans completely consumed by Honkai energy.
Their bodies coursed with corrupted power, controlled by the Will of Honkai itself.
Like beasts, they held an unrelenting hatred toward humanity and would attack indiscriminately, destroying civilization wherever they went.
But the Death Weavers before them were not ordinary Deadwalkers.
Rather than mindless puppets driven by corruption, these beings were more like a hybrid—an eerie fusion of human and Honkai.
They even wielded a power similar to Valkyries: Stigmata.
They were, essentially, Valkyries stripped of consciousness and turned into living weapons.
"So these are anti-Valkyrie weapons… heh..." Himeko struggled against the overwhelming weakness surging through her body. "Looks like World Serpent has cooked up something nasty. But..."
"But? There is no but, Miss Himeko." The woman's voice cut in coldly through the broadcast.
"You and Kiana will die here—martyrs for the fall of Schicksal and the end of the Valkyrie era. Your deaths will mark the rise of World Serpent!"
"Hah... What a foolishly amusing woman..."
A crooked smile curled on Himeko's face. "You're so naive it almost makes me pity you."
"Hmph! Do you even realize what you're saying?"
The voice on the speaker scoffed. "No matter. There's no point in talking anymore. Kill them!"
At her command, the Death Weavers raised their massive weapons and brought them down in unison, aiming to finish the kneeling Himeko and Kiana—
'CLANG!'
A sharp metallic ring echoed across the street.
The clash sent out a shockwave, scattering dust and gas in a blast of wind.
A silver-haired girl with golden eyes now stood between the Valkyries and their would-be executioners, shielding them behind her.
"Is ignoring me supposed to be that easy?" she said coldly. "To assume you've already won—how laughably arrogant."
"Who... who are you?!" The voice in the broadcast sounded startled. "There's no record of you in our Valkyrie database... And you're immune to the serum?! Why?"
"Why?" Kagura raised her right hand. Scarlet energy from the Reality Stone coiled around her fingertips, morphing into a massive flaming greatsword.
"Simple. I'm not a Valkyrie. So all your flashy tricks? They don't work on me."
[Reality Rewrite]
[Pseudoweapon: Judgment of Shamash]
The voice on the other end gasped. "What?! That's impossible! That's Judgment of Shamash! What is that doing here?!"
"Surprised?" Kagura smirked. "Here's a secret—this weapon? I 'borrowed' it from Kevin Kaslana."
As she spoke, flames surged through the blade, morphing its form into the devastating Abyssal Extinction.
"Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention: your leader, the so-called 'Sovereign' of World Serpent—Kevin? Yeah. I already defeated him in the Sea of Quanta."
"W-What... No, that's a lie! The Sovereign is invincible! You're bluffing! That's not true!"
The woman on the broadcast was spiraling into panic, her voice cracking with disbelief.
"Lies! Illusions! Nothing can surpass World Serpent's might! Death Weavers—kill her!!"
Following the command, the Death Weavers surged forward, raising their weapons in unison as they descended on Kagura.
"Hmph... Truth or lie, why don't we find out?"
With a faint smile, Kagura planted her feet, gripping her greatsword with both hands.
Silver hair flowed like silk in the rising heat, flames roaring around her.
Despite her slender form, a raw, overwhelming power radiated from her body—one that no soft appearance could conceal.
She burned with divine intensity, as if the fire god herself had descended.
'CRACK!'
The ground beneath her split apart, spiderweb fissures spreading from where her flames erupted.
The silver-haired girl lowered her stance. Her grip tightened.
"Judgment of Shamash... unsheathed!"
'WHOOOM!'
In a single fluid motion, the flaming greatsword swept through the air—
and with it came a blazing arc of fire, crescent-shaped and impossibly sharp.
The strike cut clean through the approaching enemies.
They didn't even have time to scream—just flame, then ash.
The crescent blaze surged outward in a wave, expanding like a miniature sun.
In front of Kagura, the world turned to fire.
"No... This can't be happening!" The mysterious woman from World Serpent shouted in disbelief.
"The Death Weavers should never lose to mere Valkyries! This makes no sense! Why doesn't the serum affect her?! Why does she have the Sovereign's weapon?!
Why... why do the Death Weavers crumble before her like weeds?!"
"Why?" Kagura planted Judgment of Shamash into the ground with a sharp metallic clang.
"Isn't that what I've been trying to tell you from the beginning, Miss Nobody? I'm not a Valkyrie. So all those tricks designed to defeat Valkyries? Completely useless on me."
"Tch… Damn you! Just who are you?!"
"There's no need to get so worked up," Kagura said with a casual smile.
"I'm just a passing traveler. I had no intention of getting involved in your petty nonsense. After all, your boss is already dead.
I doubt his little underlings will last much longer either."
She tilted her head slightly, her tone sharpening:
"But then I saw what you people were doing—spreading Honkai disasters across the city, using humans for experiments, creating these monster-human fusions, and now you're trying to assassinate Valkyries."
Her smile faded.
"I've changed my mind. What you've done has crossed the line of basic human decency.
And even someone as peaceful, kind-hearted, and laid-back as me can't turn a blind eye anymore."
Her golden eyes flared with killing intent—so sharp and overwhelming that even through a camera feed, the World Serpent operative on the other end felt a chill pierce straight through her bones.
"So get ready, World Serpent. It looks like taking down Kevin wasn't enough after all."
The flaming greatsword pointed directly at the surveillance camera World Serpent was using to observe the battlefield.
"You hurt my friends," Kagura said coldly. "And for that… I'll hunt each and every one of you down. You'll pay—all of you."
'BOOM!'
Her sword swept out in a blazing arc.
A ring of fire erupted, engulfing everything nearby.
Every enemy in the vicinity was reduced to ash.
'Bzzzt—!'
The transmission was abruptly cut off.
In a hidden corner of Sky City, the World Serpent operative sat frozen in front of the static-covered screen, drenched in cold sweat, paralyzed with fear.
"You're shaking, Jackal. What's wrong?" A second woman appeared behind her.
"What happened to Himeko and Kiana? Did the operation fail?"
"Tch... We ran into some unexpected complications." Jackal steadied her breath, trying to regain composure. "But never mind that. Ciora, how's the situation at Divine City Pharma?"
"Rita's taken the bait. We can strike any time."
Ciora, the woman behind her, narrowed her eyes.
"Jackal, what exactly happened here?"
"Those two are just Valkyries. Against your specially tailored serum, they shouldn't have stood a chance.
Not to mention the Death Weavers—custom-designed to kill Valkyries. So why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
Jackal swallowed hard.
"Because, Ciora... we may be dealing with someone far more dangerous than any Valkyrie."
She clenched her fists, her voice trembling.
"And it seems... she may have killed the Sovereign."
"...What?!"
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