"Wow, Captain Rita's getting beaten again!"
For some reason, Alvitr didn't find this scene surprising at all.
At some point, the invincible image of Captain Rita in her mind had been repeatedly shattered.
It seemed that in every battle she'd witnessed so far, Captain Rita always ended up on the losing side—or at best, in a stalemate.
Of course, Kiana soon arrived to assist Alvitr and the other Valkyries who were surrounded by monsters.
With Kiana's help, they easily cleared out all the enemies.
However, all the Valkyries pretended to be completely drained of energy.
Glancing weakly at Kiana, Alvitr feigned exhaustion and said, "Please go save Captain Rita. We were ambushed—those gas canisters contained something that neutralizes Honkai energy. We don't have much strength left."
"Got it. Stay safe."
Kiana didn't suspect a thing.
After all, she had just tested the monsters' strength herself. A B-rank Valkyrie could handle them easily, yet so many of them had been overwhelmed.
They must have been poisoned by the gas.
Rushing downward, Kiana soon spotted Rita, who had fought her to a standstill days earlier, now struggling against a monster.
"Wow, I never thought I'd see the mighty Miss Rita in such a sorry state."
Jumping down from above, Kiana kicked the monster several meters away and smirked.
"Miss Kiana has learned to be sharp-tongued, I see. Still, I must thank you for your assistance."
Seizing the chance to catch her breath, Rita mentally added Raven to her blacklist.
Once she got back, she'd make sure to freeze Raven's accounts using Schicksal's supercomputers.
Otherwise, she'd never be able to rest easy.
"Enough talk. Let's finish off these monsters first."
Working together, they quickly dealt with the remaining enemies.
But just as Kiana thought it was over, more incubation pods shattered, releasing swarms of monsters.
"Surrounded, huh? Got any tricks left, you scheming woman?"
"Heh, I came prepared. Miss Kiana, I'll need you to help me escape in a moment."
Rita pulled out a communication device and pressed a button.
A triumphant smile spread across her face.
Within seconds, the entire Shenzhou Pharmaceuticals facility shook violently.
BOOM—!
"Hey, hey, hey! What did you do? Did you just blow up the building? There are innocent people nearby!"
"I'm a Valkyrie. Harming civilians is beneath me. I just had our ship ram through the facility to create an opening. Now, Miss Kiana, I'll leave our escape to you."
"Fine. Let's go."
Slinging Rita's arm over her shoulder, Kiana dashed toward the newly created exit.
Seeing the situation resolved, Alvitr and the others quickly retreated as well.
Once they were safely outside, Rita pretended to faint.
"I'll leave this schemer to you. I've got to go after the real culprits."
Noticing that Alvitr and the others still had some fight left in them, Kiana handed over the "unconscious" Rita and teleported away using a spatial gate.
….
A Few Days Later...
"Over there! Don't even think about running!"
After days of searching, Kiana finally tracked down Raven and gave chase.
Raven, however, wasn't in a hurry. She deliberately led Kiana to a secluded, open area before stopping.
"So, Herrscher of the Void, you really think you can take me?"
"First, I'm not the Herrscher of the Void—I'm Kiana. Second, we'll see who wins after we fight."
Without another word, Kiana fired a shot.
Raven sidestepped effortlessly, though the bullet grazed her cloak.
"Tch, resorting to sneak attacks? Fine, I'll play with you for a bit."
Raven drew a bow from under her cloak and fired three arrows in quick succession.
Kiana bent backward, showcasing her flexibility as the arrows whizzed past.
When neither could gain an advantage at range, they abandoned their weapons and closed in for hand-to-hand combat.
But while Kiana fought bare-handed, Raven's sharp claws gave her the upper hand.
Finally, Raven flicked her cloak to obscure Kiana's vision and tossed another gas canister.
By the time Kiana realized what was happening, she had already inhaled the gas.
Her Honkai energy began draining rapidly.
"Honestly, Herrscher, I'm wearing a cloak and mask—obviously, I fight dirty. And yet, you didn't even try to dodge."
"..."
"Whatever. A live Herrscher specimen… I'm sure she'll be very interested."
A sharp pain shot through Kiana's neck, and her vision went black.
Hoisting the unconscious Kiana over her shoulder, Raven returned to Shenzhou Pharmaceuticals.
Jackal was already waiting, eager to place Kiana into a prepared incubation pod.
In the original timeline, Jackal would've been ecstatic to have a Herrscher at her mercy.
But now?
Between Gray Serpent watching her, Mobius lurking behind him, and even the Lord keeping an eye out—not to mention this girl being the Lord's descendant (albeit genetically)—Jackal didn't dare overstep.
And that wasn't even considering Kiana's connections: an S-rank Valkyrie father, an S-rank Valkyrie mother, an S-rank Valkyrie aunt, an S-rank Valkyrie sister, the original Herrscher of the Void Sirin, and even that S-rank Valkyrie Rita.
What the hell was I thinking in the original timeline? Jackal shuddered. With backing like this, if I so much as scratched her, the Lord would probably vaporize me with the Judgement of Shamash for breathing too loudly.
"Oho? You're being awfully well-behaved. I thought you'd at least take a few tissue samples for research~."
"Shut up, Raven. If you've got the guts, you try it. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut."
Already frustrated at being unable to experiment on Kiana, Jackal snapped at Raven's teasing.
Raven, however, just smirked.
She loved seeing Jackal seethe but too afraid to act.