"Li Xuan-kun, excuse me…" As Li Xuan watched the approaching mechas with a sense of helplessness, Yae Sakura, who was beside him, suddenly spoke.
"Hm? What's… huh?! Sakura, you?!…" Li Xuan turned to look at Yae Sakura, and to his astonishment, she swept him up into her arms…
"H-Huh?!…" Li Xuan's fair face instantly turned red, like a tomato, even the tips of his ears flushing. In all his dozen or so years, this was the first time he had been princess-carried by a girl!
"This…" Li Xuan was at a loss for words. Being held in Sakura's arms made his heart race inexplicably. Her embrace had a faint, indescribable fragrance, and her gently swaying pink hair brushed against his cheek.
"…" Yae Sakura pressed her lips together. The Pseudo-Herrscher core inside her began to spin rapidly, and the Honkai energy within her quickly flowed throughout her body, instantly enhancing her physical abilities. The next moment, holding Li Xuan, Yae Sakura bent her knees slightly and leaped, as light as a bird.
Whoosh~ Yae Sakura landed on the wall of the alley and leaped again, her sakura-colored long hair dancing in mid-air, as beautiful as the embodiment of cherry blossoms in spring.
"…" Li Xuan stared blankly at the girl before him, somewhat dazed.
Using the alley as a springboard, Yae Sakura jumped directly onto the roof of the low building beside it. Only someone like Yae Sakura, who was infinitely close to being a Herrscher, could achieve such a superhuman leap.
"…Commander, the backup recording equipment has been activated." On the Anti-Entropy warship far outside Nagazora City, a female researcher in a long white coat respectfully addressed a woman standing ramrod straight with her eyes closed in meditation.
"Then turn it on…" The woman opened her azure eyes, her tone carrying a hint of urgency and impatience. Ever since that Stigmata wielder named 'Li Xuan' had destroyed the 'Berserk Titan', the connection between the Anti-Entropy command room and the mecha squadron had become less precise.
"Activating…!!" the female researcher commanded loudly to the bustling technicians behind her.
"…" The large screen, which had gone black, silently lit up again, transmitting images from Nagazora City. This was thanks to a designer who wasn't completely incompetent and had installed a synchronized 3D video projection device in one of the ordinary Titan Mechas.
"…That is…" Cocolia, who had just turned on the video feed, stared blankly at the scene. Under the sun, a sakura-haired girl was holding a handsome young man in her arms, leaping high like a bird, easily jumping onto the low-rise building next to the alley and quickly fleeing.
"Such astonishing jumping power…" Cocolia muttered to herself. The walls on either side of the alley were a full two stories high—or rather, they were the walls of the connected buildings along the road, easily several meters, almost ten meters tall.
Could this be… a Herrscher?! No, impossible. Although a Herrscher could achieve this, their appearance is always accompanied by an intense Honkai energy reaction, and Schicksal hasn't detected anything. This is clearly not a Herrscher.
Then, if not a Herrscher, it can only be a Stigmata wielder! Could it be a wind-element ability… Cocolia bit her lip in frustration. Why did all the Stigmata wielders seem to gather around that boy?!
What Cocolia didn't know… was that this was a Pseudo-Herrscher, the only one in several hundred years to come infinitely close to being a Herrscher…
"Issue the command. Order all Titan Mechas to deploy! You must capture that girl," Cocolia said sternly, her fingers tapping lightly on the wooden table beside her. "Activate the Titan Mechas' Berserk mode…" she added.
"Shh~" Yae Sakura placed the still-weak Li Xuan among a pile of junk in a courtyard. She brought a slender, green-onion-like finger to her lips and whispered, "Li Xuan-kun, I'll go lure them away first… I'll come back for you later."
"…Sakura…" Li Xuan looked at the girl who had become somewhat calm and rational. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. In the end, he could only manage, "Be careful, Sakura…"
"Mhm!…" Yae Sakura smiled like the warm winter sun and nodded. Then, she leaped high from where she stood, disappearing from Li Xuan's sight in a few flashes, leaving only the faint scent of cherry blossoms in the air.
"I'm so useless…" Li Xuan lowered his head in frustration. Tyr's Wrist couldn't penetrate the mecha's armor, Diva's Guitar was even less likely to do any damage, and the 'Judah's Oath' transformed from 'Seele's Toy Box' had no chance of winning either. The spear tip of Judah was made of obsidian, which was great against biological enemies but useless against these mechas…
After all, obsidian wasn't a very hard material; in fact, it was quite brittle. How could it possibly go head-to-head with armor forged from various alloys… that would be complete suicide…
"So…" Li Xuan had fed almost all of his usual Honkai Crystals into the crystal-devouring bottomless pit that was the 'Familiar Egg' in his ring. He didn't have many crystals left… just enough for one Vow.
"…" Under the sun, the surface of the golden Gate of Vows shimmered with a faint light… Li Xuan watched it silently.
"Please…"
"Major Himeko! Are you really planning to go to Nagazora City by yourself?!" Theresa stared in shock at Murata Himeko, who was already fully equipped and ready to go.
"Of course," Himeko said cheerfully, holding the Godslayer-class weapon 'Sunfire Greatsword', which she had practically begged to borrow. "Who told those bastards from Anti-Entropy to dare to hurt my students?" Himeko said with a smile, but her eyes held no trace of mirth. It was as if flames were burning within them… "I'm very protective of my own, you know…"
"..." Theresa and Himeko locked eyes. In the end, it was Theresa who looked away with a helpless sigh.
"Alright…" Theresa sighed again. She really couldn't do anything about her old friend.
"Yo! See ya then~" Himeko gave a playful wave and turned to leave without looking back.
"…Be careful," Theresa said softly to her confident retreating figure.