Under the evening glow, the sunset-dyed St. Freya High School was as beautiful as a school from a fairy tale... The blood-red sunlight shone on the floor-to-ceiling windows of Principal Theresa's office, then passed through the transparent glass to cast its light upon the floor.
"Tap, tap~" The silver-haired, loli-like girl sat in a leather chair, tapping a stack of snow-white report papers lightly against the desk.
"Principal, what would you like for dessert tonight?..." Yuudachi, sitting on the sofa, said as she hurriedly packed up the computer in her hands. She had already finished her work for the day.
"Hmm... whatever is fine, but the after-dinner drink must be bitter melon juice." Theresa lifted her delicate, doll-like face and said casually after a moment of thought.
"...Yes..." Yuudachi's voice trembled slightly upon hearing the words 'bitter melon juice'. She subconsciously pushed up the non-prescription glasses on her nose. She still hadn't forgotten that terrifying taste...
"Also... prepare a transport plane for me in advance. I plan to head to Nagazora City in a few days." Theresa said nonchalantly, yawning.
"Huh?!" Yuudachi was a bit slow to react. Anyone in Schicksal knew that although Principal Theresa Apocalypse looked young and weak, she was a true 'S-Rank Valkyrie'! So Yuudachi really couldn't think of anything that would require an S-Rank Valkyrie from Schicksal to do.
"...Well~ this isn't exactly a secret." Principal Theresa tilted her head, her white hair, tied into a ponytail, swayed gently in front of her.
"The Honkai energy in Nagazora City is about to break through to a new stage... and I also need to investigate what those intermittent golden pillars of light are... If it's a Herrscher, only an 'S-Rank' Valkyrie can hold it off."
"A new stage?..." Yuudachi asked, not understanding.
"Mhm... yes, when the concentration of Honkai energy reaches a certain level, it will undergo a qualitative change... and then..."
"...And then?" Yuudachi stared intently at Principal Theresa's calm, delicate face.
"Mhm... and then, of course the monsters evolve!~" Principal Theresa threw all the documents into her office desk drawer and clapped her hands.
"Aah!~ I'm so hungry, I suddenly want to eat some Chinese Mapo Tofu~" Theresa revealed a bright smile and reached out with her small hand, pulling Yuudachi as she ran towards Murata Himeko's room.
"Let's go, let's go!~ If we're late, that idiot Kiana will eat all the white rice!~"
"Principal..." Yuudachi looked at the petite figure in front of her... She wasn't like Kiana and the others who had just joined Schicksal. Historically, even 'S-Rank' Valkyries have died in great numbers when fighting a Herrscher...
The principal is truly strong...
.......................
"That is..." Li Xuan stared at the second golden light before him. The golden glow represented a 'Divine Weapon'... but, for some reason, the weapon within this pillar of golden light felt somewhat familiar....
"....." The golden pillar of light slowly dissipated under everyone's gaze, and the object within the golden glow finally revealed its true form...
"Another Familiar Egg!!" Li Xuan stared in disbelief at the golden Familiar Egg floating above the Gate of Vows. He never thought he would wish for a second Familiar Egg...
"A Familiar Egg..." Yae Sakura's eyes sparkled as she looked at the Familiar Egg, whose surface was like gold. The surface of this golden eggshell was covered in complex and beautiful patterns, shaped somewhat like cherry blossom petals. This kind of thing seemed to have a strong attraction for Yae Sakura.
"Hey!~ Li Xuan-kun, what's a Familiar Egg?" Yae Sakura's pair of azure eyes looked at Li Xuan, full of curiosity. She had wanted to ask this question for a while...
"Uh... a Familiar Egg... is something you can place an item that houses a soul into, and then hatch a Familiar from it..." Li Xuan explained while guessing for himself. He had also figured out the principle of the Familiar Egg based on his previous observations and the information Bronya had told him.
In fact, his idea was largely correct...
"A Familiar?" Yae Sakura was like an eager student, constantly absorbing this interesting knowledge from Li Xuan.
"Familiars are a species born alongside the [Honkai]. They have many abilities and generally don't harm humans; in fact, they sometimes help humans..." Li Xuan repeated, with a straight face, the explanation of Familiars that Bronya had given him when he met the two Familiars, the dog-eared girl and the bunny-eared girl, at the beach a long time ago.
"Oh, oh, oh!~" Yae Sakura's eyes seemed to light up like little stars.
"Doesn't that mean if a person dies, as long as their soul exists, they can become a Familiar with the help of a Familiar Egg?" Yae Sakura said, thinking outside the box, much to Li Xuan's surprise. Although she usually had a dazed and cute appearance, Yae Sakura was not stupid at all...
"Uh..." Li Xuan was stumped by this question. ".Theoretically, yes..."
"......" After coming back to his senses, Li Xuan reached out his right hand and took the Familiar Egg from the Gate of Vows. As he expected, the Familiar Egg was also hollow inside; there was no ready-made Familiar...
"Sigh~" Li Xuan sighed helplessly. Although a Familiar Egg was definitely a very rare item, it was useless in his hands right now...
It seems these two are all I'll get this time... Li Xuan stared at the Gate of Vows. After the two golden lights, only ordinary blue lights appeared.
The third pull, a blue light, a three-star weapon 'V-Type Prototype Shotgun'; the fourth pull, a blue light, a three-star weapon 'V-Type Prototype RPG'; the fifth pull, a purple light, a five-star weapon 'V-Type Prototype Automatic Machine Gun'; the sixth pull, a blue light, a three-star weapon 'V-Type Prototype Grenade'; the seventh pull, a blue light, a four-star weapon 'MS99 Automatic Cannon'; the eighth pull, a blue light, a four-star weapon 'V-Type Prototype Pistol'; the ninth pull, a purple light, a five-star emblem 'V-Type: Sapper's Experience'....
"....." Li Xuan had lost all hope for the weapons from the Gate of Vows. It was as if the two consecutive golden lights had sucked away all his luck. He was now completely dominated by V-Type weapons...
'Is this the damn million V-Type series?!' Li Xuan couldn't help but curse in his heart... Except for the seventh pull, which wasn't from this V-Type series... everything else was V-Type equipment... Having researched V-Type equipment, Li Xuan knew that this equipment wasn't very useful... Anyway, besides the automatic cannon and machine gun, he wasn't very interested in the others now.
"BZZ!!~" Suddenly, the Gate of Vows began to tremble. The wooden frame carved with golden patterns lit up abruptly...
"This..." Li Xuan looked at the scene before him in disbelief... Could this be a third golden light?!
The next moment... a golden pillar of light shot up into the sky...
(End of Chapter)