The full moon peeked out from behind the dark clouds. In the faint moonlight, the girl hidden in the shadows revealed her familiar, pretty face, with slightly bluish short hair and violet-blue eyes...
"Hmph!" 'Seele' showed a hint of displeasure, glanced at Li Xuan who was blocking her, and then looked warily at the golden longsword beneath her scythe...
".Hahaha," 'Seele' suddenly burst into wild laughter while looking at Li Xuan. She floated in mid-air, covering her face with her left hand, her violet-blue eyes watching everyone as she said mockingly.
"You can all just slowly rot in the torrent of the Abyss... hehehe..." 'Seele' retreated slightly, her figure slowly merging into the darkness behind her... Her small body disappeared into the dark...
"She disappeared again..." Li Xuan said helplessly, watching the figure vanish before him. The ability to run away when you can't win is really useful... He lowered his Xuanyuan Sword and looked at Kiana, who had just been attacked.
"She's gone!..." Unharmed, Kiana showed no sign of having just escaped death's door. Instead, she looked surprised at the dark place where 'Seele' had disappeared and exclaimed, ".Was that illusion just now Seele?!"
"Kiana!..." Mei suddenly hugged Kiana, her eyes red, and said loudly, "I told you not to run off alone..." The feeling of helplessly watching Seele swing her scythe was like being submerged at the bottom of the sea... Her heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly...
"S-Sorry..." Kiana said dejectedly with her head down. How was she supposed to know Seele would suddenly appear...
"As long as you're not hurt..." Li Xuan said, trying to smooth things over while holding his golden longsword. "But... I didn't expect Seele to show up again... Although I suspected it was her from the beginning, it really was her."
"Thank you, Li Xuan-kun..." Mei stood up and thanked him earnestly. "If you hadn't intervened in time... Kiana might have been hurt." Mei was still shaken...
"It's nothing... Kiana is my friend too~" Li Xuan said with a smile. Although the white-haired furball was always being foolish and causing trouble... they were all comrades and should naturally help each other.
"But Seele... is a bit of a problem." Li Xuan sighed. He wasn't afraid of Seele's own combat power... but...
"This is the other personality of Seele from the Illusory Sea secret room back then..." Mei muttered to herself. "In that case..."
"Li Xuan-kun, Kiana... let's go! Bronya is in danger!" Mei finally realized. 'Seele's' ultimate target wasn't them... but her favorite sister—'Bronya'.
"Uh! Eh!?" Kiana, looking completely confused, was pulled up by Mei before she could react.
"This personality's goal is to kill Bronya, using Bronya's thoughts to permanently anchor Seele in the real world!" Mei took a deep breath and slowly revealed the truth.
"So this space is a trap created by Seele to lure Bronya!!"
"Sigh~" Li Xuan sighed. He knew what Bronya was thinking... one was willing to die, and the other was trying with all her might to keep the other alive...
If this isn't true love....
..................................
This was a sea that seemed to exist only in fairy tales. On the deep blue sea were white waves, rolling layer by layer onto the beach in an ebb and flow. The stars in the night sky were so brilliant they lit up the night, and the Milky Way was clearly visible, stretching across the sky...
"Sister Bronya, look! It's the sea~" Seele said with a smile, sitting on the dry sand and pointing at the sea in front of them.
"It's so beautiful..." Bronya couldn't help but exclaim. The silvery waves crashed against the shore, splashing starlight... The droplets looked like stardust under the starlight.
"The stars and the horizon have merged into one line, and the waves sound like they're singing! It's so beautiful~" Seele said softly, holding Bronya's right hand with her left as she looked at the sea. The sea breeze gently blew through their hair...
"Yes, it's just like in the fairy tales..." A slight smile appeared on Bronya's perpetually expressionless face.
"Whoa~ The water is so cool~ It feels great! Sister Bronya, come on in~" Seele suddenly stood up, ran laughing into the shallow water, and exclaimed, stretching out her hand to Bronya.
"Seele, wait for me..." Bronya said, chasing after her through the white-foamed waves.
"Sister Bronya~ Look at that big ship over there! Haha~ I'm so happy~ Being with you is pure bliss~" Seele, standing on the soft beach, wrapped her arms around Bronya and pointed at a huge wooden ship in the distant sea, smiling as she spoke.
"Mhm, if only we could be together forever..." A bright light reflected in Bronya's eyes, whether it was starlight or something else... After a slight hesitation, she also wrapped her arms around the girl before her.
...............
The morning sun quietly shone into the room entwined with green ivy. Patches of light and shadow danced on the brown wooden bookshelves and the handmade pure wool carpet... Everything seemed so quiet and serene... This was a peace unique to the principal's office at St. Freya High School, but this peace was soon shattered.
"What?!" Theresa shot up from her chair, listening to the emergency report on her communicator in disbelief. "A sudden wave of Honkai energy... and then Kiana and the others disappeared from the beach in the blink of an eye?!"
"...I, I understand..." Theresa powerlessly put down her communicator and sat dazedly in her chair, closing her eyes... Honkai was inherently unpredictable, but such sudden incidents were rare even in the annals of Schicksal. Time passed slowly... After a long while, she suddenly stood up and said loudly to Yuudachi outside the door.
"Get ready... we're heading to Russia! To the Sea of Okhotsk!" Theresa said, her eyes filled with determination. She had already lost someone she wanted to protect once; she didn't want to lose someone a second time...
"Principal Theresa..." Yuudachi suddenly glanced at a message on her communicator. "A message from Schicksal HQ... The gem that was scheduled for delivery has been loaded onto a transport ship and is heading towards the Far East Branch..."
".I understand, but for now, get the science department ready..." Theresa rubbed her aching head and said firmly, "We're going to Russia first!"
".As you wish."
(End of Chapter)