"Such beautiful fireworks~" Seele said with a smile, sitting on the beach and watching the colorful fireworks blooming one after another in the distant sky. The light from the fireworks illuminated her fair and delicate face...
"The whole world is lit up~"
"I never thought gunpowder and metal could catalyze such brilliant colors," Bronya murmured, watching the seemingly endless fireworks in the sky.
"Sister Bronya, can you promise to stay here with me, in this world without slaughter and malice, with me forever..." Seele said softly, looking at Bronya with eyes full of expectation, her pupils reflecting Bronya's image...
"Seele... I want that too..." Bronya shook her head slightly, her expression earnest. "But I'm sorry, I can't stay here yet."
"Mei-senpai, Kiana, Li Xuan, Major Himeko, and Principal Theresa... I have too many unfulfilled promises with them... So, at least for now, I can't fulfill my promise to you."
"Sister Bronya..." Seele, seemingly surprised, gazed at Bronya. It was then that she realized her Sister Bronya... was different now. She wasn't alone anymore...
"But Seele, please believe me. I will never forget my promise to you. I will definitely return to your side, no matter how much time passes, no matter the sacrifice, even if it means..." Bronya said solemnly.
"That's enough~ Thank you, Sister Bronya." Seele suddenly interrupted Bronya, smiling. "I was just kidding~ I know the burdens you carry.... We are no longer the two children from the orphanage who hid in a toy box, dreaming of fairy tales."
"It's because we're not children anymore... that we've changed," Seele said softly with a smile. "Knowing that you have so many bonds, Sister Bronya, makes me inexplicably happy..."
"I'm sorry~ for putting you in a difficult position just now," Seele added. "My time is running out. Cinderella's magic is about to wear off. I really wish I could stay with you a little longer..."
"Hm?..." Bronya looked at Seele, who had suddenly stood up, not quite understanding what she meant...
"Ugh!!" Seele suddenly clutched her head, groaning in pain...
"Seele!?" Bronya stood up in a panic. She reached out to grab Seele, who seemed to be enduring great pain, but Seele pushed her hand away...
"Stop it! Stop controlling my mind! It's enough! I don't want to hurt Sister Bronya anymore!" Seele roared, as if she were talking to someone.
[You are always too weak. Let me fulfill Seele's wish.]
"No! No! Stop!" Seele shouted powerlessly.
[Let me take your place and keep Onee-sama here forever.]
The red mark on Seele's chest glowed faintly and grew hot... Wisps of black mist appeared out of nowhere and quickly enveloped her figure...
"Ahahahaha?—" A somewhat shrill, wild laugh suddenly came from within the black mist. The black mist began to thin and dissipate, and a girl's figure became clearer...
"You are?!" Bronya looked at the girl before her as if she had never seen her before... A low-cut dress with a deep blue theme, decorated with black ribbons, revealing her fair, jade-like shoulders. Her shoulder-length hair was a deeper shade of blue, with a butterfly-like clip tied at the ends... and in her hand was a scythe of deep blue and black.
"What's wrong? Onee-sama, if you don't resist, you'll die, you know~" The gentle and quiet 'Seele' from a moment ago vanished as if she were an illusion, replaced by a 'Seele' who was smiling but full of indifference.
Her scythe, with its moon-like curved blade, had its sharp edge placed at Bronya's pale neck. Between the exposed half of her chest... a mark as red as blood gave off a faint, bewitching glow...
That was... a Stigmata
...................
In the sky of azure blue... a silver warship pierced through the clouds at supersonic speed. Under the golden sunlight, the golden 'Schicksal' emblem was printed on the silver-gray hull of the warship.
This was a transport ship from Schicksal's European HQ. It was equipped with a medium-sized Honkai energy furnace, which comprehensively improved its energy efficiency, allowing the transport ship to reach speeds comparable to the fighter jets of Li Xuan's previous life's national army... Of course, the increase in speed also reduced the transport ship's service life by a third.
The transport ship headed towards the Far East at a supersonic speed of 1278 km/h, towards Schicksal's Far East Branch near Japan. Even Schicksal didn't have many transport ships capable of supersonic flight, let alone the fact that this transport ship was no ordinary transport ship...
After all, no ordinary transport ship was equipped with an energy shield... using Honkai energy as a power source to generate a small energy shield to protect the warship itself through a small generator device... It's important to know that miniaturizing any precision machine is quite difficult...
It's like building a nuclear reactor for an aircraft carrier, which is not extremely difficult to build... But if you were to build a nuclear reactor to power a car... that would be extremely difficult... basically as hard as reaching the heavens.
"How much longer until we reach the Far East Branch?..." In the transport ship's command room, a rather young-looking woman asked the adjutant beside her.
"We should arrive before 14:00... Major Krisviya," the adjutant said gently.
"Mhm..." Looking at the blue sky and the receding white clouds outside the porthole, the blonde, blue-eyed woman nodded. Under the sunlight... on the shoulders of her green military uniform was the rank insignia of two bars and one star... This was a very young major, a rank almost as high as a regiment commander in the Huaxia of Li Xuan's previous life...
"The items we are transporting this time are extremely important... so everyone, stay sharp," the blonde, blue-eyed, and well-endowed Major Krisviya said with a grave expression.
This was also why... for a mere transport mission, Schicksal had dispatched her, an A-Rank Valkyrie. Although it might be because she was being tasked with this as a result of a previous mistake... it more so reflected Schicksal's emphasis on the matter.
"Yes... We live and die with Schicksal," the adjutant said with a slight bow.
"...Beep beep!" Suddenly, the transport ship's main computer sounded an alarm... an emotionless electronic female voice announced, "Unidentified magnetic field detected, engine power decreasing..."
"What?!" Captain Krisviya stood up in disbelief. Logically, there shouldn't be any magnetic fields on this route... unless... it was an enemy attack!
"Unidentified warship detected 400 meters from this vessel..." The electronic voice that followed plunged Krisviya deeper into despair... Knowing their flight path and being able to set up an ambush... this was definitely a leak!
"That is..." Krisviya looked out the porthole. A huge warship slowly appeared in the sky...
"Anti-Entropy!" Then the major saw the mark on the warship. It was Schicksal's old rival...
(End of Chapter)