Within the Destiny Organization, A-rank Valkyries are qualified to receive "nicknames."
Like the Snow Wolf Squad, which was practically annihilated more than ten years ago—aside from the S-rank Valkyrie Cecilia Schariac, all its members were A-rank Valkyries.
Each one had her own nickname.
For example: "Frostblade" Cheng Lixue, "Floating Sun" Shigure Kirara, "Refreshing" Salome Jokanan, and so on.
All of these nicknames were tied to their individual combat styles.
Now, Edwig, also an A-rank Valkyrie, was no exception.
She received the nickname "Spirit Butterfly" due to her fluid and ever-shifting combat style, as well as her skilled use of a pair of ring blades.
—"Ah, I thought she came from the Marvel studio next door!"
Inside the Theater of Domination, Ling Ke remotely synchronized with the senses of one of the Domina Dolls stationed in the main control room, quickly scanning classified data on the Silver Lotus Squad.
For now, he wasn't worried about the hundred Domina Dolls being defeated.
Let's not forget that in the original Honkai storyline, even with the main team assembled, taking down a single Domina without any Herrscher powers already required considerable effort.
Who made up that main team?
Fu Hua, after her awakening in "Du Chen";
Xier, from "Twin Lives on the Other Side";
Kiana, already in command of the Herrscher of the Void's power;
Bronya, bearer of the Herrscher of Reason's core...
Not to mention the rest—just these four alone are far beyond any A-rank Valkyrie.
So...
—"Records show that among all currently active A-rank Valkyries in Destiny, Edwig's strength is only average."
—"Even after the Second Impact, Valkyrie armor has been upgraded several times in the past ten years. A 'temporal fracture' system was added, and still, her combat rating is far below that of the top A-rank Valkyrie of the time: Cheng Lixue."
No doubt about it—she couldn't even compare to Cheng Lixue, let alone Fu Hua, whose physical capabilities had been fully restored.
That said...
—"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
In the hallway of the West Asia branch base, Edwig looked shaken by the relentless assault.
The two B-rank Valkyries who were with her were already dead.
And it wasn't surprising.
As mentioned before, each unenhanced "Ambi Domina Doll" possesses strength comparable to a B-rank Valkyrie.
But now... there were a hundred.
And that's without counting their infinite resurrection ability.
Cold sweat dripped from Edwig's brow.
As an A-rank Valkyrie, she could defeat one or two "Ambis," sure.
But the process was completely overwhelming her.
Like right now...
—"Hyaah!"
Spinning, the ring blade in her hand swept sideways, slashing swiftly at the neck of a short-haired girl.
With a hit like that, any ordinary human would've been decapitated.
But all that appeared on the girl was a flash of iridescent light at her neck.
In exchange for the cut, the doll self-destructed, causing more injuries.
Faced with this "we die together" tactic, Edwig could only feel smothered.
—"Tsk!"
She barely dodged another slash but didn't dare continue attacking.
She was surrounded by many identical girls.
Same face, same clothes, same weapons.
Edwig felt like if she stayed any longer, she'd develop trypophobia.
Though honestly, that would come after surviving this.
Because she didn't know that, from beyond the barrier, someone was watching her with a dark smile...
And wasn't planning to kill her. Not yet.
But that wasn't good news.
Because anyone with some sense knows a simple truth:
In front of a fully darkened Avenger... death is a merciful fate.
A moment later...
—"This is the problem with 'video game character templates.'"
From the Theater, Ling Ke, who had seen the entire battle, sighed.
The Domina Dolls attacking Edwig hadn't even activated the "Billy" template.
They were only using the basic template: Ambi.
Health-point system, infinite stamina, indestructible equipment...
Ambi has many "character traits," and those are just three.
The previously mentioned "character switch" was another.
According to the system, every game template includes:
Character Traits
Playable Abilities
Background Talents
Leaving the last two aside for now...
The "character traits" are systems inherited from game mechanics where realism is skipped.
For example, in Absolute Zero Zone, no character loses limbs or dies from blood loss. Only when HP hits 0 do they deactivate automatically.
That's known as the "health point mechanism."
The rest are self-explanatory:
Infinite stamina – no stamina bar; fight endlessly.
Indestructible gear – no weapon or armor wear and tear.
So Edwig was fighting monsters.
Using human strategies in a completely disproportionate battle, like dancing on a razor's edge.
The reality was clear: if Ling Ke wasn't using her as a training dummy to test character templates, she'd have died long ago.
—"Hasn't this woman realized that, except for the first wave that killed her companions, most of the other Ambis are just faking attacks?"
From the outside, it looked like a Hollywood scene full of special effects:
A massive group of soldiers surrounding her... but not attacking.
Only two or three "Ambis" were actually fighting.
The rest were just blocking escape routes.
It was all a "performance."
Of course, Ling Ke was enjoying it.
Bit by bit, he began to raise the difficulty.
If Edwig could barely handle one unenhanced Ambi... he sent her two.
Then three. Then four.
—"What? You can't even hold out against four?"
—"And you're supposed to be an A-rank Valkyrie?"
—"Forget it. Dragging this out is boring."
He turned his attention to other sectors of the base:
—"Oh, looks like they found some other 'guests'..."
—"Perfect..."
He smiled.
—"Accept my invitation, Miss Edwig."
—"You don't have the right to refuse."
And right then...
ZAP!
Strange bursts, like plasma pulses, reached Edwig's ears.
She didn't know that since the start of the battle, an invisible yellow bar had been hovering above her head.
A bar that had been filling slowly.
It was a special system called "Disruption Value," taken directly from the game Absolute Zero Zone.
Once full, the unit would be completely paralyzed for a time and take multiplied damage.
And Ambis, with their "breaking trait," could fill that bar even faster.
To be honest, if the Ambi template wasn't level 1 and the hundred dolls hadn't been deployed simultaneously...
Edwig would've been disrupted long ago.
And right then...
—"Hyaah!" ×2
In the corridor, two more Ambis suddenly burst in.
They lunged at Edwig at full speed.
She couldn't react in time.
And in the next instant, her body twisted and collapsed.
—"Huh?"
Her vision blurred.
She fell to the ground.
Barely conscious, she looked up—and her gaze landed on two legs...
Only half her body was left.
—"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"
The screams echoed through the corridors.
But the atmosphere remained as cold and mechanical as ever.
Just like that time...
When she herself looked down from above at the helpless Ling Ke, curled up and trembling in the underground cell.