To be honest, Bronya, currently in her dorm room, was feeling a little lost.
Under the training of the Russia military, she had never considered a personal future for herself.
Then, several years ago, Cocolia, who could have killed her, didn't take her life. Instead, she gave her a warmth she had never known.
For the original Bronya, her adoptive mother's orders were absolute.
But now, after heeding Leo Ash's advice, she had left Anti-Entropy and joined Schicksal.
Bronya, who had chosen to betray her adoptive mother to save her, sometimes found herself wondering...
—Just what did hiding in her dorm, preparing in advance to cover up any potential slip-ups for Leo Ash's future explosive love drama, have to do with 'saving Cocolia' at all?
She was here to compete for military honors, but now, the team's ability to consistently earn merits relied almost entirely on Leo Ash.
And though Leo Ash himself had no such intentions, the commander, everyone's direct superior, the seniors, peers, and juniors in the team were, in a sense, all connected by him alone.
Kiana and Mei had joined Schicksal because of Leo Ash.
Yuno, who originally had self-destructive tendencies, became an outstanding warrior only after being persuaded by Leo Ash.
And Bronya herself had only started working seriously for Schicksal after Leo Ash's persuasion.
Class Rep Fu Hua thought very highly of... no, it was past that now. They were already hugging each other; anything else was superfluous.
Headmaster, Major Himeko, and even Lord Bishop Otto all thought very highly of Brother Leo Ash.
If anything were to happen to him, then...
Bronya, who had been worried about Leo Ash causing a jealous squabble, suddenly felt a shadow of darkness in her heart.
*Bronya is such an idiot. Compared to these 'minor issues,' Brother Leo Ash's own personality is the bigger problem. Even Class Rep Fu Hua, who is so close to him, he doesn't seem to plan on listening to her when it comes to those things. And with his personality, his adoptive sister Miss Rita and his best friend Miss Bianka must have noticed it long ago. It's impossible they wouldn't do something. The result is that his suspected lover, the Class Rep, and the Misses Rita and Bianka, who are close to Brother Leo Ash, have all failed to change his ways.*
If he continues like this, during the next large-scale Honkai Eruption, he will inevitably step onto the heart of the battlefield again.
But the next Honkai Eruption...
—Who could guarantee that the next Herrscher would be like Big Sister Mei, actively suppressing the power within her heart?
As a member of Anti-Entropy who had been exposed to Cocolia's core plans, Bronya knew very well that before a Herrscher Host became a Herrscher, their mood would gradually fall into despair for various reasons.
And once those despairing hosts were tempted by the voice of the Honkai, they were highly likely to transform into world-destroying demons on the spot.
Aside from those with strong wills, ordinary people, when cornered, wouldn't care if the people around them were innocent or not.
And even if Brother Leo Ash could defeat a Pseudo-Herrscher, if he faced a real Herrscher with his current strength, he would most likely die.
If something happened to Brother Leo Ash, Big Sister Mei might be unable to suppress her Herrscher Core. That was the most likely thing to happen first. At that point, two Herrschers would start fighting on a new battlefield...
Although the connection was a bit sudden, in that instant, Bronya thought of the Second Eruption that nearly affected half of Asia.
She had read the data in Schicksal's database. Although Schicksal's records of the Second Eruption didn't mention Anti-Entropy's involvement, it did mention what happened at the end of that Eruption.
The Herrscher of the Void was simply too powerful. The result of her Honkai Energy going berserk could have led to more than half of Asia being contaminated. Valkyrie Cecilia Schariac and her husband, Siegfried, in order to prevent this tragedy, held back the Herrscher of the Void and requested that headquarters fire a Honkai Fission Missile at their location, stopping the catastrophe.
If what Schicksal stated in this internal data record was true, then once a Herrscher fought seriously without holding back, it could truly affect the future of billions of people, just as the database described.
And now, the next Honkai Eruption...
At this thought, Bronya felt the headache that had been plaguing her recently grow even worse.
The last Honkai Eruption was single-handedly caused by her adoptive mother, Cocolia.
And in last night's surprise attack, a Pseudo-Herrscher created by Cocolia had even appeared.
Once, when everyone was chatting, Kiana mentioned that her father, Siegfried, had a falling out with Lord Bishop Otto because Otto had dabbled in the power of the Herrschers.
As things stood now, Bronya hadn't seen where Otto had dabbled in Herrscher power. But her adoptive mother, Cocolia, was now frantically trying to get her hands on it—she could even mass-produce Herrscher clones.
Even so, she wasn't satisfied with the forces she controlled. The Third Eruption had failed, and Cocolia had always yearned for a Herrscher Core, so...
—She's definitely going to prepare to start the next large-scale Honkai Eruption!
At that moment, realizing this, Bronya broke out in a cold sweat, her trembling hand reaching for the handkerchief in front of her.
If she were just an ordinary fourteen-year-old child, she might have sided with her adoptive mother out of familial affection.
However, Bronya was no ordinary kid.
Her intelligence was actually very high. Things that ordinary kids couldn't see through, Bronya could deduce eight or nine-tenths of the truth with just a bit of calm speculation.
Originally, she had been lost in Cocolia's fantasy of 'using the Herrscher's power to save Seele.' But after Leo Ash pointed out the reality she didn't want to face in her heart, Bronya now felt...
—*Ah, this is bad. Bronya feels absolutely terrible.*
*Mother Cocolia will definitely stir up trouble. And judging by the fact that she can create Herrscher clones, even though she can't defeat the Far East Branch, her combat strength is surprisingly sufficient. If she has the chance, she will definitely find a way to create a new Herrscher, and the new Herrscher will trigger Brother Leo Ash's vengeful heart, causing him to rush to the battlefield, which could ultimately lead to the worst-case scenario of 'Brother Leo Ash dies in battle, Big Sister Mei goes berserk, and two Herrschers fight to the death.'*
In the past, Bronya had always been running away, but now...
—*Mother, I'm sorry.*
After letting out a deep breath, Bronya immediately contacted Himeko and Theresa, who had been out all night, through her terminal.
"Hello, Bronya?"
On the other end of the terminal, Himeko, who had been busy with the aftermath all night, asked Bronya with a weary face. "Is something wrong at the dorm?"
"Teacher Himeko, Headmaster, the Bronya has a plan."
After letting out a deep, turbid breath, Bronya spoke to the two on the screen with utmost seriousness. "The Bronya would like to contact Mother Cocolia, and then..."
"—The Bronya wants to use herself as bait to lure her out and arrest her directly."
"However, before carrying out this plan, the Bronya wants the Headmaster to give her a guarantee."
"After catching Mother Cocolia... can the Headmaster guarantee that Schicksal will not kill her?"
After saying this, Bronya suddenly felt as if all the strength in her body had been drained.
Although she had betrayed Cocolia before, after Leo Ash found a reason for her, Bronya had used it to escape from that fact.
However, now that she had spoken those words, she could no longer deceive her own heart.
Even though she felt that stopping her mother from continuing her evil deeds was a good thing, for the young girl, the nature of her actions remained unchanged.
Bronya, for the sake of a 'greater good' she had never cared for in the past, chose to betray her own kin.
Since when did the Bronya become such a weak person?
Was it the hint of madness that occasionally flashed across Mother Cocolia's face?
Or was it Brother Leo Ash's truth-revealing words?
In the end, after hearing Theresa's 'I promise you,' Bronya, lying weakly on her bed, finally recalled the last image that had flashed through her mind.
That day, she had seen the girl named Yuno, who, even when her body and mind were controlled by the Honkai, still shed tears over the fact that she had 'killed her mother with her own hands.'
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that she realized how grave her past mistakes had been. That she realized just how insane her adoptive mother was.
At this moment, the girl lying on the bed covered her eyes with her arm and felt tears uncontrollably streaming from her eyes.
*Seele, the Bronya has betrayed Mother Cocolia. Is this... really the right thing to do?*
...
St. Freya High School, Headmaster's Office.
In the Headmaster's Office, Himeko and Theresa, who had just heard Bronya's words, could only think...
—Wow, is such a thrilling operation really okay?
The fact that Bronya was Cocolia's adoptive daughter was something the two had discussed with each other.
Theresa believed that Bronya could make the right judgment, and while Himeko didn't blindly trust Bronya, she hadn't specifically targeted her because of her identity.
Of course, basic precautions were still in place, but regarding Himeko's precautions, Theresa felt that Himeko's actions were appropriate. After being a Branch Commander for so many years, she hadn't remained completely unchanged. In fact, she was grateful that her old friend was trying her best to cover for her willful self.
"The situation now..."
After pondering for two seconds, Theresa decisively gave up thinking and tossed the problem to Himeko.
"Himeko, what do you think?"
"To be honest."
Recalling the conflicting emotions of determination and hesitation on Bronya's face, Himeko felt that this matter was very strange.
"At any other time, I would think it might be a trap."
"It's not that I suspect Bronya, but Cocolia might throw out some information to lure Bronya, who would notice it, into a trap, but..."
"But?"
"But the timing is wrong."
After letting out a deep breath, Himeko looked at the duty roster in front of her and continued speaking to Theresa beside her. "Cocolia and her ally just expended the combat power of three Pseudo-Herrschers and three Emperor-class Honkai Beasts. Although we can't fully grasp Cocolia's resources, losing so many forces is enough to seriously wound her and her ally. If she really intended to set some kind of trap, as long as she's in her right mind, she wouldn't choose to do it now when she's so weakened."
"Mmm, that's true, but..."
Theresa asked Himeko with a puzzled expression. "Is the person who deliberately initiated the Third Eruption really in her right mind?"
...
Himeko wanted to refute Theresa's words, but after a moment of thought, she found that she couldn't.
No matter how you looked at it, Cocolia's actions were too idiotic.
Even counting the clones under her command, the Divine Key wielder her ally controlled, and the Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, Himeko still felt that these forces weren't guaranteed to win against a true Herrscher.
What's more, at that time, the only forces Cocolia had ambushing Nagazora City were a bunch of Titans—which were nothing but scrap metal in the face of the Herrscher of Thunder's authority.
As for Cocolia having other tricks up her sleeve—if the woman had them, she would have used them long ago. Why would she wait until now?
"Now that you put it that way, I'm suddenly feeling uneasy."
At that moment, Himeko directly took out her terminal and contacted Leo Ash, who was outside.
"Hey, Leo Ash, are you in the dorm right now?"
"Major Himeko? Please wait a moment, I'm heading towards the dorm now."
"Oh, then don't go back just yet. Come directly to Theresa's office. Theresa and I have a special mission for you."
"Understood."
After hanging up, Leo Ash looked at Fu Hua, whom he was still supporting, with a troubled expression on his face.
"I'm fine."
Upon hearing Himeko's call, Fu Hua realized that their current contact was a bit too intimate. Immediately separating from Leo Ash, her voice suddenly became several shades louder for some reason. "Anyway, don't be so reckless again in the future, you hear me?"
"Yes, yes—by the way, are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"
Looking at Fu Hua, who had turned her head away, Leo Ash asked with some concern.
"It's really scary when you suddenly faint like that."
"Of course not—and don't change the subject!"
"Alright, alright, I get it."
Watching Leo Ash leave after tossing out that perfunctory remark, Fu Hua sighed deeply.
Even though she had used Fenghuang Down to hypnotize him and plant that suggestion in his mind, just a moment ago, she had still seen the very thing she dreaded most.
*Even the suggestion of Fenghuang Down can't erase the hatred for the Honkai in his heart... For his obsession to be this deep, if the Divine Voice continues to strengthen it... what have I done?*
*Right now, the only consolation is that Leo Ash might have mastered some new abilities. After I fainted, I could feel that my physical condition has improved a lot. Although I can't return to my peak state, it's not like before, where I would cough up blood after just a little use of Fenghuang Down. Leo Ash possesses the ability to heal others' injuries, and judging from the fact that he didn't heal me in the street but did this time... I see, so it was the Stigmata that Ji Lin gave him that granted him this ability?*
Even though she couldn't remember those things, Fu Hua now felt a hint of nostalgia.
*Sigh, with this ability, he can at least guarantee his own survival to some extent. But this matter—I absolutely cannot let Otto know. Once Otto finds out that Leo Ash has the ability to heal others, as long as Otto judges that it will affect his plans, Leo Ash will have to face additional risks. He has already been saddled with a mistaken obsession because of my error; I can't let him fall into even more danger. I'll find a chance to remind Leo Ash... no, I should use Fenghuang Down on him instead. With his mindset, he won't take anyone else's advice to heart, so I can only resort to such despicable means. In the past, I couldn't protect anyone. At the very least, now, even if it's just to repay the favor of Leo Ash helping me solve the Jiuyou disturbance and protecting Shenzhou... I must do everything in my power to protect him.*
..
When Leo Ash left Theresa's office, he still felt a bit dazed.
Bronya had suddenly launched a rebellion against her seemingly magnificent adoptive mother—at least in the original story, she hadn't done anything so radical in those years. In the main storyline, the most disobedient Bronya had been was when the Joyce clone attacked Mei, and she retaliated. Subsequent events wouldn't happen for another two years, when she took the initiative to burn out the chip in her brain.
At least in these two years, something like 'Bronya actively assisting Schicksal in capturing Cocolia' was completely unheard of. Before Cocolia activated the Valkyrie System in 2016, Bronya had still treated her as a beloved mother.
And yet now, Bronya was actively selling out her mom...
*Wow, did something this intense really happen? And—forty days, for fuck's sake, why is time still accelerating! Cocolia getting caught was supposed to be three years later. Don't tell me we're going to be fighting the Herrscher of Finality in a few months. If time keeps accelerating like this, I'm seriously going to call the cops!*
[Although you keep complaining about these things, you're actually well aware—the reason this girl would betray her beloved mother is all because of you!]
[Think about it, she abandoned even her beloved mother for you—and you're just going to ignore such devotion? Are you even human!]
*Oh, well said, I almost believed you. The problem is, System, my dear System—can you pull up Bronya's character profile for me? Let me see just how much favorability our devotion is worth.*
[Well, about that...]
*What are you hesitating for?*
[Alright, alright, it's a small request. This system will grant it for you.]
At that moment, looking at the character template that popped up before him, Leo Ash was rendered speechless.
[Name: Bronya Zaychik]
[Identity: A member of Anti-Entropy forced to join Schicksal, Cocolia's adoptive daughter.]
[Current Favorability: 18]
[Note: She is skeptical of your proposal, but due to Cocolia's recent string of actions, she is beginning to find her adoptive mother increasingly unreliable.]
*Okay, well, although it's a whole 80% increase from the 10 points last time, the problem is—that's still really low, okay? So what were you blabbering about? Making a fuss over eighteen favorability points... I can't even imagine what you'll say when it gets higher.*
[What are you talking about? You two started out as enemies. Going from a negative number to 18 in forty days, is that slow?]
[If anything, the fact that this naturally sharp and highly guarded genius girl's favorability towards you has increased so quickly is the truly bizarre thing.]
[If you think about it, you've probably already tricked her silly. So when are you going to pat the duckling's behind—]
*She's probably crying under the covers right now over betraying her adoptive mother and her missing adoptive sister, and you want me to...*
[It's precisely because she's crying right now that this system is encouraging you to go comfort the little girl, understand!]
*—You damn System! You actually make a good point... Now that I think about it, she really has it rough. Her adoptive mother got her adoptive sister lost, and now she can't be found. Her adoptive mother went on a killing spree in Nagazora City, and now her reputation is ruined and Bronya has to help clean up the mess. Her adoptive mother caused trouble in Jiuyou, and there are signs she'll cause more in the future. Bronya's head is probably about to explode.*
*To be honest, while she was an accomplice in a sense, she still... looks really pitiful. Sigh, whatever, I'll go check on the situation when I get back.*
[Seize the opportunity! Once you've raised your favorability enough—think of the future CEO Bronya!]
*Still talking about the future. The timing of events is accelerating like crazy. If the arrival of Finality accelerates along with it, I'll only be able to accelerate my training in my dreams. Compete, we can all compete—let's see who can out-compete whom!*
[No, actually, you really don't need to be this panicked.]
[Is there any possibility that these are all just coincidences and accidents...]
*Stop trying to comfort me. I've figured it out now. The original story can only be used as a reference at most. Ever since the foreign object 'Leo Ash' appeared here, the timeline and related events will only change more and more due to the butterfly effect. Even if I do absolutely nothing now, the people around me will change because of my existence. Lying flat and letting things rot won't solve any problems. Even if Kiana is the chosen one, no one can guarantee that she can grow to a point where she can bear the heavy responsibility in a short period of time, as she did in the original story.*
[No, no, you really don't have to...]
[Sigh, forget it, this system won't say any more. You're on your own.]
After Leo Ash opened the door, he saw that only Yuno was left in the living room, flipping through a book in her hands.
"Is that you, Senior?"
Upon hearing the footsteps behind her, Yuno spoke without turning her head. "Welcome back. How was your date with the Class Rep?"
"I got a lecture. How else would it be?"
"Oh, is that so."
*He's not denying the 'date' part. It seems even if they haven't made it official, both sides definitely feel that way.*
After reaching this conclusion, Yuno closed the book in her hands and suddenly turned to look at Leo Ash.
However, at this moment, looking at Yuno, Leo Ash suddenly noticed that the girl's gaze seemed to have become sharp.
"Senior, Bronya has barely left her room all day."
"Oh, it's fine, I'll go check on her in a bit—"
"That's not what I want to talk about."
At this moment, Yuno stared at the young man before her and suddenly asked in a cold voice, "You've known all along that she's Cocolia's adoptive daughter, haven't you?"
"Why haven't you told everyone about this?"