Kiana Kaslana did not chase after I-402. Instead, she piloted her heavy cruiser toward the two battleships that were about to explode. Leaping high into the air, she caught the falling Kirishima in her arms just as the ship's hull disintegrated amid a blaze of fire.
"Maya! How—how are you here?"
Kirishima's expression flickered between surprise and relief before realization struck. Her gaze darted toward Haruna.
"Haruna, she—"
"Don't worry. I've got this!"
Kiana Kaslana expanded her Klein field, hexagonal structures forming a violet sphere that enveloped herself, Kirishima, and Haruna not far away.
The twin battleships erupted, a blinding surge of green-white light consuming them.
Her Klein field endured the blast, though its energy consumption spiked to fifty-four percent.
"That was close... almost broke through," she muttered, exhaling softly.
Holding Kirishima, Kiana descended onto her cruiser's deck, followed shortly by Haruna's landing.
Both massive ships dissolved into clouds of silver dust, scattering into the sea.
"Maya, did Kongou send you?" Haruna asked.
Kiana set Kirishima down and maintained Maya's cheerful persona, flashing a bright smile. "Yep, I came on Kongou's orders."
"So Kongou anticipated that Kirishima and I would lose, and sent you?" Haruna asked, visibly uneasy.
Kirishima, still shaken, clenched her fists. If Maya hadn't shown up, she and Haruna might have perished in their battle against I-401. The thought left her trembling—she didn't want to die.
Yet Kongou sending Maya implied a lack of faith in their capabilities.
Still, deep down, she was grateful.
"Not exactly," Kiana said playfully. "I told Kongou that you'd lose, so she sent me. I wanted to show off a little and sink I-401 myself, but... looks like I missed my chance."
"What?!"
Both Haruna and Kirishima froze.
It wasn't Kongou's foresight—it was Maya's suggestion?!
Kiana smiled. "But it's fine. I'm happy I could save you two."
Kirishima's tense expression softened, her complicated emotions slowly fading away.
"Thank you, Maya," Haruna said softly.
Kiana thumped her chest proudly. "No need to thank me! We're comrades, right?"
"Log. Categorize... record," Haruna murmured.
"I-401... I'll definitely sink you," Kirishima growled through clenched teeth.
"..."
Kiana Kaslana turned her gaze toward the burning ruins of the Yokosuka naval district. Dozens of Seraph-class Honkai Beasts appeared, slaughtering the remaining soldiers.
Naturally, they were her creations.
These soldiers were elite—the exact type she wanted to erase.
As the purge continued, Kiana noticed a group of soldiers acting suspiciously. Instead of engaging the Honkai Beasts, they moved toward a wealthy mansion.
Judging by the size of the estate, its owner was clearly someone important.
Curious, Kiana initiated a network intrusion.
She encountered almost no resistance and swiftly obtained the data she sought.
In fact, the mansion's owner—upon detecting the intrusion—had willingly shown her the information.
A synthetic human.
A prodigy child.
The true designer of the Vibration Warhead.
Moments later, a direct message arrived from the mansion's owner.
He requested one thing—
That she protect and look after Makie Osakabe.
"So that's your play, huh... desperate measures," Kiana murmured. "Fine. Since she's an artificial human like K-423—and a cute girl at that—I'll lend a hand."
"I'm heading out for a bit," she said.
Kiana jumped beside a vertical missile launcher. The hatch opened, and a torpedo missile fired upward.
Catching hold of it mid-launch, she soared into the sky—riding the missile toward the direction of the Makie estate.
"What is she even doing...?" Kirishima muttered, staring blankly at Maya as she disappeared into the clouds, gripping a missile like a rocket rider.
At the Makie estate, heavily armed soldiers stormed the halls, ruthlessly gunning down the maids inside.
Under the cover of her maid, Makie Osakabe fled into a hidden underground room where her father lay bedridden.
"Father!"
Makie rushed to his side.
"Makie..."
Toujirou Osakabe's pale, bloodless face softened with a faint smile as he closed off the elevator, temporarily delaying the soldiers above.
"Makie, I'm... I'm sorry."
Seeing that the government had sent troops to silence them, Toujirou Osakabeo's voice trembled with guilt as he confessed everything to his daughter.
Outside, Kiana Kaslana descended from the sky like a meteor, crashing into the mansion's garden. The soldiers stationed nearby immediately rushed toward the source of the impact.
"We have no intention of fighting you! Please, leave this place!" one soldier shouted.
"You don't—but I do!"
A surge of purple digital light flared around Kiana Kaslana's body, multiple data-like halos spinning in sequence.
"Open fire!"
At the command, the soldiers raised their rifles and shot. Yet every bullet stopped midair, crushed by her Klein field before they could even reach her.
Kiana waved her hand casually. Segments of the hexagonal Klein barrier dropped vertically from above, crushing two of the shooters into pulp.
"It's a Fleet of Fog Mental Model—she's here!"
"Kill Makie Osakabe! The Vibration Warhead data must not fall into the Fog's hands!"
Inside, the soldiers moved faster, restarting the elevator and descending into the underground level to eliminate their target.
Before long, they reached the hidden chamber where Toujirou Osakabe and Makie Osakabe were hiding.
Nearby, the maid stood protectively in front of Makie Osakabe, pistol in hand, firing at the intruders.
A bullet struck one soldier down, but the others took cover on either side of the doorway and tossed grenades inside.
BOOM! BOOM!
Twin explosions rocked the chamber. Soldiers stormed in right after, shooting Toujirou Osakabe where he lay in bed before turning their guns on Makie Osakabe, still shielded beneath the maid's lifeless body.
At that moment, Kiana Kaslana arrived.
With a simple wave of her hand, the soldiers were flung against the walls by her Klein field, their bones shattering instantly as life left their bodies.
"..."
Stepping into the bloodstained room, Kiana glanced at the carnage—the dead maid, the fallen soldiers—and then at the motionless Makie Osakabe.
There was no mistaking it. This girl was important.
Kiana knelt beside her, gently lifting the dead maid's body off her. She placed a hand on Makie's chest and infused a controlled flow of Honkai energy into her, initiating treatment.
At the same time, she observed how Makie's body responded to the energy.
Just as she expected—
This girl had the potential of a Herrscher.
When the healing was complete, Kiana lifted Makie Osakabe into her arms and departed.
Walking across the sea on a platform of Klein energy, she returned to her ship.
"Why did you go out and bring a human back?" Kirishima asked, puzzled.
"She's not an ordinary human," Kiana explained calmly. "She's an artificial one—the one who designed the new torpedo model humanity developed to fight us."
"That girl...?" Kirishima murmured in disbelief.