"Principal, high-concentration Honkai energy reaction detected."
The quiet atmosphere of the principal's office at St. Freya Academy was broken by a panicked voice. Theresa, who had been dozing on her desk, jolted and lifted her head. She had intended to make an excuse for her lack of dignity to maintain her image as the principal, but suddenly recalling the words of the earlier intruder, her expression turned serious.
"Location?"
"The eastern suburbs of Nagazora City. The only fortunate thing is that the outbreak point is far from the urban area, but if we delay, the Honkai Beasts born from the eruption might attack the city."
Hearing that name, Theresa's heart skipped a beat. That was the city where Kiana was. Her lovely niece absolutely could not come to harm. Damn it, she should have left something to protect her when she visited Nagazora last time.
Theresa jumped down from her office chair and walked quickly towards the door, speaking as she went.
"Prepare the Hyperion for departure. Destination: Nagazora City, eastern suburbs. Also, what is the Honkai power level?"
"100 HW."
"Phew... as long as it's not a truly large-scale eruption."
A Honkai power level reaching 1000 HW was the threshold for a super-large-scale eruption capable of producing a Herrscher. Hearing the number reported, Theresa let out a sigh of relief. Such a level wouldn't spread rapidly. As long as she arrived in time, she could completely control the casualties to a minimum.
"Um, Principal, the Hyperion has already been taken by Major Himeko. She set off the moment she heard the news of the outbreak."
"Himeko, that woman..."
Although she was somewhat worried about letting Himeko handle the Honkai alone, if it was only a 100 HW eruption, Himeko, who was originally an A-rank Valkyrie, combined with the Hyperion's firepower, would basically be foolproof.
Theresa, who had always opposed Himeko proactively fighting the Honkai without her permission, was relieved this time. Since Himeko's actions were so swift and decisive, the casualties from this eruption should be kept to a very small number.
On the other side, in the suburbs of Nagazora City. A beautiful woman wearing crimson armor and holding a greatsword that mismatched her curvaceous figure—Himeko Murata—descended from the Hyperion battleship in the sky to the ground. She looked around vigilantly. According to the instruments, this was the location of the Honkai outbreak.
Even though it was a small-scale eruption, Himeko did not let down her guard. As a qualified soldier, she would not make such a low-level mistake.
The ground was visibly ravaged, trampled by some kind of giant creature. The flattened forest, the shattered boulders, and the unnatural gullies all suggested that a battle had already taken place here.
Looking around, since the only forest that could block her view had been leveled, Himeko could see quite far relatively easily. There seemed to be no Honkai Beasts around anymore.
Himeko adjusted her earpiece to contact the personnel on the Hyperion.
"Has there been any situation of Honkai Beast attacks in Nagazora City?"
"No, everything is normal in Nagazora City. However, we have already put the local garrison on combat alert. Because the situation is urgent, we haven't evacuated the residents yet, but have told them to stay indoors."
Himeko fell silent for a moment, looked around again, and after confirming there really were no Honkai Beasts or zombies, she spoke.
"Send a few people down with instruments to detect traces of combat."
"Eh? Major Himeko, shouldn't we first..."
"Right now, apart from the Honkai energy concentration being higher than normal, there are no Honkai Beasts or zombies here. There are many traces of battle on the ground. I suspect the Honkai Beasts have already been eliminated by someone in advance."
Ten minutes later, the personnel left on the Hyperion arrived on the ground with various instruments and began to use different precision equipment for detection.
Looking at the several huge outlines illuminated on the ground by special rays, Himeko raised an eyebrow.
Other staff members approached Himeko with looks of surprise and reported.
"Major Himeko, the inspection results are out. At least five giant Chariot-class Honkai Beasts over ten meters tall appeared here earlier. You know that dealing with Honkai Beasts under ten meters requires anti-air missiles and medium-caliber machine cannons, those over ten meters require 270mm railguns, and those over a hundred meters require an A-rank Valkyrie. Five Honkai Beasts over ten meters appearing at once..."
"But they were all eliminated at once, right?"
"Yes."
Although she had guessed as much, when her guess was truly confirmed, a strange look still appeared on Himeko Murata's face.
"Did Principal Theresa send a Valkyrie here in advance?"
"She hasn't. Besides that, there has been no movement from Schicksal or Anti-Entropy either. After all, the Far East is under the jurisdiction of our St. Freya Academy."
"In other words, a powerful Valkyrie, at least close to A-rank, is hiding here? It can't be some active personnel just passing by, can it?"
Himeko received no response because the other party didn't know the answer either.
Seeing this, Himeko handed her greatsword to someone else and said.
"Contact Principal Theresa first and tell her the Honkai incident has been resolved by an unknown person. I'm going to Nagazora City. Maybe I can meet that mysterious Valkyrie."
Himeko, having said this, didn't wait for others to object. She changed her clothes and was about to head to Nagazora City, but hadn't gone far when she received a communication from Theresa.
Principal Theresa wanted her to find a girl named Kiana and deliver some things to her.
Himeko felt extremely regretful about this.
Himeko Murata had already planned that once she went to Nagazora City and confirmed there were really no abnormalities, she would use finding the mysterious person as an excuse to find a place for a drink. Now, however, she had another task.
By the way, who is Kiana? She hadn't heard the Principal mention her before.
For the upcoming task, Himeko felt a few degrees of curiosity.
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