Let's split our focus and tell two tales.
While the Hyperion was discussing business, the main battlefield was still raging with intensity.
Facing the torrential flood of bullets raining down like a storm, Bianka still hadn't uncrossed her arms. "Let's end this tentative playing around, shall we? How about you show me your true strength?"
Her matter-of-fact tone, combined with the two large masses propped up on her chest, made Kiana extremely annoyed.
She let out a cold huff. "Wait until you take this next move before you talk!"
Dense swarms of bullets struck the blonde maiden standing in mid-air from all directions. Every single round had been precisely calculated by the Kaslana Gun Kata and then guided to a fatal weak point by the Phantom Scythe.
Kiana had even specifically switched to new depleted uranium rounds and HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) warheads designed for siege warfare. Even if the opponent were a medium-to-large Honkai Beast the size of a skyscraper, she dared to claim this storm—reminiscent of a Gensokyo EX Stage barrage—would turn them into a honeycomb!
"Take it?"
Her exquisite, beautiful features arranged themselves into an expression of puzzlement. Bianka's reaction seemed to be genuine surprise—Why should I bother 'taking' mere child's play like this?
She maintained her prepared stance, allowing the metal storm capable of piercing even Titan Mechs to assault her body from every angle.
In an instant, the girl was completely enveloped by targeted bullets, turning into an airtight, human-shaped cocoon of metal.
And then, nothing happened.
The scene was quite eerie.
If there had been an explosion or she had been knocked away, that would at least be within Kiana's range of understanding.
But the bullets fired at Bianka seemed as if their tails were grabbed by invisible hands. As they approached her, they continuously lost momentum, finally losing all forward force and freezing just millimeters from her body.
"What kind of ability is that?"
The girl muttered to herself.
Fuli raised his hand. "Miss Durandal?"
The bullets surrounding her fell with a rustle into the boundless sea below. The Schicksal's Strongest, completely unharmed, brushed back her blonde hair. "Just call me by my name."
"Oh, then Durandal."
"I said! Bianka!"
"Alright, Bianka."
Still just as domineering as the first time we met in the previous loop...
Fuli paused, then said, "My family's white-haired idiot doesn't seem to quite understand your ability. May I offer some off-site assistance and educate her on your greatness?"
The phrase "my family's idiot" gave Bianka an instinctive flash of displeasure, but the subsequent "your greatness" made her heart feel as sweet as honey.
The girl said indifferently, "You may. Go ahead and tell her."
Realizing her cold attitude might cause a misunderstanding, she quickly turned her head and flashed a radiant smile toward the deck where Fuli stood.
The boy didn't quite get it, but he returned a polite, clean smile.
[Little Li likes ■■■ the most!]
Ugh!
In that instant, his smile seemed to overlap with certain beautiful things in her memories.
A faint, piercing pain sprouted in her heart, causing the girl to stare blankly at Fuli, completely forgetting she was still in the middle of a battle with a third party.
"You jerk!"
A Galactic Baseball Bat wrapped in blazing white light descended from the sky, tracing an arc as it smashed onto Bianka's defenseless shoulder. "Just how much are you going to look down on people?!!"
BOOM—!
A scorching explosion swallowed the azure sky for a hundred meters around. The spreading shockwave even panicked the fish swimming beneath the sea's surface.
"And A-Li too!"
Kiana, having retreated immediately after the hit, stared tightly at Durandal, who had been swallowed by light and heat. Her tone was full of the displeasure of being underestimated. "This young lady hasn't fallen so low that I need someone to explain the enemy's abilities from the sidelines!"
Bronya stood on her tiptoes, cutely tugging at Fuli's sleeve, her big eyes blinking. "She hates you now, Bro."
"Don't go putting words in my mouth!"
The voice came from afar, clearly seeing through the little girl's treacherous scheme to step over her to gain favor.
"Pride is a good thing, but acting like this is a bit ignorant of the situation."
Himeko shook her head. "Though that Blade of the Flame King was used quite well. It seems she really put some effort into studying it."
Blade of the Flame King (B). A lower-tier technique of the Vermilion Knight's sword she had gifted Kiana earlier.
It simulated the Herrscher of Flame's authority to manipulate molecular motion, adding supreme vibration waves at a microscopic level to the weapon. It was enough to vibrate and pulverize any matter into dust, extremely effective against both biological and non-biological targets. It had a conical kill zone starting at five meters, manifesting as flames with a mix of incandescent white colors.
"I am the torch, rushing to the eternal burn of crimson!"
Kiana shouted confidently, staring at the explosion that still hadn't dispersed, and grinned. "Although I haven't mastered it perfectly yet, even you, Durandal, taking a hit like that without any defense, would absolutely—"
"Absolutely what?"
A cold snort laced with a trace of annoyance rang out from within the dense smoke. A hand swiped from left to right, tearing through the soaring flames.
The flickering light and shadow swayed across Bianka's profile, making her look like a demon god ready to devour humans as her train of thought was interrupted!
"Gah!"
Kiana choked up as if someone had strangled her.
The Phantom Scythe turned into invisible ripples, joining the detection modules of White Comet to inspect Bianka's body with such density that not an inch of skin was spared.
But no matter how many times the girl repeated the scan, the feedback told her the same thing:
Even after suffering a full-power sneak attack with the Blade of the Flame King, this Valkyrie—who had supposedly suppressed her strength to a B-Rank breaker level just like her—remained completely unscathed!
Despite this, the shocked Kiana did not give up.
"It's not over yet!"
With the vast blue sky as her background, the white-haired girl unleashed every ability she had mastered to her heart's content.
Interwoven storms of flame;
Super-charged sniping from the Dragon Roar MK2000;
Magnificent combo kicks resembling a dance;
She even used White Comet's Time Fracture several times!
But Bianka just stood there, motionless, allowing this offensive—potent enough to annihilate an Emperor-class Honkai Beast—to land on her body.
The smoke of explosions rose and vanished time and again. The sea breeze, formed by high and low pressure, blew past, revealing that still-pristine figure.
"How can this be...?"
This time, even Bronya's brow lost its teasing look.
She and Kiana fought constantly; they knew each other's abilities well.
Although one could brush it off by saying 'Bronya wouldn't be stupid enough to let those attacks hit her,' the fact remained that the full-power Blade of the Flame King just now was something even she would have to treat seriously. A moment of carelessness would mean severe injury and defeat.
But that Durandal... she actually face-tanked it while being ambushed? And not only did she appear completely unaffected, but under the subsequent angry waves of attacks, her defense hadn't even been breached?
Bronya's first reaction was that this guy was cheating!
Without a word, she reviewed Project Bunny 19C's observation logs, looking for any trace of Bianka's foul play.
Unfortunately, there was none.
She hadn't unlocked higher-level combat power, nor did she counterattack while being hit. She had simply, upright and squarely, taken all of Kiana's attacks with her raw defense!
"Monster."
Bronya muttered to herself. "What 'Current Strongest'? This is clearly the Strongest B-Rank Valkyrie in history."
Hearing this, Himeko, Theresa, and even Mei nodded involuntarily, despite their inner unwillingness to admit it.
"Hard to say."
Only one person voiced a rebuttal.
"Bro?"
Bronya looked over blankly, strangely finding that it was within her expectations for him to say this.
Fuli smiled, eyes narrowing. "Durandal is very—"
"It's Bianka!"
The Goose puffed out her cheeks, correcting him with dissatisfaction.
Mei-chan's gaze instantly became sharp. She silently retracted her mental admission of the opponent being the strongest in her class, and her piercing (adultery-catching) gaze began to dart back and forth between Fuli and Bianka.
Emphasizing it the first time might be habit, but emphasizing it a second time? There's definitely some unknown illicit affair going on!
"Fine."
Oblivious to this, Fuli shrugged. "It's true that Bianka is very strong, but that premise relies on her not facing me!"
"Big talk."
The Duck mumbled.
Don't ask; she just couldn't stand her brother's smug look.
"So, can we switch?"
Fuli rubbed her little head and raised his hand to ask. "If this goes on, our family idiot's Dao Heart is going to collapse."
Usually, he didn't care about this, nor was he so eager to manifest his sanctity in front of others—aka showing off.
But seeing his girls' spirit about to be beaten out of them, if he, the BOSS, didn't step up, Kiana and Bronya might live in Durandal's shadow forever, subservient and lowly.
Kiana, receiving this wake-up call, shouted angrily, "Who! Who's Dao Heart is collapsing?! This young lady can still fight her for another three hundred rounds!"
But in her heart, she couldn't help but feel a sigh of relief.
There was no helping it; fighting a BOSS whose health bar you couldn't see was truly despair-inducing.
"Yes, yes, yes."
Fuli used Void Flash Step to appear beside her, pressing down her scorching gun barrel that was pointed at Bianka. "It is I whose skills are itching. I can't help but want to spar with Ms. Bianka. Could the eldest Miss Kiana yield this qualification to this lowly one?"
Whether it was Kiana or Bronya, even among Valkyries of the same rank, their combat abilities could absolutely be called outstanding.
Unfortunately, the target they faced this time was the Daughter of Destiny of the Honkai World.
The buff of the Dea Anchora, nearly infinite potential, perseverance to never give up until the goal is reached, paying ten or a hundred times the effort, plus the lavish resource allocation as the Overseer's direct subordinate—resources so luxurious words couldn't describe them.
When the tiny Kiana was carrying a knapsack looking for her dad, she was training.
When the the Silver Wolf of the Urals was lying in the snow sniping for Old Godmother chili sauce, she was cultivating.
Unless you possessed peerless combat experience piled up over thousands of years (Senti), or simply used a higher level of power to crush her (Kevin), anyone who ran into such a monster would have to admit defeat.
Fuli spoke again, "Since the combatants are switching, I, who was just muted, should be allowed to speak freely, right?"
"Sh-Shut up!"
Kiana, having just returned to the deck, blushed deeply upon hearing this.
However, her gaze toward the battlefield was burning; clearly, she hadn't been defeated by the earlier sense of powerlessness.
Seeing this, Himeko, who had intended to console her, laughed breezily. In a tone that sounded like a whisper but wasn't, she said, "Actually, that Durandal just now was bullying the weak."
This voice, naturally, couldn't be hidden from the person involved.
The Knight Princess in mid-air looked over in confusion, waiting for the senior's follow-up argument.
Himeko continued, "Even if she suppressed her basic combat power to your level, that doesn't mean she had her current combat abilities when she was actually at your level."
She raised her voice. "Am I right? Durandal?"
Bianka thought for a moment and actually nodded seriously. "Senior Himeko is correct."
Tiny eyes inside Kiana revealed massive confusion; she didn't understand their convoluted logic.
Mei, however, understood instantly—or rather, having seen through it long ago, she simply played the straight man:
"Technique?"
"Exactly!"
Himeko clapped her hands. "The special technique Durandal used to block Kiana's attacks is a new system she only researched recently."
Durandal-Style Lance (Knight) Kata. Combining the Dea Anchora, the World Bubble reverse-engineered into her body, and her own advantages, she created a systematic art after absorbing massive amounts of theory and actual combat experience. It integrated basic training, control, assault, strangulation, and more.
Using the Holy Sword to interfere with matter at the fundamental particle level, and controlling spacetime via the massive gravitational force of the planetary-scale World Bubble inside her, she used lance techniques and martial arts to manipulate the direction and intensity of gravity—one of the four fundamental forces of the universe. It combined practicality with splendor and was highly sought after by lower-ranking Valkyries.
By the way, the name was chosen by Rita (filled with bad taste).
Theresa looked as if she had suddenly realized something, though in reality, she was coordinating perfectly: "In other words, the Durandal who was a B-Rank breaker years ago, and the Durandal who suppresses her strength to a B-Rank breaker today—these two cannot be counted as the same unit!"
She raised her hand, pointing accusingly with righteous indignation. "Actually using such underhanded moves... That's too despicable, Durandal!"
If it were anyone else, they certainly wouldn't accept such baseless accusations.
At the end of the day, the agreement was for Bianka to suppress her strength to equal the opponent, not to pull a 'Little Goose' from the past out to fight. Theresa was clearly biased.
But this was Durandal.
And this was about the aspect she valued most: combat.
"Senior Himeko and Senior Theresa are right. I was indeed bullying the weak."
The Goose said solemnly, "It's just that I apologize; even I cannot completely recreate the state I was in before merging with the Holy Sword. In exchange, I can refrain from using the recently developed Durandal-Style Lance Kata and fight you in a more ordinary state."
The girl knew that thing was unfair, specifically the [Power of Domination] that covered her body surface 24/7 without interruption.
This ability had no active offensive power; it simply manifested as the target becoming slower the closer they got to her.
Unless one used energy far exceeding the total Honkai energy within Bianka to forcibly neutralize it, or used a similar type of technique to reverse it, any form of attack would come to a complete standstill the instant before touching her skin in this state.
Even though Bianka had kept her promise to limit the Honkai energy maintaining the Power of Domination to B-Rank breaker level, for Kiana and Bronya to break that defense was basically a daydream.
Of course, even without using this, Bianka was fully confident in winning.
After all, before the Durandal-Style Lance Kata was created and summarized, she was already sitting firmly on the throne of Schicksal's Number One.
However...
"No need."
A death-level sense of crisis suddenly enveloped the Knight Princess, who was preparing to adjust her state.
"What?!"
A long-lost stinging pain exploded on the side of her neck. A drop of crimson blood traveled along the edge of the Black Swan's blade, eventually being secretly caught in a container by a cat-cake sent out earlier by Mei before it could fall into the ocean.
Bianka slowly turned her face sideways.
The super scumbag who had just accomplished the feat of beating up his fiancée held a sword in his left hand and waved his right hand in a friendly gesture.
"Just use your full power."
Fuli rested the Black Swan on his shoulder and took a few steps back to reopen the distance. "Full power at A-Rank level. If you pull out combat power above the critical limit to bully the weak, I'll be kneeling in front of you singing 'Conquest' in minutes."
Divine Departure!
The eyelids of the two victims, Mei and Bronya, twitched. They clearly recognized this ultimate assassination technique that ignored non-physical defenses to strike the main body directly.
Himeko couldn't help but whistle. Her painstakingly developed Vermilion Knight Sword could also break Bianka's Power of Domination, but that required full power concentrated on a single point. The clean crispness of Divine Departure amazed her.
"Hey, Theresa."
Having a sudden whim, the Big Sis nudged her equally dumbfounded old friend beside her, whispering at a volume only they could hear. "Say, if these two really have a kid in the future, how about we think of a way to bring it over to raise?"
"!!!"
Even knowing that child trafficking was illegal, the Lord Principal was shamefully tempted.
She didn't dare imagine how high the achievements of a cub born from these two freaks would be!
But immediately, she realized something was wrong.
"Hey! Don't talk nonsense!"
Theresa glanced warily at Mei, Kiana, and the others, then leaned into Himeko's ear and whispered loudly, "Nominally, Fuli is still my fiancé!"
"Then just have Little Brother have one with you, and one with Durandal."
Himeko answered nonchalantly. "A bed is that big; split it in half and it fits all three of you."
Seems right... after all, I'm pretty small...
"No, I'm not!"
Theresa, coming back to her senses, stamped her foot in exasperation. "This School Principal will grow up in the future! I definitely will!"
"How big can you grow? As big as me?"
Himeko smiled disdainfully, puffing out her chest—Boing, Boing. "Just don't come crying to me when I have to help wet-nurse the child you have with Little Brother."
Theresa recalled the portrait of Kallen hanging in Otto's office, compared the measurements on it with the guy in front of her, and scratched her head:
Strange. 94/61/92 and 92/60/90... which of these figures was the better one again?
...