Outskirts of Nagazora City, near Chiba Academy.
As the Honkai's iconic trio—Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya, who started as a mid-level boss but surprisingly joined the main team—they'd spent most of the day in a bloody struggle.
Relying on their utterly unreasonable strength against the zombies, they carved a path through mountains of corpses until they reached the outskirts of Chiba Academy.
Being the series' signature white-haired heroine, Kiana was now steadily employing the Kaslana family's signature gun-kata, using her twin pistols to "liberate" any zombie daring to approach in the most physical way possible.
"Tch! These endless zombies… seriously annoying! I thought there were enough inside Chiba Academy, but even out here there's still this many weaklings?"
Kiana smoothly raised a hand and fired.
The bullet shot straight through a charging zombie's eye, blowing a hole clean through its skull.
But with the sheer number of zombies around, the ammo in her pistols didn't last long, quickly running dry.
The area briefly cleared by her suppressive fire was instantly swallowed again by the endless tide.
Kiana, who'd been mentally counting her rounds, was clearly prepared for this.
She kicked a zombie about to pounce on her, sending it flying five or six meters back.
Then, facing another lunging at her, she suddenly pulled out a badly bent metal baseball bat from behind her.
Zombie: No honor among the living?!
"You're already dead! Stop blocking my way!"
Instantly switching to melee, Kiana swung the bat with the Kaslana family's hereditary monstrous strength, putting all her force into the blow.
This swing—could pierce the stars!
THWACK!!!
It smashed the attacking zombie's head without a doubt, scattering red and white matter everywhere like a watermelon bursting open…
Splattered with blood, Kiana quickly fell back, handing the frontline over to Raiden Mei, who was wielding a heavy machine gun.
"Mei, cover me!"
"Leave it to me, Kiana!"
Taking over seamlessly, Mei opened up with full firepower.
Under the heavy machine gun's ample suppression, the horde was momentarily kept at bay.
While Mei held them off, Kiana reloaded her pistols in a flash and rejoined the fray, blasting apart zombie heads one after another.
But just then, a Knight-class Honkai Beast—whose defenses ordinary firearms couldn't penetrate—crashed through nearby buildings and stormed into the battlefield.
It didn't get to gloat for more than a few seconds, however.
"Target locked… Project Bunny 19C, no time for napping now."
Bronya, who'd been lying in wait on high ground, directed her Project Bunny to switch to melee lance mode and descended from above with a righteous backstab, giving the Knight-class beast a free "skylight" in its skull.
With the most troublesome Honkai Beast dealt with, the remaining zombies, though endless in number, weren't a serious threat.
The trio's goal was merely to break through, not exterminate every last one.
So, this battle held little real danger for them.
After all, in the world of Honkai, zombies weren't caused by some incurable virus.
They were ordinary people with poor Honkai energy adaptability who, unable to withstand its erosion, lost all signs of life before even fully transforming into Honkai Zombies.
This resulted in half-finished, incomplete entities—the now ubiquitous zombies.
True Honkai Zombies, with special abilities and the power to threaten Valkyries in groups, weren't something just any random creature could become through Honkai exposure!
Generally speaking, as long as one's Honkai Energy Adaptability was high enough, even a bite or scratch from a zombie in this world wouldn't lead to an irreversible fate of turning into one.
Though the trio had the resilience to avoid infection even if bitten, they were still normal girls at heart, not masochists with a thing for pain.
Who in their right mind would willingly offer themselves up to a zombie?
Fighting while retreating, they finally shook off the pursuing horde by late afternoon.
Once sure no enemies were following, Bronya had her Project Bunny return to its quantized state.
But perhaps because Bronya's earlier strike nearly hit a certain Paramecium, some post-battle bickering was inevitable.
After a brief squabble, as the sky darkened, the three, bloodied and exhausted from the day's battle, naturally thought about finding a place to rest for the night.
"Kiana, Bronya… let's not argue now. It's getting late; we should decide where to rest tonight. I doubt anyone slept well in the school last night, right?"
Raiden Mei, who had the best rapport and standing among them, seemed to read their thoughts and suggested they settle on a resting spot.
Back when they were still trapped in Chiba Academy, limited options meant they'd spent a nervous, makeshift night inside.
Now that they'd broken out and shaken off pursuit, it made sense to find a proper, quiet place if possible.
But in Nagazora City, swarming with zombies and where terrifying Honkai Beasts could leap out from any corner, finding a peaceful spot was easier said than done.
"Heh, just finding a place to crash, right? Nagazora probably doesn't have many normal people left besides us. Why don't we just kick in the door of some empty house nearby and use that?"
Eager to impress Mei, the Paramecium blurted out the first idea that came to mind.
"Kiana is truly an idiot. Chiba Academy is in the heart of Nagazora. Resting in a nearby house here—is the idiot Kiana trying to make sure the Honkai Beasts and zombies find us?"
Seeing Kiana's annoying expression, Bronya, with her still-damaged emotional modules, coldly shot her down.
But Bronya wasn't wrong.
The central area around Chiba Academy, with its massive former population, would have converted into a terrifying number of zombies.
Staying here overnight wasn't just risky—it was practically asking for trouble.
"If Mei-oneechan wants a convenient place to rest, Bronya suggests heading to this suburban area of Nagazora, relatively close to our current position."
"Taking backroads will take some time, but this suburb has the lowest population density in the city—likely less than a tenth of the central area. Resting there would be at least ten times safer than the idiot Kiana's suggestion."
With that, Bronya pulled out a map and marked the suburban area she deemed most suitable.
Little did she know, her spontaneous pointing coincidentally selected the exact suburban residential zone where Lunelle was currently holed up.
Seems when fate decides to come knocking, there's just no stopping it, huh?~
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T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.