As the night grew late, the immortal who maintained a disciplined schedule, had already gone to bed.
But Kiana still hadn't returned.
Mei waited for her in the living room, having even prepared a pot of midnight snacks.
Meanwhile, Lin Ling and Bronya were playing video games on the sofa.
Knock, knock, knock.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
Thinking it was Kiana, Mei quickly went to open it.
"Sorry to bother you so late," said the person at the door. However, it wasn't Kiana. Instead, it was a hooded man, his face obscured. He spoke in a commanding tone, "I'm Miss Theresa's new secretary. The dean needs Miss Mei to come to her office right now."
"Huh?" Before Mei could respond, Bronya put down the game controller and stood up.
"Bronya will go too."
"Oh~ That's tricky. Dean Theresa only summoned Miss Mei," the man replied in a teasing tone.
"Then Bronya will call the principal to confirm!" Bronya wasn't about to believe such an obviously flawed statement.
"Tsk, you suspicious kid. If only you had cooperated, this wouldn't have turned ugly... but now, I have no choice but to take her by force!"
The man dropped all pretense. He knocked Mei out with a swift blow, then raised his hand toward Bronya, conjuring a black orb radiating a strange aura.
"Let Mei go!"
Furious, Bronya immediately summoned Project Bunny 19c, unleashing a heavy particle cannon at the man.
Boom!
The violent surge of energy filled the room...
But when the smoke cleared, a massive gash had appeared in the living room, yet the man stood unharmed, protected by a translucent shield.
"How can this be?! He blocked Project Bunny's attack at such close range!? Project Bunny, prepare for another shot!!"
Bronya was shocked but began charging for another round of attacks.
"A hundred more shots won't make a difference!" The intruder clenched his fist with disdain, and suddenly, an invisible force crushed Project Bunny into pieces.
"I would love to play with you, but sadly, I don't have time. Goodbye, cute bunny." He flicked his fingers, and an unseen pressure pushed Bronya back.
She smashed into the wall, cracking it before falling to the ground.
"Before I came, Cocolia ordered me not to hurt you, so I'll let you off today. You should thank your mother."
Despite his words, the hooded man approached Bronya again, lifting his foot to stomp heavily on her head.
"Move your filthy feet, you defective clone!"
"What!?" The man, 'Welt,' was enraged. As a clone, being called a 'failure' or 'half-finished product' was what he despised most.
Though his foot was raised, he turned his full attention to the white-haired girl. Furious, he raised his hand, ready to unleash his most powerful attack.
"Turn into a puddle of blood under a hundred times gravity!"
Even though Lin Ling knew the general outline of the plot, facing this powerful attack flustered her. Since transmigrated over, she had always worried her presence might cause a butterfly effect and alter the course of events...
So she had no choice but to shout, "Wife! Come and save me!"
The moment her voice rang out, a figure responded to her call.
A gray-haired girl, dressed only in pajamas, suddenly appeared behind Welt and threw a heavy punch before he could activate his ability.
It was the renowned immortal, Fu Hua.
However, 'Welt' reacted quickly. Sensing the attack from behind, he abandoned his strike and focused all his strength on creating a shield to block Fu Hua's powerful blow.
At the same time, he launched another gravity-based attack, attempting to counter his attacker.
Boom!
The resulting explosion obliterated the dormitory and flung Fu Hua, who had been closest to the blast, out of the building.
Welt used his gravity powers to control the surrounding debris, including the unconscious Mei, and floated out of the wreckage. "I didn't expect you to block my attack. Impressive…"
Meanwhile, Lin Ling heard more explosions outside, indicating the battle was growing more intense.
But instead of rushing out, she first went to check on Bronya lying on the ground.
"Are you okay?" Lin Ling asked.
"Bronya is fine... But, Lin Ling, please... don't let him take Mei!"
After saying this, Bronya fainted.
"You call this being fine?" Lin Ling shook her head before placing her right hand over Bronya and used the power of reason to repair her injuries.
Fortunately, the damage wasn't too severe, so Lin Ling was able to heal the worst parts and then laid her gently on the bed.
Just after she finished, a bolt of purple lightning struck the side of the dormitory, triggering a massive explosion.
"So fast?"
Knowing what was happening, Lin Ling jumped through the gap in the wall.
Outside, she saw that the immortal lay bleeding not far away.
Still, Lin Ling wasn't too worried—after all, the immortal was a MANTIS. A fatal injury was nothing to her.
On the other side, 'Welt' was also in bad shape, having fallen to the ground in disarray.
Before him stood 'Mei,' now shrouded in purple lightning and radiating overwhelming power. Her confident smile, eyes glowing from lavender to a deep, ominous red, left no room for doubt.
Without thinking too much, Lin Ling knew it was the awakening of Mei's Herrscher persona.
Although Mei appeared to have the upper hand, Lin Ling knew about the sensor bomb implanted in Mei's heart, a fail-safe to prevent her full activation. If the concentration of Honkai energy got too high, the bomb would trigger, cutting off Mei's Herrscher powers before long.
Sure enough, things developed as Lin Ling expected.
"So, the First Herrscher is this kind of scum? Pathetic. I'll turn you into atoms," taunted the newly awakened Herrscher Mei. She gathered electrical energy in her hands, preparing to finish Welt off with the next strike.
But suddenly, a sharp pain gripped her heart, stopping her in her tracks.
"Damn it!" Mei clutched her chest in agony. "Is this some human safeguard?"
"Hahaha!" Welt laughed, standing once more. "I don't know what just happened, but you look weak now. It seems I'll be the victor after all!"
At that moment, another voice suddenly rang out.
"Reinforcements?" Welt frowned, sensing danger.
But Mei's Herrscher persona looked more shocked than Welt because she recognized the voice.
"Wife! I'm here to save you!"