In the S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation room, the incandescent lights were a bit glaring.
Artoria sat on a metal chair, her fingers picking at the holes in her jeans. Coulson and a Female Analyst sat opposite her, with her armor and sword placed on the table.
"You don't remember anything?" the Female Analyst asked.
"I only remember saving a little girl, and then I was here," Artoria said softly. This was the story she and the system had agreed upon—memory loss.
Coulson's tone was gentle: "Can that equipment transform?"
Artoria nodded, a thought flickering in her mind. Her clothes shimmered with a faint light, instantly turning into armor and then back again. The Female Analyst's eyes lit up: "This material—"
"No," Artoria hugged the armor back to her chest, "This is mine."
"We just want to study it—" Coulson explained.
"No." Artoria hugged it even tighter. A sense of grievance welled up—she had just died, turned into a girl, and been thrown into this World, and now even her armor was going to be taken away?
The Female Analyst pulled up a file: "According to regulations, these unknown technologies need to be kept in temporary custody. We will arrange—"
"I don't want to." Artoria stood up. "Give it back to me, I want to leave."
"For public safety—"
"Give it back to me!"
Her voice was shaking. What should she do? Fight? And then what? Wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. a righteous organization? Why were they trying to steal her things? What, what should she do...
Should she just fight her way out? Although she could do it, what then? Being wanted? No, no.
[Intense emotional fluctuations detected in the Host.]
[External threat detected.]
[Recommendation: Enable'Substitute Fighter' mode.]
[Recommended: Murata Himeko (Vermilion Knight form). Enable?]
Substitute fighter... let Himeko come? Perhaps Himeko-sensei would be suited to handle this.
Artoria looked at the Female Analyst's reaching hand and the eyes behind the one-way glass.
She closed her eyes.
"Himeko-sensei... help me."
Flames erupted.
Crimson flames surged from her body, engulfing the entire room. Coulson and the Female Analyst were forced back by the heatwave. Three seconds later, the flames receded—
Standing in her place was a Valkyrie clad in heavy black and red armor. Her fiery red hair danced, and her molten gold eyes were sharp. She held a flaming greatsword taller than a person in one hand, the tip touching the ground, melting a small pit into the alloy floor.
"Who gave you permission to touch her things?" Her voice was deep and husky, carrying the majesty tempered on the battlefield.
The Female Analyst fell to the floor. Coulson's hand froze on his holster. Behind the one-way glass, Nick Fury stood up abruptly.
"Himeko-sensei..." Artoria said weakly deep within her consciousness, "Don't kill anyone..."
[Don't worry, it's just a scare,] a gentle female voice sounded, [but they need to be made to remember.]
"Listen," she scanned the room, "I'm protecting this child. Her things, her person, they are all hers. You want to study them?"
"Ask this Judgement of Shamash first."
The greatsword's flames surged, turning incandescent white. The room temperature skyrocketed, and the water mist from the activated fire suppression system vaporized instantly.
Fury pushed the door open and entered, his single eye fixed on the "Valkyrie": "Who are you?"
"Murata Himeko. One of her guardians," "Himeko" said. "Any more questions?"
"Her abilities—"
"Given by us. We like her, so we gave her toys for self-defense. As for who we are..." She smiled with a warrior's arrogance. "What if I told you? Could you investigate? Could you understand? Could you control it?"
Fury was silent. The being before him was beyond his understanding.
"Proof," he finally said. "Prove you have the right to negotiate terms."
"Himeko" arched an eyebrow.
She turned toward the bulletproof glass window. Outside, a full moon hung in the sky. With one kick, the entire wall collapsed, and she jumped down to the open ground below.
"Watch closely."
She gripped the sword with both hands, the tip pointing down. The armor's crystals lit up completely as energy gathered, compressing further and further on the blade—Zeroth Rated Power.
"Shamash—"
The blade rose, pointing toward the sky. The incandescent white flames solidified, blindingly bright. The entire building's power became unstable, lights flickering.
"—Unleash!"
Release.
A three-meter-diameter pillar of incandescent white light shattered the glass, tore through the night sky, and shot straight toward the heavens. Where the pillar passed, clouds evaporated, the atmosphere ionized, leaving a vacuum trail.
The target—that full moon.
The light pillar didn't reach the moon, but three low-earth orbit satellites in its path instantly vanished from monitoring. The change in brightness in the area of the moon's surface it brushed past was recorded by thirteen observatories worldwide simultaneously.
Three seconds later, the light pillar dissipated.
The entire place was deathly silent as the night wind, carrying a burnt smell, poured in.
"Himeko" leaned on her sword, panting slightly—this strike had consumed a massive amount of energy.
"Now," she looked at Fury, "can we talk?"
Fury stared at the dissipating light trail outside, then looked back at this being who could threaten orbital satellites with a casual strike.
"...We can."
"Conditions: Give her freedom, an identity, and a place to live. Then, stay away from her. Unless the World is about to be destroyed, don't disturb her."
"The exchange?"
"When you encounter a truly unsolvable crisis—where conventional means are useless and humanity's survival hangs by a thread—she will help. This is her kindness, not your right."
The sword's flames died out, revealing the dark red blade.
Fury stared at her for five seconds, then nodded.
"Coulson, return her things. Prepare identity documents, recorded at the highest clearance level." He paused. "Where do you want to live?"
Himeko looked deep into her consciousness: [Child, choose a place.]
Artoria was still in shock: "The, the seaside... somewhere quiet..."
"The seaside. It must be quiet, and have a view of the sea."
Half an hour later, at the edge of a cliff.
Himeko walked to the cliff's edge and looked down at the reefs thirty meters below.
"Teacher will give you one more little gift."
Her palm faced the sky.
A pale golden light emerged from her palm—not fire, but a warm, soft energy. The light spread, covering an area of the cliff's edge.
The ground began to vibrate. Rocks reorganized, the ground leveled, and building materials condensed and took shape from nothingness...
A two-story modern-style cottage "grew" out at a speed visible to the naked eye. Light gray exterior walls, a full floor-to-ceiling glass wall facing the sea, a wooden terrace hanging over the cliff, and solar panels on the roof glinting coldly in the moonlight.
It was clearly the Valkyrie Dormitory, but transformed from small rooms into a large seaside Villa.
The whole process took only two minutes.
When the light dissipated, an exquisite, brand-new seaside Villa, completely out of place with the surrounding wilderness, stood quietly in the moonlight.
Just one more thing, the surrounding environment.
She summoned the Abyss Flower and thrust it into the ground; instantly, the entire coastline began to revive, and the environment was no longer desolate as before.
Himeko walked to the door, which slid open automatically. She turned back and took one last look at everyone—the dumbfounded Agents, Coulson, and the staring, one-eyed Fury.
"Remember the agreement."
She stepped inside and closed the door.
Inside, control of Artoria's body returned. The armor dissipated into light, and she turned back into the pale, blonde girl in a white shirt and jeans, her legs weak.
[Substitute session over.] Himeko's voice carried fatigue. [The consumption was greater than expected... Siegfried sure was quite a character. Anyway, stay strong in the future. Remember to call for Teacher if you encounter an enemy you can't beat.]
"Thank you, Himeko-sensei..." Artoria slid down against the door to sit on the floor. "That strike... did it hit the moon?"
[Just a brush,] Himeko chuckled. [Mainly, it vaporized a few 'eyes.' Now they should understand that you cannot be monitored at will.]
The voice faded away.
Artoria slumped on the floor, gasping for breath. The weakness after the substitution surged in like a tide.
Outside, the sound of the convoy driving away.
She struggled to her feet and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Moonlight spilled onto the sea, shimmering with silver waves. In the sky, the trail left by Shamash was slowly dissipating.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was gone.
She was free.
A new life had begun.
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