"Nagazora City? That's impossible. How could anyone still become a Herrscher there? I evacuated everyone who could leave. Anyone who didn't evacuate should already be dead!" Ryn asked, puzzled, as he read the mission report Theresa had sent him from the airship.
"I thought the same thing, but this time it's different. Nagazora City is too vast, and both St. Freya Academy and Schicksal Headquarters have too few personnel to completely prevent ordinary people from returning.
Some foolish parents, unwilling to abandon their businesses in Nagazora City, brought their children back to the Academy City and forced them to attend classes. I find this utterly absurd... The school is empty, yet they're still forcing children to go to class."
Theresa crushed the instrument in her hand, her expression grim. She couldn't understand these so-called 'parents.' Despite the public announcement that Nagazora City was uninhabitable due to the toxic gas leak, they still chose to return and risk their lives.
Standing at the airship's landing bay, Theresa gazed at the Academy City below in Nagazora City without turning back as she continued speaking.
"Among those forced back to school, one is a Honkai-selected individual. Our mission is to eliminate her before she fully matures."
Ryn stared at the satellite projection on the instrument in his hand. It showed Chiba Academy... now completely covered in vines.
Soon, the aircraft arrived at Chiba Academy.
The aircraft circled the academy several times before the pilot's voice crackled through the communicator.
"Principal, the target area is completely covered in unknown vines. We can't confirm safety. The aircraft can't land!"
"Then jump!" Theresa shouted as she leaped directly from the aircraft. "Come on, Judah!"
Ryn watched Theresa's decisive leap, then turned to Judah, who remained unmoved by Theresa's call.
"She just called you, you know. Aren't you going to help her?"
"I'll follow your orders."
"Does Principal Theresa know how to fly?"
"No. I used to carry her."
Slap!
Ryn facepalmed in exasperation, then grabbed Judah's hand and jumped out after Theresa.
"Help! Help!"
Theresa, plummeting through the sky, sobbed uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Judah had been with Theresa for so long—so long it had become an integral part of her life—that she often forgot Judah didn't actually listen to her...
Fortunately, Ryn, in his Herrscher form, could fly. With a burst of speed, he shot up from below and caught Theresa.
"How long has it been? Shouldn't you have learned your lesson by now?" Ryn shook Theresa in his arms.
"You bastard! It's all your fault and Cortana's for corrupting my Judah!" Theresa angrily pinched Ryn's neck and shook him.
At that moment, Judah, hanging from Ryn's body by chains, spoke up.
"Times have changed, Theresa. Following you meant three meals a day and nine days of hunger, with no fights to be had. Now, with Ryn, we have an endless supply of Honkai Energy and constant growth. I chose to take Ryn's form willingly!"
As she spoke, Judah deliberately jiggled her chest. The Kaslana family crest that had once been engraved there had been replaced by the pattern of the Ryn's Stigmata.
"No!" Theresa began to cry out again.
Ryn patted Theresa's head and said to the two of them, "Stop this. Let's focus on the mission first."
Then, Ryn cradled Theresa in his arms and, with Judah on his back, plunged straight down toward Chiba Academy.
The vines parted like they were welcoming them, clearing a path for their arrival.
Ryn lightly touched the ground with his toes and landed in a classroom of Chiba Academy. Before them stood a giant cocoon woven from vines.
Through the gaps in the vines, Ryn could see a girl in a Chiba Academy uniform kneeling inside, tears streaming down her face in agony.
Hearing her pained moans, Theresa grabbed a chain from Judah's body. This time, Judah didn't resist, transforming the chain's tip into a spear for Theresa to hold.
Theresa glanced at Ryn and Judah before slowly approaching the Pseudo-Herrscher girl.
"It must be so painful... Your body corrupted by Honkai, yet a fragment of your consciousness remains..."
"I'm sorry we're late... Let me end your suffering!"
Theresa gripped her spear and thrust it fiercely at the girl. The girl didn't resist, but as Judah's Spear pierced her, a final tear rolled down her cheek.
The surrounding vines erupted in a frenzy. Theresa quickly retreated, but the vines pursued her relentlessly.
"Fall back."
Ryn thrust his palm forward, instantly conjuring an invisible barrier before Theresa. All the pursuing vines crashed against the barrier, unable to advance further.
"Tsk, why... Why did you have to kill me? Why is it always me who suffers? Mom hated me, always scolding me for the smallest mistakes... My classmates didn't like me either, always ostracizing me, bullying me..."
Seeing the vines were ineffective against Theresa, the girl swayed unsteadily to her feet. The wound Theresa had inflicted moments earlier healed before their eyes.
The girl was no longer in pain. With Theresa's spear thrust, her humanity had been completely consumed by her fractured personality. Now, she felt a beauty she had never known before.
"Ryn... I never thought you were also chosen by the gods. Why are you standing against us now? Does Kiana know about this?"
"Uh, the one who chose me and the god you're talking about are probably not the same. Besides... do we know each other? Do you know Kiana?" Ryn was surprised that the girl in front of him knew his name.
"I know you... but you probably don't know me. My name is Yuna..."
The girl nodded at Ryn and introduced herself. Then she retracted her vines and walked toward him, continuing her story.
"Kiana Kaslana... she burst into my world like a ray of light. Whenever I was bullied or insulted, she would descend from the sky like a great hero, swinging her staff to beat the bad guys away. She saved me, giving me new hope.
But she's always so busy... busy saving one bullied person after another. Perhaps I was just another nameless person she rescued, but I've kept her memory close to my heart."