On the outer floating islands of Schicksal HQ sat numerous properties purchased by dignitaries and wealthy elites from around the world.
The mild Mediterranean climate was among the best on the planet, perfect for tourism and vacationing. What's more, with Schicksal, one of the world's top three superpowers, providing security services, it was no exaggeration to call it a tangible Noah's Ark.
Schicksal's own finance department was happy to accommodate the rich. Installing a few more island flotation cores and planning them out properly could bring in massive amounts of liquid capital. It was a win-win for both buyers and sellers.
So, who would be unhappy with the skyrocketing property prices?
Answer: The locals.
For example, Anna schariac.
Valkyrie salary and benefits were absolutely top-notch, and the schariac clan provided a generous housing allowance to its younger members.
The problem was, after wave after wave of real estate speculation, the saying "an inch of land is worth an inch of gold" couldn't even begin to describe the value of land on the floating islands.
Just to build a two-story house with a garden in the outermost satellite community, Anna would need to work tirelessly for eight years.
The average term of service for a Valkyrie was only about ten years, during which they could live in high-end dormitories in Valhalla.
But once retired, as a schariac who could stand on her own, was Anna expected to squeeze in with her parents like when she was a child?
Of course, this was a worry for a minority like Anna.
In the past, the probability of a Valkyrie with an artificial Stigmata living past thirty was only 14.76%.
Buy a house? What house? What is this "buying a house"?
Why sleep so long in life? You'll have an eternity to rest in death.
However, as the medical technology developed with great effort by St. Freya became widespread among the rank-and-file, the number of Valkyries with worries similar to Anna's was gradually increasing.
It wasn't that they had to live on the floating islands, but it's human nature: it's easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go from lavish to frugal.
They were all young, beautiful girls who had dedicated their best years to the brutal and bloody battlefield against the Honkai. Couldn't they enjoy themselves a little after retirement?
Furthermore, they also worried. After being exposed to Honkai energy for so long, what if they turned into a Honkai zombie one day after retiring? Staying in Schicksal meant at least someone would be there to put them down.
If they were to mutate in the crowded cities of the mundane world, losing themselves and turning their blades and claws on innocent civilians, the Valkyries who had sworn to fight for all that is beautiful would never be able to forgive themselves, even in death.
However, the material difficulties were a present reality. Therefore, someone had to do something for these heroes.
"So this is what you've been busy with lately, Anna."
In the lakeside pavilion, Asta put down her teacup.
"Yeah."
The angel Anna was sprawled across the cool stone table, looking listless, as if she could only breathe out and not in.
A tea party was an evolution of tea gatherings and banquets.
It wasn't as grand or particular as ancient tea banquets, nor did it have the strict etiquette and rules of the Shenzhou tea ceremony. It was simply a gathering where guests were treated to tea or refreshments (including fruits, pastries, etc.).
The current afternoon tea party was hosted by Anna schariac, a newly appointed member of the Council of Elders. She had invited closer colleagues like Asta and Tribios to chat, vent, and deepen their friendships.
This wasn't some sudden whim; Schicksal had similar social customs.
It just happened to be Anna's turn to host. The next one would be Asta, and the one after that would be Durandal, who was absent due to a last-minute issue. Every participant would get their turn.
And what had burned Anna out was the issue of retired Valkyries' benefits.
Now that she had inexplicably become a member of the Council of Elders, the girl not only received a hefty stipend every month but was also assigned a top-tier mansion in Valhalla. She was completely provided for.
But Anna, having fought on the front lines, had always wanted to do something for her comrades. So, during an executive meeting, she proposed establishing a more comprehensive retirement welfare policy for Valkyries.
Otto, seated on the highest throne, readily agreed to the request and very kindly threw the heavy responsibility onto Anna, the one who had raised the issue.
The pressure on the girl instantly multiplied. Okay, okay, I did complain about being too idle lately, but you can't just throw something this big at me right off the bat, can you?
Her simple sense of responsibility wouldn't allow her to shirk her duties. After a flurry of activity to draft a basic framework and hitting walls in various departments, she finally appeared here in a completely burned-out state.
"Office politics are such a pain. I miss the days in the Snow Lotus squad..."
She mumbled, her face buried in the stone table.
Long-standing organizations like Schicksal and Anti-Entropy were like a mountain of spaghetti code. They ran, true, but they were also riddled with internal problems.
Military and administration were two completely different concepts. Forget about a mere Anna; even the strongest, most invincible S-Rank Valkyrie would want to go on a murderous rampage when faced with the tangled web of interests and interpersonal relationships in various departments.
Heaven brings forth innumerable things to nurture man. Man has nothing to repay Heaven!
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
"Don't give up, Big Sis Anna!"
"That's right! 'We' think Oguri Cap is super amazing!"
"Don't be discouraged..."
A chorus of young, varied voices echoed in her ears. Anna propped up her head and found three super-cute, little red girls in front of her.
"Thank you, Tribbie, Trianne, Trinnon."
The girl brushed away the hair that had been imprinted on her face from lying down for so long and said dejectedly, "But Trianne, why did you call me Oguri Cap?"
Anyone who didn't know better would think they had wandered into the neighboring Uma Musume theater.
The most energetic of the little girls put her hands on her hips. "Of course, it's because Oguri Cap's (Anna's) hair is chestnut-colored, and she's wearing a round hat!"
"Pfft!"
In the distance, a beautiful girl with long, straight black hair, who was stuffing sweets into her mouth, couldn't hold it in and sprayed her friend across the table.
"Sorry, Aisha."
She shamelessly grabbed a napkin to wipe her friend's face, then continued to curl up on the sofa they had specially moved into the courtyard and munch on fries.
The brown-haired girl called "Aisha" was clearly used to her friend's usual sloppiness. She gave Anna an apologetic nod and then continued to lean against one of the stone pillars supporting the pavilion, her arms crossed and eyes closed in rest.
'Mushoku Kika, Aisha Lopez of the [GLOW] Squad...'
Anna silently recited their names in her head and returned a smile that said, "It's alright."
The Divine Authority Squad was a combat unit under the Council of Elders.
It consisted of six members, all elites, a violent arm of the organization that could stand on equal footing with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Generally speaking, it was true that Anna had become a councilor, but everyone, including herself, knew she was just a puppet.
Even so, Aisha had still brought her friend, Mushoku Kika, who held a special status in Schicksal, to serve as security for the tea party.
It was obvious that this powerful swordswoman with S-Rank strength, a former Valkyrie and captain of the Radiant Squad, had a very favorable impression of Anna for proposing the Valkyrie retirement security policy.
Lost in thought, Anna felt someone nudging her waist. She turned her head and saw Asta winking at her.
'Nice work, you even managed to win over that old-fashioned stick-in-the-mud.'
'Not at all.'
Anna smiled wryly.
I'm just doing my job.
The speakers hidden in the surroundings played the current hit album, Air Chrysalis INSIDE. The cheerful rhythm unknowingly dispelled the gloom in the girl's heart.
Anna hummed along to the tune, looking around, but her eyes fell in disappointment. "Miss Robin really didn't come, did she?"
As the sister of the Council's number two councilor—the Vatican's ambassador to Andorra, Archbishop "Sunday"—Robin, who had also grown up in the Papal States, had also been invited to this tea party.
"She's probably busy lately."
Asta bit her straw. "That Miss Eden has been making quite a splash recently."
"Eh? Are they at odds with each other?"
Anna said blankly. She really liked Eden's operas too, especially The Demise of the Nightcap King. She re-watched it every week.
"Healthy competition doesn't count as being at odds, and personally, I think it's a good thing."
A pleasant voice and footsteps sounded at the same time. "It's necessary to have an outstanding rival of your own caliber. Often, it's only under sufficient pressure that one can create more popular and acclaimed works."
It was the returning Death Knight, Einmaid.
She wore an apologetic expression and gave a polite curtsy. "My apologies, everyone. Something came up. I'm late."
A faint blush remained on her dignified and beautiful face. Her eyes held a hint of languor, and her skin was as dewy as a freshly watered flower.
This state of comfort, like "wearing new underwear on New Year's Day," immediately made the girls present feel that something was off, but after pondering for a while, none of them could figure out why.
Hilarious. Not a single one of them had ever been in a relationship.
"It's okay! Please, have a seat!"
Anna quickly pulled out a chair. Einmaid sat down gracefully and smiled at Asta across the table.
The little rich girl felt uncomfortable under her gaze, thinking, What's with that victorious expression? Did I lose to you in something?
Hearing Eden's name, Tribios on the other side felt a little awkward.
She had just joined the large organization Eden was in, the [Mythos Sequence Alliance]. By extension, she could be considered a bit of a turncoat.
Schicksal's previous lack of integrity had given her and the British royal family a great sense of crisis. With their country's power waning, she had to find another way out.
Of course, Great Britain had done similar things many times in its history, and far worse at that. It was the pot calling the kettle black.
"Speaking of which, Lady Tribios."
Anna, holding Trianne, changed the subject. "I heard your younger brother has left the British mainland?"
That's how tea parties were. You said whatever came to mind.
From the world situation to love advice.
"Yes."
The princess, snapping back to reality, replied, "He said he longed for a free and easy life like on the Hyperion, so he set sail on the aerospace battleship assigned to him by the royal family."
When she mentioned the Hyperion, her hand subconsciously drifted to her chest.
Under the thin fabric, the spot where Fuli had bitten her still felt tingly and numb.
Not only had it not healed over the past few days, but it seemed to be "deepening."
Noticing this, the Death Knight's smile became meaningful.
As the person who had the most dealings with Jizo Mitama, she could smell the aura of the Forbidden Brand on Tribios.
As God-Slaying Armaments made from Herrscher Cores, the Divine Keys had an extremely high resistance difficulty.
Just like the widely circulated saying, "The wounds caused by the Judgment of Shamash can only be healed by the Abyss Flower," as long as the holder, Fuli, didn't order its removal, it wasn't impossible for Jizo Mitama's rated power to last until the end of time.
Of course, as a Golden Scion who had slain a divine being and usurped its authority, Tribios had the ability to temporarily resist the expansion of the Forbidden Brand.
The price, however, was that the "wound" in such a delicate location would be in a constant tug-of-war, and it would last for a much longer time.
Einmaid was looking forward to seeing whether Tribios would become another version of herself, or if some more special chemical reaction would occur.
"Setting sail on a battleship... so nice, so free..."
Anna rested her chin in her hand, looking at the blue sky with envy. For a moment, she regretted turning down Fuli's invitation.
The thought was fleeting. She knew that with her status, joining the Hyperion would only bring disaster upon them.
"Everyone has their own path."
Asta had also heard of that eccentric Prince Argenti. For the British royal family, famous for stirring up trouble, to produce a Knight of Pure Beauty known for his flawlessness, was quite the explosive news back in the day.
"Let's not talk about that."
She shook her head. "Anna, how's the development of the schariac Stigmata going?"
"Still no leads at the moment."
The girl sighed.
As a great clan with a thousand-year history, like the Kaslanas, the schariac family also had a method of artificially awakening natural Stigmata.
Compared to the former, their method was extremely resource-intensive.
In exchange, compared to the Kaslanas, where ninety percent of combat personnel never awaken a natural Stigmata in their lifetime, the success rate for awakening a schariac Stigmata was one hundred percent.
Because their method was to wait for the previous generation's awakened member to die, then use a secret art to strip off their Stigmata and use it as a catalyst to induce another person's Stigmata. It was purely a one-for-one exchange.
And Anna had successfully awakened her own Stigmata by using the Stigmata of the previous schariac councilor—that old coot who had lived for several hundred years—as a catalyst.
But that was as far as it went. Forget about the Holy Slave (Saint), which was said to have absolute control over Honkai energy; she barely had a handle on manipulating Honkai energy itself, and the Ri Form beyond that was completely out of reach.
"Don't be discouraged."
Taking a sip of black tea, Einmaid, now acting as a caring big sister, comforted her. "To be noticed by that Lord (Fuli) means your potential is very high, Anna. If you keep training, you might even be able to master the legendary third stage of the Ri Form—the Power of the Saintess."
"The realm that not even Lady Cecilia could reach?"
Anna shook her head like a rattle-drum. "No, no! I definitely can't do it!"
As for who "that Lord" was, in her panic, she didn't have time to ask.
Asta frowned. "If you barely have a handle on manipulating Honkai energy, then you won't be able to go to the Luminary Wardance Ceremony hosted by the Taixu Frontline in a month, will you?"
"That should be fine."
Anna said quickly, "Even without the Stigmata bonus, I'm still a B-Rank Valkyrie. I'm very strong in a fight!"
Paired with the advanced third-generation battlesuit, Azure Glaciate, and the imitation spirit blade, Abyssfrost Blade, both tailor-made by the research department, a fight against an A-Rank wasn't out of the question!
"Who asked you to fight?"
The little rich girl rolled her eyes. "My point is, can you stabilize your Honkai energy fluctuations? At the very least, you need to pass the security check of the relevant Shenzhou departments, not be banned from entry as an unstable bomb."
If people of their status were to compete, it would cause a diplomatic incident in minutes.
"It should be fine... right?"
Anna herself wasn't too sure.
"This time, Schicksal's participating team will be led by Murata Himeko from the Far East Branch, but the Famine Knight Incresin and I will also be following in secret."
Einmaid said, "On the surface, it's a normal martial ceremony, but in reality, it's to discuss how to deal with that mysterious force that has been hiding in the shadows, tentatively named [World Serpent]."
After the Third Honkai Eruption, Theresa's Far East Branch had been on the tail of the World Serpent.
Many high-level officials had been dismissive of it until piles of data and evidence were presented to them.
Only then did people finally realize that there was a massive, dark force that had been secretly guiding civilization's path, hidden for at least several thousand years.
To put it bluntly, if it hadn't accidentally shown its hand during the Third Honkai Eruption, based on its ability to remain hidden until now, it would not be an exaggeration to rank it as a superpower on par with the three giants: Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and the Taixu Frontline.
Faced with the World Serpent lurking in the shadows, the leaders of the three giants immediately sensed a crisis.
The Luminary Wardance Ceremony was being held with this in mind, to provide a stage for the bigwigs to discuss important matters.
Compared to that, deterring the mastermind behind the Third Honkai Eruption seemed less important.
"The Third Honkai Eruption..."
Aisha Lopez, leaning against the stone pillar, muttered to herself, clutching her sword.
A large-scale Honkai Eruption that gives birth to a Sequence-level Herrscher would shake the planet's spatial barrier, blurring the line between the physical world and the Sea of Quanta, attracting countless world bubbles to surface and connect with it.
Most of these world bubbles would appear at the site of the eruption, similar to throwing an iron ball onto a piece of cloth called space, where other lighter objects would naturally slide into the depression created by the ball.
These world bubbles of varying sizes would overlap and stick together, shattering and reforming to create a multi-dimensional space impenetrable by mortals, constantly expanding outwards until it eventually devoured the entire planet.
At that point, an individual or a force would need to step in to stop its expansion. For example, the First Honkai Eruption in Berlin in 1953 was suppressed by Schicksal. The Second Honkai Eruption in Siberia in 2000 was handled by Anti-Entropy's Sovereign, Welt, who used the Star of Eden to transport the entire region to Alaska and guard it with heavy troops.
And the Third Honkai Eruption, which occurred in the Far East—
"The Taixu Frontline handled it."
Einmed crossed her legs. "The multi-dimensional space formed by the fusion of multiple world bubbles is both a crisis and an opportunity. As long as you're strong enough, you can enter it to train and obtain rare materials."
"Would the Far East government agree?"
Anna wondered. "Aren't those people very hostile towards Shenzhou?"
This was what Teacher Fufu (Fuli), who was from Shenzhou, had told her during their online chats. The girl trusted Teacher Fufu, whom she had known for several years.
"This is where you're mistaken."
Asta shrugged. "There's a saying: 'Before Rome fell, Europe was full of barbarians. After Rome fell, everyone claimed to be the true successor of Rome.' Just replace Rome with Shenzhou and the barbarians with the small countries of East and Southeast Asia, and you can understand their thinking."
A decadent, fallen empire—ashamed to be associated with it;
A poor, backward, barbaric land—scoffing at its arrogance;
An evil, dark, old master—fearing its formidable might;
An ancient civilization of the same bloodline—proud of their shared ancestry;
A great, glorious, supreme master—bragging about having once been its dog.
"It's that simple of a logic, mmm!"
Asta took a big spoonful of ice cream, and the tingling sensation that shot to her brain made the girl's eyes squint in bliss.
Days without Arlan's nagging were the best.
"Speaking of which, when I was studying in university in Shenzhou, my parents were afraid I wasn't eating well. Whenever they had a good meal, they would take a picture and send it to me, then send me a voice message telling me how delicious it was."
She said with nostalgia, "So I followed their example and ate good food all the time and sent pictures back. When I came home for summer vacation, I found more than a dozen Shenzhou chefs at home."
"More than a dozen is too... wait, university?!"
Anna was surprised.
"Yeah."
Asta took out a pendant made of white jade and a silver chain. "Warm Jade Silver Chain. It can suppress the wearer's distracting thoughts, allowing for a focused and calm state of mind, which indirectly improves memory, comprehension, and perception."
"With its help, I finished all my university courses by the time I was 14."
"Is this the world of a whale?"
Mushoku Kika, who had been eavesdropping, let out a sigh and turned over on the sofa.
"Luminary Wardance Ceremony..."
Trianne, who was also listening, mumbled, "I wonder if Little Red (Fuli) will go."
"He probably will."
Tribios, holding her, said softly.
As the core of the Third Honkai Eruption, Fuli and the Hyperion would definitely receive an invitation from the Taixu Frontline.
That was why Miss Sadako had come earlier.
Since Fuli was mentioned, another crucial party obviously couldn't be ignored.
"What about Cocolia?"
Asta asked, "Will that two-faced, black-hearted vixen be there?"
"Cocolia... probably won't be going."
A weak voice replied.
With silver hair and a slender figure, the hologram that appeared before them was none other than Vera.
After the virtual space incident, to prevent Ella from rebelling a second time, Otto not only found a female version of himself from a parallel world to act as the AI personality but also exported Vera's memories from the virtual world to become another part of Ella.
The former handled matters outside of Schicksal, while the latter was responsible for various arrangements within Schicksal.
Compared to the cold Celestial Neuron Aggregate of the past, the angel Vera won the unanimous affection of everyone in Schicksal as soon as she appeared.
The few who didn't like her mysteriously disappeared. It was rumored that at the places where they went missing, someone always saw a flash of a blond figure.
First, rule out the doting, sister-complex Bishop. Then, rule out the doting, sister-complex AI.
"Cocolia isn't going?"
"That's right."
Vera nodded at Einmaid, who had asked the question. "According to the latest news, Cocolia... seems to have registered to run for the next President of the United States, with the support of her subordinates."
It was as if an angel had streaked across the sky. The pavilion fell into a moment of silence.
And then—
"HUH?!?!" ×N.
The friendly nations were, to put it mildly, astonished.
...