The four-legged Honkai beasts he had imagined didn't appear. Instead, a group of bipedal robots arrived.
"Anti-Entropy…"
Himeko felt another wave of headache coming on.
If it were the conservative faction, that would still be fine, after all, their goal was the same as Schicksal's,
to eliminate the Honkai.
But if it was the radical faction, that was a whole different problem.
Those lunatics led by Cocolia, there was nothing they wouldn't do.
The advancing Titans stopped in front of Himeko and her Valkyrie squad. Just as she thought they were about to open a communication channel, the Titan's head flared up with a red light.
The long-range combat Titans aimed their cannons at them, while the others began closing in step by step.
"Looks like these ones are the radicals," Himeko said.
Taking the lead, she dragged her greatsword across the ground and swung it toward the nearest Titan.
With her strength and experience as an A-rank Valkyrie, dealing with these Titans was easy.
———
After taking care of the Hyperion, Levi was thinking about how to explain things to Theresa when Bronya's weak voice suddenly sounded.
"If you don't save me soon, I'm going to die."
Levi froze, shifting his gaze from the crashed Hyperion to Bronya.
Her face was pale, completely drained of color. Clearly, she was suffering from massive blood loss.
And the reason Levi knew that… was because the wound on her arm, the one he had made with the Spear of Subspace, was still bleeding profusely.
The ground beneath her feet was already stained with a large pool of blood.
Seeing her like that, Levi was startled.
He quickly released her restraints, rushed forward, and caught her, tearing off a strip of his own clothing to use as a bandage around her arm.
Whether it was because Bronya had already nearly stopped bleeding or because his makeshift bandage worked, the bleeding ceased soon after.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I was too focused on dealing with Schicksal and didn't notice."
Bronya rolled her eyes. "It's fine. Bronya is just an ordinary captive anyway. Even if I die, it has nothing to do with you."
"At least you're self-aware!"
"?"
Levi's tone suddenly changed, leaving Bronya full of question marks.
At that moment, Elysia, who was watching them, suddenly widened her eyes. "Behind you!"
Already aware of the spatial distortion, Levi clenched his hand behind his back.
A Titan that had just emerged from space and hadn't even had time to launch its sneak attack was instantly crushed into scrap metal by spatial pressure.
But that wasn't the end, energy ripples surged from all directions.
More and more Titans phased out of their quantum forms, every cannon barrel turning to aim at Levi and the others.
"Titan mechs equipped with Anti-Entropy's latest quantum modules can hide themselves by shifting into quantum space. They possess excellent mid-range firepower. A standard Titan's combat ability equals that of a B-rank Valkyrie."
Levi lowered his gaze toward Bronya, who had just rattled off that professional-sounding explanation.
When she met his eyes, she turned her head away.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just… playing the role of narrator."
"Not bad. From now on, you'll be my personal narrator!" Levi said with a grin, ruffling her hair.
Patting heads stunts growth, you know.
Standing up, Levi flexed his fingers and scanned the surrounding Titans.
According to Bronya's description, aside from their stealth ambush ability, these Titan mechs weren't all that different from ordinary ones.
He glanced over at Elysia's side, there were Titans there too, but only a few.
Thanks to Lumine's wealth of battle experience, she easily dismembered the Titans one by one through their weak spots.
When she noticed Levi looking her way, Lumine lifted one of the Titans' detached arms and asked, "Need help?"
They might look terrifying, but fighting them was actually quite simple.
"No need," Levi replied, his gaze sweeping across the remaining Titans with interest. "Equal to a B-rank Valkyrie, huh… Looks like Cocolia doesn't really understand what the word 'Herrscher' means."
Or maybe her arrogance had blinded her.
Still, Cocolia was a survivor of the Second Eruption, the largest Honkai disaster ever, with the highest death toll in history.
And yet even that hadn't taught her the true meaning of "Herrscher."
Levi extended his right hand, fingers spread wide.
A golden light, the power of the Herrscher of the Void, flared in his palm.
At that moment, the surrounding Titans all opened fire at once.
Countless shells filled the sky like a web of destruction, there was nowhere to run.
But Levi had no intention of running.
He clenched his fist.
The Herrscher of the Void's power burst outward from his palm, spreading into the space around each Titan.
Space itself became an extension of Levi's will.
He moved his fingers slightly...
BOOM!
The Titans around him were instantly crushed by the collapsing space they occupied, reduced to heaps of mangled metal.
The shells fired toward Levi vanished, transported to who-knows-where.
———
A short distance away, on another street, Himeko wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her clothes had been torn and scorched by the explosion's shockwaves, giving her a "battle-damaged" look.
Dragging her greatsword, she scrapped another approaching Titan, then looked up at the still-overwhelming number of enemies before her.
It wasn't that the Valkyries were weak, Himeko just had to take on most of the fight herself.
The ones accompanying her were all experienced Valkyries. Even if they weren't on her level, working together they could easily handle a single Titan mech.
At first, the Titans weren't much of a threat.
But that was only at first.
After a long battle, they'd destroyed quite a few, but the problem was, Titans were expendable.
Even if the Valkyries could outfight them early on, prolonged combat was draining their stamina fast.
Soon, the Valkyries began to fall behind. Only Himeko, the veteran A-rank Valkyrie, still had energy left to fight.
"This won't do! We can't keep dragging this out!"
"Ai-chan! Can the Hyperion's defense system still activate?" Himeko shouted.
She wanted to use the Hyperion's defense systems to help clear out the Titans. But she wasn't sure if the ship's systems had been damaged by the earlier hit.
Moments later, Ai-chan's anxious voice came through the comms.
"Colonel! The defense systems are fine, but the Hyperion's energy core is down! Without power, none of the weapons will work!"
Himeko clicked her tongue in frustration.
It looked like they'd have to abandon the Hyperion and retreat.
Just as she destroyed another Titan and was about to issue the retreat order, the air itself trembled.
In that instant, every Titan froze in place. Even the shells flying through the air stopped mid-flight.
Staring at the impossible sight before her, like time itself had paused, Himeko stood stunned.
Then the deafening rumble brought her back to reality.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As the fading sound of the collapsing portals died away, Himeko looked forward again.
All the Titans that had been swarming them were now reduced to piles of sparking scrap metal on the ground.
"That Herrscher who looks like Theresa… why would she help us?"
Recognizing Levi's handiwork, Himeko's heart was full of confusion.
They had just attacked him not long ago, yet now, he'd set aside their hostility and saved them when they were in danger.
'Since when had Herrschers become so… friendly?'