Durandal walked alone into the classroom of Chiba Academy, gazing at the girl entwined by countless vines and thorns.
Even though the girl knelt motionless at the center of the classroom like a harmless corpse, the numerous vine-wrapped bodies surrounding her testified to her terror.
Or rather, the girl herself wasn't frightening—just an ordinary person. But under the Honkai's influence, upon becoming a Pseudo-Herrscher, she instantly transformed into humanity's most vicious enemy.
However, she was currently in her incubation phase, unable to move—arguably at her weakest state.
Looking at the girl before her, Durandal raised her lance.
* * *
"Why hasn't Durandal come out yet? What's taking so long?" On the rooftop of the school building, Chen Luo shot arrows at the scattered zombies in the distance while complaining.
Wasn't it just an underdeveloped Pseudo-Herrscher? Shouldn't it be over with a single strike?
Chen Luo checked his status panel, eagerly awaiting the Primogems.
As his teammate, any enemies Durandal defeated or killed would also count toward Chen Luo's rewards. For example, when Durandal took down Sin earlier, Chen Luo received 150 Primogems.
This Pseudo-Herrscher might be weak, possibly even immobile, but it should still net him at least 50 Primogems, right?
With that thought, Chen Luo glanced at his talent panel—and instantly froze in horror.
[Schicksal Demolition Team]
Durandal: Schicksal S-rank Valkyrie
Status: Poisoned
"???"
Wait, what?
Seeing this, Chen Luo immediately leapt off the rooftop. With Anemo energy enhancing his movement, he shattered a window and burst into the classroom Little Senti had marked as containing a Herrscher.
Upon entering, Chen Luo was stunned. The top-left corner of his talent panel had begun faintly glowing green—a sign of impending poisoning. Holy shit, poison mist!
The current situation was this: the vines around the kneeling Pseudo-Herrscher—whom Chen Luo had assumed was doomed—had spread wildly, with one even grazing Durandal's abdomen. Though Durandal clutched her wound with one hand, the gash was alarmingly long.
Meanwhile, the supposedly unbeatable Durandal had her lance planted into the floor, weakly supporting herself on it as she half-knelt. She looked up when Chen Luo barged in.
As for the Pseudo-Herrscher... well, her head was gone, along with half her body.
Yet the vines, seemingly retaining a sliver of vitality after their master's death, reflexively lashed toward Chen Luo upon sensing his presence—like postmortem muscle spasms.
This scenario was completely beyond Chen Luo's expectations.
Yuno, who in the original timeline wouldn't have become a Pseudo-Herrscher until two months later, had nearly killed an S-rank Valkyrie after just two days. Even her poison mist ability—originally a two-month development—had manifested prematurely.
Of course, she'd still been instantly annihilated.
Clearly, the plot had deviated significantly—but Chen Luo refused to take the blame. All he'd done was make Raiden Mei leave Nagazora a few days early.
But upon reflection: Mei had departed before fully awakening as a Herrscher, leaving Nagazora's residual Honkai energy with nowhere to go. Naturally, it sought to create another Herrscher.
Thus, in just a few days, Pseudo-Herrscher Yuno achieved growth that should've taken two months.
Watching the green vines about to ensnare him, Chen Luo smirked—then vanished.
Durandal, severely injured, disappeared alongside him. No point fighting a corpse's last twitches.
I might not beat you in a straight fight, but when it comes to running away, no one outdoes me!
No one!
Within the War Domain, Chen Luo observed Durandal—still frozen in her half-kneeling pose after being teleported—and instinctively pulled out his phone to snap a photo for social media.
Em... no signal.
Not that Chen Luo was being heartless—it's just that seeing Durandal humbled was a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
What baffled him was how she'd lost.
Did you lose by just standing there like a dumb brick?!
You're Schicksal's strongest S-rank Valkyrie! How could you choke this hard?!
Is this some common flaw among Schicksal's S-rank Valkyries?!
In the original story, Yuno—after two months of development—defeated a careless Theresa armed with Oath of Judah.
Now, after just two days, Yuno had beaten an S-rank Valkyrie Durandal without a Divine Key.
Yuno, do you have some kind of anti-S-rank-Valkyrie specialization or something?
"So... Durandal, you okay?" Chen Luo asked cautiously.
Hearing his voice, Durandal weakly lifted her head to look at him.
Cough... "Big problem. This Herrscher's poison is... excessively potent," Durandal said feebly.
"But how did you even get hit?" Chen Luo couldn't wrap his head around it.
"The Overseer's orders weren't to kill her immediately... but to capture her for research. Pseudo-Herrschers... hold significant value. After cutting the vines... I assumed she was harmless... tried to carry her... then got ambushed. The distance... was too close..." Durandal's voice grew fainter.
Who'd expect a motionless "corpse" to launch a sneak attack?
Thud! Before Chen Luo could ask more, Durandal finally collapsed, unconscious.
Em... Pseudo-Herrscher poison... not easy to cure... Chen Luo rubbed his temples, staring at Durandal's unconscious form and her abdominal wound.
The wound itself was manageable—just eat a Tricolor Dango to restore the HP loss.
Though the dangos were expensive and limited to 30 per month, using one on Durandal wasn't unacceptable.
The real issue was the poison. As for Chen Luo himself? He was on the verge of poisoning but not fully affected yet.
In the original story, Theresa also got poisoned, and it was Yae Sakura—a Pseudo-Herrscher—who ultimately detoxified her using her own Pseudo-Herrscher core.
Only a Herrscher core can neutralize a Herrscher's poison.
But where was Chen Luo supposed to find a Pseudo-Herrscher core now?
A Pseudo-Herrscher could potentially develop a Herrscher core—provided it was powerful enough.
Among all the Pseudo-Herrschers that had appeared over the years, only Yae Sakura had possessed a Herrscher core while being a Pseudo-Herrscher.
"I must've owed you in my past life..." With this thought, Chen Luo took out a large bed and carefully placed Durandal on it.
Chen Luo's Teleport Waypoints had certain negative-status-clearing effects and even provided minor healing. After staying near a Waypoint for just half a minute, Chen Luo's poisoning symptoms vanished.
Moreover, both effects could be enhanced by spending Primogems.
Most importantly, the buffs from Chen Luo's Waypoints could be shared with others.
But here lies the problem: a standard Waypoint costs 10 Primogems. Chen Luo had already shared one with Durandal, only to watch her poisoning state fluctuate wildly—56.0%, then 55.99%, back to 56.0%, then 55.99% again.
This meant Durandal's recovery rate was barely keeping pace with the toxin's spread. And since a person couldn't benefit from multiple Waypoints simultaneously, a standard one would be practically useless.
This was despite Durandal having the "Flourishing Crystal"—the sacred sword Durandal's crystal that made her exceptionally resilient. But resilience alone wasn't enough to guarantee she'd pull through without intervention. What if she didn't make it?
Unless someone found a Herrscher core and willingly gave it to her.
But Chen Luo knew no such person, leaving him only one option: upgrade the Waypoint.
However, enhancing a Waypoint's cleansing and healing capabilities would cost 100 Primogems.
"Durandal, can you hear me? Let's make a deal—I save you, and you help me kill 1,000 Honkai beasts and zombies. Sounds good?"
"Huh? Not answering? That means you agree! Come on, press your thumb here."
"There, thumbprint secured. No take-backs."
That said, Chen Luo still felt uneasy staring at the contract in his hand.
Would Durandal shamelessly deny it after waking up?
Surely repaying a life-saving favor with 1,000 Honkai beasts wasn't asking too much?
Though it pained him to spend the Primogems, Durandal had already earned him 150 earlier—so Chen Luo held her in reasonably high regard.
With a stoic expression, Chen Luo spent 100 Primogems on the upgraded Waypoint and placed it beside Durandal's bed.
The current War Domain replicated Chiba Academy's layout, specifically this classroom.
Originally, Chen Luo had planned to teleport Durandal here after she defeated Yuno, then monopolize the Pseudo-Herrscher's body for himself.
Though Durandal had indeed been brought to the War Domain, the outcome was completely different.
The upgraded Waypoint—specialized for status cleansing and healing—was now thicker and larger. As a bonus, its top could be carved with specific statues.
"Damn, isn't this just a Statue of The Seven?" Chen Luo muttered.
But Pseudo-Herrscher poison was no joke. Even with the enhanced Waypoint, Durandal's detoxification progressed painfully slowly.
At this rate, fully curing her would take considerable time—mainly because the upgraded Waypoint's healing effects weakened for non-Chen Luo individuals (or his relatives).
If it were Senti, recovery would've been swift.
But this poison was terrifyingly potent.
"Little Senti, help Durandal change clothes," Chen Luo sighed before heading out.
"Wait, why me?" Senti leapt off Chen Luo's head, resuming her normal size.
"Or do you want me to do it?" Chen Luo stared at her silently.
"...Em, fine. You win," Little Senti conceded grudgingly.
She disliked serving Durandal but hated the idea of Chen Luo doing it even more. Only she, the Herrscher of Sentience, deserved Chen Luo's personal care!
"I'll get some women's clothing from the mall." After speaking, Chen Luo walked into the hallway, opened the bar's door, and stepped inside.
From there, he teleported to the shopping center.
Had he opened the door from the classroom, future exits would've originated there too—risking an encounter if Little Senti had already undressed Durandal, which would undoubtedly earn him a beating.
Ah, the desperate will to survive.
The bar's door and Teleport Waypoints could be used in tandem, being talent expansions.
But when Chen Luo opened the bar's door via Waypoint at the mall, the scene inside gave him pause.
"Help! Big Brother! This weird auntie is trying to kidnap me!" A sobbing little girl cried the moment the door opened. Behind her stood a woman in eccentric attire—clearly female from the silhouette.
And unless Chen Luo was mistaken, he knew her.
"I told you not to call me 'weird auntie'! I just want to take you somewhere safe. And you've lied about this at least three times already—I'm not falling for it again," the curvaceous woman sighed at the child's tantrum.
Beside her stood another little girl, looking utterly confused.
"Um... excuse me..." Seeing this, Chen Luo quietly shut the bar door before speaking up.
"Who's there?!" The woman reacted violently to the sudden voice, releasing the crying child.
Before Chen Luo could blink, she'd produced an unusual spear and aimed it at him.
"Oh? It's you. How convenient—I didn't even have to search." Recognition flashed in her eyes as she smirked. "Right, Traveler from Another World?"
Now facing him fully, her features became clear: short gray hair, rose-red eyes, a beauty mark near her left lip, and a black cloak with wine-red accents.
Natasha Cioara—World Serpent cadre, codename: Raven.
"You know me? So... Jackal sent you? Or Gray Serpent? Probably not Gray Serpent." Seeing her blatant intentions, Chen Luo suddenly understood.
"...What else do you know?" Raven's smile faded.
This mission she'd thought simple suddenly seemed far more complicated.
As Chen Luo guessed, Jackal—always fascinated by experimental scenarios like the third eruption—had sent Raven to monitor the situation.
When Chen Luo, an anomalous existence, appeared, Jackal grew interested.
Yet Gray Serpent—usually omniscient—had remained uncharacteristically silent, offering only:
"You won't catch him."
Raven assumed this was just Gray Serpent's assessment based on the "otherworldly traveler" factor.
But now, things appeared more intricate.
This person's knowledge of World Serpent was... disturbingly thorough.
Damn it—she never should've listened to Jackal! That measly bonus wasn't worth hunting this troublesome traveler!