In The Honkai World: Transforming Into An IF-Route Valkyrie

"I guessed," Irene said with a smile. At this point, it was more or less time anyway — and Little Corruption had just reported back to her about the movements on Schicksal's side.

Something of this magnitude couldn't possibly be hidden from her. The timing was right.

"Sure you did." Tesla, having recovered from her initial shock, also remembered the matter of Little Corruption — which meant Irene had almost certainly already seen it. "Fine, you knew. Come inside first, let's talk it over."

"No problem." Irene nodded, but then remembered the anomaly that had just manifested in her own body. "Also, aside from that, we need to look into what just happened with me."

"What happened to you now?" Tesla crossed her arms and looked at Irene. "Good news or bad news?"

"Good news is: I have no idea what's going on." Irene pointed at Mei. "Just a moment ago, I suddenly realized I seem to be able to borrow Mei's Authority."

"What do you mean?" Tesla's interest was immediately piqued. "How exactly — is it permanent? Does it require consent, or is it forcible?"

"I don't think it requires consent." Irene shook her head. "As for how — I just touched the lightning. I didn't even consciously try to do anything."

Irene explained everything to Tesla: how they'd started racing back to the ship, how Mei had overtaken her, how she'd instinctively reached out and brushed against a bolt of lightning — and then, without any deliberate intent, had absorbed Mei's Authority and come rocketing back to the ship wreathed in lightning herself.

"Forcible use, no consent required, and you didn't even notice you were doing it." Tesla stood with her arms crossed, expression deeply contemplative.

"Interesting. That's definitely not an ability that comes with the Herrscher of Death. Irene, do you have any idea yourself what makes you... particular?"

"Oh, that? There's an overwhelming amount." Irene spread her hands. "I've got a small army living in my head — did you think I was ordinary?"

Tesla tugged at the corner of her mouth and looked at Irene with mild exasperation. "That's not what I meant. Alright, that was a stupid question. Looking at you, you clearly don't know what actually happened either."

"True enough. This is new, though — it hasn't happened before?"

"No." Irene shook her head. "On the surface I look like a multi-core Herrscher who can use all kinds of Authorities, but in practice I can only channel one at a time."

"Recently I've been able to channel two at once, but fundamentally I'm still a single-core Herrscher."

"Nothing like this has ever happened before. Well — it might just be that I never had the opportunity before, since the Herrschers I'd come into contact with previously never did anything like this."

"That's a fair point." Tesla nodded, and was about to ask another question when, beside Irene, golden feathers gradually coalesced into the figure of Fu Hua.

Fu Hua appeared and looked between Tesla and Irene. "If it's possible, could we set that matter aside for a moment? I'm far more curious about this so-called second me that appeared at Schicksal."

"Right, sure—" Tesla was startled by Fu Hua's sudden appearance. "Wait, how are you here?"

"Due to certain special circumstances." Fu Hua answered vaguely, then looked at Tesla. "In any case, there shouldn't be another me."

"Alright, let's all head inside then." Tesla led the group toward the laboratory. Along the way, she mentioned that Bronya had successfully completed the trial and become the Herrscher of Reason.

Irene nodded. Even without the original story's driving force — Bronya pushing through the trial in a desperate bid to save Seele, that fierce resolve — her raw capability alone had been enough to carry her through.

Led by Tesla, the group quickly arrived at the compact laboratory aboard the assault ship. Theresa was already there waiting, repeatedly scrubbing through the footage on a loop.

Einstein's holographic projection was also present, coffee in hand, waiting for everyone to arrive so they could figure out together what exactly was going on.

"You're here." Theresa turned to look at those filing in. "I've watched this video over and over and something feels off. I don't think this is Fu Hua."

"Oh? Do go on." Irene raised an eyebrow, looking at Theresa — clearly inclined to hear Theresa's take first, expression like someone handing over the microphone.

"It's nothing definitive, just—" Theresa dragged the progress bar to a specific moment and pointed at the Fu Hua on screen. "The Fu Hua in my memory has always been measured and composed."

"The fighting style — how do I put it — it's too aggressive. A lot of the exchanges feel like trading blows deliberately, taking hits to land hits. Durandal just failed to capitalize on the openings. And then there's this frame."

Theresa pointed at the screen. The surveillance camera catching this particular clip had captured Fu Hua's face directly — Theresa pointed at the wild, defiant smirk on Fu Hua's face.

"That smile is wrong. Since when does Fu Hua look like that?"

"That is indeed not me." At that moment, Fu Hua's figure condensed into being beside Irene once more. She was still far too weak — even with Fenghuang Down as a medium, she couldn't sustain a presence outside for long.

Fortunately, Irene had the Bodhi imprint, and was willing to lend her spiritual energy to Fu Hua. Only with that small additional anchor could Fu Hua manifest through just a few feathers and move about in the outside world.

Combat, though, was out of the question.

"..." Theresa stared at the Fu Hua who had appeared beside Irene. "Hold on, Irene, don't tell me this is another one of your..."

"No." Irene shook her head. "This is Fu Hua — the Fu Hua of this world. The one in the footage, on the other hand, is easy enough to figure out once you know what to look for."

Irene turned to Fu Hua. "Though before I explain — Master, please don't be alarmed."

"Hm?" Fu Hua couldn't quite follow Irene's sudden conversational leap. "Is something wrong?"

Irene took a deep breath. Then, facing Fu Hua's anxious expression, she suddenly announced:

"Congratulations, Master! Your body has given birth — and it's a girl!"

"PFFT—!!" Einstein, watching from the other end of the hologram, spat out a mouthful of coffee with great force. "Irene — Miss Irene, do you know what you just said?!"

"Hm?" Fu Hua's expression wasn't much better. It was fortunate that Fu Hua was currently a mental projection and thus couldn't be holding a drink, or she would have made a scene. "My... daughter?"

"I'm not wrong." Irene spread her hands. "Can't you all see it? Obviously a new Herrscher has been born — and she was born using Master's body."

"To be fair, Sister Irene." Kiana raised her hand, expression a little awkward. "It's not like we're short of Herrschers here, but honestly, none of us spotted that."

"It was deduced." Irene raised a finger and waggled it at Kiana. Of course you couldn't see it — the Herrscher of Sentience doesn't have any outwardly visible Authority manifestations.

On top of that, this wasn't the scene itself — it was security footage. Even if Herrschers could sense one another under normal circumstances, no one could pick that up through a video feed. Not that any of that stopped Irene from acting insufferably smug about it.

"A Herrscher — well, that explains it." Einstein, having recovered somewhat with another sip of coffee, caught up to Irene's line of reasoning and nodded. "If Fu Hua herself is here with you, then what's at Schicksal is only her body."

"And given Fu Hua's Honkai Adaptability — it looks like the Will of the Honkai decided to make the most of an abandoned vessel. And it hit the jackpot."

They all knew, at least roughly, who Fu Hua was. Her body had been hijacked — and even if that body had grown considerably weaker, once the Honkai energy had its fill of it, the odds were nine times out of ten it would come back stronger.

And from the looks of it, this new Herrscher had also inherited a significant portion of Fu Hua's martial knowledge — whether those techniques had been carved into muscle memory or had transferred by some other means, they were clearly being used. Not just randomly thrown around either.

Even to an amateur's eye watching the footage, that much was obvious. In which case, regardless of what type of Herrscher this was, it was probably going to be a headache.

"A Herrscher... No ice in the combat footage, so probably not the Herrscher of Ice." Fu Hua's brow furrowed as she began analyzing what kind of Herrscher could have been born through her body.

"If Fenghuang Down is a factor — the Herrscher of Sentience? But then why is she fighting with fists?"

"Why not just go see for ourselves?" Irene looked up at Einstein and asked, "Can you track where the new Herrscher has gone?"

"Her position — she's still drifting around the sea area." Einstein checked the data. "Should I send Wendy to intercept?"

"Newly emerged Herrschers are usually weaker — Wendy should be able to handle it."

"A Herrscher who just went toe-to-toe with Durandal, weaker?" Irene shot Einstein a look. "Have Wendy keep her distance. And this one is almost certainly the Herrscher of Sentience."

"Without preparation, it's very easy to get caught off guard. Have Wendy bring Bronya and rendezvous with the rest of you, then get me a live coordinate feed — I'll go take a look."

"Sister Irene, she's a Herrscher though." Kiana was visibly worried. "Going alone to check on her — what if something happens? And you just said she's the Herrscher of Sentience."

"Relax, I've got Resistance." Irene tapped the side of her head. Her mental fortitude couldn't possibly be fragile — and by this point, her Taixuan Sword Qi had quietly advanced all the way to the Sword God realm without her fully realizing it.

She'd long since been capable of manifesting her own Sword God state. When the mind reaches the right place, the rest follows naturally. Her Honkai Adaptability was in a class of its own, Herrscher or not.

And her Honkai Resistance had risen right along with it — among Herrschers, there were probably very few who could match her Honkai Adaptability now.

The advancement of her Taixuan Sword Qi had been entirely inevitable — when it was time, it was time. She'd already been capable of the Taixuan Sword God for a while. That's just the kind of cheat code being a Herrscher was.

That was precisely why Lixue had gradually stopped commenting on Irene's cultivation at all. There was nothing left to say about a talent like this. Sometimes comparing yourself to others truly could drive a person to an early grave.

Irene's mental state simply had no threshold to speak of — or rather, it had always been perfectly settled. She had one purpose, and one purpose only: protect and save everyone she wanted to protect. Strength was the means; she needed it, so she would achieve it. With that singular mindset unwavering, her rate of progress had left not just Lixue but even Fu Hua completely baffled.

To put it simply: had she ever hit a bottleneck? No. She'd never been stuck in one to begin with.

On top of everything else, Irene carried the Bodhi imprint. If the Herrscher of Sentience were to try entering Irene's mental world — well, that would be rather entertaining. There was a whole crowd in there ready to gang up on any intruder.

So among everyone present, Irene currently had the highest mental Resistance in the group — even Kiana couldn't match it, since in this timeline, Kiana had never studied Taixuan Sword Qi under Fu Hua.

Sending Irene to make contact with the Herrscher of Sentience was the only choice, and the best one. At the very least, Irene could guarantee she wouldn't be taken over in an instant — and might even be able to turn the tables.

"Irene really is the most suitable person for this." Fu Hua stepped forward and looked at Theresa. "I'll go with her."

"The Herrscher of Sentience is a psychic-type Herrscher. Physical strength means nothing in front of her — only a powerful mind can withstand her."

"I taught Irene the Taixuan Sword Qi. This martial art is specifically designed to strengthen spiritual energy." Fu Hua looked up at Irene — though she could already sense that Irene's Taixuan Sword Qi had reached the Sword God realm.

That speed of advancement was genuinely bewildering. And on top of that, Irene also carried Su's legacy. To deal with the Herrscher of Sentience, this level of preparation was more than sufficient. If the situation somehow spiraled out of control—

The two of them working together could absolutely bring down a Herrscher of Sentience who hadn't yet fully mastered her own Authority. By every measure, this was the most sensible choice.

"Besides — that is still my body." Fu Hua looked over the target observation data and projected route that Einstein had just shared, studying it for a moment before continuing.

"As for where the others should go — if that Herrscher is ultimately headed somewhere specific, I think it might be Taixuan Mountain."

"Taixuan Mountain?" Theresa turned to Fu Hua, puzzled. "Isn't that Shenzhou territory?"

"It is. And it's also my home from ancient times." Fu Hua nodded, pointing at the radar readout. "That Herrscher isn't aimlessly drifting in the sea. She has direction."

"If she truly was born of Fenghuang Down, then she may have inherited some of my memories. And if she's trying to go somewhere, it will be Taixuan Mountain. I'm certain of it."

"So you want us to organize an evacuation there?" Theresa looked at Fu Hua, slightly puzzled. "As I recall, that place is something of a tourist destination, isn't it?"

"Given the legends of the Celestials." Einstein spoke up at that point, looking at Fu Hua. "It seems our speculation about Miss Fu Hua's former identity wasn't wrong after all."

"Correct — I am the Celestial of the Vermilion Kite." Fu Hua nodded. "So I would like to ask Principal Theresa to head there and evacuate anyone who might be in the area."

"If Irene and I can't intercept that Herrscher en route, we'll have to trouble you to handle it. Don't worry — I'll keep a close eye on Irene."

"Fine..." Theresa nodded, then turned and fixed Irene with a pointed look. "You are not coming back to me injured. Do you understand?"

"Otherwise I will personally show you just how many ways Judah can be used as a restraining device."

"Yes, yes, yes~ Barring any accidents, I promise I'll be fine." Irene nodded — and then Fu Hua dissolved into a scatter of feathers and returned to Irene's body.

"Let's go."

"Let's move. Off to wrangle a feral child."

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