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

"Finally done." Irene surveyed the special device now assembled on the table, a Herrscher of the Legion Core embedded at its heart.

The principle behind the thing was actually quite straightforward. They'd discovered that Herrscher of the Legion Cores, when brought close to one another, would attract and fuse together, merging into a single, larger core.

Separating them again was equally simple — one operation from Irene was enough to pull them apart. For now, though, only Irene could manage it.

Everyone else, Herrschers included, couldn't split the cores apart no matter how they tried. The one partial exception was Little Senti, who'd just hauled off and smashed them open with her greatsword.

Honestly, Vill-V and the others still weren't sure whether that counted as "separating" them or "demolishing" them — but the cores' properties survived intact, so presumably no harm done.

Still, to avoid accidents, the job had been handed to Irene, who could handle things with considerably more finesse. Smash too many times and something might actually break for real, and then they'd have a mess on their hands.

After a final round of testing, Vill-V and Tesla had at last, working together, built a device capable of amplifying the detection range of this resonance effect. That was the contraption sitting on the table right now.

There was still one tiny outstanding issue, however — mainly to do with the name. On that point, Tesla and Vill-V were currently...

Irene turned to look. The battlefield beside her was, well — she had to admit, watching two scientists go at each other was genuinely entertaining. She couldn't follow a word of what they were saying, but it was fascinating all the same.

Though at this point "going at each other" wasn't quite right. It was more like the two of them were showing off their creations to each other.

"Care for some, Miss Irene?" Einstein appeared at her side, extending a cup of coffee. "Looks like they'll need a little more time."

"Sure, why not — it's not like either of them is actually getting worked up." Irene accepted the cup and took a sip. "If anything, I'd say it's more like two people who've found their frequency... showing off to each other."

"In an interesting way?"

"Maybe. Could be they're both a little childish in their own way." Irene gave a shrug. As Einstein had said, nothing too serious — neither of them was angry, so there wasn't much to dig into.

Besides, both of them seemed to be having fun. Though from where things stood, Vill-V would probably end up winning.

"Ha! My dear audience, I'm afraid you've lost this round." Vill-V crossed both arms over his chest. Behind him, schematics materialized, given form by the Corruption virus.

Tesla's back was lined with schematics as well — just slightly fewer than Vill-V's.

With a click of his tongue, Tesla rolled up the quantum shield blueprints in his hand and stored them away. That design was his prototype, built by synthesizing the abilities of Irene's Pardofelis and Seele.

He had, eventually, worked out a method: a way for the Titans to minimize damage through Quantization — or dodge it entirely.

The unfortunate part was that the equipment fell flat the moment Vill-V was the opponent. After all, Vill-V had only needed a few days to figure out how to stabilize Pardo — originally a completely uncontrollable form of Quantization.

When it came to research in that area, Vill-V was no less accomplished than Tesla. Counter the Quantization-as-damage-negation? Simple: just knock the target straight into Quantization yourself. Vill-V even had devices designed to attack at the quantum level directly.

So what these two were comparing wasn't quantity, and it wasn't creativity either. It was closer to a war-game simulation — each of them laying out their own schematics and staging a theoretical back-and-forth of attack and defense.

Stripped of all the impressive technical blueprints, if you looked at it purely as a game, it was honestly a bit like children improvising rules as they went — arguing over whose stick was the legendary ultimate sword, that sort of thing.

Not that either of the two participants was actually making things up. Everything they put forward was backed by genuine data, real effects, and solid theory.

But just as Irene had said, neither of them had gotten the least bit heated. If anything, the rules of the game were something Vill-V was half-teaching, half-exploring together with Tesla.

Because nine out of ten of Tesla's blueprints were still in prototype stage — nowhere near mass production or field testing.

Vill-V's situation was more or less the same, except that given the Previous Era's circumstances and Vill-V's own nature, those devices had probably seen at least some real-world use.

If Tesla went back, thought it over, and made the adjustments Vill-V had suggested, those devices should be seeing practical, field-ready versions before long.

Vill-V gathered up the remaining schematics, compressed them into a small glowing sphere, and tossed it to Tesla. "Consider it a consolation prize for my beloved audience. Use them well."

"Much obliged." Tesla didn't bother with pleasantries. He pulled out his personal comm terminal, held the sphere up to the screen, and it dissolved into the device — all those blueprints now catalogued in his files.

"Delighted you two are finally done." Einstein took another sip of coffee. "So am I correct in assuming the final name is Anti-Kevin Armament Model 869?"

"That's right." Vill-V nodded. He had no intention of giving it a formal name — a model designation was enough. In all likelihood, this device would only ever be used against the Herrscher of the Legion once, and after that it would be obsolete.

After all, it ran on the Herrscher of the Legion Cores' attraction to their own kind. Swap out the cores and it was completely useless.

A one-time-use tool needed no formal title.

"Tch. I still think Void Cockroach Detector would've been a better fit." Tesla muttered it under his breath, then went back to scrolling through data on his tablet, wondering which of Vill-V's notes he could cross-reference with his own work.

"Honestly, Dr. Tesla," Irene said, looking at him, "your name was even harder for me to live with. I genuinely cannot imagine holding that thing up and introducing it by that name to someone."

Yes, the Herrscher of the Legion was remarkably cockroach-like in resilience — but Irene simply could not bring herself to say that name with a straight face.

"Though it is a bit disrespectful to Mr. Kevin, I imagine he's long since gotten used to it."

"Fine..." Tesla pressed his lips together but said nothing more. It was a disposable thing either way — the name barely mattered.

"By the way, what's the history between Miss Vill-V and Mr. Kevin?" Einstein looked toward Irene. "Logically they should be allies, shouldn't they? So why..."

Just from everything Vill-V had pulled out earlier — every last one of those items was an Anti-Kevin Armament of one number or another. What exactly was going on between them?

"Mm, more like a lingering obsession, I'd say." Irene shrugged. "Basically, whenever Vill-V builds something new, he tends to go test it on Mr. Kevin."

"As for the results... well. They are what they are."

"I see." Einstein gave a thoughtful nod, then turned to study the device on the table. "Then I suppose it's time for a live field test of this thing."

"At least first we should rule out whether there are any other Herrscher of the Legion units still active here in Canghai City."

"Of course." Irene nodded. "You two have been working hard these past couple of days — please, get some rest."

"On that note, Sis Irene, I have a suggestion." It was at that moment that Rin — who had been quietly supplying the Corruption virus to both Tesla and Vill-V all along — suddenly spoke up.

"Oh? What's on your mind?" Irene glanced toward the nearby computer screen. "Did something unusual come up with the World Serpent or Schicksal? — Actually, let me guess: Schicksal?"

"Sis Irene is as sharp as ever — though this time you're only half right." Rin's figure slipped out through the computer screen. "It's the World Serpent's side. Using the public announcements from Shenzhou Medical, they're constructing a pharmaceutical factory."

"The product in question is Dr. Mobius's Honkai energy-clearing reagent. Probably reverse-engineered from the sample Dr. Mobius originally gave to Cocolia, which was then taken by Gray Serpent."

"Shenzhou Medical — they have ties to the World Serpent?" Einstein clearly knew the name; as one of the rare pharmaceutical companies that cooperated openly with Schicksal, Anti-Entropy had at least basic intelligence on them.

They'd never dug deep, though — Anti-Entropy's focus had never been pharmaceuticals, so their surveillance of Shenzhou Medical was limited to the basics: enough to keep tabs on Schicksal's recent drug R&D.

But for it to also be a World Serpent operation — that was unexpected.

"Indeed." Irene nodded. Because she'd been involved from the start, none of the others had gone up to Arc City, so naturally no one had looked into Shenzhou Medical's background.

"So then — what happens next?"

"Otto has drawn up a plan for them, and is currently dispatching a squad from the Immortal Blades to handle..." — Rin raised both hands and made air quotes — "...on-site security."

"Oh, now that's interesting." A smile spread across Irene's face. "Looks like two parties are planning to fish in the same spot. Let me think — do we happen to offer security services?"

"The pond is set, the bait is laid, someone's even put out an advertisement." Irene looked at Rin. "I'd say what we're missing now is a good net. Something with precise targeting, ideally."

"One that can tell the difference between the right fish and the wrong ones, right?" Rin picked up the thread smoothly. "Want me to make the call now?"

"Hey, hold on." Tesla stepped in front of Irene. "Irene — you're not seriously planning to work with them, are you? Have you considered that this pond might just be a trap set for us?"

"The World Serpent would never sell us out." Irene tapped her temple. At this stage — before Project Stigma had been set into motion — Kevin would not move against them under any circumstances.

As for Otto — same story as always: he'd do whatever it took, but he also understood perfectly well that a destroyed world was not what Kallen would have wanted.

Under that premise, Otto wouldn't truly eliminate any of them either, because saving the world still required their strength. It was as simple as that.

And yes — it might be surprising — but Otto was genuinely one of the people most committed to saving the world right now, even if everything he did looked absolutely nothing like it.

Besides, once they'd dealt with the Herrscher of the Legion, Otto would probably move forward with that plan of his anyway. Since that was the case, Irene decided she might as well give him a hand.

Even if she didn't help, he was going to do it regardless. Might as well see it through gracefully.

"You're serious?" Tesla's brow twitched. "...Fine. Irene, you know more than we do. If you think it works, it works. Call it."

Einstein gave a quiet nod beside him. The reasoning was straightforward: what they were ultimately working toward was saving the world, and under that overarching goal, cooperating with Schicksal wasn't an issue.

Cooperating with Schicksal as an organization, that is. If it were purely a matter of working with Otto himself, Einstein's position was: the farther the better.

"Alright then, nothing more to do here — I'm heading back." Vill-V stretched languidly and began to withdraw, preparing to dissolve this body and return to Irene's mind.

But Irene watched him with a mysterious smile. "No need to rush. There might just be a little surprise waiting for you."

"Hmm. I rather doubt I have any connection to this Overseer Otto." Vill-V raised an eyebrow, curious. "Don't I?"

"Oh, the Overseer doesn't know you, of course — but someone standing right next to him does."

"Oh?"

Schicksal HQ · Overseer's Office

"What a rare visitor." Otto swirled his glass of red wine, gazing at the comm window now open before him, and took a measured sip before turning his eyes to Irene on the screen.

"How have you been keeping, Miss Irene?"

"Quite well, thank you — though it sounds like there may have been a bit of trouble on Schicksal's end lately, hasn't there?" Irene propped her chin on her hand and watched him. She didn't for a moment believe the Herrscher of the Legion had only caused problems on their side.

Schicksal was the most visible anti-Honkai force on the planet right now — they would have had incidents too. And Otto's earlier warning to them was itself proof enough that the Herrscher of the Legion had already infiltrated Schicksal.

"Nothing worth calling trouble." Otto smiled, untroubled by Irene's teasing. He glanced aside then, one eyebrow lifting, his gaze landing on Void Archives — who had been very gradually drifting away from his side, visibly attempting to reduce his own presence.

He found it curious, but it could wait — he'd ask later. For now, Otto returned his attention to Irene.

"If anything, Miss Irene — you're the ones who've been having quite the adventure, aren't you?"

"Ah, that's true, we did run into a little something." Irene nodded. "Though I hear you happen to be missing an item that can only be obtained in the middle of precisely that kind of trouble — am I right?"

"Oh?" Otto raised an eyebrow. "And what item might Miss Irene be referring to?"

"A ticket. A key. Or perhaps a vessel." Irene looked at him steadily. "I can only imagine it's something along those lines — otherwise I genuinely can't explain why Overseer Otto would feel moved to warn us about a problem in the first place."

"Miss Irene is as perceptive as ever." Otto inclined his head. So Irene knew even more than he had assumed. Which perhaps also suggested...

Otto closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his expression had settled back into its characteristic, faintly amused air.

"Then — is the purpose of this call that Miss Irene wishes to involve herself in this matter? There's no need to hurry, surely. Oh, and speaking of which — how is Kallen?"

"Doing well at the moment. As for the future — won't Mr. Otto be looking after her personally?"

"Naturally — if the opportunity presents itself." Otto smiled and gave a gracious nod. "Since Miss Irene wishes to join the hunt for the Herrscher of the Legion, I welcome it with all four limbs raised in agreement."

"After all, the bond between myself and all of you is nothing less than... eternal."

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