As the Honkai concentration in Nagazora City reached critical levels, Schicksal began a large-scale evacuation operation. They went door-to-door, urging residents to leave the city temporarily—this was their final warning. But humans can be blind sometimes. Unless disaster strikes, they tend to follow the crowd. In the end, only a few hundred thousand people evacuated Nagazora City.
Academy City also initiated its field trip early, taking all students and their parents away. The remaining residents were evacuated by Ryn. Mei, Kiana, and Sparkle stayed behind at Thousand Feathers Academy to prepare for the arrival of the Herrscher of Thunder.
Ryn distributed special phones to Mei and the others. These devices were made of unique materials and equipped with a portion of Cortana's subroutines, allowing them to call for Cortana's support at any time. They also incorporated Schicksal's black technology, capable of detecting Honkai Beasts and Honkai Energy reactions.
Suddenly, the phone in Mei's hand disintegrated instantly, dissolving into an eerie ball of light that vanished into thin air. Mei clutched her arm and immediately distanced herself from the others.
"I... I don't feel right. Stay away from me!"
"Mei, are you alright?!" Kiana rushed forward to check on Mei, but Ryn stopped her.
Ryn told Cortana to quickly analyze the situation: was Mei beginning to Herrscherize, or was something else wrong?
"According to the scan results, the matter was instantly electrolyzed into quantum form. This is likely the Herrscher of Thunder's ability. Raiden Mei is Herrscherizing! Stand alert!"
Ryn frowned. They were still some distance from reaching the Honkai Eruption's concentration level. Why was she Herrscherizing now?
"Mei, can you control this power?"
Mei tried touching the nearby flowers and plants, but they instantly turned into quantum form and dissipated into the air upon contact. She shook her head at Ryn and the others. "I can't control it, but it seems to be fine as long as I don't touch anything directly."
"We don't know what else might happen. Everyone, stay vigilant..."
Just then, Cortana's alarm blared, and numerous glowing dots appeared on their phones. "Honkai Beasts are now encircling our position! Prepare for battle!"
"Kiana, take Mei to the rear and take cover. Sparkle and I will clear out these Honkai Beasts."
Ryn materialized a phantom weapon array and sent Kiana to the rear with the incapacitated Mei. He and Sparkle remained to confront the Honkai Beasts.
Kiana nodded without comment and raced toward the rooftop of the teaching building with Mei. The rooftop offered a clear view, allowing them to spot and report the Honkai Beasts' movements.
Sparkle began channeling Honkai Energy, and her Sabayon armor materialized around her.
She fired a single shot at a Honkai Beast in the distance, instantly obliterating the twenty-meter-tall crossbow-class Honkai Beast. Turning to Ryn, she said, "Remember to protect me later. I can't handle close-quarters combat. If a Honkai Beast gets too close, I'm as good as dead."
"Don't worry," Ryn replied. "I'll handle the melee combat. You just focus on shooting." He planted his heavy cannon in the ground, then materialized another and planted it beside the first. He repeated this several times, creating a defensive perimeter around himself and Sparkle.
When planted, the heavy cannons continuously emitted energy pulses that attacked and slowed enemies within their range. Ryn used this effect to form a protective circle, ensuring they would be alerted if any Honkai Beasts breached their close-quarters combat zone.
Inside the building, Mei and Kiana encountered a new enemy: Bronya Zaychik.
Bronya stood not far from them, with the Heavy Bunny hovering behind her.
"Detecting two life signs. Honkai signature scan initiated."
"Hey, who are you? What's a kid like you doing here?" Kiana brandished her baseball bat, ready for a fight.
Bronya ignored Kiana's question, her voice remaining cold and emotionless. "Scan complete. Honkai signature detected. Confirmed as retrieval target 'Target A.' Executing countermeasures. Commencing retrieval operation."
Mei, clutching her arms, cautiously asked again, "Um, may I ask who you are? And what's that mech behind you?"
"I am the embedded universal decisive weapon, Heavy Bunny's suitable carrier: Bronya."
"A girl weapon?!" "Mei, watch out!"
While Mei was still reeling from the revelation, Bronya ordered the Heavy Bunny to open fire. Kiana deflected all the attacks with her baseball bat, then glared at Bronya and said angrily, "You started this, so I won't hold back either!"
"Target resisting. Requesting removal of weapon restrictions... Granted. Heavy Bunny entering combat mode."
The two sides immediately engaged in fierce combat. During the fight, Mei stealthily approached Bronya and attacked Heavy Bunny with her own weapon. Bronya, preoccupied with Kiana, didn't react in time. A portion of Heavy Bunny was instantly quantumized and vanished.
"Combat power assessment complete. Capture probability: 24.36%. Below estimated value. Changing plan. Initiating retreat." Sensing Heavy Bunny's severe damage, Bronya announced her escape plan with a blank expression. Heavy Bunny then blasted through the ceiling, carrying her away.
"Damn it! Don't run! Ugh... What's with that girl? She just showed up out of nowhere, attacked, and then ran off! How cowardly!" Kiana was furious. She had been the one attacked, yet now the enemy was fleeing.
"Should we pursue them? Or stick to the original plan and head to the rooftop?" Mei glanced at their escape route, sensing they hadn't gone far. They were likely preparing an ambush nearby.
"Let's go to the rooftop. The view will be clearer. Seriously... I should have known better than to enter the school building. We couldn't even fight properly in there."
"Alright, alright, we're already here, so let's keep going!"
"Hmph, next time I see that little brat, I'll teach her a lesson she won't forget!" Kiana stomped her foot in anger, then suddenly remembered something and pulled out her phone. "Right, Cortana, can you analyze what's going on with that mech?"
Cortana's holographic projection materialized on the phone, displaying scan results for Bronya and the Heavy Bunny.
"Bronya has a tactical chip implanted in her. Based on the scan results, she appears to be under the chip's control. The Heavy Bunny's technical structure can't be scanned, but it's confirmed to have self-healing capabilities. Its attacks are powered by Honkai Energy, and it's definitely equipped with missiles, though it didn't launch any during the battle."
"Can you pinpoint her location?"
"Yes, but it's highly likely to be a decoy. I advise against pursuit."
"Then let's head to the rooftop. If she's targeting us, she'll definitely show up again!"