Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

These three families are the Apocalypse family, representing the "Bishops," the Shaniat family, representing the "Saints," and the Kaslana family, representing the "Knights." These three families support each other and can be said to be the foundation of the Destiny organization.

“It must be your ancestor. Considering the entry conditions for this hidden area, this region was likely built for her,” Bronya concluded after a moment's thought. “To record some valuable but unpublishable history.”

"Here is her information. Take a look if you want to know more." Bronya raised her hand and pointed a few times in the air. A light screen appeared in the air, densely covered with text records and images.

Kallen Kaslana, born in 1453, is the eldest daughter of Francis, the 29th head of the Kaslana family, and the family's most outstanding warrior. At the age of 16, Kallen passed the test to become the youngest Valkyrie captain in Schicksal's history.

For the next eight years, she fought on the front lines against the Honkai, sealing away more than 1000 Honkai Beasts with her own hands. To honor her achievements, the Schicksal organization spent a huge sum of money to create a unique weapon for her that only she could use—the Oath of Judah.

In 1477, Kallen stole the Honkai energy crystal from Schicksal's research and fled to the Far East, where she fell in love with a pseudo-Herrscher, Yae Sakura, who was infected by the Honkai energy crystal. In the same year, for unknown reasons, the pseudo-Herrscher Yae Sakura and the Honkai energy crystal disappeared together, greatly delaying Schicksal's research on Honkai.

Karen, who was found severely injured, was captured by Schicksal's intelligence forces and taken back to the European headquarters, where she was present at the council meeting...

"The girl who became a Herrscher is innocent, and she is the one I deeply love." Kiana's hands began to tremble uncontrollably as she read this. "Kallen declared this at the council meeting..."

"The Final Council convicted him of crimes against humanity..." Kiana began to stammer, "and soon after..."

"Should he be hanged?!"

"Why!" Kiana's voice was filled with disbelief. "Even if she stole important research materials, given Kallen's past achievements and the status of the Knight race, she shouldn't be executed like this!"

“I’m afraid the problem doesn’t lie there.” Bronya’s calm gaze swept across Kiana through the screen. “You’re absolutely right. If that were all there was to it, Kallen certainly wouldn’t have been executed…”

"But please listen carefully to Karen's crimes."

"Crimes against humanity!"

"In the eyes of destiny, Karen's true sin is..."

"To love the one who resembles a lawgiver!"

"How...how is this possible..." Kiana was so shocked she couldn't speak. "Why...why..."

"The pseudo-Herrscher is clearly not a Herrscher! The pseudo-Herrscher is human!" A terrifying thought flashed through Kiana's mind in an instant. "Then... Mei... in the eyes of the European Headquarters, she's probably..."

“Yes,” Bronya answered decisively. “Apart from St. Freya Academy, the principal’s sanctuary, if Mei-nee appears before any Schicksal branch, there’s only one outcome…”

"Kill on the spot, kill first, question later!"

That's right, the gentle and considerate Valkyrie trainee Raiden Mei, who is always inseparable from Kiana, is the one chosen by the Honkai in every Honkai outbreak, bearing the will of the Honkai and possessing the highest Honkai adaptability, ultimately aiming to destroy humanity, and is known as the "Incarnation of God"...

The Herrscher whose will was corrupted during the Third Honkai Impact 3rd!

Of course, Raiden Mei is not a Herrscher in the conventional sense. When the Honkai outbreak in Changkong City had just begun and had not yet reached a large scale, Kiana, who was infiltrating the local Chiba Academy to collect information about her missing father, had already discovered the abnormal gathering of Honkai energy. Based on her deduction, she concluded that a Herrscher must be forming in this crazy Honkai energy vortex.

If Kiana were to allow this Herrscher to grow and mature in this way, she would probably be killed by the Herrscher before she could even escape Changkong City.

The only way to survive this perilous situation is to kill or seal the Herrscher while it is still in its formation phase, with a very low energy index, and before its body has been transformed into the highest-ranking Honkai being by a large amount of Honkai energy.

The ever-daring Kiana single-handedly carved a bloody path through the monsters that had been transformed from humans into zombie-like beings by Honkai radiation, heading straight for the center of the vortex.

Just as she had predicted, at the center of the thundercloud formed by Honkai energy was the emerging Herrscher, Raiden Mei.

However, because her body modification was not yet complete at the time, Raiden Mei only possessed some of the characteristics of a Herrscher, and her power was far inferior to that of a true Herrscher. If a true Herrscher is someone who can summon wind and rain and destroy a city with a wave of her hand, then Raiden Mei at that time could only fire electromagnetic cannons and use particle collisions to generate pseudo-lightning similar to lightning strikes.

Those who reach this level of mastery are called pseudo-masters, meaning they are half-finished products that will become masters.

After several back-and-forth battles of chase and escape, Kiana finally managed to defeat the Honkai will possessing Raiden Mei by a narrow margin. By taking advantage of the opportunity to awaken Raiden Mei's own will, she and her companion sealed the Honkai will, helping Raiden Mei regain control of her body.

Although the Honkai will within Mei is very weak, its status is undeniable, and it will not dissipate. It cannot be expelled from Mei's body and can only exist in a temporarily sealed form. Raiden Mei also benefited from this misfortune, not only possessing an extremely high Honkai adaptability but also mastering the ability to control lightning, which complements her surname.

The story begins when the two encounter Bronya, a weaponized girl with a giant machine hovering around her, during their escape from Changkong City.

Bronya Zaychek was originally the adopted daughter of the chairman of Russian Heavy Industries. Her true identity is a humanoid weapon of Anti-Entropy, another behemoth that is hostile to Schicksal. Her personality is suppressed by the autonomous combat system, making her an absolute cold-blooded mecha without a self. The reason she appeared in Changkong City is that Anti-Entropy ordered her to capture the Third Herrscher born in this Honkai: Raiden Mei.

However, after Bronya was defeated by Raiden Mei and Kiana, her auto-battle system temporarily failed, and Bronya's personality temporarily revived. Bronya, who was in a state of confusion, had her psychological defenses broken down by Kiana's words. In addition, Mei's considerate care made Bronya dependent on Mei.

So the three of them happily embarked on their journey to the West to retrieve... the road to escape Changkong City.

Meanwhile, Himeko Murata, an A-rank Valkyrie piloting the massive airship [Hyperion], rushed to Changkong City after receiving a report of a Honkai outbreak. At the same time, Kiana and her two companions were in danger as they faced an attack from a crossbow-class heavy shield knight-type Honkai beast. In order to save Mei, who was caught off guard by the Honkai beast after warning Bronya to be careful behind her, Kiana shielded her with her own body from a fatal blow.

Kiana was seriously injured and unconscious, Bronya's fate was unknown, and Raiden Mei was in a state of extreme fear and panic.

Then, the will to break down erupted.

The destructive will sealed within Raiden Mei's body erupted under the influence of Mei's current negative emotions.

Raiden Mei, whose body was taken over by the Honkai's will, transformed into the incomplete Third Herrscher—[Herrscher of Thunder], easily slaying the attacking crossbow-class Honkai Beasts.

Meanwhile, Himeko Murata, an A-rank Valkyrie who arrived at the scene piloting the Hyperion air cruiser, had no choice but to face the wrath of a Herrscher who was not yet fully realized.

Because Raiden Mei's ability to manipulate electricity was too much of a disadvantage for the battleship, Himeko had to use the exoskeleton system [Nexus] Crimson Armor, which was still under development on the battleship, and overloaded the molten core power burst device to forcibly withstand the attack from the half-Herrscher Raiden Mei.

But apart from those present and Theresa, no one knows what happened afterward.

The only remaining information is that Himeko brought Kiana, Raiden Mei (who had been restored to her human form), and Bronya back to St. Freya Academy, where they became trainee Valkyries.

The goal is to teach Raiden Mei how to control the Honkai energy within her body, so that she will not become a Herrscher controlled by the will of Honkai.

The above explains the origins of Kiana's trio. It's understandable that Kiana, who developed a forbidden love with Raiden Mei during their escape, would react this way when she heard the reason why Kallen was convicted of crimes against humanity.

After all, she and Karen have so many similarities.

Chapter Ten: Kiana! Attack!

"So! Bronya! Let's go save her!" Kiana said excitedly to Bronya in the deserted alley. "These guys are too much! Tell me the time and place of the execution!"

“Save her?” Bronya stared at Kiana with the look of someone looking at a paramecium. “This is just a virtual world constructed from data. The real Kallen died 538 years ago.”

"I don't care!" Kiana's usually nonchalant and carefree gaze suddenly became incredibly determined. "Of course I know this is virtual, but I absolutely cannot watch her die... Five hundred years ago, no one came to save her, so five hundred years later... I hope that even if it's just once, I want to save her!"

"Call it my stubbornness or my foolishness, Bronya! I must save her!"

"Help me! Bronya!"

Bronya had seen that look in his eyes many times, countless times during the trio's escape from Changkong City.

When she stood in front of Bronya's cannon, using her body to shield Mei from the wounded and fallen.

When she fought her way through the encirclement and rescued Mei from the densely packed group of assassins.

When she stubbornly remained as a stone, she managed to awaken her own personality, which was unlikely to ever awaken again, from the suppression of the self-discipline combat system.

Every time is so incredible.

He's always so willful.

Every time, it's just like Kiana.

Bronya silently turned her head to the side: "I just can't do anything with you."

“Bronya needs to plan this carefully, and you must follow Bronya’s orders completely. After all, we don’t have weapons in this world, so we can’t act blindly.”

"If you can comply with the above, Bronya will help you."

Just this once.

"Yay!" Kiana jumped up excitedly, waving her hands and skipping around in the narrow alley where only two people could walk side by side.

Like a fool.

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In a dark dungeon somewhere unknown, two shadowy figures stood facing each other, one of them breaking the silence with a deep voice.

"Everything is ready, Master Otto."

"Is that so... That's good... I won't let you die, my dearest... Karen."

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"So what's wrong with my plan? I think it's perfect!" Kiana sulked, "You have to nitpick and say it's too dangerous or that my combat strength is insufficient."

"I'll just charge in alone, rescue Karen, and then run away!" Kiana tightened her cloak and shrank further into the shadows of the attic. "Clean, efficient, and time-saving!"

"If Kiana calls that seven-word thing, which is 'Go over there and beat him up,' the operation plan, Bronya is willing to abandon this operation and come collect your corpse after the chaos," Bronya's voice came through the communication channel. "In short, if you want to save Kallen, please make sure Kiana remembers Bronya's plan."

"I remember, I remember! It's just that you make some bombs to scare them a bit, then I'll charge in and beat them up, and rescue Karen. My memory is excellent!" Kiana's carefree voice came through the communication channel to Bronya, who was secretly hiding in a corner where no one was watching, trying to make homemade explosives with various materials she had collected from the market.

"..." Bronya felt as if her brain had overloaded for a moment. "Although Bronya was quite surprised that Kiana could remember a battle plan with a length of two digits, I still want to remind you to make sure to act only the instant the third explosion sounds."

"Alright, the third time, I'll remember that!" Kiana peeked out and watched the square where the execution was about to take place.

A gallows was erected in the center of the square, and Karen was kneeling in the center of the gallows with her head down, wearing her tattered nun's habit. There were three people standing on the gallows, and a dozen or so Destiny Organization executors, who were also dressed in black robes and wearing black raven masks, were organizing the crowd around her.

“How could Lady Karen have committed such a crime! There must be some mistake!” Protests continued to erupt from the crowd.

"Lady Karen saved the lives of everyone here! Including yours!" Another voice from the crowd exclaimed, "How could you treat her like this!"

"Release Lady Karen!" The shouts from below grew louder and louder, and the crowd became increasingly agitated, pushing and shoving as they began to storm the shaky execution platform.

"Stop!" one of the executioners on the platform roared in a furious voice. "This is the Pope's order! Do you dare question God's representative?!"

"If you storm the execution platform again, you will be tried for heresy!"

"On the spot!" The executioner drew his sword from his waist, and the murmurs of the crowd fell silent instantly under the gleaming blade.

On the one hand, it was due to the authority of the Pope, and on the other hand, the guards below the platform, with the tacit approval of the executioners on the platform, had already drawn their weapons and pointed them at the civilians.

In this era, there are no human rights.

“Lord Arthur, I think we should carry out the execution ahead of schedule. Otherwise, if these civilians are incited again, they might actually risk their lives to storm the execution platform.” The executioner who had just drawn his sword snorted, sheathed his sword, and retreated to the side of one of the executioners, saying in a low voice, “After all, we have to consider the prisoner’s reputation among the people.”

After all, in that society, Karen Kaslana was known as the "Saint".

This is not an honorary title bestowed by the church, nor a military rank accumulated through merit, but rather a testament to the genuine emotions of the people and their heartfelt praise.

This title was bestowed upon Kallen by all the common people; it is an unofficial title and applies only to Kallen.

The other Fated Knights, high and mighty, considered themselves extraordinary and kept their distance from these commoners. Even when they were tasked with saving the village, they simply did their job and left after dealing with the attacking Honkai Beasts, showing no regard for the farmland, houses, or even ordinary people destroyed in the battle.

Even though a significant portion of the destruction was caused by these Fated Knights.

Even worse, after dealing with the Honkai Beasts, they would plunder the local people for another sum of money before leaving. These civilians could only swallow their anger and resentment, as their social status was worlds apart from that of these Fated Knights.

In the eyes of these noble knights, the property and lives of the people are not worth mentioning at all. They came here only to deal with the Honkai Beasts, and saving the village was just a side effect.

Karen, on the other hand, was completely different; in the eyes of the people, she was like a ray of light in the darkness.

Since she was sixteen, she has been fighting on the front lines against the Honkai. Wherever there is Honkai, there she is. She seems to have never rested, constantly moving between different areas where Honkai has broken out. In battle, she takes extra care of the local civilians, never engaging in combat in towns, and even sacrificing herself to shield civilians who cannot escape from Honkai attacks at the cost of serious injury.

This kind of thing has happened more than once or twice.