Humans are in chaos, despicable outsiders.

"Judah's Oath, Flight Mode Activated!!" The diminutive figure dressed as a nun leaped onto the back of the Divine Key without hesitation. The golden chains were instantly retracted, and Theresa, stepping onto the cross, dashed out of the window.

"Himeko and the adjutant, I'm so sorry—!" Only a heartfelt apology echoed in the wind.

The two remaining in the office stared in disbelief at the shattered glass left by the dean who had stormed out of the window. Then, as if remembering something, they turned their gaze to Theresa's desk—the transfer notice from headquarters, still prominently displayed on the projection screen amidst the chaos, clearly indicated its presence.

In addition to the information we had already seen, a countdown had appeared at the very bottom of the projection, seemingly out of nowhere.

[One hour and thirty-six minutes until arrival. Please prepare for personnel handover.]

"...So, who's going to pick them up?" Himeko asked the adjutant, looking at the final prompt.

"According to the relevant rules and regulations of Destiny, the personnel transfer of an A-rank Valkyrie requires the personal involvement of the highest-ranking official of the local branch," the adjutant replied after recalling Destiny's regulations.

"...Great! Theresa has disappeared somewhere. We won't find her for at least an hour and a half. We won't see that little dwarf until tonight at the latest." Hearing her adjutant's reply, the red-haired Valkyrie's lips twitched.

“If the local leader is unable to come to greet you due to an accident or other unforeseen circumstances, then the deputy leader of the local branch or a Valkyrie of the same rank as the person in question must greet you on your behalf.” The adjutant’s gaze turned to Himeko.

"Me??? I don't want to see any A-rank Valkyries from the Schicksal Cleanup Force. Just seeing them gives me the creeps. The academy still has two A-ranks, right? Let Snow or Fu Hua go!"

Himeko, seeing that the task had fallen to her, paused for a moment, pointed at herself, then suddenly realized what was happening and quickly shifted the blame onto the other two.

"Whatever makes you happy... Major Himeko, I'll go inform Lord Snow and Lord Fu Hua then." The adjutant gave a helpless look and began operating the terminal in his hand.

"After you've finished giving the instructions, come and rummage through Theresa's office. I want to see where Theresa has hidden all these Homura comics and dolls." Himeko nodded and turned to start rummaging through Theresa's desk.

"Aren't you going to see the Dean?" The adjutant hesitated for a moment.

"Do you think she'd just abandon the academy and run away with only one person here?"

"....really"

--

In the dormitory's living room, everyone was enjoying afternoon tea around the table. Snow and Fu Hua, who were sitting on the sofa and chairs enjoying coffee and Longjing tea, both paused for a moment.

Snow touched the bracelet on his left wrist, and a mission notification appeared. Fu Hua, on the other hand, adjusted her glasses and tapped the frames a few times.

"What's wrong, Class Monitor Fu Hua? And Junior Snow, do you have some urgent mission?" Mei asked curiously, looking at the two who seemed slightly stunned.

"It's nothing, Mei-kun. It's not an urgent mission. We're just going to welcome a new colleague in a bit." Fu Hua adjusted her glasses again, picked up her cup, and continued sipping her tea.

"The class monitor and that golden-haired monster are going to greet us together? I remember you're both A-rank Valkyries, right? Are you some kind of important figure from the Destiny?" Kiana, who was happily eating a fried chicken leg, stopped and asked curiously.

"No, she's just an A-rank Valkyrie transferred from headquarters. According to Schicksal's rules, she should have been greeted by Dean Theresa..."

"—However, the adjutant mentioned in the briefing that they can't find Theresa at the academy, and the secondary leader, Professor Himeko, seems to be busy, so she assigned the task of welcoming her to us, who are also A-rank Valkyries."

Snow picked up the coffee cup he had just placed aside, took a sip, and spoke slowly and deliberately, seemingly in no hurry.

"Then we can take a look together! A new A-rank Valkyrie! I heard Himeko say that the number of A-rank Valkyries in each branch is quite small!" Kiana asked excitedly.

“…Okay, we’ll all meet sooner or later, and the rules don’t explicitly state whether or not to bring other people,” Fu Hua nodded, agreeing to Kiana’s request.

Snow popped the small cake from the plate into his mouth, drank the last of his coffee, wiped his hands with a tissue, and headed upstairs.

"I need to change my clothes. Anyone want to come? We need to wear formal attire for the welcome..." The blonde girl turned to look at everyone in the living room.

"Me! Me! Me!!"

Bronya wants to participate.

"Since Kiana wants to go, I'll go check it out too..."

The living room fell into temporary chaos.

--

The Far East Branch of St. Freya Academy's Airport

A white, high-speed transport ship began to decelerate and enter the airport, docking with the port's interactive track.

At the exit of the tracks, a group of people stood waiting for the arrival of the person they were looking for.

"Mei, what kind of Valkyrie do you think will come this time? Will she be like Fu Hua or Himeko?" Kiana asked curiously, looking at the exit of the track.

"Probably...? We'll be seeing her soon, won't we?" Mei looked at Kiana, who was acting like a curious child, with a hint of helplessness.

.....

Time ticked by, but no one appeared on the empty tracks, causing the group waiting behind Fu Hua and Snow to grow impatient.

"I mean, are we going to be stood up...?" Kiana looked at the transport ship ahead with some anxiety and uncertainty. At another cargo dock, cargo was being unloaded and transported into the academy, while the group waiting at the exit still hadn't seen their target.

"Perhaps that Valkyrie has something she needs to take care of on the ship?" Mei suggested uncertainly.

Until the communication terminal on Snow rang with a call request.

"Hello...?"

"Are you there? Did you go pick up an A-rank Valkyrie?" Jiu Xiao's voice came from the phone.

"Yes... what's wrong, Jiuxiao?" Snow raised an eyebrow.

"That's Ningdi, she came into our dorm... I almost got into a fight with her just now..." Jiuxiao's tone sounded somewhat helpless in the terminal.

"She's been insisting on seeing you... Please come back soon..."

“Okay…” Snow hung up the call and looked at the people around him.

"Sounds like someone you know, Snow?" Fu Hua looked at Snow beside her.

"Hmm... I guess she'd be considered a foster sister or adopted daughter..." Snow thought for a moment and nodded.

"Although she's an A-rank Valkyrie, how did she manage to bypass our group's sight and the academy's security, and then accurately get into our dormitory..." Fu Hua stroked her chin, lost in thought.

"Exceptionally gifted?"

"Let's go back first..."

--

When everyone returned to the dormitory living room, Jiu Xiao was using a fork to pick up a small cake that Mei had baked earlier and stuffing it into the mouth of a light blonde girl with a side ponytail.

"So... this is the girl we're supposed to pick up? A tiny little thing? She looks even smaller than Bronya!" Kiana stared at the girl being fed, giving her a "Are you kidding me?" look.

Bronya felt that Kiana was using a double entendre, but considering Kiana's intelligence, Bronya dismissed the idea.

"Bronya, what are you saying!"

Ignoring the few troublemakers who started making a ruckus again, Snow quickly took out his phone and snapped a picture of Ningdi being fed and Jiuxiao being fed.

"Yes, a happy and harmonious family," Snow nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the two in the photo.

"...What nonsense are you spouting, Snow!" Steam rose from the top of Jiuxiao's head, making it look like it was about to overheat.

"A harmonious family?" Ningdi tilted her head, somewhat puzzled, and looked at Jiuxiao, whose mind was racing, before pondering for a moment.

"...Mom?" The blonde girl's thought process completely overwhelmed the savior's.

----------------

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Divine Authority Squad

That night, the dean, who had been missing all afternoon, peeked through the crack in the door into the dormitory, only to meet a pair of sharp, pale purple eyes. Blue and purple stared at each other from inside and outside the door.

"Hello... I see," Theresa greeted the purple-eyed girl in the doorway somewhat awkwardly, then suddenly realized—this person had never actually been in the house before.

"No, who are you!"

After scrutinizing her for a while, the girl gave a look of sudden realization, and then—the wooden door separating the two was sliced ​​to pieces by a black dagger in the next instant.

"Intruder detected! Elimination in progress!" Wielding two daggers, Nimty Apocalypse tore open the dormitory door and lunged at Theresa, who had been acting suspiciously from the start.

"Whoa—you bastard, hmph! Don't blame me for being impolite!" Theresa dodged the oncoming dagger and moved Judas in front of her.

"The Oath of Judah unfolds!!" The golden cross revealed its sharpness at this moment, and the chains with spearheads lunged at the purple-eyed girl in the white robe and hood.

The chains that rushed towards her, intending to bind her, were nimbly dodged by the girl's agile movements. Within the overwhelming network of chains, she leaped and bounded, running across them, rapidly advancing towards Theresa behind the golden cross.

"What!" Theresa's pupils contracted as she watched the chains of Judas flash past her, and the girl even leaping towards her while standing on them. Instinctively, she lifted Judas up.

"Clang—" The black dagger clashed with the golden cross, then separated. The assassin girl, her attack unsuccessful, decisively chose to disengage, flashing to the side to search for an opening.

"What are you doing—!"

"Stop! Ninti! That's Principal Theresa!"

Two shouts rang out from the gate and outside the garden. Snow stood atop the ripped-up gate, looking with a pained expression at the garden, now a mess from the two men's fight. Of course, Judas was entirely to blame, since two daggers couldn't exactly plow through the ground.

Himeko Murata, who had spent the afternoon rummaging through the dean's office and returned empty-handed, looked at the garden in front of her dormitory, which resembled a dinosaur's lair... and a primal rage surged within her.

"Theresa!"

--

"So, the dean was caught embezzling academy funds to buy Houmu comics and related merchandise... and fled for an afternoon to avoid punishment?"

"And then suddenly remembered that her grandfather was the Archbishop of Schicksal, and he came back???" Mei looked at the headmaster sitting to the side.

Theresa nodded frantically at Mei.

"Then, Ningdi noticed the headmaster's suspicious behavior at the door, mistook him for an intruder, and started a fight?" Mei looked at the blonde little girl sitting obediently on the other side, hugging a large orange cat.

Ningdi nodded as well.

"So, because the headmaster ran away in the afternoon and didn't get to meet with Ningdi who came to report... he sneaked home again that night, only to be discovered by the already very alert Ningdi, and then a fight broke out in the garden."

"And as an S-class Valkyrie, she almost lost," Jiuxiao interjected.

"What do you mean 'almost lost'! This headmistress is incredibly skilled at dealing with those lowly Honkai Beasts. Do you want to be smashed flat by Judas?!" Theresa glared angrily at the purple-haired girl who had interrupted her.

“And this kid’s resume says she’s an expert in infiltration, intelligence gathering, special operations, and assassination! She should be a Valkyrie in the Internal Affairs Unit of Schicksal Headquarters! Everyone has their own expertise, so what if I can’t beat her!” Theresa thought of the information she’d seen that afternoon and continued to explain, though her tone was somewhat unconvincing.

"...Eh, isn't Ningdi the Valkyrie who fought against the Honkai?" Mei looked at Ningdi with some curiosity.

“Ninti’s combat training primarily focuses on humanoid and humanoid life forms…” Ninti tilted her head and explained to the two people looking at her.

"The Valkyries of Destiny typically have different roles: guarding and escorting, logistics and supply, intelligence gathering, and even stealth and assassination—not all Valkyries need to be on the front lines of the battlefield, directly confronting the Honkai's creations."

“For example, the Schicksal Internal Affairs Force I just mentioned. They specialize in assassination and are a purge force that cleans up Schicksal’s enemies and traitors. They basically don’t appear on the front lines of the Honkai. Although they are all Valkyries, their fighting styles and values ​​are completely different,” Theresa explained, looking at the somewhat confused Mei.

"But Nindi, are you really a Valkyrie specializing in assassination? You just charged straight at me...right at me?" Theresa glanced suspiciously at the petite blonde girl beside her.

"An assassin...? I am Lord Snow's bodyguard." Ningdi glanced strangely at Theresa, who was about the same height as her.

All eyes immediately turned to Snow, who was watching the spectacle from the sidelines.