Honkai, why do you only play high-end games?

This world is so different from what I imagined it to be...

Am I really wrong?

"Captain, I see, the deputy captain is over there!"

Anna heard someone shouting in the distance. The voice was familiar. It was a member of the Snow Lotus Team.

"Oh, I'm really causing trouble for everyone..."

Anna dragged her tired body towards that direction, but she still didn't find the answer.

"Ah! Be careful!" X2

Anna saw from afar a knight-level Honkai beast holding a ferocious huge lance, riding its horse and charging towards the team member who made the shout. She was just a B-level Valkyrie and could not resist at all!

Captain Jier brandished his greatsword to force back the approaching small Honkai beast, and hurried over to provide support, but unfortunately, he missed it by a hair's breadth.

Damn!

Seeing that her teammate who she had been with day and night was about to die, Anna felt extremely remorseful and blamed herself for her own willfulness!

"Oh!"

A blue lance fell from the sky, nailing the knight-level Honkai beast firmly in front of the Valkyrie who had closed her eyes and was waiting to die.

A blue light flashed over, and a blonde girl picked up the limp Valkyrie from the ground and gently handed her to Jier.

"Sorry, I'm late. Leave the rest to me."

Yulan Dell's voice sounded dashing and capable, full of unparalleled confidence and composure. She nodded to Jier and Anna respectively, pulled out the lance from the corpse of the knight-level Honkai beast, and the blue and white tights on her body shone with light. She stepped on the ground and rushed into the blazing hell in the distance.

In just a moment, the flames disappeared and the light took off again, flying to the next battlefield as usual.

"Seeing is believing. Lord Youlan Dale is indeed worthy of his reputation..."

The crisis was resolved, and Jier sighed as he looked at Yulan Dale's back.

Although I have seen it from a distance several times before, I have never seen it as close as today. The impact is even more incomparable.

"..."

Anna also looked at Yulan Dell's departing back without saying a word. Her thoughts were slightly different from Captain Jier's.

"Perhaps, what I pursue and yearn for is not wrong?"

Recalling the figure that seemed like a god descending from heaven, Anna thought quietly in her heart.

Chapter 37: Strike first to gain the upper hand!

The smoke cleared, the fierce battle was over, and the only survivors were successfully rescued and placed in a makeshift camp tent.

After doing all this, Anna silently walked to a corner away from the other team members and began to organize her equipment silently. She was in a mess and wanted to calm down.

Anna knew how much harm her previous impulsiveness had almost caused to the team. She was upset when she thought that she had almost caused the death of an innocent Valkyrie team member.

If Orlandel hadn't arrived in time, the consequences would have been disastrous, and Anna would even feel guilty for the rest of her life!

I am still too unqualified, Anna thought to herself, blaming herself for her previous self-destructive impulse.

In the past, she would find three or five close friends, prepare a delicious dessert, and pour out all her tiredness and depression. Then, with the comfort and encouragement of her friends, she would pat her chest and say that they were all small problems and she could get through it by gritting her teeth.

Then when she woke up, the time had really passed, and she was still the enthusiastic and cheerful Anna Shaniat, and she still had enough energy to encourage her other equally depressed and tired companions.

But now...

Anna, exhausted both physically and mentally, felt depressed but had no one to vent her sorrow. She missed the difficult but innocent and beautiful times more and more.

Is Yuno doing well alone at headquarters? Can she make new friends since she's such an introvert?

Is she also like herself, full of contradictions and doubts, but can only keep them in her heart and have nowhere to vent?

I'm so stupid. We're such good friends, but I didn't realize it. I'm such a failure...

Anna's hands gradually stopped moving, and her thoughts drifted away on the wind.

Until Captain Jier gradually approached.

……

Her unauthorized actions not only disrupted the captain's battle plans, but also forced her to risk her life to support her. All of this made Anna feel guilty, and it also greatly changed her impression of the captain.

It turns out that she is not a cold and heartless person?

Thinking of how the captain had fought desperately in the sea of ​​fire and tried her best to protect her comrades, Anna felt that she might have an obligation to apologize to her.

but……

"Someone has to die. From the moment she became a Valkyrie, she, I, and we were all prepared."

Damn, she's still a bastard!

Hearing this calm tone, Anna couldn't help but glare at Jier again - in your eyes, the fate of becoming a Valkyrie is death, whether it is dying on the battlefield or dying in the laboratory, is it all the same?

Are you still a Valkyrie if you devalue yourself like this?

"Anna, you're not a qualified Valkyrie! You're just the daughter of a distinguished family, living in an exquisite ivory tower since childhood, a child who has never grown up! Do you really think your Valkyrie status and the battlefield are just some kind of playful game?"

Captain Jie'er's change of attitude was faster than expected. Captain Jie'er's short light blue hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his cheeks tightly. He looked down at Anna with condescending disdain.

"Shaniat, what a big name... Haha, nothing more than that."

Anna's face turned extremely pale after hearing those cold words. All her proud life in the past was criticized as worthless in this moment.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and the hot and humid air was extremely stuffy, but Anna's heart was filled with thunder.

No, no, that's not the case!

"Shut up! The Shaniyat family is not a noble family, and there is no eldest daughter!"

Anna suddenly stood up and fought back with gnashing teeth.

"I also became an A-rank Valkyrie after going through arduous training and assessments. I'm the same A-rank Valkyrie as you! The same A-rank Valkyrie as that innocent senior who sacrificed his life!"

"Roar? What a temper! What you mean is that you are also A-level, and I am also A-level. I can't command you, so you can do whatever you want, right? In that case, when we return to the base, I will report to the headquarters and let you get what you want!"

Jier took the initiative and interrupted Anna with harsh and aggressive words.

"I……"

Disobeying orders and acting on her own had put the team in danger and nearly caused irreparable damage. The captain's simple touch on this irrefutable weakness instantly deflated Anna, completely losing all her edge.

After thinking about it, he was still a little unwilling, bit his lip, and retorted,

"So? Are you, like me, indifferent to the innocent sacrifice of your comrades? Are all 'qualified Valkyries' like you as cold-blooded and heartless as you, Captain! Sir!"

"If that's the case, why did you come to support me when I died alone on the battlefield? Wouldn't it be enough to just watch from the sidelines like you did before?"

Anna's questioning was full of anger and indignation. She was angry at her ruthlessness and also aggrieved by the true feelings she had previously revealed.

Why is this happening?

Anna didn't understand, and she wanted to understand.

"...Because your life does not belong to you, but to God. You have no right to waste it recklessly."

Captain Jier was silent for a few seconds, his tone still stern.

"If you don't understand this, you will never be able to become a qualified Valkyrie!"

"I understand, but I don't understand!"

Anna looked into Jier's eyes stubbornly, with the corners of her pretty mouth tightly pursed.

As a Valkyrie, fighting, bleeding, and sacrificing for destiny and the future of mankind is only natural! Anna always keeps this in mind and regards it as an honor, yearning for it, and fighting for it.

But she didn't understand why the meaning behind sacrifice was so complex and cold, making people feel chilled?

"...Because life has a price, but the future is priceless. So in order to reach the future, any... any sacrifice is worth it."

Jie Er's expression was gloomy, his tone was stern, and his voice was steady.

"It is precisely because life has a limited value that it cannot be wasted... but there is no need to cherish it too much either."

If possible, I really hope she will never understand... I thought to myself.

"I don't know……"

Anna looked grief-stricken, as if a small sunny world in her heart was completely shattered in half. Why could her predecessor describe such a tragic fate in such an indifferent and ordinary tone?

Shouldn't the so-called Valkyrie be beautiful?

Why is it like this? Anna doesn't understand.

But why, even so, Yulandel can still be so focused and shine like the sun?

Isn't being an A-class Valkyrie enough? Is it necessary to continue working hard and only by becoming an S-class Valkyrie can one truly find the answer?

Jier watched Anna's expression constantly changing, and quietly took two steps back, instantly dispelling the tense and awkward atmosphere between them.

"Looking at your condition, if you return to the team, I'm afraid it will cause a lot of trouble to the team members. I've decided to give you a few days off so you can calm down. Once you figure it out, you can return to the team on your own."

Jier said, leaving behind his own intact weapons and equipment and taking away Anna's damaged weapons. As he turned around, he casually said,

"Don't get lost, Vice Captain Anna."

After saying that, he left without hesitation, strode straight to the transport plane waiting in the distance with its engines warmed up, and signaled the pilot to take off.

"Captain, everyone hasn't arrived yet? Shouldn't we wait for the vice-captain?"

One of the team members asked hesitantly. After spending so much time together, they all liked Anna very much. Although they were angry about her unauthorized behavior, they never thought of abandoning her.

"Team member Anna Shaniat acted on her own initiative and had a negative impact, so I have decided to suspend her as a punishment."

Jier said seriously, and then he glanced around sternly. The Valkyries shuddered and lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

"It's also to warn you guys, don't follow my example. Be careful not to die somewhere, it will be too late to cry then!"

After saying that, he turned around, left the cabin, went to the co-pilot's seat, glanced down through the porthole, and no longer cared.

"...It's not nice for the vice-captain to do this, but isn't the captain a bit too harsh?"

As soon as the captain left, the Valkyrie team members started whispering to each other, just like in the study room after the homeroom teacher left.

"Just leave her alone like this, when it's about to rain? What if she gets sick?"

"A Valkyrie's physique shouldn't be prone to illness, right?"

"Who said that? Valkyries aren't human? I'm warning you to eat less sweets. Be careful not to get too fat and you won't be able to get married in the future!"

"Ahhhhhhhh shut up!"

"..."

After a period of somewhat deliberate playfulness, the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence again.

After a moment of silence, someone said quietly,

"The vice-captain is truly amazing. He defeated so many Honkai beasts and death warriors by himself. I can't even imagine it..."

"Yeah, I saw it from a distance. The vice-captain killed that huge Honkai beast with just one blow! My god, what kind of strength did that take?"

A new round of discussion began in the cabin, and this time the atmosphere was much more heated.

………………

The departure of her companions plunged Anna into unprecedented loneliness. Therefore, she no longer had to pretend to be strong. All the grievances and confusions, wrapped in sadness and anger, suddenly mixed together and surged into her heart, mixed into tears that burst out like a volcanic earthquake. She collapsed to the ground, crying like a child.

"Woooooooo..."

The sky, which had been gloomy for a long time, finally lost its patience and released the dull oppression in the air, allowing heavy rain to pour down, turning all the troubles in the world into a white mist.

Anna stood up in the rain, exhausted both physically and mentally, but she was a little confused and didn't know where to go.

Anna as Shaniat and Anna as Valkyrie both lost their sense of belonging at this moment. Only the confused girl named "Anna Shaniat" was left hesitating in the mud, not knowing where to go.

As if possessed by a mysterious force, Anna staggered towards the survivors' camp that had just been handed over by the captain. At least there she could shelter from the rain.

"Who is it! Ah, it's Miss Valkyrie!"

The rain was pouring down like a waterfall. The guards at the camp saw a blurry figure approaching slowly in the distance and shouted loudly - they had received a notice to be careful in this haunted place and be wary of anyone or anything approaching.

Soon, as Anna showed her embarrassed figure, the guard who still remembered her quickly withdrew the warning, picked up a raincoat and quickly rushed forward to put the raincoat on the girl.

"Thanks……"

Anna looked up at him and whispered a thank you.