Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

Anti-Entropy didn't mind giving Jiang Qiao a ride. They were both after Cocolia. And [Bronya] was now the Herrscher of Reason—a member of Anti-Entropy.

But—

"A Schicksal S-rank Valkyrie?! What's she doing here?!" Tesla exclaimed, her image glitching.

While Anti-Entropy wasn't great at gathering intelligence, they knew of Rita and Durandal. The former, who was often seen next to Otto, made them more uneasy than Durandal.

Welt, having realized the danger, pulled out the Star of Eden.

—Despite losing his powers as the Herrscher of Reason, he was still powerful.

Sensing their hostility, Rita smiled, bowing gracefully.

"Anti-Entropy's leader and doctors. If the circumstances were different, my duty would be to fight against you. However, I'm a prisoner of Miss [Bronya]."

"Oh." [Bronya] nodded, confirming what Rita said.

That calmed Welt and Einstein, but Tesla was still wary. "A prisoner? Are you sure she's trustworthy?"

Rita didn't look like a prisoner. Why wasn't she locked up?

"Don't worry. She's completely trustworthy." The silver-haired girl said without hesitation.

While Rita was Otto's dog, she was loyal.

She was bound by her duty as a Valkyrie, by the friendships she held, and by the love of her family. As a Valkyrie, she fought against the Honkai. She wouldn't betray a group that shared her goals. As for her friends, she was with Kiana, and Bronya.

And as for her family… she was still a Schicksal Valkyrie.

"...I don't know where your confidence comes from." Tesla sighed.

She still didn't trust Rita. But if [Bronya] trusted her, there was nothing else she could do.

Besides, she didn't dislike Valkyries. While pawns of Otto, they were also warriors fighting for humanity.

While she preferred Titans, she couldn't hate a good Valkyrie, especially those who were cute.

"How long until we reach New Zealand?" [Bronya] asked.

She was done with idle chatter. While she'd been with Misteln and picking up Kiana and others, Anti-Entropy had been running at a normal speed.

With his Void powers, Jiang Qiao had crossed a vast distance.

"The warship is at maximum speed. About thirty minutes."

"However, Cocolia has already acted. The Schicksal branch in Oceania is under attack."

While they didn't have as good intelligence as Otto, it was a big situation. Einstein provided this heavy information.

"Did the Honkai erupt?"

"No. That's some good news."

The Honkai had yet to erupt. That meant Wendy wasn't fully transformed.

Einstein, understanding the principles of the Void authority, offered a solution. "You should be able to warp with the warship using your Void powers, right? We have the coordinates."

Thirty minutes was too long.

"That won't work. The Imaginary space in that area is too chaotic." [Bronya] shook her head.

If she could have, she would have teleported there and left the slowpoke in her dust.

Perhaps due to the Will of Honkai's meddling, the Imaginary space was a mess, making teleportation very dangerous.

But there was a way to go faster.

…

Schicksal's Oceania branch wasn't strong. In fact, their presence in New Zealand was nothing more than a detached office. The main branch was in Australia.

While the failure of the Gem of Desire experiments had led to an increase in Valkyries at the New Zealand office, they were no match for Cocolia's planned attack.

Having learned from the Nagazora failure, she'd brought nearly half of her forces, using the Russian Titans to assault the New Zealand branch.

"Schicksal is so weak." Cocolia sneered, looking at the progress on the monitor.

Her Titans easily overwhelmed the Valkyries. Titans were designed to fight Honkai Beasts.

One Titan was worth an entire B-rank Valkyrie squad.

Without specialized weapons, the low-cost Valkyries couldn't do anything to stop them.

"Their New Zealand branch is mostly B-rank Valkyries. They're no match for your Titans," Gray Serpent added.

B-rank Valkyries were no match for a Titan. Only A-ranks or higher posed a threat.

But the number of A-rank Valkyries was limited to the HQ. Every other branch only had a few of them. As for the Far East Branch… they only had Himeko.

And the New Zealand branch had even fewer. There was only one, and she was the failed test subject for the Gem of Desire, Wendy, whose legs had been permanently damaged. She had been forced to retire and stay at the hospital.

She was supposed to shoulder the blame for this mess.

"What about the Oceania headquarters?" Cocolia asked coldly.

As agreed, her forces would be the main attackers, and the World Serpent would hinder any reinforcements.

"They're too busy to worry about this." Gray Serpent said with a smirk.

They'd deployed one of his "hybrids," created using incomplete Honkai Beast technology. They had turned one of their own into the Emperor-class Honkai Beast, Ashwatthama.

While incomplete, it was enough to occupy the Oceania Valkyries.

"However, simply taking the Gem of Desire isn't enough."

"Are you changing the terms?!" Cocolia asked sharply.

Their agreement was simple: Cocolia would retrieve the Gem of Desire, and Gray Serpent would return her daughter.

"No, no, just a small modification."

"While the Gem of Desire is my target, the current version is not enough."

—The Gem of Desire that had not been activated by the Honkai was incomplete. Although it had Herrscher powers, it was much weaker than a core created after a Honkai eruption.

Gray Serpent's initial plan had been to get the incomplete gem. It would give him the coordinates and Honkai energy. He had expected Chiyou to provide enough Honkai energy.

But Misteln had failed, so he had to modify his plan.

"I need you to cause a Honkai Eruption in New Zealand."

The voice made Cocolia go quiet, then she sighed.

She'd launched the Nagazora Eruption out of a desire to have power equal to Welt.

But looking back, she regretted it, especially since Sin had expressed doubts.

"I have to fix this." She said.

She would do this for Bronya, for Seele, for herself.

If she could succeed, then she could retrieve Seele and Bronya.

"Then we can finally live together again." She imagined those happy days.

" Beep, beep "

Cocolia perked up, reading the message.

It was from Bronya.

Seeing the familiar face, Cocolia smiled. Bronya looked like the innocent little girl she had once raised, and it warmed her heart. She hid her joy behind a cold facade. "Bronya, where are you?"

"I'm almost there."

"Good."

"Wait…" Cocolia paused. "Why are you calling yourself 'Bronya' now?"

"Bronya is old enough now, and she has decided that she won't use 'Bronya' anymore."

The childish voice made Cocolia chuckle.

"That's good. Daughters eventually grow up."

—Though she had placed a control chip in her, Cocolia did care for her.

"Enough chit-chat."

"My Titans are attacking the New Zealand branch. All you have to do now is trigger an Honkai Eruption. Then we are done." Cocolia said, confident. "Since you're almost there, Bronya, my most successful creation, I want you to retrieve the Fourth Herrscher."

The silver-haired girl said, "Okay. But…I want to see you first."

"Why? " Cocolia asked, sensing something off.

"Why does a daughter need a reason to want to see her mother? I just want to see you, that's all," she said petulantly. "If I can't, I might not do as you ask."

Her childish behavior surprised Cocolia, who'd forgotten that her daughter no longer possessed such emotions. "Okay! That's fine!"

She loved that Bronya was acting like her old self again. For a moment, she was reminded of the warm days from before the experiments, the time spent at the orphanage.

Unfortunately, Cocolia's feelings for Bronya would lead to her demise.

She wanted to see her 'Bronya.'

…

Bronya arrived in ten minutes, riding a baby carriage, that she'd been using as a high-speed hovercraft, while using the Void.

"I'm so happy to see you." Cocolia said as she rushed to greet the girl. Trying to mend their broken relationship, she put on a motherly façade.

"Did you lose some weight?" Cocolia, suddenly concerned, held the girl tight.

But 'Bronya' didn't respond, staring back at her.

Cocolia realized she'd forgotten Bronya's damaged emotions. She blamed herself and her desire to fix them grew stronger.

"Bronya, what I need you to do, is what we talked about over the comms."

"Do I have to?" The girl sighed.

"I know it's difficult for you, but this is the only way to save Seele," Cocolia continued, showing her a clip of Seele.

[Bronya] feigned sadness. "Seele..."

"If we complete this, we can live together again, just like at the orphanage." Cocolia looked excited.

In her youth, her dream had been to create an orphanage for children displaced by disasters.

But she wanted to save even more lives. She'd joined Anti-Entropy, hoping to save the world and create a better life.

But things didn't go as planned.

She wanted her family back. So, she embarked on a new journey.

What a wonderful future…

"Bronya, you understand, right?"

"…"

"Yes." The girl nodded, her eyes darkening.

She understood everything.

Warning! Warning! High Honkai Energy detected!

The alarms snapped Cocolia out of her reverie. The Honkai energy was comparable to that of a Herrscher.

The Fourth Herrscher! She thought. It was a bit earlier than she had thought.

But that didn't matter, as the Herrscher was now emerging, and she no longer had to activate a Honkai Eruption.

But the readings were a bit too close.

"Bronya—"

Her voice broke off as a piercing pain shot through her chest. A trickle of blood soaked her clothes. Cocolia turned and saw a silver-haired girl, a gun in her hand, the smoking barrel an indication of what had just happened.

"Wh… why?"

As life slipped away, Cocolia asked her final question.

The answer was as cold as her death. "It's time to put an end to your miserable life, Cocolia… mom."