Honkai, why do you only throw me into high-level battles?

Rita knew that couldn't be the real Abyss Flower. No one could take Durandal's Divine Key from her—though Durandal herself rarely used it.

Durandal still considered Abyss Flower to be Cecilia's weapon, something she was merely borrowing, or safeguarding. And if she herself felt that way, how could she lend it to another? Knowing Durandal, it was simply impossible.

"Heh, it seems there are more secrets here than I thought…" Rita mused. Could the Herrscher of Reason create Divine Keys at will?

She didn't know. Both she and Durandal had risen to S-rank relatively recently, after 2012. They were part of the new generation and had never met Welt.

Records of the Herrscher of Reason's battles were also the most heavily redacted files in Schicksal's database, offering few clues even to someone like Rita.

This wasn't surprising, considering Welt's battles often involved Otto himself, and preserving those records wouldn't exactly enhance the Overseer's image.

Rita's sharp mind sensed inconsistencies in the fragmented information, but the missing pieces made it impossible to draw firm conclusions.

This possibility, however, strengthened her suspicion that "Lin Wei" was merely Welt's alias. It wasn't a far-fetched assumption, considering Welt's tendency to operate in the shadows.

"Grrr!" A Honkai Beast lunged from the mud, interrupting Rita's thoughts. She sidestepped gracefully, her scythe cleaving the beast in two before turning to the next target. Despite heeding Lin Wei's warning to retreat, the sheer number of enemies had gradually surrounded her.

"Lady Rita!" Team Snow Lotus, alarmed, tried to push through their injuries and exhaustion to assist her.

"Stay back!" Lin Wei, weakened from using the "Projected Abyss Flower," sat on the ground, stuffing chocolate into his mouth. Seeing the Valkyries' movements, he stood up abruptly and shouted, stopping them in their tracks. They looked uncertainly between the surrounded Rita and Jell, who stood silently beside Lin Wei.

"Ah, careful!" Seni, fully recovered, cried out as Lin Wei swayed, his vision blurring. She quickly supported him, helping him sit back down.

"Thanks…" Lin Wei gave her a weak but genuine smile, making her blush.

He took another piece of chocolate, unwrapped it, and said to Jell through a mouthful, "Have your team rest. Don't waste your time." Talking while eating was rude, but time was of the essence. "Recover your strength—those are Rita's orders, and my advice." Seeing Jell's hesitation, his expression hardened. "In your current state, you'll just be throwing your lives away!"

"But…" Seni started to protest, but a sharp look from Lin Wei silenced her.

The other Valkyries also remained silent. This stranger, though an ally, had just saved Seni's life, yet he seemed incredibly weakened himself. They owed him a great debt. No matter how harsh his words, they had to accept them.

"Haa…" Lin Wei knew he had overstepped, but there was no time for niceties. Seeing the situation under control, he relaxed slightly, his expression softening. "Don't worry, Captain Jell. Rita is an S-rank Valkyrie. She hasn't even begun to fight seriously."

Jell was taken aback.

"Friendly advice, have your team retreat further," Lin Wei said, zipping up his jacket and adjusting his sleeves and pant legs. He glanced at a low wall made of felled trees behind them, their branches and leaves still intact, a makeshift green barrier.

Jell, noticing his gaze, blushed slightly. These hastily constructed defenses offered little real protection, serving mostly as a psychological comfort.

"Hmm, not bad," Lin Wei said, surprisingly, then turned back to Jell. "Have your team take cover behind that wall. Tell them to bundle up. It's going to get cold…" He preferred to address Jell, the captain, rather than issuing direct orders to her team.

"What?" Jell was confused. This was the tropics; how could it get cold? Before she could voice her question, the air temperature plummeted. Frost formed on the ground, leaves withered, as if winter had suddenly descended.

"All units, retreat!" Jell, shivering, understood Lin Wei's meaning and quickly issued the order. The Valkyries, chilled to the bone, scrambled behind the wall, seeking shelter amongst the fallen trees.

Lin Wei smiled, unsurprised. The Honkai Beasts, emerging from the sea, had brought the water with them. The ground was soaked, the air humid, the beasts themselves saturated. All this led to a single conclusion:

"This is the perfect battlefield for Argent Knight: Artemis!"

It was a god-given opportunity. Lin Wei shivered, taking cover behind the wall with Jell and Seni. "Damn, it's freezing…" he muttered.

......

Meanwhile, Rita continued to fight alone, the ever-increasing number of Honkai Beasts constricting her movements, turning the battlefield into a slowly tightening cage.

Yet, despite the worsening situation, Rita's smile didn't waver. In fact, the more enemies surrounded her, the wider her smile became.

"The more, the merrier!" The glint of her scythe reflected her cold smile.

Just as Lin Wei had predicted, Rita intended to make full use of this "home field advantage."

"All this mud and water… it's rather unsightly," Rita said, surveying the densely packed Honkai Beasts. "Like a swarm of flies." Her smile turned colder.

"Well then, let's clean this up!"

Rita retreated to the center of the last patch of open ground, planted her scythe firmly in the earth, and declared, "Awaken, Master of Frost!"

With her words, the world transformed!

Argent Knight: Artemis's unique particle dispersal system activated. The gauzy wings on her back, previously mere decoration, unfurled like feathers, releasing a wave of shimmering, blue-white crescent particles. Beautiful, yet deadly.

"Crackle… crunch…"

Endless ice spread outwards from Rita, freezing everything in its path. This was her ultimate attack—releasing crescent particles that instantly absorbed all heat, transforming the battlefield into a frozen hell.

The fourth-generation Valkyrie battlesuit finally demonstrated its god-slaying power.

"Much better," Rita said, surveying the frozen landscape with a satisfied smile, even pausing to adjust her hair. "Now, let the cleaning begin!"

The absorbed heat converged on her scythe, its cold gleam replaced by a fiery red glow. Rita moved swiftly among the frozen Honkai Beasts, her heated scythe slicing through them like butter, a ruthless executioner in her own icy domain. Did these creatures even feel fear?

Rita felt no pity, only impatience with her own efficiency. She fully unleashed her battlesuit's power, maximizing the particle dispersal. The already frigid battlefield grew even colder, but that wasn't her goal.

As the crescent particles reached their peak dispersal, a giant, ethereal figure materialized behind Rita, a beautiful yet terrifying killing machine. Wielding a massive scythe, the phantom echoed Rita's movements, joining the massacre, a silent partner in this frozen hell.

Left, right, forward, back… wherever these two glowing figures moved, only shattered remnants of frozen Honkai Beasts remained.

"Whoa!" Even Lin Wei, accustomed to extraordinary sights, was impressed by Rita's display of power and grace.

The Valkyries cheered, both at the victory and at the awe-inspiring power of an S-rank Valkyrie. With Lady Rita so strong, what was there to fear?

Relieved, they began tending to their wounds, helping each other massage stiff limbs and muscles, a brief moment of joy and camaraderie, as if transported back to a time before the disaster. But then, they looked around, at the devastated city, at the missing faces among their comrades.

The grim reality quickly extinguished their fleeting joy, and silence descended once more. Gritting their teeth, they continued to treat their wounds, recover their strength, and check their equipment, preparing for the next fight. They knew this victory was temporary; the battle was far from over.

Half an hour later, as their strength returned and the temperature began to rise, the few surviving Honkai Beasts began to stir amidst the thawing battlefield.

"Attack!" The Valkyries of Team Snow Lotus, seizing the opportunity, prepared to finish them off.

"Captain Jell, wait." Lin Wei, still behind the wall, stopped her. Waiting for the others to move away, he asked, "Where's Anna?"