The impact left stress fractures in the steel wall. Flecks of paint fell from the burnished metal where it contorted against the Valkyrja's body. Dropping to her knees, Mei tried to remain conscious. Heavy breathing left her bruised ribs aching. She took the few precious moments to gather herself, leaning on her blade as she gulped down air.

'A little longer. I just need to buy time. Himkeo-senpai will deal with the dragon and then come to support me.'

It was meant to be the other way around. Mei had plead her case to follow Himeko after their reunion at the Hyperion. Theresia had of course been against it. Bronya too. It was ironic that the two Anti-Entropy representatives had backed up Mei's plan. Dr's Einstein and Tesla thought it important to have backup just in case something went wrong.

'So much faith placed in me. I cannot fail.'

Finely tuned senses recognised the danger. A honkai lance clipped her brow as she rolled to one side, blood in thin rivulets coating her left eye. Two more honkai lance punched through the evening gloom, Mei on her feet and dodging as they struck the steel floor. Eyes scanning the darkness, the Valkyrja tried to sense her foe. Ever since entering the Helheim labs she had been on her own. The Honkai beasts seemed intent on keeping Mei her away from any allies. Once the bloody dusk had ended the blanket of night had cut off all sense of time. It could have been minutes, hours or days since she had been separated from Himeko.

'But Kiana found me. It took everything I had to run.'

Mei had been purely on the defensive. Barely seconds after locating her dearest friend, Mei had been forced to withdraw. Leaping from structure to structure, dashing between gas pipes and cooling towers, vents of steam obscuring her vision. All along the way she had been harassed and harangued. Kiana had been relentless in her assault. In the haste of her escape Mei hadn't realised she was standing atop a gas storage structure, a honkai lance penetrating the structure and detonating the chemicals within. The blast had seen her hurting away, crashing into the wall of the rooftop she now stood upon

More lances punched out from the shadowy sky, Mei dancing left and right, another clipping her right arm, carving a bloody gash down its length. Hissing with pain, Mei switched the blade to her left hand. The faintest blur of motion announced the arrival of Mei's opponent. Kiana hovered in mid-air, hands casually gesturing in her direction, lances following her directions. Fingers curling tightly abound the katana in hand, Mei consciously directed the latent Honkai energy coursing through her battlesuit. Feinting left, she dashed to the right, time dilating down as the spacetime distortion activated. Using the fractured moment Mei dashed behind Kiana and swept her katana in a wide arc. As the blade swung toward her target Mei looked up. Her eyes locked with the Herrscher already looking over her shoulder. With a contemptuous smirk Kiana disappeared. Instincts on overdrive, Mei adjusted her swing, bringing the katana flat over her back. A second later the honkai lance struck, impact sending Mei bowling forward. Going with the momentum she rolled twice before coming up on knee and foot. Several more lances were summoned, void based weapons flying with lethal alacrity. Blade strikes carrying an edge of desperation, Mei deflected the attacks as best she could, buying time for the energy in her suit to recharge. Precious seconds ticked down, the indicator in the corner of Mei's vision crawling steadily upwards. A lance nicked her neck just at the counter reached its limit. Mei flicked her blade outward, her blood sailing away from the sharp edge.

"Amaterasu" she whispered, activating the suit's full power release.

Burning honkai energy spiralled around the Jizou Blade, mixing with the latent Honkai energy. Bracing the blade against herself, Mei eyed off her target before sweeping the weapon forward, sending a roiling wave of crimson energy hurtling toward the Herrscher. Kiana was gone, the air taking a hazy golden hue. Eyes fixed forward, Mei couldn't feel anything around her, her senses held in stasis.

"Thank-you for coming, Mei-Senpai," Kiana's bubbly voiced said from all around. "I was worried you would never come back after what happened last time. I'm so glad to see you care so much."

If Mei had possessed the ability to scream she would have. The thing speaking with Kiana's voice continued.

"I know it's important for you to seek closure. And it's not too late. How about we keep playing some more? I'll even make you a deal. If Himeko-sensei can finish off my dragon then I'll let you live just long enough for her to get here. That way you can see a friend. Before you die."

The click of fingers brought reality crashing back. A point of infinite depth appeared before Mei, shining brighter than the morning sun before exploding outwards. The space-time shockwave shredded the surrounding environment and sent the Valkyrja tumbling backwards. Coming to a bloody heap, Mei couldn't help but groan, the floor beneath her wet and smelling of iron. Somehow, she had managed to keep her hands on her weapon.

'The katana will probably outlast me. But I have to fight. I have to keep going.'

Leaning heavily on the blade, Mei pushed herself to her shaky feet. Kiana hovered in mid-air patiently, absently striking one of the Honkai lance she had summoned. Her golden eyes with their diamond pupils held no mercy. No humanity. Only contempt for everything and everyone around her.

"Kiana-chan, please, come back to us," Mei whispered. "This isn't you; this was never you."

Kiana smirked. Rather than attack, she tapped a gloved finger over where her heart lay.

"Do you know why I loved you, Mei-senpai?"

Again, Kiana tapped her chest.

"It's because I never loved you. It was the gem held within you. Your father stole the Gem of Conquest and placed it within you. I was drawn to it. All those times I clung to you, all those honeyed words I said, it was the gem drawn to its sibling. So many times, you pretended to be a Herrscher, pretended to understand the power within you. And now that's it's gone—"

Kiana launched herself into the air. Lifting one hand imperiously, she ripped apart space-time, black portals ringed in gold appearing in a long line above her head. With sweeping gestures, Kiana directed the explosive barrage downward. Doom flying toward her, Mei poured the last of her reserves into her katana, obsidian blade glowing crimson in response.

"Awaken, God-key," Mei ordered.

The silhouette of a bulky figure in samurai armour appeared in front of Mei, plates tinged the colour of blood, inky shadows boiling from the gaps between. It held an odachi in crimson gauntlets. The Jizou spirit swung the odachi in a broad arc, shattering the lances before they hit the ground. Kiana didn't look angry. She wore a sad expression. In a blink the Herrscher hovered before the Jizou spirit. Gently, almost affectionately, she caressed the conjured entities face.

"She was the twelth, you know. We should have reappeared in order. But that fool circumvented the natural order of things, bringing me about second rather than last. I hear her, Mei-senpai, hear her clamouring for revenge against the people that murdered her. Thousands of years later she still wishes to wipe out humanity."

Gold eyes shifted from the spirit to Mei, this time carrying the fury of an inhuman creature.

"I think I'll oblige."

Gloved hands reached through the face-plate, a horrific crunching sound following before the armour collapsed to the ground, dissolving into wispy darkness. Mei had no time to react, Kiana appearing before her, the lance punching into her shoulder and sending her flying backward. The Valkyrja crashed into the same steel wall as before. Mei was pinned in place; the lance having gone clean through her right shoulder and into the wall. The God-key fell from her gasp, katana clattering to the floor.

"I thought you might have survived longer, Mei-senpai. I might leave you there for now. Perhaps I can find Himeko-sensei and bring her corpse back here. I did promise for you to see a friend before you died."

'I won't give up. I cannot give up.'

Bloody fingers grasped at the lance. Mei tried to pull it out. Each minor shift sent fragments of pain arcing up and down her arm. Teeth clenched, Mei gripped tightly and pulled with all her might. The lance remained in place; its body buried too deeply into the wall.

'I never thought she could be so strong. When we fought Wendy she wasn't even close to this.'

Shame flushed through Mei.

'It was the same when Kiana saved me. I thought myself so strong, so capable. But we were just mirages of a true Herrscher.'

[What did you expect, coward?]

'I tried to use that power against Kiana. She must have been laughing while I flailed about.'

[That's because you're a fool]

'Without that gem I'm even weaker than before.'

[If you keep lying to yourself]

Mouth going dry, Mei glanced about, trying to understand what was going on. Kiana was moving toward her. Though each second felt dragged out.

'How... this isn't possible. You can't be possible.'

[You have two choices. Either you've gone delirious in the final moments before your death or I'm real and speaking to you. So, moron, which would you rather it be?]

'The gem is no longer in me. I felt her tear it from my soul.'

[I wasn't aware that there was a convenient recipe for being a Herrscher. It's true yourself and Wendy are cubic zirconia compared to Kiana. But the first and second Herrscher didn't need a core in the first place. They willed themselves into existence]

'Are you saying—"

[It's your choice what you do or don't believe. The consequences are also your choice. I made an offer when we fought her last time. That offer still stands]

'How do I know this isn't a trick?'

[You don't. But then again. The Herrscher did promise you would see a friend before you died]

Mei couldn't help but laugh, chest quaking, the pain bringing her senses into sharp relief. Licking blood from her lips, she reached out to an unseen hand. Bloody fingertips gripped a gloved hand, Mei's eyes lifting to meet Kiana's golden own.

"You don't seem well, Mei-senpai."

Mei tightened her grip on Kiana's. Her visage changed. Fear replaced with a flinty gaze.

"You're going to lose, Kiana-chan."

"Oh?" Kiana drew out the syllable.

"We're different from one another."

Kiana drew in close, the fingers of her free hand drawing down Mei's jawline.

"I think you've lost too much blood, Mei-senpai."

"Firstly, Kiana doesn't want to destroy the world. She's fought her entire life to protect it. That's why she chose to become a Valkyrja. At first she wanted to just find her father. But as time went on, she learned to love this world and everyone in it. You however, the Herrscher, want to see everything burn.

On the other hand, I want to stop you from destroying the world. I want to protect the people I care about the most. My other half. She wants to stop you too. It isn't because of altruism. She just doesn't want to share with you."

Raising a silver-white eyebrow, Kiana leaned in close, her presence attempting to smother Mei.

"You might have been something once. But it was a pale joke and even that is gone."

"Secondly," Mei continued. "Kiana doesn't want to be a Herrscher. It was forced upon her by an unjust world. You've taken over, taken control of her. I've seen inside of her and she's fighting against you even now.

I have accepted myself. Accepted the two halves of what I am. I will live with the consequences."

Kiana's hand slipped down to Mei's throat, fingers digging into flesh, making each breath a labour.

"I think you've finally gone mad, Mei-senpai. You don't choose to become a Herrscher. [God] bestows it upon you. And the tiny fragment of power you once fumbled with like a child now belongs to me."

Mei's gaze never left Kiana's. She managed a bloody smile, forcing words through her tight throat.

"Thirdly, you hate me. I can see it in everything you say and do. But Kiana, Kiana always loved me. She loved me and you loved the gem hidden within me. With the gem gone you now hate me. You hate me with your heart and soul. But Kiana still loves me. Still cares for. I think that's why you keep playing with me. I know you could have killed us in moments. Instead you've toyed with us.

Just to make her suffer."

Mei could feel it, the subtle shift within her. With each word she had uttered, her mindset had shifted a fraction. With each affirmation of how much Kiana meant to her, she had felt something swelling within her. With each heartbeat she could feel herself assimilating her other half, the half she had intentionally cut off.

Mei wouldn't deny it any longer. Her voice rung true.

"We, on the other hand, think differently."

Hand still gripping the honkai spear, Mei tore it from her shoulder, making to stab Kiana. The Herrscher teleported backwards, posture now cautious. Collapsing to one knee, Mei felt pins and needles fluttering through her limbs. Multiple lances converged on Mei from all sides. Snatching up her katana, she slashed with quick, economic strokes, shattering everyone incoming attack.

"There's still a final difference between us," Mei said hissed between clenched teeth.

Kiana withdrew slightly. She watched Mei warily.

"You would side with them?" she muttered.

Mei felt herself smiling. She was certain it wasn't her that smiled.

A wave of heat struck Mei from behind, the air lighting up in shades of crimson before something swept forward. A figure wreathed in scarlet and flame crashed into Kiana. The two went flying backward, tearing through the steel fence like it was tissue paper, flashes of light flaring up in their wake. The little strength Mei had summoned bled out. With her last few conscious moments she managed to activate the rescue transponder in her battlesuit. Collapsing to her knees, all she could see in the sky was fire and lightning.

The thunderous boom shook Mei awake. Sitting bolt upright, she checked her surroundings. Rain pattered against the window of the rented apartment. The ambient light of Singapore's busy nightlife spilling through the curtains. Dashing sweat from her face, Mei inhaled slowly, held the breath and finally exhaled.

"Nightmares again?" a soft voice asked from the darkness.

Mei's attention shifted to Principal Theresa. She sat in a comfy chair facing the window, Judah sitting beside her. The Principal had agreed to be on watch for this part of the night, Mei taking the early morning shift. They hadn't said much since the incident at Schicksal. Bronya had turned inward, focused on finding any clues or means of defeating her former allies.

"Something like that," Mei answered.

'The worst are the ones that are real.'

"Himeko-sensei?" Mei asked. It was the same question she had asked for the last several days

Theresa shook her head. Nobody had the courage to voice what they thought. So they held out an unspoken and often desperate hope.

"Are your sources certain?"

"Certain enough. Everyone is afraid so no one is talking."

Mei chose to change subjects

"Why Singapore? Is it safe for us to be here?"

"It's neutral territory. We aren't with Schicksal or Anti-Entropy. They take their neutrality very seriously. Singapore also managed to survive the Honkai Eruption relatively intact"

"What's next?"

"We keep looking for information. Someone is bound to have heard or seen something. I will keep trying with my few sources that are still loyal to me and not the Bishop."

Mei swung her legs out of bed, getting up and padding over on bare feet to the battlesuit that hung over the back of a chair.

'Dr Tesla ran through some technical tests with me regarding this new battlesuit. Said it was a serious improvement on my original Striker one. Dr Einstein said she had her own design plans but that they would take time.'

A polite knock on the door drew Theresa and Mei's attention. Bronya stood silhouetted by the light from the next room.

"The Bronya has been running search algorithms on cities across the planet with strong ties to Schicksal. A bank of security cameras have identified a high ranking figure moving actively in Arc City. Separately, surges in Honkai energy have reached at least 400 HW in the period leading up to their arrival."

"Who?" Theresa asked, sitting forward with interest.

"Rita."