Chapter 5: A Friendship of Fierce Fights

Angel watched incredulously as the white-haired girl scaled the crane like a monkey climbing a tree, rapidly approaching the top.

'...Wasn't she supposed to be unable to think of this?'

'Cough, cough! On the bright side, maybe St. Freya Academy spotted you with their satellite?'

'That would mean there's no escape!'

'Wait, is it possible that you can actually defeat her?'

'...'

Having independent thought processes had its advantages.

Angel raised a point that none of the other Angels had considered.

The struggle in the alley had already shown that, in terms of physical strength, Angel was actually a notch above Kiana.

As for combat experience, while Angel was indeed a novice, how much better could Kiana be at this stage? She was also just relying on brute force.

'Take her down!'

'Exactly! If she's acting alone, defeating her means we can escape. If it's a St. Freya Academy ambush, capturing her might give us a chance to negotiate.'

'Then let's do it. It'll be a good chance for us to get used to fighting!'

'At worst, if we can't win, we can still run. Her intelligence is low; we can easily outsmart her!'

The Angels were roused, eagerly encouraging Angel to strike.

Angel, on the scene, had no time to think further because Kiana was almost at the crane arm.

The crane arm was a long and sturdy steel structure, and on both sides of the ladder entrance were narrow walkways covered with steel mesh and wooden planks, almost the only walkable path on the crane arm.

Kiana had just climbed the ladder and hadn't had time to catch her breath when Angel pounced at her waist.

"Bang!"

The two wrestled on the narrow walkway. In the scuffle, Angel seized the opportunity to throw Kiana's pistol away.

"You were hiding here? Damn it, my gun!"

Kiana, furious, began to thrash wildly.

As Kiana Kaslana, the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal (future tense), when had she ever been this humiliated?

Enraged, Kiana's strength surged, and she finally kicked Angel away.

Gasping for breath, the two faced off on the high-altitude walkway. Both had bruises on their faces, their clothes torn, exposing glimpses of fair skin.

Then, as if on cue, they charged at each other.

"Ha!" ×2

Both sides aimed punches at each other without holding back.

Angel's eyes filled with tears instantly.

'Don't cry! Hit her!'

'But it hurts QAQ... No one has ever hit my face before...'

'What kind of nonsense is this! Men bleed but don't cry!'

'But I'm a girl...'

Angel cursed her other selves, who were watching the excitement in the Theater, but she took a deep breath and overcame her fear of pain.

"You're dead! I'll make you cry!"

"Hmph! When I started fighting, you were still drinking milk! Do you think you have the strength to beat me?"

After the customary exchange of harsh words, they engaged in close combat, punching and kicking each other.

A typical fight between little girls might involve slapping and hair-pulling, which wouldn't be very interesting to watch, though some might prefer that. But for two little superhumans, it went far beyond that.

They were really hitting each other hard. Each strike came with a tearing wind sound, aimed at each other's bodies and even their pretty faces. Each hit drew blood, accompanied by the sound of steel pieces from the crane arm flying and breaking.

...

As the situation became increasingly dire, a gray-haired girl with glasses sighed on the rooftop of a nearby building.

"Kiana... she's made no progress, completely failing to apply what she's learned in class."

"Class Monitor, please give her another chance! Kiana has been working hard; she can do it!"

"Raiden Mei, I still believe these special extra credit tasks are unreasonable. St. Freya Academy's exams should be more rigorous and objective. Also, the official communication channel is not for personal use."

"Uh, well... Anyway, please take care of her! Kiana has failed several times in a row. If this continues, she might really be held back!"

Fu Hua removed her earpiece, ending the pointless communication.

Anyway, the white-haired dumpling who should be using this channel to complete her task was already fighting crazily with her target on the crane arm, probably not even thinking of contacting Fu Hua for help.

...

Half an hour later, on the shaky, broken crane arm.

Angel and Kiana each clung to a railing, a few steps apart, panting as they stared at each other.

With a bruised face, Kiana said, "Give up! I won't lose to you!"

Angel, equally bruised, wiped her nosebleed and silently raised a middle finger.

"Argh!"

Kiana, enraged, charged again.

Angel, equally fired up, swung her arms and walked towards Kiana with fists clenched.

"Crack... Crack..."

"Boom!"

Just as they were about to fight again, the steel crane arm, which had been battered several times, finally couldn't hold on any longer and broke with a loud crash.

"No way..."

Kiana fell, the sudden loss of gravity making her panic. She missed the chance to jump back onto the crane arm and could only fall towards the ground seventy meters below.

This might be it...

Kiana, feeling helpless and scared, closed her eyes.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Not feeling the sensation of falling, Kiana opened her eyes and looked up, seeing a slender hand tightly gripping her wrist.

It was Angel, holding onto a rough steel beam hanging from the crane with one hand, her hand bleeding. Her other hand gripped Kiana's wrist.

Kiana's body swayed slightly in the wind, and she asked dumbfoundedly, "Why?"

Angel rolled her eyes without answering.

Firstly, any HI3 player, unless inherently heartless, wouldn't want to really hurt the super cute and extremely lovely Kiana.

Secondly, if Kiana really got hurt here, Angel would be relentlessly pursued by a group of maniacs.

Lastly, don't forget that the Queenie is still around. If she appeared when Kiana fell, she could track Angel back to the Theater of Domination—whether or not the Queen cared about them, her appearance would mean the situation had escalated. St. Freya and even Otto would seriously focus on this, and that would be game over.

In short, a fight was fine, but watching Kiana get hurt was absolutely out of the question, both emotionally and logically.

Angel, dangling in midair, observed her surroundings and finally aimed for the nearby construction site rooftop.

"Heave-ho!"

Angel swung her arm, making Kiana's body sway in the air. After a few swings to build up momentum, Angel flung the screaming Kiana towards the rooftop.

"Ahhhh!"

Kiana screamed as she hit the cement rooftop with a thud, rolled a few times, and got up holding her waist, wincing in pain.

She shook her dazed head, looked up at the crane above, but Angel was nowhere to be seen.

"What... the heck? Doing something like that again, saving me... are you a good person or a bad person?"

Kiana muttered, feeling confused for a moment, standing dirty and disheveled on the rooftop, unsure of where to go next.

...

Angel swiftly descended to the ground along the crane's cable, taking advantage of Kiana's inability to pursue. Limping into a nearby alley, she ran randomly for a few circles before deciding to flee even farther.

Returning from the Theater of Domination to the real world required coordinates. There were only two types of coordinates: either the physical body in the real world or the location of the last Angel to leave the real world.

In other words, the 29 Angels in the Theater of Dominance would either appear beside the Angel outside or in the living room at home.

So, she couldn't attract attention to her home.

Therefore, she ran!

With the qualities of a Herrscher, surviving anywhere wasn't difficult for Angel. The farther she ran, the better. Absolutely mustn't attract the attention of Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, or World Serpent.

We, the pitiful thousand-fold Herrschers, just want to live!

Nourished by the power of Honkai, Angel's body gradually recovered. At least it didn't affect her normal movement.

She walked through a long alleyway, where the light from street lamps shone in. Getting out from here would bring her close to the suburbs. As long as she left the city, found an unmanned wilderness, and disappeared into the mountains and forests, no one would easily find her. Then she could sit down, rest, and think about what to do next.

A smile appeared on Angel's face.

Until she saw outside the alley, the gray-haired girl with a ponytail and blue school uniform fluttering in the wind, standing motionless like a mountain.

"Kuso!!!" ×30

Afterward, Angel caught a whiff of a scent resembling roses and suddenly lost consciousness.