Shortly after Kyuusyou angrily slammed the desk and declared she would investigate personally, a plane carrying the furious parent whose child had been lost took off from Schicksal's airport.
"Phew... Finally sent Kyuusyou away. Sigh, why is there so much happening lately?!"
Straightening the collar that had been left in disarray after being hoisted up and shaken by a certain "she-tiger" who had just lost her "cub," Theresa breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the aircraft disappear into the horizon.
"Waaah... My limited edition Homu Collection... Please, let none of you be harmed—"
At the thought of her treasures hidden beneath the cathedral, Theresa couldn't help but start mumbling to herself.
Shortly after Kyuusyou's departure, a transport plane carrying the Schicksal Overseer Otto Apocalypse—who had just completed a pilgrimage from the Old Schicksal Headquarters—returned to Schicksal's aerial headquarters.
"Grandpa? Why is he coming back at a time like this???"
Staring at the very familiar single-target symbol on the transport plane, and a certain blond man who descended from the plane and rushed off toward a laboratory, Theresa frowned in confusion.
A very ominous premoniment was warning this East Schicksal Overseer, who might have already lost half of her private property.
"...Sigh, do any of you know what Grandpa suddenly wants to do by returning to Schicksal???"
"Wasn't he in North Africa making a deal with the World Serpent members, and then he directly diverted to the Old Nagazora City Ruins for some experiment..."
"Oh, Nagazora City... I wonder how Bronya and the others are doing now—"
"Adjutant, can you contact Bronya and Seele?"
Suddenly remembering a certain Bronya who had gone to Nagazora City to abduct her runaway granddaughter, Theresa immediately turned to look at her adjutant.
"Um... attempting to contact A-rank Valkyrie, Miss Bronya... Ah, connection established."
The adjutant moved the communication screen in front of Theresa.
"Bronya, what's the situation on your end?"
Seeing the gray-haired girl appear on the screen, Theresa immediately threw her question at her.
"Bronya has already picked up Kiana. Now she is taking Kiana and Seele with her, heading toward Schicksal Headquarters on the Hermes."
"Phew... Bronya, you found Kiana?! Where is she? Let me see her quickly—"
-
"Good morning, Auntie..."
Another white-haired girl with a single ponytail popped out from the side of the screen, looking embarrassed...
"Kiana, do you have any idea how worried everyone has been about you!"
Seeing the girl herself, Theresa immediately unleashed her power as a guardian and began to nag relentlessly. The latter could only listen to her elder's lecture with an awkward smile, her face flushing.
It looked just like a successful young professional returning home for the New Year, only to be fiercely scolded by the elders of the family.
And just as Theresa was about to continue her nagging, the expressions of the two girls on the screen suddenly changed.
"Headmaster/Auntie! Get down!"
Swish! The communication was cut off.
And following this warning was the sound of a violent explosion from a private laboratory in the West District, as well as a roar that echoed across Schicksal Floating Island.
"Otto! I'm going to kill you a thousand times! And it still won't be enough!!!"
Accompanied by a somewhat familiar roar, a series of continuous and dense explosions occurred in the experimental area of West Schicksal, and immediately after, a piercing alarm went off in East Schicksal.
"What's happening?!"
Theresa, who had been shaken under the table by the continuous huge commotion, crawled back out from under the table...
"Your Excellency Headmaster, the Intelligence Department has detected a violent Herrscher energy reaction in the area where West Schicksal is located! According to the footage captured... the Herrscher is..."
The Valkyrie who rushed in to report seemed to hesitate at the last moment... wearing a look of utter confusion.
"Who is it? Just tell me! Let the Headmaster figure out the rest!"
Seeing the hesitating Valkyrie in front of her, Theresa roared at her directly, snapping her back to her senses.
"Reporting to Overseer Theresa! Judging by appearance, the Herrscher is... Miss Fu Hua, who went missing during the Schicksal War a few months ago."
"..."
This is a huge problem, I should panic... Never mind, panicking is useless.
"Overseer Theresa... Say something, will you?"
"Hiss—Send all Valkyries below A-rank, as well as all researchers and administrative staff, to the shelters. Yes! B-ranks should go too. If that Herrscher really is Fu Hua... To be honest, it's uncertain if even an A-rank Valkyrie could survive a few moves against her."
Having finished panicking, Theresa began organizing the personnel evacuation and started praying that the two S-rank Valkyries who returned with Grandpa could handle this... or at least stall that Herrscher who had gone berserk.
"Rita, Durandal... You have to hold out for a while—reinforcements are on the way!"
Grabbing the Oath of Judah from nearby, Theresa donned her Valkyrie Battlesuit and rushed toward the area on the Schicksal Floating Island where the explosions were most frequent—
"Hurry up and contact Miss Kyuusyou!"
The Adjutant, watching Theresa charge toward the battlefield without looking back, shouted to the nearby communications officer—
-
"Well? Did you get through?!"
The Adjutant watched the communications officer nervously, hoping to hear some good news.
"The interference is too severe... We only briefly connected with Miss Kyuusyou's transport... The pilot reported that Miss Houraiji Kyuusyou thought the plane was flying too slowly, so she jumped out and vanished in a flash..."
"The transport has now rendezvoused with the Hermes, and we've briefly briefed the pilot on the current situation."
"The Valkyries on the Hermes should be heading here at full speed."
"How long will that take?!"
The Adjutant asked urgently, watching the distant battlefield as the sky gradually became a chaotic scene of demons dancing wildly.
"Based on our last contact, it should take about five more minutes..."
"Five minutes... That should be enough!"
Hearing the good news, the Adjutant finally breathed a sigh of relief... only to be startled out of her wits by the Knight Princess who suddenly appeared right in front of her face.
"Waaaaah—!"
"Wait... Kiana?"
The Adjutant stared in shock at the person who had just emerged from the void.
"Oh, it's you, Adjutant sister... Never mind that, where's my auntie?"
"Overseer Theresa is already heading to the battlefield with the Oath of Judah. Kiana, if you're going to help, you'd better hurry!"
"Got it!"