newbobooks Chapter 413 What should I call you?
Chapter 413 What should I call you?
Seele's fingers nervously twisted the hem of her skirt as she stood by the "Lamp" cashier's counter, looking pitifully at the shop owner, Lamp, who was clearing away the last empty plate—Saint Freya was on holiday, so she was particularly free today, with no other customers in the shop besides Seele.
"Manager sister..."
Seele's voice was barely audible, tinged with fear. The lamp put down the plate in its hand, looked up, and saw Seele's expressionless face.
"Is there anything else you need, sir?"
A moment later, Seele mustered her courage.
"Shopkeeper, I'm Seele, Seele Freya..."
"I recognize you. Just say what you have to say."
Saffra interrupted Seele's subsequent self-introduction; her memory was still quite good—at least she remembered the people in Qiong's social circle.
"Manager, Xier would like to work here, is that alright?"
The lamp paused slightly, then looked Xi'er up and down.
"You...aren't you a Valkyrie in training? Why are you working part-time?"
According to Song Que and Bai Ji, St. Freya doesn't charge tuition and even gives her a stipend, so how could this girl be short of money?
If she were to work herself to the bone while doing odd jobs, wouldn't she end up like she was back then?
"Shopkeeper, if possible, I'll take it for free! Could you teach me how to make cakes?"
Saffra stopped what she was doing and carefully examined the girl who possessed a gentle temperament that seemed somewhat incongruous with her Valkyrie identity.
"You want to learn how to bake cakes?"
Seele nodded gently.
"Yes, I'd like to try making some for Bronya, and... Qiong and everyone else. Everyone has always taken such good care of Seele, and Seele wants to repay them—everyone loves your cakes!"
It sounded like this "everyone" included Qiong, which made Ms. Safray feel a little smug... However, she had to refuse this girl who looked like a blueberry cupcake.
As the old saying goes, "Teach your apprentice, and you'll starve." If it were Xing or another girl Qiong wasn't very familiar with today, Deng might actually have accepted her, but since she explicitly said she wanted to be with Qiong...
What should she do then?
Just before the lamp could speak to Seele, an accident occurred.
BOOM! ! !
A massive explosion came without warning from outside the window, the shockwave rattling the glass and shaking the dessert shop. Startled by the sudden noise, Seele flinched. Saffra instinctively turned to grab something, but quickly changed her mind, turning back to look out the window at the street: thick smoke rose from St. Freya not far away, and the faint sounds of sirens and the clamor of voices could be heard.
"What's going on now? Aren't those kids all on vacation? Can't a person get any sleep?!"
When the first explosion came from outside the window, Donegal, who was lying in the corner, thought it was another mishap or accident during the training of those young trainee Valkyries—this had happened twice before, but this academy was rather special.
But this time is different.
The second and third explosions followed in quick succession, shattering all the glass in the shop windows.
"Wang!"
"what--"
It wasn't until the series of explosions occurred that Donegal realized the gravity of the situation. Abandoning its previous lazy demeanor, it leaped onto the cash register. Unlike the nervous dog and the bewildered girl, Shafulai's reaction was unusually calm. Her gaze barely changed; she simply raised a hand to steady a nearly tipped-over can on the counter, then slightly tilted her ear, seemingly trying to discern the location and nature of the explosions.
“A series of explosions? No, that’s not right… Donegal, take care of her.”
Bypassing Seele, who was at a loss for what to do out of fear, the lamp saw the two men through the now-gone window of the coffee shop. One of them was a man with glasses—it seemed to be Walter, the teacher who was being talked about by the girls and had a good relationship with Sora.
Opposite him, a figure resembling the form of a white magic doll stood at the academy gate, everything around him seemingly frozen in place by his presence. He raised his hand, the world fell silent for a moment, and then the black hole unleashed by Welt, who was confronting him, was once again shattered by his presence…
The lamp saw Walter speaking into the communicator, his voice drowned out by another round of explosions, but the lamp could still see his lips moving, and the black spheres in his hands beginning to spin, faster and faster…
Some of the black spheres scattered across the sky, one of which landed in front of her shop—it didn't explode, but instead transformed into... a mecha after a series of unpleasant noises?
Both the man and the dog fell silent. They couldn't figure out what had happened. The only thing Lantern was certain of was that the mecha Walter had transformed from a black ball he'd shaped by hand didn't resemble any other Destiny equipment she'd ever seen. It was more like…
The anti-entropy mech I dismantled in Changkong City.
"That's... him? Donegal, what do you think?"
Of course, the mecha isn't important! What's important is the person confronting Welt; that silhouette, hair, and eye color are almost identical to his, but the aura is completely different...
"what?"
Donegal had barely stepped forward when Walter transformed into a black comet, hurtling towards the "Dome," leaving the remaining black spheres trailing distorted trajectories behind him. Space itself seemed to groan; streetlights bent, the ground cracked, while the "Dome" simply stood there, a greatsword of ice now in its hand.
"Uncle Yang! And... Brother Qiong—no, Kevin?"
BOOM!
Before Seele could finish speaking, at the moment of their collision, a shockwave spread out from them, knocking down St. Freya's walls, overturning surrounding vehicles, and then reaching the mechs guarding the entrance to the lamp shop...
The door frame was cracked, but the two people and the dog were leaning tightly against the cashier, and with a mecha guarding the entrance, the place did not collapse.
When they reopened their eyes, they saw Walter kneeling on one knee, his glasses broken and blood trickling from his mouth. The man Seele called "Kevin" took a few steps back, his clothes disheveled, his weapon missing half... and that was all.
“Kevin… Uncle Yang…”
Seele whispered in disbelief, her face turning pale.
"Those mechs are... no, their target..."
Just then, a heavily distorted electronic voice, carrying a chilling threat, reached their ears, drowning out the sound of the explosion.
"Announce to all members of the Far East Branch of Destiny: Abandon futile resistance! Surrender the Heavenly Fire Judgment! Repeat, surrender the Heavenly Fire Judgment! Otherwise, this branch of Destiny will become history today!"
Hearing the incomprehensible news, Deng frowned: Heavenly Fire Judgment? What is that?
No matter what, if they demolish her shop, she'll never let them off the hook!
"Manager, please take care of yourself! Seele needs to go out and rescue—"
Let's go together.
The lamp didn't look at Seele, who seemed a little scared. Its gaze was fixed on the chaotic battlefield outside the window, and its voice was a little angrier than before.
"We'll talk about the rest later."
Saffron found it somewhat comical; the usually most delicate blueberry cupcake had now summoned a scythe, while the most timid dog beside her, threatening and grumpy from being woken up, was already baring its teeth, waiting for her command to rush out and bite.
She took one last look at the guy impersonating Qiong—she wanted to ask him who gave him that face to do what he did to her shop.
Deng quickly walked behind the cashier and took out a toolbox that she hadn't used in a while. Inside the box were two well-maintained old-fashioned crossbows and several specially made arrows that shimmered with a faint blue light—long ago, they were the partners of "Broken" who could kill gods and Buddhas alike.
The lamp took them out and assembled each part faster than the Valkyrie St. Freya loading bullets into a pistol—good, now it's time to demand an explanation.
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As one fortune teller who wished to remain anonymous said, the sky won't fall down. Even if it does, there will be a tall person like the Grand Diviner, who is "not tall but has the ability to reach the sky," to hold it up.
As the most experienced and probably the oldest man in St. Freya (though not actually), Walter considered himself the tall, responsible man who would stand tall. Therefore, he took on everything and prepared to fight to the death with a death wish.
“Kevin! If you want to turn this place into scorched earth, you’ll have to step over my dead body first, and—”
Kevin, with a cold expression, intended to show that he meant no harm, but then he thought that he might as well take this opportunity to test the limits of the First Herrscher. Therefore, he neither denied nor acted, and watched as Welt placed the mimicry mechs in various places.
"Step over these weapons that are absolutely indestructible as long as I don't stop thinking!"
Om-!
Centered on Walter, the dark red light spread wildly, covering an area even wider than Kevin's extreme cold, instantly dyeing a large area near the entrance of St. Freya Academy red.
Then, under Kevin's watchful eye, Walter conjured up all sorts of mechs into the real world out of thin air—if it weren't for prioritizing the protection of St. Freya, he could have even created the Moon Throne by hand.
Then, in Kevin's eyes, the Herrscher of Reason charged forward at the cost of physical injury, only to be met head-on by his hand-forged greatsword...
Without a doubt, the crazed Herrscher of Reason fell, but even though he could barely stand, he still thought of attacking me.
Kevin turned around, looked at the broken ice sword in his hand, and then at Walter. There was no anger or contempt in his eyes, only a sense of weariness.
"You can't protect everyone, Herrscher of Reason."
"But I believe I can protect this place!"
The expected answer; even with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, this severely wounded Herrscher continued to fight for what he was protecting…
"You are a respectable warrior, but Herrscher of Reason, battle is not just about head-on confrontation."
Kevin glanced at the scene and saw that most of the mechs that Walter had conjured were engaged in the battle to help the Valkyrie... Coupled with his spirit of resistance against a powerful enemy, his will was truly strong.
If only we could be a little more "rational".
Back to the present, because Welt neither admitted defeat nor retreated, Kevin was momentarily caught in a dilemma: should he continue to let the Herrscher of Reason resist and test his limits, or should he choose to protect his broken body, knock him unconscious, send him to the ICU, and then forcibly take him to the afterlife?
Let's try again, after all, Herrschers aren't that easy to kill...
Kevin's plan was set: the broken piece of ice sword was about to fly toward Welt's throat—at worst, his trachea would be severed, which wouldn't be fatal for a Herrscher.
"Let go of Uncle Yang!"
The girl's voice came from beside his ear, and he recognized the owner of that voice. Kevin glanced sideways.
However, before he could even see the girl, he saw a dark blue arrow pierce through the air, accurately striking the ice sword shard and piercing it, leaving a pea-sized hole.
Kevin & Walter: ?
Behind the broken door of the dessert shop, an unexpected scene unfolded: a frail blue-haired girl, wielding a monstrous scythe, stood guard before Qiong, her eyes filled with anger and fear as she shouted at Kevin, the main villain; beside her, a small black dog with bared teeth and wings barked incessantly at Kevin; and a woman with fluorescent hair, expressionless, wielding a strangely designed rapid-fire crossbow.