WHIRR–!
Such a sound came from the cannon, and Bronya, who had fired the cannon, felt it didn't hit; rather, it hit. However, it wasn't her target the cannon had it.
True to her thoughts, by the time the smoke would clear, the area around the elevator side came out unscathed.
"How... An anti-matter shield?"
Seeing a luminal barrier in front of the elevator, she deduced.
However, "Unfortunately, wrong guess, brat," Luminous walked amidst the smoke, her left hand on her waist as she did.
Then, she threw a glance at her companion. "And you, I don't know what's up with you, but be serious, would you?"
Laurel, who was now left alone, watching Luminous take action, blinked at her before letting out a sigh. It's true; even if he was significantly stronger than his opponent, he should be distracted when facing his opponent.
But now. "Thank you, Luminous. But she, Bronya Zaychik, keep her alive."
"One word."
"Necessary."
"Haah. I understand." Luminous sighed before refocusing back on Bronya, her left hand forward in a motion that told Bronya to try her best.
As soon as Luminous did that, Bronya didn't hesitate, immediately pulling out a handgun and firing it at Luminous, who simply stood.
Yet oddly, the bullets stopped right in front of Luminous. Which made Bronya's eyes widen before almost immediately resuming combat.
A Honkai shield?
No. It couldn't be that; she couldn't sense Honkai energy behind that barrier, whatever it was.
Again, Bronya fired a series of rapid shots, with the muzzle flash lighting up the narrow hallway in bursts, yet Luminous didn't move from her position.
Her hand casually waved to the side, generating a ripple as each shot disintegrated against her barrier.
'...Again, what is that...'
Bronya ducked low, before rolling to reposition herself mid-slide to the opposite side, firing another burst at a downward angle.
The walls acted as a form of ricochet, along with the dust that spread, clouding Luminous's line of sight, at least, that was the intention.
But Luminous simply stepped forward to even catch the bullets before they could hit the elegant noble-like lady.
Who the heck was she?
'A valkyrie?'
Plausible. After all, with this amount of skill, this woman can become a valkyrie. But the fact that she didn't sense the faintest trace of Honkai in her made her question herself.
"Nngh."
Bronya let out a soft voice in annoyance, switching to dual pistols, pulling them from holsters from the strap tied to a strap on her thighs.
With pinpoint accuracy, she fired a volley aimed at Luminous's joints—knees, shoulders, elbows, legs, and arms.
Yet again, Luminous's hands swept across the air like she was brushing away dust. Every bullet stopped midair before clattering to the floor harmlessly.
"Tsk—!"
Bronya clicked her tongue and launched a pulse grenade. The brief flash of light masked her approach towards Luminous.
Grabbing a combat knife from her thigh. She charged once more, this time faster, to aim for her throat.
However, CLACK!
Luminous had grabbed hold of Bronya's arms, inches before the knife could even touch her neck, leaving Bronya wide-eyed at the turn of events.
Then—SLAM.
She hit the ground so hard it knocked the air clean out of her lungs.
Pain cracked through her spine as tiles shattered beneath her. Her blade spun out across the floor, ringing against concrete.
She groaned, blinking through the white static in her vision.
"Cough... cough..."
What just happened? The assassin tried to reason it. However, her head kept swirling from the dizziness and the impact.
"... How pitiful. A child like you who is supposed to be living a peaceful life. Yet, you're here..."
Having spent a few hours here, she'd come to see how peaceful this world was. At least, even though it was on the surface, she could tell that things were peaceful at some levels.
Girls, children are made to fight. If it were her world, it is quite understandable to some certain extent. No, it is the same...
Her world and this world. Hence, why she said pitiful.
"What would you know!?"
Bronya asked that, snarling at her; however, Laurel had come near her, who was still pinned against the ground by Luminous.
"Say, Bronya, where is Cocolia?"
How did he know her name? She wanted to ask him that; however, that isn't the question she should be asking.
Enemies can acquire information about other enemies, so she wasn't going to ask nor answer his question.
Then again, as though to shake her resolve, "X-10 experiment was it... Do you really think that's the answer to saving her?"
Bronya's eyes twitched before she suddenly started struggling. Of course, she couldn't shake Luminous off her, but Luminous still felt her struggle.
"What do you know? How did you know?"
Laurel, seeing her shaken expression, smiled lightly. "I know most things I should know about, and I can sort of guess your next question."
Can he save Seele?
Well, it can go two ways. Honestly, if Luminous could locate the Sea of Quanta, then sure. However, it seems like none of them possess inter-dimensional powers; hence, it would kind of be hard.
But if he could go there, then sure, he could. What better way to put it for Bronya to back down?
"...Even without the X-10 Project succeeding... even without Cocolia's interference... you will eventually reunite with her."
"... And why should I trust you? Who even are you to say that?"
Her voice trembled, but her gaze didn't fall. She had stopped trying to get Luminous off her. That woman's grasp on her was too strong for her to lift.
"Third Honkai Eruption. Raiden Mei"
Mentioning that, Bronya flinched, her mouth hanging open. And even Luminous gazed over him with a threatening gaze, to which he raised both hands.
But slowly, Bronya closed her eyes.
"...If I tell you..." Her voice was low now, brittle. "...Promise me you won't hurt her—Matsuhka."
Laurel looked over Luminous, who now also closed her eyes before letting out an irritated look towards Laurel. Eventually, Luminous relented with a nod, making Laurel let out a wry smile.
"At the very least, we won't kill her... But she'd be in jail for this..."
"... I understand....."
Hearing those words from his mouth brought her relief; at the same time, it also brought her some level of sadness. But then, he'd promised.
"... She's in the basement. The lowest level of ME Corp. There's an elevator behind the archives—it'll take you there."
He turned to Luminous, who gave a small nod in response. Without another word, they started walking toward the end of the corridor.
But then—
"...Wait."
Bronya's voice came soft, almost unsure, as she pushed herself upright. She sat with her arms limply resting against her lap, staring at his back.
"...Who are you... really?"
Laurel paused. He looked over his shoulder and smiled—not arrogantly, but gently. "Laurel. My name's Laurel."
Bronya blinked. Her mouth barely moved as she repeated the name under her breath. "Laurel..."
- Lowest Level of ME Corp -
Since the explosion, it was safe to assume the security systems had been fully alerted.
The sound alone would've triggered the alarm protocols, and naturally, Laurel suspected that the surveillance had already picked up their faces.
That was precisely why he came with Luminous. Not just because both were powerful in their own right, but because they were bold enough to pull off something like this without hesitation.
Lux's speciality was more or less defence, hence his title, Weakest Undefeated.
If Bronya hadn't told them about the backdoor elevator that led directly to the lowest level, they would've had no choice but to bulldoze their way through the primary security corridors.
Though, truthfully, neither of them were particularly worried about it—it just would've been... noisier.
To prevent pursuit, Laurel had left a trail of sealed doors behind them, each one locked shut with layers of semi-permanent ice that'd take hours, if not days, to melt without specialized equipment.
As they "causally walked", their shoes echoed along the quiet, passage.
"So...? Speak, who's she?"
"Bronya Zaychik, one of the three most important people to this world's trajectory. I'm sure you know, but every individual is tied to another through threads of fate. Pull one... and the future changes."
Luminous hummed. "So that's why?"
He nodded.
"Since Mei has been cut off from her fate, Bronya Zaychik become one of the final two still bound to the main thread. If Bronya's thread is severed next... the imbalance could ripple catastrophically."
Sure, they might be able to fix the problem with Finality in the end, it still isn't worth the trouble to messing with this world to that extent.
In fact, by stepping to save Ryoma, they have inadvertently saved hundreds of thousands of people to millions of people, and thus, eliminating one of Mei's future regrets—Millions dying because of her.
"That's the case, huh...? I understand now."
By the time Luminous would say that, they were now in front of a bulkhead, in which Laurel kept his hand on.
Frost hissed and crackled across the metal surface as he slowed down the molecules that held the barrier together. With a gentle tap—
SHRACK—!!
The entire slab crumbled like fragile glass, then,
TATATATATATATATATA—!
Immediately as the bulkhead shattered, several bullets flew towards both, however, something bizarre happened.
Clearly, they were shooting him, who was in front of them, with no shield or protection, yet none of the bullets hit him.
It was inside a laboratory with many test tubes around and dim lighting with only a few glowing screens.
The ones firing at them were no soldiers, but men in white coats, lab workers brandishing firearms with trembling hands. Clearly, they had no combat training.
That is to say, Cocolia had been the one to give them the order.
Which by extension meant that the woman was no longer in the premises of the ME corp. "Captain. It's not working! Our bullets are having no effect!"
"Kuh!" "Gah!!"
In a blur of motion and silver light, the gunfire ceased. Luminous had weaved through them, while Laurel simply walked.
Within seconds, the lab was silent—every attacker incapacitated, none fatally, but all rendered unable to resist further.
"It's like you said, Laurel."
"That's why we positioned Lux and Mei outside wasn't it?"
Now in the empty laboratory, Laurel went to a nearby system terminal, operating it, then after a few second he let out a frown. Cocolia seemed to have disposed of files concerning anything relating to her.
She was smart, Laurel would give her that.
However,
At the same time.
More than 500 meters away from ME Corp.
In a sleek, black limousine cutting through the streets toward the motorway, Cocolia sat with crossed legs, a calm smile on her face.
Her blonde hair was neatly tucked behind her ears, military-styled attire impeccable, and in her hand was a smooth dial-like control.
"...So HQ finally decided to sniff around," she muttered to herself. "Took them long enough."
Even if her little defense force failed, she had already initiated her contingency plans.
With Bronya's abilities, Cocolia had always believed she'd survive, one way or another. That was enough. It gave her freedom to move forward. She would simply relocated and then, continue.
"All according to—"
"Madam Cocolia!! Enemy ahead—!"
Before Cocolia could finished, the voice of her driver suddenly came, followed by the vehicle's screech, and an intense shock that reverberated the car.
CRUNCH—!
Cocolia's personal drive which had already exited ME and was about to enter the main expressway.
Before that could happen, Lux had appeared in the middle of the road, his right hands stretched out as the car ran into him. Yet, instead of him getting severely injured, rather, it was the car's front frame that was destroyed instead.
And with that.
"So... You're Cocolia."
Raiden Mei, opening the back seat, came in contact with the woman with purple electric arc flashing in her eyes.
"Third Herrscher!"