Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

My name is Yukine Chris.

Starting today, in order to realize my dream, I will become a high school girl and strive to become an idol.

"Wait, something's not right!"

The morning after Zero and Finney reached an agreement, while Yukine Chris was brushing her teeth in the bathroom, she suddenly realized that something seemed wrong.

Why am I suddenly being asked to become an idol?

Ignoring the process and focusing solely on the result, Chris realized that becoming an idol was absolutely bizarre.

"Glug glug, plop."

Spitting out the mouthwash, Yukine Chris began to mentally recount what had happened yesterday...

...Then she realized that she felt dizzy yesterday and couldn't remember exactly how they had talked.

"Hmm, I have absolutely no idea what's going on. No, I can't just sit here and wait to die."

Spitting out the mouthwash, Chris began to mentally devise a plan to temporarily halt what sounded rather improbable.

It wasn't that she thought their plan was unreasonable, but she felt that she should at least be given one last chance to try.

If her string gain output returns to its original level after yesterday's events, then she won't have to do those things she's not good at.

"I have to work hard; I absolutely can't just accept becoming an idol for no reason."

Having set her goal and to avoid getting confused again like yesterday, Xueyin Chris opened the small door to the bathroom, preparing to put her idea into practice.

Soon, she arrived at the dining area and saw Finney and Zero talking to each other.

"Hey, wait a minute, let me try activating Durandal one more time. As long as I can maintain a stable output, I won't have to do those inexplicable things... Ugh-"

Without hesitation, Chris immediately began fighting for her freedom in her future work. She rushed towards the two people who were talking, and then... she made intimate contact between her neck and the scorching blade for the third time.

"So, my next task is to capture the existence of Case 1 of the Fusion Syndrome? I understand. I will make a plan and estimate that it will be completed in two to three weeks."

Standing in the living room, Lingyi held a knife to the memoryless guy beside her and said this to Finney.

"Yes, I believe in your abilities, Lingyi. I'll wait for good news, and then..."

Phine, sitting in the swivel chair, nodded, then turned her gaze to the white-haired girl in red who was sitting stiffly to the side, and sighed helplessly.

"Chris, do you really enjoy having a knife to your throat?"

Finney asked this question.

"This is the third time already. Next time, it won't be such a gentle warning."

At the same time, Zero also put away his Flash Blade and issued such a warning.

"I'm sorry, I was just in a bit of a rush..."

Still shaken, Chris touched her smooth neck, wanting to explain.

"Furthermore, I've already considered what you said, Chris. As long as you can successfully activate Durandal, you won't need to do the things we discussed before. Are there any other questions?"

But before Chris could finish speaking, Zero, who had no interest in hearing any explanation, interrupted her apology.

"Oh, that's all."

Faced with this scene, Chris's initial momentum vanished completely during her conversation with Zero, without even a chance to wane.

"Alright, in that case, Chris, you can try to activate Durandal later. For now, go have breakfast."

Lingyi continued, saying that, to be honest, she hoped Chris could just finish the startup, since no one likes to do unnecessary work.

"Okay, yes..."

Listen, Chris walked to the table where the dishes had already been set.

"Wait, why should I listen to you?"

As she ate, Chris suddenly realized that she couldn't just fall into the other person's rhythm like this. If she gave up thinking while doing so, it would be no different from yesterday.

"Hmm? So you're not planning to have breakfast? Okay, then let's get straight to work."

After glancing at the text on the screen, Lingyi paused for a moment, and then said this to Chris.

"Aww=【?印邻?〨疑奇四捂9是咎吧y/,u*e-已，Of course I'll eat, I just won't do whatever you say..."

As she spoke, Chris picked up her knife and fork as if in a fit of pique, eating while glancing at Zero's expressionless face.

......

Lingyi was somewhat confused. She believed that all her suggestions were reasonable, and she didn't understand why they would elicit a reaction from Chris.

But then, Lingyi stopped thinking about such trivial matters. Anyway, Chris didn't cause her any trouble in terms of actions, so she could just let the outcome of this ordinary verbal contest be whatever she wanted.

"Lingyi, these are the staff and armor I promised you yesterday."

While Chris was eating in peace, Finney handed the two relics that he had promised to Zero to Zero, who then accepted the two complete relics.

"By the way, don't you have any thoughts about this kind of Complete Relic? It's an extremely powerful Complete Relic, you know."

Finney asked casually.

"There's no need. I believe my Sky Blade won't lose to any fully-fledged artifact. Rather than increasing the number of artifacts that are difficult to fully control, I'm more interested in the technology on artifacts and developing my own Sky Blade."

After briefly confirming the condition of the artifacts, Zero said this, then opened the portal of the Battle Blade Machine and casually tossed the two artifacts inside.

"Furthermore, if I had that idea, I wouldn't have given you those complete relics."

That's true.

"Oh, speaking of which, Zero, since I've already given you my relic, could you lend me your Sky Blade so I can study it? After all, this is our last time working together."

Seeing the black and red blade that Zero always kept in her hand, Finney asked this question.

From the first time they met, she was very curious about Zero's special relic. This relic not only had the integrity of being brand new, but also had no record of it in history, which made her very eager to study it.

But in the past, when she made similar requests to Lingyi, the responses she received were always...

"If you want to die, just say so, Finney. If you want to study it, the only way is to experience it with your own body!"

Yes, that's it—a stern rejection laced with genuine murderous intent.

"Okay, okay, I understand."

Sensing the other party's unwavering resolve, Finney had no choice but to abandon his spur-of-the-moment plan.

Chapter Twenty-One: Preparation and Inquiry

Having handed over all the work to Lingyi, and feeling relieved, Finney drove away from the mansion in the car in her yard.

Lingyi also began preparing for various busy tasks. Although Finni did not set any time limits for her, she was still quite busy in order to make the subsequent actions more secure.

"The simplified three-dimensional detection system has been set up, and there are no major problems with the coordination between the alarm system and the detection system. After that, we should only need to set up some static trigger traps to ensure that we can prevent the situation where the lurking person gets close enough to be detected."

In Durandal's startup room, Chris was trying to start Durandal again, while Zero took the opportunity to summarize her work over the past two weeks and make plans for the future.

"Without compromising the secrecy, this level of work should be the limit; any further investment may have the opposite effect."

"Then, regarding capturing Fusion Case 1... Let's try a few infiltration reconnaissance missions first to see if we can gather any useful intelligence. What strategy we take after that will depend on the specific content of the intelligence we collect."

Lingyi thought that it was necessary to conduct thorough investigations before taking action. She did not believe that she possessed the power to ignore intelligence gaps, and that targeted preparations would make victory more secure.

"Hoo, hoo, Lingyi, how's it going? The string gain I generated, cough cough."

While Lingyi was deep in thought, as time passed, Chris had finished initiating her attempt on Durandal that day and began to ask her about the results.

After noticing Chris's words, Zero turned her attention to the instrument that was monitoring the progress of the artifact awakening.

"Unfortunately, although it's up about 20% year-over-year, it still hasn't reached your previous record average output, Chris."

Looking at the data on the screen, Zero mercilessly stated the outcome that was not favorable to Chris.

"How could this be!" Xueyin Chris exclaimed. "I've tried so hard, why is it still not working?"

Chris was somewhat unwilling, but there was nothing she could do. Whenever she immersed herself in singing, the worries she had been trying to forget would resurface in her mind. Under these circumstances, she simply couldn't concentrate all her energy on activating the relic.

“Some things can’t be overcome by effort alone, Chris,” Zero said. “Especially psychological problems like this. Even if you fully understand the abnormality in your heart, it will still be very difficult to overcome it.” 59

"That's why I proposed that solution. Compared to uncontrollable emotions, an overall atmosphere that can be bought with material things is relatively more stable and reliable."

With that, Lingyi turned off the tablet she was using for planning and said this.

"Also... I think I should remind you that you should take a shower after lunch and then get yourself ready to work."

Lingyi glanced at Chris's condition and said this.

Seemingly due to overexertion, coupled with the heat released during the awakening of the relic, Chris was now completely drenched in sweat, with water stains clearly visible on her red dress.

"Ha, what do you think I'm working so hard for? If I weren't always worried about what's going on with you, I wouldn't be doing this... this?"

Listening to Lingyi's words, Chris unconsciously complained. Then, as she spoke, she suddenly realized something: the cause of things becoming like this was none other than her own previous struggles.

If that's the case, wouldn't it be better to just ask the guy in front of her what happened to her and her parents after they left that place, instead of going through all this trouble?

"Am I an idiot? Now that I've discovered this, wait, no, it's because yesterday I was so confused by them and scared by Lingyi's knife that I didn't even think to ask."

Having figured this out, Chris stopped muttering to herself, turned her gaze to the blonde girl outside the glass curtain wall, and then quickly walked out.

"Hmm, what's wrong? Is something the matter? Or are you too tired to take a shower?"

Seeing Chris stop talking, then her expression change before she walked out with such a serious look, Lingyi asked in confusion.

“Whatever that matter is fine, what I want to know now is what Lingyi went through during the time I was away.”

Chris asked with a determined look in her eyes.

"...Hmm, I thought you didn't care."

Unexpectedly, Chris would ask such a question now. Zero paused briefly before saying this.

"It's all because of your incomprehensible conversation with Finney that I momentarily forgot about it. So what exactly happened?"

Chris asked while complaining.

"Nothing happened. I just grew up normally, like the heroes in the stories. I got the Holy Sword, fought my way up, and eventually grew to be this powerful now."

In response to Chris's question, Zero simply explained the reason why she had become the way she was.

"Don't joke around, it's definitely not that easy. I went to look for you afterward, but when I got to the orphanage where you lived, all I saw was ruins. I thought you were dead!"

Chris was naturally not satisfied with Zero's explanation that treated her like a fool.

She once lived in an orphanage because of her parents' work, and that's where she met Lingyi. But after her parents finished their work and left, she and Lingyi never saw each other again.

When she finally had time to visit, she found the place where she had once lived had been destroyed by some force into ruins.

Later, she learned from the authorities that a huge gas explosion had occurred there one day, killing everyone living there. She was heartbroken for a long time because of it.

"Hmm, so Chris, you went back and saw it. So, what do you think of my masterpiece?"

After hearing Chris say this, Zero paused for a moment, then smiled and said to Chris.

"Ah, yes, I'll go back and see... Ah, your masterpiece, what does it mean?"

Chris was momentarily stunned by Lingyi's words.

"What I mean is that the place that holds my immature past is one of my most satisfying masterpieces, which I destroyed with my own hands."

The blonde girl explained her meaning to Chris very seriously, while naturally, the white-haired girl in front of her showed a confused expression.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Truth and Lies

"Wait, wasn't that place destroyed by bad guys? Didn't you end up like this because you were caught in the crossfire and went through some really sad things?"

Upon hearing Lingyi's explanation, Chris reflexively asked this question, not understanding what Lingyi meant.

Because of her own experiences, and seeing Lingyi so unfamiliar, Chris felt that Lingyi had gone through something sad and painful to become like this.

“I never said that. That’s just your imagination. I was the one who destroyed it, and I have no regrets about it.”

Observing Chris's reaction, Zero continued to tell the truth.

"It's a lie, right? It's definitely a lie. What about them? What about those guys who trusted you all along? Now that you've survived, what about them?"

Chris asked, somewhat incredulously.

Since it was an orphanage, it was impossible for Lingyi to be the only one there. Many other orphans who had suffered from war were also taken in there, and in her memory, the girl in front of her had a very good relationship with those people.

"All I can say is that I have never considered them as friends, and their bodies have already been transformed into the power to activate this Flash Blade."

In response to Chris's question, Zero simply held up the black and red blade in front of Chris and said this.

"what?"