Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

Holding Durandal tightly, Hibiki Tachibana made a solemn promise, and then, just a few seconds after transforming, Durandal in her hand activated on its own, and Hibiki Tachibana entered a berserk state.

"Ah, as expected, the overly powerful artifact awakening waveform caused the artifact fragments within her to move, making it even more difficult for her to control her power than usual."

Lingyi had already foreseen this, and soon after, the security control procedures she had set up in advance were activated.

Finney used the Bronze Serpent Armor to restrict Tachibana Hibiki's movements and launched three electrifying Black Widow Anchors from three Warblade Teleportation Gates.

At the same time, Zero also stepped forward, first using Flash Blade to knock Durandal off Tachibana Hibiki's hand, then turning around and injecting the inhibitor into his chest from behind.

Everything went very smoothly. Tachibana Hibiki collapsed, and Durandal also completed the activation. With Zero's excellent safety measures in place, everything proceeded very smoothly.

However, Chris, who watched the whole thing, felt a little uneasy for some reason.

P.S. Ah, let's speed up the pace a bit.

P.S. Good morning.

Chapter 143 The Changing Direction

Ah, this truly brings me so much joy.

Finnie, leaning back in her office chair and having brewed a cup of black tea, felt wonderful.

The precious and intact Durandal, the key generator, has been activated.

[Kadingil was also about to be completed after that minister was ousted in a political struggle.]

My beautiful body has completed its fusion with the snake armor, gaining power sufficient to dominate humans.

Ah, this is truly a wonderful moment, I've never had such a beautiful time.

As Finney counted all that he had now, everything was in place, and an overwhelming joy welled up inside him once again.

"...No, calm down, don't get too excited too soon."

Despite her strong urge to let loose, Finney managed to control her emotions for the time being.

"The closer we get to our goal, the more careful we must be. We must never experience the despair of losing everything we've worked so hard for again."

As if she had thought of something, Finnie's eyes hardened slightly, and then she dialed Zero's contact number.

click

Shortly after receiving the communication, Zero opened the door and came to Finney's side.

"What's wrong? What do you need me for? Do you have a new job? If so, what is it?"

Looking at the woman leaning back in her office chair, Lingyi quickly asked.

"Honestly, do I look like the kind of boss who only adds pressure to you? Well, I am. So there's something new I need you to do, Rei."

Under the gaze of Zero Inorganic, Finney made this statement without hesitation, while calmly taking a sip of the red tea in his hand.

"So, what is it?"

Ignoring Finney's words and actions, Lingyi simply asked calmly.

"Well, it's not a big deal, it's just that my plan has now reached a critical moment."

"Therefore, in order to make the plan more secure, I need you, Lingyi, to keep an eye on those stray dogs who only care about their own interests and prevent them from affecting my plan."

Setting down her tea, Finney revealed the work she wanted Lingyi to do.

She was very confident in Lingyi, confident that the other party would stop her once she understood her purpose. Therefore, before the plan was truly completed, she wanted to place the other party in a place where she could not interfere with her.

"So you're asking me to guard against your collaborators betraying you? Indeed, the politicians in that country aren't very good at interpersonal relationships."

Lingyi didn't feel there was anything unreasonable about it, after all, she knew very well what the politicians of that country were like.

"So I'll have to ask you to go back to America first. Don't worry, I'll prepare the reward I promised you."

With a smile on her face, Finney acknowledged Zero's understanding.

"Are you sure there's nothing else to explain?"

Lingyi checked it again as usual.

"No, this is all the work left, and this should be the last one."

After a brief moment's thought, Finney indicated that there was none left.

"Okay, after I complete the defense handover, I'll probably depart tomorrow. If there's nothing else, I'll go and make preparations."

Seeing this, Lingyi didn't waste any more words. After agreeing to the new task, she turned and left the room.

......

*Thud thud thud thud thud! Thud! Thud!*

In the training ground, Chris focused on attacking the virtual targets with her magic bow, training diligently.

After the Bronze Serpent Armor was fused with Finni, whether Chris liked it or not, her only regular combat weapon was the Magic Bow.

[丰L彳二七办句一飞九世]

[滅y!?Delete&Delete!寸办一飞办石]

Wearing the magic bow, Chris fired shot after shot through the bonus targets among the moving red and blue targets in the simulation training, while dodging the collisions of bullets that would cause point deductions.

[Faster, faster to detect the approaching attack, faster to shoot down those targets—I can do even better.]

As time went on, Chris grew increasingly anxious, constantly moving the machine gun in her hand, piercing through the targets that appeared in the air one by one.

[Time's up! 3, 2, 1... *beep* Time's up! This training session's error rate... correct hit rate... hit chance... settlement complete. Your rating for this training phase is B-. Welcome to the next challenge!]

Finally, accompanied by a penetrating notification sound, the effects in the virtual training room completely disappeared, leaving only a projection screen floating in front of Chris.

"Ha...ha...ugh, damn it, it's still not good enough, I can't even reach my best in training."

The virtual screen appeared, and Chris removed her armor, panting heavily as she recovered the strength she had lost during training.

[Damn it... How did that guy do it so easily? He did something I couldn't even do.]

Lying on the ground, covered in a cold sweat, Chris clenched her fists and thought angrily.

Lately, she has felt that many things are not going her way. She is always unable to complete the tasks assigned to her perfectly, while the things she cannot do are always easily accomplished by others.

This sense of loss made Chris very uneasy. If things continued like this, she was afraid that she, who was useless, would be abandoned.

"What should I do? How can I become stronger..."

Lying on the ground, Chris felt this desire.

“This kind of training is ineffective.”

Just as Chris was resting, a familiar voice sounded from the side, and at the same time, a glass of water was handed to Chris.

"Glug glug, thank you, Lingyi, I understand, but I just can't stand myself like this."

Chris sat up, took the water glass, drank for a moment, and then looked at the person next to her, Lingyi, who had arrived at some point.

"What's the meaning?"

Zero didn't understand what Chris was thinking.

"Isn't it useless of me? I either fail to complete the tasks assigned to me or botch them. Even Durandal was only able to start up because of that fusion case."

The long-standing anxiety accumulated over time and finally erupted in Chris's heart when Tachibana Hibiki successfully activated Durandal, plunging her into a state of self-pity from which she could not extricate herself.

"I don't quite understand why you think that way, but..."

Seeing the girl lying on the ground wall ...

"I'm sorry, Chris, I don't have time to talk to you about this right now. I came here to talk to you about something."

"I will be leaving temporarily for work in another city tomorrow or the day after, and I need to hand over the defense of this outpost to you."

"Since you still have the energy to waste your will here, then let's get to the handover tonight."

After helping Chris up, Zero spoke directly to Chris in this way.

P.S. Good evening.

Chapter 144 Malicious Leakage

[You just left like that?]

Looking at the defense information summary on the terminal in front of her, Chris realized that Zero had really left.

After pulling her out of the training field, Lingyi forcibly instilled in her a great deal of knowledge about operating the defense system and handed her a lot of things.

The moment after doing all this, Lingyi left the mansion without much hesitation, just as she had when she arrived, to carry out the task Finney had requested.

Things are moving too fast. Chris has thought that Zero, who came here as an employee, will one day leave.

However, when that day actually came, Chris was not prepared, and even now, she still feels a sense of loss.

[Phew... This is normal, nothing to worry about. I didn't intend for her to stay with me any longer.]

Chris began to hypnotize herself to alleviate her anxiety.

Ah, I understand. She's always very busy, so it's a low-probability event that she could stay here. Therefore, this is quite reasonable.

Since she's assigned these tasks to me, what I should do now is to do these tasks well. Yes, that's what I should be doing right now.

Soon, after a few minutes of self-persuasion, Chris managed to calm her slightly agitated mood.

"Okay, then let's go put that idiot back first."

Immediately afterward, Chris, now in the zone, began preparing to handle the tasks Zero had assigned her.

Before leaving, while Lingyi was imparting knowledge about the defense system to her, she had to hurry to the United States to complete Finney's work, so she handed over the task of bringing Tachibana Hibiki out of the defense zone to Chris.

"That's great! At least I don't have to put up with that annoying idiot anymore."

This job was one of the few that Chris was relatively happy with; she had been annoyed by that flaxen-colored thing dangling in front of her for a long time.

"What's wrong, Chris-chan? Is something the matter?"

Soon, Chris, with a purpose in mind, found Tachibana Hibiki wandering aimlessly in the yard.

"You jerk, how many times have I told you not to call me that affectionately? We're not that close!"

As soon as Tachibana Hibiki opened her mouth, it quickly ignited a nameless fire in Chris's heart, and she couldn't help but punch Tachibana Hibiki while talking to her.

"Hmm, but if we're not close, then wouldn't it be better to become close? I just want to get along well with you, Chris-chan."

"If everyone can understand each other and build good relationships, then there will be no need to fight anymore."

Covering her head and sobbing, Tachibana Hibiki said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"That's why I hate you so much... Hmph, whatever, anyway, after today, we'll be enemies if we meet again."

Chris said this with resentment, but her expression also held a hint of anticipation.

"Why?"

Hibiki Tachibana asked, not quite understanding.

"Because you're no longer of any use, I came here today just to let you out, you idiot."

"Yi Ming Yi? Wu Jiu Shi} Jiu=Chris replied immediately, and at the same time picked up the terminal in her hand and pressed a few buttons as Zero Yi had instructed."

The next moment, the safety collar binding Tachibana Hibiki's neck clicked and automatically released itself.

"So, Chris-chan, you're going to let me leave?"

Hibiki Tachibana understood what Chris meant.

"Yes, that's right. This is what Lingyi told me. Do you have anything else to do? If not, I'll just send you away."

Chris replied and urged, not wanting to look at this guy any longer.

"Ah, yes, yes, Lingyi-chan left me some things, I put them in my room, I'll go get them now."

Faced with Chris's urging, Tachibana Hibiki nodded like a chick pecking at rice, then turned and ran off.

[Hmph, all they talk about is understanding each other and building good relationships. Such naive ideas won't stop the fighting. The only way to stop it is to use force to extinguish the flames of conflict.]

Watching Hibiki Tachibana's departing figure, Chris couldn't help but recall the views that Hibiki always mentioned, and her heart grew even more irritated.

"Hopefully this guy can hurry up... Hmm, wait, what's that?"

After Hibiki Tachibana left, Chris was waiting idly when she caught a glimpse of Finney on the wooden bridge over the lake, seemingly enjoying the morning breeze.

"Phineas"

Seeing this, Chris instinctively followed Finney to her side, as she had some questions she wanted to ask Finney.