The tension was thick in the air as Cocolia and I stared at each other through the monitor.
Our eyes were cold, trying to grasp the slightest bit of weakness from each other's expression.
Off to the side, Mei gritted her teeth as she took a deep breath. A hint of violet crackled around her as they danced to the tune of her emotions.
However, I felt her glance at me for a moment as she remained silent.
Kiana also kept silent at this moment despite her clenched fists. Bronya on the other hand, had already moved to one of the computers at this time, frantically clicking the buttons as if trying to hack into its system.
"There is no point, my dear daughter…" There was a hint of spite in her tone. "I've already ensured that you won't be hacking your way to me anytime soon."
The gray haired girl ignored her but she soon clicked her tongue when the computer screen flashed a bright red.
"The Bronya is incapable of tracking down Matushka, Gojo. Matushka has disabled the computers."
"It's fine." I reassured her. "If she were that foolish, she wouldn't be in her current position now."
Bronya gave a nod in return. That however, seemed to cause a reaction from Cocolia.
"It seems that you all have been getting along quite well. I see that you're doing better than ever after leaving me, Bronya."
A relatively neutral choice of words given the circumstances, but it showed her slight crack in demeanour considering that the first person to fluctuate in their emotions tend to be on the back foot in a verbal standoff.
"The Bronya will not be an accomplice to Matushka's crimes." Bronya said firmly. "Matushka, please stop now. There is still time."
Cocolia went silent for a moment, before a sigh emerged from her lips.
"Bronya. You know that I have to do this. Seele is-"
"Do not bring up See-"
"Let me finish, Bronya." Cocolia interrupted with authority in her tone. "You should know better than to interrupt when someone is speaking."
"Teaching manners now? What's next, bedtime stories? Truly, mother of the year." I sneered. "Why don't you actually be truthful for once instead of hiding behind a veil of lies?"
She turned to me as she tried her best to regain her composure.
"Ah, we were initially in a conversation were we not? I apologise. Seems that my emotions got the better of me, along with my manners.."
"I understand. It tends to happen when the guilt of your sins start to catch up to you."
"As for a veil of lies…" Cocolia ignored my previous words. "You're one to talk considering you've somehow managed to sneak your way into the hearts of these little girls…"
"What can I say? I'm charming."
"Really? Or did you just swoop in at exactly the right time to comfort their broken hearts when they were down?"
The girls shifted slightly in discomfort when those words were spoken.
Oh…
I see where this is going.
She's trying to lay accusation after accusation on me now, even if it doesn't make sense.
It didn't even need to make complete sense. Some of them just needed to land the right way to break the unity of the team.
"Cocolia…" I sighed. "Friends help one another when they're down. They don't perform experiments on them to make up for their insecurities of their own strength."
Her voice caught in her throat.
It seems that those experiments really did weigh on her consciousness…
Good.
A smile appeared on my face.
It's not easy to lay accusations when your own conscience is stabbing at you isn't it, Cocolia?
"Y-you!" She all but shouted.
"Me."
I gave her a close eyed smile.
But that seemed to make her change her attention towards someone else once more as she realised that she couldn't win…
Not against me at least.
"Raiden Mei. How does it feel knowing that you caused your father's downfall?"
"Hey! This false accusation thing is getting kinda boring…" I yawned while standing a bit closer to Mei who had flinched slightly. "Don't you have any other tricks?"
"No tricks. Just the truth this time." Cocolia seemed to have an 'epiphany' as she laughed at Mei. "You don't know, don't you Mei?"
"W-what?"
"That Raiden Ryoma committed economic fraud…
For you."
"You-"
"Mei. Don't listen to anything she says. Her intentions are only to hurt you."
I cut in.
I can't let Cocolia get her way. She was an experienced old fox while Mei was just a teenager.
She would get led around by her nose at this rate.
Luckily, Mei calmed down when she heard my words as she relaxed with a deep breath.
That was dangerous.
I needed to tell Mei the truth about her father after this…
I really didn't want her to have to bear the crushing weight of the truth, but this was necessary.
She deserved to know.
But not now. This wasn't the time nor the place for a bombshell like that.
"Heh. It seems kids don't even hear the truth these days. But I suppose that a bit of… punishment to you little brats would be-"
The screen shut off suddenly.
Huh…Was that supposed to happen?
But I suddenly froze.
Epitaph showed me a future.
Poison?
No…
It was… Honkai energy?
And there was a lot of it!
"Guys!"
I immediately pulled them into my arms with Blue as I used my control over Honkai energy to wrap them in my Infinity.
I managed to shield them from most of the sudden burst of Honkai energy that came as I let out a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the danger wasn't over yet as the room suddenly exploded around us.
Dust filled the air as I stood there, swapping glances between the source of the attack and the girls.
My modified version of Infinity had protected us from the sudden attack.
Bronya and Mei seemed to be fine…
But Kiana…
She was holding her head in pain?
Was she affected by the Honkai energy?
But by my calculations, with the speed that I protected them at and the amount of resistance she had, there was no way it would affect her right?
Yet if that was the case, I would need to develop an adaptation as soon as I get rid of the threat in front of me.
The attacker let out a loud roar, blasting the debris and dust aside.
It was… a creature?
It stood at a height of 10m, making it a miracle that the skyscraper hadn't collapsed at the amount of damage it did.
However…
I could tell that it was much stronger than the Chariot Class that I fought back then despite them being around the same size.
"Subject Gojo. It appears to be an unknown Emperor Class Honkai Beast. Subduing this creature typically requires a lineup of A-rank Valkyries." Bronya said as she looked worriedly at Kiana.
Valkyries…
Superpowered girls who fought against Honkai…
"Gojo, will Kiana be okay?" Mei asked in fear.
"You guys check on her." I commanded quickly. "I'll deal with it."
I pointed a finger at the beast as a red light appeared on my finger.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red"
However, as I spoke those words, the red light slowly dissipated as I lost control over the technique.
My eyes widened.
Red…
It wasn't working?
(A/N: How was the chapter? Please give powerstones and comments!
This chapter was a bit hard to write ngl. I hope you guys like it.)