Despite knowing that Schicksal had already deployed Valkyries prior to their arrival, Alex certainly didn't expect both Durandal and Rita to be here let alone run into then so soon upon their entrance.

The boy was initially gonna walk up and introduce himself until he saw the four engaged in chatter as Mei and Durandal had a small chat while Rita and Raven simply stared at one another and talked, though it didn't take long until their conversation got a little to heated due to what happened between the two back at Arc City.

Alex sighed and just looked out to the large body of water that spanned all around the bridge they were on.

After a minute, he felt a tap on his shoulder as he turned and saw Durandal had approached him since Mei had went to make sure Rita and Raven didn't get physical with one another.

"Did you join the World Serpent too Alex?" Asked the S-Rank Valkyrie as Alex quickly shook his head no.

"Not willingly. That's as best as I can put it. It's a long story." Said the boy as Durandal nodded.

The two kept quiet for a moment until Alex spoke.

"I shouldn't be here. Mei shouldn't have ever joined the Serpent. None of this wouldn't have happened, if you had never taken Kiana from us back at Arc City. Nothing personal, but I hope you understand that I can't forgive you for that." Said the boy as Durandal simply smiled and nodded.

"No worries. I understand how you feel and you have a right to be that way." She said.

"Either way, I'll put that aside for now. Since we're gonna be partners for the meantime, I'll be willing to cooperate and work together for this mission." He said, holding a hand out.

Durandal would shake his hand in agreement as she smiled.

"I appreciate it." She said before the two ended the shake and walked back to the prior three as Durandal would get everyone's attention.

"Alright I'll go over what I've been told. According to our debriefing, us Schicksal Valkyries will guard and protect the outskirts to contain the Honkai and evacuate the survivors. Most importantly, it was said that you all will be fighting the Herrscher and for us to not interfere." She said as Mei nodded.

"Yes. Thank you." She said.

"The Herrscher's moving quickly to the center of the city. Get moving."

With that, the Serpent trio would head down the bridge towards a tunnel leading into the city as Durandal and Rita stayed behind to guard.

As the three entered the tunnel, a decent amount of Honkai Beasts occupied the space but they were swiftly taken down.

One thing Alex noticed was how now that his left arm was infected, it had a faint reaction whenever he was near anything giving of Honkai energy, almost as if it was a sensor that detected it.

It didn't necessarily hurt or give him any pain but the arm did feel a bit twitchy whenever it happened.

Once the hoardes were taken care off, the trio were near the end of the tunnel, a bright light enveloping it.

"Heads up. A colleague of ours will be meeting up with us soon." Said Raven.

Soon enough, they exited the tunnel and were now within the city district of Coral as what Alex saw shocked him.

Not only was the city left in ruins, but the ground was completely frozen over in ice not to mention that the air became extremely frigid compared to before as cold winds blew into their faces.

It was so cold that Alex could visibly see his own breath as he breathed into and rubbed his hands together to keep them warm as Mei would turn to face Raven.

"Where's our contact?" She asked.

"Right over there." Said Raven pointing off in a direction.

Alex and Mei would hear light footsteps approach them as they turned to see who Raven was pointing at.

It was a boy with light grey hair with silver streaks , light blue eyes, and bags around his eyes giving him a rather tired and sleep deprived look as his outfit mainly consisted of black and dark red.

"You sure took your time." Said the boy.

"My apologies. Ran into an old acquaintance and felt the need to say hi." Said Raven as the boy sighed.

"You mean that S-Rank Valkyrie again? Why'd you provoke her? What're you even trying to achieve?"

The boy immediately shrugged that off, not wanting to understand Raven any further as he turned his attention to Alex and Mei.

"Anyways, I'm a World Serpent officer. Codename, Owl. It's a pleasure to meet you two. I'll be assisting you all on this mission." He said.

"We don't need any assistance." Bluntly said Mei as the boy now known as Owl was initially caught off guard by her quick remark but he'd just shrug it off.

"Oh, that's great. Less work for me.............take care of the Herrscher then. I'll be off." Said Owl, holding a slight smirk on his face though was met with a glare from Mei and Raven brandishing her claws as a threat in response.

"Geez. It was just a joke." Said Owl, awkwardly scratching the back of his head as Alex approached and shook his hand.

"Don't mind the purple hack. She's just got a massive stick up her ass." Said Alex.

This would receive a rather faint gasp from Mei as Raven held in a quiet snicker.

Owl just chuckled a bit as he shook Alex's hand as well. "At least someone can lighten the mood."

"Nice to meet you. Name's Alex."

Once getting over it, Raven would clear her throat getting the two's attention.

"Owl here is a professional in data mining and covert operations. As he stated, he'll indeed be helping us on today's mission. He may look like he's on the verge of passing out, but he's one of the best operatives we have." She said.

"Alex Mustang, Mei Raiden, we've confirmed that this eruption has indeed given birth to the 5th Herrscher. I prepared a weapon given to me by Jackal. In her words, it'll be very effective. Defeat it and we'll have a good chance to capture it." Said Owl.

Mei simply nodded and only said the word, Understood, as she began walking towards the city's center as the three watched.

"Hey. Isn't she that Herrscher of Thunder that the Sire mentioned? She doesn't look or sound mentally there. You sure she can handle it?" Owl asked.

"Don't worry. Like us, she has every reason to fight." Responded Raven.

Owl would nod before looking at Alex.

"What about you kid? This definitely doesn't look like something you could handle either."

"Well, I didn't wanna be here to begin with but things didn't play out in my favor." Said Alex.

"Don't underestimate the kid. He learned a lot from me. He can definitely handle his own weight." Said Raven as Owl looked back at her.

"Seriously he learned after you? Man. That's quite concerning." He said, once again with a small smirk.

Raven once more would brandish her claws as a threat.

Owl just sighed and proceeded to wall on ahead with Alex and Raven following suit as the three began to catch up with Mei.

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Chapter 3: Complete