Time in a collapsing world

Chapter 1293 Departure and Mission

"Don't be afraid, look at your sister."

Vita knelt down and gently stroked the hair of each little Vita, her voice gentle yet firm, even to herself, “We’re leaving here. To a place… perhaps not so safe, but at least where we can decide our own direction.”

She concentrated all her energy and actively opened her consciousness, like a dried-up sponge, and began to frantically absorb and contain that pure and restless energy.

Immediately afterwards, her body began to undergo a dramatic transformation. Her petite figure expanded and stretched as if inflated, her skin covered with a hard layer of keratin and scales. Her limbs transformed into strong and powerful beast-like limbs, her back arched, and a pair of enormous wings, composed of a mixture of pure energy and matter, tore through her clothing and stretched out, each feather shimmering with starlight.

In the blink of an eye, the gentle "older sister" disappeared, replaced by a giant beast that was over fifty meters long, exuding powerful and unstable energy fluctuations, and possessing both beauty and majesty!

The behemoth lowered its head, its enormous eyes looking at the seven stunned, tiny sisters on the ground, its gaze still gentle.

It emitted a deep, soothing hum, drooping its massive head and broad back.

The little Vitas instantly understood what their sister meant. Without hesitation, they scrambled up the giant beast's warm and sturdy back, clinging tightly to the relatively soft fur and protruding bony plates.

With the last sister safely on its back, the giant beast—Vita—let out a clear and long roar that pierced through the thin atmosphere and echoed above the crumbling ruins of the world, as if bidding farewell to the past and proclaiming the future.

With powerful hind legs pushing off the ground, the powerful wings suddenly flapped!

boom--! ! !

The violent airflow blew away the surrounding rocks and crystals. The giant beast, carrying its small "world," transformed into a streak of purple-gold light, broke through the planet's thin atmosphere, escaped the shattering gravitational pull, and plunged headlong into the cold and vast sea of ​​stars.

Behind them, the planet that had once been their home, stretched to its limit by the conflicting forces of multiple rules, finally exploded silently, turning into a slowly spreading cloud of dust and debris.

……

In St. Freya Academy, afternoon sunlight streamed through the glass windows, casting warm dappled patterns on the corridor. The school bell rang melodiously, and students poured out of their classrooms in twos and threes, instantly filling the space with laughter and chatter.

However, for Kiana Kaslana and Raiden Mei, this "daily life" is always accompanied by a lingering, subtle sense of "unusualness".

"Ah—finally get out of class is over!" Kiana stretched lazily, her long silver hair bouncing in the sunlight. "Mei, we don't have class this afternoon, let's go to that new dessert shop in the shopping district?"

Mei closed her book, her amethyst eyes filled with her usual gentle smile, yet also concealing a hint of barely perceptible worry. She nodded slightly: "Okay. But before that, Kiana, shouldn't you finish your practical lesson report from yesterday? Himeko-sensei asked me about it this morning."

"Eh—!" Kiana's face instantly fell. "Um...we'll talk about that later! There are still several days until the deadline!" She quickly changed the subject, leaning closer to Mei and lowering her voice, "Speaking of which, Mei, haven't you noticed...everyone seems to be especially busy lately?"

Mei paused slightly, then nodded. Indeed, it wasn't just the students. Headmistress Theresa had been looking constantly sleep-deprived lately, often spending entire days in her office dealing with a mountain of documents. Teacher Himeko, besides her teaching duties, was also frequently out, sometimes returning with a weary expression. Even Fu Hua, the usually elusive class president, was almost nowhere to be seen.

The same is true in the world outside the academy. Although the official news tries to downplay it, reports of "abnormal weather," "geological activity," and "unknown energy phenomena" are ridiculously frequent. Occasionally, you can see staff members wearing Destiny or Anti-Entropy uniforms hurrying around on the street, and there seems to be an invisible sense of tension in the air.

The world is undergoing dramatic changes in a way that they find difficult to fully comprehend.

"It must be those weird aliens' doing!" Kiana pouted, then her face showed disappointment and longing. "And my brother... he hasn't been back for so long. The last time I saw him was during that camping trip in the desert... When I asked him where he went, Mom and Dad always stammered, saying things like 'he had important business' or 'he's in a very safe place'... Ask Auntie?" Kiana rolled her eyes. "She misses my brother even more than I do. Every time she mentions him, she sighs and turns into a slime on her desk. You can't get any information out of her."

Mei gently held Kiana's hand, offering silent comfort. She was just as worried about Amethyst. More acutely than Kiana, she sensed that there was likely a profound connection between Amethyst's "disappearance" and the "drastic changes" in the outside world. This realization weighed heavily on her heart.

"Never mind!" Kiana shook her head, shaking off her low spirits and cheering herself up. "My brother is so good, he'll definitely be fine! Maybe he's on a secret mission somewhere we don't know about! Let's go eat some dessert first, and then..." Her eyes darted around, "How about we go to the training ground for some extra practice? I feel like I've gotten a little rusty lately."

Mei was infected by her renewed energy and smiled, "Okay."

Just as the two finished packing their things and were about to leave the school building, Mei's personal terminal on her wrist vibrated slightly, and an encrypted message from the school's mission system popped up.

"Hmm? A mission?" Kiana curiously leaned over to take a look.

Mei opened the message and quickly scanned it: "A small-scale abnormal accumulation of Honkai energy has been detected in the waters near the South Island of New Zealand, suspected to be the formation of a new Honkai Beast colony, which may pose a threat to coastal fishing villages and shipping routes. Mission level: B+. Recommended number of personnel: 3-5. Huh? There's an additional list below..."

The list prominently features: Kiana Kaslana, Raiden Mei, Sirin, Bronya Zaychek, and Seele Vollerai.

"The few of us?" Kiana's eyes lit up. "Sirin and Bronya are here too? And they're going to hunt down Honkai Beasts!" Although it was just a routine B+ rank cleanup mission, which seemed insignificant in the current climate where Herrschers were often involved, it was like a long-awaited rain for Kiana, who had been "unemployed" for a while and spent her days either in class or training!

"We have a mission! Finally, we have something to do!" Kiana instantly became excited, her earlier slight melancholy vanishing completely. "Mei, let's go find them! Get ready to go!"

"Okay, let's go to the hangar to assemble and confirm the equipment and mission briefing."