Ever since Mei had defected to the Serpent, she had always kept an evenkeel, cool, and sometimes even stoic tone and expression at all times.

Despite being teased about this by Raven and Jackal, Mei would still never break the glass exterior she had but up for herself however now, that barrier had all but completely shattered.

The girl had a somber look as she looked straight at Alex who had a look of resentment and irritation.

Truthfully as much as she hated to admit it, he was right.

It really shouldn't have taken her this long to full realize that what Owl was trying to accomplish was no different than what she and Alex were doing for the past months.

She had been so focused and determined on this mission that she had effectively shut out anything else that could've swayed her mind.

Regardless of the circumstances and their differing perspectives on all this, Mei knew that going back was well off the table.

She had to see this mission through in what she saw as the only way to save Kiana despite of how Alex felt.

Alex spoke no more words to Mei as he turned his direction towards Durandal and nodded.

"Sorry Durandal. Nothing against you but, I can't stand to be around this hypocrite any longer." He said before turning around to walk away, hand over his sore ribs.

"Hey you're hurt you shouldn't-." Said Durandal, about to head by his side before being interrupted by Mei holding a hand out in front of her.

"Leave him be. He won't change his mind." Said Mei.

"Ms. Raiden, right now isn't the time to let personal issues take a hold over the mission."

"Please Durandal. Just, leave him be. I deserve this."

The blonde gave her an unamused look before sighing.

"I just hope he'll be okay." She said.

After a few minutes, Mei and Durandal would begin making their way back into the city as Alex was now completely gone.

Not too long afterwards they'd hear a voice from above.

"You two seem unharmed."

Some dark red and black feathers would slowly fall to the ground in front of them as Raven would suddenly land on the ground before them.

"I apologize for not being here sooner. The cold blast blocked my way and prevented any support from me." She said.

"That's fine. Are you getting any better?" Asked Mei.

"It's been taken care of. How about Owl and the Herrscher? What happened to them?"

This would lead Mei to inform Raven on everything they knew so far as the girl kept quiet for a moment.

"I see............didn't think the two had a connection that deep." Raven said.

She looked up and had finally noticed that someone peculiar was missing.

"Hm? Hey where's the kid? Thought he was with you Mei?" She asked.

"Mr. Mustang had an argument with Mei Raiden and decided to leave and walk off on his own. We currently don't know where he is at the moment." Said Durandal as Raven just sighed.

"Geez. I know the Sire said you two didn't have to be friends and all for the mission but I didn't think things would get this bad. Well I'm sure we'll run into him eventually. Kid's a tough one after all so he'll be fine. More importantly, what's your plan now?"

"We only have one option. Find them as quickly as possible." Said Mei.

"Finding them won't do us any good. Those were the only Scepters we had and Owl used them on you so capturing the Herrscher has become even more difficult now than it already was. Not to mention that the Honkai Energy in Coral has gotten so bad that it's actively blocking any outgoing signals. Retreating and getting back in touch with Jackal would be a safer bet."

"Retreat........?" Said Mei, almost sounding offended by what Raven had suggested they do.

That wasn't an option for her.

She had to capture that Herrscher and she was gonna do it one way or another.

"No. There can be no retreat. That'd waste a ton of time, in turn allowing this outbreak to spread and claim more lives. Not to mention if that does happen..........."

Mei would then step forward and stare Raven directly in the face as the merc knew exactly what Mei was getting at.

If they retreated, it would allow the Ice Herrscher time to escalate this war even more.

This would potentially force Anti-Entropy to get involved and deploy the Hyperion, in turn meaning Kiana, the one person Mei was doing all this for, would get right back into the action, therefore making all that Mei had done meaningless.

Raven knew that Mei very well wanted absolutely no part of that.

"No. Retreat. Is. NOT. An. Option." Said Mei, slowly emphasizing every word right in Raven's face.

Raven would just hold a hand up to her head and sigh.

"I swear. You and the boy are way too alike when it concerns that girl. Alright then. What do you suggest we do then?" She asked.

Mei would think this over for a bit before coming up with an idea.

"I need you to salvage what's left of the Scepters." She said.

"Salvage?"

"This plan of ours, may very well work."

"Fine. I'll trust you for now."

"Thank you. I'll do whatever I can to stop the Herrscher in the meantime."

Raven would nod as she turned away and walked off in the silvery mist of the cold air.

Durandal then approached Mei.

"You two done talking?"

"Yes. Let's go."

"We may have lost the Herrscher, but they'll have to confront the Valkyries' defenses to escape Coral. To stop them, I have to return to those defenses and join my Valkyries." Said Durandal before turning to and sternly looking at Mei. "When the times comes Mei Raiden, you better not hesitate."

Mei simply nodded.

"I won't."

[Meanwhile]

Alex had lost track of time as he truly didn't know how long he had been walking on his own, however that didn't matter to him.

So long as he was as far Mei as he could get, then that was all that mattered.

Even if the pain from his sore ribs went away somewhat, he was still bitterly cold as he came across active furnaces every once in a while to warm up.

Eventually on his journey, he came across a peculiar sight as he saw numerous Schicksal Valkyries strewn across the icy ground.

He checked up on them and sighed after finding out that they were still alive but just unconscious.

As he walked amongst the knocked down bodies, he came across one person breathing weakily and encased in case with only her arms and face being let out.

Alex approached it and was shocked a bit to see that it was none other than Rita.

The maid had seemingly heard the footsteps approach her as she weakly spoke.

"Master D-Durandal......................the Herrscher is just up a-ahead........." She weakly said before going quiet.

Alex looked ahead and saw that in the distance was a tunnel that most likely led to another part of the city.

'The two most likely are on the other side. I need to hurry.' He thought as he ran ahead and into the tunnel.

Upon entering he was greeted with numerous Honkai Beasts from the Herrscher's trail and mechs which were probably a security measure.

The boy had no time to waste as he closed his eyes and took a deep breathe, bringing forth the sword's Honkai infused flames as he swung it forward, unleashing a massive wave a flames as all the enemies were taken care of.

Again Alex would kneel down and take a breather as his left arm obviously did not appreciate that display of power just now.

After a minute he'd get right back up and ran to the end of the tunnel where there was light on the other side.

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Chapter 10: Complete