"Huh. Looks like the kid finally got snake bit by Honkai Poisoning. Well, it was only a matter a time." Said Truth.

Within his endless, pure white domain, he saw the gate that stood across from him get overrun by the pink, vine like markings that had appeared on Alex's body.

The gate was slowly but surely being consumed by the Honkai Poisoning, as it marginally got disintegrated.

"Seems like it's finally the end of the road for Alex Mustang. He truly was an interesting individual to witness from within. Oh well, might as well prepare to split from his consciousness before I'm taken along with him." Said the entity.

Truth got up from his usual sitting position as he turned around and began to walk towards his own gate, until he just got the random feeling to turn back and look.

When he did, he saw the color of the vine like markings go from their red-pinkish color to a cyan blue color, as they began to retract and go away, as the gate began to rebuild and repair itself, as it slowly came back together.

As Truth saw this, he simply put a hand to his as he let out a small laugh.

"Well well well, looks like this kid's journey isn't done just yet."

".....................ey...............id.................hey kid."

He felt a light slap on his cheek.

Alex slowly opened his eyes to be greeted by non other than Himeko.

"Thank god you finally woke up. I was worried that you'd have had a bad reaction." Said the redhead.

"H-Himeko?" Quietly said the boy.

It took a moment for Alex's vision to fully come back to him.

Eventually once it did, he noticed that he had been rested on the redhead's lap, as he noticed her wearing a new battlesuit as well

"Yeah it's me. You aren't losing your mind and this isn't the afterlife." Said the redhead.

Alex laid there for a moment before immediately remembering Fu Hua as he immediately sat up but quickly placed a hand on his stomach, groaning in pain as the wound still was pretty recent.

"Hey take it easy kid. I may have stopped the bleeding but the wound itself is still fresh so it'll sting for a while." Said Himeko.

"F-Fu Hua. Where's Fu Hua?" Asked Alex.

Himeko merely sighed as she pointed over to where her corpse had laid in a pool of blood.

She walked over, picking up the corpse as she then laid it in front of Alex as she stood next to him.

"I'm sorry Alex. She really is gone. Even I find it hard to believe that a tough as nails S.O.B like her is dead. By the time I got here, she had been long dead." Said Himeko as she patted Alex on the shoulder.

The boy looked down at the body, having no words to say as he blamed himself for allowing that to happen.

"I know that you're blaming yourself but don't. She perished, sacrificing her life to fight and preserve everything that's beautiful in this world. We gotta ensure that her death won't be a vain." Said the redhead.

"Y-Yeah I know. It's just that, I still can't believe it. Especially since it happened right in front me. I, don't think I'll be able to get that image out of my head." Said Alex.

He simply got a pat on the back, getting reassurance from Himeko.

Alex then looked at his left hand, noticing that the markings were still on his hand, but now they were faded and greyed out, looking more like worn out tattoos.

"The markings had spread all over the left side of your body since they're also visible on your neck and face. Thankfully I managed to stop the poison from spreading any further. Don't worry about the markings anymore. They're now just temporary scars. They'll be gone pretty soon." She said.

"I-I see. Thank you, Ms. Himeko but, just how exactly did you do it?" He asked.

Himeko simply tossed something at the boy as he caught it, looking and seeing what was a small tube with a needle at the end, as small traces of blue liquid remained inside, seeming as whatever liquid that was inside had already been used

"What, is this?" Asked Alex as he looked at the tube.

"It's a serum that neutralizes and negates Honkai Poisoning. I had this bad boy inject into you and it seems like it worked like a charm." Said Himeko.

Alex was marjory thankful for Himeko, but now he wondered as to why Himeko had this in her possession.

"U-Um, Ms. Himeko, why exactly did you have this on you? I'm sorry for asking but, I'm genuinely curious." Said Alex.

Himeko hesitated a bit to answer before she sighed.

"Kid, we're alike you and I. Just like you, I didn't have any Honkai Resistance, yet I still became and was accepted as a Valkyrie. That decision would come to bite me later on as one day on a mission, I wound up contacting Honkai Poisoning. To prevent immediate results, I was given an artificial Stigmata. I've had it for three years already. Doctors keep telling me that my days are numbered. I can basically die at a moment's notice." Said the redhead.

When Alex heard all that, he came to a quick realization.

"T-Then, that means this was for you. You were supposed to use this to combat the Herrscher." Said the boy.

"Bingo. You hit it right on the nail." Said Himeko in a casual manner.

"Then why the hell did you waste it on me!?" Shouted Alex. "You needed it way more than me! At this point, you're our last hope at saving Kiana and taking down the Herrscher, yet you wasted a serum meant specifically for you on a nobody like me!"

In response, he received a punch from her as the boy was knocked down for a moment before immediately sitting back up.

"What the hell was that for!?"

"How about you shut up and truly realize it! You aren't a nobody. If you were then you wouldn't have sticked around with us for all this time! Listen Alex, you aren't a Valkyrie but you damn well have the heart, drive, and passion like one. You care about Kiana and this fight as much as me and the other girls. We're in this together. So no, you aren't a nobody." Said Himeko as she held Alex's hands.

"You're part of us. The St. Freya family. We're all gonna stick together and rescue Kiana. Is that understood?" Asked Himeko.

Alex was touched by Himeko's speech, as he chuckled and looked at her giving a smile.

"Understood loud and clear Major Himeko." Replied the boy.

"Now that's the spirit kid." Said Himeko.

She then turned around and offered Alex a ride on her back.

"Hop on. If you're struggling to sit up then there's no doubt that you'd barely be able to stand. I'm sure you got plenty of things to say, so I'm gonna take you to where the Hyperion is docked as our base of operations." She said.

"Oh trust me. With all that I've seen recently, you all are gonna wanna hear every bit of it." Replied the boy.

With that, Alex tried his best and after a moment, managed to get onto Himeko's back as the redhead picked him up and began to head towards the Hyperion's location.

Chapter 41: Complete