READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 67: Chapter 67
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Ana lamented, almost like an old friend confiding upon seeing a departed acquaintance. However, she quickly realized another possibility, and once more, a smile graced her face.
"Oh dear, it sounds as if you've genuinely passed away."
"Well then, let's move on!"
With a soft sigh, Ana raised Abyss Flower, infusing it with Herrscher energy. The originally single riding spear split into Abyss and White Flower, emitting black and white radiance.
"This time, your condition is quite severe. Please bear with me momentarily."
As Ana spoke, Abyss and White Flower intertwined, bursting forth with dazzling light.
"Abyss Flower, transcending boundaries - activate!"
In Anti-Entropy's visual novel, Schrödinger once sacrificed his own quantum state to forcefully surpass Abyss Flower's limits. This granted immortality to both doctors and enabled the Herrscher of Reason with certain Creation abilities.
Now, Ana doesn't need such a high cost to transcend Abyss Flower's limits. The White Flower inherently resonates with the holy blood of House Schariac, while during experiments years ago, part of Abyss' energy had already integrated into their bloodline.
It was Otto's accidental discovery, also the reason behind House Schariac's perfect mastery over Abyss Flower.
Consequently, without requiring any significant sacrifice, Ana successfully transcended the limits of Abyss Flower.
Black and white radiance surged from the dual riding spears, gradually flowing into Murata Himeko's severely damaged body. Her original genes were rewritten, and the Honkai Energy invading her system was absorbed and stored within her being.
Although Ana couldn't grant Himeko eternal life, using her power, she could bestow upon Himeko a degree of resilience against Honkai, fundamentally altering her capabilities.
After a moment, Ana let out a long sigh.
The primary issue with Abyss Flower's Overdrive mode is its significant drain on physical energy. Stamina, though subtle, doesn't directly impact combat strength but does affect mental state. Prolonged exertion can also strain the body.
However, Ana has no time to rest now.
The overpowered dual spears fuse back into their original form, the Abyss Flower. Unlike other Divine Keys, Abyss Flower's Overdrive enhances functionality rather than sheer power, making it less valuable in actual combat scenarios.
Ana stows away the Abyss Flower and gently cradles Himeko in her arms.
This marks the first time she's held Himeko like this; previously, she usually carried the older woman on her back. The sensation of embracing her indeed feels different compared to Bianka or others.
In contrast, Himeko's figure is fuller.
Of course, Ana merely muses internally without giving it much thought. She could still play matchmaker for Himeko; if Himeko ever marries, even serving as her bridesmaid wouldn't be an issue. However, developing romantic feelings towards her? No thanks.
Deep down, Ana continues to view Himeko as her teacher and senior, devoid of any worldly romantic notions.
In the sky above, the Unnamed Locomotive approached slowly and halted next to Ana. With the collapse of Virtual Space, the locomotive now hung suspended mid-air.
Holding Himeko in her arms, Ana looked down, watching as the Fallen God Sword gradually receded from view until it completely vanished.
As previously mentioned, she had no intention of claiming it.
The Gem of Haste was meant for Kiana. Harnessing such extraordinary power from the Herrscher of Flame would not only alter the narrative's course but also thrust Ana into the role of the protagonist facing destiny. However, she wasn't the main character; she lacked the fate necessary to bear such honor.
As for the fragments of the Fallen God Sword, let them serve as a bond between this world and another.
With these thoughts, Ana gently freed one hand, revealing a crimson metallic fragment held within—indeed, a piece of the Fallen God Sword.
She decided to keep this shard. Perhaps, when the Celestial Being arrives in the future, if Welt and Void Archives don't include her, she could use it to make waves along the Stellar Railroad.
At that time, the official Star Rail developers should at least grant her a limited-time, high-tier character, ideally followed by a heterogeneous variant later on—that would be absolutely awesome!
With great care, Ana tucked away this fragment and then climbed aboard the Unnamed Locomotive.
Many years later, within the Herta's space station orbiting beyond the azure planet, Herta pondered deeply as she faced the fragmented remains of the Fallen God Sword, unable to piece them together fully.
Was this peculiar artifact called "Damaged Curio" or perhaps "Incomplete Curio"? Or maybe it was meant to be like this from the start?
The renowned galactic prodigy found herself陷入deeply perplexed, and following her confusion, she did what she often did—reached out for help.
"Hey, Mei, I've discovered a truly intriguing artifact here."
"Screwllum, got some time? I just acquired a peculiar artifact that should pique your interest!"
"Stephen, with your genius mind, could you determine what kind of artifact this is?"
And so, a gathering of prodigies commenced... However, even after their discussion concluded, they failed to reach a consensus on its nature.
As fragments of a peculiar artifact, these pieces exhibited all the characteristics expected of such artifacts, whether examined individually or collectively...
Finally, the 2.8 version update "Saintly Night Fantasia" preview arrived.
Unlike the original 2.8 version preview, this time there were significant changes. Firstly, the protagonist of this version had shifted.
"I shall uphold the Valkyrie's glory!"
With a firm and familiar voice, the scene transitioned to reveal a sacred and dashing figure on the screen—it was Ana herself!
And the armor introduced with this version launch was none other than Ana's initial S-rank armor, Honor Guard: Moon Above.
[Wow! Brother Cake actually guessed it right this time! Something big is coming!]
"This time, we're introducing Honor Guard: Moon Above as the initial S-rank armor for Valkyrie Ana. Are you all excited? Ha ha, let's dive in and learn more about it!"
"Honor Guard: Moon Above is a character focused on ability-based output, featuring both close-quarters and ranged attack forms. Upon activating her ultimate ability, Ana transforms into Lunar Goddess mode, changing her attacks to unleash wind blades. Simultaneously, she triggers Wind Surge, causing enemies to enter a state of space-time disruption and increased vulnerability to all attributes."
"During the ultimate ability's duration, you can switch to another Valkyrie for sustained output; the space-time disruption effect and all-attribute vulnerability will not dissipate. If Ana is in the background when the ultimate ability ends, 40 SP will be refunded."
"In close combat mode, Ana possesses inherent physical penetration, allowing her to hold her own against enemies even without teammate support!"
"In ranged mode, Ana's wind blade attacks come with a certain amount of elemental penetration, increasing over the duration of the ultimate ability. At the end of the finisher, it unleashes a high-damage group attack on all enemies present."
Without exaggeration, Honor Guard: Moon Above follows the Queen as a new must-have character card. Although her single S-rank damage output may not match others, her powerful auxiliary capabilities, combined with the ability to handle both physical and elemental weather conditions, make her currently the strongest universal support.
As her rank increases, Ana's offensive capabilities also further enhance. A 3S Ana can face any environment and weather conditions, truly becoming formidable enough to carry two weaker teammates effortlessly.
As for Ana's exclusive weapon, it remains Abyss Flower, though compared to the later version tailored specifically for Moon Soul, this iteration has additional elemental damage buffs, with no other significant differences.
In essence, Abyss Flower is still the dedicated weapon for Moon Soul, while this armor set lacks a true exclusive weapon counterpart—but truthfully, there isn't much need for one.
The developers were quite generous with the character's base stats. While at single-S rank, she might not be as powerful, upon reaching double-S rank, her vulnerability-inflicting abilities receive a substantial boost, making her comparable in numerical strength to Herrscher of Sentience introduced later on.
The only downside is that the close-quarters combat module still uses the old riding spear model, which feels somewhat underwhelming. However, the wind blade output from her ultimate ability compensates for this drawback.
[Wow, another character capable of bridging weather elements!]
[Seriously? My girl Ana can solo Otto plus three S-rank Valkyries—bridging weather elements is child's play!]
["Yeah, I suspect the damage output might be slightly lower, but that auxiliary ability is ridiculously overpowered."]
["The feel of the ultimate ability is fantastic though, 'ora ora' just feels so satisfying!"]
["True, it's just unfortunate that the close-quarters combat still relies on Gloria's setup. Ah, why can't they put more thought into it?"]
["With this addition, Abyss difficulty will skyrocket again—clearly pushing for monetization!"]
["I think it's manageable. Grabbing one as a versatile support weapon sounds good, and definitely worth pulling for its dedicated version too. Heard from a tester in the beta server that there's hidden lore behind Abyss Flower."]
["Seriously, why couldn't they make it like previous Divine Keys, allowing everyone to obtain it freely?!"]
["Who cares? As a weapons master, Stigmata primarily enhance personal output anyway. Pulling for a lower-tier option or skipping altogether works fine!"]
["Regardless, I really like this character—it's both powerful and stylish, meeting my expectations perfectly. Plus, I've saved up 120k gems, so bring it on!"]
["Tsk tsk tsk, you call that saving?"]
["It is if I say so!"]
Despite some pessimistic remarks within the bullet comments, overall, the players had high praise for this armor, likely fueled by their long-standing anticipation.
The character Ana, as an initial A-tier unit, was already quite useful and had been introduced relatively early in Version 1.x. Now, with the game nearing Version 2.x, almost a major update later, surprisingly, no second armor for her had been released.
Was it reasonable? Absolutely not.
Fans of other characters often mocked Ana's supporters, but despite the banter, everyone genuinely admired her deeply.
After all, Ana spoke candidly and always stepped up when needed. With her great personality, impressive artwork, and compelling storyline performance, there wasn't much to criticize. Apart from betraying Theresa once, which upset some Theresa fans, she remained largely unblemished.
Honkologists, upon analyzing that betrayal, concluded it was intentional on Ana's part, making her actions truly heart-wrenching.
In the previous version, Ana even evolved into a life mentor for many players.
As for this current version, although they hadn't seen the full story yet, based on the PV alone, Ana confronts Schicksal's entire top-tier combat force single-handedly. It's clear without any doubt that she does this solely for those at the Far East Branch.
Considering "The Last Lesson" focused on Himeko's final moments in the previous version, her intentions were clear without needing to be stated.
She aimed to save Himeko, shielding her from the cruel narrative twist by the game writers—what incredible determination! Not only did Ana rescue Wendy earlier, but now she became the savior for all Himeko fans starting today!
While Captains also appreciated the three Valkyries featured in the PV, they chose to rally behind Ana to bring back Himeko.
If the in-game Valkyries knew this sentiment, they might have winced with bitter smiles—it was just Old Mi's signature move: misleading trailers galore.
This wasn't some epic clash of three heroes against Lü Bu; rather, it was akin to a reborn war goddess bullying three kindergarten kids, forcing their 500-year-old guardian to reluctantly yield.
Next up was the reveal of Rita's new armor. However, due to the shock and discussions stirred by Ana's armor beforehand, Captains showed little interest in Rita's A-rank armor.
It felt like attending a banquet where everyone had already eaten their fill, only for the server to realize one major dish hadn't been served yet. Most attendees stared blankly, while only a few bothered to pick at it with their chopsticks.
Moreover, as an A-class armor, its strength and capabilities were self-evident. Once available in the gacha pool, it would likely serve as filler alongside the Ultimate Knight, leaving little to discuss.
Next came the showcase of Tianqiong City, the new map, but the outcome was similar. Players' attention remained solely focused on Ana's armor; nobody cared about future plot developments in upcoming versions.
Our primary concern, Himeko's rescue, had already been addressed. As for Kiana, we knew she'd be fine—Old Mi wouldn't dare kill off the protagonist just when there seemed to be nothing left to shock us, right?
If they did that, enraged players would probably ambush the scriptwriters outside their office building the next day, beating them up and sending them straight to the hospital.
In essence, the intended hype-building narrative for this update was significantly undermined by the sudden release of Ana's armor. Instead, those who typically stirred controversy shifted their focus towards criticizing the character Ana and her armor.
Unfortunately for these agitators, Captains displayed remarkable unity this time, akin to Zhongli's arrival from Liyue Harbor in the future, rescuing Xiao from beneath the Limestone Depths. Similarly, Ana's story deeply resonated with players in this version.
Moreover, there's another crucial aspect.
Despite her young age, Ana is the youngest teacher at Saint Freya Academy and also Schicksal's youngest S-rank Valkyrie. Yet, her actions instill a profound sense of security that few others can match for Captains and other characters alike.
It's akin to how Captains often forget that Theresa is actually over 40 years old; similarly, in their minds, they perceive Ana as being well above 25 years old, right?
However, reality is entirely opposite, further highlighting unique traits of these two characters.
And so, amidst the anticipation of countless Captains, the version preview concluded, followed by maintenance updates, marking the arrival of the new chapter...