Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

Schicksal HQ above the Mediterranean, Valkyrie training grounds.

Under the admiring gazes of many Valkyries, a blonde girl in training tights moved agilely on the training ground, facing a giant beast.

A massive body, terrifying fangs, and a ferocious appearance, it was the dreaded monster—

—Emperor-class Honkai Beast, Ganesha.

A powerful Honkai beast that required an entire squad of A-rank Valkyries, or even one of Schicksal's only three S-rank Valkyries, to defeat alone.

Of course—

This Ganesha wasn't a real one. It was just a virtual training tool created by Schicksal's virtual combat system based on the data recorded in their database.

Nevertheless, its strength was undoubtedly comparable to a real Ganesha.

Ordinary Valkyrie training couldn't, and weren't authorized to, face such a terrifying behemoth.

But—

Codenamed [Durandal], real name Bianka Astagina, the strongest of Schicksal's current three S-rank Valkyries, the blonde girl who inherited the name of the previous strongest S-rank Valkyrie, Cecilia Schariac, seemed to handle the Ganesha with ease.

The enraged Ganesha pawed the ground with its powerful hind legs, then roared and charged towards the tiny figure.

Unfortunately, this attack was easily dodged by the blonde girl. She even leaped into the air, wielding her alloy lance and thrusting it into the Ganesha's weak point recorded in the files.

Her movements were fluid and practiced.

—In fact, this was the thirty-eighth Ganesha that had fallen at Durandal's hands.

As Schicksal HQ's famous training fanatic, Durandal's training intensity was astonishing.

Either on her way to work or on her way to training, an innocent Ganesha would become her sparring partner every day.

Fortunately, Schicksal developed the virtual combat system, otherwise, all the Emperor-class Honkai Beasts in the world wouldn't be enough for Super Dudu to kill.

The heavy, standard-issue lance made of special alloy slammed into the ground, and the Ganesha behind her slowly dissipated into data points. The record on the virtual combat system clearly showed—2 minutes and 36 seconds.

Seeing this record, Durandal raised an eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied.

She only took 32 seconds to deal with the Ganesha yesterday, but today it actually took 4 seconds longer!?

This wouldn't do! It seemed her training had slackened. She decided to double her training in the future!

Durandal made this plan in her mind.

After walking out of the high-strength alloy steel training ground, as expected, she was greeted by a chorus of cheers from her fellow Valkyries, all praising her—"Durandal-sama is so cool!"

She was already used to this, smiling and greeting the Valkyries before returning to the locker room. She picked up a towel and wiped the sweat from her forehead. As she wiped, Durandal paused, feeling that something was amiss.

She glanced at the towel in her hand, then at her surroundings, and instantly realized what it was.

Oh, Rita wasn't there.

Usually, after training, Rita would appear nearby, holding a towel and a drink, smiling and standing beside her.

Although Durandal felt this was unnecessary—even as an S-rank Valkyrie, she didn't like being served—she still felt a bit unaccustomed to Rita's absence.

However, she didn't dwell on it. After all, a Valkyrie's destiny was to fight the Honkai and execute missions. They had been separated before.

"I remember hearing from the Overseer that Rita went to the Japan for a mission."

Durandal put down the empty water bottle and hung the sweat-soaked towel on the rack, recalling her friend's whereabouts.

She nodded and smiled:

"Hmm… I kind of miss her. I'll try calling her."

Picking up Schicksal's special communication device, Durandal dialed Rita's frequency.

Beep beep beep~

Uh… was she busy?

Seeing this, Durandal thought so and felt that she shouldn't disturb her friend's mission, so she was about to hang up.

But just as she was about to hang up, the call connected. Rita's face appeared on the other end of the screen, very close to the camera.

"Hmm… why did Durandal-sama suddenly think of contacting Rita? Hmph… is something the matter?"

Rita's charming voice carried a strange tone, like a moan… cough, anyway, Durandal didn't notice the abnormality and just said, a bit embarrassed:

"It's nothing, I just suddenly wanted to see you… uh, I heard from the Overseer that you're on a mission in the Japan. I hope I didn't disturb you. If I did, I'll hang up, work comes first."

It was usually Rita who teased her. This time, suddenly calling because she missed her… although Durandal was straightforward and didn't think there was anything wrong with it, she still blushed subconsciously.

But besides blushing, she didn't forget that her friend was on a mission in the Japan. From a Valkyrie's perspective, Durandal didn't want her sudden call to cause any accidents during Rita's mission.

"Ho-… hmm… not at all. Ri-… Rita's mission in the Japan is going very smoothly, hmph."

"But… hmm, compared to that, Durandal-sama actually took the ini-… initiative to contact Rita, hmm… Rita is touched, ah~"

A charming and gentle voice let out a soft moan. Such an obvious situation naturally made Durandal feel strange.

"What's wrong, Rita… your face seems a bit red?"

And her eyes looked a bit unfocused…

"Hmm… it's nothing, Rita was just a little tired when she came to the Japan, and she has a slight fever from running around investigating…"

"A fever…?"

A question mark appeared above Durandal's head.

It wasn't that Valkyries couldn't get sick. After all, Valkyries were still human, and as long as they were human, they couldn't avoid illness.

But S-rank Valkyries all had extremely strong physiques, and it was difficult for such minor illnesses to affect them.

However, she didn't think too much about it. After all, no matter how small the probability, it was still possible, right? Perhaps Rita just happened to be that case?

"In that case, I'll hang up. Rita, you should also take care of yourself."

"Yes… thank you for your concern, Durandal-sama… hmph…"

—Durandal wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but at the moment the call ended, she seemed to see a flash of white.

It must be an illusion.

…But Rita was also working hard, even getting sick.

Durandal sighed.