chapter 20

                                    

                                          
A/N: oh dear me, everything's been nothing but heavy talking and it kinda makes me feel bad about myself.
                          
Diake found himself sitting in silence of the helicopter, with a buxom blonde sitting in the opposite of him with a lance resting beside her. She wore something akin to a military uniform, but the fact that she also wore stilettos for shoes bothered Diake. The two had not spoken a single word towards each other, as the only sound that was heard was the sound of the engine of the helicopter and its blades.
                          
'This is kinda awkward. . .' Diake thought, sweat dropping. He leaned back against the chair, being in his thoughts. Usually, in a silent situation like this, he'd pull out his phone and played whatever the hell that he wanted on it.
                          
But now, it's an entirely different scenario. In this instance, it's also about a boy who joined in an operation that could potentially kill him, a normal human who can somehow defend himself against Valkyries, but not against large Honkais or even Herscherrs due to his inexperience and clear weapon inferiority against them.
                          
It is only from his sole determination and heart of gold that he decided to join along.
                          
He may regret that decision though.
                          
"Why did you come along?" The blonde, Durandal, asked the boy, looking at him. She had her arms crossed below her chest and her legs were also crossed, with an expression that was utterly neutral.
                          
"Because they're my friends," Diake replied, letting his spear rest onto his lap.
                          
"I see." She then began to ask.
                          
"Do you know what it is you are up against?"
                          
"I'll be honest. I don't," Diake replied with honesty in his tone. Durandal heaved out a sigh.
                          
"You lack both experience and training, and yet, you decided to come along?" Durandal questioned. Her tone had no change, but there was a hint of frustration behind it, something that went unnoticed by the boy.
                          
"Yep." And the boy's answer both impressed and frustrated her.
                          
"I quite admire your idiocy," she confessed, a small smile appearing on her face for a split second.
                          
"What can I say? I've been one since the Honkai took over."
                          
"We're here," Durandal suddenly voiced out.
                          
"That was fa--WHOAAA!!"
                          
Just as the boy grabbed his spear while he was talking, he was cut off when Durandal grabbed the boy by the waist and jumped right out of the their aircraft.
                          
"You whacko!!!!" 
                          
. . . . . . .
                          
Diake instantly fell to the ground the moment Durandal let go of him, his body shaking from the trauma of falling off of an aircraft of several thousand feet above the ground. The two were now on dirt ground, with ruined structures all over their surroundings.
                          
"I expected that much from someone like you," Durandal commented, before reaching her hand out.
                          
"Let's keep going."
                          
Diake nodded soon after, taking her hand. She pulled him up.
                          
"Where, exactly?" Diake asked, looking at her while using his spear as a support for his shaky legs.
                          
"Follow me," Durandal told him, turning around and walked.
                          
'She really is an S-Rank Valkyrie. . .' He thought, before heaving a sigh and walked closely behind her.
                          
"Principal Theresa. Where is it?" She asked through a communication device in her ear. Diake didn't notice this.
                          
"Who are you talking to?" Diake asked, confused. His expression was as similar as his tone in question. And Durandal ignored him. After some silence, Durandal nodded.
                          
"Understood. I'll be right there." She immediately began to run, leaving behind the boy.
                          
"Hey wait!!" He yelled out, but she didn't listen, leaving him in the dust. And so, there he was, standing still, unsure of what he should do. 
                          
'. . . Where did she go. . .' He thought, before holding his spear to his back. He soon sat down and heaved a sigh.
                          
"Man, I should've stayed and said nothing. Now I'm alone again," Diake said to himself. Looking at his surroundings, he was soon entranced by the beauty of the place.
                          
'This is pretty. . .' He thought, before he sensed multiple presence surrounding him. He stood up immediately and looked around, and sure enough, his senses were correct. He was surrounded by zombies, but the zombies were unlike those that he saw back at Nagazora City. These looked like they were slightly robotic than the conventional zombie due to its left eye being nothing but pure red, but were emitting an orange aura and held weapons, such as a bow and a scythe. And all of them had white hair and seemed feminine, oddly enough.
                          
This was somewhat bad news for the white haired.
                          
"Oh boy. . ." Taking out his revolver, he proceeded to shoot one of the zombies, who, much to the boy's surprise, blocked each and every bullet he shot out with its scythe.
                          
"Looks like I'm gonna have to go the old fashion way," Diake said out, before he went into his defensive pose, in which he raised his spear above his head, with the sharp tip of the spear pointing downwards and waited for any action taken from any of the zombies, who were closing in on him.
                          
One of them behind Diake initiated.
                          
It got slowly close behind the unnoticed Diake and pulled its scythe. Before swinging it, it let out a sound, and its red eyes glowed brightly, which the boy noticed immediately. He immediately released the hand that was closer to the tip and turned around, swinging his spear to the zombie behind him. Due to the modifications implemented by the captain to his spear, the crossbar, which acted somewhat as a handguard, turned into a labrys, slicing off the head of the zombie before the swing was finished.
                          
"Okay, one dow--"
                          
Multiple ping sounds came around behind him.
                          
"SHIT!!"
                          
In the nick of time, he managed to roll forward, dodging a potential decapitation or mutilation. He fell to the ground roughly, but then he looked around, and his eyes had widened.
                          
The world around him turned from bright and sunny to gray and snowy, as nothing moved but him. Somehow, despite it being snowy, the boy was unaffected by the cold. A few seconds had passed, or at least, he assumed it had passed, and yet, nothing moved.
                          
". . . What is going on?!"