Inside Miss Mei's apartment, not far from Senba Academy.
"Zihan, what is this?"
The black-haired girl, dressed in loungewear, looked at the enormous cross that had appeared in the living room at some unknown time, her expression somewhat stunned.
In her line of sight, the sofa that had once been by the coffee table had been moved aside, replaced by the giant cross.
It was a rather magnificent cross, primarily black, with numerous gold patterns adorning its edges and surface. The front was engraved with a family crest resembling an eye.
"The Eleventh Divine Key, the Key of Binding—Oath of Judah."
Li Zihan patted the extremely heavy object, something he reckoned only a character with monstrous strength could wield effectively, as he spoke.
Not long ago, he had entrusted Siegfried to borrow this weapon, practically a Herrscher-killer, from Theresa, with whom Li Zihan himself wasn't familiar.
Siegfried, despite having once metaphorically 'stolen from' Theresa (by getting her Judah), still maintained a surprisingly good relationship with her and hadn't disappointed Li Zihan, successfully acquiring the item.
"Isn't this Maternal Aunt's thing?"
Kiana, who had started staying at Miss Mei's house due to a sense of crisis after a certain someone expressed interest in Miss Mei, walked out of her room. Her eyes widened as she looked at the giant cross.
She had previously heard her maternal aunt boast that this thing was a secret treasure of Schicksal, sealed for five hundred years, unusable by anyone until she, with her outstanding talent, appeared and finally brought it out.
How did this thing end up in Li Zihan's hands?
A large question mark popped up above the white-haired dango's head.
"For various reasons, your old man sold three kidneys to buy this from Theresa the Silly, to repay the favor you owe me."
Li Zihan spouted utter nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
This is just basic bullshitting, my dear friend.
"Dad... sold his kidneys?!"
As these words reached her ears, Kiana was visibly startled. But a moment later, her surprise transformed entirely into anger.
"There's a limit to your nonsense! Humans only have two kidneys, how could he sell three?!"
"You should know, among congenital kidney abnormalities, there are cases where people are born with four kidneys."
Li Zihan, clearly still bullshitting, blinked and continued to find factual backing for his nonsense.
"Perhaps, esteemed Father-in-Law is one of those special cases."
"Ah Li, you're really getting better and better at spouting crap."
Kiana, who had clearly seen through his bluff, her beautiful blue eyes widening even further.
She suddenly hooked her elbow around the neck of the boy, who was quite a bit taller than her, squeezed lightly, and demanded, "What's the real deal with this thing?"
"Take a guess."
"You haven't given me any hints, how am I supposed to guess?"
"If you guess correctly, I'll tell you."
"Damn it, Ah Li, you're just messing with me, aren't you!!"
"You actually figured it out."
...
Standing to the side, watching the two fools bickering, Miss Mei sighed. Her gentle eyes then turned to the one who was clearly spouting nonsense.
"Zihan, this thing, did you borrow it from Kiana's maternal aunt?"
"More or less."
Li Zihan, whose neck was being held by a certain Paramecium, flickered and reappeared behind the Oath of Judah.
He placed his hand on the giant cross, and a faint white light shimmered.
Then, the weapon known as the Oath of Judah, under everyone's watchful eyes, continuously shrank and floated directly into Li Zihan's chest.
"Hey, hey, hey, Ah Li, where did you send Maternal Aunt's Judah?!"
Kiana, who had just seen the object right in front of her, was truly dumbfounded. That huge Judah, gone just like that?
Miss Mei, standing nearby, was also stunned. She looked at Li Zihan, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Zihan, did you teleport it away?"
Miss Mei, vaguely remembering that Li Zihan seemed to possess some ability to manipulate space, hesitated for a moment before asking.
"I just implanted it into my body using a special method."
Treating Judah like a Mystic Code, he smiled quite relaxedly and cheerfully.
First, about "Mystic Codes." To put it simply, Mystic Codes are magical tools; for example, a magic wand can be called a Mystic Code.
However, Mystic Codes aren't necessarily external items; they have other forms of manifestation.
For example, like Mrs. Irisviel or Hero Emiya, by implanting the Mystic Code into the holder's body.
"This is the countermeasure I came up with to deal with that silly fox."
Silly fox?
Kiana and Raiden Mei, completely clueless as to what Li Zihan was talking about, looked even more bewildered.
"The Herrscher of Erosion."
Li Zihan, who had long been prepared on how to deal with Higokumaru, explained to the two members of the Herrscher-prone trio beside him.
"The preparations are complete. It's time to get to work."
The preparations were indeed complete; or rather, Higokumaru had already been thoroughly accounted for.
That fox, the vast majority of whose power had already been sealed within Jizo Mitama, would next face a team composed of Yae Sakura herself, the S-rank Valkyrie with Judah, the First Herrscher, and Li Zihan himself.
"Are you leaving already?"
Mei, feeling that Li Zihan's life was truly and unbelievably hectic, knitted her delicate brows.
"Isn't the timing a bit too tight?"
Although fighting to resolve monsters left over from the Previous Era sounded glorious, was it really okay to handle matters continuously like this?
It would be very bad for his health, wouldn't it?
"It's alright."
Li Zihan looked at the girl whose eyes held obvious worry, and his heart warmed.
Yamato Nadeshikos are truly superb.
Then, he glanced towards a certain white-haired dango, who seemed to be Miss Mei's official pairing, and began to ponder.
Should he next toss this amnesiac Pufferfish into a World Bubble, or just sink her directly to the bottom of the Sea of Quanta?
"What are you looking at me for?"
Kiana felt a jolt in her heart, sensing that his gaze was a little off.
"I just think you're very cute, Kiana, and wanted to invite you on a date to the X-10 lab."
The young man smiled, his smile gentle and sunny.
The X-10 experiment, an experiment concocted by Anti-Entropy's foremost clueless member, Cocolia, behind the backs of a group of high-level intellectuals.
The early stages of the experiment could increase the subject's Honkai energy resistance, but once the experiment deepened, it instantly became an express train straight to the bottom of the Sea of Quanta.
Miss Kiana, completely oblivious to what the X-10 experiment was, showed an expression of clueless bewilderment.
"Zihan, you can't make such inappropriate jokes."
Miss Mei, who had heard about what the X-10 lab was for during Li Zihan's conversations with Bronya, shot him a slight glare.
"Okay, okay."
Li Zihan, who was indeed just joking, shrugged and said.
Seeing his slightly perfunctory attitude, Miss Mei couldn't help but sigh, looking quite troubled.
"Well, I'll be going then."
Li Zihan said, feeling that the time he had agreed to meet Welt was drawing near.
The long black-haired girl nodded and said, "Remember to come back early."