Honkai Impact 3rd: Don't Die for Me/ Book 1: Promise

Chapter 7 Trackers

<Valley Road>

Otto was straining his weak body to its limits. His arms burned raw with fatigue and he could no longer feel his thighs. Distance, he needed to create distance so that he would have enough time to treat Kallen. Sweat had undone his hair and he could taste blood in the back of his throat. The horse Otto rode was a powerful steed, too much for Otto to handle but somehow he clung on clutching Kallen to his chest.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. The arrival of Shicksal's second strongest Valkyrie was unexpected. Though in hindsight Otto and Kallen should have seen it coming. Eleanor had just died recently, Glory was bound to come back to Koleston for her daughter. To be fair only a select few knew Glory's location throughout the year. The Schariac's family was situated in Germany, a country they essentially controlled. The various noble properties they had under their control were spread all over Europe. Glory in addition to checking up on the various noble households the Schariac household was tied to had the responsibility of assessing the potential appearance of Honkai beast. She was constantly on the move.

The unpredictable nature of Glory's schedule worked against Otto and Kallen. But even then Kallen had struggled too much against the squad of Valkyries Shicksal deployed to stop her. Otto had undershot the severity of her injuries.

Kallen had bought them some time but lost the Oath of Judah in the process. Now it was up to Otto to protect Kallen until she recovered. Trackers were surely monitoring their movements, throwing them off would be no easy task. So Otto rode on for the entire day, only stopping for a brief moment to lightly attend to Kallen's injuries.

<Abandoned Cottage>

Soon night fell and Otto made a camp in an abandoned cottage. The cottage was abandoned recently. The fireplace was intact and the place was dry. There were no signs of rot on the walls and the entire place was barren save for a stool and old wool carpet. Dust had been thinly built up in the cottage but could be easily cleared after thirty minutes of work. To Otto this place was a godsend, it even had its own well in the back. He quickly treated Kallen's injuries once more.

Kallen had overexerted her body and worsened her injuries. The bullet wounds Glory gave to Kallen were not too much to worry about though. Many of them only grazed Kallen's skin. Of the two bullets that landed on her shoulder only one had penetrated her body. But it was rather shallow. Normal bullets couldn't harm Kallen, they had to be specially tempered and fused with Honkai to even graze her. The Schariac family had invested large sums of money to develop advanced bullets capable of taking down Honkai beasts. Kallen's own set of pistols were custom made by the Schariac family. In a human on human conflict guns would reign supreme, but if Honkai beast or Valkyries were thrown in the mix they would be useless. Melee weapons were superior. They were easier to make and lasted longer. Infusing weapons with Honkai was a rather expensive and long process. Otto worked with the guild of blacksmiths to create the process. It takes more effort to infuse Honkai into a small mass like a bullet than a large one like a lance, surface area greatly impacted an object's ability to be infused with Honkai. Once successfully infused a stronger firearm was needed to fire the bullet. The guns of this era were rather weak and primitive. A two minute reload time coupled with a range of about fifty meters prevented the soldiers from carrying one.

The guns of the Schariac family were however another story. They modeled their design after the Judgment of Shamash and were able to create powerful revolvers that could be used to fight against Honkai beasts. But they didn't share their secrets and only powerful families or families with rich lineage would be allowed to own one. It is said that the Schariac family made fewer than twenty Schariac guns in total.

Kallen may have brought along her guns but she only had twelve shots in total. She had planned to use the Oath of Judah to cover her in the weapons department. The pistols would only be used in emergencies. They were Kallen's ace in the hole, as she had the ability to greatly increase their power. Otto was of course unable to wield the guns, the recoil alone would dislocate his shoulder.