Honkai Impact 3rd: Don't Die For Me/ Book 3 Paradise

Chapter 91 Subjects

<Outskirst Of Vienna>

Lieanna sighed, her eyes swept across the few Valkyries that were supposed to guard Alya. Incompetent, the only one who fought well was the tallest Valkyrie: Hazel eyes and dark brown hair with more boyish features than she'd like. Certainly not as curvy as she would lust for. Oh, she stood up again, fist raised.

"Bring me Alya." Lieanna scowled. Two flashing steps kicked off the dirt. Appearing on Cathy's right she threw a savage hook to the chin.

Cathy reacted instinctively, dodging the blow with a slight tilt of her head before ducking the incoming left jab. The grass parted around them in a ripple. The force of the blows had turned the flat ground into a small pond.

"Tch," Lieanna furrowed her brow and threw a right straight, set up by her jab.

Cathy parried it with her left forearm, the impact jarred her but she immediately countered with a knife hidden in her right hand. A clean cut to the throat was all she needed but her blade would never reach.

"Enough! Bring me Alya!"

A savage vertical kick intercepted Cathy's chin. Cathy's legs crumpled as if they were made of rotting wood. Blood gushed from her mouth, her jaw barely intact, akin to a rusted door hinge.

"Alya!"

The tents ruffled in the wind but they stood strong. A litany of reasons to cover their Queen stood before them. Cathy crawled to stop her but she held no strength. Her faint bit of consciousness remained dutiful but confused. Why wasn't Lieanna just flicking away the tents? Nearly all Valkyries could create enough air pressure to accomplish that simple feat.

"Alya!"

"I'm here."

She stepped forward, her heart cowering and her body behind the Valkyrie that Cathy had sent away. Her fiance also stood in armor with a shield and sword prepared to defend his Queen. For once, he didn't look like a prized stallion. Lieanna bit her lip, drawing blood. Of course, she couldn't let it trickle, she sucked the drops into her mouth tasting unpalatable iron. Like all men, he was just a breeding stock.

"Lieanna what do you want?"

"To take my proper place by your side."

For a moment the Valkyrie and Knight that stood between weren't there. They were together on an exclusive plain reserved only for them. The inner garden of the place was their playground. They had grown up together to the extent they understood each other.

"I can't take you. The sins you've committed against my people. If I dig deeper, I'll have to find more things I'm unwilling to see."

"Do I scare you? My promise is to be your protector. My oath as your Valkyrie holds no meaning? If it scares you don't delve deeper. Don't pry, there's no need for insignificant matters. It can return to the way it was before. Let me reclaim my rightful place."

"It was stifling before," Alya flinched at Lieanna's demonic scowl. "It was stifling. I was aware of some of your misdeeds, your sins. I turned a blind eye because I was a coward. I still am, but as a Queen, as royalty, perhaps it's best I didn't follow in my mother's footsteps."

"Her Majesty was your example. Your idol!"

"Yes, she worked for the people but was that the case? I need to turn the pages of archives before I make my inference, my judgment but Lieanna for you. For you, I don't know if there is even redemption. What Anja revealed wasn't the only instance I turned a blind eye to. As your ... friend, I tell you I can't accept your crimes."