I Am Honkai

"Yes, sir! We will do everything possible to save Sergeant Origami Tobiichi!"

"I don't care what her name is. This isn't about 'doing our best'—you will save her. Higher-ups need her firsthand account on Snowstorm's appearance."

The AST executive's sharp rebuke made it clear he wasn't satisfied with the wishy-washy "do our best" approach. "Doing your best?" If she dies, that's still "doing your best."

"B-But, sir," the lead surgeon stammered, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, "Sergeant Tobiichi's injuries are severe. She suffered massive abdominal trauma, major organ damage… coupled with fractures from her fall onto the ice…"

Holding up an MRI scan, he continued hesitantly, "Honestly, without her tactical armor system's support, she would have already lost her life…"

"I've done all I can—the rest will depend on her will to survive."

The doctor's voice trailed off. After all, survival instinct is something that's impossible to quantify.

Some people, shot up like pincushions and crawling from death's door with guts hanging out, manage to pull through and keep fighting, but others are felled by a simple fall. There's just no way to quantify it.

"Are there no drugs to help bring her back temporarily, some kind of last-resort stimulant to keep her alive long enough for us to extract the intel we need?" The AST exec's words, though dressed in his polished suit, were icy—completely in line with his persona as a bureaucrat and politician.

The surgeon's mouth opened, only for him to close it in silence. Finally, he nodded. "Understood, sir." With that, he returned to the emergency room.

Whew...

Once the doctor had left, the AST executive took a moment to collect himself, then turned on the base supervisor for the AST's Tengu City branch with a scathing look.

"What the hell happened here? An entire AST squad taken out in less than a minute. All the tactical equipment purchased at taxpayer expense, completely destroyed—do you have any idea what kind of waste this is?"

The official could barely contain his fury, practically accusing the local AST supervisor of negligence. "It's your area—shouldn't you be coming up with solutions?"

Forcing himself to hold back his impulse to have the supervisor fired on the spot, the official reminded himself that the mess in Tengu City still needed to be cleaned up, the inquiries from above would need a scapegoat, and the outraged public would demand answers.

In his view, as soon as the situation calmed down, this branch manager's career would be over.

"Explain to me, then, why Snowstorm's attack resulted in such devastating casualties. Your team had a solid record with no fatalities for years. What was different this time? Or is this all just incompetence?"

Negligence? I'll give you negligence! the supervisor thought furiously, though he held his tongue. This was a disaster, a storm out of nowhere. How was he supposed to know why the Spirits always seemed to descend on Tengu City?

As for AST's previous "successes," well, he knew as well as anyone how inflated those numbers were. Even with tactical armament systems from DEM Industries, going up against Spirits… it's almost hopeless.

After twenty-odd years, he'd yet to hear of a single Spirit killed by humans.

Those retreats the Spirits made weren't because of our strength; it's because they just didn't feel like fighting.

But now… we've come across one who doesn't just stand back. We attack, and she turns us to ash.

He didn't dare voice such things, of course. Though he was likely being set up as the scapegoat, his retirement package still mattered.

"Sir, this new Spirit is different. The magnitude of the Spacequake she caused was second only to the Euro-Asian Great Spacequake—close to the scale of the South Kanto Great Spacequake."

He didn't spell it out directly, but the implication was clear: "Our forces may be willing, but the enemy has a Gundam."

The official didn't argue with him. After all, the excuse was reasonable.

He scanned the surveillance footage with a grave expression.

Tengu City, built on the ruins of the South Kanto disaster zone, had lost nearly half its area in what was now being called the "Second South Kanto Disaster." And that was with the epicenter over water—had it been over land, the devastation would have been far greater.

"Her powers are somewhat similar to Hermit's. Could they be the same Spirit?" the official asked.

The AST supervisor paused, then took out his tablet.

"No, it's unlikely. The personalities and spacequake scales of these two are worlds apart."

"Though her abilities seem similar to Hermit's, spirit energy readings indicate otherwise. Snowstorm is definitely not in our database."

The supervisor couldn't help but feel nostalgic for Hermit. Small, frail, and cute, that one never resisted AST's efforts. Hermit was practically the best thing that ever happened to AST's battle records.

But records are records, and when it came down to real combat, facing an older Spirit like Snowstorm, the truth had come out immediately.

In the footage, Lieutenant Ryouko Kusakabe's squad had been wiped out by the ice-blue figure without a hint of resistance. A storm of ice and snow had obliterated them, and the camera feed went static in a burst of white noise.

"She does have similar ice control powers as Hermit, freezing over the sea. But personality-wise… they're completely different extremes," the official muttered, his brow furrowing.

As a senior government official overseeing the AST in the Ground Self-Defense Force, he wasn't clueless. He'd at least heard of the mild-mannered Hermit.

After a long silence, he gave a grudging nod. "Alright. Gather the relevant data on Snowstorm and the AST's experiences battling these ice monsters. Report it all to central command."

"And notify me immediately if Sergeant Tobiichi regains consciousness."

Codename: Snowstorm

Spacequake Scale: S+

Astral Dress Rating: S (Further Data Needed)

Angel Rating: S (Further Data Needed)

Overall Threat Level: SS

Current analysis of Astral Dress shows a blue and white ceremonial gown, with an extremely high degree of ice manipulation, capable of rapidly freezing vast stretches of the sea (Note: estimated as not her limit).

Her abilities seem to involve animating ice and manipulating its form, suspected to be tied to her angel powers.

Snowstorm's first emergence in the physical world directly led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of residents in Tengu City, including the AST's Captain Ryouko Kusakabe, along with thirty-four other AST operatives.

After Snowstorm vanished, she left behind or created thousands of icy creatures. Their continued rampage claimed tens of thousands more lives across Tengu City and Tokyo.

Threat Level Assessment: Snowstorm is considered extremely dangerous, merciless, with no regard for humanity and an unmatched propensity for widespread slaughter.

"She… killed that many?" In the bridge of the airship battleship Fraxinus, Kotori Itsuka stared at the report from AST headquarters to Tokyo's government, her eyes filled with shock.

Given how the government's tech had fallen behind, unable to keep up with even privately owned companies, it was no surprise that information was leaking through like a sieve.

Kotori's organization, Ratatoskr, was one such private entity, boasting tech on par with DEM Industries.

"Shido, after seeing all this, are you still planning to save a Spirit capable of such wanton bloodshed?"

Kotori's confidence was shaken. Could a Spirit like this truly have any capacity for love? Wasn't it too dangerous for her brother to even attempt contact?

Fraxinus's advanced technology shielded them from the spacequake and freezing temperatures, allowing them to clearly witness Snowstorm's merciless assault on the AST. True, AST had initiated the attack, but Snowstorm's complete disregard for human life left Kotori chilled.

It was the first time she'd encountered a Spirit of this type. One emergence, and tens of thousands dead.

Such widespread devastation was rivaled only by the first Spirit's "Eurasian Sky Disaster." Even the long-feared "Worst Spirit" Nightmare had never caused as many casualties in a single event.

Most Spirits initially lacked any overt destructive impulse. Their emergence brought spacequakes that inadvertently harmed human society, but when confronted by AST attacks, they typically showed confusion, guilt, or even a desire to avoid conflict. Snowstorm, however, displayed pure aggression, with no room for conversation or negotiation—just a deadly response.

"I…" Shido Itsuka, dressed in his school uniform, lowered his head, visibly troubled.

"Indeed." A gentle, almost maternal voice spoke up as Reine Murasame, who had been silently observing, looked thoughtfully at the ice-blue figure on the screen. "She didn't originate from my side. Could it be Earth's leyline spirit formations are reacting against her, or…"

Her musings were abruptly interrupted. "I've decided!"

"Huh?" Caught off guard, Reine flinched at Shido's sudden declaration.

"I've decided, Kotori, Reine…" Shido clenched his fists, looking up with determined eyes. "I'm going to save her."

"Isn't that what we're here for, what Ratatoskr was created for? If we're indifferent to saving spirits, then how are we any different from AST or DEM Industries?"

"Now that's the Shido I know. I'm behind you!"

With a cheerful grin, Tohka Yatogami, who had been munching on her soybean powder bread like a good-luck charm, raised her hand to show her support for her beloved.

Kotori's brow twitched, though she ultimately nodded in agreement. "Alright, but only after we've devised a solid strategy for this encounter. Shido, keep in mind, this Spirit's aggression far exceeds any you've encountered before. You have to be careful."

"Oh, Commander, don't worry! With experts like us backing him, this one's practically in the bag. Besides, I do love a super S-type queen with a killer figure!"

The golden-haired officer Kyouhei Kannazuki, wearing his pristine white military uniform, gave a dramatic little shimmy as he stepped beside Shido.

"Shido, my boy, this conquest will be…" Ahh…

But before he could finish, Kotori's foot struck out, knocking Kannazuki to the floor, and she stomped on him, muttering curses at his suggestive sighs.

"Killer figure, huh? S-rank queen, right? You pervert! You haven't even met her—how would you know…?"

Ahh—oof! he whimpered. "But, my experience lets me tell from just one look, even a photo—her proportions, her aura… Ah—oof!"

"Uh, I think it's time Tohka and I head home," Shido said, grabbing her arm and hurrying toward the teleport pad.

He needed to check on things. After all, with such a major incident, if the "grand spirits" back at home were upset, it could spell disaster.

Whirr!

A flash of white light enveloped them. When their vision cleared, Shido and Tohka found themselves back on the ground.

Seeing the site in person was vastly different from watching the video footage. Missile craters littered the area, and the stench of blood and smoke filled the air.

In every direction, the fractured city resounded with cries of grief for lost loved ones, while shattered shards of ice lay scattered around.

"Hey, Shido, are these chunks of ice what's left of those snow monsters? Why haven't they melted yet? How strange."

Kneeling, Tohka picked up a large shard of cone-shaped ice and held it to the light. Intricate crosshatched patterns gleamed under the sun, emitting a faint purplish-red glow.

"Look, Shido—these patterns on the ice! Aren't they beautiful?"

…

Meanwhile, on the other side of Tengu City, the purple-red Honkai particles had begun to swirl together again like a storm, gradually coalescing into an icy-blue figure.

"This was worth the wait. A Spirit—this world's supernatural lifeform has finally shown itself…. Cornelia, Akame, no more waiting. Begin the operation immediately!"

"So, you're hiding here, are you?"

With a smile, Esdeath's gaze locked on the remaining northern buildings of Tengu City. In a split second, she moved from stillness to incredible speed, creating shockwaves that razed everything in her path.

As she reappeared, her aura flared openly, setting off wailing sirens throughout the city.

"Shido—be careful!"