[hr][hr]"How unbecoming of my cousin, don't you think, my dearest Esa?" Said [url=https://i.imgur.com/fcSqhaH.png][b]a mysterious blonde girl[/b][/url] who landed beside Katie, after leaping from one of the crumbling pillars of the old abyssal ruins, almost as if she manifested from a ripple through time. Her voice sounded unfazed—playful even—despite the world being literally undone before her very eyes as she spoke to a hooded, silver-haired girl standing beside her while watching the fate of Runa and Nephy with intensity. "I—Is it really right to speak like this when the situation is this bad, Master? I thought we came here because you were worried about Miss Katie," the [url=https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/5092400][b]girl called Esa[/b][/url] answered even as she continued to observe the crumbling world, with Katie's "friends" on a side, they on the other, and the grotesque fusion of Runa and Nephy standing somewhat in the middle. Not that any sense of absolute direction could remain in the current state of this floor. "A little teasing never killed anyone," the blonde answered. Despite her words, she knelt beside Katie and helped the dark-haired girl up, while checking whether or not she was actually hurt or just needed to catch her breath. "Besides, even if I came here to help... I'm also half-Valkyrian. I can't help but be enraptured by the tragic sight of brave warriors who are trying to fight against the shackles of Fate," she added as she turned her gaze to Runa and Nephy. "Master, please can't we—" Esa tried to plead something, but it was already too late. "O, brave warriors, Einherjar! If you wish to break the bonds of Fate, let me—Valkyrie Erika Reinhardt—be the judge of thy worth!" Erika was fully committed to her act now. [hr]