Zofia was sent flying by her own rebounding power, crashing into the ground. She immediately felt her body protest painfully.
But... Zofia wasn't an ordinary person. As an S-rank Valkyrie, she quickly regained her composure and rose again, Holy Relic in hand.
I was careless!
How could I be so careless against such an unfamiliar enemy...
Is this really because of Kallen?
However, Zofia had no time for further thought. The Titan Berserker suddenly charged at her with a sprint, its speed at least three times faster than before. Zofia dared not take any chances and swiftly dodged to the side.
As the Titan Berserker reached Zofia's position, it slammed its fist into the ground, creating a massive crater. The force behind this blow was unimaginable, easily measured in tons.
Yet Zofia had managed to evade it.
After dodging, Zofia saw her chance when the Titan Berserker had just finished its attack and hadn't yet withdrawn. Ignoring the pain coursing through her body, she hefted her Great Sword and brought it crashing down on the Titan Berserker.
The unprepared Titan Berserker was indeed sent staggering back a full meter. Just as Zofia prepared to deliver the finishing blow...
The Titan Berserker sprang up with surprising speed, maintaining a strange, charged posture as it allowed Zofia's Great Sword to strike it.
Though the blade connected, the Titan Berserker merely sustained another massive wound without being repelled.
Watching the Titan Berserker's movements, Zofia suddenly realized what was happening and began retreating...
But an unprecedented gravitational force erupted from the Titan's feet. Zofia found herself utterly unable to evade, being inexorably pulled toward the Titan Berserker's position. Even when she activated her emergency thrusters to leap several meters away, the gravitational pull dragged her back in the next instant.
Next... The Titan Berserker's supercharged iron fist, brimming with a destructive aura, smashed toward Zofia.
In that moment, Zofia felt certain death was imminent.
With no time to dodge, Zofia gritted her teeth and thrust her Holy Relic forward as the iron fist descended, using it to intercept the blow while she herself leapt aside.
The impact resonated like a meteor striking earth, the ground groaning under the force.
Yet at the critical moment, thanks to the Holy Relic... Zofia had positioned herself not at the center of the Titan's strike, but just grazing its edge.
Even this glancing blow sent Zofia flying several meters away. She coughed up a mouthful of blood, her back glistening crimson - the injuries appeared severe.
Yet the grievous wounds didn't deter Zofia. A surge of power erupted from her back, her hair transforming completely to golden strands.
Her eyes also turned golden.
The wounds on her body began healing rapidly, mending themselves in a miraculous display...
"The Stigmata has awakened..."
Serenade, who was leisurely dealing with A-rank Valkyries alongside Yae Sakura and the others, had been closely observing the battle between the Titan Berserker and Zofia.
Serenade refrained from intervening in the Titan Berserker's fight, wanting to assess its true capabilities.
Through their previous clash, Serenade had gained some understanding. Unlike ordinary Titans, the Titan Berserker possessed the strength to suppress even S-rank Valkyries—though this particular S-rank Valkyrie might be considered the weakest of her class.
The Titan Berserker truly lived up to its status as a... three or four health bar boss-level entity in the game.
A mature A-rank Valkyrie could dismantle a standard Titan, as demonstrated by the one currently being dismantled beside Serenade.
The reason this world's Valkyries could barely contend with one or two A-rank Valkyries was their unfamiliarity with the machine's capabilities.
Soon, the Valkyries discovered the Titan's speed weakness.
Without energy shields, the Titan could only barely hold off a single Valkyrie, and it would likely be destroyed within moments.
A B-rank Valkyrie should be able to handle it.
Zofia's unusual behavior wasn't just noticed by Serenade; others had observed it too.
Surprise... Shock...
This was Zofia... Her Stigmata, inherited from her ancestors, had awakened...
Unlike five hundred years later, the technology at this time didn't exist to grant Valkyries the power of Stigmata artificially. In the future, most Valkyries would obtain their Stigmata power through cruel experiments—what were called "artificial Stigmata."
But in this era, all Stigmata were innate...
Mostly, it was the power inherited from their ancestors, flowing through their blood...
The Stigmata in this Honkai World differed from what Christians called Stigmata, and it wasn't like the Stigmata equipment stored in Serenade's arsenal either.
If Serenade's Stigmata were considered equipment, then the Stigmata in this world referred to genetic power. It might be similar to the Yae Sakura spirit that would possess Theresa's back five hundred years later, forming such a Stigma.
As everyone knows, Honkai is a cyclical disaster phenomenon that occurs in this world. Every few hundred years, such a calamity strikes.
After each "Honkai" event, a special group of people emerges. Their bodies contain what is known as "Honkai antibodies"—essentially, their physiological structures develop resistance to the Honkai phenomenon.
In a very small number of these antibody-bearing individuals, the antibodies form unique patterns within their bodies. These are the so-called "Stigmata."
The Stigmata are legacies left by the previous generation's civilization to combat Honkai. Toward the end of that era, humans ingeniously encoded knowledge into genetic fragments. When these genetic fragments reach a certain level of completeness within an individual's body, the Stigmata manifest.
In later times—specifically, five hundred years later—the organization... crudely simulated the operation of Stigmata to create "artificial Stigmata." These could be implanted into Valkyries, artificially enhancing their resistance to Honkai and dramatically boosting their power.
However, lacking the genuine "Stigmata" traces from historical heroes, the artificial versions are incomplete and come with severe side effects, placing tremendous strain on the Valkyries' bodies.
Despite this, the Valkyries fighting for the so-called "beautiful" world still accept this power.
So, mass production of Stigmata wouldn't occur for several centuries. At this time, Valkyries who possessed or had awakened their Stigmata were exceedingly rare.
Yet now, Zofia had unexpectedly awakened her Stigmata...
However, even with this awakening, Serenade felt only mild surprise, not fear.
While awakening one's Stigmata significantly enhances one's power, it doesn't make one invincible.
Why hadn't Serenade equipped Kallen with a Stigmata? Because Kallen had already awakened her genetic Stigmata power long ago.