"Alright, Koscheit, I know you're not dead. Come out, or do I have to drag you out?"
As Talulah slowly regained her composure, Daniel's gaze turned to the empty space on the right. The slap he had delivered earlier would have killed an ordinary person instantly, but Koscheit was no ordinary person. He wouldn't die so easily.
Seeing that Koscheit was still hiding, Daniel snorted coldly. With a wave of his right hand, the power of the Feather of Xuanyuan revealed Koscheit's figure in the previously empty space.
"Koscheit." Seeing Koscheit appear, Talulah's eyes burned with intense killing intent. Although she didn't know everything Koscheit had done using her body, what she did know was enough to make her want to tear him to pieces.
"My dear daughter, it's been a long time. I always knew you would come to agree with me one day." Seeing Talulah's renewed determination, Koscheit's expression remained calm. After all, as an immortal who had lived for centuries, his initial panic was due to the unexpected disruption of his plans.
Now that his plan had completely failed, he had calmed down.
"Agree with you? Who do you think you are? If you were so powerful, why did you lose to Wei Yenwu back then?"
Before Koscheit could continue, Daniel interrupted him with another slap. Although Wei Yenwu, Talulah's father, and Lin Gorshok were powerful, Koscheit was the Immortal Black Snake, the ancient will of Ursus. Yet, in his own territory, he had lost it to others. It was almost laughable.
Moreover, Koscheit's possession technique was rather crude, especially compared to Nian's second brother. While Koscheit needed years of preparation and Talulah's despair to possess her, Nian's second brother nearly succeeded in turning Old Li into his avatar with just a few dreams. If it hadn't been for Ling's intervention, he would have succeeded.
"You—"
Koscheit, staggered by the slap, glared at Daniel. He had never encountered someone so disrespectful and unorthodox. His carefully crafted rhetoric was useless against Daniel.
"You what? Stop with these cheap tricks. I'm not Talulah, and I won't fall for your schemes. It's time to say goodbye."
With Talulah recovered, there was no need to keep Koscheit around. As he spoke, Daniel's hands moved, and a golden light began to gather in his palms.
"Wait, we can talk—"
The strange golden light made Koscheit's heart race. This light felt even more dangerous than the previous flames. He hurriedly spoke, trying to buy time.
"Talk? We'll talk if we meet again."
With that, the golden light in Daniel's hands transformed into a massive golden sword, piercing through Koscheit's body. Koscheit only managed to let out half a scream before his figure completely dissipated.
"Alright, let's go." After dealing with Koscheit, Daniel activated the Feather of Xuanyuan, and the three of them left Talulah's mental space.
"Ch'en, I never thought we'd meet under these circumstances."
In reality, on the top floor of the core city, Talulah, now fully conscious, looked at Ch'en and sighed deeply. She had imagined many scenarios of reuniting with Ch'en, including bringing Alina to meet her. Unfortunately, things hadn't gone as planned.
"Is Koscheit really gone?" Ch'en nodded at Talulah, then turned to Daniel. She was still worried about Talulah's condition, especially after learning about Koscheit's true nature.
"Don't worry, he couldn't have survived that attack. But since you're concerned, let me check again." Daniel walked over to Talulah.
"Don't resist." With that, Daniel slapped Talulah's soul out of her body.
The mental space was deeply connected to the soul. If Koscheit still existed, it would be evident by examining Talulah's soul. Without the Feather of Xuanyuan, Daniel would have had to deal with Koscheit through the soul.
"What is this?" Ch'en and Amiya stared in shock at Talulah's ethereal figure floating in mid-air.
"Her soul." As he spoke, Daniel began examining Talulah's soul.
"Alright, there's no problem."
Although Talulah's soul was somewhat weakened, there were no abnormalities. Satisfied, Daniel returned her soul to her body.
"Ch'en, I'm sorry. There's so much I want to say to you, but I have more important things to do now."
Talulah, her soul back in her body, had a determined look in her eyes. She seemed to have made a decision and was about to leave the core city.
"Miss Talulah, are you planning to atone for your sins with death?" Amiya's words stopped Talulah in her tracks.
"Talulah." Ch'en called out, her voice filled with concern.
"I've done many wrong things, caused many deaths. Rhodes Island, I remember some of your people died by my hand." Talulah turned around, her gaze fixed on Amiya.
When Rhodes Island had tried to extract the Doctor from Chernobog, they had clashed with Reunion. Not only had Ace died, but Scout's team and many members of Amiya's squad had also perished.
"I know." Amiya had never forgotten the Rhodes Island operators who died in Chernobog. She remembered each of their names.
"But Rhodes Island doesn't exist for revenge."
While many on Rhodes Island, like Mint and Blaze, leaned toward revenge, the organization's philosophy prevented them from acting on it. Even in the original timeline, when Rhodes Island captured Talulah, Mint hadn't tried to kill her.
Suffering leads to growth. Despite being only fourteen, Amiya had already learned many lessons. Moreover, with the Demon King's inheritance, she could sense others' emotions. She had felt Talulah's desire for death.
"Miss Talulah, death is easy. But only the living can move forward, carrying the will of their comrades."
At this point, Amiya's expression grew somber, but she quickly regained her composure. Having grown up in Babel, she had witnessed too much death, especially Theresa's. If not for Kal'tsit, Amiya might not have been able to move on.
"Being a good person is really hard."
Watching Amiya and Talulah's conversation, Daniel sighed inwardly. Although everything was Koscheit's fault, neither Talulah, Amiya, nor Ch'en had thought to blame him. Instead, they wanted to take responsibility themselves.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I think we need to stop the core city as soon as possible." Seeing that the two were about to continue their conversation, Daniel reminded them.
"Right, we need to stop the core city." Ch'en finally remembered the urgent task at hand. Seeing Talulah had momentarily made her forget.
"You three go ahead. It seems they're fighting the Imperial Guards. I'll go check it out." With his Observation Haki, Daniel sensed that Nian was already engaged in combat. In Chernobog, the only ones who could fight Nian to a standstill were the Imperial Guards.
"Who are you?"
At the edge of the core city, twelve Imperial Guards were surrounded by nearly a hundred Reunion members. One of the guards shouted at Nian, who stood outside the encirclement.
With the strength of the Imperial Guards, even a hundred Reunion members wouldn't be a problem. However, during the fight, the guards realized that these Reunion members were all puppets.
"You don't need to know. It's been so many years, and you're still the same." Nian smiled, opening her folding fan.
"You're opposing Ursus."
"Don't pin such a big label on me. Your actions weren't approved by the Emperor, were they? The Imperial Guards, acting behind the Emperor's back—who's really betraying Ursus here?" As Nian spoke, she waved her left hand, and a new group of Reunion members appeared, blocking the guards' escape route.
"You heard the earlier announcement. If people find out that not only were imperial soldiers hiding in Chernobog, but even the Emperor's Imperial Guards were here, what do you think will happen?"
"At this point, your plan has failed. If you leave now, you can still save some face. The military can claim it was a rebellion, but if the Imperial Guards are involved, what do you think will happen to Ursus?"
"The Forge's Revelation wasn't a lie after all. Is this her authority? I wonder if the Xuanji Giant Soldier is real. This isn't a movie—it's practically an autobiography."
While Nian was dealing with the Imperial Guards, Daniel arrived at the scene. Watching the battle, he couldn't help but think of "The Forge's Revelation."
"Koscheit should have seen what a real god is like. He really lowered the bar for gods."
Nian, Xi, and Ling—if they wanted, they could each take on a mobile city single-handedly. Koscheit, on the other hand, was far weaker. If he had even a fraction of their power, he wouldn't have lost Lungmen to Wei Yenwu and the others.
"You seem to be having fun." Daniel jumped out from the side.
"You're here. They're all yours." Seeing Daniel, Nian immediately handed over the task. With a clap of her hands, the Reunion members disappeared.
"Octopus-shaped helmets." Looking at the Imperial Guards' attire, Daniel sighed. Gods associated with octopuses, especially evil ones, were always trouble.
"I wonder if there's a R'lyeh in the ocean."
"Alright, that's enough."
Seeing two Imperial Guards charging at him after Nian withdrew her puppets, Daniel summoned the Eden Star in his left hand. In the next moment, black and red gravitational lines covered all the Imperial Guards. The sudden intense gravity forced the guards to sink into the ground.
"Do you want me to kill you all and display your bodies? Leave now while I'm still willing to spare you, or don't blame me for being ruthless."
The Imperial Guards were modified using fragments of demons. Daniel had no interest in this, just as he had no hesitation in killing Koscheit. He didn't need what Koscheit had to offer.
"If Mobius saw them, she'd be ecstatic." Even if demons were dangerous, Mobius wouldn't care.
But Daniel cared. Until he was stronger, he wasn't going to recklessly deal with demons or similar entities.
"Fine, we'll leave."
Realizing the gap in strength—Nian alone had trapped them, and now an even stronger opponent had arrived—the Imperial Guards decided to retreat. While they weren't afraid of dying, dying and then being exploited was another matter. Others might not dare to do such a thing, but after Talulah's announcement, it was hard to say.
Originally, the Imperial Guards hadn't planned to act. They were waiting for Chernobog's core city to collide with Lungmen before making their move. But Talulah's revelation forced them to act, only to be stopped before they could reach the core city.
"Someone once said that the Imperial Guards might all be beautiful girls. Beautiful girl Imperial Guards? That's quite the imagination. Did they think they were Nimaiya Ōetsu, creating a squad of beautiful Zanpakutō guards?" Watching the Imperial Guards leave, Daniel couldn't help but think.
The Imperial Guards, having made their decision, left quickly without looking back.
"Ursus curses! How did it come to this? Where did it go wrong?"
Near a warehouse on the edge of the core city's central avenue, a fierce battle was underway. Patriot, leading the shield guards, had clashed with the Ursus regular army that had infiltrated Chernobog.
This regular army outnumbered the shield guards. Even though they wore Reunion uniforms, their weapons were all military-issue. Such a force could have held its own against Patriot.
Unfortunately, this time, Patriot wasn't alone. FrostNova and Mint had joined him.
With the shield guards protecting her, Mint's firepower surpassed even Patriot's. While Patriot could only throw one lance at a time, Mint could control four flying greatswords simultaneously.
Combined with FrostNova's freezing abilities, the Ursus regular army was suppressed from the start, unable to fight back.
Mint's strength earned the shield guards' respect. Interestingly, most of Patriot's shield guards weren't Ursus natives known for their strength but were instead mostly Cautus.
"The core city has stopped. Ursus curses!"
The Ursus regular army, already struggling, lost their morale when they realized the core city had stopped. They had been holding on, hoping to complete their mission.
With their morale shattered, the army was quickly annihilated. There were no survivors.
"As expected, Koscheit left behind a huge mess. It seems we'll have to cut through the chaos quickly."
With Patriot and the shield guards maintaining order in the core city, the situation had stabilized somewhat. However, Koscheit's earlier actions had left many Reunion members unwilling to be restrained.
This was a difficult problem to solve, and mishandling it could lead to Reunion's collapse. But now, things were different.
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