"Huh?" Hector blinked, taken aback by Herta's reaction. He hesitated before asking, "You... you don't want to forgive me?"
"No, I wasn't angry in the first place," Herta said calmly. "I simply meant what I said: I heard you. That's all. Is there anything else?"
Hector was stunned. Seeing Herta turn to leave, he quickly blurted out, "There's one more thing! I passed the Secret Keepers' will test and have sufficient qualifications. I meet all the prerequisites to become a Corrupted!"
Among the Secret Keepers, those who underwent human experimentation, had flesh from Evil God Familiars implanted in them, and gained superhuman abilities were also called "Corrupted," using the same term as the Cultists. After all, both groups shared the same origins.
Hector continued, "Captain Martin said you have an improved method here for becoming Corrupted, and he told me to come to you."
Herta paused slightly at these words, and a brief silence fell over the room. Just as Hector began to wonder if he had offended her, Herta quietly turned around and said, "I forgot."
It was true that Herta had offered to help Martin improve his method of enhancing himself by implanting flesh from an Evil God's Familiar. However, when she left the basement of the Secret Keepers Headquarters, she hadn't taken the piece of flesh with her, and Martin hadn't reminded her, assuming she no longer needed it. By the time Herta turned her attention to researching the Dimensional Rift, she had completely forgotten about it.
Hector blinked in surprise. "Huh?"
"Never mind," Herta said, waving it off. "It's not a big deal. Just wait here for a moment."
With that, she swiftly returned home, leaving Hector standing outside with the Herta Puppet, who had been helping her carry boxes earlier. Hector stared after her, utterly bewildered.
He glanced left, then right, before his gaze inevitably fell upon the adorable puppet beside him. He knew she was beautiful, but their previous encounter had been at night in the dimly lit town, making it hard to see clearly. Now, observing her closely, he found her overwhelmingly cute.
The Herta Puppet shot him a sidelong glare. "What are you staring at?"
Hector stared in disbelief. "You can talk?!"
Half an hour later, when Herta Herself emerged, she found Hector sprawled on the ground, clutching his head in his hands, while the Herta Puppet relentlessly kicked him.
"???" Herta raised an eyebrow. "What's going on here?"
At her words, the Herta Puppet instantly froze, snapping to rigid attention without a word. Hector slowly scrambled to his feet, trembling. "N-nothing," he stammered. "It's nothing."
Uninterested in dwelling on such trivialities, Herta didn't press further. She handed Hector a syringe. "Here," she said, "the Corrupted Improved Version. I just finished developing it."
Hector was stunned. Even as he accepted the syringe, his face remained etched with disbelief. If he understood correctly, she meant she had devised this so-called "improved version" from scratch in the past half hour?
Is this... really reliable? Can half an hour of research truly surpass the century-long efforts of the Secret Keepers Organization?
Herta casually explained, "The effects of this thing are simple. Once injected, it grants the user physical abilities far beyond human limits: strength, endurance, speed, reflexes, even self-healing, and so on."
Hector's jaw slowly dropped, his eyes widening in disbelief. This serum was clearly not the so-called "Corrupted Improved Version." Herta didn't possess any flesh from the Evil God's Familiars; how could she have improved upon it? This was an entirely new creation—a "Super Soldier Serum" she had just developed.
"Just inject it," Herta continued. "Anywhere will do."
She then silently stared at Hector, her meaning unmistakable. Slowly, he picked up the syringe, aimed it at his arm, steeled himself, and plunged it in.
Afterward, Hector could clearly feel his body gradually heating up. His posture straightened, his muscles tightened, and the transformation continued for over ten minutes before finally stopping. He clenched his fist, reveling in the newfound power surging through his veins, a grin spreading across his face.
This serum actually works! I'm stronger than ever, brimming with seemingly limitless energy!
With this strength, taking down those Cultists will be a piece of cake!
Just as he was about to express his gratitude, Herta nodded. "Looks like there were no unexpected side effects. The serum seems quite successful."
Cold sweat beaded on Hector's forehead. If he understood correctly, did she just give him the serum without any prior testing?
So, I'm her first lab rat?
Lost in his panicked thoughts, Hector was startled by Herta's dismissive wave. "Well, if that's all, I'll be going."
Hector wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "N-no, that's all."
Some time later, Herta sat atop the Key, soaring high above Africa. Looking up, she easily spotted the colossal Dimensional Rift, tearing the sky asunder. No stars, no sun—only an inky, impenetrable darkness stretched across the horizon.
As she drew closer, the Rift's immense size blurred its edges, creating the illusion that the sky itself had always been pitch-black.
Herta retrieved her Magic Wand, cast a levitation spell to lift her true form into the air, and then steered the Key beneath her toward the Dimensional Rift, toward this patch of void.
"Go," she whispered.
The Key, previously hurtling forward at tremendous speed, gradually slowed as it neared the Rift, as if sinking into quicksand or ensnared by some unseen force.
Herta watched the scene unfold with unwavering calm, showing not the slightest surprise. She waited patiently until the Key finally came to a halt, as if it had lodged itself in some invisible barrier. Raising her right hand, she mimicked the act of holding an object between her thumb and forefinger, gently rotating her wrist.
In the distance, the Key slowly began to turn in sync with Herta's hand movements.
Click.
As the Key shifted from a horizontal to a vertical position, a faint sound rippled through the space. Then, a sphere of white, ethereal substance erupted from the Key, radiating outward to fill the once pitch-black void.