A few days later, inside Abyssal City.
Siegfried stood inside Abyssal City, looking at the Titan mechs beside him, a growing sense of unease filling his heart.
A few days ago, after receiving Welt's message, Siegfried had immediately used the Quantum Teleportation System to arrive in Abyssal City, where he met Welt and the suddenly-arrived Su.
After being told by Su that 'Kevin could be rescued at any moment,' Siegfried naturally chose to stay in Abyssal City.
Over these few days, Siegfried had sparred with Su several times.
And only after sparring did Siegfried realize that the so-called forerunners were a group of ridiculously strong people.
Siegfried, whose hidden injuries had been healed by Su's divine medicine, should have regained his peak strength from the Second Eruption.
Yet after fighting Su with nearly all his might, Siegfried found that he couldn't take down this opponent.
Although Siegfried didn't use the Zeroth Power of the Judgment of Shamash, his opponent also didn't use the powerful ultimate move he claimed to have sealed.
Though Su didn't elaborate, Siegfried, with his semi-Honkai Beast transformation ability, had already guessed that Su's so-called ultimate move referred to that state.
One had to know, Siegfried in his Honkai Beast form was far stronger than his normal state.
In other words, his opponent had sealed that power, essentially fighting Siegfried with his strength suppressed to a minimum.
And such a super expert had regretfully stated that the Kaslana family's old ancestor, Kevin, could easily defeat Su in a few moves at his peak.
Knowing this, it would be a miracle if Siegfried could remain calm.
Having seen the full scope of the Stigmata Project, Siegfried knew exactly how insane that plan was.
If the Stigmata Project failed, that would be one thing. But if it succeeded...
In the experiments related to the Stigmata Project 1,500 years ago, Kevin's data estimated that only about one in a thousand people would survive.
Even after so many years and improvements to the technology of the Stigmata Project, even if you multiplied that number by ten, the global population would still plummet by ninety percent.
There was no way in hell Welt and Siegfried would ever agree to such a monstrous plan.
And because of this, Siegfried felt the fighting spirit within him burning relentlessly.
As for Welt, he had spent the last few years using the Divine Key schematics given to him by Su to practice the process of 'creating' Divine Keys.
Even as the Herrscher of Reason, it still took Welt a certain amount of time to create things whose structure he was unfamiliar with.
And in a battle between experts, sometimes a single moment's opening could decide the outcome.
Under these circumstances, Welt could only train his proficiency in creating Divine Keys with all his might.
Moreover, there was a limit to how long Welt could train like this.
After all, the three of them could only guess that the enemy might attack; they didn't know the specific time.
To avoid being in a weakened state right after training when the enemy arrived, Welt had to ensure he retained enough power every time he finished his practice.
As for Su, he had been hiding in the shadows ever since he arrived.
There was no other reason, purely to ambush any World Serpent members who didn't know he was lurking here.
All the preparations should be in place.
With my strength, Mr. Welt's, and Mr. Siegfried's, even if Mr. Gray Serpent is incredibly resourceful, he shouldn't be able to gather enough firepower to assault this place.
Yes, everything should be fine.
But this sudden palpitation, what could it be?
Just as Su was unable to comprehend the thoughts in his mind, the space they were in suddenly began to ripple.
After the spatial fluctuation subsided, two short girls appeared in Abyssal City.
"They're here!"
Siegfried looked at the suddenly appearing enemies, not daring to let his guard down in the slightest.
The two girls before him, with their pink and blue hair, didn't look particularly destructive.
But Siegfried, whose vigilance was at its peak, would certainly not be fooled by their cute appearance.
After all—the energy readings from these two little girls were terrifyingly high.
Emperor-class???
Are you kidding me? An Emperor-class can make me feel 'threatened'?
"Hmm, wait."
Welt, who had already taken out the Star of Eden, suddenly frowned as he looked at the two children with vacant eyes.
"You two..."
Seeing Welt's expression, Siegfried didn't immediately attack either, but retreated to Welt's side.
"What, you know these two girls?"
"I don't, but I've seen their files."
After dodging a sudden sword strike from the blue-haired girl, Welt continued speaking to Siegfried.
"Liliya Olenyeva, Rozaliya Olenyeva. They are Cocolia's adopted daughters."
Ah, Cocolia's adopted daughters?
"And earlier, we received news that all the children in Cocolia's orphanage had gone missing, and now..."
"I think we have our answer."
Welt didn't say it outright, but Siegfried wasn't a complete idiot.
Seeing the Honkai Beast horns growing from the girls' heads and the Honkai Energy they were emitting, Siegfried immediately understood what had happened to them.
Rumor had it that Cocolia, in order to make her long-prepared X-10 Experiment a success, used her own children as test subjects.
And now, these two little girls possessed the power of Honkai Beasts. Was there any more to be said?
Damn it, Cocolia, you're a real piece of work.
Even after dying, you sent your own daughters to World Serpent for modification. That's something even a beast wouldn't do.
"Siegfried, be careful."
Seeing the two girls engage Siegfried, Welt called out to him.
"There are definitely more enemies than just them."
"Heh, I know."
Siegfried, now tied up in the fight, drew the dual pistols from his waist and adjusted the Judgment of Shamash to its lowest power output before aiming at the two girls.
"Let's make this quick. I won't kill them."
Watching Siegfried fight the two girls to a standstill and quickly gain the upper hand, Welt felt no sense of relief whatsoever.
The two girls had clearly undergone human experimentation, and the technology used was likely the 'MANTIS' technology that Su had mentioned to him.
After being implanted with the genes of Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, the two girls' strength was already quite impressive.
But against Siegfried, who had recovered his peak strength, the two completely inexperienced girls had no chance of winning.
As for why Welt wasn't using the Star of Eden to assist in the attack...
The gravity waves from this thing were basically an area-of-effect attack. If he used them recklessly, Siegfried might become a victim too.
And now, since there were more enemies than just these two, other enemies would surely attack this place.
For example...
"Eh, so this is Abyssal City."
In the next second, a masked girl appeared abruptly, scanning her surroundings.
Then, Welt, who was already prepared to attack, felt as if he had been targeted by something terrifying and took a wary step back.
The next moment, in the spot where Welt had just been standing, dozens of sword beams shot out from the void, simultaneously piercing that area.
If Welt had been even a fraction of a second slower, those swords would have pierced his body, not the air.
Of course, with his Imaginary Shield, it was possible for Welt to block these attacks.
But for an enemy to launch such an attack the moment they met, catching him off guard, Welt dared not show too many openings in front of such an expert.
"As expected of the expert praised by the Raksha. The First Herrscher is indeed not easy to deal with."
"The Raksha..."
Watching the longsword-wielding girl walk towards him, Welt, while pouring Honkai Energy into the Star of Eden, spoke calmly.
"Though I have no proof, miss, is the Raksha you speak of Otto Apocalypse?"
"Wow, it's just like the Raksha said."
Hearing Welt's words, the girl said with great surprise.
"He told me that the First Herrscher would immediately guess it was him who sent me to deal with you."
Damn it, that guy Otto is definitely up to no good now that he's in hiding.
I thought that after his previous clashes with World Serpent, there was no way they would team up so soon.
It seems I was too naive—what price did that bastard pay to make World Serpent stop hating him as an enemy?
"Alright, stop letting your eyes dart around."
Looking at the 'enemy' before her, the masked Li Sushang said to Welt with a detached tone.
"The Raksha said you'd definitely try to frame him, so I won't believe a word you say."
"Besides, I've done my own investigation. According to my findings, as the Archbishop of Schicksal, the Raksha's prestige within the organization is ridiculously high."
"It's normal for one or two people to be deceived, but when everyone says he's a good person, then he must be a good person."
Oh, that son of a bitch Otto, that's enough.
This guy, blaming the victim first... forget it, this is something Otto would do. It's my own fault for being surprised.
"Ah, you're not going to defend yourself?"
Seeing that Welt had completely entered a combat stance, Li Sushang's tone suddenly grew cold.
"No defense means you admit it, then."
"Miss, I have no intention of fighting you."
Welt, who had finished gathering his Honkai Energy, simultaneously formed the word 'No' behind his back with Honkai Energy.
*Mr. Su, please understand my meaning when you see this.*
*Please do not act for now, because...*
*—The enemy definitely has other tricks up their sleeve.*
Watching Welt and the girl fight, the hidden Su, following Welt's wishes, refrained from acting for the time being.
Although in the current battle, Welt seemed to be faintly suppressed by his opponent, Su, who had sparred with Welt, knew very well that Welt was intentionally feigning weakness.
His Star of Eden could not only emit gravity waves to restrict the enemy's movement but also use its Zeroth Power to create a simulated black hole and devour the enemy whole.
Of course, creating a simulated black hole required a certain amount of time, so Welt needed to seize the right opportunity to use his ultimate move.
As for now, Welt was not only being pushed back by the girl but had also been stabbed in several places, looking truly wretched.
However, for Welt, who had already seen the blueprints for the Abyss Flower, any problem that could be solved by creating the Abyss Flower and healing himself afterward was not really a problem at all.
Mr. Welt is releasing his gravity waves a little slower than usual.
And that young lady doesn't know this.
Under these circumstances, she has subconsciously been lulled by Mr. Welt's combat rhythm.
Next, as soon as this young lady gets used to this rhythm, if Mr. Welt suddenly speeds up the release of his gravity waves...
"Wha—"
"Too slow, little girl."
Suddenly releasing a gravity wave at his original speed, Welt directly crushed Li Sushang to the ground and increased the gravitational multiplier.
"Excellent skill, but you lack experience."
"Seeing as you were deceived by Otto, I will not kill you."
"Heh, Welt, nice one."
On the other side, Siegfried, who had already suppressed the twin MANTISes, suddenly tossed his dual pistols into the air and charged at the two who had just completed their attack.
The two girls both used greatswords, and such relatively heavy weapons have a slower recovery time.
Although the physical constitution of a MANTIS is stronger than that of an ordinary person, and their reaction speed is faster, well...
Siegfried, who had already awakened, was also a MANTIS of sorts.
Facing the combat expert Siegfried, the moment their recovery animations were too slow, Siegfried grabbed their heads with both hands and smashed them into the ground of Abyssal City.
"Heh, fight's over."
Having taken down the two of them, Siegfried casually turned his gaze towards Welt's side.
Welt was still soft-hearted, but his soft-heartedness only extended to not killing Li Sushang directly.
Faced with a girl who had been deluded by Otto and was truly a capable fighter, Welt felt...
It was probably best to first suppress her with gravity waves until she lost consciousness, and then use the Abyss Flower to heal her body.
It wasn't that Welt was being too cruel; it was just that he couldn't afford to be careless right now.
If Kevin was really released, the whole world would be doomed.
No matter how gentle he usually was, he couldn't risk the lives of everyone else in the world for a moment of soft-heartedness.
The battle, from start to finish, had only lasted a few minutes.
But even with the battle going so smoothly, the three of them had no intention of letting their guard down.
The reason was simple—it was precisely because things were going *too* smoothly that the three of them felt something was wrong.
There was no way World Serpent's long-prepared offensive would be this small, and besides...
"Holy hell!"
"What...!"
At that moment, Siegfried and Welt simultaneously saw the one thing they least wanted to see.
Amidst a sky full of dancing golden feathers, both Siegfried and Welt instantly had their consciousness stolen away.
"Damn—"
The hidden Su, finally unable to hold back, acted, releasing a wave of his psychic energy.
"Oh?"
Otto, who had the opportunity to send Welt flying with a single punch and crush the mimic Star of Eden, now saw Welt's eyes suddenly clear up. He could only choose the next best option and retreat with the slightly injured Li Sushang.
On the other side, the two girls who had been suppressed by Siegfried also took advantage of the moment Siegfried's mind was captured by the Mimic Fenghuang Down to escape from his grasp and retreat to a safe position.
"Otto...!"
Seeing his nemesis appear before him, Siegfried did a roll, scooped up his Judgment of Shamash from the ground, and aimed its muzzle at his foe.
"You son of a bitch, you actually dare to show your face in front of me!"
"Ah, Siegfried, you're still so... impulsive?"
Looking at the three powerful enemies before him, Otto said flippantly.
"What, are you planning to fight me three-on-one?"
"Raksha..."
Li Sushang, having caught her breath, struggled out of Otto's arms and said to him angrily.
"Don't be afraid! I'll fight with you!"
"Herrscher of Reason, that guy is just as insidious as you said!"
*No, no, if you fall for such a simple tactic, that's purely your own problem.*
But right now, Welt couldn't possibly say such an unpleasant thing to Li Sushang.
Otto appearing on the battlefield meant that the worst-case scenario had come to pass.
Otto and World Serpent had joined forces, and it was a full-scale alliance.
Otherwise, this behind-the-scenes schemer would not have appeared on the battlefield so proactively.
"And speaking of which, Mr. Su..."
Watching Su appear beside Welt and the others with an indifferent expression, the flippant smile on Otto's face gradually vanished.
"Your actions just now, I can let them slide."
"Right now, if you can return to the Thousand Worlds at Schicksal HQ, you will still be an honored guest of my Schicksal."
Upon hearing Otto's words, Li Sushang's eyes widened.
"Wait, Raksha, you mean—this squinty-eyed guy is also one of your people... no, someone who betrayed you?"
"Ha, how should I put it... Mr. Su and I were merely allies."
Hearing Otto say these words with a slightly bitter tone, Li Sushang's mind immediately concocted a tragic scene.
*Raksha... you were betrayed by so many people, yet you still chose to lead Schicksal to save the world?*
*Then there's even more reason for me to stand by your side!*
As for the three on the other side, their expressions had all turned even uglier.
The three, who knew Otto's character well, knew that he was once again using such ambiguous words and acting to deceive someone.
Sigh, Otto.
But right now, they had no time to expose Otto's hypocritical mask.
After all...
"Mr. Otto, we are late. Our deepest apologies."
Behind Otto, several Gray Serpents appeared with a group of mass-produced Joyce clones.
"No matter, Mr. Gray Serpent. You have arrived just in time."
After saying this, Otto spoke to Gray Serpent.
"My companion is slightly injured. Please allow her to retreat first—"
"I told you I'd help you!"
Hearing Otto's words, Li Sushang immediately said to him anxiously.
"I am the grand-disciple of the Immortal Red Kite! A small injury like this is nothing!"
*Sigh, Sushang, you really are easy to bait.*
*Fine, I'll just owe you a big favor. I'll repay it to you sooner or later.*
"Alright, the actors are all on stage. In that case..."
The leading Gray Serpent snapped his fingers and said to the Olenyeva sisters.
"Rozaliya, Liliya, the game is over."
"Yes, Lord Gray Serpent."
After speaking, the two, who had already retreated to a safe area, suddenly joined hands.
Then, with a terrifying ripple flashing by, the girl named Liliya Olenyeva suddenly collapsed to the ground as if her life had been extinguished.
At the same time, a second Honkai Beast horn grew on Rozaliya's head, and her aura intensified by more than just a single notch.
However, even so, the three of them did not take their eyes off Gray Serpent.
The more cards the enemy revealed, the clearer their minds became.
They were here to rescue Kevin, which meant that for them, the outcome of the battle was not the objective at all.
As long as they could rescue Kevin, the moment he appeared, the tide of battle would instantly be reversed.
Watching the powerful enemies gradually approach, a drop of cold sweat trickled down Welt's temple.
This is big trouble.
Moreover, we had already activated the interference device for the Quantum Teleportation System.
And yet, they were still able to forcibly teleport here to Abyssal City.
Did someone help World Serpent modify the frequency of their quantum teleportation system, causing our shielding to fail?
Otto.
Thinking about it, it could only be him who lent World Serpent a hand.
It seems World Serpent is really playing for high stakes this time, to even let Otto get his hands on such a core secret.
And now, in terms of combat power, although our side has the advantage, we also have a big problem.
The Zeroth Powers of both the Judgment of Shamash and the Star of Eden are wide-area attacks that could harm allies if not used carefully.
As for their side...
Let's not even talk about the awkward question of whether they even count as allies.
Otto has a Soulium Body.
Gray Serpent is a mass-produced Bioroid.
And there are the mass-produced clones of Joyce, who don't even have self-awareness.
If a real fight breaks out, the only ones on their side who might actually die are the little girl deceived by Otto and Cocolia's two adopted daughters.
And on our side...
Mr. Su's psychic attacks might not be effective against Otto's Soulium Body or Bioroids like Gray Serpent.
Damn it, was this all within World Serpent's calculations?
"Welt, don't worry about it too much."
Siegfried pulled the trigger and charged towards the enemies.
"They definitely have more tricks up their sleeve, but taking out the enemy is never a bad thing."
"Ah, you're right."
Watching Siegfried charge forward bravely, Welt said to Su beside him.
"Mr. Su, the two of us can handle these enemies."
"You are the strongest among us. Please keep an eye on other movements on the battlefield for us."
"I understand."
"Yo ho."
Watching the determined Welt, Otto said with a mocking smile.
"Is it really okay to discuss your strategy right in front of me, Joachim?"
"Whether it's okay or not—you can find out for yourself!"
Feeling the gravity wave released by Welt, Li Sushang was now utterly enraged.
Just now, this detestable Herrscher, just as the Raksha had said, had truly intended to kill her.
And now, he was going to attack the Raksha again.
How could the girl, who held a special affection for Otto, continue to tolerate Welt's 'atrocities' against him?
"'It shapes all things, yet cannot be shaped itself!'"
"Edge of Taixu—Spirit Skandha!"
A heaven-splitting sword strike appeared on the battlefield as the girl chanted the sword mantra.
However, before the girl could unleash her strongest attack, Su, who was supposed to be monitoring the battlefield, unhesitatingly blocked Welt's path and deployed a psychic shield.
"Wha—"
After delivering her strongest sword strike, Li Sushang had never expected that the squinty-eyed man who hadn't been fighting seriously could block her attack so easily.
In Li Sushang's eyes, [Spirit Skandha], the strongest Skandha within the Edge of Taixu, should have been the ultimate move to crush her enemies.
Yet now, after the enemy blocked her sword strike, Li Sushang truly did not feel any sense of weakness emanating from Su.
The reason Su had rushed to Welt's side so hastily was mainly because...
—The destructive power of this sword strike was simply too immense.
Spirit Skandha, one of the Five Skandhas of Taixu, was a powerful move that condensed intangible Honkai Energy into a physical sword to attack the enemy.
However, this sword move could not only attack the enemy on a physical level but also on a mental level.
In other words, for a strong practitioner to completely block this attack, they must defend against the Sword God's attack on both the physical and mental planes simultaneously.
If the person attempting to block the Sword God's attack were to fail on either the physical or mental plane, it would cause their defense on the other plane to be disrupted as well, potentially allowing the enemy to break through their defense from the other side.
Welt's mastery of Honkai Energy was certainly far superior to Li Sushang's, but his proficiency in mental defense could not be said to be particularly high.
It was precisely for this reason that Su had acted at this moment, helping Welt block the sword strike he might not have been able to block.
After this one strike, Li Sushang, who was already injured, immediately fainted from overexertion.
At the same time, seeing Su reveal an opening, Gray Serpent immediately made another decision.
"All of you, attack at once!"
"Tsk, Mr. Welt, I'll leave it to you."
"Mm, I understand."
Looking at the enemies before him, Welt, who had finished gathering his Honkai Energy, unhesitatingly activated the Zeroth Power of the Star of Eden.
"Whoa, how scary, how scary."
Scooping up the once-again unconscious Li Sushang, Otto unhesitatingly abandoned the Gray Serpents behind him and chose to make a strategic retreat to another location.
As the simulated black hole opened, the Joyce clones and Gray Serpents were indeed dealt with in a single blow by Welt.
But the Gray Serpents who were swallowed by the black hole did not feel the slightest bit of sorrow.
After all...
—Our mission is complete!
Above the Eye of the Deep, a Gray Serpent appeared, throwing the depowered Wendy towards the Eye.
At the same time, dozens of artificial Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, created from Jackal's potions, also appeared near the Eye of the Deep.
"This, damn it!"
Seeing that the area around the Eye of the Deep had been backdoored, Siegfried, without a second thought, risked taking a sword blow to instantly execute the Gray Serpent who had thrown Wendy.
But unfortunately...
The two conditions—a certain number of powerful Honkai Beasts and a Herrscher Core—had been met.
As these two conditions were met, the space around the Eye of the Deep immediately began to fluctuate violently.
But at the same time, Wendy, who had been forcing herself to be optimistic, suddenly saw someone she shouldn't have.
Otto, who had appeared here, had not made any attempt to disguise himself.
And as a victim who had met Otto in person and had the Gem of Desire implanted in her by him, Wendy couldn't possibly forget this man's face even in her dreams.
Lord Bishop Otto, why is he here?
And, he clearly seems to be in league with Gray Serpent?
Which means... the Bishop of Schicksal is actually Schicksal's biggest traitor???
This, how is this possible!!!
At that moment, Wendy's heart was overcome with despair.
She was just a young girl, even younger than Bronya. Forcing herself never to despair, she could no longer maintain her composure after seeing that her own leader was the biggest traitor.
But in this final moment, Wendy still remembered some people.
No, that's not right.
Teacher Theresa definitely wouldn't want me to do bad things.
Senior Rita was seriously injured protecting me.
And that legendary Knight, Leo Ash, he's a great hero who can take down Chiyou all by himself.
Schicksal has so many good people. I, I can't negate everyone's efforts just because of a bad person like Otto!
Yes, that's it.
The more World Serpent and Otto want to do bad things, to throw me into this place, the more I can't let you have your way!
I need power. I need...
—The power to finish off all this trash!
As the girl's heart was led astray by a certain will, her eyes suddenly erupted with a terrifying green light.
And in the next moment, as a fierce wind swept past...
"Ha, Otto, World Serpent, and Anti-Entropy..."
"I can finally, completely unleash this power that belongs to me, and take care of you bastards!"
The girl who held the Gem of Desire had finally completed the last step of her awakening, becoming His apostle.
.