Looking at the girl floating in mid-air, Welt, Su, and Siegfried all...
—breathed a sigh of relief in unison.
Under normal circumstances, the appearance of another Herrscher and a large-scale Honkai Eruption would have been enough to give the three of them a massive headache.
But the situation was different now.
If Wendy had truly fallen into the Eye of the Deep, the one to emerge would have been Kevin.
Compared to a Kevin who could cut Su down in a few moves, a newly born Herrscher transformed from a genius Valkyrie was clearly much easier to deal with.
What's more...
"Otto! You damned dog! Give me your life!"
After becoming a Herrscher, the first person Wendy wanted to beat up was their enemy, Otto.
Watching Wendy transform into a hurricane and sweep towards Otto, Su felt a complex mix of emotions.
As a pioneer who had fought the Honkai since 50,000 years ago, he was, of course, very familiar with its operating mechanisms.
But now, seeing Wendy awaken as a Herrscher at the critical moment, Su still felt that the situation was even stranger than in the past.
Just a few days ago, Hua was sent to infiltrate the enemy, but Prometheus No. 17, who had forgotten her purpose and begun to see herself as a force on the side of the Honkai, was chosen as this era's Herrscher of Sentience.
At the time, Su had felt that this move was a bit too risky for the Honkai.
But now, it seemed that No. 17's infiltration was actually proceeding as planned.
Hua's mind was thrown into chaos by the Herrscher Personality → Hua couldn't suppress her killing intent towards Mr. Otto → Mr. Otto was beaten into a retreat → But at the same time, Mr. Otto also had the opportunity to leave Schicksal HQ and meet with Mr. Gray Serpent.
After this step, Mr. Otto helped Mr. Gray Serpent and even appeared in this place, which was no longer particularly strange.
And Mr. Otto, as the Bishop of Schicksal, was practically an idol and life mentor to the Valkyries.
Miss Wendy hadn't been in despair before, but now she exploded on the spot upon seeing Mr. Otto...
Did No. 17 really have the ability, starting from 'Hua becoming a Herrscher', to calculate things to this extent, using Mr. Otto's actions to turn Miss Wendy into a Herrscher as well?
If that was the case, then even if it wasn't a big problem now, if No. 17 could maintain this level of operation in the future, they would definitely have more headaches to deal with.
If they opened the back door now, future Herrschers might not have fixed authorities, and it could also provoke the Cocoon of Finality, which had already begun to accelerate its plans.
What a headache. The world has changed so quickly in these few months.
On the other side, Otto watched Wendy suddenly charge at him. Although his face remained expressionless, he was already cursing up a storm in his mind.
Damn you, Gray Serpent! Didn't you say the plan was perfect?!
You brought Wendy here, but you didn't manage to throw her into the Eye of the Deep... and that's not even the worst of it!
Why did she suddenly awaken as a Herrscher in mid-air!
And she just had to see my face!
At this moment, Otto truly felt that this bastard Gray Serpent had dragged him down at the most critical time.
If Gray Serpent had just drugged Wendy beforehand and let her fall in an unconscious state, she wouldn't have been able to see Otto here, and the Honkai wouldn't have been able to use the opportunity to catalyze her inner turmoil and turn her into a Herrscher.
And now...
Otto was indeed a powerhouse with strength at or above the Herrscher-level, but he was currently carrying dead weight.
Fighting a Herrscher under these circumstances is disadvantageous to me...
Damn it, Honkai, you're already walking all over me. If I retreat now, who knows what other tricks it'll pull to mess with my mind.
In the past, we had a tacit agreement: I don't mess with you, you don't mess with me. We all got along just fine.
Now, the Honkai has created a Herrscher to wreck my home just because I had the thought of 'assisting World Serpent.' If I act like a coward now, I'd be a fool!
"Raksha..."
At that moment, Li Sushang was jolted from her slumber by the intense Honkai Energy fluctuations from Wendy's awakening.
Then, looking at the girl who appeared before Otto, she was stunned to feel an incredibly powerful true qi emanating from her body.
The strength of this true qi was even greater than that of the First Herrscher???
"Sushang, it's good that you're awake."
After narrowly dodging Wendy's surprise attack, Otto placed Li Sushang on the ground and spoke to her urgently.
"I can't leave just yet. You should retreat first."
No, if we go, we go together—Li Sushang originally wanted to say that.
But thinking that staying here would only be a burden to the Raksha, Li Sushang suppressed her unreasonable thoughts and immediately retreated to the side.
"Hey! You over there, Valkyrie!"
Wendy, having missed her first strike, looked at Li Sushang obediently stepping aside and immediately shouted at her in frustration.
"The Bishop is helping the bad guys! Why are you still listening to him!"
"Don't trust him! He's definitely not a good person!"
"Wendy."
Seeing that Wendy hadn't completely lost her reason after her Herrscher transformation, Otto immediately began to organize his thoughts, preparing to use his master skills of persuasion on her.
However, the moment he opened his mouth, Wendy struck from a distance.
A terrifying gust of wind flashed by. Otto, barely dodging the attack, was horrified to see that the surface layer of Soulium on his right cheek had been scraped clean off by Wendy's blow.
"You shut up! From the moment you tricked me into participating in the Artificial Herrscher Experiment, I've always trusted you!"
At this moment, Otto could feel the undisguised hatred in Wendy's gaze.
Alas, I was a step too late.
The Honkai has already corrupted her heart, magnifying her malice towards me countless times.
In this situation, anything I say would be useless.
"Then there's no other way, Wendy. Since you have fallen to the path of evil, as the Archbishop of Schicksal..."
"—it is also my responsibility to eliminate a scourge of humanity like you."
Although the Raksha's words and actions still seemed fine, Li Sushang, who had already retreated to the side, suddenly noticed the Honkai Beasts near the Eye of the Deep.
Those Honkai Beasts, transformed by the serums injected by the Gray Serpents, still retained their individual wills.
Even with a Herrscher who could command Honkai Beasts present, Wendy had not gained control over this special group.
But Welt's forces deployed here in Abyssal City weren't limited to just him and Siegfried.
In fact, after merging the forces of the radical and conservative factions, Anti-Entropy had temporarily given up on confronting Schicksal around the world. Instead, they had concentrated most of their troops on defending Abyssal City and clearing out Honkai Beasts in other regions.
Watching those demonic beasts fighting fiercely against the metal giants, Li Sushang, for a moment, had a thought she shouldn't have.
She wasn't used to modern life yet, but this young martial artist was not so naive as to lack her own judgment.
Just now, during the fight with the First Herrscher, Li Sushang had seen those mechs stationed inside Abyssal City.
And now, these demonic beasts were fighting Anti-Entropy's metal giants, which clearly meant that the beasts were monsters sent by the First Herrscher's enemies.
In other words—the Raksha has joined forces with the villains who command these demonic beasts?
"Miss Li Sushang, please leave with me."
At that moment, another Gray Serpent, who had appeared out of nowhere, placed a hand on Li Sushang's shoulder and spoke to her in a cold tone.
"Mr. Otto has his own plans. We will leave first, and Mr. Otto will follow shortly."
"...I understand."
I can't overthink this.
The Raksha is the Archbishop of Schicksal. He must have his reasons for allying with these villains.
Besides, the ones controlling these demonic beasts are those metal giants. The Raksha might not even know about it.
He's been so good to me. As his friend, how can I doubt him so easily?
With these thoughts in mind, Li Sushang was teleported away by this Gray Serpent using the Quantum Teleportation System, finally escaping the battlefield.
But now, with Li Sushang gone, Otto felt immense pressure.
He didn't care if his Soulium Body was destroyed, but today, in order to also take care of Welt and Siegfried, Otto had brought his family's heirloom, the sarira... alright, it was Void Archives.
If Void Archives were lost here today, Otto felt it would be incredibly difficult to get it back.
Although Void Archives was a bastard who was constantly trying to seize control of his body, Otto had to admit that his plans were, for the time being, inseparable from this bastard.
This is tough.
Gray Serpent screwed up. Doesn't that piece of shit have any contingency plans?
And besides, Siegfried is being held up by that little girl, but what about Welt and Su? Why are they so quiet?
They aren't fools; they wouldn't pass up the chance to gang up on me with Wendy.
So now...
"What are you spacing out for, Otto!"
Seeing the Otto in front of her was clearly distracted, Wendy furiously rushed forward and slapped him across the face.
"You villain! Are you looking down on me!"
Damn it, this little brat!
Otto, struck directly in the face, was sent flying by Wendy's slap, which was charged with a massive amount of Honkai Energy.
But in the next instant, seeing a figure appear where he had just been standing, the anger in Otto's heart suddenly vanished.
Where Otto had originally been, Welt had suddenly appeared, thrusting a tachi into the empty air.
From the look of astonishment on Welt's face, it was clear he hadn't expected Otto to be so easily sent flying by Wendy.
Although Otto didn't know what trick Welt was trying to pull... no, wait!
Damn it, is that Jizō Mitama?!
Looking at the tachi in Welt's hand, Otto felt a cold sweat run down his back.
Over the past five hundred years, whenever Otto had nothing to do, he would browse through the data in Void Archives' library.
And he had seen the design schematics for Jizō Mitama.
But according to intelligence, Jizō Mitama was only a schematic. Wasn't the blade unfinished?
...Welt, he's the Herrscher of Reason!
With the power of the Herrscher of Reason, completing this Divine Key while possessing the core wouldn't be strange at all!
If the Welt of the past was just a bit troublesome for Otto, the Welt now holding Jizō Mitama genuinely terrified him.
After switching to a Soulium Body, his compatibility with Jizō Mitama was abysmal.
If he got hit by that thing...
Otto didn't know what would happen to his Soulium Body.
But he would absolutely never risk his life to find out.
And it wasn't just Welt.
There was also Su!
Welt was able to appear here in an instant; it must have been Su who teleported him here using the Thousand Worlds.
Damn it, damn it!
If these two team up, my future is going to be difficult!
Meanwhile, after his attack missed, Welt felt that things were not looking good.
He hadn't made a move after Wendy's awakening because he was clearly trying to construct Jizō Mitama, the Divine Key that countered Otto.
And after Otto was distracted, Welt, having successfully created the Divine Key, with Su's cooperation, truly had a chance to pin Otto to the ground with a single stab.
But he had calculated so many things, yet he hadn't calculated one—that Otto would be distracted at this very moment and get slapped away by Wendy.
How could this son of a bitch be so lucky!
Now that his trump card was exposed...
"Hmph, Joachim, consider yourself and Siegfried lucky this time."
At that moment, Otto delivered a threat before being whisked away from the scene by a Gray Serpent.
The chaotic scene suddenly fell silent after Welt pulled out the mimic Jizō Mitama.
In the distance, Siegfried, who had gotten fired up fighting the enhanced Rozaliya, couldn't be bothered with holding back anymore. He directly blew off her horns with the Judgment of Shamash and abandoned his gentle, subduing tactics, brutally beating the unfortunate girl into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, realizing that World Serpent's forces were reduced to a group of Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, Su and Welt immediately focused all their attention on Wendy.
"You two—what's the meaning of this!"
Seeing the two of them seemingly forming an encirclement, Wendy became furious.
"Instead of going after Otto, you're looking at me—don't tell me you're also with those dogs from World Serpent?"
In truth, if Wendy had even a shred of rationality left, she wouldn't have said something so illogical.
World Serpent and Anti-Entropy were clearly mortal enemies right now.
Alas, now that Miss Wendy has such thoughts, it means she has been completely controlled by the Honkai.
We can't let Miss Wendy run wild.
If she runs amok and somehow flies towards the Eye of the Deep, Kevin will end up appearing here after all.
At any other time, both Su and Welt might have tried to appease Wendy, choosing to talk to her and assess the situation.
But today, the situation was extremely urgent, so urgent that any mistake could lead to catastrophic casualties for all of humanity.
Under these circumstances, no matter how gentle their personalities were, they wouldn't be so gentle as to hold back at this critical moment.
Moreover, both of them knew that World Serpent currently did not possess any Herrscher Cores from the Current Era.
There were only a few Herrscher Cores in this era: Reason, Void, Thunder, Death, Wind, and Sentience were all with their original owners.
The only one left, Flame, was in Otto's hands.
For someone like Otto, there was no way he would give such a precious Gem of Haste to World Serpent.
So, in other words, as long as they kept a close eye on Wendy, Kevin would have no chance of breaking out.
"Siegfried, go to the Eye of the Deep and clear out all those things."
"Leave this to me and Mr. Su."
"Alrighty."
After tossing the unconscious Rozaliya next to Liliya, Siegfried, who had been bottling up a bellyful of fire all day, now looked menacingly at the Emperor-class Honkai Beasts that were bullying the Titans.
Heh, this little girl is innocent, so I couldn't bring myself to use lethal force.
But you damned things, you actually dare to attack the place where Welt and I are—you're truly courting death.
"You... damn it, I won't be captured without a fight!"
At this moment, Wendy, facing the two before her, gathered her Honkai Energy to its limit, and then...
In the real world, Welt looked at the vacant-eyed Wendy and carefully asked Su.
"Mr. Su, is this alright?"
"Yes, it's fine for now."
Su, who had used his psychic powers to create an illusion for Wendy, letting her wreak havoc within it, let out a long sigh of relief.
"Miss Wendy is already lost in the illusion. Next, we just need to knock her out, and once we find... hmm, I have a special method to bring her back to her senses."
It's all over. Kevin, I'm sorry.
Although your subordinates worked very hard, I still won't let you out.
However, just as Siegfried was shouldering the greatsword of Shamash and both Welt and Su were sighing in relief, a change occurred.
In their eyes, World Serpent no longer had any top-tier combatants to threaten them.
But the Gray Serpent that appeared before them at this moment emanated an incredibly bizarre energy fluctuation the instant it manifested.
After Jackal's meddling, the Staff of the Netherworld was ultimately not successfully converted into an instant-detonation version of the Netherworld Bomb.
But in the process of modifying the Staff of the Netherworld, Jackal came up with a crude solution.
Since the Staff of the Netherworld couldn't be modified into an instant-detonation bomb, then—instead of changing the hard-to-change staff, just change the way it's used.
The original version of the Staff of the Netherworld needed to be set up in advance, luring a Herrscher into its effective range to be briefly neutralized.
But now, under Jackal's consideration, she directly implanted it into the body of a Gray Serpent, turning the 'Gray Serpent' into a humanoid Imaginary Interferometer that both carried and triggered the staff.
After testing, Jackal and the administrator Gray Serpent got the results they wanted.
As long as the staff's activation program was set within the Gray Serpent's body beforehand, the Gray Serpent could directly trigger its effect when necessary, interfering with both itself and everyone around it.
And before today's all-out assault, of the Staffs of the Netherworld that World Serpent possessed, one was broken by Jackal during an experiment and given to Otto as a 'deposit,' and another was used for testing by Jackal and the administrator Gray Serpent.
The remaining six were implanted into six Gray Serpents by a working-overtime Jackal.
In the administrator Gray Serpent's view, after rescuing their Lord, World Serpent would have an overwhelming advantage against Herrschers.
At that point, it wouldn't matter if all the Staffs of the Netherworld were used up.
So for this operation, Gray Serpent had all six of his 'brothers' transferred to Abyssal City.
As for why World Serpent didn't just teleport all six Gray Serpents over from the start, it was simply because time was needed between confirming the attack time and setting up the staffs.
And now, the Staffs of the Netherworld had been set up inside the Gray Serpents' bodies.
Two Gray Serpents appeared near Siegfried, who sliced them into four 0.5 Gray Serpents with the Judgment of Shamash.
And the four Gray Serpents near Welt and Su were instantly suppressed by Welt's gravity waves.
But, at the moment they completed their attacks, the Staffs of the Netherworld on all six Gray Serpents activated simultaneously.
The Staff of the Netherworld, whose true name is the Imaginary Interferometer, can actually interfere with internal imaginary energy.
And internal imaginary energy is another name for Honkai Energy.
The moment all six Staffs of the Netherworld activated, even Su felt his body become unable to move.
Although Su tried his best to resist this feeling, but...
—a Gray Serpent, long prepared, had already dropped from above the Eye of the Deep and thrown something towards it.
"This is...!"
Welt, who had once fought Sirin, looked at the Gem of Haste appearing in mid-air and tried with all his might to raise his right hand, preparing to use the power of the Star of Eden to interfere with the gem's trajectory.
But Welt, whose Honkai Energy was currently being suppressed, was having extreme difficulty even standing due to the counter-effect.
How could someone in his state possibly perform a difficult action like using a Divine Key?
In fact, due to the intense battle here, the stability of this space had dropped to a freezing point because of the rampant Honkai Energy.
With the fall of the Gem of Haste, the already unstable space completely fell into disarray.
At the same time, the scene the Gray Serpents had long awaited appeared before them, brought about by their successive sacrifices.
The moment the Gem of Haste fell...
—the entrance to the Sea of Quanta was thrown wide open.
In this violently fluctuating, unstable space, Su saw a figure he missed dearly, but one he absolutely did not want to see right now.
"Kevin..."
Hearing that incredibly nostalgic voice, Kevin snatched the Judgment of Shamash from the hands of a powerless Siegfried and looked at Su, Siegfried, and Welt.
"It has been a long time, Su."
"Seeing you now, you're in better shape than I imagined. I can rest easy."
At this moment, Siegfried, Welt, and Su, as the primary targets of the Imaginary Interferometers, had still not regained their proper strength.
But Wendy, supported by the God of Honkai, had actually regained her self-awareness after Su's Honkai Energy was suppressed.
And the moment she saw Kevin, a thought sprouted in her mind.
No, I can't...
I absolutely cannot fight him!
If we fight, I will definitely die!
I can't die yet!
Before I expose that damned dog Otto's true identity, I, I, I—absolutely cannot die!
With that thought, Wendy fled the battlefield without a second thought.
Kevin surveyed his surroundings and chose not to pursue the Herrscher.
"I thought..."
Su, supporting himself on the ground, struggled to his feet and spoke to Kevin with a sense of helplessness.
"I could stop all of this."
Starting from today, Su, Welt, and Siegfried had been countering every move, neutralizing the crises brought by World Serpent one by one.
He truly hadn't expected Otto to give the incredibly precious Gem of Haste to the enemy, nor that Gray Serpent actually had the ability to interfere with the actions of all three of them.
One wrong move, and the whole game is lost?
"Yes, it's a pity. You must have tried very hard."
After giving his old friend a slight nod, Kevin looked at the Gray Serpent who had walked up to him.
"But it's a shame. I have excellent subordinates working for me."
"Gray Serpent, you and Jackal have worked hard during this time."
"This subordinate wouldn't dare."
Kneeling on one knee before Kevin, the Gray Serpent spoke with utmost reverence.
"We have always believed that only you, our Lord, can lead us to victory against the Honkai!"
"Victory against the Honkai... yes..."
Taking in the surrounding scenery, Kevin spoke with a hint of emotion.
"The humans of this era have done much better than I imagined."
"A Herrscher who resisted the Honkai and surpassed her destiny..."
"That is a sight we could never have seen in our era."
"Yes."
Although Kevin didn't mention her name, Su, who had recently met his friend again, also spoke with great nostalgia.
"She truly opened a new path for us."
"Kevin, you've already seen the possibility she brought us. So now..."
"—after seeing Mr. Welt, are you still unwilling to change your old way of thinking?"
"Naturally."
After Su said this, the gentleness and nostalgia on Kevin's face vanished, and he spoke to Su in an icy tone.
"My thoughts are the same as they were 1,500 years ago. Humanity no longer has any time."
"Only by executing the Stigmata Project can we defeat the Honkai."
"Su, Herrscher of Reason Welt, and my descendant, Siegfried."
"You are all talents that World Serpent needs. In this era where humanity is already on the brink..."
"—join World Serpent and help me save humanity."
..