Faced with Sirin's words, the Herrscher of Sentience, who had hijacked Fu Hua's body mid-battle...
—flashed a satisfied smile in front of Li Sushang?
"This Herrscher of yours has some sense. That's right, I'm Fu Hua. You know, the Immortal Red Kite of Shenzhou?"
Feeling a bit strained after dispelling the Sword God, the Herrscher of Sentience immediately suppressed the power still rampaging inside her, put her hands on her hips, and spoke to the Herrscher of the Void.
"Seeing as you have such good judgment, if you get on your knees right now and shout 'Immortal Red Kite, I was wrong,' I can forgive your transgression."
"Ha?"
Hearing Fu Hua say such bizarre words, Sirin, who had never witnessed the Herrscher of Sentience's style, was momentarily stunned.
But then, a sinister expression quickly appeared on her face.
"Why should I kneel to Otto's lackey?"
"Who are you calling Otto's lackey?!"
"Isn't it you? You've been Otto's dog from fourteen years ago until now. I remember it clearly!"
Watching the two incredibly powerful beings start to bicker like schoolchildren, Li Sushang felt a very peculiar sensation.
The oppressive auras emanating from them constantly reminded Li Sushang that everything that had just happened was real.
But this bizarre scene...
*Is Grand Master's personality like this?*
*And that Herrscher, she was capable of such a brilliant maneuver just now, yet now she's squabbling like a child.*
*How strange.*
*This scene is truly too strange.*
However, Sirin, who was arguing with the Herrscher of Sentience, suddenly sharpened her gaze and vanished from her original position.
At the same instant Sirin disappeared, a blade of wind slashed through the spot where she had been standing.
The attack was so swift and powerful that Li Sushang even felt that the space in that area was nearly torn open by the blow.
But at that moment, Wendy, whose surprise attack had failed, had already dropped her disguise due to the difficulty of multitasking during the attack.
While the Herrscher of Wind's ability was generally to create ideal fluids, this ability could actually be extended to various other powers.
For example, she could control the refraction of light in the air to become invisible, manipulate air pressure, control fluids, and command the power of wind.
Wendy, who had just gained her Herrscher powers and was not in her right mind, certainly didn't know how to use these abilities with finesse.
But now, after getting a taste of the God-Slaying Spear, Wendy was a completely different person.
The gem had coalesced, her feet could leave the ground after flying, and her intellect as a genius A-rank Valkyrie had naturally taken over.
In these ten days of training with Fu Hua, Wendy had not only learned the Edge of Taixu from her but had also developed some basic applications of the Herrscher of Wind's authority.
Originally, the battle plan was sound: Fu Hua would draw the enemy's attention on the surface, while Wendy would conceal her power, control light refraction to approach the enemy stealthily, and deliver a devastating blow.
But this particular enemy had, at the very last moment, detected the attack Wendy had just launched.
"God... so this is what you meant when you told me to leave this place?"
Looking at the space that had almost been torn apart, Sirin stared at Wendy and 'Fu Hua' with great trepidation, suppressing the violent emotions overflowing in her heart.
There were four powerful individuals present. Excluding Li Sushang, who was out of commission after being toyed with, both Wendy and Fu Hua were formidable opponents.
Especially Fu Hua...
Just by looking at the gray-haired woman, Sirin felt herself unconsciously recalling the sword strike from fourteen years ago.
Both Fu Hua and Li Sushang used the Phantasmagoria Sword God, but a Phantasmagoria Sword God from one was completely different from the other.
Fu Hua's strike had made even Sirin, with her six cores, feel like she was about to die at her hands.
Li Sushang's strike, however, clearly didn't carry the same overwhelming pressure.
Although Sirin now knew how to counter the Sword God, who could guarantee that the weakness in Fu Hua's Sword God would be as easy to exploit as the one in Li Sushang's?
*I still have plenty of time.*
*I should follow God's will and, for now, not make an enemy of this power.*
"Forget it. I'll let you off this time. After all..."
Before departing, a sneering Sirin lightly snapped her fingers again.
"For me, the minimum objective has already been achieved."
"Wait!"
As Sirin's figure vanished completely from their sight, the Herrscher of Sentience was about to give chase.
But at that moment, she suddenly clutched her head and began to mutter in annoyance.
"D-damn it, of all times—you Herrscher personality, why do you have to be a pain in the ass at a time like this!"
After saying this, Fu Hua, who had regained control of her body, had her eyes instantly clear up.
Then, she looked at her own hands with a complex expression, feeling that the Honkai had now become even more difficult to deal with.
Today, when she sensed a powerful Honkai Energy presence nearby, Fu Hua had immediately brought Wendy to confront the enemy.
But halfway there, Fu Hua suddenly felt that the Herrscher personality she had been suppressing so well lately had suddenly grown stronger again.
If the Herrscher Core Fu Hua possessed were any other, she would never have been so helpless against a Herrscher personality.
With Fu Hua's power and willpower, she should have been able to easily suppress an ordinary Herrscher personality.
But, as it happened, the Herrscher personality she possessed was the Herrscher of Sentience, who manipulates [Consciousness].
The Herrscher of Sentience, having been completely duped by the Honkai, considered herself to be Fu Hua, all while possessing immense mental power.
Therefore, as long as the Honkai provided her support, it wasn't surprising that the Herrscher of Sentience's personality would gain the upper hand in controlling the body.
As for why the Honkai-supported Herrscher of Sentience's personality went offline at this particular moment...
The reason was simple.
The Honkai's support for the Herrscher of Sentience's personality was never intended to help the Herrscher of Sentience herself.
Its support for the Herrscher of Sentience's personality was, in the end, mainly to help its most faithful believer, Sirin.
The Herrscher of Sentience's personality arrived and helped Li Sushang dispel a portion of the Sword God's power, weakening her considerably.
Under these circumstances, as long as Sirin obediently listened and didn't act recklessly, she could escape in time.
After Sirin retreated, the Herrscher of Sentience, preparing to pursue her, would lose the Honkai's support and, having been weakened, would find herself 'unable to defeat Fu Hua'.
And once Fu Hua regained control of the body, Sirin would have successfully escaped, and Fu Hua would have to continue dealing with the aftereffects of the Phantasmagoria Sword God in her own body.
As for Wendy...
"Wendy, just now..."
Before Fu Hua could finish, Wendy nodded helplessly.
"Master, just now, the operation of my core was indeed affected."
"That's why I couldn't keep up with you and was a step behind."
"And when I was about to ambush that Herrscher, my power went out of control for a moment."
"Perhaps that's how she was able to detect my attack and evade it."
*Just as I thought.*
*Both of our Herrscher Cores were affected to varying degrees...*
*Sirin is indeed held in high regard by the Honkai.*
*And this time, did we lose again in the end?*
Although we saved Li Sushang in time, we also successfully allowed Sirin to combine her own memories with Kiana's, recalling everything from the past.
I did indeed help Otto a great deal; that is an undeniable fact.
And once Sirin presents the truth to Kiana, the deceived Kiana will fall into even greater despair.
Under such circumstances, the possibility of Sirin completely taking over her body increases by several degrees.
Just the thought that all of this was the result of her own past mistakes caused a wave of regret to naturally spread through Fu Hua's heart.
"Wendy, this place... I leave it to you."
With that, Fu Hua, feeling that she was not in good condition, immediately departed from before Wendy and Li Sushang's eyes.
"Grand Master, wait!"
Watching the rapidly departing Fu Hua, Li Sushang, who had finally met her, shouted at Fu Hua's back.
"I still have some things I want to ask you!"
"Alright, stop yelling."
Helping the fallen Li Sushang to her feet, Wendy said to her with some annoyance.
"Master doesn't want to see you, and that's mainly for your own good."
"...What do you mean?"
Faced with Li Sushang's confused expression, Wendy just shook her head awkwardly and said nothing.
Both Wendy and Fu Hua were well aware of how Li Sushang had helped Shenzhou slay Honkai Beasts over the past ten days.
In Wendy's eyes, although this Valkyrie had been deceived by Otto, at least her heart was in the right place.
Because of this, her hostility towards Li Sushang had basically completely dissipated.
As for why Wendy said that keeping Fu Hua and Li Sushang apart for long was for Li Sushang's own good, it was mainly because she had interacted with both the Fu Hua and Herrscher of Sentience personalities during this time.
Fu Hua might not do anything to Li Sushang, but the Herrscher of Sentience would definitely not want to let Li Sushang, the 'disciple of a traitorous disciple,' have an easy time.
Don't be fooled by the fact that she immediately helped Li Sushang resolve a crisis upon arriving. According to Wendy's deduction, the Herrscher of Sentience, who was very displeased with Li Sushang, had likely helped her out of the mindset of 'this is my turf, anyone who dares cause trouble here is disrespecting me.'
If Li Sushang and Fu Hua were to remain in the same space...
*This woman was just an accomplice; her crime isn't punishable by death.*
If possible, Wendy would rather she didn't get beaten to death by the Herrscher of Sentience for such a somewhat comical reason.
Looking at the pensive Wendy, Li Sushang knew that she probably wouldn't get an answer to her question.
Moreover, Wendy wasn't concealing her face with a cloak today, so Li Sushang recognized her as the Herrscher she had a brief encounter with at Abyssal City.
At that time, after becoming a Herrscher, this girl had not only furiously denounced Otto but had also bluntly stated that she had been tricked by him into participating in some kind of Herrscher experiment.
Now that Li Sushang had a rough idea of what a Herrscher was, thinking about all the information she had gathered during this time made her feel incredibly downcast.
"Alright, I don't know how to comfort you, but now that things have come to this, I think—it's time for you to face reality."
Helping Li Sushang up, Wendy set aside her dissatisfaction and anger and spoke to Li Sushang with great solemnity.
"I don't know how many evil deeds Otto Apocalypse has done in the past, but from the time he tricked me into participating in the Artificial Herrscher Experiment to now, he, as the Schicksal Archbishop, has been secretly assisting the enemy and has even 'resurrected' the Herrscher of the Void who slaughtered tens of millions of people fourteen years ago."
"This guy is up to no good. If you still have half a brain, stay in Shenzhou and don't go back to his side."
At this point, Wendy looked at her own body with self-deprecation and added.
"That man has a lot of problems. Even if you don't believe the words of strangers like us, I hope you'll act with more caution."
"Don't be like me, being used by that guy and still thinking he was forced to do all this, and in the end, I even had to gaslight myself into continuing to die for him."
Li Sushang felt that she was definitely not a smart person.
But even if she wasn't smart, she could still feel the emotions contained in the words of others.
The hatred and resentment in the white-haired girl's voice when she mentioned Otto, the self-mockery and bitterness in this green-haired girl's voice when she mentioned Otto—none of it felt fake to Li Sushang.
This didn't prove that what they said was right, but it at least proved that, in their perception, these things were the truth.
Originally, Li Sushang, having just been unfrozen for a while, felt a bit out of the loop.
It was only out of trust for the Raksha that she chose to help him fight against the Honkai.
But now, there was too much information laid out before her. Even if only a third of it was true, it was more than enough to show that Otto Apocalypse was by no means a good person.
*If I go back to that base now to confront him... with my eloquence and wits, I'd probably just be played for a fool by him.*
*Forget it. Until I confirm the truth, I'll stay here in Shenzhou for now.*
*Raksha, if you really are a villain, then our partnership can only end here.*
*As your friend, after you've gone astray...*
—the only thing I can do is my best to stop you, to keep you from continuing down this wrong path, step by step.
......
Shenzhou, somewhere.
After escaping from Fu Hua's sight, Sirin, who had stopped in a small grove, clutched her head and collapsed to the ground.
Today, she had suddenly chosen to stop lying low, mainly because she found herself gradually losing control of her body.
Realizing this, Sirin felt she had to trigger some new events to make 'her' inside her body recognize certain facts.
They were the Herrscher of the Void, an apostle of God, and an enemy of humanity.
Only then would that naive little girl give up her resistance and obediently surrender her body to Sirin.
With this in mind, Sirin had decisively chosen to kill a few people first to get in the mood.
In the past, she could drop meteorites to kill tens of millions without any psychological burden. For Sirin, who had long chosen to stand against humanity, killing a few people was no big deal.
If not for the information she had gathered indicating that a Schicksal Valkyrie was helping to clear out Honkai Beasts in Shenzhou, Sirin, who hated Schicksal, might not have come to this place to trouble Li Sushang.
But today, because Fu Hua and another Herrscher had come to Li Sushang's aid in time, Sirin had failed to kill the Valkyrie.
However, after seeing Fu Hua and connecting all the dots, Sirin at least hadn't returned empty-handed.
"Hmph, you should be very clear by now—Fu Hua is nothing but a liar."
Clutching her head, Sirin sneered at the other personality within her body.
"From the very beginning, she was just a spy sent by Otto to watch you."
"You thought you were in a happy paradise? I spit on it! How could those hypocritical trash at Schicksal possibly let us go?!"
[*You're... lying!*]
At this moment, Kiana, who had been building up her strength, took advantage of Sirin's headache to fight for control of her body. Once she had it, she shouted into the empty forest.
"Class Rep might have been hiding something from me, but she never did anything to wrong me!"
[*Oh, is that so? Otto was so good to you, giving you armor, money, helping you get stronger. Have you guessed what his real purpose was?*]
[*And let's not even talk about Otto. Whether it's Otto or Fu Hua, neither of them is actually that important to you.*]
[*Now that things have come to this, perhaps you should have realized the truth.*]
"No, stop talking."
[*Looks like you really have noticed.*]
At this moment, Kiana, in a panic, pulled out the Fafnir Burstflame from her waist and pressed it against her temple.
"E-Even I know—as long as I take you down with me, you won't be able to continue doing evil!"
[*Oh, trying to shut me up this way? Then I'll insist on speaking.*]
The girl, facing death, tried to make her stiff fingers pull the trigger.
But even though her heart had already resolved to do it, her body seemed to disobey her at this moment.
[*Go ahead and shoot, I don't mind. But before you do, you'd better face reality.*]
[*Leo Ash's mission as an agent was to protect you—that was his side of the story.*]
[*He hates the Honkai, and you and I are the very embodiment of the Honkai. The Honkai Beast that killed his parents might even have been a beast spawned from the power we left behind fourteen years ago.*]
"Shut up."
[*Are you scared? But even if you are, the truth won't spare you.*]
[*The Honkai Beast that killed his parents might have once been our subordinate.*]
[*And the Herrscher of the Void who caused so many tragedies is undoubtedly the enemy of the Avenger, Leo Ash.*]
"Don't... say any more!"
[*Ha, you know very well that what I'm saying is very likely true. Can running away solve the problem?*]
[*Mei, Yuna, they were stopped from further Herrscherization before they could cause any major disasters.*]
[*But you're different from them. From the moment we dropped that meteorite fourteen years ago, our hands have been stained with blood.*]
[*A person like you still hopes to find happiness with Leo Ash? Face reality. Leo Ash back then might have learned the truth, which is why he took the initiative to find Nagazora City.*]
[*He might not have come to protect you, but to eliminate you. It's just that Otto was watching too closely, so he never found the chance to make a move.*]
Kiana finally regained control of her body.
In her despair, the girl finally pulled the trigger against her own temple.
The powerful blast from the Fafnir Burstflame easily tore through the girl's skin, successfully blowing her head apart.
But in the next instant...
Feeling a sharp pain, Kiana stared in disbelief at the canopy of trees above her, completely stunned.
"Do you know why I didn't stop you?"
After regaining control of the body, Sirin sneered at Kiana.
"Because, for us who possess the Gem of Serenity, a fatal wound of this degree is actually meaningless."
"Want to commit suicide? Stop dreaming. As long as the core of the Herrscher of Death is within us, we are immortal."
Completely blindsided by this outcome, Kiana fell completely silent.
From the moment Sirin had fully awakened within her body, Kiana, having regained all of her past memories, understood deeply what a damn demon she, as the Herrscher of the Void, was.
And now, she couldn't even manage to die together with the Herrscher personality. All she could do was try to suppress the Herrscher personality and prevent her from doing too much harm.
But even though the Herrscher of the Void's personality hadn't completely taken over her body yet, with the Honkai's assistance, it would sooner or later completely seize control.
Helpless, Kiana didn't even dare to think of her companions.
She wasn't a fool. After looking at the old records, Kiana knew what kind of malicious things the past Herrscher of the Void had done.
If nothing else, the residents of Siberia had been persecuted by the Herrscher of the Void.
*Bronya's biological parents died because of me.*
*Teacher Cioara's past was so miserable because of me.*
*Dad and Mama Cecilia ended up in such a tragic state because of me.*
*Senior, where are you...*
*Please, come back quickly...*
*—Come back quickly, and kill me.*
......