Mei had, in fact, already considered the possibility that the Herrscher of Thunder was talking about.
But now, having already made her decision, there was no way she would even think of backing down just because she had to face danger.
More than three months ago, on that day, Mei's heart was provoked by Cocolia's scheme. She failed to control her emotions, leading to the outbreak of the Third Eruption in Nagazora City.
Although Siegfried and Leo Ash's efforts had limited the damage of the eruption to a part of the suburbs, there were still casualties.
And in the process, her father's friend, Siegfried, and Leo Ash, who had been secretly helping her, had both nearly died in Nagazora City because of her incompetence.
Though Mei had never told anyone her inner thoughts, in her heart, she firmly believed—this was the sin Raiden Mei had to bear.
*It is because I carry this sin that I must step forward at the most critical moments and fight for the beauty of this world.*
*This might not wash away my sins, but... at least it will make me feel a little better.*
*Yuna probably chose to come to Nagazora City with me without hesitation for the same reason.*
*We've long been prepared. As long as we can lure the Herrscher of the Void here, any price, no matter how heavy, is worth paying.*
[...I see. I guess I underestimated you.]
[You, and Poison Ivy too, you've both been influenced by that man a little too much—both of you are so reckless. You'll regret it one day.]
*Maybe.*
*But if my cowardice leads to more people dying, I think I would regret it even more.*
*Leo Ash is missing. That's why, right now, we have to work hard enough for his share too.*
[Oh, so in the end, it's still about that man... Tsk, the power of love truly is magnificent.]
*...Shut up, that's just one of the reasons!*
*If we can lure the Herrscher of the Void out and capture her now, then while she's suppressed by the Divine Grace Field, the HSN serum Yuna and I are carrying can completely suppress the Honkai Energy in her body.*
*Once her Honkai Energy levels are forced down, we can take back our cores, and Kiana won't have to suffer anymore.*
*The Herrscher of the Void hasn't shown herself yet, and part of the reason must be because Kiana is still fighting back.*
*My friend is suffering. As Kiana's friend, I must save her!*
[What touching friendship.]
[But are you sure? Unlike Poison Ivy who has been genuinely helping you, that white-haired fool will actually fight you for that man.]
*That's not important—*
[Hm?]
*Okay, maybe it's a little important.*
*But even so, she's still my friend.*
*I can't just stand by and watch a friend die.*
Faced with such a passionate Mei, the Herrscher of Thunder couldn't be bothered to say any more.
Right now, she could even envision a scene.
After Mei and Yuna successfully lure out the Herrscher of the Void, they do manage to save Kiana.
Then, Kiana and Yuna, who both have children with Leo Ash, one of them ends up happily married to him, while Mei can only bite her handkerchief, crying as she wishes them happiness, before sobbing herself to sleep in her blanket at night.
Wow, what a tragic ending.
But whatever, it's her own path. There's no point in me saying anything more.
Following Yuna, Mei arrived near the singularity. After exchanging a look with Yuna, who had stopped, they both found a spot and sat down cross-legged.
Objectively speaking, having one singularity supply Honkai Energy to two Herrscher Hosts would actually slow down the speed at which they could re-condense their cores.
But, despite this problem, the two of them still chose to come to Nagazora City to re-condense their cores at the same time.
On one hand, Nagazora City was the only location with a stable singularity. None of the other places where Herrschers had been born had one.
On the other hand, according to Himeko, who had temporarily stepped back into a support role, they might only have one chance to re-condense their cores.
Once either The Gem of Conquest or The Gem of Serenity was successfully re-formed by Mei or Yuna, the Herrscher of the Void, noticing the core's disappearance, would definitely sense that something was wrong.
After sensing the anomaly, no one could guarantee whether the naturally cautious Herrscher would have a way to reinforce her control over the remaining core in her body.
Rather than alerting the enemy and giving the Herrscher of the Void time to prepare, it was better to go all out and have both of them re-condense their cores simultaneously, forcing the Herrscher of the Void, who would most likely become desperate, to reveal herself.
This method was undoubtedly using their lives as bait to lure the Herrscher of the Void into a trap. But if they backed down just because of the risk, what kind of Valkyries would they be?
After they began to gather Honkai Energy, the two of them, while manipulating the energy to try and absorb it completely, started to watch their surroundings with extreme vigilance.
*The probability of a Herrscher appearing is extremely high, and the Honkai will definitely assist the Herrscher.*
*If the Headmaster's support doesn't arrive in time, we'll have to fight on our own.*
*But even so, we cannot have the slightest thought of retreating.*
*Since we have already stepped onto the battlefield, rather than cowering in fear, it's better to bet everything and fight with all our might.*
At that moment, both of them thought of the man who wasn't there, yet influenced their every move.
*If Leo Ash/Senior were here, he would surely fight harder and be even harsher on himself than we are.*
*Since we want to catch up to him, then...*
*—What's a little danger like this!*
Almost at the same time. A certain small island.
On a certain island, Sirin, who had almost completely suppressed Kiana's personality, looked at the 'girl' kneeling before her on one knee and said.
"Alright, Bella, no need for formalities."
"Yes, my Queen."
Looking up at her respected master, Benares, who had transformed from a dragon into a human, had nothing but gratitude in her eyes.
After Sirin seized control of Kiana's body and, in the process, took the cores of The Gem of Serenity and The Gem of Conquest, the companion Honkai Beast of the Herrscher of the Void, the demonic dragon Benares, had once again descended upon the world.
It was just that before, Sirin's own condition was unstable. To ensure she could suppress Kiana's personality, she hadn't given a portion of The Gem of Conquest's power to Benares as she had in the past.
But now, things were different.
Although Sirin now only had three cores, after her rebirth, not only had her control over the cores improved, but she had also obtained the Divine Key, Thousand Worlds, which could assist her in using her powers.
Only after her personal condition had completely stabilized did Sirin, just as she had in the past, give a portion of The Gem of Conquest's power to Benares, allowing her to regain her 'consciousness' and transform from a Honkai Beast that only knew destruction into Sirin's subordinate.
"My Queen, if I may be so bold as to ask—what shall we do now?"
As power returned to her body, Benares, who had regained her memories from fourteen years ago, asked Sirin.
"Shall we... continue to attack Schicksal's forces?"
"Mmm... that will be on the agenda eventually."
"But now is not the time."
Listening to Sirin's words, Benares obediently followed her command, but she couldn't understand why the Queen of Honkai, who was once utterly disillusioned with humanity, would speak in such a mild tone now.
As Sirin's most trusted subordinate, Benares could feel that her queen's heart was still filled with despair for humanity and this world.
And yet, despite this despair, she was unwilling to make a move against humans...
*I don't understand.*
*With the power of three Herrscher Cores in her body, my Queen should be invincible in this world.*
Watching her subordinate, Sirin's heart did indeed stir a little at her words.
During this time, to suppress the other personality within her, she had been repressing her anger and killing intent, not wanting to waste energy on things she shouldn't.
But now that she had mostly suppressed that personality, perhaps it was time to deal with those damn humans.
*Everyone in Schicksal deserves to die, and Otto Apocalypse, that scumbag who ruined my life, deserves it most of all.*
*That guy named Leo Ash seemed very strong before.*
*And back then, something must have happened before he suddenly disappeared after going to Jiuyou.*
*Whether he's dead or just missing now, it's good news for me.*
*With him gone, Schicksal's overall strength has declined.*
*Perhaps I should seize this opportunity and take Bella to deal with those damn small fry first.*
*It doesn't matter that Otto has been missing for so long and hasn't shown up.*
*Once I kill all his subordinates and his granddaughter, he'll show up eventually.*
*As for Theresa... Hmph, her Divine Grace Field is indeed a troublesome trump card for me.*
*But the reason she was able to nearly kill me with it back then was because I didn't know the Oath of Judah had such a terrifying power.*
*Now that I know Theresa has this ace up her sleeve, as long as I maintain a sufficient distance from her, no matter how strong her Divine Grace Field is, it can't possibly harm me.*
*Perhaps I've been too cautious...*
*God???*
Hearing the call of her god, Sirin's expression instantly turned to one of utter shock.
*You mean, I should act with caution?*
*There are still enemies in this world that I cannot defeat, and might even be utterly defeated by???*
If it were the old Sirin, she probably would have let the God of Honkai's words go in one ear and out the other.
But after being taken down in all sorts of ways by humanity's strongest fighters fourteen years ago, Sirin felt that she really should be a little more careful.
She had fought so hard to regain control of her body. To be sent back into the dark abyss because of carelessness—she did not want to experience that again.
However, just as Sirin heard her god's voice, Benares, before her, suddenly showed an expression of immense pain.
"My... my Queen, I... I... I..."
"Bella?!"
Seeing her subordinate suddenly collapse to the ground, twitching violently, Sirin panicked.
"What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"My Queen, please be careful. I can feel..."
"Something is wrong with The Gem of Conquest!"
After saying this, Benares suddenly let out a dragon's roar, and a phantom of her dragon form flickered over her body.
And at this moment, Sirin, of course, also sensed the major problem that had arisen within her.
It wasn't just The Gem of Conquest that Benares mentioned; even the other core within her, The Gem of Serenity, had started acting up.
The two Herrscher Cores that Sirin had forcibly taken were now emitting an unsettling sound, and there were faint signs that they were about to break free from her control and vanish from her body.
"Damn it, is it those two women causing trouble?"
At this moment, Sirin, who had just received the message from the God of Honkai, became instantly furious and began to sense which direction the two Herrscher Cores were trying to escape to.
"This is... Nagazora City?!"
"Damn it, those two women who became Herrschers in Nagazora City, can they really take back their Herrscher Cores from a distance?"
"My Queen..."
At this moment, looking at Sirin's face, Benares, who had believed Sirin to be invincible, suddenly grabbed her hand.
"Don't go... there."
"Bella, are you... worried about me?"
Sirin, who was about to scold her, saw the pained look on Benares' face and spoke to her with infinite gentleness.
"Don't worry, I'm just going to take out the trash."
"But..."
"No buts."
Looking at the pained expression on Benares' face, Sirin's heart ached even more.
Benares was Sirin's subordinate, but the main reason Sirin had transformed her into a human form with self-awareness was because...
—Even the current, more extreme, evil Sirin, deep down in her heart, longed for a companion to walk alongside her.
In her eyes, Benares was less of a subordinate and more of her most important friend.
Now that her friend was in trouble, how could Sirin possibly stay here and do nothing?
Looking at the immense worry on Benares' face, Sirin said one thing to her.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"I see."
Seeing the incredibly confident Sirin, Benares still voiced her concern.
"My Queen, can you... really win?"
"Don't worry. I'd win."
Before she left, Sirin spoke to her only friend with complete confidence.
"Right now, I am the strongest."
*Mmm, with those guys out of the picture...*
*—I... should be the strongest, right?*
....