Schicksal Secret Base
In a secret Schicksal base, Otto, who had been plotting certain things, gently tapped his fingers on the desk before him.
In this office, where he was the only one present, Otto, without any need for pretense, naturally revealed his truest emotions.
Anger?
Resentment?
Perhaps the Otto of the past had felt these emotions.
He had been angry at his own foolish actions, resentful over Kallen's death, but after five hundred years, Otto knew very well that these emotions were of no benefit to his plans.
Perhaps on ordinary days, Otto would make some rash decisions due to the uncontrollable emotions in his heart, but now...
*Sigh, I really need to act more cautiously.*
Previously, Otto was in charge of Schicksal and had more than enough resources to squander.
Under such circumstances, Otto being a little willful at times didn't really affect his plans.
But now, ever since Fu Hua awakened her Herrscher Personality, Otto had been forced to become an underground operative.
At the time, not understanding the situation, he chose to lie low and left Schicksal, preparing to observe the situation and act in secret.
But three weeks had passed, and Otto hadn't returned to Schicksal. Was it because he didn't want to?
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he didn't dare!
Otto was certain that if he were to return to Schicksal now, Fu Hua, who had regained her title of Immortal Red Kite in Shenzhou, would immediately come to Schicksal HQ to have a good long chat with him.
If it were the reasonable Fu Hua of the past, having a chat with her wouldn't be a big problem.
In the end, their conversations would almost always conclude with Otto spouting some grandiose principles and persuading Fu Hua to help him.
As for the price Otto paid in the process—as long as the price wasn't too high, recruiting the Immortal Red Kite as an ally was a huge win.
But that was all in the past.
The Fu Hua of the past was in poor condition, lacked strength, and would reason with Otto, so he never saw his old friend as a threat.
But now, Fu Hua, whose body had been mysteriously repaired and enhanced with a Herrscher Core...
—Alright, she was probably still the same reasonable person she used to be, but she had more than one personality inside her now.
Fu Hua would listen to his reasoning, but that Herrscher only wanted to get physical with him.
Judging by that Herrscher's actions last time, where it was willing to harm other innocent Schicksal members just to kill Otto twice, if Otto returned, that Herrscher would definitely attack immediately and turn Schicksal HQ upside down.
If it meant completing his plan, Otto would certainly not hesitate to sacrifice his subordinates in Schicksal.
But the problem was, his plan was getting more and more off track.
The person to confront the Herrscher of the Void hadn't been determined.
And the Key of the Void had been taken by the Herrscher of the Void.
*Although my idea was to choose between Siegfried and Leo Ash's daughter, the problem is—I can't get my hands on either of them.*
Siegfried was still in Kevin's hands, and Kevin refused to hand him over. When Otto contacted him later, his attitude had become very cold.
As for that little girl, Isla Ash...
*Why is a little girl who's only been born for over seventy days so wary of the unfamiliar Schicksal members around her?*
Just thinking about that little girl made Otto feel that she was incredibly uncanny.
Even if an artificial human's intelligence could be much higher than that of their peers, the intelligence this little girl displayed was still a bit frightening.
The difficulty of having Amber dispatch personnel to capture Isla Ash was immense.
If necessary, the best method would be for Otto to go and capture the little girl himself.
And now, Otto's desire to personally carry out this plan was growing stronger and stronger.
Recently, Li Sushang, who would maintain regular contact with Otto, had suddenly broken off contact.
And according to intelligence gathered by Schicksal agents lurking in Shenzhou, Li Sushang had recently been mixing with people from the Taixu Sword School, assisting them in killing Honkai Beasts.
Although there was no evidence, the fact that Li Sushang, a girl who had a subtle fondness for Otto, had chosen to distance herself from him was, in a sense, a dangerous signal.
*Sigh, Sushang.*
*For someone like her who enjoys acting as a righteous hero, it's perfectly normal for her to want nothing to do with me after learning about the things I've done.*
*In any case, I must remove her from the original plan for future actions.*
*One less card to play.*
As Otto was still contemplating his next move, he suddenly received a communication from Amber.
Amber usually contacted Otto only when she had discovered news at Schicksal HQ that had to be relayed to him.
And this time, looking at the message and video Amber had forwarded, Otto was stunned for a moment.
Then, his eyes widened, and he almost cried out.
In the video Amber sent, Raiden Mei and Yuna, the two Herrscher Hosts whose cores had been stolen by Sirin, were trying to do something in Nagazora City.
Then, Sirin, who had been in hiding and hadn't caused Otto any worry about her safety, came out in a rage.
Seeing Sirin appear, Otto knew something was about to go wrong.
He wasn't worried about those two little girls—brats who had lost their Herrscher cores and their usefulness could die outside for all he cared. What did that have to do with him?
The person Otto was truly worried about was, of course, Sirin, who seemed powerful now but was actually extremely prone to failure.
*And the fact that Amber sent me this video means it affects my plan...*
—Holy shit, Leo Ash???
Seeing Leo Ash and that crimson field appear in Nagazora City, easily suppressing Sirin and stripping her of her power, Otto felt even worse.
*That day has finally come.*
*I didn't launch my plan at the first opportunity before, and now...*
*Leo Ash and Sirin have finally faced off.*
*And now, Leo Ash has become the Herrscher of Binding.*
*Although the color of his Field of Binding doesn't match the data from Void Archives, but...*
—Sirin is falling!
*That means her Authority is truly disappearing!*
Although Sirin managed to escape from Leo Ash at the end of the video, Otto didn't feel any relief seeing this.
Leo Ash had been considered a lucky charm by Otto in the past, not only because his plans had gone smoothly ever since Leo started his missions in Nagazora City, but also because Leo Ash's personal abilities were very strong.
Although he had no concrete reason, upon seeing Leo Ash disappear as well, Otto could already conclude that Leo Ash had a way to find Sirin.
The ability Leo Ash now possessed was clearly Anti-Entropy's Quantum Teleportation System.
*He has come into contact with the people from Anti-Entropy. Knowing Joachim, he must have told him the whole truth about what happened back then.*
*I don't know how much of it Leo Ash believed, but as long as he believed more than thirty percent, he would no longer see me as a trustworthy commander.*
*And it's not just Joachim...*
*—If Sirin also remembers what happened back then, when both sides in a conflict corroborate the same story, there's a very high probability that it's the truth.*
*This person has completely transformed from my subordinate into an enemy I must be wary of.*
Recognizing this fact, a cold glint flashed in Otto's eyes.
*In that case, I can no longer act so indecisively.*
*With Leo Ash's return, Sirin is likely to fall into his hands.*
*But under these circumstances, Sirin, who will inevitably be injected with the HSN serum by Leo Ash, may not be able to maintain her peak strength.*
The Herrschers of Thunder and Death, who were defeated by Leo Ash after their powers were disrupted by the HSN serum, both showed a certain degree of decline in their power levels in subsequent tests.
*If the Herrscher of the Void ends up like the other Herrschers, then the kind of Herrscher of the Void I need will not appear anytime soon.*
*Damn it, has this plan been rendered completely ineffective because of these events?*
*You've got to be kidding me!*
Furious, Otto slammed his fist on the desk. After smashing through the desk with his Soulium fist, he suddenly had a strange feeling.
*Hm, wait, what is this...?!*
Realizing something, the anger on Otto's face suddenly vanished completely, replaced by a playful expression.
*Heh, giving this to me... what exactly do you mean by this?*
*It seems that it's not just me; you've become more anxious too.*
*You hindered my actions before, and now you want me to help you?*
*You really think highly of yourself.*
*But whatever. For the sake of my plan, I'll help you this one time.*
*We're all in the same boat now. I hope that at a time like this...*
*—You'd better not drag me down, God.*
May 18, 2014. Somewhere in Shenzhou.
As a ray of sunlight shone through the window onto the girl's face, Kiana, who had been exhausted for the past few days, slowly opened her eyes.
"Ngh... Senior..."
Touching the empty space beside her on the bed with both hands, the girl rubbed her sleepy eyes, picked up her pajamas and underwear from the side of the bed, and put them on.
Three days had passed since Leo Ash had appeared before Kiana and forcibly suppressed her Herrscher Personality.
During these three days, Leo Ash had completely changed his previous blockhead demeanor. He had taken the mentally collapsing Kiana and used the Quantum Teleportation System to transport them to a house in Shenzhou.
According to Leo Ash himself, this was the home where he and his parents had lived before they died.
After a quick clean-up of the house that Leo Ash hadn't returned to in a long time, that night, Leo Ash took the initiative to embrace Kiana, and they completed the ritual of love.
After the two experienced a crazy night, things between them—of course, did not end there.
In the following days, Leo Ash stayed true to his words to Kiana, treating her completely as his possession, filling her body and soul to the brim.
During this process, Kiana even felt excessive fatigue and some pain due to Leo Ash's overly rough actions.
But Kiana didn't blame him.
In Kiana's view, she had now obtained something she was never qualified to have.
At a time like this, what right did a sinner like her have to complain about the details?
"Senior, are you up already?"
Hearing noises from the kitchen after getting dressed, Kiana walked into the bathroom.
After washing up and thoroughly cleaning her body, Kiana adjusted her expression and walked towards Leo Ash with a cheerful smile.
*Senior did so much for me. He's not really treating me like an object; he just doesn't want me to overthink things.*
*So...*
*—I have to try my best to make him feel that I'm okay now.*
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Leo Ash, who was making breakfast, suddenly saw a character profile template pop up.
[Name: Kiana Kaslana (K423)]
[Identity: Herrscher of the Void, your 'comrade'.]
[Current Affection: 90]
[Note: First Blood.]
*Hah, popping up at a time like this. Did you forget something?*
[Ah, has this System forgotten something?]
*Today is May 18, 2014. Today is goddamn Sunday!*
*Didn't you promise to let me rest and shut up on weekends?!*
[Well, you see—the flow of time in a World Bubble is different from the outside world, so it's perfectly normal for this System to get the date wrong, isn't it?]
[Besides, do you really not want to see this System that much? System is sad.]
*It's not that I don't want to see you, I just think if you couldn't stick to the rule, you shouldn't have said it in the first place.*
[You're trying very hard to change the subject, Host.]
*...What do you mean?*
[Then this System will be blunt.]
[The System has seen plenty of people get emo because they can't sleep with a pretty girl, but you're the first one I've seen get *more* emo after going wild with one for three days and three nights.]
[What's wrong? Miss Paramecium has a great body, she's obedient, and she can keep up with your stamina. No matter what you do to her, she'll tolerate all your actions without a single complaint. What's there for you to be dissatisfied with?]
*Yeah, I shouldn't have any complaints.*
*Kiana accepted everything about me. Her every action has been too perfect.*
[So?]
*It's precisely because she has suddenly become so 'perfect' that I can be sure my persuasion tactics from three days ago were a 100% failure.*
*My intention was to have her let go of the past a little and shift her energy to other things.*
*But now, this obedient and docile Kiana is clearly indulging my nonsense out of a severe sense of atonement.*
[To be honest, for a person with a conscience, knowing you killed tens of millions of people in the past, it's impossible to just jerk off and forget everything.]
[Did you really think your fucking ability was so amazing it could cure all diseases, even a broken heart?]
*Yeah, you're right.*
*But her current state is just like Yuna's back at the café. After being swayed by me, she's become even more extreme.*
*Just look at how strange Yuna is now; that's enough to show how serious things are.*
*My ability is still not enough. I can't completely pull her out of that shadow.*
*After playing with the girl's body and mind, I've only deepened the trauma in her heart. In that sense...*
*—I... I'm probably just a scumbag.*
[Ah, although it's not the right time to say this, but...]
*But what?*
[Your egg is about to burn.]
*...*
*Shit!*
Hurriedly scrambling to put the almost-burnt fried egg into a bowl, Leo Ash turned off the exhaust fan and gently placed the plate on the stove.
[See, you're not even willing to waste a single fried egg. To put it bluntly, you just want to do everything perfectly, and you're just piling psychological pressure on yourself.]
[Having pressure isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you put too much pressure on yourself, you'll really snap one day, and Prometheus No. 17 will be the first to laugh her ass off.]
*You're right, but...*
"Sen~pai~"
At that moment, Leo Ash suddenly felt a soft body come from behind, pressing tightly against his own.
Kiana, who had hugged Leo Ash to act cute, asked him happily.
"Is breakfast ready?"
"Yeah, it's done."
"I see, but..."
At that moment, Kiana suddenly moved closer to Leo Ash's ear and whispered to him in a seductive tone.
"But right now, I want..."
"—you to eat me first."
[Wow, she's seducing you. So your choice is, of course—]
"Kiana, the vacation is over."
As Leo Ash said this, he felt Kiana's hands holding him gradually loosen.
"We are Schicksal warriors, after all. After a few days of rest, it's time to get back to work."
"...Okay, I understand."
Listening to Leo Ash, Kiana looked at him as he turned around and clenched her small fists tightly.
"I'll do my best!"
If Leo Ash had to use one word to describe the current Kiana, it would be 'abnormal'.
Perhaps in Kiana's own eyes, there was nothing wrong with her behavior over the past few days.
But to Leo Ash, the current Kiana felt off in every way.
But now...
*There's no other way.*
"But before we leave, I'll grant your wish."
After saying this, Leo Ash suddenly pushed Kiana down onto the floor and said to her flatly.
"Today, you are my breakfast."
"Get ready, because..."
"—after this, I'll make you stop thinking completely."
...