To be honest, although Leo Ash had anticipated that Fu Hua might get taken over by the Herrscher of Sentience at some point, he never, ever expected the timing to be so...
inconvenient.
Logically, the tender moments after their union should have been a time for them to continue connecting emotionally.
But now, looking at the teary-eyed Herrscher of Sentience, Leo Ash, for a rare moment, had the thought, 'Ah, I really have no idea how to talk my way out of this one.'
With the Stone of Annihilation fragment, he could resist the Herrscher of Sentience's powers of consciousness-probing and modification to some extent.
But even if he could prevent the Herrscher of Sentience from exploring his mind...
—what good would that do?
Facing the Herrscher of Sentience, who perceived herself as the real Fu Hua, Leo Ash truly couldn't bring himself to act.
In the eyes of the Herrscher of Sentience, who considered herself the original Fu Hua, it was indeed Leo Ash who had met Fu Hua first, and secretly kissed Fu Hua first.
Under these circumstances, this silly kid was definitely jealous now. Faced with a jealous... brat, Leo Ash had no idea how to respond.
What terrified Leo Ash even more was that, in the instant the Herrscher of Sentience looked at him, he actually...
—felt an incredibly bizarre impulse.
Wait, what the hell?
Could it be...
"Hmph! I don't care anymore!"
At that moment, the Herrscher of Sentience wiped away her tears with her arm, then viciously flipped over and pinned Leo Ash down.
The moment he was pinned, Leo Ash realized what had just happened.
The Herrscher of Sentience right now was not yet aware that she was the Herrscher of Sentience. In other words, she still belonged to the 'Honkai's side'.
The Herrscher of Sentience, supported by the Honkai, had forcefully broken through Leo Ash's mental defenses, causing him to feel an impulse he shouldn't have in that instant.
This impulse wasn't negative; rather, it was the urge to pull her into his arms, to love and cherish her with everything he had.
"Disciple, you've been bewitched by the Herrscher. It's not your fault."
"But now, Master can only use this method to make you fully awaken."
Spouting nonsense that Leo Ash couldn't comprehend, the Herrscher of Sentience controlled Fu Hua's body, striking a pose that Fu Hua would never make.
And faced with this Herrscher who held special feelings for him, what could Leo Ash say now?
From the very beginning of her existence, the Herrscher of Sentience, because she had mistaken herself for Fu Hua, had inherited Fu Hua's emotions while choosing a path different from hers.
She had indeed become a dangerous figure in Leo Ash's eyes due to the Honkai's influence, but at the same time, the Herrscher of Sentience in Leo Ash's eyes was not only dangerous but also...
—incredibly pitiful.
Her birth was an accident caused by the struggle between the Herrscher and the mortal world. Born from this accident, the only thing she could rely on for survival were her memories as 'Fu Hua'.
And Leo Ash, as the closest male to her at the time, naturally became the target of some of her more extreme emotions.
Seeing the girl cry out his name while seeking his approval, Leo Ash felt his heart ache for her even more.
In the nearly thirty days since Fu Hua became a Herrscher, the Herrscher of Sentience, no matter how stubborn, should have realized that something was wrong with her.
And his recent act of intimacy with Fu Hua had become the last straw that broke the Herrscher of Sentience.
No matter how tough she acted now, she had still been broken by the fact that Leo Ash had 'chosen' Fu Hua.
Having inherited almost everything from Fu Hua, she only needed to think for a moment to realize, with immense bitterness, that Leo Ash, who was usually able to analyze everything calmly, had called Fu Hua 'Hua'. This clearly showed that he had recognized the original as the true one from the very beginning, and had never treated her as a Herrscher.
In the midst of the storm, the girl, filled with unease, jealousy, helplessness, and bitterness, finally sank into a state of bliss.
After the storm passed, the girl, clinging tightly to Leo Ash, looked at him with a pitiful expression and asked a question to which she already knew the answer.
"Leo Ash, am... am I Fu Hua?"
"Master, you are no one else."
Looking at the girl's craving for recognition, Leo Ash kissed her forcefully.
As they separated once more, Leo Ash gazed at the woman with dazed eyes and spoke words that seemed cruel.
"You are you, and that's all."
"Why..."
Hearing these words, which were practically a direct reveal, the Herrscher of Sentience, feeling as if all her fantasies had been shattered, asked Leo Ash unwillingly.
"Why won't you even lie to me once!"
"You... you clearly know what answer I want!"
*Yes, I clearly know what answer she wants.*
*As long as I tell her what she wants to hear, she'll force herself to believe it, even if she knows it's a lie.*
*But, it's better to rip the band-aid off quickly.*
*Even if I let her indulge in this empty illusion for now, she will have to face reality sooner or later.*
*Instead of dragging this out and causing an even greater disaster in the future, my choice is still...*
*—to tell her the truth now.*
Looking at the woman who had already started to cry, Leo Ash didn't make another move, but said to her with great seriousness.
"In order to deceive Otto before, I have already gone against my own heart and told too many lies."
"But now, I have earned the qualification to be promoted from a pawn to a player. Right now, I..."
"—don't want to tell any more unnecessary lies to everyone."
"Yes, lying is certainly not a good thing, but do you know, Leo Ash..."
Hearing Leo Ash's resolute words, the Herrscher of Sentience changed her tune, lowered her head, and muttered.
"A person in the desert, even knowing the liquid before them is a cup of poison, will choose to drink it all down to quench their thirst."
"That's true, but even so, poison is still poison."
"I don't know what I should say right now, but I don't have any negative thoughts about you because of your true identity."
"I am a clumsy man, and I don't know what to say at a time like this, but..."
"As long as you wish for it, I will stay by your side."
...
"What do you mean, a clumsy man? You lowly disciple, you're clearly full of sweet nothings."
Hearing Leo Ash's words, the Herrscher of Sentience suddenly burst out laughing and poked his chest with her finger.
"Alright, Master was just teasing you. Did you really think I was that fragile?"
"Even if I am a personality born from an accident, at the end of the day, I'm still the 'Immortal Red Kite'."
"The Immortal Red Kite was slaying demons when you were still just a kid."
Listening to the Herrscher of Sentience's return to form, Leo Ash muttered under his breath.
"I wonder who was just crying while they were Rider-ing and sport-ing on top of me."
"Huh? What did you say?"
The Herrscher of Sentience suddenly wrapped herself around Leo Ash with exquisite grace and asked playfully.
"Say that again, Master didn't quite hear you."
"I didn't say anything!"
"Hmph, too late now."
A cunning smile appeared on the face of the Herrscher of Sentience as she looked at the man beside her.
"Lowly disciple, today I will let you know..."
"—the true power of the Immortal Red Kite!"
Inside the Phantasmagoria, Leo Ash was certain of one thing.
What the System said about shielding itself at certain times seemed to be true.
Despite all this commotion, the System hadn't said a single word.
However, what it said before was definitely not wrong.
The taste of an immortal...
—is really something else.
.
That day, midnight, a certain secret Schicksal base
Otto, looking at the intelligence reports in the secret base, felt his headache growing worse.
After obtaining that thing from 'God', Otto had begun to set his plans in motion.
The problem was, even with God's gift, Otto still couldn't defeat Fu Hua, who had returned to her peak physical condition.
He couldn't beat his old friend, and he had no doubt that his old friend, without the interference of a Herrscher Personality, would absolutely be trying to crack his skull open right now.
Under these circumstances, Otto, who didn't dare return to Schicksal, had very limited options, even with his vast resources.
And today, looking at the information collected by Amber, Otto's head throbbed even more.
This morning, the former Far East Branch Valkyries Raiden Mei, Yuna, and Bronya Zaychik had suddenly vanished from HQ.
The three had requested leave from Theresa for the day, and Theresa had approved it. But that was precisely the problem.
Theresa trusted these three students of hers so much that she approved their request without asking any questions.
And those three, as if they understood their teacher's nature perfectly, really didn't write anything on the application form!
One dared to submit it, the other dared to approve it.
Thanks to this infuriating exchange, Otto had no way of knowing where they had gone.
As for tracking their destination via transport ship, that was also impossible.
This time, those three little brats hadn't used a transport ship at all!
Knowing this, Otto immediately understood how they had left.
The Quantum Teleportation System.
This system, which Otto had helped World Serpent improve, was, in his opinion, an absolutely heaven-defying piece of technology.
Although it wasn't as convenient as the Key of the Void or the Herrscher of the Void's powers, the problem was...
—the Key of the Void and the Herrscher of the Void weren't in Otto's hands, so this thing was fantastic for him!
Originally, through his cooperation with World Serpent, Otto had obtained limited access to the Quantum Teleportation System.
But before he could use it more than a few times, World Serpent had revoked his access.
Otto, who had thought he'd have a chance for deeper cooperation with World Serpent, was even told by Gray Serpent after being repeatedly turned away, 'Sorry, our plans have changed,' cutting off the deal between them.
The reason Otto had been so bold as to give the Gem of Haste to World Serpent as a 'deposit' was because he believed that a plan of this global scale would inevitably require Schicksal's help.
And when Otto had talked with Kevin and Gray Serpent, he had threatened them with 'preparing for an all-out war between Schicksal and World Serpent if necessary', and he was serious.
He had thought that Kevin and Gray Serpent would be wary of Schicksal launching an all-out war against them, which would cause the Stigmata Project to fail.
But now, he found that they didn't seem to be afraid of him flipping the table at all.
Or rather, Otto, who didn't dare return to Schicksal HQ right now, had already lost his qualification to flip the table.
If Otto wanted an all-out war with World Serpent, he would have to publicly return to Schicksal HQ.
But the moment he did, Fu Hua's Grips of Taixu would instantly tear his body apart and crush his Soulium skull.
Faced with this despairing reality, Otto finally knew what it felt like to have nowhere to run.
He needed the power to threaten the world by flipping the table in order to get the beacon.
And to have that power, he would have to face Fu Hua's wrath.
And then came the most critical problem.
Otto couldn't defeat Fu Hua, who had reverted to the [Immortal Red Kite], which meant all his subsequent plans would be nothing but fantasy.
Even though he had spent this month painstakingly optimizing the ratio of Schariac Holy Blood and HSN serum, but...
—with this special HSN serum, could Otto really do anything to Fu Hua?
Fu Hua wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but her fighting skills had been honed to perfection over many years.
Otto was also very strong, but his strength was mostly reliant on his Soulium Body and the Void Archives.
Even with the Holy Blood-enhanced HSN serum, Otto might not be able to inject it into her before she caved his head in.
In the end, joining forces with 'God' had somehow become his only way out?
It wasn't strange that Raiden Mei had the Quantum Teleportation System.
She was the daughter of the Anti-Entropy Executor 'The Entrepreneur' Raiden Ryoma. Now that Schicksal and Anti-Entropy had a temporary truce, it was natural for her father to entrust this to her...
—JOACHIM!
That guy truly had no guard up against the people he trusted.
According to my original plan, she and that damned Yuna shouldn't have grown so quickly.
But because they had that person, Leo Ash, by their side, everything went off the rails.
Leo Ash, hungry for power and revenge, was a notorious tryhard, not just in the Far East Branch, but throughout all of Schicksal.
With a tryhard like that around, even the laziest person would be too embarrassed to keep slacking off.
What's more, Yuna was almost as much of a tryhard as Leo Ash, and Raiden Mei's own talent was already formidable.
As Herrschers now, their control over their cores might have already surpassed Joachim's.
If things kept going like this, when I have to face those two... I might not even be able to win?
Otto, who had been at the top of the meta three months ago, now found that after the version update, his absolute dominance over the younger generation had completely vanished.
Now this three-person squad was roaming around. If they went to visit their old friends, or if they believed Joachim's nonsense... it wasn't even nonsense.
If Joachim told them the truth, they would probably Breakfast even if they only believed half of it.
At this point, it was too late to silence them.
I don't even have many cards left to play.
Should I activate that final trump card hidden in the major cities?
After a crazy idea popped into his head, Otto instantly suppressed it.
He wanted to stir the pot, but doing so would be largely meaningless, aside from enraging those people.
Sure, when enemies get angry, there's a chance they'll lose their rationality. But the problem is, when enemies get angry, there's also a chance their combat power will increase due to their anger.
Otto's available forces were already pitifully small. And the other side?
Herrscher, Herrscher, and more Herrschers.
And the birth of these Herrschers was even somewhat related to Otto.
With his forces against an army of Herrschers, what the hell was he supposed to do?
I must use the special properties of this thing to break the stalemate, only then will I have a sliver of a chance.
*Don't panic, Otto.*
*The darker the road ahead, the more you must dare to fight.*
*Even a situation as headache-inducing as this is better than the stagnant pond of the last five hundred years.*
*In one-on-one situations, I still have the upper hand against most of them.*
*So, as long as I can seize their powers, then with my follow-up plans, I should be able to eliminate a few of the high-end combatants.*
But, there's still one person I can't deal with.
[Herrscher of Binding] Leo Ash.
He, whom I once considered my lucky charm, will surely become my enemy in the future if he earnestly gathers information about his surroundings.
But now, even if I have no way, I must think of one.
That theater's teleportation ability, its method of luring others into despair, plus my backup plan...
I can't delay any longer.
The more I delay, the more prepared they will be, and the lower my chances of winning.
I was originally planning to wait for Kiana to get used to her powers before assessing the situation, but now...
"Hm, what's this?"
Looking at the message from his subordinates, Otto opened it and saw the image he had been waiting for.
In the image, Rita's parents, the Rossweisses, had been invited to another location by staff dispatched by Otto.
Faced with the invitation from Schicksal members, the Rossweisses suspected nothing and left their home with them quite readily.
After reading this piece of news, Otto truly felt...
Sigh, although it wasn't a big deal, it was truly one of the few pieces of good news he'd had in a while.
Ever since Rita and Leo Ash left Schicksal together yesterday, I felt something was wrong.
Rita is very smart, and Leo Ash is very smart too.
If that pair of siblings found a place to chat for an hour or two, and put together the details and information, it wouldn't be hard for them to figure out some of the truth.
Holding Leo Ash hostage is difficult, but holding Rita hostage is easy enough.
Although I don't think the Rossweisses will be of much use, I'll keep this card in my hand for now.
After reading the message, Otto suddenly heard an alarm from his system.
"Hm, what's this?"
Hearing the alarm, Otto frowned slightly, opened his holographic screen, and began to check the source of the alarm.
Although Otto had left Schicksal, he still had control over it from the shadows.
To prevent certain people from obtaining information they shouldn't and deducing truths that were unfavorable to him, Otto had always released some information as 'bait'.
On this information, Otto had added a backdoor alarm system.
If anyone tried to use their authority to view these records, Otto would know about it immediately.
Of course, a brainless person wouldn't normally notice this information and these records.
And at the same time, Otto wouldn't deal with everyone who saw this information.
Not everyone has the ability to discover the truth. Against those subordinates who hadn't seen through his true nature, Otto wouldn't go so far as to have them killed...
—Oh, Siegfried and Cecilia were exceptions. That doesn't count.
As for who had accessed this information today, when Otto saw the name, he let out a slightly helpless sigh.
"Wraith, of all people, it had to be you."
"Thinking about it, you certainly have the ability."
Remembering this subordinate, Otto shook his head gently.
"I had wanted to leave a strong team for Theresa, what a pity, what a pity..."
"Wraith, you've touched a taboo that should never have been touched."
Otto, his heart set on killing Wraith, suddenly realized something with great sorrow.
Although Wraith was the head of the intelligence department, she was also an active A-rank Valkyrie.
What's more, she was a super-ace agent. Compared to other Valkyries, Wraith might not be the strongest, but she was definitely the most agile.
To secretly get rid of someone like her... sigh, there's no other way.
I didn't want to use the few Soulium Bodies left at Schicksal HQ, but I have no choice.
The situation is urgent now, so Wraith...
—Don't blame me. For the sake of my plan, I can only prioritize killing you.
.
Early that morning, Schicksal HQ
After a full day of researching data, Wraith, who had been in her office the whole time, was exhausted but also felt incredibly excited.
Well, excited might not be the right word.
Right now, Wraith was, without a doubt, furious.
Furious because of the actions of her superior, Otto.
Although Wraith acknowledged Otto's abilities, as the head of Schicksal's intelligence, she also knew that Otto was by no means a good person.
But just like other Schicksal members who knew part of the truth, Wraith clearly valued his abilities more than his character.
But in the last few days, Wraith had sensed that something was off.
A few days ago, Himeko had complained to her that the amount of paperwork at Schicksal had suddenly increased threefold.
At the time, Himeko guessed that it must be those ambitious people who couldn't sit still with Otto gone and Leo Ash missing, so they were trying to test and pressure Theresa this way.
But Himeko only knew one part of the story.
She was smart, but even a smart person's judgment can be inaccurate with insufficient information.
And as the head of Schicksal's intelligence, Wraith naturally understood the 'ambitious people' Himeko spoke of better than Himeko, who had been stationed at the Far East Branch for years.
These ambitious people did indeed have some outrageous ambitions, but when faced with Otto, they would never dare to act out of line.
Himeko thought they couldn't wait even a month, but in Wraith's view, these people's patience would far exceed a month.
Abnormalities signal trouble. In Wraith's opinion, the reason these people suddenly made a move was definitely not because of their ambition.
And after investigating for half a day based on this idea, Wraith unearthed an incredibly shocking truth.
A few days ago, Otto had used the excuse of 'testing Theresa this way' to have other branches send all their trivial matters to Schicksal HQ, launching an information blitz.
After confirming this, honestly, Wraith didn't believe for a second that this was what Otto was really thinking.
The more she thought about it, the more something felt wrong. Wraith began to investigate the incidents she had suspected in the past.
It would have been better if she hadn't looked. After half a day of investigation, Wraith discovered that she had still misjudged Otto.
She knew Otto wasn't a good person, but she didn't know he was this much of a monster.
Several capable colleagues who had disappeared in recent years had all been investigating something before they vanished.
And after finding a message left by one of her colleagues, Wraith's heart turned to ice.
In Wraith's view, the person who had killed these people...
—was very likely Otto Apocalypse himself.
In the past, as Otto's subordinate, Wraith had tried to tell herself that her judgment was correct.
Even when Otto allowed Cocolia's plan to catalyze the birth of the Third Herrscher, even when Otto indirectly led to the birth of the Fourth Herrscher, even when Otto conducted core fusion experiments on the Valkyries at HQ, Wraith believed that these were all necessary sacrifices to defeat the Honkai.
But now, after reading through these documents, Wraith felt that her past self had been too naive.
She wasn't one hundred percent certain that Otto was a villain who secretly assassinated his colleagues and assisted the Honkai's advance.
But if not one hundred percent, then eighty percent. And eighty percent...
—was enough to nearly shatter her convictions.
The goal she had striven for her entire life was completely disregarded by the higher-ups.
And this damned higher-up was even assisting the enemy of humanity for some unknown reason.
"Yo, Wraith."
Absorbed in her thoughts, Wraith saw the bartender emerge from around the corner and greeted him with a smile.
"Yo, what's up? Is the bar quiet today?"
"Ha, even I need to relax sometimes, you know."
"Yeah..."
Listening to his words, Wraith nodded slightly, and in that instant...
*BANG*
She drew her service pistol from her hip and shot him through the knee.
"Guaaaargh!"
The bartender who had appeared before Wraith clutched his shattered knee and let out a miserable howl.
"Wraith, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Don't tell me you've betrayed Schicksal!"
"Cut the crap, fake."
After shooting him through the other knee, Wraith said coldly to the 'comrade' before her.
"Did you think that by disguising yourself as someone I know, you could get close to me?"
"That bartender, after losing part of his memory, made the bar his home."
"I've known him for so many years. Ever since he lost his memory, he has never let himself relax."
"Perhaps because the memories he forgot were too tragic, he always wanted to stay in the bar to force himself not to remember the past."
"He has never shown such a genuinely relaxed expression, nor would he ever say something like that. But thinking about it, you, a fake, probably wouldn't care about these things."
After casually shooting through the bartender's hands, Wraith sneered at the enemy before her.
"I'm the head of Schicksal's intelligence. Don't underestimate my intelligence network, you fake."
"Oh, indeed. I admit, I really did underestimate you, Wraith."
The moment he said that, Wraith felt a primal chill run down her spine.
Intending to leave him alive for interrogation, Wraith, in that instant, aimed her gun directly at his head and pulled the trigger one last time.
But this time, while her bullet did pierce his forehead...
At the same time, the gilded golden pistol in his hand also fired a bullet of destruction, striking Wraith's body.
"It's..."
Seeing that weapon, a bitter expression appeared on Wraith's face.
"It's you."
"Then it seems... my suspicions were not wrong at all."
"Mhm, correct. But to prevent you from being saved, well..."
Amidst a flurry of golden feathers, the 'bartender' pulled the trigger on Wraith a second time.
"Don't blame me, after all..."
"—It's your own fault for being so smart. Being too smart has never been a good thing, Wraith."
*Yes, being too smart really isn't a good thing.*
*Ash, I'm sorry. Teacher should have told you about this right away.*
*But now, it's too late.*
*Everything is too late.* [She's not dead, stop crying]
...