Winning a beautiful victory...
That's easy to say, but the moment Leo Ash actually thought about it, his head started to ache.
Was he in despair before because the old man wasn't acting human?
Not entirely.
If the boss had no abilities, his destructive power would be limited even if he wasn't human.
But Otto was a capable man, and a capable man serving Honkai as its dog was, in a sense, more terrifying than a billion murderers.
Even now that Otto didn't dare show his face, and even though his impatience due to lack of time had caused him to reveal missteps he shouldn't have...
—But even an Otto who makes mistakes is still Otto.
To deny everything about him out of hatred and treat him like an idiot?
Whoever thinks that is the real idiot.
Besides, Otto's abilities were quite uncanny.
Normally, it was fine, but when Otto started making moves, his destructive power would multiply.
If he wanted to deal with Otto now, Leo Ash had only one way.
Otto's immortality was split into two versions.
In the past, Otto's physical immortality relied entirely on the 'blessing' granted by the power of Abyss Flower, which made his lifespan longer than that of an ordinary person.
But the current version of Otto was 'immortal' thanks to the "Rebirth" program and its accompanying Soulium Body stored in the Schicksal HQ computers.
Under these circumstances, even if the Soulium Body Otto was using at the time was destroyed, as long as he realized he was about to 'die,' he could immediately use the "Rebirth" program to transfer his consciousness to another body.
Even if Otto himself didn't realize his impending death and died in an accident, Amber also had the authority to activate the "Rebirth" program.
And even if Otto died and something happened to Amber, the "Rebirth" program would still activate after a certain period of time.
It could be said that as long as this program wasn't finished, Otto would be very hard to finish off.
Of course, besides getting rid of the Rebirth Program, there was another way.
This method didn't sound complicated; to put it bluntly, it was to destroy all the Soulium Bodies that Otto used for consciousness transfer.
But just because it didn't sound complicated didn't mean it was simple in practice.
If Otto had hidden a few Soulium Bodies in some weird places, he could still be revived by the "Rebirth" program in the end.
What a pain. Although I don't think it will succeed, I still have to give it a try.
But before that...
Meanwhile, Bronya, who was happily chatting with her three friends, suddenly heard the chime of a message on her communicator.
Taking it out, Bronya was very surprised to see a message.
[I've sent you the coordinates. Come find me alone. —Leo Ash]
Strange. Brother Leo wants me to find him alone after returning to Schicksal?
For a moment after reading the message, Bronya actually thought that Leo had finally had a change of heart.
But in the next instant, she dismissed this completely impossible idea.
Although Leo had always been the ascetic type, Bronya could more or less guess his preferences in *that* department from his usual gaze.
If nothing else, he had been caught sneaking glances at everyone's chests, and unfortunately, Bronya was the only one in the dorm who hadn't been scanned by that kind of gaze.
So, why am I overthinking this?
Brother Leo asked me to go... so I'll go.
"Sister Bronya, what's wrong?"
Seele asked curiously, seeing Bronya take out her communicator.
"Is it about work?"
"Yes, something came up with work that I need to handle. I might be a bit busy for a while."
Seeing the obvious disappointment in their eyes, Bronya smiled helplessly at the three of them.
"Alright, we'll have plenty of time to see each other in the future. I'm busy now, but I'll make time to hang out with everyone later."
"Bishop Theresa promised me that when a transport plane heads to the Far East Branch from HQ today, she'll take the three of you with it."
"Everyone at the orphanage is still recovering in their hospital beds, but they're all worried about you."
"If you go show your faces, everyone will be happy."
Listening to Bronya's words, Seele put away her disappointed expression and nodded slightly at Bronya.
"Mm, we'll go and put everyone's minds at ease."
"Good, then I'll be on my way."
Watching Bronya's departing figure, Seele couldn't help but feel...
—Her Sister Bronya seemed to have changed a lot.
[Yeah, she really has changed a lot. Not only is her verbal tic gone, but her whole demeanor is different.]
Yes, even the other me noticed it too.
She seems so happy now, even...
—Happier than when she was at the orphanage.
[Oho, what's this? Are you jealous?]
Not really. It's a good thing that she's happy, of course.
It's just... I have this strange feeling in my heart.
[Sigh, when did you become such an overthinker.]
[Everyone from the orphanage was saved, Sister Bronya's legs seem to be fine now, and she's become more cheerful.]
[Aside from not seeing that troublemaking adoptive mother of yours, everything you've experienced since your return has been pretty much perfect.]
That's true, but...
[No buts! Why are you so chatty... Wait a second.]
[You're not disappointed because you didn't get to see Leo Ash, are you?]
Th-that's ridiculous.
Noticing the clear panic in Seele's tone, the other Seele instantly fell silent.
I just took a wild guess, and I actually hit the mark.
I can't even be bothered to complain. This girl is a lost cause.
It's only been a few days!
It's only been a few days, why is her longing so intense (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
.......
A few minutes later, in a certain room.
Arriving at the room according to the coordinates, Bronya looked at Leo Ash and immediately asked.
"Brother Leo, why did you call me here?"
"Ah, about that."
Looking at the girl who had come as he asked, Leo Ash said very calmly.
"I missed you. Is that not allowed?"
...?
Hearing this calm sentence, Bronya could only feel that Leo was acting very strange today.
Although the relationship between them now was completely different from the tense atmosphere of the past, and they could even be considered close comrades-in-arms, but still...
—Those words, coming from Leo, were just weird.
As everyone knew, Leo Ash was an Avenger focused on revenge, an Avenger who didn't even stop his quest for vengeance after having a daughter.
Now, this Avenger suddenly popped up and said 'I missed you' to Bronya, who wasn't the closest person to him and wasn't in his strike zone...
Instead of thinking Leo had suddenly gotten horny, Bronya was more worried that the pressure had finally gotten to him and driven him insane.
Oh no, this is a real disaster.
Although Yuna and I had long expected this day would come, but now...
What should I do? Brother Leo seems fine, but what he just said proves that something is one hundred percent wrong with him.
"Ah, perhaps this is a bit too sudden, but..."
Leo Ash, rising from his chair, walked towards Bronya.
"Am I that scary now?"
[Isn't that obvious? An Avenger who, in everyone else's eyes, only wants to fight the Honkai and not get laid, suddenly says 'I missed you' to a flat-chested girl. Never mind Bronya, anyone else would just think you've been completely driven mad.]
Ah, is it that exaggerated?
[What do you think?]
[But this System suggests—]
You suggest?
[—Why not go all out? Use this momentum to conquer Bronya today and give that ass a good spanking.]
Eh, that sounds like a good idea.
[...But you're definitely not going to do that, are you.]
Who knows.
I am under a lot of stress right now. Relieving stress through *** has always been a common practice in the military, right?
[Whether you're actually planning to *** is beyond this System, but it's clear you're under a lot of stress.]
[Normally, you would have already switched to Tucao mode, but now... forget it, this System will just sit back and watch the show today.]
"Brother Leo."
Looking at Leo, who seemed fine but was definitely having major issues, Bronya grit her teeth, threw herself at him, and hugged him tightly.
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you're really under too much stress, Bronya... it's okay."
[Holy crap, a direct approach?]
No way, is she really going this far?
[Thinking about it, it makes sense. She's long had knowledge in that area, it's just that as an ace, she never needed to use it.]
[From that perspective, she's actually the most open-minded one in the dorm, so... this can't really be called that surprising.]
[Of course, that's not the main point.]
The main point is?
Hearing Leo's question, the System didn't answer, but silently threw out Bronya's character profile.
[Name: Bronya Zaychik]
[Identity: An Anti-Entropy member who has sincerely joined Schicksal, Cocolia's adopted daughter.]
[Current Favorability: 75]
[Note: Although you were the indirect cause of her mother's death, you are now undoubtedly the person she trusts the most. Moreover, she clearly holds feelings beyond companionship for you, who saved Seele.]
...Whether I tap that or not is another question, but this feels heavy.
[She's one of the lighter ones.]
"What's wrong, Brother Leo."
Now taking the lead, Bronya looked up at the silent Leo.
"Bronya can hack the surveillance systems here, so..."
"Ha, so..."
Facing the girl before him, Leo, at point-blank range, directly activated Phantasmagoria on Bronya.
"Please watch me closely, Bronya."
Caught off guard by the Phantasmagoria, Bronya was pulled into the illusion by Leo before she could even realize what was happening.
When the intelligent girl came to her senses, she looked at the suddenly changed scenery around her and, contrary to expectations, let out a sigh of relief.
Then, Bronya looked at Leo and said with great dissatisfaction.
"Brother Leo, couldn't you have just said something if you needed to talk?"
I really thought you had gone crazy. I was even mentally prepared for *that*.
"Sorry, this matter really isn't suitable for others to know."
"This was the only way I could pull you into this mental space to discuss the plan properly."
Seeing Leo had clearly switched back to his usual work mode, Bronya felt a flash of disappointment in her heart, even as she was relieved.
But she quickly adjusted her mindset and quietly waited for Leo's next words.
"Let me ask you something first—to what extent can you hack Schicksal's surveillance systems?"
"Mm, hacking a part of it is no problem, but I can only maintain it for a short time."
Hearing Leo's words, Bronya immediately perked up and asked.
"Brother Leo, have you already found out the truth about Bishop Otto?"
"...So you all know too?"
Realizing that the girl before him also seemed to know a lot, Leo immediately compared the intelligence he had with Bronya's.
And now Leo found that the flaws Otto had exposed this time were truly massive.
The protagonist group, who were originally supposed to be holed up in the Far East Branch in the original story, had arrived at Schicksal HQ ahead of schedule for various reasons.
And Otto, who didn't dare to return for the time being because of Fu Hua, ended up letting Bronya, a genius hacker capable of breaching Schicksal's database, hack into the HQ database at a time when he was in deep trouble.
I thought this version of Bronya would be much weaker without her core, but now I see I underestimated her.
Even without her core, she's still a high-IQ genius girl, in a completely different league from someone like me who can only fight and sweet-talk young girls.
"Mm, since Brother Leo also knows about these things, there's no need for excessive explanation on many matters."
After hearing Leo say that 'the Second Eruption was amplified because Otto let the Herrscher of the Void escape,' Bronya's mind instantly began to race, thinking about the implications of this information.
Although Bronya hadn't been born when the Second Eruption occurred fourteen years ago, having checked various databases, she was well aware of certain things.
Her parents had died prematurely because of the Second Eruption.
Her hometown had become difficult to live in because of the Second Eruption.
Even many of her companions in the orphanage were locals who had become orphans because of the disaster in Siberia.
Logically, Bronya should be hunting down the revived Herrscher of the Void.
But in Bronya's eyes, Kiana and the Herrscher of the Void were not entirely the same person.
Even if she felt some discomfort in her heart, the current Bronya had no intention of holding Kiana accountable.
Back then, Leo and the others didn't blame or persecute Bronya just because she was Cocolia's daughter.
So now, rather than directing her anger at Kiana, the Herrscher of the Void's new personality who bore little responsibility, she hoped to assist Kiana in eliminating the culprit Herrscher Personality within her.
Only then could she eliminate a threat to humanity while completing a revenge that might be boring, but would definitely be satisfying.
However, unable to do this at the moment, Bronya had to focus all her attention on the other culprit.
Otto Apocalypse, if he hadn't interrupted Alliance Leader Welt's final blow back then, my hometown, my parents, and everyone at the orphanage...
—How could they have suffered such a calamity?
Otto, you really deserve to die.
"Brother Leo, what are you planning to do this time?"
Guessing Leo's intentions, Bronya's eyes flashed with a cold light.
"If you're preparing to overthrow Otto, Bronya will definitely help you with all her might!"
[Ah, just a minute ago the atmosphere was a little sexy, but now, I suddenly feel like Bronya is completely fired up.]
Isn't that obvious? We're all serious people. When we're in work mode, we'll definitely prioritize serious matters.
You think everyone is like you, with nothing better to do all day than think about lewd things?
..