Although both Yuna and Leo Ash were worried about Isla Ash's safety, their levels of concern naturally differed due to the disparity in their information.
Compared to Yuna, who was extremely worried about Isla, Leo Ash, who knew the original story's plot, was practically sweating bullets.
Through the data Bronya had hacked, Mei and Yuna knew that Sirin, Kiana's predecessor, had been perfectly fine after accommodating six Herrscher Cores.
But Leo Ash knew full well that while Sirin had possessed an unparalleled talent for accommodating cores fourteen years ago, her miraculous ability to control six cores simultaneously was one hundred percent reliant on support from the Honkai.
After all, seventeen years after the end of the Second Eruption, during the Tianqiong meteor incident in the original timeline, Kiana, without the Honkai's support, was pushed to the brink of death just by taking in the three cores of Void, Thunder, and Death.
If the Honkai truly intended to use his daughter as a new multi-core host...
No matter how sensible Isla was, she was still just a child.
If it really came to that, Leo Ash believed his daughter would either be driven mad or forced to her death.
A child, no matter how mentally mature, is still a child. Expecting her to overcome a despair that even adults would find difficult to conquer and reclaim her consciousness... that was asking too much of her.
*Besides, I hadn't regained the memories I had actively forgotten back then.
Looking back at the timeline now, I was almost lured into becoming the Herrscher of Binding in Nagazora City due to excessive despair.
At that time, I chose to forcibly suppress the Herrscher transformation by forgetting my past.
And now...*
Herrschers on the Honkai's side usually exhibit several different situations when they manifest.
*A special case—the Herrscher of Reason, relying on the souls and consciousness of three hundred thousand people, had an easier time than other Herrschers maintaining her consciousness and not slipping over to the Honkai's side.
The first common situation—a single personality's corruption.
Sirin, during the Second Eruption, suffered immensely, causing her personality to become corrupted, turning her into an avenger seeking revenge on civilization.
Wendy, from the Fourth Eruption in the original story, also seemed to be in this state—after all, a few words from others had a chance of pulling her back, which clearly didn't seem like a personality switch.
The second common situation—a multi-personality switch.
This occurred with Mei, Fu Hua, and K423.
Mei's Herrscher of Thunder personality was actually a Stigmata personality. Fu Hua's Herrscher of Sentience personality was created by the Honkai itself. K423's good personality, Kiana, and evil personality, Sirin, were two extreme personalities that emerged after the original Sirin separated her good and evil aspects.
Looking at the aftermath, my previous analysis might have been flawed.
Back then... I didn't create a new personality, but forcibly split my original one in two.
The part of my personality that was the Avenger actively forgot the past and took on the Honkai's corruption, transforming itself into a Herrscher Personality.
The other part, the newborn personality, forgot the past, halting the birth of the Herrscher of Binding at the personality-splitting stage. That's why no core was detected in me—it hadn't reached the core condensation stage yet.
Isla's genes were collected just over a month after this incident. It's only natural that she would be influenced by me after I fully awakened my power... thinking about it now, it makes perfect sense.
...I think I know why Isla was the only successful subject in that experiment.
Could it be that her very birth was guided by the Honkai from behind the scenes???
Thinking about it carefully, if Elysia hadn't helped me with prenatal education ahead of time, then my daughter would have been able to wield a portion of three Herrschers' authorities, and might have even inherited Sirin's talent...
If Prometheus No. 17 were to guide her to condense a core one day, and then, when we were all incredibly weak after a battle with a powerful enemy, she snatched our cores away...
The Theater of Domination.
So this was the God of Honkai's original plan.
In the past, I tried to climb the ladder to better exact my revenge on the Honkai, which is why I came to Nagazora City.
But after witnessing the true colors of Otto and Cocolia, I was disappointed and gradually guided towards despair.
However, just before falling into despair, I sensed the Honkai's intentions and used a special method to stop the Core of Binding from appearing in my body.
After this plan failed, the Honkai proceeded with its second plan, facilitating the awakening of Thunder while also guiding the awakening of Void... Siegfried's appearance here—if he died, Void might have truly awakened.
But I interrupted both of those events, so the God of Honkai moved on to its subsequent plans.
And Gray Serpent's Project: Blood of the Strong gave the Honkai new room to maneuver.
World Serpent's cloning technology is certainly superior to Otto's, but fusing the genes of three individuals is exponentially more difficult than fusing the genes of two.
Despite this, Isla was born almost immediately, which implies that her consciousness was tampered with by the Honkai to some extent.
But because the Key of the Flawless exists in the hearts of everyone in the world, Elysia, sensing the Honkai's plan, immediately spirited Isla away using methods unknown to me and quickly began her prenatal education, successfully preventing Isla from being led astray.
Otherwise, the Herrscher of Binding might not have been me, but my daughter.
If the Honkai's plan had proceeded along those lines, Isla would have condensed the Core of Binding ahead of schedule. Then, by using the Theater of Domination to seize the authorities of others, this dual debuff would have made her an unbeatable opponent for everyone.
Kevin would be half-crippled when he emerged, I wouldn't have enough power, Otto and Old Yang together wouldn't last against one of Kevin's hands, and Bianka wouldn't have matured yet. Isla, with the Theater of Domination, could basically maintain absolute suppression over everyone in terms of power.
And while Su and Fu Hua are also very strong, considering the Theater of Domination's ability to segment the battlefield, powerful reinforcements couldn't gather and would just be picked off one by one.
The only one who could possibly defeat her would be the version T0 Satiated Kevin who had eaten Chiyou sashimi.
Furthermore, even without condensing the Core of the Void, she already possessed its authority.
My daughter is so smart she could use that authority to save her teacher Wraith during Otto's sneak attack. If the situation truly reached that point and she realized she couldn't beat Satiated Kevin, she would definitely run without a second thought.
Of course, micromanaging everything within the Theater of Domination while simultaneously fighting a powerful enemy seemed too demanding for one person in Leo Ash's opinion.
So, in this hypothetical plan, the Theater of Domination would likely be controlled by someone else.
If their coordination wasn't perfect, the lineup would still have weaknesses.
But even so, it was a terrifying lineup.
Absurdly strong, able to divide the battlefield, and the main combatant is smart enough to run if they can't win. If they let this main force develop, humanity would likely suffer catastrophic losses long before the Herrscher of Finality even arrived.*
Damn it, even though I know this world is messed up, I can't help but say...
—Damn you, Prometheus! How can your schemes be this terrifying?
*So, me fighting Kevin to a mutual standstill was just your reluctant backup plan, wasn't it?*
"Senior, your face is looking worse and worse."
Seeing the rare look of horror on Leo Ash's face, Yuna said with great concern.
"This is just my speculation, Isla..."
"Alright, comforting you with lies is useless at a time like this. You'd see through my lies anyway."
"...Don't overthink it, I'm fine."
Leo Ash took a deep breath, adjusted his expression, and forcibly activated his Poker Face ability.
"It's just that now, we probably don't have time to rest."
"While we were resting, the Honkai was still carrying out its plans."
"And Otto has most likely become the Honkai's loyal dog."
"Next, for both public and private reasons, I must drag Otto out and kill him at the first opportunity, so..."
"—Tomorrow, we'll launch an all-out attack on Otto."
.....
That night, inside a certain café.
In a seemingly ordinary café, a gray-haired man and a white-haired man faced each other, and then, simultaneously, a nostalgic smile appeared on both their faces.
Looking at the friend who had arrived as promised, Kevin spoke with a rare smile.
"I'm really glad you could come, Su."
"Ah, I'm also very glad you invited me, Kevin."
Sitting together in the café, the two men looked at their dear friend, feeling as if time had rewound fifty thousand years.
However, no matter how joyful they felt, the two men, who bore immense responsibilities, knew that this was not the time for idle chat.
"Let me ask the most crucial question first."
Looking at his friend, the smile on Su's face gradually faded as he asked Kevin.
"Kevin, you must have noticed that the Honkai is accelerating."
"And now, World Serpent has had a large portion of its forces crippled by Mr. Otto. Under these circumstances, it's become much more difficult for World Serpent to initiate the Stigmata Project."
"Given this, have you still decided to proceed with the Stigmata Project?"
"Naturally."
Kevin nodded slightly, his expression also turning serious as he spoke calmly to Su.
"Perhaps in your eyes and the eyes of others, I've become obsessed. But from my own perspective, humanity still needs the Stigmata Project."
"It is precisely because the Honkai is accelerating that humanity is running out of time. Therefore, I cannot abandon this plan, which is the worst option, but also a viable one."
"Time..."
A sense of regret inevitably surfaced in the hearts of the two men who had lived for so long.
In the nearly one month since his return, Kevin, having learned about the current era's situation through the World Serpent's intelligence network, had to admit that this era, having inherited the legacy of their Previous Era, had progressed much more smoothly than they had.
In terms of armaments, this era not only had the Divine Keys and holy relics left from their era but had also developed Valkyrie armor based on the Blank Key, and had even used Soulium to create powerful weapons like the Pantheon-class armaments.
In terms of high-end combat power, the human side not only had powerful warriors like Siegfried, Theresa, and Bianka, but had also managed, through special means, to get all the Herrschers to stand with humanity.
Even Su, who should have perished from using the Key of the Void to observe other worlds, had somehow avoided his fate and become a powerful supporter for humanity's side.
In terms of logistics, the HSN serum developed by Dr. Magi was expensive, but it was still far cheaper than the "one in a thousand" method they had used back then.
And it wasn't just Dr. Magi; Jackal had also developed some low-end anti-Honkai drugs using data left from the Previous Era.
It could be said that if the Honkai hadn't accelerated, the situation would be a perfect hand. Even Kevin would consider waiting to see how things developed before proceeding with the Stigmata Project.
Unfortunately, because the Honkai was accelerating, the perfect hand had instantly turned into a losing one.
No matter how good the situation looked on the surface, in Kevin's eyes, if the current era's humanity couldn't defeat Finality, then all of this would ultimately be for naught.
It was precisely because he had faced Finality head-on that he knew just how powerful it had been back then.
"Unfortunately, for this world, there isn't enough time."
"So, after preparing all the contingencies, I think it's time for the plan to enter its next phase."
*No matter how talented Leo Ash is, no matter how hard the people of this era try, without the power and resolve to surpass me, it will all be meaningless in the end.
But when I take control of that power, it will mean that humanity has truly run out of options.
Therefore, before that happens, Leo Ash must become stronger.*
"You have a good relationship with Leo Ash. So, Su, I want you to relay a message to him."
"Tell him to come to World Serpent. I hope that before that day comes..."
"—Leo Ash can first enter the Elysian Realm."
Hearing Kevin's unsurprising words, Su shook his head helplessly.
"I will pass this message on to Mr. Ash, but whether he will listen, or if he has the time, is another matter."
"Kevin, you may not know Mr. Ash well, but from what I know of him, even if he believes your words, he won't have time to go to the Elysian Realm recently."
"After all, in the coming days, Mr. Otto will inevitably launch his final counterattack."
"And when he does, Mr. Ash will definitely seize the opportunity to try and completely eliminate Mr. Otto, the greatest threat to the fight against the Honkai."
...