After Durandal appeared in the bar, the scene became even quieter, but everyone except Durandal felt it...
—The very quiet bar's atmosphere had suddenly become even more heated!
Alright, Kiana, Mei, and Yuna didn't have any ulterior motives.
Although they were resentful that Leo Ash was 'planning to charge ahead again without any rest', the three of them hadn't forgotten their current mission.
They were here to take care of Otto; coming to the bar was purely for the act.
But the others here, who had been completely fooled by them, didn't know that.
Everyone held their breath, their gazes fixed on Leo Ash, the hottest guy in the bar, eagerly anticipating his next move.
[Here it comes, the moment everyone's been waiting for—]
*Cut it out, there are only a few dozen people in the bar... although a few dozen is more than enough.
In a little while, the commotion I've caused in the bar will be picked up by Otto's spies in Schicksal.
So now, it's about time this farce came to an end.*
[Hey, wait, everyone's waiting for you to give an explanation. If you just leave now, isn't that a bit...]
*An explanation for what?
Killing Otto is the best explanation I can give this world.*
At that moment, something completely unexpected appeared around Leo Ash.
In that instant, Durandal, sensing the rapidly rising aura from Leo Ash, suddenly felt a powerful energy that was not Honkai Energy gather in his right fist.
"Sorry, I have to go."
"One-Inch Punch: Heaven Splitter!"
After punching a large hole in the wall behind him, Leo Ash ignored the completely stunned crowd and jumped through the opening without a second thought.
"Wait!"
Seeing Leo Ash leave just like that, the five girls closest to him immediately gave chase.
"Wow, to think they could push Leo Ash to this point..."
"Even the strongest in Schicksal has things he doesn't want to face."
"Alright, alright, stop staring. The man's gone."
The bartender sighed helplessly at the crowd in the bar.
"Look at you all, you pushed Leo Ash too hard, and now the big show we wanted to see is gone."
"And this wall is smashed... funding application forms are a pain to write."
"Ha, I'll pay for it then."
Mike, who had been watching the show, wiped the smile off his face and said to the bartender.
"Compared to what he's doing, what's one wall?"
"And that guy, I've asked around about him before. Even though he's been promoted to S-rank, he directly refused the funding he could apply for, saying something like 'as long as I have enough'."
"He used to live like an ascetic, and now that he's like this..."
"For him to finally stop and rest for a few days is a great thing worth celebrating, isn't it?"
.
Meanwhile, in a Schicksal corridor.
In a Schicksal corridor, Leo Ash, having already contacted Su in his mind, ran all the way to the location Su had specified.
The five who followed him entered the area and immediately saw Leo Ash, his expression having returned to a calm state.
"So... what on earth is going on?"
Sensing the suddenly calmer atmosphere, even Durandal realized something was wrong.
"I'll explain later. As for now..."
"Mr. Su, are you not ready yet?"
"Ah, it's done."
At Leo Ash's call, Su's real body appeared in the area, along with five energy clones of Kiana, Durandal, Mei, and Yuna.
"This is...!"
Sensing that the energy body before her, which was almost identical to herself, was emitting a Honkai Energy intensity nearly identical to her own, Durandal's gaze towards Su immediately became wary.
Although the relationship between Durandal and Su had eased considerably during Leo Ash's absence, the problem was—creating such a realistic fake was not something Su should be doing in the eyes of the righteous young woman.
If she hadn't noticed the lack of surprise on Leo Ash's face, she would definitely be acting much more cautiously right now.
"Hmm, as a means of deceiving everyone, this can be considered perfect."
Despite having known Leo Ash for over two years, at this moment, Durandal clearly felt a level of understanding between Leo Ash and Su that was completely absent between her and him.
The two didn't exchange many words, but just by watching each other's actions, they seemed to understand each other's intentions through gazes alone, without needing verbal communication.
But right now, Durandal could also sense the serious atmosphere between the two. Otherwise, with her personality, she would have definitely pressed the matter.
"Ara, is there no clone of me?"
Looking at the four lifelike young women, Rita said with a hint of regret.
"It seems that after finding his lovers, my dear Leo no longer needs his big sister."
"Sis, stop joking."
Looking at the fake-crying Rita, Leo Ash said helplessly.
"You know exactly what I'm thinking."
"It might sound a bit harsh, but your ability to adapt to situations is much stronger than the four of them."
"Right now, to confuse Otto's spies here at Schicksal HQ, we need an insider to stay behind and cover for us."
"You're the most suitable person, which is why I had Su not create a clone of you."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Seeing her brother speak to her with a completely serious face, Rita immediately wiped away her tears, walked over to Leo Ash with a smile, and looked at him.
"You... you're really not leaving me here because you think I'm too weak?"
"Of course not."
Looking at the smiling Rita, Leo Ash said very seriously.
"In my eyes, Sis Rita is the best."
"Mm, hearing you say that puts my mind at ease."
*He can lie to my face without batting an eye. An Leo like this can indeed put my mind at ease a little.*
"Um, I have a question."
Durandal suddenly pointed at the ceiling above them, her expression awkward.
"Do you all remember that our Schicksal HQ is filled with surveillance systems?"
"If Otto sees this..."
"Heh, he won't see it."
In response to Durandal's question, Leo Ash said with a cold smile.
"While I was in the bar earlier, Bronya already took care of the cameras here."
"And deeper in the corridor, the energy clones created by Mr. Su are currently acting out the boring drama of 'Leo Ash being cornered'."
"If he hadn't needed to create double the number of clones, he wouldn't have needed so much time to get here."
*Wow, Leo Ash is really well-prepared.
So what was he planning to do earlier... why didn't he tell me!*
"Alright, we'll talk about the rest later in another place. So..."
Looking at the smiling Rita, Leo Ash waved to her.
"Sister, only Bronya at HQ knows about this plan."
"I'll leave the rest to you and Bronya. Feel free to contact her using the communicator; Bronya has already secured our communication channels."
"Okay, Leo, you can go without worry."
After seeing Leo Ash and the others leave using the Quantum Teleportation System, Rita's expression gradually turned grim.
She could tell that Leo Ash had made many preparations in advance for today's plan.
But in this world, aside from her parents, the people Rita cared about most were Leo Ash and Bianka, with whom she had a deep connection.
Even knowing that Leo Ash and Bianka were strong.
Even knowing that Leo Ash had laid out a meticulous plan for this operation.
But as their family, knowing they were about to face the utterly immoral and unscrupulous Otto, who was full of wicked schemes, how could Rita possibly be completely without worry?
However, no matter how worried she was about their safety, she couldn't make any unnecessary moves now.
As long as she could keep the 'farce' going here at Schicksal, she could, to some extent, confuse Otto, who was watching from some unknown location.
Every extra second the enemy was deceived increased their side's chances of victory by a fraction.
*And today, I happened to receive a message from a colleague in Kolosten.
My 'parents' have gone missing, which is clearly Otto's handiwork.
He's even trying to threaten someone like me, who isn't even a top-tier combatant, with hostages. It seems that now...*
*—Lord Bishop Otto, you've been forced into a corner and are sweating bullets, aren't you?*
....
At almost the same time, in a certain Schicksal base.
In his office, Otto watched the image on the light screen and let out a deep breath.
In the image, Leo Ash, cornered by the young women, had an incredibly awkward expression and was completely at a loss for words.
As for this romantic comedy unfolding before him, Mr. Otto's thoughts were, of course...
—Great, Leo Ash is still resting.
*It's good that he's resting. If he applies the same attitude he has towards the Honkai to me and starts thinking about charging ahead, my plan will be forced into premature activation.
The more he rests, the more perfect my plan can become. The more perfect my plan becomes, the greater the probability of realizing my long-cherished wish.
So—go for it, girls!*
Of course, after confirming that Leo Ash had not taken any action, Otto didn't spend any more time on these images.
In the past month, Otto, who hadn't dared to return to Schicksal HQ due to Fu Hua's iron fist judgment, was noticeably less efficient at his work than before.
Of course, Otto's so-called work certainly didn't refer to handling Schicksal's miscellaneous affairs.
Even during his five hundred years of service at Schicksal, the amount of miscellaneous work Otto handled was definitely far less than anyone imagined.
He was not a man who craved power by nature. In order to devote more time to the great cause of 'reviving Kallen', the lazy Otto, after turning Schicksal into a semi-automated organization, let his subordinates handle all the unimportant matters themselves.
For Otto, the only thing he wanted to do and had to do was always related to 'reviving Kallen'.
But now, having lost the help of his subordinates, Otto was so humbled that he even had to mix the potion ratios himself.
The members of this base were undoubtedly loyal to Otto, but Otto couldn't possibly station all his powerful personnel at this secret base he usually kept hidden.
*Sigh, what a hassle.
God told me there are several targets I must pull into the theater...
Tch, in this situation, even with a few more high-level combatants, it's useless if they can't defeat Leo Ash.*
Thinking of his subsequent plans, a flicker of struggle appeared on even Otto's face.
But this flicker of struggle was quickly masked by Otto's ruthless expression.
From the past to the present, Otto had always hoped that after his plan was completed, he could leave a complete Schicksal for his beloved granddaughter Theresa to fight against the Honkai.
But now, cornered, Otto could no longer afford to be as lenient as he had been in the past.
Ultimately, he chose to release Kevin from the Sea of Quanta purely to make the situation more chaotic.
However, after Kevin's release, Leo Ash unleashed a power beyond everyone's imagination and directly suppressed Kevin, preventing the situation from descending into the chaos Otto had hoped for.
So, at this point, Otto could only take matters into his own hands and set ablaze the world that had only just begun to smolder.
*Besides, Kallen shouldn't have died the way she did. It wasn't my fault alone; it was the fault of ALL [humanity].
In the end, the situation is still so stable mainly because the organization of Schicksal hasn't had any major problems.
But, if the current situation prevents me from completing my plan, then...*
*—It's time for Schicksal and this world to pay the price they should have paid for the mistake of ALL [humanity]!*
..