The next day. A World Serpent Sub-base
In a World Serpent sub-base that hadn't been obliterated by Otto, the administrator, Gray Serpent, watched the two people on the battlefield and felt...
—This whole thing was just too intense.
More than three months had passed since Kevin was freed. In that time, Administrator Gray Serpent and his 'brothers' had long since accepted reality.
Back when World Serpent was being suppressed by Schicksal because of Leo, they had staked all their high-end combat power to rescue their Lord Kevin from the Sea of Quanta, hoping to rely on his supreme power to suppress Schicksal and allow the Stigmata Project to proceed.
But then...
Lord Kevin was indeed rescued by their efforts.
The problem was, not long after returning to this world, Kevin ran into trouble.
Leo, who had been far weaker than Kevin, had actually obtained the Herrscher of Binding's Core that day.
Even Kevin at his peak, possessing the Power of Chimera, would probably suffocate against the Herrscher of Binding.
And unfortunately, this Herrscher of Binding, Leo, was even more troublesome than the one from their era.
Back then, after fighting Leo, Kevin had returned to World Serpent HQ heavily injured.
Although Leo also disappeared for a while afterward, Gray Serpent's joy was short-lived, as Leo soon returned to Schicksal and resumed his activities.
You could say that, in the Gray Serpents' eyes, the Stigmata Project's slow progress was all Leo's goddamn fault.
As for Gray Serpent's earlier speculation that 'Leo was a card in Otto's hand', that had now naturally been debunked.
Leo had sent Otto himself to hell. After that, Gray Serpent understood just how ridiculous his speculation had been.
Instead, another, more absurd speculation he'd made at the time had turned out to be the truth.
Leo was a calamitous star fallen from heaven. In the six months from Nagazora City until now, he had truly transformed from a common agent who couldn't even get official status into a powerhouse qualified to face Lord Kevin.
The comment Gray Serpent made back then—'Lord Kevin has the makings of Leo Ash'—actually seemed to fit reality quite well now.
It took Kevin at least a few years to go from a high school student to facing Finality. And Leo...
Just thinking about it, Gray Serpent felt that humanity had run into eight lifetimes of bad luck to encounter such a calamitous star.
Yes, even today, Gray Serpent still didn't believe Leo could actually 'save the world'.
No matter how strong he was as the Herrscher of Binding, he couldn't be stronger than the Moonlight Throne + MANTIS squad configuration from 50,000 years ago.
Back then, in the Previous Era's final desperate battle, the combined attack of Lord Kevin's strongest blow and the Moonlight Throne's over-limit shot only managed to deplete 30% of the Herrscher of Finality's Honkai Energy.
Even if this era's Anti-Entropy had repaired the Moonlight Throne and started the mass-production plan that failed decades ago, humanity was out of time.
Leo gave others false hope, but ultimately lacked the ability to lead humanity to victory...
In Gray Serpent's eyes, the current Leo was clearly a more dangerous tumor to humanity than Otto, who had harmed Schicksal's heroes and allowed Honkai to run rampant.
But now, he could feel that his Lord Kevin had actually developed a sense of mutual admiration with Leo.
It understood. The Lord, who loved humanity, saw another warrior fighting for humanity and felt gratified.
But it was already this late, and the Lord was still bewitched by Leo...
He hasn't even provided a plan!
The Lord in the Elysian Realm, Su, Miss Elysia, and my true master—stop watching the show and hurry up and stop this fight! It does us no good!
But for now, even though Gray Serpent was burning with anxiety, it helplessly chose to remain silent.
After all, with all Thirteen Flame-Chasers from the Elysian Realm present as spectators, today's duel was absolutely unstoppable.
"Hey, I'm talkin' here."
Looking at Leo and Kevin staring each other down on the battlefield, Kalpas, who had already wrecked three Soulium Bodies since yesterday, spoke up, clearly annoyed.
"Aren't you two gonna fight? What's the meaning of just standing there!!!"
"Kalpas."
Elysian Realm Kevin, standing next to him, said.
"Be quiet. Their battle has already begun."
"Tch. A clash of-auras, right?"
Kalpas, knowing what Elysian Realm Kevin meant, said with even more dissatisfaction.
"No matter how intense a clash of auras is, it's not as direct as stabbing the enemy with a sword."
"Fighting means drawing blood—what's the point of this sissy-ass probing at a time like this?"
Kalpas's words were crude, but right now, no one thought he was wrong.
The real Kevin and Leo now represented their respective eras.
After learning that Leo claimed to have a way to defeat the Herrscher of Finality, even Griseo and Pardofelis were eager to see what he would do to make Kevin submit.
Pardofelis glanced at Aponia beside her and whispered.
"Nia-nee, what do you think? Who's gonna win this one, Boss Kevin or that Leo fella?"
Faced with Pardofelis's question, Aponia recalled the vision from yesterday and paused.
Leo's figure was indeed in that vision, but just because he was present didn't mean he would be the 'winner'.
If Leo won, and truly defeated the Cocoon of Finality by special means as he claimed, avoiding the future where humanity forced a victory with the Stigmata Project, that would naturally be a good thing.
But if Leo failed, Aponia felt that Kevin would absolutely not kill him.
At that time, the Stigmata Project would continue and be completed. As a Stigma Awakener, Leo would naturally be able to live on.
"I... do not know."
"Eh, is that so."
Although she knew this was the likely answer, Pardofelis still felt a bit disappointed.
Sigh. After coming out of the Elysian Realm and seeing that this civilization is still 'living so healthily', with so much good food and fun stuff, I really hope this era doesn't need to use the Stigmata Project.
But now... sigh, it's not like I get to decide.
I'm not supposed to betray Boss Kevin, but thinking about it, Boss Kevin will definitely fight with all his strength, but he...
—Maybe he doesn't want to win, either.
So, go for it, Leo fella! I've already heard we might even be able to swap these Soulium Bodies for real ones later.
For everyone's bright future, you gotta show Boss Kevin enough hope!
Meanwhile, Mobius watched the energy fluctuations slowly appearing around Leo, feeling her research drive being thoroughly stimulated.
Mobius was a researcher specializing in biology, but that didn't mean she had no interest in other scientific fields.
Right now, flowing around Leo were high-intensity special energies—mana, Dimensional Energy—that were clearly not Honkai Energy.
Noticing these secrets, Mobius felt her occupational hazard surfacing.
Or rather...
—If she weren't certain that even *without* the Herrscher of Binding's Core, Leo could still thrash her, her 'illness' would have already flared up.
Sigh, I really want to research this man's body.
But asking directly is definitely not an option.
If Kevin manages to beat him... no, that won't work either.
Kevin would never let me touch him.
This is such a pity.
If he didn't know what kind of person I am, maybe I could pretend to be young and cozy up to him.
But now...
After shooting a cold glance at the two Sus beside her, Mobius gave up on those ideas.
Su must have told him all about us, which is why he understood our personalities and combat styles from our very first meeting.
"On second thought, Mr. Kalpas has a point."
Facing Kevin, who had not yet transformed into his Honkai Beast form, Leo suddenly retracted his aura and spoke.
"At a time like this, all this sissy probing back and forth is meaningless."
"None of us have much time left. If I lose this fight, I will assist you with the Stigmata Project. However..."
In that instant, Leo vanished from Kevin's sight.
Leo, already behind Kevin, had drawn the Seven Thunders of Retribution and was slashing at his back.
"As I am now, I see no possibility of my defeat."
"It's about time you understood something, Kevin."
"To the me of today—*you* are the challenger."
"Is that so."
"Then—let me see this power of yours."
Yes, Kalpas's words were not wrong.
Even though Leo and I both know we aren't enemies who must fight to the death... I, who am still unwilling to abandon the Stigmata Project, and he, who does not want it, can only communicate through our blades.
The probing is over. His determination truly exceeds my imagination.
So, just as you said, there's no need to drag this out.
Kevin, gripping the greatsword Might of An-Utu, did the opposite of Leo. He didn't retract his aura; instead, he let it climb endlessly.
"This is...!"
Seeing the energy fluctuations around Kevin become so strong they were visible to the naked eye, Hua, who had witnessed this power before, understood his intentions.
As the energy intensity continued to rise, Kevin's appearance began to change.
His Fire Moth combat suit was instantly annihilated by the Honkai Energy.
At the same time, the Honkai Beast carapace that usually appeared when he activated Parvati's power was absent from his face.
A black, alien substance wove itself around Kevin's body, replacing his clothes. The jet-black wings sprouting from his back and the two Honkai Beast horns on his head made his already abnormal form even more unsettling.
"Chimera...!"
Although Su knew his best friend was not a mild-mannered person, he never expected Kevin to use this forbidden power right from the start.
If Leo still held his trump card, the [Herrscher of Binding's Core], then even with Kevin transformed into his [Diabolic] form, Su would still think Leo had the better chance of winning.
However, Leo, having weakened himself before the fight, was now undoubtedly unable to use the power of Binding.
Even knowing Leo wasn't a fool digging his own grave, Su still felt—this time, Leo had 100% overplayed his hand.
After the tragedy of the Herrscher of BInding 50,000 years ago, Kevin underwent the Chimera project. After becoming [Humanity's Chimera], his strength became even greater than before.
And after speaking with Kevin recently, Su, combining that with the research data left by their comrades, had made a general judgment.
If Kevin could open the 'backdoor' and shoulder, little by little, the Power of Finality they had stolen, then in time, his power might even surpass the Herrscher of Finality they faced 50,000 years ago.
And although the current Kevin hadn't opened the backdoor, Leo...
—The current Leo is just a Stigma Awakener holding a Divine Key! How the hell is he supposed to go head-to-head with Diabolic Kevin!?
In reality, ever since Kevin activated the Power of Chimera, things had indeed raced in the direction the real Su had predicted.
Although Kevin became [Chimera] after the Binding tragedy, he was still most accustomed to using Parvati's power.
So, after activating his strongest power, he immediately condensed countless ice walls, blocking Leo's path.
These ice walls were incredibly strong, but before Leo, who wielded the Key of Judgment, he could easily slice through them even without using the Key's full power.
But in that same instant, as Leo cut through the ice wall with his tachi, a terrifying frost began to form on his body.
When used by Diabolic Kevin, Parvati's power was naturally enhanced.
And this enhanced power of ice and snow instantly froze Leo from his right hand all the way to his right shoulder.
Without giving Leo time to react, countless ice lances materialized from the air and shot toward him.
In the next instant...
—The 'Leo' who couldn't escape the battlefield in time was impaled by the mass of ice lances Kevin had created.
.....