Events always unfold on parallel tracks. While Fuli was cosplaying as a fire-stealing hero and slaying Aschour in three strikes, the battle in Richmond Park had already reached a fever pitch.
Originally, it would have been quite difficult for the two of them to defeat Heinrich. Argenti had first taken a triple Ghost Load head-on to earn trust, and then tanked a peerless blow from Aschour.
Boothill, on the other hand, had been severely injured from the very beginning, his condition not even a fifth of what it was at his peak.
But they had a good teammate.
The Acalanatha's Fire Realm Mantra ignited by Fuli before he left had already eliminated most of Heinrich's ghoul clones, which gave Argenti a new idea for how to fight the enemy.
"Emblem of the Pure!"
A hymn-like tone echoed across the war-torn battlefield. Argenti raised his crimson spear, and four swords of different shapes appeared out of thin air beside him.
One no longer shone, one was shrouded in twilight;
One was wreathed in heavenly lightning, one shimmered like a lake.
This was a hereditary skill of the British royal family called "Demonic Sword Creation," which consumed Honkai energy to create legendary demonic swords from English folklore. The strength and number of the demonic swords varied according to one's own strength and the energy consumed.
In his current state, the strength of the demonic swords Argenti could create was only comparable to the Mikazuki Munechika.
But since they possessed most of the characteristics of their prototypes, even if the weapons were only C-rank, they were enough to inflict fatal damage on Heinrich.
The only problem was—
"Brother Boothill, you must have noticed Sir Heinrich's peculiarity," Argenti said in a low voice, controlling the demonic swords.
"Still calling him 'Sir' so politely at a time like this? You must have motor oil in your head!" Boothill sneered, his Shattering Stone Whip Kick turning a nearby ghoul into 2.5 pieces. "That little cutie has only been sending out clones so far. His real body is still hiding in some corner!"
It was less like clones and more like "hypnosis."
Heinrich had been brainwashing the converted ghouls through hypnosis, and then using illusionary techniques to change their appearance and form, making them look identical to himself.
And Heinrich himself had been hiding behind the scenes, controlling the situation and minimizing the danger of the battle.
Yes, this was also recorded in Dragon Raja III.
It was the same method Herzog had used to control Wang Jiang and play the Oni Gang and the Yakuza like puppets.
The reason Boothill was able to figure this out was thanks to his specialty—the Dust Devil Dancer Sunset Show.
No matter who the opponent was, this skill could forcibly create a "weakness" on the enemy.
As long as Boothill's attack hit that "weakness," he could trigger the corresponding "weakness break," dealing massive damage.
It was precisely with this move that he, though severely injured, had managed to harm the extremely defensive Argenti, who had completed the Dragon Slaying Ritual, with just a triple Ghost Load of eighteen shots.
The amount of Honkai energy required to create weaknesses on different targets was different.
By measuring the consumption for "applying weaknesses" to each clone, Boothill deduced that Heinrich's real body was not here.
"Brother Boothill, I will now find a way to force out Sir Heinrich's real body." Argenti pushed back a Titan created by the Herrscher of Reason's authority with his spear and lowered his voice. "When the time comes, can I entrust the task of taking him down to you?"
He was sure that Heinrich's real body was nearby.
The clone that was insta-killed by Fuli at the beginning had been holding the pseudo-Star of Eden.
Even the real Sovereign of Anti-Entropy couldn't let a pseudo-Divine Key get too far from him, let alone just a copy.
Boothill, who had also thought of this, grinned, revealing his wild and handsome shark-like teeth. "You go ahead! If I fail to finish the job, you can punish me with three cups in the underworld!"
"That's a reassuring promise." Argenti chuckled lightly and raised his long spear to the sky. "Then, let's go!"
As his voice fell, among the four long swords floating beside him, the spiral sword with a strange drill-like shape, containing divine thunder, shot up into the sky, and then plunged back to the earth with boundless power.
Caladbolg, the rainbow demonic sword wielded by the Irish hero Fergus mac Róich in Celtic mythology.
Legend has it that this sword was forged by the elves of the land of the gods and was imbued with the powerful force of the thunder god. It was known for its high power and wide range, capable of destroying even the terrain itself!
BOOM!!!
The moment it pierced the earth, the drill-like threads on the demonic sword began to spin crazily.
It was as if Izanagi and Izanami from the Eastern creation myth were stirring the earth with their jeweled spear. Rubble and rocks turned into a storm that spread outwards, clearing a space the size of several football fields and wiping out many of the ghoul clones hiding in the dark.
But that was all secondary.
"As I thought!" Deep underground, where the earth had been stirred up, Argenti caught a glimpse of a dark light.
An Anti-Entropy-produced Skyshatter Titan mecha was parked there. Noticing his gaze, it was about to escape into the soil on the other side in the blink of an eye.
That was undoubtedly where Heinrich's real body was. As for the origin of this powerful Titan, it might have been manifested by him with his authority, or it might have been smuggled.
"Don't even think about running!" Argenti roared, and the second long sword burst forth with a brilliant purple and red lightning.
The dazzling royal sword, once kept in King Arthur's armory, was the holy sword that symbolized the succession to the throne.
After being usurped by the traitor Mordred, the royal sword's radiance was no more, and its shape was hideously twisted.
However, no matter what, thunder was still thunder, and it was demonic thunder released by a mythological weapon.
"Clarent Blood Arthur!"
A winding, twisted red lightning bolt crossed hundreds of meters and struck the fleeing Skyshatter Titan. The EMP-resistant coating was instantly burned away and pierced.
The "crunching" sound was so small and insignificant amidst the thunder, but it meant that the Skyshatter Titan's electronic components had been completely shut down by this one blow!
"Come! Sword of black light! Come! Unregretting lake light!"
As King Arthur's companion sword for half his life, the name of the sword that broke steel, Excalibur, was known throughout Europe.
In its inverted state, a dark torrent that devoured everything rushed and bombarded the immobile mecha, causing its structure to completely disintegrate.
The demonic lake sword that had slain its compatriot came whistling from another direction. Its indestructible sharpness forced Heinrich to consume almost all his remaining Honkai energy in one go to activate the first rated output of the pseudo-Star of Eden.
CRACK!
With a single sound, the gravity wave targeting a single entity crushed the menacing demonic lake sword to dust.
"Haha!" Just then, a wild laugh reached the ears of the man who had lost all means of defense.
Lone Star of the Dust Storm, greatly enhancing one's visual reconnaissance ability.
Smile of Three Times Nine, enhancing sniping and aiming abilities, and greatly increasing the attack range of a single ranged attack.
"It's time to end this, little cutie!"
The tall, silver-haired ranger stood amidst the flames generated by the Fire Realm Mantra. His remaining electronic eye glowed with a dark red halo, and the cigar in his mouth made him look like an Asura.
The man held a wanted poster between his index and middle fingers. On it was printed Boothill's own face.
"You said before that my head is worth thirty Titan-class large mechas on the black market, and that you needed those munitions to achieve the great revival of your motherland?"
The weakness mark created by the Dust Devil Dancer Sunset Show was on the back of Heinrich's fluttering coat. There, the 'X' symbol of the Third Reich was flowing silently!
Fear finally appeared on Heinrich's face.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, bang bang bang bang bang bang!
"And now! The thirty Titans you ordered—will personally bury your shitty ambition of reviving your shithole empire!"
The six bullets from the muzzle crossed a hundred meters, and along with the merciless words, pierced through the fate of Heinrich Baden von Trier, which should have ended in 1945.
The battles between A-ranks would wantonly rewrite the landscape, creating in a short time a terrain of the strong that would never appear under normal circumstances.
The battle-scarred battlefield once again proved the Honkai side's combat power assessment of A-rank individuals. Fortunately, this super-large park covered an area of 955 hectares. Even excluding the parts destroyed during the previous Rita vs. Aschour battle, two-thirds of the area was still relatively intact.
A few small deer that had been hiding far enough away looked timidly at the men sitting or lying on the ground. The temperament of the silver-armored knight made them want to get closer, but the scene of the earth turning over like a dragon made the little ones hesitate.
A hand from behind patted the cute little head of the leading deer.
"What a tragic battle." Mobius still looked like the innocent university student from before, but she was wearing a white lab coat over her clothes.
But just her appearance here was enough to arouse Boothill's vigilance. As a newly promoted Executive who had broken Anti-Entropy's tradition, Mobius's naturally beautiful face was recorded in the database he used to store memories.
Argenti's attitude was more relaxed. "Doctor, it's been a while."
He propped himself up on his knees and stood up, then extended a hand to Boothill, who was lying on the ground. "Please rest assured, Dr. Mobius is a good friend of my sister."
"A friend of a friend is not necessarily a friend," the ranger muttered, taking his outstretched hand to help himself up.
He stumbled as soon as he stood up, and it was Argenti who was quick to support the equally tall man.
"The bonds between men," Mobius, with her hands in her pockets, tsk-tsked, feeling like she had witnessed the rise of another CP.
Her fujoshi-gaze-sees-BL-everywhere was quickly retracted under Boothill's glare, and she got straight to the point without much hesitation. "You killed Heinrich?"
"Yes," Argenti nodded. "With the bravery and fearlessness of Brother Fuli and Brother Boothill, and a little insignificant help from myself."
"Then this is troublesome..."
"Troublesome?" A voice that did not belong to anyone present echoed in the park. It was the returning Fuli and Rita, who still refused to let go.
"Wow!" Mobius watched this scene, wondering if she should swap hair colors with Raiden Mei.
And this guy is amazing! He went out for a walk and conquered an S-rank Valkyrie.
Plus, there were already rumors about Theresa and Durandal. Does this guy have some kind of special ability that works on Valkyries?
Hehe, I really want to capture him and study him in the lab.
Fuli felt uncomfortable being stared at by her. Coupled with the annoyance of not being able to get rid of Rita, he couldn't help but cough heavily. "Let's get back to business! What's the trouble?"
"Actually, it's not a big—okay, it's a very big problem." The serpent-like woman shrugged. "Do you remember the cargo ship that brought you and Raiden Mei to England? Not long after you left, it was hijacked by the Nazi remnants. Not only did they steal the Herrscher of Reason copy, but they also turned all the crew members into ghouls."
"After that, Heinrich and the others left, and the ghouls, following orders, disguised themselves as humans and infiltrated London, constantly spreading the dangerous virus that turns humans into their kind."
"Because it was indirect transmission, the effects of the virus were weaker, and since it hasn't been long, it's currently just lying dormant in people's bodies without breaking out... but once Heinrich, the origin, dies, the ghoul virus, without its restraints, will quickly infect the hosts, turning them into irrational beasts."
This was also what the dying Heinrich had wanted to say. Like Elizabeth, he wanted to use the lives of ordinary people to trade for their mercy.
"You bring such bad news as soon as you arrive!" Fuli was really annoyed.
In the end, if it wasn't for this woman Mobius's poor management, the Herrscher of Reason copy wouldn't have been stolen.
What was supposed to be a nice hookup... ahem, a date in the City of Fog had turned into a battle royale. Although he had gotten a lot of good stuff, including the lance fragment and the Stigma of Rock, he was still angry no matter how he thought about it!
He wondered what unlucky bastard would marry such a woman in the future. It would be a home full of unrest!
"It's not like I did nothing," Mobius said aggrievedly. "After learning about the situation, I immediately went to find Raiden Ryoma, got the virus data that ME Corp had, prepared the antidote, and then rushed over to help."
Ryoma's new ME Corp was fighting fiercely with Hellforce in South America, so of course he knew about this.
However, to be able to prepare an antidote in such a short time with just some paper data, an antidote that ME Corp had invested a lot of resources and talent in without much progress, Mobius was truly worthy of the name of a genius.
If they hadn't killed him so quickly, she could have prevented this catastrophe.
The problem was that Mobius couldn't say, "Why did you have to kill him so fast?"
Anyone who could say that would have a moral threshold that was too low. Even she, whose face was as thick as Kevlar fiber, was too embarrassed.
So what to do?
A heavy question lay before everyone present. Fuli's heart, which had been relieved that his weapon hadn't broken for once, also became heavy.
This was not just the three thousand or so people from Elizabeth's case. As the capital of the United Kingdom, London had a permanent population of more than ten million.
Trash talk on the internet was one thing, but to really let so many people die, to let such a city turn into an apocalyptic hell, anyone with even a shred of conscience couldn't remain indifferent.
...