Cowardly Little Lin Yu (cont.)

To be honest, Otto has been working on the Sirin Project for so long, and the only successful test subject he has produced is K423.

Fu Hua didn't know whether Otto had secretly developed mass-produced Simulated Herrscher, but she could guarantee that Otto couldn't openly produce such a thing either.

Of course, Fu Hua was well aware that creating such a mature experimental subject would obviously require a huge amount of resources, but the problem was...

—If you can create such a powerful Simulated Herrscher just by throwing money at it, let alone Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, even the world's major powers would pour 100% of their money into this project if they had the connections.

First, there was Xiola and the Divine Key, then there was Kamiya Pharmaceuticals, which might be her backer, Simulated Herrscher that appeared at the St. Freya Academy.

The information that had been exposed to Fu Hua one after another was enough to make her extremely vigilant.

"So the appearance of such elite troops within St. Freya this time suggests they're not just here to cause destruction. If they're after something..."

At this moment, Fu Hua's expression turned even more grim after recalling the area where the man had appeared.

The secret prison where Himeko is located is currently in this area.

Damn it, Major Himeko is in danger.

Furthermore, if we consider the worst-case scenario...

At this moment, after using her glasses, Fu Hua was extremely surprised to find that her private communication channel with Otto had been temporarily disrupted.

The enemy is so well prepared this time, could it be...?

—Are they planning to take advantage of the Far East Branch's weakness, divide everyone up, and then defeat them one by one?!

Inside the secret prison, unable to contact the outside world, Himeko looked at the still unconscious Xiola with a dangerous gaze.

To be honest, from the moment she couldn't contact anyone else, Himeko knew that the worst-case scenario she had guessed had already occurred within the St. Freya Academy.

The Far East Branch is, after all, the strongest branch of Schicksal. The probability of a sudden, collective failure of electronic equipment in this area is practically zero.

Himeko, who is currently unable to contact her companions, certainly wouldn't pin her hopes on such a low-probability, uncertain event.

The enemy must have already attacked, so now, Himeko's only task is...

—We've been trying to find a solution to these problems.

At this moment, Himeko held the heavy sword Ooja in one hand and had her other hand on her sidearm.

The enemy must have made such a big commotion partly because of the two hostages captured by the Far East Branch.

Himeko guessed that the little girl named Ange Mar probably didn't know much information about her.

So this time, if she were the commander of the enemy forces, she would definitely focus her efforts on rescuing this woman named Xiola.

None of the users of the Divine Key are weak.

Himeko even analyzed afterwards that if the other party hadn't infiltrated Chiyou's body and been knocked unconscious by Chiyou absorbing his energy, this woman lurking in the shadows, wielding the Third Divine Key, could very well have become the Far East Branch's nightmare.

Knowing a great deal of information and possessing extremely high personal qualities, this is the value this woman is demonstrating at this moment.

This value is enough to make a large organization take risks for her.

Should we kill her before she's rescued?

Or should we use her as a hostage to negotiate with the other party?

Honestly, I can't bear to kill such a crucial source of intelligence.

Even if Bishop Otto sends people to Kamiya Pharmaceuticals, he probably won't be able to get much in-depth information.

However, this woman wields the Third Divine Key, so she must be a core member of the organization.

If we could get something out of her, then...

Himeko, who was still pondering, suddenly changed her expression.

Although her body and Artificial Stigmata were not well-suited due to her advanced age when she joined Schicksal, this does not mean that Himeko was a weakling.

On the contrary, the fact that she was able to rise to the ace position in the Far East Branch despite her inherent disadvantages is enough to demonstrate her strength.

At this moment, Himeko, relying solely on her Honkai Energy intensity sensing ability, keenly sensed that a powerful Honkai Energy was approaching.

The enemy has indeed arrived!

But... something's not right!

Himeko didn't have time to think. Before the powerful Honkai Energy reach her, she jumped to the right.

In the next instant, the outer wall of the prison was shattered right in front of Himeko by this terrifying Honkai Beast.

"Ashvara?!"

Seeing the Honkai Beast that shouldn't be there, Himeko nervously abandoned her useless sidearm and gripped her heavy sword tightly.

Damn it, wasn't this Emperor-class Honkai Beast already dead in the Second Honkai Eruption according to the database?

Moreover, something's not right.

The impact was so powerful that it tore apart not only the walls but even the iron cage.

Xiola, inside the cell, was sent flying against the wall by the shockwave and force of the attack.

Was the estimate wrong?

If they were coming to rescue people, they wouldn't have released these indiscriminate Honkai Beast.

They might not be here to rescue anyone. Judging from their disregard for Xiola's life, it's more likely they released the Honkai Beast to silence her!

After considering this step, Himeko immediately felt that the already immense pressure had been magnified several times over.

Now, let alone protecting her intelligence source's life, if anything goes wrong, she herself will die at the hands of this Honkai Beast.

Ashura, this is the Second Honkai Eruption Beast that Theresa encountered in the Emperor-class Honkai Beast.

If this Honkai Beast were to face Theresa, who wields the Divine Key, it would probably be smashed into a pulp and then killed by the enraged Theresa.

But Himeko isn't Theresa; no matter how strong she is, she's still just an A-rank character.

If this were inside the Hyperion, Himeko, who could connect to the Nexus System, could definitely kill this Emperor-class Honkai Beast with a single shot.

However, the problem is that, wielding a giant sword, it's already quite an achievement for her to simply survive from her opponent's attacks.

Tsk, thankfully I've always carried that thing with me and never used it, otherwise I probably would have really died here this time.

The fact that they made such a commotion just to silence her proves that this woman must possess extremely valuable intelligence.

Xiola cannot die, at least not before all the information she possesses is extracted from her.

There's no other way, let's launch a full-scale attack first, and then take a gamble.

At this moment, the Gray Serpent, which had transformed into Ashura with the help of the potion, sensed that something was wrong when it saw Himeko advancing towards it instead of retreating.

Wow, this woman, an A-Class, dares to rush up and go head-to-head with Emperor-class?

Wait a minute, isn't Murata Himeko one of the few intellectuals on Schicksal's side?

She's a fighter, but with her doctorate, she knows how to assess situations carefully.

Would someone like this, acting like a mindless brute, charge head-on into a battle against Emperor-class being?

Something's not right, it's a trap!

Seeing the Emperor-class Honkai Beast suddenly stop its advance, Himeko's eyes sharpened and she launched a charge.

Hey, that's interesting.

Not only does it possess the power of Honkai Beast, but it also seems to have a certain level of intelligence, as it actually stopped its attack on its own initiative.

It seems my previous judgment was wrong.

They still valued Xiola, and the Honkai Beast they sent weren't the kind of monsters that only knew how to kill mindlessly.

That makes things easier. I originally thought I would have to figure out how to save that woman's life while dealing with this Honkai Beast.

Now it seems that all we need to do is get rid of this guy, and all the problems will be solved!

At this point, although Gray Serpent did indeed gain the power to transform into Emperor-class Honkai Beast thanks to the Jackal's potion, the potion was not yet fully developed.

Before a suitable gene ratio is found, the Jackal's potion has negative characteristics such as [the inability to maintain the transformation for a long time after use] and [extreme instability at the genetic level].

It is precisely because this potion is not perfect that Gray Serpent is currently unable to control this body at will.

In addition, Ashura's size is not small, and he is not very agile. So when Himeko finished her back attack, Gray Serpent didn't even have time to complete his attack.

"Hmph, all you have is a big body, but you lack the ferocity of Honkai Beast, and your combat experience is also insufficient... well then..."

At this moment, Himeko, who had raised her heavy sword, jumped up and used the super heavy sword, King Serpent, to pierce the muscles of the Gray Serpent after its Honkai Beast.

This attack did indeed inflict damage on the Honkai Beast, but due to the weapon's quality and Himeko's own strength, her leaping slash was certainly not enough to kill Emperor-class Honkai Beast.

However, for Himeko, all she needs is a wound.

It was just a wound that would allow her to inject HSN Serum into the other person's body.

After obtaining the youth version of the HSN Serum from Theresa, Himeko actually had no intention of using it.

She knew very well that after using this serum that could force even Herrscher to 'calm down,' even if the serum's effects were weakened, she could very well revert to being an ordinary person unable to Honkai the Honkai.

Himeko certainly didn't want to die so soon, but ever since the Third Honkai Outbreak, she had had a bad feeling.

The subsequent Nine Nether Incident directly confirmed her premonition.

Although Himeko didn't actually use the Nexus System during the Nine Nether Incident, who can guarantee that her power won't be needed in the next great war?

While the Nexus cannon cannot kill Herrscher, it is currently the second strongest and most stable source of firepower for the Hyperion.

If Himeko chooses to inject the serum, then until a new Nexus System connector is found, the system is essentially rendered useless.

At least for now, Himeko feels that it's not time for her to rest.

And now, Himeko is truly grateful that she didn't use the serum and turn back into that powerless person.

That's why she's now able to do everything she can to continue protecting her students and colleagues.

As the HSN Serum was injected into the Gray Serpent's body, the Gray Serpent suddenly found that its already not very responsive body became even more unresponsive.

What, what is this thing?!

By the way, Lin Yu's intelligence mentioned that he used serum to suppress Herrscher —damn it, how could Murata Himeko have something like that!

However, although the correct deduction was made, it does not mean that the Gray Serpent has a way to stop the effects of the serum from spreading in his body.

The Jackal's potion was never completed, and Ashura was still a fusion-type Honkai Beast.

Under these conditions, even though it was injected with a weakened version of the HSN Serum, this one vial of serum still successfully caused Ashura to split directly into the Son of Dawn and the Son of Night.

Furthermore, after splitting into the Son of Dawn and the Son of Night, the Gray Serpent discovered that its body was experiencing premature genetic collapse due to the effects of HSN.

"Heh heh, I remember Theresa did say that Ashura is a product of fusion, and now that I see this..."

Himeko picked up the weapon that had fallen to the ground after Ashura split, and charged forward with her greatsword, slashing at Son of Dawn's lower limb, causing Gray Serpent to stagger on the spot.

"—You seem unsteady on your feet."

In fact, even the two split entities of Ashura, the Son of Dawn and the Son of Night, are defined as Emperor-class in Schicksal's database.

Normally, even if Himeko is strong, she wouldn't be strong enough to defeat an Emperor-class opponent head-on with a single blow, almost knocking them off their feet.

The problem is that Gray Serpent is already doing its best just to prevent its body from collapsing completely, so expecting it to unleash the full power of Emperor-class Honkai Beast is asking too much.

Now that things had come to this, Gray Serpent dared not think about anything else.

While Himeko and the Son of Dawn were locked in combat, Gray Serpent had the Son of Night break free of the iron cage, used its suction cups to suck the Raven into its body, and then chose to escape on the spot.

Admittedly, after using this potion, not only did he fail to defeat the enemy, but he was also nearly defeated by an A-rank Valkyrie, which was quite embarrassing.

But the problem is— Gray Serpent isn't a warrior with dignity; he's just an intelligence analyst for the World Serpent.

It's shameful to lose to the enemy, but if you still can't bring the Raven back after using the potion, the Jackal will probably laugh at you.

Of course, Gray Serpent wasn't afraid of the Jackal's mockery, but failing to bring Raven back, or failing to kill Raven here, resulting in the World Serpent's confidential information falling into the hands of Schicksal, would be an absolutely unacceptable loss for Gray Serpent.

So he was very embarrassed, but he decisively chose to run away from Himeko.

"I--"