The Final Meal (cont.)

Moreover, that illusion was one in which 'Lin Yu had already defeated the powerful enemy.' In other words, the training that the Fire Moth soldiers in the real world received was definitely more rigorous than that of the Fire Moth soldiers in the illusion.

Now, seeing this incredibly relaxing illusion of the St. Freya Academy, Rin really wonders if she's still not awake.

Aside from having more practical lessons, these women are basically just ordinary students!

Have humans in this era become so relaxed?

Oh, no, they have Lin Yu.

That's alright then.

The thought of the man who had given her the opportunity to move freely filled Ling with mixed feelings.

To be honest, even now, she is still wary of the man who once sealed away all her power and took away her core.

But now, after releasing her, the other party really hasn't paid any attention to her anymore.

Admittedly, the current Bell has no physical form, cannot contact others, and cannot use her powers; in a sense, she is actually a 'ghost'.

Even so, she felt that she was living a much easier life than before.

In the past, she was sealed in Black Box by that hateful woman, and her subsequent plans were thwarted by that white-haired girl and that idiot Yae Sakura.

If she hadn't gradually eroded Yae Sakura's body and mind over the years, she wouldn't even have had the chance to take over Yae Sakura's body and take action now, five hundred years later.

But now...

"... I'm actually starting to feel soft-hearted?"

"How ridiculous!"

After forcibly shaking off the bizarre thoughts that had popped into her mind, Ling was shocked to find herself floating in a luxuriously decorated office.

Then, after passing through the wall and seeing a figure inside, Rin felt her blood pressure, which didn't exist, suddenly spike.

This, this white-haired dwarf...!

Looking at Theresa, who was discussing something with Himeko, Rin suddenly recalled the white-haired fool from five hundred years ago.

Five hundred years ago, Suzumoto had the opportunity to possess the body of a high-ranking member of Schicksal, thus gaining the chance to take revenge on humanity.

Then she was forcibly sealed away by that white-haired woman named Kallen.

As a result, in order to prevent the higher-ups of Schicksal from being further misled by her, the other party took her to the Far East, giving her the opportunity to corrupt Yae Sakura.

Then, she was sealed away by Kallen once again.

Now, looking at Theresa and the Oath of Judah Theresa placed next to her, Ling felt like she was about to have a PTSD attack.

Even though this little girl and that woman named Kallen are definitely not the same person, Rin can still sense a similar aura about her to Kallen.

Damn it, so this was the reason why that man let me move around freely?

Last night I saw that little white-haired, blue-eyed girl but didn't think much of it, but now that I think about it more carefully...

—Why are there two Kaslana look like they're really good at fighting hidden here!

Meanwhile, Theresa's office

"Hmm, leave application... that's no problem."

After glancing at Himeko's application, Theresa didn't bother to read any further. She simply stamped the application and returned it to Himeko.

"Lin Yu actually agreed to the leave request... Sigh, that's really not easy."

"Yeah, I thought he would go to Fu Hua to practice every day."

After putting away the application, Himeko said with a slight sense of relief.

"It seems he was, after all, just a human being, a human being..."

"—You'll still get tired eventually."

"However, I've made it clear to Kiana that she has to deliver results that satisfy you to attend this party—don't let that slip to me later."

"Yes, even if you hadn't said it, I would have made the same request of her."

After saying that, Theresa jumped back into her swivel chair and suddenly looked at the west wall.

"Strange, Himeko, do you sense something in this direction?"

"Huh? You must be mistaken."

After glancing in the direction Theresa pointed, Himeko looked at the wall in that direction with a slightly puzzled expression, then suddenly turned to Theresa and smiled.

"Oh, I see, Theresa..."

"I did see something, and it was undoubtedly a ghost!"

???

Hearing Himeko's words, Rin, who had just passed through the wall, was completely stunned.

This white-haired brat and this red-haired woman can both see me?

No, something's not right. In my current state, none of the other students in this academy are reacting to me!

"... Don't give me that!"

Seeing Himeko already grinning mischievously, Theresa said to Himeko in an annoyed tone.

"I'm not afraid of ghosts anymore!"

Why are you shouting so loudly? Are you feeling guilty?

"That's not true at all!"

After watching the two of them start arguing on their own, Ling finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Haha, thank goodness, I was just overthinking it.

However, this place is not safe to stay for long; that white-haired guy may have really sensed me just now.

This place is full of hidden talents, but I actually underestimated it because some soldiers were too lazy.

That was really wrong.

If I hadn't underestimated those people five hundred years ago, I wouldn't have been sealed away twice by the Kaslana clan.

Lin Yu... Could it be that the reason he let me act freely is to let me know that there are many experts in this place, and that even if I try to cause trouble, I won't succeed?

After sensing that a certain peculiar sensation had vanished from her surroundings, Theresa immediately adopted a serious expression.

"Okay, I'm not kidding anymore."

"To be honest, Himeko, I've been feeling uneasy lately..."

"... That's really scary."

Seeing Theresa's uneasy expression, Himeko picked up the tactical terminal that was on the coffee table.

"Let me guess, you've been so busy lately, you probably haven't been looking at the classified information that only we high-level people can see, right?"

"... Okay, I didn't look at it."

As expected, Theresa, being a member of the Kaslana clan, possessed an astonishingly high level of intuition in this regard.

Seeing Theresa frantically checking the information, Himeko didn't continue speaking, but waited for Theresa to finish reading the information before asking her questions.

After quickly reviewing the information, Theresa looked at Himeko with a hint of nervousness.

"Is all this intelligence accurate?"

"Of course. On the eve of the Fourth Honkai Outbreak, there were some small and medium-sized Honkai events that occurred very frequently around the world."

"These events temporarily stopped after Lin Yu resolved the Fourth Honkai Outbreak, but recently—although the frequency has decreased, it is clearly a sign that the Fifth Honkai Outbreak is about to break out."

This—this isn't right!

Theresa, who had intended to say that, suddenly shut her mouth and swallowed her words.

She wanted to say that the Fifth Honkai Outbreak couldn't possibly be showing signs so quickly.

But considering that there were only about fifty days between the third and fourth times, Theresa finally chose to keep quiet.

"Alright, it's been eleven days since the Fourth Honkai Outbreak, and I understand your desire to deny this possibility."

Looking at the silent Theresa, Himeko said helplessly.

"But—accept reality, Theresa, this speculation from headquarters might be true."

"The reason why Bishop Otto told Lin Yu to rest well was not only because he was prone to accidents when he was out on the front lines, but also because he wanted Lin Yu to conserve his energy and prepare to deal with the Sixth Honkai Eruption event."

"As for World Serpent, under the investigation of the intelligence department led by Ghost, their report stated that it would take some time to decipher these encrypted intelligence messages."

"In other words, it's already impossible for us to completely eradicate the main force of World Serpent before the Fifth Honkai Outbreak."

"Even if you have friends on the Anti-Entropy conservative side, they might remain inactive. We could still be caught in a pincer attack by the World Serpent and the Honkai during the Fifth Honkai Outbreak."

To be honest, Theresa wouldn't be worried if it were a one-on-one fight against World Serpent.

While the technology possessed by the World Serpent is challenging, their military strength... well, let's just say it's so-so.

Eleven days ago, after Lin Yu killed a hundred Simulated Herrscher in one strike, World Serpent took Wendy away with a blitzkrieg, but they should not have many troops left.

However, if you have to guard against the World Serpent's backstab while facing the Herrscher, then the problem becomes a bit serious.

Lin Yu resolved two Herrscher -level Honkai; this is an indisputable fact.

However, Theresa, who has fought against the Herrscher, doesn't think, "Oh well, it's okay if the Herrscher descends next time."

No one knows what will happen when the next Herrscher descends.

No one knows Herrscher terrifying Herrscher will descend next.

Moreover, Theresa, who knew the general details of the Second Honkai Eruption, was well aware that Sirin was not that powerful at the beginning.

Theresa, who has fought against both single-core and Six-Core Sirin Sirin, knows all too well how special Sirin is as Herrscher.

After Sirin was driven away by the Herrscher of Reason, she somehow obtained the cores of four other Herrscher.

But fourteen years have passed, and even Theresa has roughly guessed that this matter is definitely related to the Honkai.

Honkai Energy give Sirin four cores and a major enhancement spell fourteen years ago, who knows if they'll do something similar again fourteen years later?

Moreover, last time, it was a Herrscher with multiple cores, and Siegfried and Cecilia were able to defeat the opponent because the person holding the core did not know how to use the power.

If the Honkai changes its strategy this time—who knows how many Herrscher will actually appear this time.

Sigh, this application... no wonder Himeko made that face.

Lin Yu will probably be even busier after this break.

If the Herrscher manifests, and it's just an ordinary Herrscher, as long as it didn't steal Yuno's Tranquility Gem, I could forcefully use the Divine Prayer Barrier to eliminate one of them, so that Lin Yu wouldn't have to face the risk.

But now, the Honkai is clearly targeting Lin Yu.

Even if I have enough power, when the Herrscher manifests again...

—Can I get to Lin Yu's side in time and help him take care of the enemy?

.

At this moment, Lin Yu, who was being worried about by Theresa and Himeko, did not wander around the Commercial Street of the St. Freya Academy after completing his patrol, but instead went to his solo training ground.

Now that he's an S-rank, his treatment is naturally different from when he was B-Class.

System, may I ask you something?

[Alright, stop asking. Even if Otto wanted to monitor Theresa, he wouldn't have installed cameras all over this place.]

[I told you before that installing too many cameras would give him away; he wouldn't be that depraved.]

Oh, then I'm relieved.

After completing the scan using the system radar, Lin Yu took out an item from his storage space that he had acquired long ago but had never used.

The Joyce Clone he initially killed Simulated Herrscher Core that had already fully coalesced within it.

Looking at the crystal-clear core in front of him, Lin Yu threw it into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

Relying on the [Implantation] skill's characteristic that 'after implanting an item, the holder can reduce the item's consumption and negative effects to a certain extent,' Lin Yu successfully shielded himself from the invasion of the Honkai...