The Revival Match (Continued)

At that moment, a look of struggle appeared on Cocolia's face.

But soon, that struggling expression was transformed into a malicious smile.

"After you became the Herrscher of the Herrscher of the Void, you betrayed your country, betrayed your parents who were killed by the Herrscher of the Void, and also betrayed me and everyone in the orphanage."

"I can no longer consider you, a child who has betrayed humanity, as my daughter."

No, no, Sister Kiana—

Bronya wanted to refute Cocolia's statement.

However, she then discovered that no matter how many wrong things Cocolia had done, in the Second Honkai Eruption, Cocolia, Alexei, and her biological mother whom she had never met were undoubtedly victims of this event.

Perhaps for Bronya, who knows the truth, she has transferred all her resentment and anger to Otto, who caused all of this.

However, for those who were harmed and killed by the Herrscher of the Void, their current close relationship with the Herrscher of the Void... is indeed an intolerable betrayal.

Moreover, faced with the malicious Cocolia, the furious Anne, and her father who now showed her disappointment, Bronya suddenly had an uncontrollable question in her mind.

Have I really... let go of my resentment towards the Herrscher of the Void?

Although I keep telling myself that Otto created the Herrscher of the Void and that he is the culprit behind all of this, it is also an undeniable fact that the Herrscher of the Void killed tens of millions of people and caused the deaths of our hometown and my parents.

Am I living in a cage I've created for myself all this time...?

"But even if you betrayed everyone, we will still choose to forgive you."

At that moment, Cocolia took the initiative to walk towards Bronya, her previous resentful expression changed, and spoke gently to Bronya.

"You went astray simply because you were too young, it's not your fault."

"As long as you come back to me, I will treat you as my daughter again."

"Not only me, but everyone in the orphanage, and your father, will be by your side."

"Bronya, I want to..."

"—You won't disappoint me again, will you?"

Yes, Mother Cocolia and Alexei's Dad will both be by my side. In return, all I need is...

--wrong!

Something's definitely wrong!

At this moment, Bronya bit her tongue hard and then stared coldly at Cocolia, whose face was full of gentleness, and Alexei, whose expression was very complicated.

Perhaps Mother Cocolia and Alexei's Dad were indeed resurrected in some way, but the resurrection of the 'dead' is inherently full of mystery.

I was suddenly pulled to this place, and these people who are close to me appeared in front of me. To take this as a coincidence... that's something only an idiot would do.

Someone is targeting me.

Or rather, someone... is targeting us.

After leading us to betray Schicksal, betray everyone, and betray Brother Lin Yu, its goal was achieved.

They possess the skill to manipulate people's minds and can read their thoughts...

Aside from Class President Fu Hua, only Otto could do something like that.

Bronya, what are you waiting for!

At this moment, after Xing walked up to Bronya, she said to Bronya fiercely.

"Do you really want to betray Mother Cocolia again?!"

"No, I will never betray anyone again, because..."

In that instant, before Xing could react at all, Bronya circled behind Xing and pushed her directly into Heavy Cannon's arms.

Having already sensed Bronya's general thoughts, the heavily Heavy Cannon grabbed the panicked Anzu, pulled her into its arms, and then used its maximum power to blast her to pieces on the spot.

After her mind was filled with determination, Bronya calmed down and could now sense the powerful Honkai Energy emanating from An's body.

Although the Honkai Energy intensity of this level is not as high as that of a genuine Herrscher, compared to Yuno who used the Simulated Herrscher Core in the previous battle, the Honkai Energy that Anzu is currently emitting is clearly at the same level Yuno during the Simulated Herrscher era.

Before today, Bronya, as a support staff member with relatively weak combat capabilities, had been analyzing the data in the Schicksal database.

According to information left from the Previous Era, the Dominator/Thousand Herrscher would select suitable members to become Herrscher and then bestow upon them the corresponding Dominance Core.

Although the Dominance Core is far less powerful than that of a regular Herrscher Core in terms of individual energy intensity, it has two unique characteristics.

One of them is to grant the holder a weakened version of the ability of other Herrscher.

The other method involves communicating with other Herrscher of Dominion through Quantum Entanglement, thereby exchanging information.

The reason why Xing's power suddenly increased and she suddenly knew so much information must be because she had acquired the Dominance Core.

Add Mother Cocolia and Alexei's Dad... if they are also Herrscher of Dominion, then my chances of winning, including Rabbit's, are extremely low.

So, I'm sorry, Anzu.

We'll talk about apologizing later. For now—just bear with the pain for a bit.

Annie, who had little guard against Bronya, was instantly grabbed by Heavy Cannon by Lucia's physical skills and began to have her body constantly squeezed by Heavy Cannon.

Even if she has the ability to stop time, now...

—What's the use of stopping time if you don't have enough power?

Despite her desperate struggle under the purest form of violence, Xing ultimately suffered a comminuted fracture.

Upon witnessing this scene, Cocolia and Alexei's expressions changed drastically, and they took two steps back.

"Mother Cocolia, I am not your puppet."

Facing Cocolia, who seemed to lack combat strength, Bronya spoke calmly.

"I've already seen the right path, so I'm sorry, I won't be going to your side."

"You—idiot!"

Unlike the impotent and furious Cocolia, Alexei, the puppet who had been 'revived' and possessed the same consciousness as the original, asked Bronya with a complicated expression.

"Bronya, why...?"

"If what Cocolia said is true, why are you siding with the enemy?!"

"Because I know who the real enemy is."

Looking at her father, Bronya spoke calmly to Alexei.

"The Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, is undoubtedly a villain, but the entity that created all this tragedy is the Honkai Consciousness, and the person who propelled all of this forward is Otto Apocalypse."

"Compared to fighting with the Herrscher of the Void who no longer wants to do evil, I think it is more important to deal with Otto, who is driving all of this forward. That's all."

"Dad, I'm so happy to see you again, but right now, I have more important things to do, so..."

At that moment, Bronya, feeling something new inside her, turned around and spoke to Alexei behind her without looking back.

Goodbye, Father.

"And... my weaknesses."

Bronya could clearly feel that something that didn't belong to her had appeared inside her, but at this moment, she felt that her inner beliefs had become even stronger.

The Herrscher Core... or so?

I never imagined that I would have such qualifications.

However, unlike the situations mentioned by Yuno Mei, I did not feel darkness coming from all directions, trying to tear my body apart.

Ignoring her father's shouts from behind, Bronya felt the power emanating from her core and even sensed a slight change in the scene before her.

In the already eerie theater, she seemed to see flames burning.

Amidst the raging flames, a man Herrscher Clone of Reason but possessed a remarkably peaceful expression appeared before her.

Almost simultaneously, Dominion Theater

Within the Dominion Theater, Murata Himeko, who had been suddenly teleported there, was also warily observing her surroundings.

Unlike Bronya, just as she picked up her weapon to be wary of the enemy, a man she hadn't seen in a long time but missed dearly appeared before Himeko.

"Who are you..."

"It's been a long time, Himeko."

Before Himeko, her father, Muryotousuke, who should have been dead, was smiling as he looked at his long-unseen daughter.

"I never imagined you'd grow up so much."

Looking at the man before her, Himeko felt a pang of nostalgia, but this feeling was quickly replaced by unease.

"Bishop Otto, you don't actually think you can bewitch me by just making up a doll that looks exactly like my father, do you?"

"Otto?"

After Himeko mentioned the name, Muryotousuke frowned slightly.

"Why bring up this man's name all of a sudden?"

Facing the man before her, Himeko, whose heart was already filled with resentment due to various events, impatiently raised her weapon, [Godfall Sword. Surtr].

If Himeko felt a little nostalgic when she first saw her long-lost 'father,' now that she suddenly remembered that her Himeko was dead, the man in front of her suddenly became repulsive.

Although she didn't know what tricks the other party was playing, Otto's current actions were undoubtedly a desecration of her longing for her father.

In this situation, if it weren't for the need to continue gathering intelligence, Himeko might have already charged straight at them with the Godfall Sword.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't do that."

Sensing the killing intent emanating from Himeko, Muryotousuke reluctantly took a step back.

"You must have misunderstood something. I have absolutely no connection with that short-sighted Otto!"

"... Stop pretending."

Himeko, feeling like she was about to vomit, spoke coldly to Muryotousuke.

"Otto, you said it yourself before, that you secretly killed countless fellow Schicksal members who might have discovered the truth and threatened the existence of the Honkai."

"Then, presumably, the reason my father, a highly skilled individual capable of repairing the Fourth Divine Key, suddenly died must be because you poisoned him from behind!"

"So I've already said it, I'm not Otto anymore."

Hearing Himeko's angry words, Muryotousuke's tone gradually became lower.

"Besides, does that incompetent old bastard Otto even deserve to kill me?"

Recalling what happened back then, Muryotousuke said with a cold laugh.

"He even thought he had completely controlled my mind and seen through my inner thoughts, which is why he gave me the opportunity to leave Schicksal and come to Anti-Entropy with the key to the Fourth Divine Key."

"It's just a pity that compared to the incompetent Otto, the First Herrscher, Welt Yang, is a formidable opponent."

Muryotousuke, recalling those events from back then, spoke with a hint of regret.

"I calculated everything, but I didn't expect that the Herrscher of Reason would be able to use the power of other civilizations to break the deadlock."

"If I had been able to seize the core of the Herrscher of Reason back then, perhaps now... humanity wouldn't have to face this despairing situation."

"What did you say..."

Himeko could tell that Ryusuke, whom she regarded as a fake, expressed all of Noriko's inner feelings: his contempt for Otto, his admiration for Welt, and his regret that the plan had failed.

Now, after piecing together what Muryotousuke said, Himeko suddenly realized that if he hadn't lied, then she might have made a mistake.

The person who killed her father was not Otto, whom she considered a heinous criminal, but rather her mentor Welt Young, whom she once idolized.

"Oh, you didn't know about this?"

Seeing Himeko finally show a look of surprise, Muryotousuke's tone suddenly became much louder.

"When I went to the USA to meet you, Otto let me come to the territory of Anti-Entropy, partly because I fooled him, and partly because my life was coming to an end."

"In order to help Schicksal repair the Fourth Divine Key, I had been in contact with Honkai Energy for a long time, and my body had already reached its limit. Otto, who believed that 'Muryotousuke was about to die,' must have been careless at that time."

After recounting these events with a touch of nostalgia, Ryusuke's face suddenly showed a hint of resentment.

"Otto was obsessed with the Artificial Herrscher Project back then, completely ignoring the Ark Plan I proposed."

"But after studying those materials, I discovered that while the technology of the Previous Civilization was more advanced than ours, it also created weapons that were more powerful than ours—the thirteen Divine Key are the best proof of this."

"However, even such a Previous Civilization lost to the Honkai, so in order to continue the future of humanity, we should have carried out Ark Plan!"