Chapter 426

Himeko was familiar with Project Ark Plan.

The plan was roughly to exploit the funds of ordinary civilians to build massive spaceships, allowing a portion of humanity to leave Earth and find a safe Honkai for survival.

"But..."

Looking at Ryusuke, who was clearly possessed, Himeko frowned and said.

"The pioneers of the Previous Civilization also carried out Ark Plan, but in the end, the pioneers in charge of carrying out Ark Plan lost contact with the other pioneers."

"I had some communication with Su, the forerunner of the Previous Civilization, and he told me about this, so it should be true."

"So what!"

At this moment, Ryusuke suddenly walked up to Himeko, grabbed her arms tightly, and spoke to his daughter in a frantic manner.

"There's no reason to conclude that people from Previous Era can't do it either!"

"The fact that the leaders and pioneers of Ark Plan have lost contact can only mean that Ark Plan has gone in the wrong direction."

"Himeko, it's even better that you know the Forerunner."

"Unlike Otto, who is obsessed with the artificial Herrscher experiment and has no clear sense of reason, and Welt, who is indecisive and doesn't want the USA to contribute a lot of funds, if there really is a pioneer, he will definitely understand that the Ark Plan is of great significance to humanity!"

"As long as we can reach a place suitable for our survival... as long as we can reach that place, we won't have to think about how to fight the Finality anymore!"

He really has gone mad.

She shouldn't have mistaken the man in front of her for her real father, but seeing the man who looked just like her father and now displaying this crazed expression, Himeko found herself subconsciously... feeling a little sorry for him.

"And now, Himeko, you..."

Looking at the weapon in Himeko's hand and the Valkyrie armor on her body, Ryusuke seemed to have discovered something and asked Himeko with hopeful eyes.

"You mentioned Otto earlier, and you looked very dissatisfied. Does that mean Otto has stepped down?"

"Haha, that idiot old Deng, he's finally gone. Doesn't that mean—the new Bishop of Schicksal might have designs on Ark Plan?"

At this moment, as if he had figured something out, Ryusuke spoke to Himeko at top speed.

"Dad knows he was wrong. It was wrong of Dad to try to kill your teacher Welt and take his Herrscher Core. But Mr. Welt is a good man. Now that the situation is so bad, he will definitely understand that the Ark Plan is meaningful."

"As long as the new bishop of Destiny is not Mr. Otto Walter, it is possible that he will put aside his prejudices and join forces with it. And this huge amount of money will no longer be unbearable for either party after the two organizations join forces!"

"Dad..."

After whispering the word, Himeko could see that Ryusuke paused for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face.

"Himeko, you... you finally believe I'm your father?"

"Yes, I can see that now. You are indeed my father."

At this moment, Himeko faced Ryusuke and softly uttered the words that Ryusuke had once said to her.

"That's what you used to say to me, Dad."

"We, the people of the Boundless Pagoda family, must bravely pursue our dreams."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Ryusuke spoke even more aggressively to Himeko.

"Himeko, you still remember those words... I was really too daring!"

"So--"

"Therefore, I will not help you complete this plan."

At that moment, Himeko forcefully broke free from Ryusuke's hands and spoke to him, word by word.

"Now, the time for the Finality is drawing ever closer, and the Ark Plan..."

"Even if we launch this plan now, it will ultimately just be spending a lot of money and abandoning a large number of innocent people who cannot leave to escape."

"Dad, so many years have passed, and my dreams are no longer the same as they used to be."

"Now, my dream as Valkyrie... no, my duty as Valkyrie is to protect everything in this world!"

"Wrong..."

Upon hearing Himeko immediately deny his idea, Ryusuke angrily retorted.

"You have no idea how serious this situation is!"

"The Herrscher of Finality is not easy to deal with... Ha, let alone the Herrscher of Finality, even without him, the other Herrscher would be difficult to deal with."

Himeko smiled with a hint of relief as she thought of the student with whom she had only a nominal relationship but had never actually taught her anything.

"But young people these days are all fighting on the front lines. Do you expect me, Dad, to be a coward and choose to start Ark Plan now and start escaping, choosing to retreat without a fight?"

"Is the Muryotousuke I know really such a cowardly scoundrel?"

"Madness..."

Faced with Himeko's rebuttal, Ryusuke, having lost his last bit of patience, now had a surge of Honkai Energy emanating from his body.

As the Honkai Energy fluctuations grew stronger, tentacles that looked indescribable appeared on Ryusuke's body.

"Utterly foolish! Faced with an invincible enemy, what's wrong with choosing to flee now!"

"The battle against the Honkai is never without casualties. If we activate Ark Plan now, at least some of us can survive!"

"Ugh, I'm so tired of hearing this kind of boring stuff."

After completely calming down, Himeko nonchalantly poked her ear and gave Ryusuke a helpless smile.

"Sacrifice, sacrifice, I'm so tired of hearing that word."

"They keep talking about sacrifice, but what they actually do is treat other people's lives like they don't matter."

"I really didn't expect that not only would Bishop Otto be this kind of person, but you, Dad, would also have such thoughts."

"To be honest, Dad, I'm a little disappointed in you."

"Ah, I'm disappointed in you too, my daughter."

Ryusuke, whose Honkai Energy was still rising, actually showed Himeko a fatherly affection that he shouldn't have shown to his daughter.

"I thought that at least my daughter would understand my thoughts."

"Come on, how can you make sacrificing others seem so natural? Who can understand that?"

At this moment, Himeko looked at the man in front of her who was radiating malice, and a straightforward smile appeared on her face.

"But I want to thank you, Dad."

"Just now, I felt extremely indignant about the injustice that Professor Welt killed you."

"But now I can be sure that Mr. Welt did not do anything wrong."

"He was a towering hero, while you, my father, who always talks about sacrificing others, have undoubtedly fallen completely into the 'evil path'."

"Yeah?"

At that moment, a woman wielding a greatsword and wearing protective clothing suddenly appeared in this space.

Looking at Himeko, whose face suddenly showed a hint of surprise, the Valkyrie had suddenly appeared there said to Himeko with a slight disappointment.

"In my opinion, the one who Entering Demonic State is undoubtedly you, Himeko, who joined forces with the Herrscher of the Void."

"Ragna... Captain?!"

The woman before Himeko had no doubt that she looked exactly like Ragna from the past.

Not only her appearance, but even the way she held her sword felt very familiar to Himeko.

"Himeko, I think you should already understand who that girl is."

Himeko, wielding the Greatsword Ragna the King Serpent, looked at Himeko with a face full of disappointment.

"Now that you know who she is, why do you continue to collude with her?"

"... team leader."

"We all died at the hands of this girl, and in the end, I also failed."

Ragna spoke to Himeko with a look of deep disappointment as he recounted the incident from years ago.

"And in the end, I couldn't bring myself to strike her with the sword because she was a little girl."

"Killing the Herrscher of the Void was our Valkyrie Assault Team's mission, and after we all failed, you were supposed to take our place and kill her."

"But now—you know her identity, yet you've chosen to get along well with her. Have you forgotten what she's done in the past?!"

"No, it's just that I feel..."

Looking at the two people in front of her, Himeko suddenly realized something.

"You also know the truth, so why do you keep condemning me, as if I did something wrong?"

Hearing Himeko's words, Ragna was so angry that he laughed and asked in return.

"Aren't you right?"

"Yes, where did I go wrong?"

After clarifying her thoughts, Himeko retorted sharply to Ragna.

"Otto is the mastermind behind all these problems, Honkai is the root cause of all this. I'm going to kill Otto and Honkai the Honkai! I am justice!"

"But you two, ever since we met, have been trying to use manipulative tactics to break down my defenses—you really think I'm as easy to fool as those little brats, huh!"

"Himeko, you really..."

Hearing Himeko's words, Ragna shook his head helplessly and then fully prepared for battle.

"—Completely beyond saving."

"Yes, Miss Ragna is right."

Beside Ragna, Ryusuke, who had already unleashed powers beyond human comprehension, spoke fiercely to Himeko.

"You have disappointed me greatly, my daughter."

"Thank you for the compliment, Dad."

Ah, so I was wondering what exactly happened today.

Ever since Theresa and I started arguing, something has been guiding my mind.

In the time to come, both my dad and Captain Ragna are potential candidates to break down my defenses.

Choosing to let them meet with me was merely a way to further fuel the surge of my negative emotions, thus fulfilling His purpose.

At that moment, Himeko, who was forcibly suppressing her inner emotions, suddenly felt her entire consciousness enter darkness.

This feeling, as if she were being torn to shreds from all sides, nearly caused Himeko to faint.

So that's what it feels like to Herrscher Transformation.

The fundamental reason I spent so much effort is because I have the qualifications of Herrscher.

But now...

Himeko, sensing that something was wrong with her, saw the two people slowly approaching her and, without saying a word, chose to retreat tactically.

With the power of Herrscher, taking down the two of them would undoubtedly be something that could be done with a mere flick of the wrist.

However, Himeko now finds that even though she thinks she should be able to have a clear mind, many dark thoughts still keep surfacing in her mind after the Herrscher Core is activated.

If Murata Himeko were to use her Herrscher powers to kill her father and captain, who were of great importance to her, when she was in an unstable state of mind, the probability of her falling into the demonic path would undoubtedly increase significantly.

In Himeko's view, this was clearly a sign that Honkai was no longer an option, and this was the only way to force her to go completely insane.

Those words couldn't sway me, so they used this method to force me to kill my closest relatives in order to make me 'turn evil'.

Ah, looking at it this way, Honkai is really in a hurry. If it's in a hurry, then it means my thinking is correct.

But now...

Himeko ran frantically, an uneasy feeling welled up inside her.

Having seen it all, she didn't make the wrong choice at the last moment.

However, this does not mean that others can be like her and resist the Honkai's Honkai from all levels at the last moment.

Moreover, now that Himeko has realized that the core of her body is the Plague Gem, she has a feeling that she may not be the only Herrscher Candidate among those who were teleported here today.

In such turbulent times...