"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! You bastard! I'll fight you to the death! Die, die—!"
"What, what?!"
Otto was greatly startled as the purple-haired girl he had captured suddenly began struggling violently.
Sirin ignored the imitation Heavenly Fire Holy Judgment pressed against her head and even deliberately rammed herself toward the muzzle.
At that moment, there was only one thought in her heart.
Move! Do something!
Since she no longer wanted to see him get hurt, then she would protect him!
Sirin, use this cheap, worthless life of yours—a life he had saved who knew how many times.
Do something for him!!
And it was not just Sirin.
Avrora, Agata, and Galina were the same. Ignoring the threat to their lives, they desperately struggled to break free from their restraints. No, to outsiders, they looked no different from people seeking death.
Otto, who understood the human heart and human nature better than anyone, instantly understood what Sirin and the others were thinking—rather than watch someone important be covered in wounds because of them, they would rather die themselves!
Of course, their struggles were useless. How could a few ordinary girls possibly shake a Soul Steel body?
Yet their overwhelming grief, despairing rage, and determination to die to protect those important to them still made Otto freeze for a full second.
And one second—
Was already enough for Bai Ge to act.
(The opportunity is now!)
As he used spatial teleportation to bring Avrora and the others over, the wind blades of Ideal Fluid instantly severed Otto's Soul Steel arm holding the gun.
In the next instant, Bai Ge had already seized Sirin back and smashed a ruthless punch into Otto's Soul Steel face.
The force was so great that it directly caved in his entire face, leaving behind a deep fist mark.
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Heavenly Fire Weapon Arsenal, Honkai Energy Fission Bomb
"I never expected to stumble like this. Heh heh, hahahaha... I really underestimated you all."
Otto was being held in the air by Bai Ge's grip around his neck.
The Schicksal Overseer who had been so arrogant just moments ago was now in such a miserable state that it was hard to believe he was the same person.
Especially that handsome Soul Steel face.
It was now deeply sunken into his skull, twisted into an ugly shape.
"You should pay the price, Otto."
"Ughhhhhhh!"
The horrifying pain made Otto scream instinctively.
His Soul Steel body, which should have been completely cut off from pain, now made Otto feel agony beyond description, as though every cell in his body were suffering an indescribable torture.
This was the authority of the Herrscher of Death, the most terrifying of Bai Ge's five authorities when used against people.
In that instant, Bai Ge had endowed this Soul Steel body with biological properties, transforming it from a nanomachine body into a true human body of flesh and blood with especially sensitive pain nerves.
Then, he controlled every cell in that body, making them die and regenerate in the most painful way possible, repeating that agony in an endless cycle.
Even the most strong-willed madman would inevitably scream under such pain.
The Soul Steel of the Previous Civilization might have been powerful, but it could not defy the Herrscher's authority.
"This is the authority of the Herrscher of Death you've been longing for. Experience it firsthand. I know you won't die even if this body is destroyed, but at least... right now, I can torture you properly."
"Hahahaha, don't mention it. Do as you please, Herrscher of the Void. But don't think this is over."
Even while experiencing the pain of his cells being repeatedly destroyed, Otto Apocalypse still wore a smile. At the same time, he gave Sirin, the purple-haired girl behind Bai Ge, an extra glance.
If not for this girl's death-seeking struggle, things would never have turned out this way.
Otto had stumbled several times in the past, but he had never imagined that one day, he would stumble because of a fourteen-year-old girl.
Otto Apocalypse decided to remember this well. Emotions—especially the emotions born from protecting someone one loved—could truly erupt with miraculous power.
"Cecilia, Siegfried, Theresa, are you still not going to act? In the name of the Schicksal Overseer, I order you to attack the Herrscher of the Void."
"My apologies, Overseer. We refuse."
"How could anyone from the Kaslana family aid evil? Don't even think about it."
"Grandfather, you're the one who should give up!"
"..."
Otto coldly watched the three of them.
Although Cecilia, Siegfried, and Theresa were his subordinates, they were not his puppets. They would not unconditionally obey every one of his commands.
"Fine, fine~ In that case, you can die together with the Herrscher of the Void."
BOOM—!!
As soon as he spoke, Otto destroyed his own Soul Steel body. Though the explosion was immensely powerful, it could not harm anyone present.
And in the second after his death—
Otto's consciousness awakened once more.
He reconnected to a Soul Steel body located on Schicksal's Floating Island and issued an attack order to the Valkyrie forces that had long been stationed in Siberia.
"All Valkyries, heed my command. Launch a full-scale assault on the Herrscher of the Void immediately. He is Honkai's apostle of humanity's destruction, an enemy we must defeat."
"Furthermore, Cecilia Sanya, Siegfried Kaslana, and... Theresa Apocalypse have betrayed Schicksal and defected to Honkai. Capture the latter alive at all costs. Kill the former two without mercy."
Otto had long been prepared for war.
There was barely a few seconds of delay.
After Otto self-destructed and retreated, Schicksal's forces took control of Gu City. Over a hundred Schicksal A-Rank Valkyries and all kinds of Schicksal Divine Machines launched their attack.
Although Cecilia was known as the Saintess and enjoyed immense prestige among the Valkyries, most of the Valkyries here were personal guards selected by Otto.
Cecilia's reputation could not sway them much, much less the mechanical Schicksal Divine Machines.
"Cecilia, Herrscher of the Void, what should we do now? Are we really going to fight these Valkyries?" Theresa asked anxiously.
"We can only try our best not to target their vital points. Most of them have been deceived by the Overseer. I imagine that person is using our personalities to restrain us, but..."
"If that's all there is to it, then it doesn't matter how many come! After all, we have a Herrscher as our companion now!"
It was indeed as Siegfried said.
Leaving aside himself, Cecilia, and Theresa, all three were S-rank combatants of Schicksal, each capable of fighting a hundred alone. With Bai Ge, the Herrscher of the Void, as their ally, there was even less to worry about.
After all, large-scale annihilation was a Herrscher's specialty.
Though these Valkyries had prepared equipment specifically to counter the Herrscher of Death, each wearing Schicksal's black-tech gas masks and protective combat suits to avoid instant death—
Bai Ge could still easily inflict large-scale suppression and damage upon every one of them, just as he did now.
"Hurricane, sweep them away!!"
More than a dozen tornadoes hundreds of meters high appeared, instantly throwing the Valkyries and Divine Machines into complete disarray.
What could hundreds of Valkyries do?
What could nearly a thousand Divine Machines do?
Gales roared, space trembled, flames burned everything away, and deathly mist spread. Even though the stripped Conquest Gem had not yet been reabsorbed, Bai Ge was still an invincible existence in the current era with four complete authorities.
Not to mention Bella, who was likewise equivalent to Herrscher-level combat power. She had already transformed back into her dragon-form Honkai Beast. Honkai Energy breath, dragon claws, diving attacks, sweeping dragon-tail strikes.
The power of a Judgment-Class, near Apocalypse-Class Honkai Beast shocked everyone.
"How is this possible? This is a Herrscher?"
"We can't beat him at all, damn it."
"Even Lady Cecilia and the others have betrayed us."
"Does the Overseer have any more tricks?"
These Valkyries only felt as small and insignificant as ants. Before a true Herrscher, there was no difference between A-Rank Valkyries and D-Rank Valkyries.
They could only place their hopes on their leader.
And Otto, of course, "would not disappoint them."
These more than one hundred A-Rank Valkyries and nearly one thousand Divine Machines, a force perhaps equal to one-fifth of Schicksal's total strength, were, in Otto Apocalypse's eyes...
Nothing more than expendable pieces meant to keep Bai Ge in place and buy time for his true killing move to arrive.
"Honkai Energy Fission Bombs, fire all missiles!"
"Schicksal's First, Second, and Third Weapon Arsenals, activate all missile launch procedures!"
"Strike range: Siberia coordinates xx, xx, xx. All missiles will use controlled detonation!"
Thousands of missiles fell from the sky.
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