21. Bronya: Are you the Herrscher of Reason, or am I?! / 22. Kiana: You're fighting Xia Ling, while I go fight Otto?

"This is..."

Even the well-traveled Bronya was taken aback by Yu's strange fighting style. After frantically dodging the explosions all around, Bronya finally dared not underestimate her opponent again.

She has no intention of emulating Rita's " car crash queen" spirit.

"I didn't expect you to have such strength... Bronya underestimated you."

"Then, Bronya won't hold back anymore."

The Heavy Armor Rabbit behind Bronya instantly transformed into a streamlined motorcycle, and then several laser cannons simultaneously materialized around the Heavy Armor Rabbit.

A beam of azure light instantly pierced through the massive body of the Great Freedom from different directions. The Herrscher of Reason's full power instantly turned the Great Freedom back into a pool of ink.

"It was much easier than Bronya had anticipated..."

"Of course! After all, to use Sister Bronya's familiar words, this isn't my skill, it's my basic attack!"

As she spoke, Xi swung her sword again, and this time, two crimson, snail-like giant insect-like creatures appeared in the arena.

Eyjafjalla Grudge Worm - Pompeii.

"Tsk, this is much more troublesome than I expected..."

Dealing with Pompeii this time is much more troublesome for Bronya, firstly because the number of them has increased, and secondly because these strange insect-like creatures seem to have a particularly strong resistance to Honkai Energy.

Before Bronya could even rest for a moment, two red, upright crocodile-men arrived.

By this time, Bronya had fully realized what was happening.

Xi wasn't lying to herself; she genuinely disliked fighting and didn't want to fight.

So she just mechanically kept summoning all sorts of fantastical creatures, dragging herself here.

She also kept the strength of these summoned creatures at a very good level, so that they wouldn't cause her too much trouble, nor would they be something that could be completely ignored.

However, Bronya did not intend to wait any longer and wait for MewMew outside to win and rescue her.

This time, she brought a trump card with her... although she didn't initially intend to use it on Xi.

"I'm sorry, Little Xi. If you get hurt because of this, Bronya will apologize to you afterwards."

"But now, Bronya must get to her companions!"

"Star of Eden, Zero Rated Power - Simulated Black Hole, Directional Deployment".

"Smash this world for me!"

Chapter 21 Bronya: Are you the Herrscher of Reason or am I the Herrscher of Reason?!

As Bronya moved, a pale blue ball rose from her hand, and at the same time, a twisted, heavy force began to gather in the world of the painting.

"This is indeed the same development as outside..."

The scene before her made Xi mutter a complaint under her breath, after all, her battle with Bronya was almost a perfect replica of the battle between MewMew and Rita outside—

First, Bronya played her trump card, and then I immediately followed up with a similar trump card to neutralize Bronya's attack. Of course, it might be easier for Bronya.

However, faced with the Simulated Black Hole that was about to destroy the canvas, Xi had no choice but to deal with it. She sighed softly, and another scroll appeared in her hand.

Above the painting is a dark brown core.

"Sister Bronya, I participated in the extermination of this generation's Herrscher of Rock."

"So, I've actually seen a genuine Herrscher of Rock core from this generation!"

As she spoke, Xi Yi grasped the core of the painting, and an equal amount of gravity immediately spread out from the core, easily counteracting most of the gravity as if smoothing out crumpled paper.

However, what Xi holds is just a painting, and since she is not the Herrscher of Rock, it is indeed unrealistic to completely negate the effects of gravity.

However, the current level of offsetting is already enough to deprive Bronya of the Star of Eden as a trump card.

"It can't completely offset it... That's unexpected. I thought Sister Bronya's Star of Eden was something she created herself. I didn't expect Anti-Entropy to give you the real thing as well?"

Bronya had no time to respond to Xi's teasing; her gaze was already drawn to the core that Xi had drawn in her hand.

"Your abilities... aren't limited to drawing living things?"

"What kind of stereotype is this... However, quite a few people have indeed commented that my abilities are somewhat similar to those of the Herrscher of Reason, especially after the Lord Bishop used the Void Archive to help me learn the structure of most of the Divine Key."

Xi casually took out five or six scrolls, and with Bronya's keen senses, she naturally locked onto the content revealed in the scrolls.

"Black Abyss White Flower, Judas' Vow, Heavenly Fire Judgment..."

Bronya's expression turned serious. Even if she were slow to realize things, she could easily discern the difference between this child and herself.

Whether or not one can draw living things is not the point; the point is that the things Xi draws can be preserved for a long time, while the objects she constructs need to be maintained for a long time...

This means that the opponent's explosive power is something you absolutely cannot fake. After all, on the surface you are fighting today's sunset, but in reality the opponent's combat power is the sum of several days or even several months' worth of sunset.

"So, the best outcome is if I can just buy some time...?"

Although Xia Ling often mocked her for her low win rate in practice matches, using the legend of her invincibility, Bronya was still able to remain rational and calm on the battlefield.

Judging from Xi's current terrifying trump card state, even if he uses Star of Eden and Mimic Star of Eden together to break the Herrscher Core she drew, he may not be able to defend against her next trump card.

In that case, it's better to maintain the status quo of low-intensity combat, preserve our strength, and wait for our teammates to gain the upper hand.

After all, Bronya acknowledged Mulsus's fighting prowess; otherwise, she wouldn't have been vying with MewMew to stay.

"Choosing to maintain the status quo? Very good fighting spirit..."

Seeing Bronya act as she had expected, Xi nodded slightly in satisfaction.

After all, if she really went all out, stopping Duck Duck and MewMew here would be no problem at all. However, considering the plot, she definitely couldn't do that. On the contrary, she had to let them pass.

However, given Duck Duck's situation, if she deliberately held back, it would definitely be noticed. Therefore, from the beginning, her plan with MewMew was for her to hold off Bronya while MewMew dealt with Rita, and then use Rita to threaten her into letting her go.

After summoning several different elite monsters, Xi finally received a message from MewMew.

"Huh? The attack... has stopped?"

Bronya instantly stopped the little motorcycle that was speeding through the painting and looked at the sunset in the distance.

However, her attention was soon drawn to something else.

"Space is distorting, and the surrounding scenery seems to be blurring..." Bronya was taken aback. "Did MewMew succeed?"

"Sigh... just as I expected."

Under Bronya's gaze, Xi sighed and waved her hand casually.

The world before her eyes suddenly brightened, Bronya looked around. She was now back in Dany Trail in Kolosten.

Xi, on the other hand, looked helpless, holding a scroll with unidentified watermarks in her hand.

"Since your ability is painting, then as long as you wet the paint with water, there will be problems with the world in your paintings, right?"

MewMew stood proudly with her hands on her hips, holding a ball of water with a hint of ink in her hand.

"I'm sorry, your Rita sister has been defeated by me, hehe, cute Little Xi, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your Rita sister, would you~"

"Uh..." Bronya looked at MewMew with an indescribable expression. "MewMew, you could get arrested for saying that."

"Alright, since Rita has already lost, I surrender too."

Xi gave a crisp French military salute. "You may all leave now. If His Lord Bishop asks, remember to say that we have fought to the last drop of our strength."

"Don't worry, I'll add a serious injury and knock you down."

After delivering Rita, who was bound by several streams of water behind her, to Xi's side, MewMew wasn't worried that Xi would change her mind and directly took Bronya away from the area.

After all... although they successfully dealt with the opponents blocking their way, they also consumed enough time. Strictly speaking, Yu and Rita cannot be completely considered to have failed their mission.

Bronya in the painting might not understand it clearly, but MewMew, fighting in the outside world, knows it all too well.

Right on their flank, in the area where Xia Ling and Li Sushang were deployed, two battles had already broken out.

And from one particular spot, an aura of power emanated that drew everyone's attention...

Although it's too late to go and hear about Xia Ling's gossip now, she can still go to St. 537 Church to find Kiana and get a great spectator spot.

After all, judging from the information shared by Xia Ling... her goal seems to have been achieved.

Chapter Twenty-Two Kiana: You guys fight Xia Ling, and I'm supposed to fight Otto?

Let's go back to a short time ago, when Theresa, Fu Hua, and Kiana set off.

"The situation seems to be different from what we imagined. To Grandfather, those dolls seem to be nothing more than discarded pawns."

While placing the jamming device that Tesla had hastily created— Spartak — Theresa spoke to Fu Hua beside her.

"After all, we haven't encountered any attacks on Soul Steel Dolls for a long time... but there have been quite a few more Honkai Beast in Kolosten."

"Even so, we must prioritize deploying these jamming devices... At the very least, we can't leave such an obvious vulnerability for Otto."

Fu Hua pushed up her glasses and continued with her work.

"Where's Kiana? Still no news?"

"She just left a little while ago, and Sirin hasn't updated me with any messages yet."

Within the team, due to some lack of theoretical knowledge, the task of installing the device was assigned to Theresa and Fu Hua, while Kiana, with her excellent mobility, was responsible for scouting the situation and clearing out the nearby Honkai Beast, and Sirin served as the liaison.

"Kiana has become much more mature lately..."

Before the words were even finished, Sirin's urgent voice rang in their minds.

"Old Fossil, Theresa, come here right now!"

Kiana has run into Li Sushang!

"Sushang?" Fu Hua was taken aback. "I understand. Give me the coordinates."

Sirin quickly sent Fu Hua a location coordinate. "Hurry up and come. Without your body, I can't even teach this guy a lesson!"

"Sirin, I've already told you, Sushang has already let go of those old stories..."

"Oh yes, yes, you're right. Anyway, come over here quickly."

Sirin Shi didn't seem to have listened. Fu Hua sighed softly and looked at Theresa.

"Let's go, Headmaster... It's time to put an end to this past."

"It's a good thing to be able to sort out an old matter..." Theresa was completely unaware that she was about to be overwhelmed by Xia Ling, and was still happily comforting Fu Hua.

Then, when they arrived at the Sunrise Observatory...

"That Rakan guy, why is he always causing trouble... He's not the kind of opponent we were supposed to face."

Li Sushang looked helplessly at Kiana, whose body was already engulfed in flames.

"I won't need the Class President monitor to lift a finger; I'll take you down before they even arrive."

"How confident you are... Ah, but you've missed your chance, they're already here."

Sushang's eyes lit up, and she bowed, saying, "Grand Master — Crimson Kite Ancestor, it's been a long time."

"Go away, who told you to call me that so intimately? Has the Old Fossil recognized you as his grand-disciple?"

Sirin's figure instantly flew off Kiana and floated beside Fu Hua.

"Your master committed the heinous crime of murdering his master. He should have been expelled from the sect long ago. Hmph, if you want the Old Fossil to acknowledge you as his grand-disciple, you'd better show some strength."

"Sirin, all done..."

Fu Hua helplessly tugged at Sirin. She knew that Sirin wasn't being unreasonable; she just couldn't stand what she had gone through and wanted to vent her anger.

"Strength? Sure, that's my specialty."

Sushang's eyes lit up, and she raised her sword with one hand, assuming a starting stance.

"Hmph, who wants to fight you one-on-one? There are so many people here, I don't want to waste too much time on you."

Sirin snorted lightly. Although she admired the other party's fearless spirit, she could still distinguish between what was important and what was urgent. Right now, the important thing was Otto's side. The matter of recognizing her ancestors and so on could be dealt with slowly later.

"Theresa, go! Give her a job, let her see what it's like to be Otto's subordinate!"

"Hey, hey, I'm not one of the Rakan's men. I'm just helping him out to repay a life-saving debt."

Li Sushang quickly took a step back and said, "Besides, he only told me to stop Crimson Kite Ancestor and deal with Theresa, but there is someone else."

"Yes, I'm talking to you, Xia Ling. Stop watching the show, or your best friend will get ganged up on by three people!"

"Oh dear, why are you in such a hurry to expose me? I wanted to slack off a little longer..."