Chapter 97

Upon learning of Fraxinus's invitation, the three innocent Pokémon jumped for joy, while Miku politely declined.

She's currently in the prime of her career, and seemingly to compensate her for the humiliation she's suffered during this period, Möbius has been giving her a dazzling array of resources, many of which are from major brands that her agency has never even had the chance to contact. This not only made Miku drool, but even made her manager's breathing become heavy.

Their small-to-medium-sized talent agency has really managed to latch onto a powerful figure! No, it's their artist, Miku, who has really managed to latch onto a powerful figure. She disappeared without a word for several days, and her manager initially thought she had angered that rich young lady and had been carried away in a sack.

It seems like it wasn't for nothing that I endured all that hardship.

Miku was well aware of her manager's ambition to advance his career, but she didn't mind. After all, her manager had been very supportive of her, so she readily agreed to let him accompany her throughout the negotiations, giving him an opportunity to expand his network.

Besides Miku, Kurumi wasn't particularly interested in the gathering either, but considering that she would eventually live a normal life, she decided to bring it up to get used to the noisy atmosphere.

And so, a new day begins.

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Wescott: Long Live Mandate of Schicksal.

Inside DEM Japan branch.

Wescott sat in his chair with a gloomy expression, his eyes fixed coldly on the medical report in front of him. This was the medical report of Ellen, DEM's strongest fighter.

According to the report, the last battle caused varying degrees of strain on Ellen's physical functions and left her with some psychological trauma. As a result, Ellen now feels pain even from being touched casually.

Let alone going out to fight, even wearing the Manifestation Device would be a big problem.

Why did it turn out this way? Since Yulande debuted on the world stage six years ago, and then Schicksal entered Japan not long ago, the world has undergone two major changes in his eyes.

Their DEM also changed from the initial idea that "starting later than Schicksal, but with Manifestation Device all over the world, at this rate of development, it will eventually surpass Schicksal", to "Yulande is as strong as a god, DEM is no match for her", and then to "the unknown Valkyrie easily defeated the Strongest Magician, and the Manifestation Device may be completely inferior to the Valkyrie Armor and Stigmata technology".

How long will it take to recover?

"Wescott asked in a deep voice."

"This..."

The doctor in charge of the physical examination hesitated for a moment, but could only give an uncertain answer, "If it's just physical, with DEM's medical equipment, it can be fully recovered within three days. However, the time required for psychological issues depends on the patient. It could be a day, a week, or even longer."

Wescott wasn't particularly worried about this, or rather, he wasn't worried about Ellen's injuries at all, because he already knew that Ellen's injuries weren't serious, and Ellen wasn't that fragile, so she would recover quickly.

His only real concern was the impact of this incident.

After the failed kidnapping attempt on Möbius that day, he had a vague feeling that Möbius was going to lash out, but Möbius hadn't said anything until now.

This deepened his worries, and Ellen's repeated failures brought those worries to a peak.

In this world, the prevalence of Manifestation Device far exceeds that of Valkyrie Armor and Stigmata, because the latter two are technologies that Möbius specifically equipped within Schicksal and are not made public or sold to the public like Manifestation Device.

Therefore, although Schicksal started earlier than DEM and covered most of Europe within a year and spread its influence throughout Europe within two years, it stopped its rapid expansion after DEM appeared.

Although it continues to expand, the pace has slowed considerably.

Meanwhile, DEM, which vigorously promoted the Manifestation Device, achieved rapid external expansion and made good relations with a large number of countries and forces. Although it did not cover almost the entire range of influence like Schicksal, the friendly relations between them were enough to satisfy DEM.

Although Wescott wanted to control the world, he was never in a hurry, because he understood that once he achieved his goal, no matter how great the previous headwinds were, they would be nothing more than a small matter that could be reversed in an instant.

However, the current situation made him somewhat uneasy.

The high degree of control that Schicksal exerts over the national forces within its sphere of influence makes Möbius's words almost the only voice, and she can even influence policies towards those outside the Elf realm. Although she has not yet extended her reach there, no one doubts that she is capable of doing so.

This also resulted in the fact that the Schicksal Mandate was completely united, and no one could easily break it.

The situation is different for DEM. The reason they united so many forces to target Möbius is not because they are united, but because they all have their own interests to gain from Möbius.

Even if they all have DEM's Manifestation Device, who dares to swear to God in front of everyone that they don't covet the Valkyrie Armor and Stigmata?

Leaving aside the pros and cons of Valkyrie Armor and Manifestation Device, the Stigmata is a magical technology that allows a slender girl to easily flip over an armored vehicle. Don't think that people wearing Manifestation Device can do it too, but that's only within the Imaginary Domain. Outside the Imaginary Domain, they are just ordinary people.

People who act solely in their own interests are most likely to shift blame and become disorganized allies when their interests are not met and their misdeeds are exposed.

Especially at this moment when DEM, the leader, was slapped hard in the face by Schicksal.

Thinking of this, Wescott's face grew even more gloomy. He could already imagine the letters and communications that would soon arrive from all over the world. The ugly faces of those damned humans disgusted him no matter how many times he saw them.

More importantly, if Möbius were to bring up the assassination attempt at this juncture and seek redress for it, Wescott has no doubt that those politicians would put him in the highest position of blame.

No matter how much he said he wasn't afraid of Möbius, that was only on the premise that he wasn't being targeted by Möbius and that he believed he wasn't far from Schicksal. Even someone as arrogant as Wescott knew what would happen if he were considered an enemy by Möbius.

Taking another deep breath, Wescott dismissed the doctor, put the medical report aside, and turned on his phone.

Sure enough, a barrage of messages kept popping up. Wescott glanced at them and all he saw were questions asking him what to do, whether DEM really had the resources to go up against Möbius, whether he had any trump cards up his sleeve, and why he was instigating their diplomats to participate in the operation against Möbius.

Wescott was so angry he almost laughed.

Everyone was friendly when we were doing this, but now that something's gone wrong, they all want me to step in. Good things always happen in a way that surprises them, but bad things always happen exactly as they predicted. This feeling is absolutely awful.

But he had to appease these guys while thinking about his next move.

Möbius's research on elves has exceeded Wescott's imagination. In fact, like those who know about the Inversion, he also believes that Shier Fulei's condition is due to the power of the Inversion. Although there is no Inversion Spiritual Power, or even any Spiritual Power, it must be related to Möbius's methods.

After all, Spiritual Power, Neighboring Realm, and Spatial Quake are interconnected. Möbius said that there is already a way to resolve Spatial Quake without killing spirits, so shielding Spiritual Power is naturally not impossible.

Wescott initially thought this method was related to Ratatoskr, or even that the key lay with Shiori Itsuka, but Tohka's combat prowess and Shier's appearance gave him a different idea.

Thinking about it carefully, DEM doesn't need to face an opponent they can't win against. Since Möbius's research on Pokémon is already far ahead of everyone else, and he likely has more than one Pokémon, and their own 'partners' are also thinking of pushing them out as scapegoats...

Wescott narrowed his eyes, then found Möbius's personal channel on his phone. After careful consideration, he sent a text message.

Long live the Mandate of Schicksal!

Chapter Seventy: Black Amber's Greed.

Having finished her Shier Fulei mode, Black Amber returned to the lab at night and re-entered the fray in her Möbius form.

Today's events are not over once the fight is over. In fact, the follow-up impact is what Black Amber is more looking forward to. Swallowing East Asia is far from enough for her. Although she has no such boring idea as ruling the world, she does need to expand the radiation range of Schicksal in order to allow the Moonlight Throne to reach its maximum output power.

Therefore, she doesn't need to allow Schicksal to completely permeate every sphere of influence as she did in Europe; she only needs those regions to cooperate with her actions.

It sounds simple, but Schicksal's style of doing things has taken root in people's minds, and Möbius's image and reputation are inclined to be that of an ambitious man and an evil scientist. It is impossible to persuade him with just words.

That's why we need to make them commit suicide, and then use more severe blows to break their stubborn resistance.

Wescott's conjecture was correct. The reason Black Amber hadn't acted up was simply because acting up now wouldn't have the maximum effect, so she had postponed the matter for the time being. However, this did not mean that Black Amber should remain silent. Simply waiting without making a sound would only allow those people to shirk responsibility with words like, "So much time has passed, who knows if you framed her?"

Therefore, Black Amber issued a statement saying that she was "investigating the mastermind" and "hoping that someone with a conscience would come forward," but that was all.

Although the fact that "it wasn't Yulande's Valkyrie easily defeated Ellen" has put Schicksal and DEM in the spotlight and given DEM and non- Schicksal factions some shock, it is not enough to break their will to resist.

Because... Japan is too small, ultimately just a small island nation with less than a city, and so far it has not demonstrated Schicksal military power to suppress the entire world.

The opportunity and target for demonstrating force... have already been found.

Black Amber looked at the satellite image on the screen in front of her. It showed a girl with long, golden curly hair and Amber eyes. She was wearing a pinkish-purple cheongsam that looked like it was adorned with stars. Her gloves and the hem of her dress were decorated with constellation patterns. On her feet were long boots that did not match her overall outfit. They looked like armor-like boots from a medieval knight.

Her beauty is undeniable, but what is truly surprising is her background.

That was outside the atmosphere, incredibly far from the Earth's surface, in the vast and boundless universe.

There is no doubt that Mukuro Hoshimiya is the strongest spirit after Mio Takamiya. Her strength may not be that terrifying, only about equal to Tohka in Inversion, but her ability is enough to easily level the ground.

Her angelic Unsealer possesses four abilities.

Seguva: Seal off a thing or concept, not just Remembrance or inner thoughts, but also the abilities of other spirits. It can even seal off the Earth's rotation, a truly bug-level ability.

Rataibu: It can break the seal of the former, or it can be used directly to Space Movement.

Shifururu: Unleash your potential. When this ability is used, your spirit armor will take on a different form, and your angel will transform from a staff into a halberd.

Heresu: It can break the bonds between molecules. Compared to others, this ability is slightly weaker in actual combat. After all, the Imaginary Domain generated by the Manifestation Device can be controlled by the user to control the physical laws within the field. It is more powerful against Valkyrie, but it also depends on who you are against. Against ordinary Magician, even with Imaginary Domain, it can still kill them instantly. Against Yulande, even if you go all out, you may not be able to break through her defense.

Regardless of the circumstances, this is a terrifying existence capable of destroying the world for humanity. Only by fighting such a spirit can the world know the true power of Schicksal.

Simply put, the previous elves were too weak and couldn't exert any power at all, which is why the world had some misunderstandings about Yulande's strength.

But...

Black Amber narrowed her eyes slightly.

The question now is, what are the odds of Little Mad-Goose winning against this Mukuro Hoshimiya?

Although I said before that Little Mad-Goose is stronger than Moon Spirit, that's because Moon Spirit is too weak. Basically, any Yulande who appears after Moon Spirit is stronger than Moon Spirit, so there's not much room for her to decline.

Compared to Yulande's prime, which is the era of Tengen: Knight of Empyrean, Little Mad-Goose's strength is not worth mentioning, or rather, the two are simply incomparable, as they are from vastly different versions.

In terms of strength, Moon Spirit can go toe-to-toe with Mukuro Hoshimiya, but the power of the Unsealer is no joke. Just because Little Mad-Goose can easily be immune to Miku's abilities doesn't mean she can be immune to Rokuya's abilities. Even though Little Mad-Goose has been training and strengthening herself for two years, she is still not immune.

In Black Amber's eyes, Amber was not safe enough if there was any possibility of her getting hurt, and Rokuya did indeed make that possibility possible.

This thought made Black Amber even more envious of Mio Takamiya's power. Not only was the scale enormous, but the ability itself was also so overpowered. It would be such a waste to give it to someone like Mio Takamiya who didn't know how to use it at all! She was born with the power to destroy the world, but after living for thirty years, she still only had that little bit of power. She had the size of a galaxy and the output of a planet. Instead of studying how to use her power, she was obsessed with being in love. It was laughable.

If it were someone like Amber, who knows how to use the Tai Xu Sword Qi and manipulates energy with ease, this situation wouldn't occur; the output would be directly proportional to the size of the energy.

Despite her envy, and while enjoying the sense of security that came with gaining Mio Takamiya's power, it was merely a means to motivate herself. Before long, Black Amber snapped out of her reverie and was about to tell Amber, "It's time to draw cards," when she saw a bunch of messages pop up on her phone, the latest being from three seconds ago.

Black Amber didn't even bother to look at these messages; they were nothing more than flattery from her subordinates or attempts by opposing politicians to test her attitude and ease tensions. But after scanning them, she noticed the sender.

"Wescott?"

Raising an eyebrow, Black Amber truly hadn't expected to receive a message from him.

"... Long live the Mandate of Schicksal?"

What's wrong with this guy?

Although he found Wescott's inexplicable flattery strange, it didn't matter. Black Amber simply swiped past his message and sent a message to Amber: "There will be a great battle soon, Little Mad-Goose's power may not be enough. If possible, it would be best to use the Tengen: Knight of Empyrean Character Card, or the Immaculate Stigmata."

"Tengen: Knight of Empyrean, Immaculate Stigmata?"

Amber, who saw the message, widened her eyes. The story had only just begun, why were these two needed already? And 'The Immaculate Stigmata is also acceptable'? The Immaculate Stigmata already has surface-level power, how can this level be considered 'acceptable'?

I glanced at my approval rating: 124,000.

With so much recognition, picking these two isn't difficult...

"We... are going to fight Mio Takamiya?"

Amber couldn't help but ask.

"No, it's Mukuro Hoshimiya."

In Black Amber's plan, Mio Takamiya was never an enemy, nor was even Mukuro Hoshimiya. As long as they patiently continued to wait, they could still cover the world with 'refracting mirrors' without fighting Mukuro Hoshimiya, but...

Just as today's unexpected incident led to her embarrassment, Black Amber cannot guarantee that her plan will not go awry, so she must complete the arrangement as quickly as possible.

Chapter Seventy-One: Bringing the Whole Family Along

Seeing the message from her other self, Amber wondered why she had to fight Rokuya so soon, but relying on her reliable impression of her other self and the thought that 'her other self would definitely not harm me,' Amber opened the gacha page.

How long ago was the last time I opened the gacha page?

The featured character on the screen is still Yulande, after all, only six years have passed since I came to this world, and it's not time to change the gacha pool yet.

When I first arrived here, I drew the Moon Spirit Character Card. After gaining some recognition in the Neighboring Realm, I drew the Little Mad-Goose Character Card to strengthen and secure my position.

Although Amber was a little disappointed not to get the Tengen, the Little Mad-Goose was also very cute, so it wasn't a complete loss.

It's been three or four years since that gacha pull.

"Mr. Navigator! I want to do a 10-pull, plus a 20,000 recognition bonus. As before, don't mention anything unimportant."

[Command accepted]

The familiar yet long-lost light flickered before my eyes. After so much good luck accumulated over such a long time, plus the 20,000 points of recognition I've spent on spending money, if I still can't get Tengen, then there must be some shady dealings involved!

[Draw complete. Obtained: Bianca Stage (Top) x1, Bianca Stage (Bottom) x1, Bianca Stage (Middle) x1, Character Card: Theresa Apocalypse (Bishop of Schicksal), Character Card: Bianca Yulande Atagina (Tengen Power), Character Card: Kiana Kaslana (Third Collapse)]

Puff...

It startled me. I thought I had spent 20,000 yuan and gotten the graduation set, but I didn't get the character... Although she now has enough extra Character Card to pull a featured character from any period, she still wanted to pull it herself since she had invested resources.

When Amber saw Theresa's Character Card, she almost had a heart attack. Thankfully, the next one is Tengen Mad-Goose. But... what's with this Third Collapse of Amoeba...? I can't really imagine her appearance in this situation...

No, it wasn't fully insectized during the Third Collapse... but it didn't seem to be of much use anyway. Let's save them up and combine them with the extra Shier Character Card for the next Up.

And... this time a Bishop of Schicksal has actually arrived... Although she is a bishop, it is unknown what period she was born, whether she just became a bishop or has been a bishop for a long time... After all, this old woman's appearance has Schicksal Inescapable changed, the only difference being that she has two dark circles under her eyes.

That said, Yulande is truly worthy of the name. Each banner is designed around the featured character. As Kaslana and also a veteran Kiana, Yulande's network of connections is indeed very strong, as she managed to pull three Character Cards at once.

Looking ahead, Shier dropped a Vita, and neither the Möbius nor Fu Hua dropped any other characters, only their own... well... but Xiao Shi can be considered Fu Hua drop, right?

Regardless, the release of the Tengen Goose has given Amber a great deal of confidence.

"I've already drawn Tengen, but I don't have her signature weapon... but using Black Abyss White Flower should be the same."

Amber sends a message.