Hearing the implication in her words—that even if she became a Herrscher, it seemingly would not trigger a Honkai eruption—Raiden Mei fell silent. Her resolve to immediately reject the other party's idea was no longer quite so firm.
Meanwhile, Gwen, who was fighting the Queen, was growing increasingly precarious. The rapid depletion of his energy and stamina, along with the mounting injuries on his body, placed ever greater pressure on him.
However, Gwen, who had already made his calculations, showed no panic whatsoever. He merely calmly sensed the changes within himself under that increasingly terrifying pressure.
Finally, at a certain moment, when the pressure the Queen exerted on Gwen reached a particular threshold, a subtle, almost imperceptible change occurred in the softly glowing eyes of Gwen, who had barely evaded a Void Lance.
And if he returned to his true form, one would discover that Gwen's eyes were now utterly blank—
Under the Queen's overwhelming force and Gwen's apparent weakness, the accumulated terrifying pressure finally caused Gwen to unlock the Gene Lock once again.
However, although he had unlocked the Gene Lock, Gwen did not immediately launch a counterattack. He merely maintained the battlefield as before. The subtle shift in his aura went unnoticed by the Queen, who had retreated far away. Still contemplating how to carve Gwen up, she waved her hand and sent more than a dozen Void Lances flying out, knocking down Gwen, who had just swept away the Void Lances surrounding him—
Boom!
Amid the thunderous crash, Gwen's body slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Raiden Mei, who was still struggling with herself, went blank, her heart nearly stopping.
"Gwen!"
As Raiden Mei cried out, dazzling lightning surged from her body, illuminating Gwen's battered form and Raiden Mei's lovely face streaked with tears.
In an instant, the Honkai Energy gathered nearby by the unexpectedly awakened Queen seemed to find an outlet like water in a swimming pool, madly flooding into Raiden Mei's body.
At the same time, a gateway on another level quietly opened, and an immense amount of Honkai Energy poured into Raiden Mei's body.
Yet faced with Honkai Energy far exceeding what she had absorbed before, Raiden Mei displayed no abnormalities. The corrosive marks that had appeared on her body earlier vanished completely. Her eyes, seeming to flicker with lightning, met the golden eyes in the sky, where flames of vengeance appeared to burn fiercely.
Let Us... Become One Body
"Oh?"
Sensing the aura emanating from the body that had just been completely at her mercy, the Queen tilted her head slightly. Surprise appeared on her previously relaxed face, which had assumed the battle was already decided.
"What is it, my other half? Do you really think that, as you are now, you can resist me?"
Though surprised by the changes occurring in Raiden Mei, the Queen remained unhurried—
As a mature Herrscher, the Queen knew very well what state Raiden Mei was currently in—
Just as Sirin had needed time to secretly absorb Honkai Energy in the Babylon Tower, Raiden Mei, who had not triggered a major Honkai eruption, needed time to completely transform into a true Herrscher.
During that time, Raiden Mei, who looked no weaker than the Queen in terms of aura, was only no weaker in aura—
She might look overwhelmingly powerful, but in reality, she was just a half-baked amateur. Once she truly fought, she would be completely exposed.
"..."
Faced with the Queen's contemptuous question, Raiden Mei said nothing. Her figure shrouded in lightning merely stepped forward, standing in front of Gwen.
"Heh..."
At that, the Queen suddenly laughed, but there was not a trace of amusement in her golden eyes. Instead, they seemed filled with roaring flames—
"You've clearly already seen humanity at its ugliest, yet you still choose to oppose me for a man who may not have spoken more than a few truthful words...
You really are cheap enough for me to remember your name...
Rai—den—Mei☆~"
"..."
Raiden Mei remained silent. Honkai Energy surged madly through her body, and the violet hue in her lightning-filled eyes deepened as she stared fixedly at the Queen.
"Heh, I have to admit that, as a clown, you've passed when it comes to entertaining me."
The light in the Queen's golden eyes intensified, but her tone suddenly turned cold.
"However, I have no interest in watching a clown perform.
Now, get off the stage obediently."
As the Queen's voice turned cold, three Void Lances appeared, reaching Raiden Mei in an instant.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Just as Raiden Mei was preparing to completely relinquish control of her body and leave everything to that voice, the three Void Lances that could have taken her life shattered almost instantly.
"Sorry for making you worry."
Gwen's voice rang out beside her ears once more, causing the taut string in Raiden Mei's heart to loosen slightly. She stopped herself from handing over control of her body and spoke as calmly as she could.
"Gwen, now... I'm qualified to fight by your side."
"You really do sound like that annoying white-haired woman said. Like a clown."
The voice that could only remain a spectator inside Raiden Mei's mind mocked her mercilessly.
However, Raiden Mei treated those words as though they had never reached her ears—
Perhaps she had heard them, but Raiden Mei, now filled with a steady stream of power, had completely lost her usual maidenly shyness. A trace of hoarseness entered her voice, making it far more forceful.
"But you right now..."
Having already learned something of Raiden Mei's condition through telekinesis, Gwen instinctively wanted to say something. Yet when he met the lightning-filled eyes she turned toward him, he swallowed the rest of his words.
"Bastard!"
Never expecting these two to flirt right in front of her, the Queen's rage instantly surged. Gritting her teeth, she flung out several Void Belts that tore through space, intending to tear the two bastards to pieces.
However, those ribbons capable of slicing space came to a halt before a slowly rotating nebula—
Raiden Mei's sudden outburst had far exceeded Gwen's expectations. To ensure that what he intended to do next would succeed, Gwen simply abandoned the act he had only performed halfway and gave up his original plan of feigning injury—
Originally, Gwen had planned to show weakness to the enemy, then suddenly strike while that Void Tuna was puffed up and knock her flat—
Gwen's energy consumption was no act. The Queen's strategy had indeed been effective... but Gwen had left enough energy in the Paraj Bracelet to instantly restore himself to full strength...
However, now that Raiden Mei had suddenly risen to prominence, Gwen simply changed his original plan—
"Since you say so, then..."
Holding up a shield to keep the Queen's impotent, furious attacks outside, Gwen extended his hand toward Raiden Mei, who was clearly in a highly sensitive state.
"Mei, give me your hand."
"Mm."
Though violent lightning coursed through her body, Raiden Mei was exceptionally obedient to Gwen's words, placing her small hand in his silver palm.
"This is..."
The instant her hand touched Gwen's, Raiden Mei felt an incomparably warm power flow into her body. It made her body, which had been slightly uncomfortable from the endless influx of power, feel as comfortable as though it were soaking in a hot spring.
Before Raiden Mei could ask, Gwen's voice sounded again—
"Empty your mind, and let us... become one body..."
While Raiden Mei and the Queen faced each other, Gwen had not merely been lying there pretending to be dead. He had been adapting to his changes—
Just as Gwen had expected, after unlocking the Gene Lock once more, the change he had long anticipated had finally appeared—
Whenever Nexus was mentioned, people would always instinctively think of the phrase, "Light is a bond."
However, for Nexus and the Deunamists, light was more than a bond. It was evolution—the evolution of light, and the evolution of the Deunamists.
With Nexus's deliberate assistance, the light within Gwen's body had always been more closely connected to him than it was to ordinary Deunamists.
Under the effect of the Gene Lock, Gwen was evolving at an unimaginable speed, and his deeper fusion with that light was progressing at a pace even Nexus had not expected. It had been completed in less than half a year.
After completing that process, Gwen gained many new abilities—such as the essential life-saving skill used by Land of Light warriors on field missions—One-Body Fusion.
And according to Gwen's senses, the power within Raiden Mei's body had already reached the limit she could control.
If it was not guided or vented, the increasingly violent power inside Raiden Mei would inevitably spiral out of control in her current state, truly triggering the Third Honkai Eruption.
That was why Gwen made this choice.
"Mm..."
Hearing Gwen's gentle voice, Raiden Mei instantly stopped thinking so much. She slowly closed her eyes and allowed the power originating from Gwen to completely fill every corner of her body...
Under the gaze of the Queen's golden eyes, filled with fury and nearly splitting apart, the nebula-like barrier quietly took on traces of violet lightning...
Otto: Foolish Humans...
"What happened?"
Murata Himeko, off duty and having her usual drink, rushed into the meeting room in a hurry, carrying the scent of alcohol—
A few minutes earlier, Murata Himeko, the Far East Branch's A-rank Valkyrie, who neither had lesson plans to prepare nor a shift to work today, had just opened a bottle of fine liquor and taken a few sips when the alarm from the Schicksal terminal beside her nearly startled her into smashing the bottle.
Though life at the Far East Branch was quite peaceful, Murata Himeko had not completely lost the qualities expected of her. She immediately recognized it as the highest-level alert.
Not even bothering to put the cap back on the bottle, Himeko rushed out of her home and reached the meeting room at top speed.
"According to the Honkai Energy detection readings, a Herrscher-level Honkai Energy reaction has appeared in Changkong City."
Using Judas's flight mode, Theresa, the Far East Branch director who had arrived ahead of the others, wore a grave expression. Completely devoid of her usual unserious demeanor, she spoke quickly.
"The problem is that no major Honkai eruption has occurred in Changkong City, and there seem to be two individuals whose Honkai Energy levels have reached Herrscher-class.
The Hyperion is starting up. You and I will head to Changkong City shortly."
"..."
Upon hearing the word "Herrscher," Murata Himeko's deeply furrowed expression instantly froze. After hearing Theresa's following explanation, her face grew even darker. After a moment of silence, she spoke again.
"Be careful. You haven't been on the battlefield in years. Don't get yourself killed over some trivial matter."
"Instead of worrying about me, you should hurry up and drink something to sober up."
Theresa replied casually.
At this moment, under the threat of two suspected Herrschers, the words the two normally used to tease each other were filled with heavy pressure.
Though Theresa tried her best to maintain a calm expression, the worry on her tense little face was already impossible to conceal—
Even if her memories had become somewhat blurred, the pressure brought by the Herrscher of the Void remained vivid in her mind. Theresa could not help but feel immense pressure.
It was the same even though, when they had contacted each other not long ago, her grandfather had assured her that nothing major would happen.
A few minutes later, the Hyperion carried former S-class Valkyrie Theresa Apocalypse, active A-rank Valkyrie Murata Himeko, active A-rank Valkyrie Fu Hua, and all the other active Valkyries of the Far East Branch as it sped toward Changkong City—
As Schicksal's top-tier active battleship, the Hyperion only needed a few minutes to reach Changkong City.
However, before the Hyperion, another small Schicksal transport craft had already approached Changkong City, where two Herrscher-level Honkai Energy reactions had appeared—
A few minutes earlier, Rita, who was on her way to Changkong City, suddenly received an alert that a Herrscher had appeared. The location was precisely where Rita had been headed—
Changkong City.
Rita was greatly surprised, but recalling Otto's words before she left, she also inexplicably felt a sense of understanding.
As she pushed the transport craft to maximum speed, Rita sent Otto a communication request with mixed emotions. It was quickly answered—
"Rita, have you seen the Herrscher alert?"
Otto's unhurried voice came through, devoid of any tension. It seemed to carry an invisible power that calmed Rita's somewhat flustered heart, while also deepening certain thoughts within her.
"I saw it. It's in Changkong City."
Rita's voice was incomparably calm, entirely unlike the turmoil in her heart.
"Some people are even more foolish than I imagined...
Heh... humanity really is fascinating..."
As if recalling something, Otto said this without context. It was unclear whether he was merely musing to himself or explaining something to Rita. Only then did he continue.
"Don't worry, Rita. Just carry out your mission properly. Gwen will handle these problems."
"Yes..."
Rita responded respectfully. There was neither panic at the thought of stepping onto a battlefield of true monsters nor the slightest doubt in Otto's words—
Though Rita's heartbeat had indeed quickened from a living being's instinctive fear of death, and though she also doubted whether Gwen could resolve two Herrschers as Otto claimed.
Yet when she recalled that towering figure from their first meeting, Rita suddenly felt reassured. Her fear and doubts completely vanished, leaving only the determination to bring the equipment at her feet—which could help Gwen—to his side...
Rita had now entered Far East airspace. With overload mode activated, the transport craft needed less than two minutes to reach Changkong City...
At the same time, in Changkong City, within the urban district left in ruins by Gwen and the Queen's battle, the nebula-like barrier tinged with violet lightning quietly dissipated. Several Void Lances, which had been futilely attacking the barrier, successfully crossed the previously impassable boundary. Yet they struck no target. Instead, they collided with each other, and the eruption of Honkai Energy caused a small-scale spatial collapse.
Almost at the same moment, amid nearly imperceptible thunder, a spear tip leaping with golden arcs of electricity pressed against the Queen's Herrscher dress over her chest. With even the slightest exertion, it could pierce her heart.
However, the Queen, whose hairs stood on end in an instant, made the correct response. Ignoring the consumption of Honkai Energy, she used the small amount she had painstakingly accumulated as the price to shatter the space containing herself and the violet figure wreathed in lightning, placing them within the Imaginary Space.
After becoming one body with Raiden Mei, Gwen received an enormous boost. The vastly enhanced energy supply and the lightning power that came with it caused Gwen's combat strength to soar.
Before you continue