"I have a feeling it won't be that simple." Theresa didn't believe Yaqing would make such a stupid mistake as forcing a happy ending. Besides, if Cecilia really redeemed Sirin, her big moment would be completely gone.
"Mr. Welt definitely wouldn't believe humans could redeem a Herrscher who wanted to destroy the world. At least, after his negotiations with Sirin failed, he gave up on that approach," Bronya said.
"But wasn't he himself a Herrscher who fought for humanity?" Little Knowledge scratched her head in confusion.
"That's what Bron... what I couldn't understand either. But I get it now. Mr. Welt probably inherited the Herrscher Core from Uncle Joyce. He wasn't the original Herrscher." Bronya raised her coffee cup and took a light sip.
But everyone silently knew that the cup contained milk tea.
"Then why did Welt Joyce choose to fight for humanity?" Little Knowledge asked again.
Bronya's pretty face froze.
"Crunch, crunch."
Hearing the crunching from somewhere, Little Knowledge looked in surprise at Kiana, who had somehow produced another bag of chips. No wonder she had felt that something was missing earlier.
Seeing that Little Knowledge had noticed her, Kiana hurriedly put a finger to her lips and reluctantly shared half her chips.
The scene shifted outside. Completely unlike the beauty of the illusion, Valkyrie Lewis was leading her troops in reality, struggling to hold back a massive horde of Honkai Beasts. Just as Lewis gave the order to retreat, Dr. Tesla of Anti-Entropy personally entered the battle in a mech to provide support.
This was precisely the cooperation agreement reached between Theresa, the acting commander who had returned to the battlefield, and the two doctors of Anti-Entropy.
Tesla piloted the Father to support the southern front. Theresa and Judah's Oath supported the northern front, while Einstein remained elsewhere, constantly adjusting the "prototype model" and attempting to transform Ahalato's engine into the Moonlight Throne.
Einstein understood very well that the rushed prototype model possessed only one-tenth of the original's power, so it had to be used at the right moment.
"The right moment? Things will only get worse!" According to Tesla's estimates, within another two hours, both their forces and Schicksal's troops would most likely be completely wiped out.
But Einstein seemed to be waiting for someone's message. Suddenly, as if she had sensed something, she sharply raised her head.
"Tesla, did you see it?"
"Mm... he's back."
Tesla was already in tears.
Within their sight, Welt's figure appeared once more. After pointing in a certain direction, he slowly disappeared again.
The scene shifted to a memory. Before Ziegfried and Welt boarded the moon, Welt had another plan: let Sirin absorb the First Herrscher Core, while his consciousness hid within that core and used the thoughts and personalities of three hundred thousand people to interfere with Sirin.
It was a gamble, and the stake was his life.
"Truly worthy of an opponent capable of standing against me. He could even plan out his own life." Otto poured wine from the decanter into a goblet and gently swirled it. "To be honest, I don't dislike this kind of person. On the contrary, I respect him greatly."
"Hm?" Kallen asked in confusion, "Otto, isn't the Otto in the story supposed to be the big villain? As the big villain, shouldn't you hate a warrior who fights for humanity?"
"Kallen, the Otto in the story wouldn't sacrifice his life to protect humanity. But he respects those warriors who sacrifice their lives to protect humanity."
"I don't get it."
"It's fine if you don't." Otto smoothed Kallen's somewhat messy long hair, his eyes filled with affection.
Ahalato's massive steel body sprinted across the ash-covered earth. Dr. Einstein was at the controls, approaching the Second Herrscher. The operation would begin in thirty minutes.
Einstein told Tesla to lead Schicksal's soldiers out of the Siberian Snowfield in thirty minutes.
Tesla answered only with silence.
After a long while.
"Hey, don't die, Chicken Nest."
Hearing Tesla's choked voice, Einstein made a promise.
"Definitely."
"Tesla, Joachim, we will meet again."
"Hey, hey, hey, Chicken Nest, why do you sound like you're making your last wishes?" Tesla suddenly had a bad feeling. She grabbed Einstein's shoulders and shook her hard.
"Dr. Tesla, it seems you're a little smarter than your counterpart in the story." Einstein sighed.
Dragon-Slaying Campaign
The scene shifted to the northern front. After Ziegfried was forcibly kicked offline by Sirin, even with Shigure Kira's reinforcements, the two of them gained no advantage whatsoever against Benares.
"Hey, Kira, are you okay?"
Hearing Shigure Kira's ragged breathing, Shub couldn't help asking worriedly.
Sweat dripped from Shigure Kira's pretty face onto the ground. Forcing herself to stand, she could feel her body being eroded just from holding the Abyss Flower.
Shigure Kira was about to be eroded to death by the Abyss Flower. Shub had the dual-pistol form of Judgement of Shamash hanging at her waist. Both of them desperately wanted to find Ziegfried and Cecilia.
Bella hurled down a thick pillar of lightning with terrifying force, aimed at Shub and Shigure Kira. At that critical instant, several golden chains blocked it in front of them.
Shub looked at the monstrously strong nun gripping the chains.
"The Abyss Flower recognizes its owner? Why doesn't Judgement of Shamash do that?" Seeing Shigure Kira nearly being eroded to death, Kitty asked in surprise.
"Sister Pardo, did you forget?" Ling reminded her. "When Shamash turns into a greatsword, it burns both enemies and its wielder to death without exception."
"Right." Kitty asked curiously, "Brother Yaqing, if Divine Keys are so harmful to the human body, why were they even made?"
Yaqing said, "Divine Keys were never meant for ordinary people. If someone insists on using one, the side effects become very obvious."
Theresa prepared bitter melon juice and snacks, eagerly getting ready to watch her big moment.
"Aunt, don't get so excited." Kiana stared at the excited Theresa with dead fish eyes.
"Don't mind me, don't mind me." Theresa replied irritably, casually opening a bag of bitter melon-flavored chips.
Smelling the bitter melon, Kiana and Little Knowledge, who had been sitting on either side of Theresa, both scrunched up their faces. At the same time, they leaned backward, flipped over the sofa, and each returned to her own place—one into Mei's arms, the other hugging Fu Hua.
Theresa knew she had to deal with Bella quickly. Just as she hesitated over whether to unleash Judah's Oath's true power, Einstein's instructions came through her earpiece. Before fifteen minutes had passed, she had to ensure that Ziegfried and Cecilia's weapons reached the battlefield.
Shigure Kira placed the Abyss Flower into Theresa's arms, while Shub tossed the dual pistols of Shamash over as well. They told Theresa to meet up with Anti-Entropy and return the weapons to Ziegfried and Cecilia.
Before that, the two of them would deal with Benares.
"But..." Theresa still wanted to say something.
"Don't worry."
Shub and Shigure Kira stood side by side. Their warrior-like bearing made people unable to help trusting them, and they promised Theresa.
"Battle-hardened Valkyries won't fall in a place like this!"
Theresa chose to trust them as well. She bound Judgement of Shamash and the Abyss Flower with Judah's chains, stood atop Judah's Oath, and left first.
"Nicholas, Kira, promise me—you have to come back alive!"
"Now it's my turn for a big moment!" Shub bared her shark teeth, proudly puffed out her chest, and typed on her phone.
"Is it really worth trading your own death for a big moment?" Cheng Lixue typed in reply.
Shub: "Lixue, you're the least qualified person to say that!"
Salome: "Lixue, you're the least qualified person to say that!"
Patrick: "Lixue, you're the least qualified person to say that!"
Rita: "Lixue, you're the least qualified person to say that!"
Shigure Kira: "Lixue, you're the least qualified person to say that!"
Cheng Lixue stuck out her tongue, then suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Kira, why are you in this group too?!"
Everyone else realized it as well.
Shigure Kira, far away at the Northern Europe headquarters, was also in the cinema. The people beside her were all Schicksal colleagues, and they had no objection to her replying on her phone.
"You all went to the Far East and left me alone in Northern Europe. You people have no loyalty at all!"
Shigure Kira was furious. After taking a day off, she returned to the company only to find that the team she had worked in for years had been dissolved. Her familiar coworkers had all been assigned elsewhere, leaving her alone as though she had been excluded.
Cheng Lixue: "Wasn't that the president's arrangement?"
Salome: "@Shigure Kira, Kira, didn't the president ask you? She asked whether you wanted to go to the Far East, and you chose to stay at headquarters."
If they had not been in a cinema, Shigure Kira probably would have jumped up in anger. She furiously typed away, and her rage practically seeped from every word.
Shigure Kira: "You people seriously have no loyalty!!! How was I supposed to know all of you were willing to be assigned to the Far East? Not one of you told me in advance! And the Snowfield Team has been disbanded—what if Director Cecilia comes back?!"
Cheng Lixue: "Uh... Kira, I need to tell you something. Promise you won't get mad."
Shigure Kira: "Lixue, go ahead!"
Cheng Lixue: "We've already met Director Cecilia in the Far East. We even had a meal with little Kiana and went shopping together. Director Cecilia also told us that she has no plans to return to work."
"Ah!!!" As if killing her wasn't enough, they had to stab her in the heart too. In the quiet cinema, Shigure Kira let out a pig-slaughtering wail, greatly displeasing her coworkers.
After noticing that the cross which had made her uncomfortable had left, Bella was just about to sigh in relief when she suddenly realized Theresa was heading toward Sirin.
"Don't even think about getting close to Queen!"
Lightning gathered in Bella's palm.
But she was trapped by multicolored threads. In her fury, lightning transformed into a barrier that wrapped around Bella and directly knocked away the leaping Shub. Bella reverted to the dragon-shaped Honkai Beast Benares, opened her mouth, and gathered an energy beam.
Shigure Kira, who was in Benares's line of fire, had blood seeping from the corner of her mouth and a faintly eerie smile on her face.
"Hmph, this is exactly what we've been waiting for!"
On Benares's back, Shub raised her weapon and viciously stabbed it into that scarlet wound. To make Bella revert to Benares, Shigure Kira had willingly used herself as bait, all for the wound Judgement of Shamash had once left behind.
"Monster—die!!!"
"Bella!" Sirin cried out in panic.
"Sirin, I'm here." Bella sat beside Sirin with a blank, innocent expression. Still immersed in how handsome and beautiful her dragon model was, she showed absolutely no sign of someone about to be taken offline.
"It's fine, go play." The little bit of emotion Sirin had just felt vanished completely in Bella's clear yet foolish gaze.
"Okay~" Bella trotted into the kitchen and brought back three cups of cola.
"Thank you, Bella." Cecilia smiled.
Bella held the tray with both hands, her manners as elegant as a maid's.
"Bella, how did you know I was thirsty?" Sirin picked up her glass, gulped it all down, and burped.
What followed was Bella's memory. As a Honkai Beast, she had gained human emotions. The most important thing she received from Sirin was the name Bella.
The art style abruptly shifted. As Shub unleashed high-frequency cutting, she dealt massive damage to Benares, but also inflicted irreversible harm upon her own body. Just as she was about to reach her limit, a striking blue glow merged with scarlet red.
"Salome..."
Shub raised her head. Salome's phantom smiled gently at her. The two of them gripped the still-experimental high-frequency weapon together and viciously drove it into Benares's body.
Before you continue