Once she had recovered, Enoshia looked around. As expected, there was not even a trace of Schicksal's forces. If they waited for them to arrive, not a single person in London—or even on the entire British Isles—would probably be left alive.
"Phew... I don't have the strength to deal with the Herrscher of Wind in Oslo for now. Trying to take on a task beyond my abilities would just be throwing my life away. I'll wait for Schicksal's operation and cooperate with them." Enoshia glanced at the Serenity Gem in her hand and sent a message to Sirin. Soon, a small portal appeared beside her, and Enoshia tossed the Serenity Gem inside.
"If Sirin had been awake when I obtained the Conquest Gem, I wouldn't have needed to go through all those fancy maneuvers. I could have just thrown the Gem into the teleportation space." Enoshia could not help marveling at the convenience of the Herrscher of Void's authority.
Since she could not use the Serenity Gem herself, she might as well give it to Sirin to fuse with. The stronger Sirin became, the safer she would be.
At that moment, one of her clones handed over the Herrscher's information.
"Rosa Jones, eighteen years old... a patient with severe depression. She originally didn't want to live, but survived several suicide attempts, so she voluntarily became a puppet of the Honkai? No wonder I didn't feel any resistance from a human will when I invaded her Herrscher Core just now. I even heard her say thank you when I removed the Herrscher Core."
While Enoshia had been fighting the Herrscher, she had also ordered her clones scattered across the globe to investigate the Herrscher's true circumstances based on its appearance and other characteristics. If there was a possibility of preserving its humanity, she would try diplomacy before force. After all, if she could avoid a battle just by talking, things would be much easier.
"The Herrscher of Wind... It's in the sky, surrounded by raging winds, and the satellite images are too blurry to identify it? All right, then there's nothing I can do. After all, the limits of my abilities depend on the limits of human technology. No matter how I modify a machine's code, I can't make it do something the machine itself is incapable of."
At 10:00 a.m. on February 7, 2000, Schicksal's forces finally appeared within Germany. By then, the tornado formed from Honkai Energy had already destroyed several cities in Norway and Sweden, reached Denmark, and was rushing toward Germany.
The Schicksal ground-force squad leader, Lewis—a B-rank Valkyrie and the most physically imposing woman among all of Schicksal's Valkyries—stared at the black clouds sweeping toward them and issued the order to attack.
Hundreds of rockets poured toward the tornado ahead. Although the rockets themselves could not have any substantial effect on the wind barrier constructed by the Herrscher, the Herrscher inside the tornado would certainly release a large amount of Honkai Energy when the rockets were destroyed. Schicksal used this fact to successfully pinpoint its exact location.
At an altitude of several thousand meters, Cecilia stood aboard Schicksal's transport ship, Helios, holding Black Abyss White Flower and quietly waiting for her chance.
"Lady Cecilia, we'll be directly above the target in fifteen seconds. The target is approximately eight hundred meters above the current ground level. Please seize the opportunity."
Hearing the message over the comms, Cecilia sighed in relief, put on her yellow goggles, and tightened her grip on Black Abyss White Flower with her right hand.
"...Five."
"Four."
When the countdown reached one, Cecilia leaped from the transport ship and landed precisely in the eye of the tornado.
The Herrscher of Wind in the sky sensed something unusual from above and hurriedly constructed a wind barrier directly overhead.
"Have I been discovered? Then the operation begins."
Cecilia found the right angle in midair and threw Black Abyss White Flower with all her strength.
"Go, Black Abyss!"
The temporary wind barrier constructed by the Herrscher of Wind collapsed at the slightest contact. Before she could react, Black Abyss White Flower had already pierced through her entire body, leaving a clearly visible hole in her chest.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Ignoring her scream, Cecilia closed her eyes and fell toward the ground, shouting:
"White Flower, catch me!"
Black Abyss White Flower, already embedded in the ground, seemed to hear her words. Countless azure vines burst from the earth and intertwined, forming what looked like a gigantic slide. Cecilia slid all the way down along the vines and safely came to a stop on the ground.
"Phew, mission complete. It's another beautiful day." Lying beneath the towering tree formed from the vines, Cecilia gently wiped the sweat from her forehead. Looking at the clear, sunny sky, she smiled with satisfaction.
However, she soon noticed something was wrong. Although the tornado had dispersed, the Herrscher of Wind was still hovering in the air.
She sprang to her feet. Just as she pulled Black Abyss White Flower free, the brief spell of good weather turned violent again. Countless tiny particles flew toward her. At that moment, a gigantic vortex appeared around the Herrscher of Wind, sucking in everything nearby.
"That's bad!" Feeling the suction grow stronger and stronger, Cecilia became anxious as well. If there had been anyone else nearby, they would probably have already been swept into the air.
"Lady Cecilia, the Herrscher has gone berserk after suffering severe injuries. Withdraw first—we'll think of another way!" Shigure Kira's anxious voice came from the command room.
Cecilia knew that without any support, she could not strike the Herrscher from so far away. Although she really did not want to watch a human city be destroyed before her eyes, retreat was undoubtedly the best choice at present.
"Hm?"
Cecilia looked up. An arrow tore through the sky and struck the Herrscher of Wind precisely in the head. About a minute later, the abnormal weather once again returned to calm. The Herrscher of Wind, like a small bird with a broken wing, plunged headfirst to the ground.
"Lady Cecilia, be careful! Something is about to come out of the Herrscher of Wind's body!"
The instant Shigure Kira finished speaking, Enoshia crawled out of the Herrscher of Wind's body.
"Sure enough, having a powerful expert lead the way is great. I didn't even need to do anything." At the instant the arrow was fired, Enoshia had concealed herself inside it and shot into the Herrscher's body. Although Cecilia had failed to kill the Herrscher in one strike, the Herrscher of Wind's body had already begun collapsing after being grievously wounded by Black Abyss White Flower. Enoshia, giving it her all, moved through its body with ease. She barely had to expend any effort to invade it and make it collapse.
"Thank you." Cecilia smiled at Enoshia.
With her white hair, blue eyes, and perfect figure, Kiana had clearly inherited her good genes. For Enoshia, it was the first time such a beautiful girl had smiled sweetly at her from such a close distance. It was only when Cecilia looked at her in confusion that Enoshia realized she had been staring at her unconsciously for quite some time. She hurriedly looked away, bowed slightly in apology, and quickly fled the area.
"Looks like we'll be meeting in Siberia soon. I hope we can fight side by side again when the time comes." Having received the order to retreat, Cecilia also turned and left.
Watching her departing back, Enoshia made up her mind that she would do everything in her power to ensure Cecilia survived until after Finality.
By then, Schicksal had already compiled a summary of the situation in Siberia, and the report was naturally transmitted to her mind at once. After reading it, she understood that the Herrscher of Death and the Herrscher of Wind were nothing more than appetizers.
Before you continue