Wind Dissipates, Clouds Scatter

Once she'd caught her breath, Enoshia looked around—sure enough, there wasn't a single trace of Schicksal's forces. If she'd waited for them to show up, there probably wouldn't be a single living soul left in all of London, or even the entire British Isles.

"Sigh... I don't have the strength to deal with the Herrscher of Wind in Oslo right now. Trying to bite off more than I can chew 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, sent a message to Sirin, and a small portal materialized beside her. She tossed the Serenity Gem inside.

"If Sirin had been awake when I got the Conquest Gem, I wouldn't have needed all those flashy moves. I could've just grabbed the gem and chucked it into the transport space." Enoshia couldn't help but marvel at the convenience of the Herrscher of Void's authority.

Since she couldn't use the Serenity Gem herself, she might as well let Sirin fuse with it. The stronger Sirin was, the safer everyone would be.

Just then, her clone handed over the Herrscher's dossier.

"Rosa Jones, 18 years old... severe depression. Originally didn't want to live anymore, but several suicide attempts failed. So she willingly became a puppet of the Honkai? No wonder when I eroded her Herrscher Core earlier, I didn't feel any resistance from a human will. In fact, when I pulled out the core, I even heard a 'thank you.'"

While Enoshia was fighting the Herrscher, she'd also had her clones scattered across the globe search for the Herrscher's real identity based on appearance and other traits. If there was any chance of preserving their humanity, she'd try diplomacy first—after all, if talking could avoid a fight, that would save a lot of trouble.

"The Herrscher of Wind... it's up in the sky, surrounded by a raging gale. Satellite images are too blurry to identify it... Well, there's nothing I can do about that. My abilities are ultimately limited by the ceiling of human technology. If a machine can't do something, no amount of code-tweaking on my part will change that."

At 10:00 on February 7, 2000, Schicksal's forces finally appeared within German borders. By then, the tornado generated by Honkai energy had already destroyed several cities in Norway and Sweden, reached Denmark, and was now bearing down on Germany.

Lewis, the squad leader of Schicksal's ground forces and the most physically imposing Valkyrie among them, a B-rank Valkyrie, stared at the rolling black clouds and gave the order to attack.

Hundreds of rockets poured into the tornado ahead. Though the rockets themselves couldn't do any real damage to the wind barrier the Herrscher had constructed, when they were destroyed, the Herrscher inside the tornado would inevitably release a massive amount of Honkai energy. Schicksal used that to pinpoint its exact location.

Meanwhile, at an altitude of several thousand meters, Cecilia stood aboard the Schicksal transport ship Helios, gripping Black Abyss White Flower, quietly waiting for her chance.

"Lady Cecilia, 15 seconds until we're directly above the target. The target is approximately 800 meters above ground level. Please seize the opportunity."

Hearing the transmission, Cecilia let out a breath, put on her yellow goggles, and tightened her grip on Black Abyss White Flower.

"...5"

"4"

When the countdown hit 1, Cecilia leaped from the transport ship, plunging precisely into the eye of the tornado.

The Herrscher of Wind, sensing something abnormal from above, hastily erected a wind barrier directly overhead.

"Found me? Then the operation begins."

Cecilia angled herself midair, mustered all her strength, and hurled Black Abyss White Flower.

"Go, Black Abyss!"

The wind barrier the Herrscher of Wind had hastily thrown up shattered on contact. Before it could react, Black Abyss White Flower pierced straight through its body, leaving a visible hole in its chest.

"Aaaaaah!"

Ignoring its screams, Cecilia closed her eyes and fell toward the ground, calling out:

"White Flower, catch me!"

Black Abyss White Flower, already embedded in the earth, seemed to hear her. Countless green vines shot up from the ground, intertwining to form a massive slide. Cecilia slid down along the vines and landed safely on the ground.

"Phew, mission complete. It's a nice day today." Lying beneath the towering tree formed by the vines, Cecilia lightly wiped the sweat from her brow, gazing at the clear, windless sky with a satisfied smile.

But she quickly noticed a problem. Though the tornado had dissipated, the Herrscher of Wind was still hovering in the air.

She sprang to her feet with a kip-up and yanked Black Abyss White Flower from the ground. The brief spell of good weather immediately turned foul again. Countless tiny particles flew toward it. A massive vortex formed around the Herrscher of Wind, sucking in everything nearby.

"Not good!" Feeling the pull growing stronger, Cecilia grew anxious. If there hadn't been anyone else around, she'd probably have been lifted into the air by now.

"Lady Cecilia, the Herrscher has gone berserk after being severely wounded. Please retreat first, and we'll figure something else out!" Shigure Kira's anxious voice came through from the command room.

Cecilia knew that without any support, she couldn't reach the distant Herrscher. Though she hated the thought of a human city being destroyed before her eyes, retreat was clearly the best option.

"Hm?"

Cecilia looked up. An arrow streaked across the sky, striking the Herrscher of Wind squarely in the head. About a minute later, the abnormal weather calmed down again. The Herrscher of Wind plummeted to the ground like a bird with a broken wing.

"Lady Cecilia, be careful! Something's coming out of the Herrscher of Wind!"

No sooner had Shigure Kira spoken than Enoshia crawled out from inside the Herrscher of Wind.

"As expected, having a big shot lead the way is great. I barely had to lift a finger." Enoshia had stuffed herself into the arrow the moment it was fired, riding it straight into the Herrscher's body. Even though Cecilia hadn't killed the Herrscher in one blow, after being heavily wounded by Black Abyss White Flower, its entire body was already collapsing. Enoshia, going all out, moved through its body like a fish in water. Without much effort, she eroded it from the inside and made it crumble.

"Thank you." Cecilia smiled at Enoshia.

White hair, blue eyes, and a perfect figure—Kiana had clearly inherited her good genes. Having such a beautiful young woman smile sweetly at her up close was a first for Enoshia. She only realized she'd been staring unconsciously when Cecilia gave her a puzzled look. Quickly averting her gaze, she gave a slight bow in apology and swiftly fled the scene.

"It looks like we'll meet again in Siberia soon. I hope we can fight side by side then." Receiving the order to retreat, Cecilia turned and left.

Watching her retreating figure, Enoshia made up her mind—she would do everything in her power to make sure Cecilia survived until after the Finality.

By then, Schicksal had compiled a summary of the situation in Siberia. The report naturally reached her mind in an instant. After reading it, she understood—the Herrscher of Death and the Herrscher of Wind were nothing more than appetizers.