Holy Spear: Bloom

On the front lines against the Herrscher of Frost, everyone wore expressions of shock as they watched its wounds rapidly heal and its power grow even stronger.

"Even wounds caused by Black Abyss White Flower can recover this quickly—why does the Herrscher of Frost have such immense regenerative ability?" Enoshia deflected its attacks while pondering the reason behind this phenomenon.

"Leaving aside the fact that a native three-core Herrscher has never appeared before, and that the Death Herrscher's core is inside Sirin's body, even if it were some other Herrscher, it shouldn't have the ability to recover so fast... Forget it, too little information. I'll deal with it first. Schicksal's people can't possibly have only one plan for handling a Herrscher."

Although Walter Yang's support had completely neutralized the gravity-altering ability of the original Herrscher of Rocks, in the bitterly cold blizzard, Shigure Kira, Shub, and Salome—the three weakest fighters—were beginning to struggle, their movements growing sluggish.

The Frost Lanterns had entered hunting mode. Without red-circle warnings and relying entirely on their own predictions, Shub and Salome at the front line nearly got caught several times.

Theresa and Cecilia exchanged a glance and nodded.

Theresa manipulated the Oath of Judas, sending out several chains that interwove in the air to form a large net, intercepting a barrage of Ice Spears. Seizing the gap in the attack, Cecilia charged in from the flank once more, Black Abyss White Flower in hand.

Seeing this, the Herrscher of Frost, while continuing to rain down endless Ice Spears, recalled five ice hairpins to its side, forming the Falling Ice Sword Array. Its defense greatly enhanced, it then activated the skill [Ice Gaze Lamp]. Two Frost Lanterns dropped to the ground and spun like tops toward Cecilia. Shigure Kira's bullets struck the Frost Lanterns but were like eggs against stone, failing even to slow them down.

Enoshia, who had encountered the Herrscher of Frost in the Abyss and on the battlefield, knew what it was about to do the moment the lanterns landed. She immediately synchronized the situation and her memories from her past life to the clone hidden in the network. With computational assistance, she could predict the Herrscher's movement trajectory.

Armed with the计算结果, Enoshia took aim and loosed an arrow. One Frost Lantern not only veered off its intended path but also collided precisely with the other, creating a large opening in front of the Herrscher of Frost. Siegfried and the others struck together, once again creating an opportunity for Cecilia.

Cecilia seized the moment and closed the distance again. As she ran, she began to murmur to herself:

"Ich bin das Schwarz, auch das Weiß, vor dem Beginn und nach dem Ende."

(I am the black that devours all, I am the white that gives birth to all; born before creation, existing after annihilation.)

With her whisper, Black Abyss White Flower emitted an increasingly dazzling light.

"Black Abyss White Flower, First Rated Power—Holy Spear: Bloom!"

A blinding white light shot forth. With a crisp sound, the Herrscher of Frost's Falling Ice Sword Array was instantly shattered, and then its entire body was swallowed by the holy radiance. Everyone instinctively closed their eyes.

As the harsh light faded, the Herrscher of Frost toppled over into the snow like a felled flower. Petals wrapped around the vaguely humanoid form, and the five ice hairpins lay scattered on the ground. It seemed Cecilia had dealt it heavy damage. But upon closer inspection, there was not a single wound on its body.

Seeing the Herrscher temporarily cease all activity, Cecilia, breathing heavily, wiped the sweat from her brow and revealed a relieved smile. Under the gentle winter sunlight, the flying droplets of sweat sparkled like crystal. The figure and the scene formed a beautiful tableau. Set off by many factors, Cecilia, already uniquely charming, became even more so. Siegfried and Shigure Kira, seeing her heroic silhouette, couldn't help but be momentarily dazed.

"Ahem." Cheng Lixue looked at Shigure Kira, shaking her head as she coughed loudly twice. Shigure Kira realized that her blatant staring at Cecilia had been seen by everyone else. Awkwardly, she turned her head away, but her face still wore an enraptured expression as she muttered under her breath:

"The current Lady Cecilia is really..."

Cheng Lixue looked at Shigure Kira's expression, pressed her right hand to her forehead, and sighed helplessly. It was normal for weaker Valkyries to revere Cecilia, Schicksal's only S-rank Valkyrie—she herself, Salome, and Shub all felt the same.

But as far as she knew, among the roughly five hundred B-rank and above Valkyries in the headquarters and European branch, many held feelings toward Cecilia that went far beyond reverence. They were like Shigure Kira—rabid fans meeting their dream idol. That was why, back when Shigure Kira spread her rumors, none of the Valkyries she slandered had any objections.

Of course, the Kaslana and Saniyat families were already well-matched. As the most outstanding young members of their respective families, and with the Overseer himself pushing things along, Shigure Kira's rumors ultimately had no effect. But Cheng Lixue was convinced through this incident that if Cecilia ever stood against Overseer Otto, she wouldn't even need to raise a call to arms—conservatively, over half of the five hundred Valkyries in headquarters and the European branch would directly choose to support her. It was fortunate that she had always been willing to follow Otto's orders; otherwise, Schicksal might have risked splitting again.

"By the way, my master once sparred with Lady Cecilia... I wonder who won... No, why am I getting distracted on the battlefield!" Cheng Lixue pulled her thoughts back to reality and quickly scanned her surroundings. Fortunately, her lapse in focus hadn't caused any trouble.

But she wasn't the only one. Shigure Kira, Nicholas, and Salome also seemed to have just snapped out of their daze.

"Is it because everyone's nerves were stretched taut facing a Herrscher for the first time, and they relaxed after a temporary victory?" Though the reasoning seemed sound, the fact that three A-rank Valkyries had all spaced out at the same time while facing a Herrscher still struck her as odd.

Just as Cheng Lixue refocused with renewed vigilance, the flower bud flew into the air and opened again. The bitterly cold blizzard once more spread outward from its center.

"Not only did it break through its defense and put a possibly anomalous dual-core Herrscher out of commission for over a minute—when Leanna used the First Rated Power back then, she probably couldn't have done all that."

Flapping her wings from a high vantage point, Enoshia rubbed her chin, gaining a new understanding of Cecilia's strength. Faced with the Herrscher of Frost, now restored to combat readiness, she chose to stand far away and watch. Because during that minute of downtime, Theresa, in Judas skateboard mode, had already reached its side.

The Herrscher of Frost directed its ice hairpins to stab at Theresa. Theresa controlled Judas's chains to entangle them. When it pulled the hairpins back, Theresa held firm, and she was yanked right up to it.

Even with Theresa's height, she could now reach out and touch the Herrscher of Frost's body. The extreme cold instantly engulfed her. With every breath, she felt her entire body freezing stiff, and even her consciousness began to blur.

"This is the most critical step. If I can pull it off, this crisis will be resolved. I cannot fall here!"

Theresa forced herself awake through sheer willpower. After confirming one last time that everyone else had retreated a hundred meters away, golden light burst from the Oath of Judas. Countless chains bound the Herrscher of Frost like a dumpling.

"Oath of Judas, Zeroth Rated Power—Divine Prayer Barrier!"