Bella blocked several Valkyries who were trying to retreat. Without a word, she formed a ball of lightning and hurled it at them.
Cheng Lixue gripped Ruoshui tightly and split the ball of lightning in two with a single sword strike. But the lightning ball did not disappear. Instead, it became two smaller lightning balls that flew toward her from both sides. Cheng Lixue swung her sword twice more, and the two lightning balls turned into four even smaller ones.
"What..." The four lightning balls struck Cheng Lixue simultaneously. She fell into the snow, faint currents of electricity still running faintly across her body.
"A Herrscher... No, is she something between a Herrscher and a Honkai Beast?" Seeing Bella knock Cheng Lixue down with a single attack, Cecilia realized how serious the situation was. She pointed Black Abyss White Flower at Bella, intending to deal with her first.
"I was wondering where Bella went. Sirin really is mysteriously confident. She sent Bella, a somewhat stronger Quasi-Herrscher, to fight Siegfried wielding Divine Fire Judgment, Cecilia wielding Black Abyss White Flower, and everyone else. What was she thinking? Isn't this just seeking death?!"
Enoshia finally understood what it meant for both the palm and the back of one's hand to be made of flesh. If these Schicksal people killed Bella here, then even if Sirin was unaffected by the Will of Honkai, there would probably be no chance of reconciliation between her and Schicksal in the future. But if Enoshia went to help Bella, those already badly wounded Schicksal people would probably be beaten to death outright.
To see these Schicksal people and Bella suffer mutual destruction again, or even die together—no! Anything but that!
At the crucial moment when Enoshia was caught between advancing and retreating, Sirin teleported to Bella's side.
She saw Cecilia holding Black Abyss White Flower. Although Sirin had never attended even a single day of school and did not know what a Divine Key was, her instincts told her that Lance was extremely dangerous.
Although she had not seen the First Herrscher from before, the moment she saw Cecilia, she realized that her assessment of the strongest Valkyrie had been flawed. Thus, just as Bella and Cecilia were preparing to fight, she immediately teleported in front of Bella.
"You're no match for her. Stand down."
"Yes, Queen." Bella immediately retreated behind Sirin.
In the distance, the Herrscher of Frost lay in the snow, its entire body pinned to the ground by dozens of Void Lances.
"Besides the abilities of the Herrscher of Void, she also displayed the abilities of the Herrscher of Thunder, the Herrscher of Wind, and the Herrscher of Death. She possesses four Herrscher Cores. No wonder she was able to end the battle so quickly."
Cecilia's words were meant not only for Sirin but also for Shigure Kira and Shub. Salome, an A-rank Valkyrie whose strength was close to theirs, had just failed to withstand even a single attack from the Herrscher of Frost. Yet Sirin, a girl who looked even younger than them, had already subdued the Herrscher of Frost. Such a vast difference in strength would undoubtedly have a tremendous impact on them. Cecilia also meant that if Sirin did not possess so many Herrscher Cores, her own strength would not be this great.
"Tch, you know quite a lot about me. Schicksal's Valkyries really are a bunch of useless trash. They rely on Artificial Stigmata obtained by trading countless children's lives, yet even with so many of them attacking together, they can't defeat a single Herrscher."
"Ahem." Enoshia came to her side and interrupted her.
"Sirin, you're mistaken. The people below should all be natural Stigmata holders. Valkyries who receive Artificial Stigmata are even weaker than them. Even ten of them together might not be able to defeat an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, let alone a Herrscher."
Enoshia's words sounded as though she were belittling Schicksal, but she deliberately emphasized that they "had not received Artificial Stigmata." By intentionally separating them from the others in Schicksal, she gradually weakened Sirin's hatred toward them.
"Ah, are Valkyries really that weak?" Because of Cecilia's arrival, the overall strength of Valkyries had risen several levels in her mind. Now, it seemed she had been mistaken again.
"Sigh, it isn't that Valkyries are weak. It's that Honkai is too strong. That's why we, as Herrschers, are so powerful. Are things over on your side?" She awkwardly changed the subject.
"That Herrscher was strange. Its strength was only so-so, but it was extremely tough, and the wounds I inflicted healed very quickly. So I decided to deal with the Schicksal people first. You promised me that you wouldn't stop me from taking revenge." The look Sirin gave Enoshia was just like that of a child who had achieved good grades, facing a parent who had promised to buy her a toy if she did well next time.
"Of course. Never urge others to be kind when you haven't suffered what they have. Schicksal owes you this in the first place. If I were the one being forcibly injected with excessive amounts of Honkai Energy and subjected to inhumane torture every day, I would also seek revenge against Schicksal. Since Schicksal chose to create Artificial Stigmata through human experimentation on children, it should have expected the day it would suffer the backlash." Enoshia's attitude toward the Babylon Experiment had always been firm.
Cecilia turned her head to glance at Theresa and gave her an inquiring look. Theresa nodded lightly, indicating that the experiment Enoshia had mentioned had indeed happened.
Cecilia lowered Black Abyss White Flower. Leaving aside the two Herrschers in the air and the existence between a Herrscher and a Honkai Beast attacking together, everyone here would probably be no match for them. As for the Herrscher of Corruption, she was right—Sirin's hatred of Schicksal had been entirely brought upon itself by Schicksal.
Seeing that Sirin was about to attack, Enoshia loudly asked Cecilia several questions before the lightning ball in Sirin's hands finished forming. The questions sounded extremely important at first but were actually useless for changing the current situation, and she mixed in a few curses directed at Schicksal so Sirin would be happier listening to them. In fact, she could learn the answers to most of those questions simply by using the authority of the Herrscher of Corruption to inspect the archives at Schicksal HQ.
Cecilia saw that the other side clearly held the advantage in strength yet had begun arguing with her instead of attacking. She knew that Enoshia did not want to fight her but also did not want to become enemies with Sirin. Thus, she followed Enoshia's lead and kept the conversation going to buy time.
Since Schicksal had no moral high ground whatsoever regarding the Babylon Experiment, Enoshia remained on top throughout the verbal battle. Seeing Schicksal suffer, Sirin was delighted, and for the moment, she did not attack them.
Their stalling successfully brought about a change. A crisp sound rang out as the Herrscher of Frost broke free of the Void Lances' restraints and reentered the battle.
"What a nuisance." Sirin clearly considered the Herrscher of Frost a greater threat than Schicksal, so she teleported to its side again. She pointed with her right hand, and several bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky. It had only just flown into the air when it fell back to the ground.
"Why not just throw it into that... whatever it was, the Imaginary Space?" Sirin teleported in front of it and prepared to attack.
"Hm? Teleportation failed?" Sirin activated the authority of the Herrscher of Void, but the Herrscher of Frost remained where it was, while a wave of weakness spread through her entire body.
"Queen!" Bella was the first to notice that something was wrong with Sirin. She immediately flew toward her at full speed.
"Bang." A deep, muffled sound rang out. Its snake-like eyes opened once more, and with it at the center, a strange black mist spread outward. Before long, it covered the entire battlefield.
"Why... am I suddenly... so sleepy..." Sirin felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. In the end, she completely lost consciousness.
Before you continue