The Right Remedy

February 10, 21:00

Novosibirsk. In a room that looked like an abandoned warehouse, Enoshia found the place using the coordinates provided by Anti-Entropy.

Bella—Eyes Wide (Top)

Welt—Sighing (Middle)

Einstein—Shaking Her Head (Bottom)

Looking at the three people who seemed capable of making up a complete Stigmata set, Enoshia scratched her head and first asked Old Yang for the details.

Because of the commotion caused by the Honkai Energy Fission Bomb, Welt and Einstein had planned to return to Lake Baikal to check the situation. Instead, they happened to run into Bella, who was flying at full speed. Without saying a word, she attacked them. Fortunately, she was only a Quasi-Herrscher. With the help of the Moonlight Throne Mech, Old Yang, a true Herrscher, ultimately managed to restrain her.

In short, Bella had accepted their persuasion only because she could not beat them and had temporarily stopped causing trouble. But anyone could see that she was seething inside.

"Cough, cough. Bella, Sirin is safe. She's currently in a secret laboratory in Siberia. If you attack Schicksal's branches and headquarters, you'll be falling right into Otto's trap. Not only will you fail to save her, you'll also get yourself captured."

After hearing Enoshia's words, Bella's expression softened somewhat.

"She's still in Siberia... That makes sense. Only five hours have passed, so conducting the research nearby is undoubtedly the most efficient option and the least likely to be attacked. So, what do you plan to do?"

"The fewer people, the better. Bella and I will go. After this, we probably won't see each other again for a while. Thank you for stopping Bella in time."

"It was nothing. I hope we'll have the chance to cooperate again in the future. Anti-Entropy's doors will always be open to you." Seeing that Enoshia had her own plans, Welt did not ask further questions. He left with Einstein.

Half an hour later, in an underground laboratory somewhere in Siberia.

"Lord Bishop, the Herrscher of Void's DNA has been extracted. The Herrscher Cores of the Herrscher of Wind, Herrscher of Thunder, and Herrscher of Death have been removed. Should we remove the Herrscher of Void's Core as well?" A woman in a white coat respectfully reported to Otto.

This laboratory had originally been established to support the Babylon Tower experiments. If anything unexpected happened at Babylon Tower, the unfinished experiments inside could be transferred here and continued. As a result, the facilities were fully equipped. Even Otto had not expected the place to play such an important role at this time.

"Continue... Hmm?" Before Otto could finish speaking, all the equipment in the laboratory shut down. A pair of hands reached out from the monitor directly in front of him.

"Lord Bishop... This... this..." Seeing someone crawl out of the display, the researcher was so frightened that she fell onto the floor.

"Hehe, you found this place so quickly. As expected of the Herrscher of Corruption."

What Enoshia did not say was that, if she had not been worried about what might happen to Sirin if the equipment suddenly stopped halfway through removing the Herrscher Core, she would have arrived ten minutes earlier.

Ignoring the terrified researcher, Otto continued smiling as he faced Enoshia's sudden appearance.

"Release her, or face the consequences." Enoshia's voice held no emotion.

"Face the consequences? Hehehe. If there were things you wanted to do, you would have done them already. Why wait until now? As a Herrscher who fights for humanity just like the First Herrscher, even if I really did something, the morality you use to restrain yourself wouldn't allow you to do anything. Am I right?"

Hearing the mockery in Otto's voice, Enoshia could not help clenching her fists. Yet even when facing a Herrscher, the man before her still wore an expression that said, Everything is under my control. It was Otto himself, without a doubt.

Seeing that Enoshia remained silent, Otto continued.

"I know you care deeply about this girl named Sirin, but I have my own difficulties. For certain unavoidable reasons, I need her cooperation in my experiments. You don't need to resent me over this and keep opposing me. How should I put this? Even if you lose Sirin, you still have me. I can completely become your good companion, can't I? Just like her."

Although Enoshia knew that Otto was merely trying to provoke her and test her, seeing his insincere smile made her want to experience the sound of his Soul Steel body creaking beneath her fists.

Otto was an evil man, while Enoshia considered herself a good person—or at least a good person compared to Otto. And when good and evil people competed, the result was often that the good person ended up with a gun pointed at them.

Deep inside, thoughts of slaughter and destruction continued to grow. Whether they came from the Herrscher consciousness or not, she absolutely could not let a moment of impulse lead her to an irreversible result.

"I mean no offense, but desperate times call for desperate measures. To save her... sorry." Enoshia closed her eyes and repeated the words silently in her heart. When she opened her eyes again, Otto realized that she had changed.

"To judge me so accurately in such a short time... You're right. Even if you really did something to Sirin, I wouldn't use my Herrscher Authority to take revenge on human society. But... your judgment isn't entirely correct. Welt and I aren't the same kind of people. I won't take revenge on human society, but I will take revenge on you!"

After she said this, Otto still wore a look of disdain, with even a hint of anticipation. Enoshia understood that he had plenty of Soul Steel bodies, making it difficult to truly kill him, and he was not afraid of death. But... Enoshia could still make him experience something more painful than death.

"I'll completely erase Kallen Kaslana from your memories. Everything about her—no matter what you think or how others remind you—you'll never be able to recall her. Then I'll erase everything she left behind in the world, piece by piece, until everyone knows that no such person ever existed. The person hanged five hundred years ago was merely a nameless nobody who did not even leave her name behind. She's been dead for five hundred years, after all, and not many people know about her. Using the Power of Corruption to alter their memories one by one shouldn't be particularly troublesome."

Otto, who had remained calm and composed until then, froze as if someone had suddenly stopped time. Beads of sweat the size of beans slid down his face and finally struck the floor, making a deafening sound.

"Ahahaha, I think we can still talk this over. Releasing her isn't impossible."

In truth, Enoshia herself did not believe she could accomplish what she had just said. After all, the stronger a creature's will, the harder it was to corrupt it. If she tried to corrupt Otto, there was a high probability she would return empty-handed.

Although Otto was not a good person by any measure, when it came to determination, perhaps only Bella in the entire world could compare with him. One of them had nothing but Kallen in her mind, while the other had nothing but Sirin.

But she knew that, as the Herrscher of Corruption, she possessed the ability to alter other people's memories and perceptions. As long as it was theoretically possible, Otto would not dare to gamble. Even if she ultimately only twisted his perception of Kallen, that would still be more painful than death. To deal with Otto, she had to prescribe the right remedy.

"I don't need the three Herrscher Cores you've already removed. I can also leave your research on the Herrscher of Ice alone. As long as you hand Sirin and Divine Fire Judgment over to me intact."

After a moment of hesitation, Otto nodded.

Enoshia tapped the monitor, and the equipment began operating again. Sirin, who had been lying inside a strange device, was released. Enoshia glanced at what they had done to Sirin, said nothing more, and carried her away.

She could certainly have taken the remaining three Herrscher Cores as well, but after reading the experimental records, she understood that there was no need. Sirin's future days should be a little more peaceful.

The Herrscher of Finality... should still be left to Kiana Kaslana.

After she left, several lines of text appeared on the monitor in front of Otto:

"If you place Divine Fire Judgment at the designated location within ten days, I guarantee that I won't trouble Schicksal again for six years."

"You understand me, but I understand you just as well. What you truly want to do is very difficult to accomplish. But if I want to make it fail, that will be easy."

A few seconds later, the conspicuous words vanished. Otto wiped away his cold sweat.

Outside the laboratory, Bella, who had been waiting there, carried Sirin on her back and flew away at full speed.