Chapter 284
The negotiations were ostensibly for a ceasefire, but from the moment they began, both sides reached a consensus.
Otto didn't expect that before the negotiations even started, Freya had already conveyed the bottom line that the alliance could accept through Kiana. During the negotiations, Freya was testing whether Kevin agreed to this bottom line, while Kevin was also testing Freya's sincerity.
After confirming Freya's attitude, he naturally agreed to the bottom line Freya set.
He also took this opportunity to confirm the positions of others.
Although he escaped the Sea of Quantum with Otto's help, it did not mean that he and Otto were on the same side.
It was just a simple transaction. Now that the payment had been settled, Kevin had no reason to help Otto.
Even though Kevin knew that this scheme was Freya's revenge, he had no deeper connection with Otto, and besides, he had no liking for Otto Apocalypse.
This selfish individual could very well push modern civilization to the brink of utter ruin.
"..."
Kiana burst into the conference room, leaped into the air, and swung her replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire down at Otto.
Otto grabbed the chair he had just been sitting on and threw it at Kiana. Just as he was about to dodge to the side, two black, strip-like objects came flying in front of Otto, blocking his way.
Some of Welt's initial confusion suddenly became clear.
As the replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire drew closer, Otto, in desperation, rolled under the round table.
Freya, Welt, and Kevin hurriedly moved away from the round table, and Kiana was descending with the imitation Greatsword of Heavenly Fire, cleaved the round table in two.
Scorching flames instantly erupted from the blade of the replica Greatsword of Heavenly Fire, turning the conference room into a giant furnace in an instant.
The flames spread and instantly shattered the reinforced glass windows of the conference room.
Welt struggled to cope with the high temperature and had to evacuate outside the conference room, only to find that Kevin, Freya, and Kiana, who was wielding a replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire, all looked relaxed.
Otto, who had turned around from under the round table and emerged from the side, looked quite disheveled.
His purple robe, made of high-quality fabric, was burned, revealing a black striped shirt and a blue waistcoat underneath.
Kiana Kaslana—
Otto knew perfectly well who the girl in the black cloak, whose face was almost completely obscured, was.
After all, they are only eleven years old and cannot grow very tall.
Rather than saying they saw through him, it's more accurate to say that there aren't many people who are so short yet harbor such deep hatred towards him.
Otto threw off his purple robe and jumped out of the window, following the wave of fire.
The negotiation venue was prepared by the Shenzhou government. The conference room was located dozens of meters above the ground, and the five floors below the conference room were sealed off. All personnel were expelled to prevent the negotiation from being overheard. There were also no electronic devices within a 30-meter radius of the conference room.
Otto regretted it after jumping out of the window, but if he stayed in the conference room, he would only be cut in two by Kiana's sword.
Although Soul Steel has the ability to repair itself, if his Soul Steel clone is damaged here, he certainly won't be able to recover the remains.
"We must upload the intelligence gathered by this clone, otherwise the main body won't know the true purpose of this negotiation and might continue to be schemed against..."
In this negotiation, both the Alliance and the World Serpent desired a ceasefire and sought each other's support.
Who would have thought that this negotiation contained a clause excluding them?
If the original body were unaware that the two strongest forces in the world were united against him, his situation would likely be dangerous.
"Don't even think about escaping!!"
As Otto fell from the height, Kiana also jumped out of the conference room, spinning in mid-air and landing with a replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire.
The greatsword, wreathed in flames, drew circles in the air, resembling a blazing sun falling.
Otto raised his hand, and a special electromagnetic barrier appeared in front of him.
This electromagnetic barrier only blocked part of the flames and was completely unable to stop the replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire.
The electromagnetic barrier was instantly breached by Kiana's replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire.
Looking at the slight smile on Otto's lips, Kiana suddenly felt a strange sensation, but by then she was unable to stop herself.
She channeled the acceleration of her fall into the imitation Greatsword of Heavenly Fire in her hand, severing Otto's body in two.
But the smile that made Kiana uneasy remained forever fixed on Otto's face.
"Snort--"
A cold snort came from above, followed by two black strip-like objects piercing out from below the body that had been split in two. The body suddenly vanished like a wisp of smoke, and Otto's figure reappeared at that moment.
He crashed to the ground, but in the next instant, he darted off to the other side.
The two black strip-shaped objects did not attack him directly.
"So that's how the Imaginary Ribbons works."
Two black, ribbon-like objects wove together in the air to create a foothold, Kiana naturally knew who the owner of this ability was.
"... Freya, thank you."
Kiana shifted her center of gravity in mid-air, then stepped onto a foothold constructed from black strip-like objects. With a powerful push, she instantly surged towards the direction Otto had fled.
As the strongest force in the current civilization, Freya could easily have killed Otto's Soul Steel clone, but she did not.
Kiana understood why, and was sincerely grateful to her sister.
"Revenge should indeed be carried out by myself—!!"
Kiana, swift as the wind, quickly caught up with Otto.
Even though Otto's clone was made of Soul Steel and possessed physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary people, Kiana's body also underwent some kind of evolution after the Herrscher Transformation in the little Herrscher of Finality, and her physical abilities also surpassed those of ordinary people.
In the instant she caught up with Otto, Kiana swung her replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire, which pierced through Otto's body, leaving a crescent-shaped mark in the air.
The crescent-shaped flames burned fiercely for two or three seconds.
However, Kiana, who had surpassed Otto, frowned, as her attack just now felt completely off.
She turned to look at Otto, only to see that Otto had been cut in half at the waist, but his upper body above the waist was floating quietly, and there was a slight smile on Otto's face.
"I really should praise you, not only you, but also my lovely Freya."
The suspended upper body suddenly fell and stuck perfectly to the lower body, even the torn clothes were restored to their original state.
Kiana made a decision in an instant.
"Liquid Soul Steel? You have indeed mastered the method of manufacturing Soul Steel."
Kiana smiled as she looked at Otto, whose body had returned to normal.
"That's good, that way... my revenge won't end so quickly."
Flames surged on the blade of the replica Greatsword of Heavenly Fire, but a wisp of black light flashed and disappeared.
"...Miss Kiana Kaslana, I feel deeply sorry for the suffering that has befallen you in the past. I would not hesitate to give you a clone to soothe the hatred in your heart, but not now. I hope you can spare me for the time being."
The information that Freya and Kevin have teamed up is extremely important.
Otto confidently assured that the negotiations would end in failure, but the Alliance and World Serpent would cease hostilities and reach a consensus on matters such as fighting the Honkai and the Herrscher.
In reality, Freya and Kevin will team up to deal with him.
Otto didn't regret having a Soul Steel clone. Even though the production of Soul Steel was limited, as long as he mastered the manufacturing method, he could continuously produce new Soul Steel.
The Soul Steel clone is destroyed, and the main body will lack this memory.
This prompted Otto to compromise, and he even offered Kiana a deal.
Kiana clearly had no intention of letting Otto go.
"It would be better if you didn't have this memory, so Freya could easily scheme against you next time."
As the replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire in his hand continued to heat up, the surrounding temperature also continued to rise. The people in the surrounding buildings began to panic, and after the sudden alarm sounded, they rushed to the nearby shelter.
Otto felt as if Kiana in front of him had turned into a scorching sun.
Then, the illusion he created was distorted.
Kiana, seeing through the illusion, gave chase, and at the same time, the imitation Greatsword of Heavenly Fire in her hand released flames, which transformed into a fire dragon that opened its mouth and swallowed Otto.
Otto's feelings were incredibly complicated. Even though the liquid Soul Steel clone could withstand high temperatures, being continuously burned by the flames released by the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire would still destroy the Soul Steel clone, making it impossible to upload the clone's memories.
Otto wanted to use the communicator, but it was destroyed by two black strip-like objects as he fell from a height.
Otto, engulfed in flames, crashed into a nearby house. After all, this was Shenzhou territory, and he didn't believe Kiana would dare to unleash the full power of the replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire.
As Otto figured out how to escape, he started moving in the direction the crowd was evacuating. But as soon as he left the broken house, he found himself back on the street where Kiana was.
"..."
Otto's face turned ashen in an instant. He seemed to see a girl's lips curl up slightly, revealing a malicious smile.
The replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire pierced through Otto's body once again, and this time, flames erupted directly from within Otto's body.
The flames clung to him like a leech, impossible to shake off, and Otto, whose body was riddled with countless holes, could only manage a bitter smile.
"Go to hell!!"
Kiana raised the replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire again and swung it down directly at Otto's body, splitting Otto in two. The flames wrapped around the sword transformed into small snakes and climbed up Otto's body.
Just as if adding fuel to a bonfire, Kiana used Otto's body as a bonfire, increasing the heat to make the fire burn even brighter.
327. I don't approve of him as a person, but I do approve of his abilities.
As Kiana followed Otto out of the window, the Shenzhou troops, who were far from the conference room building, immediately arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the Alliance and World Serpent also arrived at the conference room at the same time.
"Acting Grand Bishop ... are you alright?" Rita pushed aside the soldiers in front of her and hurriedly asked Freya had been helped back into her chair.
Freya waved her hand and said to Rita, "Don't worry, nothing will happen. Notify the Shenzhou troops to sound the evacuation alarm... By the way, please ask them to prepare an open space. I will teleport the civilians who couldn't escape to the open space."
"Yes, sir!"
Although she didn't know the reason behind Freya's orders, Rita still obeyed them.
"Wait, Lady Kiana Apocalypse..."
Upon arriving at the scene, the Shenzhou military officer, seeing the situation in the conference room, reached out to stop Rita from leaving and questioned Freya: "Can you explain what you were doing in the conference room? Where is Lord Otto Apocalypse? And that girl in the black cloak earlier... I remember she was with you before. I can't help but suspect this was a premeditated attack..."
"Alright, forget about all that. Let my men leave to raise the alarm, otherwise it won't be good if your people get injured or killed later; besides, the reason we chose Shenzhou as the location for this negotiation is because you can remain neutral."
Freya has a very good impression of Shenzhou, and not just because the food Shenzhou is delicious.
Okay, this is a very important point.
Although she subconsciously harbored goodwill towards Shenzhou, Freya needed to consider the reaction of local forces when choosing Shenzhou as the negotiation location.
Fortunately, the alliance has a good relationship with the Onmyoji organizations and the government of Shenzhou, and there is also a recent plan to jointly excavate the relics of the Emperor Xuanyuan.
A homegrown power aligned with the alliance, and a country capable of maintaining neutrality, would indeed be a suitable location for negotiations.
On the other hand, although Immortal Fu Hua belongs to the Alliance, this time she stands on the side of the Shenzhou government as a witness. Kevin, who is also Previous Civilization, understands Fu Hua's personality and naturally trusts the negotiations led by her.
Moreover, Kevin and Freya had already reached a certain consensus before the negotiations even began.
"Mind your own business, Mr. Kevin. Although the table has been cut in half, our negotiations should still be able to continue..."
While speaking, Freya, who had been watching Kiana closely, snapped her fingers. At that moment, a large number of people who had not been able to escape due to the flames erupting from the replica of the Greatsword of Heavenly Fire were directly teleported away.
Meanwhile, following Rita's report, evacuation alarms sounded throughout the city, and people on the streets and those hiding in their homes began to move to shelters.
Kevin nodded to the listless Night Owl, who, having received the instruction, quietly left the conference room. Then Kevin also helped himself up and sat down again.
This time, he no longer underestimated the girl in front of him.
Regardless of the other party's actual age or how delicate and easily pushed over they are, there is no doubt that they are the actual leader of a large organization.
As Kevin re-examined what had happened before the negotiations began and then during them, he found himself even deceived by the girl's youthful appearance.
The girl named Kiana Kaslana is indeed the opponent's weakness.
But this weakness is called the "Achilles' heel".
Those who touch the dragon's reverse scale will be killed.
Kevin couldn't help but suspect that the whole thing was revenge from the girl in front of him.
Because of the Abyssal War, Kevin carefully studied the relationship between Freya and Otto after he woke up, and he naturally found that the relationship between the two was very complicated.
Their relationship is somewhat like that of a father and daughter, but also somewhat like that of enemies.
Kevin had his subordinates analyze Freya's psychology and concluded that although Freya hated Otto, she would not harm Otto's life.