"...What!?"
Meeting Ming Yu's blood-red eyes, a bad premonition rose in Siegfried's heart.
A staggering killing intent erupted from Ming Yu. Even knowing it wasn't directed at him, it still made Siegfried's eyelids twitch.
Looking at the longsword in Ming Yu's hand, which radiated an endless evil aura, Siegfried suddenly felt an urge to draw his own sword. But the next moment, realizing this impulse, Siegfried was first startled.
That wasn't his thought; it was an intention from within the Judgment of Shamash!
A previous user of the Judgment of Shamash had held a strong hatred for this sword, a hatred that lingered even to this day.
What on earth was this thing?
The Key of Corruption... was it also a Divine Key?
But he had never heard of such a Divine Key. Studying the black longsword that emanated an ominous aura, Siegfried's heart filled with deep confusion.
Noticing Siegfried's bewilderment, Ming Yu no longer had the energy to pay it any mind. The Key of Corruption's power was rapidly reaching its peak—his peak.
"Jizo Mitama, release!"
Ming Yu plunged the longsword into the ground. The contained power of corruption instantly erupted, and dark flames surged outwards like a flood.
The barrier of flames shattered and dissipated in an instant. The black flames of corruption spread rapidly, covering the entire battlefield.
Swinging his sword again to deflect a volley of shells, Siegfried looked at the black flames that flashed across the battlefield and then vanished, and then at the still-perfectly-normal Titans. His eyes couldn't hide his confusion.
Ming Yu had charged up that ultimate move for so long, and it was just a single flash and it was gone?
But the next moment, reality provided the answer.
With Ming Yu at the center, red lights symbolizing overload appeared on the Titans, from near to far. Before Siegfried could even ask Ming Yu what was happening, a continuous series of explosions filled his ears.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom—
The Titan forces that had been firing at them just a second ago were now all self-destructing???
"This..."
Looking at the devastated battlefield, for the first time, an expression of unconcealable astonishment appeared on Siegfried's face.
The sight of over a hundred mechs exploding simultaneously was simply too shocking. Nearly ninety percent of the Titans had been reduced to scrap metal in just a few seconds, and the once complete Titan formation was instantly crippled. The few that remained had only survived by virtue of being far enough away.
If he had done it himself, a single blast from Shamash Unsheathed could naturally achieve the same effect. But even now, Siegfried hadn't figured out how Ming Yu had done it.
This kind of undefendable, bizarre attack was, in a sense, even more terrifying than his Judgment of Shamash!
"You... Hey! Are you alright, kid?!"
Turning back, Siegfried was once again shocked by Ming Yu's current state.
Dark red blood was flowing from Ming Yu's eyes, nose, and ears, his entire face almost covered in crimson.
After nearly five seconds of stunned silence, Ming Yu's eyes finally moved, scanning his surroundings and quickly regaining focus.
Wiping the blood from his face, Ming Yu said in a slightly hoarse voice, "It's nothing, just a small side effect."
Divine Keys were indeed not weapons for ordinary people. To forcibly wield armaments of this level, one had to bear the corresponding price.
Just like the Key of Revelation, Void Archives, craved a physical body; the Key of Creation, Abyss Flower, corroded its wielder; the Key of Destruction, Judgment of Shamash, burned even its user to ash with its scorching heat; and the Key of Binding erased Honkai Energy indiscriminately between friend and foe, the use of the Key of Corruption was also accompanied by unavoidable side effects.
When Ming Yu used the power of Jizo Mitama to project his consciousness onto the Titans and corrupt them to seize control, the massive databases within the mechs would also hit him with a huge impact.
If he used the Key of Corruption without restraint, the sheer flood of information alone would be enough to crush his consciousness and rupture his brain!
This was why Ming Yu had always been cautious in his use of the Key of Corruption. A human body, after all, could not compare to that of a Herrscher. He could not withstand the impact of that ocean of information.
Perhaps the reason the Herrscher of Corruption only revealed its true form after death was also because its consciousness had been freed from the shackles of its physical body.
Looking at the ruined Titan forces, and then at the weakened Ming Yu, the reprimand that was stuck in Siegfried's throat could no longer come out.
At a time like this, how could he frame the deaths of those Titan pilots as a crime and pin it on Ming Yu?
This was a war between Anti-Entropy and Schicksal. This was a battlefield where two sides clashed. Some live, some die. That is the norm.
At least, when those Titans were firing at them, they showed no mercy.
Since Siegfried couldn't stop the Titans from participating in the battle, what reason did he have to ask Ming Yu to show mercy?
Perhaps... he really was too naive?
Letting out a long sigh, the greatsword in Siegfried's hands split back into a pair of guns. The Shamash greatsword was no longer needed.
Seeing the distant Titans beginning to retreat, Ming Yu gave an imperceptible nod. It seemed Cocolia knew when to face reality and didn't send these remnants to their deaths.
As for whether Singapore would send troops in pursuit, or whether these Titans could retreat safely, that was outside the scope of Ming Yu's consideration.
Watching the remaining Titans disappear from view, Ming Yu gradually reined in his emotions, burying deep the frustration he felt from Otto and the anger sparked by Cocolia.
"We should retreat too." Summoning some clean water with his Dustless Sword to wash his face, Ming Yu forced himself to pull it together and said to Siegfried, "As payment for your help this time, I will give you that reagent that can neutralize Honkai Energy."
Faced with a reward he hadn't expected in the first place, Siegfried felt no joy, merely giving Ming Yu a polite nod in response.
Noticing Siegfried's dejection, Ming Yu just shrugged and paid it no mind. No matter how sentimental this Kaslana was, he didn't think he would be troubled by such feelings for long.
Having escaped from Schicksal's tight encirclement and been on the run with K-423 for so long, Siegfried couldn't be that fragile.
Anyone who would drown in their own emotions would have died somewhere long ago.
......
In the Anti-Entropy base, looking at the familiar young face on the screen, Cocolia slammed her hand on the table before her and roared in an icy voice, "Ming Yu!"
Faced with this young man who had once again ruined her plans, the deputy Sovereign of Anti-Entropy was finally truly enraged.
......
"The target equipped the Soul-Etching Armor developed by the Far East Branch and activated the power of the Key of Corruption, destroying several hundred mechs within a range of several thousand meters in a single blow. After this, the target experienced a lapse of consciousness for about five seconds, accompanied by bleeding from all seven facial orifices."
High in the sky, a pair of beautiful eyes stared fixedly at Ming Yu on the ground, as the silver-armored Valkyrie reported in a calm tone.
"Hehe... It seems the Key of Corruption does indeed have some kind of negative effect, just as I predicted. I just don't know how much of his condition is real and how much is feigned." A magnetic male voice came from the other end of the communicator, his gentle tone carrying an unquestionable authority. "Are there any other noteworthy situations? Durandal."
Glancing at the one-armed man beside Ming Yu, Durandal smoothed a strand of hair at her temple and said faintly, "None, Lord Overseer."