[That could work.]
The little golden cube—no, it had transformed into a shimmering Fenghuang Down now—drifted gently up and down in the air.
"Perfect timing. She's already unconscious. You're not going to mess this up, are you, Void Archives?"
Otto teased.
[Hmph! I was just caught off guard earlier, that's all.]
Having snapped out of the shock from Lynelle's Stigma, Void Archives quickly regained its usual smug demeanor.
[Just some ordinary girl. Relax, I've got this.]
Otto shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
[Well then, let's have a look...]
The golden feather began to glow with a dazzling light.
[...what secrets your memories hold.]
As the Herrscher of Sentience's authority took effect, Lynelle's body, which had been lying unconscious on the ground, slowly rose and levitated before Otto under the feather's control.
"The Fenghuang Down isn't exactly subtle. Even with my earlier camouflage, Welt will probably notice something's wrong soon."
"Void Archives, don't you da— Wait, what?"
Before Otto could finish, the golden feather in his hand let out a sharp, piercing shriek. A powerful wave of Honkai energy erupted from it, then the feather disintegrated, reverting back into the form of a small golden cube before falling silent.
"...?"
"Void Archives, what are you playing at?!"
Unfortunately, Void Archives, now forcibly shut down, couldn't answer. The little golden cube lay still in Otto's hand, as if completely frozen.
And just seconds before that...
[So this is Lynelle's memory world? Doesn't seem much different from an ordinary person's. No—wait, why does it feel even easier to invade than most?]
Under the feather's influence, Void Archives had encountered almost no resistance, slipping effortlessly into Lynelle's mind. This left the experienced artifact deeply puzzled.
Even ordinary people had subconscious defenses in their mental seas—it wasn't about strength, just biological instinct.
But Lynelle's mental sea... to use an imperfect metaphor, was like swimming in the ocean: an experienced swimmer could venture into deeper waters, but they'd still struggle against the waves.
Here, Void Archives felt more like it was being pulled inward by an unseen current.
[Ah, forget it. Maybe it's because this one has died too many times... After all, I've never explored a unique case like this before.]
[Everyone has a past. Our histories shape who we are. Some seize hold of their memories; others are trapped by them, unable to escape.]
Perhaps it had spent too much time with Otto and caught his flair for the dramatic, but Void Archives wasn't in a hurry to dig through Lynelle's memories. Instead, it advanced slowly, like a polite guest, moving steadily toward the deepest recesses of her mind.
Its goal was to find memories related to her Stigma. The best approach was to locate the moment her Stigma awakened, then follow the flow downstream, reviewing all the information.
Within Lynelle's memories, Void Archives—appearing in Otto's form—finally came across a... peculiar glowing cocoon?
[Is this the area you use to hide your secrets? Well then, let's see just who bestowed upon you— What?!]
Before Void Archives could enter the cocoon, the large cocoon abruptly opened its eyes.
Yes, although the cocoon didn't strictly have physical eyes, the patterns on its surface gave that unmistakable impression. The moment Void Archives made contact, its vision plunged into darkness.
Then, a pair of beautiful, star-shaped amethyst eyes slowly opened in the blackness.
"Outsider..."
An ethereal voice echoed through the silent space.
"Your journey ends here."
Almost instantly, Void Archives felt its control over the Divine Key vanish.
Then, an irresistible force violently invaded its database. Like a crude painter slapping whitewash over a wall, it erased all memory of this intrusion and, with a flick, sent Void Archives flying outward like a bothersome insect.
"Hah, that line really is as cool as I imagined~"
The darkness receded. A faint, shimmering figure watched Void Archives' retreating form and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Worth using so much energy to lure it this deep... Not bad. It's like adding another 5-star weapon to Lynelle's gacha pool."
"Pity, though—items originating from the native world can only be used in the world Lynelle calls 'Star Rail.' And that place seems fraught with danger. But with this universal plugin, her journey should be a bit easier."
"Hehe, as expected of me!"
--+--
While the "Customer Service" Kiana-chan inside Lynelle was quite pleased with herself, Otto outside was certainly not.
After all... that energy surge just now had undoubtedly alerted Welt and Sirin, who were fighting outside.
And for some unknown reason, the Void Archives in his hand seemed completely drained, having shut down entirely. Even when he tried to take direct control, it wouldn't respond.
Though caution had led Otto to carry other trump cards, situations slipping beyond his control were never welcome.
Outside the valley...
[?]
[?]
Thanks to Lynelle's earlier warnings, and because maintaining Bella's summon had drained much of her energy, the intensity of the fight between Sirin and Welt had been relatively low.
In fact, noticing Sirin's poor condition, Welt had deliberately toned down his attacks. He didn't truly wish to harm the girl; wearing her out until she exhausted herself seemed a viable approach.
But... the energy fluctuation emanating from the valley made both of them halt simultaneously.
"Oh no, Lynelle!"
Sirin's eyes widened. Without a second thought for conserving power, a spatial gate swallowed her, teleporting her back into the valley.
Welt followed close behind. At this distance, even without teleportation, he'd be only seconds behind.
At the same time, his mind raced with confusion.
After all, the reason he'd been so urgent about taking Sirin away, even to the point of initiating this fight, was because before the battle, Einstein had clearly informed him: there were no suspicious signals in the vicinity.
In truth, Anti-Entropy had been closely monitoring Schicksal's strange movements.
Those who had suffered from Otto's schemes before understood his methods all too well.
Schicksal's recent anomalies—the Overseer shutting himself in, sending only the fools Siegfried and Theresa to Siberia without backup—had raised suspicions within Anti-Entropy's think tank. They suspected Otto planned to intervene personally or send an agent to Siberia.
That's why Welt had rushed to extract Sirin first. If Otto made a move, he wouldn't leave them any room to react. Their only chance was to leverage their intelligence advantage (thanks to Patricia) and act preemptively.
But there was no time for further thought. If something had really happened to Lynelle, Sirin's state of mind would... be unimaginable.
However, if their opponent were an ordinary foe, Sirin's swift reinforcement might have given them a chance to save Lynelle.
But their opponent... was Otto.
The instant Otto confirmed that Void Archives had gone silent, he acted without hesitation.
By the time Welt reached the heart of the valley, the scene before him—even for someone as seasoned as he was—made his vision darken for a moment.
A blond man wearing a jester's mask was elegantly wiping blood from his hands with a cloth. Lying on the ground beside him was the lifeless body of a pink-haired girl.
And of course, there was also...the enraged Second Herrscher.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.