Upon hearing this news, Siegfried's first reaction was, of course, disbelief.
After all, in Siegfried's common understanding, falling from such a height would be rough even for someone with his physique.
To say his eldest daughter survived a fall from that altitude...
Who would believe that?
But looking at the guilt and sincerity in the young man's eyes before him, Siegfried felt that he might actually be telling the truth.
"Durandal... I know that name."
After forcing himself to calm down slightly, Siegfried couldn't hold back the question in his heart and confirmed with Leo Ash once more.
"Leo Ash, my boy, is everything you're saying..."
"Of course, it's all true."
...
He's serious.
At the very least, I can be sure of that.
This news... Calm down!
Only then did Siegfried realize that his only remaining hand was trembling uncontrollably.
If he didn't know that now wasn't the time, he would have definitely chosen to storm Schicksal HQ to meet the Valkyrie named Durandal.
True, according to Leo Ash's account, the young woman's appearance had been altered.
But Siegfried believed that as long as he could meet her face-to-face, he could confirm many things.
Kiana... is still alive.
Kiana is still alive!
Even without confirmation, Siegfried found himself already ecstatic.
The young man before him could describe the first half of that incident in detail, which meant he had learned about it through some channel.
And Otto... heh, with Siegfried's understanding of Otto, he would absolutely never write anything he didn't want others to know into the database.
Looking at it this way, very few people could possibly know about this.
And the probability that this young man, knowing this, would lie to him with a face full of guilt was actually not very high.
Siegfried didn't know if he was making a rational deduction or just using wishful thinking to reach his desired conclusion, but he was certain of one thing...
—He was, right now, truly, very happy.
The death of his wife and daughter were the two biggest shadows in Siegfried's life.
And now, to learn that his eldest daughter might have survived, and was even living well—the fact that he didn't burst out laughing on the spot was already a sign of immense restraint.
"Um, well... Siegfried..."
Looking at Siegfried's contorted expression, Leo Ash said very carefully.
"If you want to laugh, it's really okay."
"This barrier is actually a mental one. Both of our physical bodies are still outside; I've only pulled your consciousness into it."
"No matter how loud you laugh now, no one else will hear it."
"Ah? Oh, it's fine, it's fine. I'm very calm right now."
*Give me a break, your whole body is shaking.*
"But speaking of this ability."
Siegfried placed a hand on Leo Ash's shoulder with a heavy heart.
"My boy, you should try not to use this ability recklessly in the future."
"...I'll try my best. I won't use such an excessive ability unless it's a matter of life and death."
"...No, that's not what I mean."
Seeing that Leo Ash had misunderstood him, Siegfried said with a helpless sigh.
"I'm not talking about that aspect... Let me put it another way."
"If I hadn't been so desperate to see Cecilia this time, the moment this barrier was deployed, I might have sensed the anomaly and realized it was a mental attack, allowing me to break free."
"To be honest, you don't know me that well. An illusion constructed by someone who doesn't know me has far too many flaws."
"For example?"
"For example..."
At this, Siegfried let out a deep sigh.
"At home, I'm usually the one who cooks."
*Oh, please. Is the stuff you cook even edible???*
Leo Ash wanted to say, 'Your cooking is so terrible that I had to switch the person,' but thinking how hurtful that would be, he swallowed the words back down.
"In short, if you don't understand a person, even if you can roughly construct an illusion, the probability of failure increases because they will sense that something is wrong."
"Besides, I'm manageable; my mental strength is average. If you encounter someone with strong mental power, it would be quite awkward if they traced the connection back and hit you with a backlash."
"Wait a minute..."
Listening to Siegfried's admonition, Leo Ash felt something was a bit off.
*Whoa, hold on, isn't this the magical artifact that can counter Otto's imitation Fenghuang Down?*
*Why can even Siegfried see its problems in an instant?*
[Duh, countering Otto depends on the inherent properties of the magical artifact itself.]
[But trapping an enemy depends on your application of the ability and your understanding of the target.]
*But in the original story...*
[In the original story, the user had the magical artifact in their body for over a decade. Their compatibility was way higher than yours, having just forcefully implanted it.]
[Also, in the original story, Yuka Minase and Satsuki Kakeru were childhood friends who had lived together for over ten years. When Yuka Minase used Phantasmagoria, of course there wouldn't be any problems with the details she created to deceive Satsuki Kakeru.]
Case closed.
So this thing isn't as powerful as I imagined.
Fei-ge is right, I need to be more careful when using this in the future.
Creating some large-scale illusion... this move really has too many weaknesses.
It's better to just forcefully rewrite their cognition and then directly control their physical body to fight while they're disoriented.
"There's one more thing."
"I was thinking of something too, but you go first, Mr. Siegfried."
At that moment, Siegfried pointed to his own head and said to Leo Ash.
"This ability of yours, it can change my cognition, right?"
"Then I suggest you modify my cognition slightly, so that I believe I learned the news about my daughter through 'our friends in Anti-Entropy.'"
"What a coincidence, I was planning to do the same. After all, Lord Bishop Otto..."
Listening to Leo Ash's hesitant words, Siegfried replied helplessly.
"I get it, I get it."
As Leo Ash prepared to use the magical artifact, he hesitated for a moment.
"I can feel that you're completely unguarded against me right now."
"In this state, if I forcibly modify your memories, it will be very difficult for you to recall your past memories again."
"Aren't you afraid I'll modify your memories and send you back to work for Lord Bishop Otto?"
"Ha, you're a really suspicious kid."
Seeing the hesitation on Leo Ash's face, Siegfried said frankly.
"If you were going to harm me, you would have done it after dealing with the Herrscher of Thunder."
"I don't know what you've done in the past, but your actions just now are reason enough for me to trust you."
"To put it bluntly, if I were to be defensive at a time like this, I'd just be offending you, which would make it easier for you to find an opportunity to take me down."
*...Is this guy really Siegfried?*
*Damn, if you had even half this much sense back then, you wouldn't have run off with your daughter and snuck into Schicksal, causing all that trouble later.*
At this moment, Siegfried, looking at the young man he held in high regard, once again extended an invitation.
"How about you reconsider joining Anti-Entropy? Believe me, working under him—"
"Is still better than getting mixed up with Cocolia."
As he activated the power of the Void Demon Stone Fragment, Leo Ash said to Siegfried.
"It's not that I look down on Anti-Entropy, but in its current state, you tell me this organization is fighting the Honkai, who would believe you?"
"Well, there are good people in Anti-Entropy..."
"What's the use of good people if they can't even keep Cocolia in check? Anti-Entropy is practically run by her now."
"On Schicksal's side, Lord Bishop isn't a good person, that's true, but he keeps Schicksal tidy. The corruption is only in a few places."
"But on Anti-Entropy's side—Cocolia has taken over half of it. If she stinks, the whole of Anti-Entropy stinks with her."
"Mr. Siegfried, I respect you as a hero, which is why I'm treating you this way."
"But you keep trying to drag me into a pit of fire. That's a bit much, don't you think?"
*...Damn, damn, damn, how is this kid's thinking so clear at a time like this?*
*Sigh, but he's not wrong.*
*If Cocolia hadn't been messing around like this, would Anti-Entropy be in such chaos?*
*Ryoma was on the verge of establishing a firm foothold here in the Far East. If Theresa had been willing to cooperate, the entire Far East could have gradually become our territory.*
*But now, Cocolia took out Ryoma in one fell swoop, all the groundwork Ryoma laid is wasted, and Anti-Entropy's reputation is ruined...*
*Oh, and if she brings her Titans over here, I guess the budget will have to be tightened even further.*
"Alright then, please close your eyes."
With those words, Leo Ash activated Phantasmagoria again, rewriting Siegfried's cognition of him.
After the revision, in Siegfried's mind, Leo Ash was merely a Schicksal member who had defeated the Herrscher of Thunder and then not attacked him.
Having done all this, Leo Ash and Siegfried's consciousnesses instantly returned to reality.
....
When Siegfried opened his eyes, he remembered a piece of memory that had suddenly appeared in his mind.
*Hmm, wait, Welt told me he found out that Kiana is the current S-rank Valkyrie, Durandal???*
*That sly dog, who knows where he was hiding, but it turns out he was investigating Kiana's whereabouts for me...*
*Honestly, I'm a little touched.*
*But now...*
Looking at Leo Ash before him, Siegfried watched him with a hint of vigilance.
Leo Ash's actions and the feeling he gave off made it impossible for Siegfried to feel any hostility towards him.
But Siegfried still had to be careful.
He was a Schicksal member, after all.
And a highly loyal one at that... Damn it, Cocolia, if it weren't for you, none of this would be so difficult.
Meanwhile, observing the man before him, Leo Ash thought for a moment and decided to test the other active skill he had acquired.
After channeling the mana in his body through the [Void Demon Stone Fragment], Leo Ash, in the midst of his standoff with Siegfried, unleashed the Powerful Healing Spell skill on Siegfried with all his might.
After confirming that Siegfried held no real animosity towards him, Leo Ash had already decided to use this skill on him.
A secondary reason was that he felt he had indeed gone too far earlier.
But the main reason was—Leo Ash now needed a capable temporary ally.
It was embarrassing to admit, but returning to Nagazora City with his current strength was actually quite difficult.
He had managed to rush over because he had injected himself with the HSN serum.
With the HSN serum protecting him, in the eyes of the Honkai Beasts, Leo Ash was probably like an indescribable... something, so foul that they didn't even want to get close.
But now, the HSN serum in his body was mostly depleted from the fight with the Herrscher of Thunder.
For him to ride his motorcycle back with Raiden Mei in tow...
The combination of Royal Guard, Mind Like Still Water, and Galactica Phantom gave him extremely high burst power in one-on-one combat, that was true.
But there were so many Honkai Beasts. He felt that even if he activated Mind Like Still Water, he'd just be feeding himself to them.
Besides, from the moment he parted with Raiden Mei until now, aside from a short nap on Kiana, he had had NO! REST! AT! ALL!
If he hadn't known that the Herrscher of Thunder would come looking for him, his will to live wouldn't have been so incredibly strong. He suspected that without that survival instinct kicking in, he might have been too exhausted to even activate his Mind Like Still Water state.
As for Phantasmagoria, he wasn't even sure if it worked on Honkai Beasts.
At a time like this, if he wanted to gamble his life on something like that, it'd be fine if it succeeded, but if he failed and died, that would be just too stupid.
On the other side, Siegfried, who was in a standoff with Leo Ash, suddenly sensed a faint... energy fluctuation from him?
*This isn't Honkai Energy.*
Though filled with doubt, Siegfried didn't dare to make a move.
After an awkward minute of standoff, Siegfried suddenly looked sharply at his left arm.
"This...!"
Siegfried suddenly felt a warmth spreading from the stump of his left arm, which had been severed for years.
My left arm... My left arm is regenerating?!
Although the progress was extremely slow, Siegfried could feel his left arm slowly beginning to grow back.
Then, this warmth spread throughout his entire body, healing many of his injuries.
While it wouldn't immediately restore his strength to its peak, Siegfried could clearly feel that even the old, internal injuries in his body had been repaired to some extent.
Meanwhile, having expended a large amount of mana, Leo Ash glanced at the shocked expression on Siegfried's face and let out a faint sigh.
Siegfried's reaction to his regenerating arm confirmed Leo Ash's guess.
The description of Powerful Healing Spell at full power, which mentioned 'healing old wounds,' was indeed effective on severed limbs.
But a new problem arose: why was Siegfried's arm growing back so slowly?
And my mana bar is empty after using Phantasmagoria twice and Powerful Healing Spell once. I'm too weak.
[I must point out, Host, please consider the actual situation.]
[When you use spells on a powerful individual, the mana consumption is naturally higher than using them on a weakling.]
[Furthermore, Siegfried's body is already incredibly durable, but also broken down. Healing a body of such high durability naturally requires more mana.]
*Never mind then.*
*At least I've tested the limits of these two new abilities. Next up...*
"What are you staring at me for?"
*Play dumb. Can't let him confirm it was me who used the healing spell.*
"...This wasn't your doing?"
Looking at the young man before him, Siegfried finally chose to put away the Judgment of Shamash.
"Leo Ash, my boy, to be honest, I don't really want to fight you right now."
"My thoughts exactly."
"And right now, I think that even though we're not on the same side, we at least have a common enemy."
"My thoughts exactly."
"Then how about you consider teaming up with me?"
"Teaming up is fine, but..."
Seeing Siegfried extend his right hand, Leo Ash said in annoyance.
"There's no way I'm handing Mei over to you."
"But Otto—"
"Lord Bishop Otto is a villain, not an idiot. To him, the value of nurturing a Herrscher to serve him is far greater than messing around for no reason."
"Mei still has a chance to live if she returns to Schicksal. If she goes with you, with Cocolia and the Bishop both after you, you'll be hunted by both sides. Forget about protecting Mei, you'll have a hard time protecting yourself."
"Nagazora City is now swarming with both Anti-Entropy and Schicksal forces. I don't know if they've started fighting, but I know they're here for Mei."
"If you want to seek death yourself, I can't stop you. But if you try to drag others down with you, I definitely can't agree to that."
*...Oh, right.*
Thinking about the current situation, Siegfried felt a headache coming on.
He wanted to take his old friend's daughter to a safe place, but the current situation no longer allowed for it.
Although the large-scale Honkai outbreak caused by Mei wasn't as widespread as the Second Eruption, the Honkai Energy was still spreading outwards.
If Siegfried were to continue his actions now, he would have to fight his way out of this sea of Honkai Beasts on foot.
For him, fighting his way out wasn't a problem.
Even in his previous state, riddled with old injuries, Siegfried was fearless against these low-level Honkai Beasts, let alone now that most of his injuries had been healed.
But the problem was, what after he got out?
By the time he slowly fought his way out, the probability of Cocolia showing up would be much higher.
No, rather, it was already strange that there had been no movement from Cocolia yet.
"Besides, even if you think you're a good fighter, your hardware isn't up to snuff."
Pointing at Siegfried's severed arm, Leo Ash said speechlessly.
"You've only got one hand right now. If you want to fight, you'll have to secure Mei on your back."
"In your current state, are you sure you can guarantee her safety while carrying her?"
"You're better off teaming up with me. I'll ensure Mei's safety, and you'll be responsible for fighting and clearing a path."
"You guy..."
Looking at the nonchalant Leo Ash, Siegfried felt that something wasn't quite right.
"You're going to use me, and you're not even going to pretend otherwise?"
"It's just mutual benefit. You need Mei to be safe, and I need a strong fighter to get me out of here."
"At least for now, our interests are truly aligned."
Taking out two prepared motorcycles from his storage space, Leo Ash tossed the keys of one to Siegfried.
"It's fully gassed up. Once we're out of the battlefield, what you do is none of my business."
*Summoning objects out of thin air???*
Siegfried, who had seen Leo Ash pull out a plastic chair earlier, now felt a little unwell.
He really wanted to ask about this phenomenon, but he also knew that the other party wouldn't necessarily answer truthfully.
*And, regarding the application of spatial abilities...*
*Damn it, has Otto's Sirin Project already developed a new product?*
*I see.*
*My previous suspicion was correct.*
*This kid is indeed Otto's backup plan.*
*A potion that can forcefully suppress a Herrscher's power and calm them down, plus what appears to be an application of the Sirin Project's abilities...*
*No wonder Otto felt so confident this time, even letting me act freely to boldly make use of me.*
*He has too many cards up his sleeve.*
"My boy, I'm very curious—if you let me go, won't Otto really blame you?"
"Mr. Siegfried, I know you have a prejudice against Lord Bishop Otto, but I hope you can understand one thing—he's just evil, not stupid."
Already starting to secure Mei to his own back with ropes, Leo Ash spoke to Siegfried without turning his head.
"With your current combat power, you can't cause him any trouble. And with Cocolia causing havoc right now, if you and your Anti-Entropy friends have any sense, you'll want to deal with that beast that triggered the Honkai outbreak first."
"You're no threat to Lord Bishop Otto, but you're a big threat to Cocolia. If I let you go here, the Lord Bishop will only think I did a good job—besides, it's not like I can beat you anyway. You're giving me way too much credit."
*No, I think that last sentence is the biggest problem here.*
*I couldn't even beat the Herrscher, and you knocked her down with one punch. You call that not being able to beat me???*
.....
Outer region of Nagazora City
In this area, the A-rank Valkyrie of the Far East Branch, Murata Himeko, was currently staring at the various data on the control console, frowning as she pondered something.
"Major Himeko, we can confirm that the Herrscher's reaction... has indeed disappeared."
"Tsk, what's going on? This shouldn't be happening."
After sitting back down in her chair, Himeko began to review the events that had just transpired.
This was a major mission taking place in the Far East. As the ace of the Far East Branch, Himeko was, of course, participating in this mission alongside her old friend and unreliable superior, Theresa Apocalypse.
For a major mission where a Herrscher could appear at any moment, Himeko didn't think it was excessive for HQ to deploy two S-ranks, one former S-rank, one A-rank, and a battleship.
At the end of the day, a Herrscher was an enemy that needed to be taken this seriously.
It was just that before the Herrscher appeared, Theresa was forced to leave the Hyperion under orders from Lord Bishop Otto to carry out another mission in Nagazora City.
And Himeko, left behind, could only follow Lord Bishop Otto's instructions and continue to stand by.
And then, the Honkai outbreak happened.
Himeko really wanted to charge in with the battleship, but the problem was, she was responsible for the lives of her subordinates.
The Second Herrscher had once defeated three S-rank powerhouses: Siegfried Kaslana, Cecilia Schariac, and Theresa Apocalypse, all of whom wielded Divine Keys at the time.
Even if the current Third Herrscher had only a fraction of the Second Herrscher's power, it was still not something the Hyperion could contend with.
True, Himeko could connect to the Hyperion's ace Nexus System and wield the ship's massive 1320HW of Honkai Energy in battle, but the price of this trump card was high.
Himeko's lifespan was already short due to special reasons. Using such a high-load system would only make her already short life as fragile as a candle in the wind.
Of course, it wasn't that Himeko cherished her life, but rather that she had asked Theresa for intelligence on the Herrscher.
And Theresa had told her that a Herrscher's awakening would trigger a massive Honkai outbreak of 1000HW, and the Honkai Energy a Herrscher could wield was far above that level.
On one side was 1320HW that she could only use by burning her life away; on the other was a Herrscher that could casually unleash attacks of even greater intensity.
If she were to charge in like a reckless fool at a time like this, she would most likely be pulverized into molecules, ship and all, by the Herrscher.
In fact, the moment the Herrscher appeared, she had already notified Theresa, and Theresa had told her directly that the other two S-ranks had also received orders and were preparing to head towards the location of the outbreak.
But just within these few minutes, Himeko suddenly received a new, awkward report.
The Honkai Energy intensity had reached the required level, but its diffusion speed was very slow. Honkai Beasts had appeared, but their quality wasn't very high.
Most importantly, the Herrscher reaction had vanished.
Not having to lead her subordinates to their deaths was, of course, a good thing, but Himeko couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
A Herrscher wouldn't just disappear into thin air.
Its reaction vanished. Did it suddenly die... That was also clearly impossible.
There were indeed fluctuations of a battle over there earlier, but Himeko didn't believe that anyone in the world right now could solo-kill a Herrscher in a matter of minutes.
Rather than someone solo-killing the Herrscher, she was more inclined to believe that the Herrscher had killed its enemy and then deliberately went into hiding, waiting for an opportunity to cause more trouble.
Herrschers were enemies of humanity, but they were all human before becoming Herrschers.
They possessed human intelligence, human cunning, and on top of that, a malice towards humanity that was enough to make Himeko prepare for the worst.
But now, because HQ was aware of this intelligence, a new problem had arisen.
The three S-ranks weren't coming because Lord Bishop Otto had judged that [The Herrscher is gone, you can continue with your mission].
If something really went wrong, Himeko would still have to fire up the Nexus and take the entire ship's crew with her to fight the Herrscher to the death.
*I can't figure it out.*
*In the face of a problem as big as a Herrscher, what else could be more important in Lord Bishop Otto's eyes?*
"Major Himeko, bad news!"
"Is it the Herrscher?!"
Himeko, now fully alert, looked up at the light screen above the control console.
Then, she froze for a second.
"No, it's not the Herrscher."
"It's Anti-Entropy! Those bastards actually launched a despicable, shameless attack at a time like this!"
....
Cocolia was getting a massive headache.
Originally, her plan had been very successful.
Induce Raiden Mei's awakening, capture her, extract the core, and begin the next phase of her work.
With Gray Serpent's assistance, Cocolia had successfully delivered that message to Raiden Mei.
Of course, Tesla would never be foolish enough to broadcast that message directly.
In reality, that 'Tesla' was a voiceover created by Gray Serpent using an AI voice system.
After infiltrating Anti-Entropy's communication system and broadcasting that message, Gray Serpent's mission was complete.
Moreover, Siegfried was with the Herrscher of Thunder. As long as Cocolia arrived on the scene in time, she could let Siegfried wear down the Herrscher of Thunder's strength and then arrest them both on the spot.
But now, Cocolia felt that the problem had gotten out of hand.
There were no more combat fluctuations in the area where Raiden Mei had awakened.
This meant that Siegfried and the Herrscher of Thunder either never fought, or their fight was over.
And—a Schicksal battleship was here.
The Herrscher reaction had also disappeared.
Herrscher reaction gone, battle over, Schicksal battleship present...
Connecting these pieces of intelligence, Cocolia instantly arrived at a terrible conclusion.
*Goddammit, the duck I had cooked and ready flew away, only to be intercepted by Schicksal?*
How could she tolerate this!
*Damn it, if only the quantum teleportation system was complete... It's all because of those two old stubborn fools, Tesla and Einstein, they just wouldn't approve of me.*
*If they had approved of me, I would have handed this technology over to them for research long ago!*
*Calm down, Cocolia, the situation isn't that bad yet.*
The Hyperion might look difficult to deal with, but her goal wasn't to destroy the Hyperion, it was to snatch the Herrscher they had in their hands.
As long as the Titan battalion could fight its way into the Hyperion and grab their target, she could retreat.
As for the Valkyrie squads... Hmph, weren't the ones trained by the Far East Branch's St. Freya High School just a bunch of flowers raised in a greenhouse?
Having just fought a Herrscher, even if they were just cleaning up, they must have sustained some damage.
*Yes, that's right, attack now.*
*The Gem of Conquest is mine by right.*
*Now...*
*—It's time to take back what belongs to me!*
....