"Playing asleep in front of me—do you really not want to see me that much?"
Hearing these words, Leo Ash couldn't help but feel that Durandal's tone was a bit off.
[Listening to the girl's words, you sense three parts resentment, one part unease, one part annoyance, and ninety-five parts relief.]
*Oh, so this pie chart is on a percentage scale.*
[For this reason, you decide to let this woman off the hook for now.]
*Give me a break. Kevin hasn't come out to make sashimi out of Chiyou, so she's the strongest in the world right now. Not to mention Otto has even trained her resistance to illusions. I can't beat her whether I fight her head-on or use dirty tricks, okay?*
[Of course, because you've detected a hint of feeling beyond friendship from the girl, you think that perhaps you don't need to be too aggressive.]
*No, no, no, I've never been aggressive—you're the one who's always been aggressive!*
[After opening your eyes, you look at this gullible, straightforward blonde knight and feel that you can totally make her sink into the land of comfort you've built with your powerful girl-charming techniques.]
*Fun fact, a place of tenderness and affection provided by a woman to a man is called a 'land of comfort'—you, as a trans-dimensional AI system, are using the term wrong. Do you have any shame?*
[Guess whether the System was careless or did it on purpose, hehehe.]
[Ultimately, this term is used when the weaker party shows tenderness to the stronger party. Take a guess who is the weaker one between you and her.]
[Her thighs are right in front of you. Looking at the girl before you, you can't help but exclaim: these hips, these legs, these buns, this butt, hehehe, I could play with this for a...]
*I really have to hand it to you.*
*I'm exhausted to death, and you can still automatically be horny on my behalf 24/7, huh?*
"I'm saying, now that your eyes are open, can't you even speak?"
Seeing the exhaustion in Leo Ash's eyes, Durandal finally let go of the dissatisfaction on her face and sat down naturally beside him, no longer looking at her friend.
"Forget it, I can't be bothered with you."
"Don't worry too much, Bianka."
After the System finally quieted down, Leo Ash let his relaxed body lean back completely into the sofa and closed his eyes again.
"You can see for yourself, I'm perfectly fine now."
"Other than not sleeping a wink all night, I feel great right now."
"Oh, feeling great, are you?"
Durandal gently poked the muscles on Leo Ash's body with her finger and, as expected, saw a flicker of pain cross his face.
"Even though agents receive training, this kind of high-intensity action has clearly exceeded your body's limits."
"If you weren't lucky enough to encounter a period of weak electromagnetic interference and send out that message, and I hadn't come to rescue you in time, do you think you could have escaped?"
...
Although he didn't answer her question, Leo Ash knew very well that if he hadn't sent that message, he might have really died back there.
With all the skills he had acquired, Leo Ash's own strength had indeed improved significantly.
But his body, in the end, wasn't much stronger than an ordinary person's.
The all-night operation, coupled with the constant mental state of 'if I stop moving, I'll die,' had left both his mind and body utterly exhausted.
Under these circumstances, Leo Ash's constantly tense body had, of course, been in a state of overload.
It wasn't until Durandal arrived on the scene and he was sure he had a powerful bodyguard that he dared to relax and rest.
And after he woke up, his body naturally felt the feedback from the overload.
Although Durandal's strength was great, this girl who had been promoted to S-rank was far better at controlling her power than a combat novice like Leo Ash.
The force she had just used in that finger poke was the same as an ordinary girl joking around with a friend.
But even so, Leo Ash felt a sharp pain from the spot she poked.
"Both your body and mind have been overloaded. Your body has long been crying out in protest without you even realizing it."
Seeing the now-silent Leo Ash, Durandal continued.
"If I hadn't come then, how much longer could you have escaped from that Pseudo-Herrscher's grasp?"
"And once you could no longer maintain that state of physical overload, what do you think would have happened?"
"I probably would have died."
*But the problem is, if I don't finish those prerequisite tasks, I'll die anyway.*
*I'm not you. Otto isn't so lenient with me.*
Hearing Leo Ash say this in such a nonchalant tone, Durandal felt the anger she had just managed to suppress flare up again with a *swoosh*.
"You bastard, you still—"
"Bianka."
Before the girl could get angry, Leo Ash slowly spoke, interrupting her.
"Don't worry too much. Believe me, I'm really afraid of dying."
"...I hope that's true."
Watching the two fall silent after their brief exchange, Kiana felt more and more that her presence here...
...seemed quite superfluous.
Although she had guessed before that the two might have a good relationship, it was only after Durandal spoke that she realized their relationship was definitely more than just 'good'.
Durandal, who had seemed gullible but relatively calm before, had clearly changed her demeanor after seeing Leo Ash.
Kiana could sense Durandal's concern for Leo Ash from her words, her expressions, and her mannerisms.
A normal childhood friendship probably wouldn't be this close.
*Wait.*
*Why do I care about this?*
*Durandal is only fourteen. No matter what, Senior wouldn't make a move on a fourteen-year-old girl... no way, that's not what I should be worrying about!*
*He has such a tragic past; his life has been hard enough.*
*Now that someone cares about his safety and his feelings, I should be happy for him!*
*Yes, that's it. Any extra thoughts are completely unnecessary.*
And speaking of which...
"Senior, it's not my place to say, but are you sure you're afraid of death?"
Recalling the events of last night, Kiana suddenly felt that she should speak up about what she saw.
Durandal was worried about Leo Ash, and he had responded to her concern with 'I'm afraid of dying so don't worry'.
But Kiana herself knew that Leo Ash's actions...
That's called being afraid of death?
Jumping directly from a tall building, charging straight into a horde of Honkai Beasts...
Even if he had a trump card, even if he was a so-called professional, that clearly didn't look like the actions of someone afraid of death—it looked more like a death wish!
*This guy is definitely going to be reckless.*
*I can't persuade him now, but Durandal is his childhood friend. She can definitely persuade him!*
"I saw you jump from the building and rush towards the Honkai Beasts. I really thought... you were quite brave."
*So Senior, I'm sorry.*
*It's better for me to tattle on you to Durandal now and have her keep an eye on you than to watch you continue being reckless and end up dead somewhere one day.*
"What do you mean?"
Upon hearing Kiana's words, Durandal immediately frowned and asked.
"A tall building? How tall?"
"Umm... the TV station building, over a hundred meters high. He jumped twice. I think it was from the twenty-fifth floor?"
"And the Honkai Beast horde... wait, did Lord Bishop mean that 'Leo Ash resolved the Third Eruption' in this horrifying way?"
After hearing these words, Durandal looked at Leo Ash in utter shock.
Although Leo Ash had been rejected by the frontline forces' tests, he had trained very hard as an agent.
But the problem was—no matter how hard an agent trained, it was impossible to accomplish these feats with just a physical body, right?
*Sigh, I knew I couldn't hide this.*
*Even if Kiana didn't say anything here, when Otto arrives, he would surely ask me once normally, and then use Fenghuang Down to ask me again.*
*The fact that I survived from the beginning to the end in Nagazora City... Forget about an old, highly intelligent fox like Otto who's lived for 500 years; even someone with a basic understanding of the Honkai would not continue to see me as an ordinary person.*
*Since everyone knows I have a trump card, I should start thinking about what excuse to use to fool them.*
[Fun fact—you still have one item you haven't drawn from the gacha.]
*Thanks for the reminder, I think so too.*
*However, I've thought of a solution now, no need to rush.*
"Leo Ash."
After recovering from her shock, Durandal said to Leo Ash with a hint of helplessness.
"I don't care when you got these little secrets, but... Rita and I might not mind you hiding them from us, but Lord Bishop will definitely want to know what's so special about you."
"Ah, I know."
Leo Ash said to Durandal with a smile.
"I told you not to worry, Bianka. I'm very afraid of dying."
"Lord Bishop Otto doesn't have a grudge against me. If he's curious, I'll just show him my power myself."
*So frank... sigh, you haven't had much contact with Lord Bishop Otto. You have no idea how dangerous of a person he is.*
"Alright, Bianka, Kiana, I feel like I still need to get some sleep."
At that moment, Leo Ash, after revealing his Stigmata, said to the two of them.
"Let me... rest a little longer."
After saying this, Leo Ash, who had been keeping his eyes closed, tilted his head to the side in front of them, seemingly asleep.
But only he knew that he had now entered the space within his Stigmata.
On the other side, Durandal, who had wanted to say more, naturally swallowed her words when she saw Leo Ash tiredly drifting off to sleep.
*Sigh, Leo Ash.*
*Forget it, saying any more is useless now.*
*He has power, he has achievements. As long as he performs a little better in front of Lord Bishop, Lord Bishop will definitely agree to his idea and let him participate in frontline battles.*
*It can't be helped. While he's asleep, I'll contact Lord Bishop first.*
*If Leo Ash insists on going to the battlefield, then I can only persuade Lord Bishop to put him somewhere a little safer.*
Just as Durandal was about to contact Otto to tell him her thoughts, a light screen suddenly appeared before her.
"Durandal, what's the situation now?"
"Lord Bishop Otto?"
*What a coincidence. I was just about to contact him, and he contacted me first?*
*Oh, I see. Is it because he's worried about Lady Theresa?*
"It's like this. Lady Theresa and a civilian were treated by me with Abyss Flower and are no longer in life-threatening danger."
"I judged it improper to leave the civilian behind, so I took the liberty of bringing her along."
"Oh, that's not a problem."
Seeing the very nervous Kiana beside Durandal, Otto said with a smile.
"Our Schicksal is an organization dedicated to fighting the Honkai and saving humanity. Rescuing civilians is what we're supposed to do."
"I have already dispatched an action team to the area where you fought the Pseudo-Herrscher for rescue operations."
"Although some Honkai Zombies have appeared in the surrounding area due to that Pseudo-Herrscher, there might still be survivors, so you can rest assured about that."
*Eh, this is the big bad bishop my dad was talking about?*
Looking at the man with a serene expression, Kiana fell into deep thought.
*He seems... pretty kind?*
"Ah, additionally, the Herrscher of Thunder is still unconscious. I personally judged that I could subdue her in time, and only I could, so I brought her back with me as well."
"The right choice. After all, there are no more than three people in Schicksal right now who can reliably suppress the Herrscher of Thunder."
After a slight nod, Otto looked at the young man beside Durandal.
Seeing the man's head tilted and resting on Durandal's shoulder, Otto's expression remained unchanged, but a few thoughts began to form in his mind.
*I had heard before that he was on good terms with Bianka and Rita.*
*But looking at it now, this is more than just being on good terms...*
*His relationship with Bianka aside, but now...*
Glancing at Kiana out of the corner of his eye, Otto realized where the problem lay.
*K423 has undoubtedly developed feelings for Leo Ash.*
*That worried look in her eyes is certainly not fake.*
*But now, if Bianka and Leo Ash's relationship is too good, then on K423's side... my plan will be difficult to carry out.*
*This is a bit troublesome.*
*At a time like this, Bianka has actually become an obstacle to my plan in this regard?*
As this thought surfaced in his mind, Otto suddenly felt the urge to laugh in exasperation.
*How strange. With the plan proceeding so smoothly, I actually have to worry about the romantic problems of a few young people.*
*Ha, Leo Ash, you truly are a man of many sins.*