As the central figure in this incident, Leo Ash looked at the smile on Kiana's face and just felt...
Things are terrible.
Because of his actions, K423's trajectory, while unchanged overall, was now full of discrepancies in the details.
Never mind the fact that Leo Ash was a foreign object that 'shouldn't exist.'
Right now, the look in K423's eyes as she gazed at Otto was clearly full of trust.
And in Otto's plan, besides love, a sudden shift in emotions was also indispensable.
In the future, if Kiana were to find out that the Lord Bishop she had a good, or even great, impression of had been using her all along...
Well, that could also become a trigger for her awakening.
As for Leo Ash, he was now bound by his own persona, unable to escape even if he wanted to.
And the most troublesome situation now was—why was this favorability so high.
Looking at Kiana's steadily rising favorability, which finally stopped at 57, Leo Ash felt that his future was anything but bright.
He wasn't a smart person, but the problem was he had read the script.
With knowledge of the script, even with his ordinary brain, he could figure out what Otto was thinking.
Lifting Siegfried's wanted status—it's not like ordinary Valkyries could beat him anyway. Doing so would make Kiana feel better for now, and that was enough.
And if Siegfried were foolish enough to believe Otto, what would await him would be a full-scale encirclement + Fenghuang Down on maximum power to brainwash him.
As for Leo Ash's side of things, Otto's plan required stimulating K423 and cultivating her feelings for others.
In the original story, K423 had a great relationship with her companions at St. Freya High School, so Otto's chosen sacrifices were that group of people, including Theresa.
But now K423's favorability towards him was so high, and Otto had noticed...
So I've become a sacrifice too, is that it.
And what's worse, I can't even proactively distance myself from this unlucky kid now.
Looking at the smiling K423, Leo Ash felt truly helpless.
For the sake of his deranged obsession, Otto had done countless evil deeds and screwed over many good people in five hundred years.
Leo Ash was now an important piece in his plan. Under this premise, if Leo Ash dared to act against Otto's plan, he would be in for a world of hurt.
[It's not that bad. See, the System didn't warn you about a survival crisis, did it?]
Well said—but it's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust Otto.
If I dared to distance myself from K423 today, he'd receive a report tomorrow. Even if you don't pop up a mission reminder, Otto would find a time to summon me to Schicksal HQ and use Fenghuang Down to hypnotize me into continuing to build a good relationship with K423.
Of course, with the Void Demon Stone Fragment, thanks to its mental resistance properties, Leo Ash himself certainly wouldn't be affected by Fenghuang Down.
But the point is, whether he's affected or not isn't the key. The key is that if Otto confirms that Leo Ash has been affected but still doesn't follow his instructions, then everything Leo Ash has done so far would be for nothing.
Otto isn't an idiot. If he discovered that a 'suggested' Leo Ash wasn't obeying, he would instantly deduce that everything before was just a self-harm ploy.
At that point, Leo Ash felt that even if he didn't die, his life would be miserable.
His current situation was that if he didn't have a good relationship with Kiana, something bad would happen immediately; if he did, something bad would happen in the future.
[Actually, there is a third path—draw your sword before the enemy does!]
[Looking at the reward given to you by this reliable System, you firmly believe that before Otto makes his move and kills you, you will definitely seize the opportunity to kill him first!]
[Schicksal belongs to Leo Ash!]
Oh, you're really generous with rewards, but the problem is, even with powerful equipment and skills, if I can't use them well, I still can't deal with Otto.
He's not someone who'll die for good after being killed once. The man probably has more lives than a certain dark purple knight.
Also, I have to say—next time you play BGM, can you please not go for such dramatic effect.
[Host, your words make this System a little sad.]
Huh?
[It seems you still haven't understood this System's deeper meaning.]
[The BGMs this System selects may seem to you like they're just for dramatic effect and for fun, but is that really the case?]
Ah?
[Whether it's *Todokanai Koi* or *Nice Boat*, they are all hinting that someone cares about you.]
[Whether it's Haruki Kitahara from White Album 2 or Makoto Itou from School Days, they were both cared for by people. It is for this reason that the System chose these two famous songs from these two works.]
[This System wanted to use this method to tell you—someone cares about you, so a lot of the time, you really should cherish yourself a little more and not be so reckless.]
...Thank you, System.
[Ah, you actually believed that.]
[Damn it, you believed something this System made up in one second. Host, if you're like this, this System is very worried you'll be played to death by Otto.]
...Hey!
Give me back that tiny bit of emotion I just felt!
[By the way, do you want to use the reward from the completed mission now?]
...Do you think I'm Kiana, that I'd fall for such a clumsy attempt to change the subject!
[Alright, alright, don't be angry—you and this System still have a long time together.]
[If you're alright, you should take better care of your body. Getting angry too often will shorten your life.]
Tch, who do you think is the reason I became this kind of straight man in a comedy routine?
Annoyed, Leo Ash opened his mailbox and claimed an Advanced Skill Book Lottery Ticket.
In this awkward atmosphere, not knowing what to say, Leo Ash could only silently choose to use the lottery ticket while watching Kiana gaze at Otto with a look that was very friendly, even bordering on worship.
Sigh, considering Cecilia's soul is still in the fragment I have... this scene is just too hellish.
Her eldest daughter has amnesia and has become one of Otto's top enforcers.
Her second daughter has amnesia and has been tricked by Otto into thinking he's a truly good person.
Her husband just got screwed over by Otto's verbal gymnastics, and now returning to Schicksal makes him a fool, while not returning confirms his status as a traitor...
What kind of worldly suffering is this.
Amidst Leo Ash's silent complaints, he saw a blue light flash before his eyes.
Sigh, it's not a particularly high-grade skill book.
Whatever, let's see what it is.
[Skill Book - Implant (Shin Megami Tensei TRPG)]
[After learning this skill, the holder can permanently implant certain special items into their body.]
[After an item is implanted, the holder can reduce the item's consumption and negative effects to a certain extent.]
[Note: Implanted items can also be removed by spending a certain amount of time.]
Oh, this looks... I can't say it's useless, just that it's very suitable for me.
With this ability, I can probably deal with the harm and consumption caused by the Void Demon Stone Fragment.
[Of course you can. Even 'that thing' you've been envisioning falls within the scope of items whose pressure can be reduced by this skill.]
...Hah, if possible, I'd rather that day never come.
Looking at the skill's description, Leo Ash had instantly thought of an item.
Implanting special items into the body to reduce their consumption and negative effects to some extent.
This, no matter how you look at it, is hinting at...
—The future me might one day need to implant a Herrscher Core.
...
Anti-Entropy HQ, The Ark
Within the headquarters of Anti-Entropy, after dealing with various matters, Tesla and Dr. Einstein found...
—they didn't even have the strength left to curse.
With various nations exerting pressure simultaneously, just appeasing them was enough to leave the two completely exhausted.
Under these circumstances, the radical members who hadn't participated in the Nagazora City operation were now causing trouble within Anti-Entropy.
[Why didn't we support Lord Cocolia]
[What in the world are Lord Tesla and Lord Einstein doing?]
[Where's the Sovereign! We're already fighting Schicksal, why isn't the Sovereign back yet!]
[And that man named Siegfried, he's a traitor to Schicksal, right—hmph, who knows if he's just pretending to be a rebel to infiltrate our Anti-Entropy.]
[Hey, you might be onto something. Schicksal has already pardoned his crimes and lifted his wanted status.]
[This must be Schicksal's way of pretending to 'appease' Siegfried because they think we'll eventually figure out his true identity. This way, we'll think 'if he were a spy, Schicksal wouldn't do this,' which in turn solidifies Siegfried's position on our side!]
Looking at the reports sent by these troublemakers, Tesla truly wished she could rip their goddamn mouths off.
"Damn it, these sons of bitches. It's one thing to cause trouble with Cocolia, but why is their imagination so damn good in this area!"
If the intelligence wasn't being transmitted through a light screen, preventing her from taking action, she suspected that if she saw an intelligence terminal, she might really punch right through the screen.
It was bad enough that they had to clean up Cocolia's mess, but now these scoundrels were starting internal strife while they were doing it.
And at this moment, the two of them couldn't spare the effort to deal with these opinions within the organization.
"Damn it!"
Infuriated, Tesla said to Einstein.
"Cocolia must be the one telling them to do this!"
"Ah, we all know Cocolia is behind this, so what..."
Einstein, slumped over the table, said wearily to Tesla.
"Knowing this is useless. That woman is in hiding now, we have no way of finding her coordinates."
"To put it bluntly, even if we wanted to lance the boil, we don't know where to cut."
"Wait, what does this piece of intelligence mean."
Siegfried, who was also looking through the intelligence, felt a bit baffled when he saw the news about Otto lifting his wanted status.
"That bastard Otto... he can't possibly think I'd fall for such a stupid trick, can he?"
"Hah, what does it matter if you fall for it or not?"
Seeing the confused look on Siegfried's face, Einstein said listlessly.
"If you were foolish enough to fall for it, he could eliminate a threat and get back the Judgment of Shamash."
"If you don't fall for it, he doesn't lose anything either."
"Right now, there are very few people in Schicksal capable of capturing you anyway. In that regard, having the wanted notice up or not makes no difference."
"If you don't go back, Otto won't even have to say a word. People within Schicksal will start saying 'Siegfried won't even come back after this, he must have something to hide.' Then, even if someone wanted to speak up for you, they wouldn't be able to under those circumstances."
"And... this move by Otto must have other deeper meanings."
"If we consider that Kiana is also at Schicksal..."
Thinking of a certain possibility, Einstein said haltingly.
"He probably wants to use this method to drive a wedge between you and Kiana."
"Haha, how is that possible, that's too stupid."
After hearing Einstein's speculation, Siegfried said with a cold laugh.
"Kiana isn't some little fool who can't tell right from wrong. How could a trick like that work on our relationship?"
"But, Siegfried."
Seeing Siegfried's tightly clenched fists, Einstein continued.
"You're angry, aren't you."
"You're angry, and so Otto has achieved his goal."
"...You mean, he did all this with such fanfare just to piss me off?"
Siegfried, his heart already burning with anger, still couldn't comprehend Einstein's thinking.
"That can't be right, can it?"
Looking at Siegfried's expression, Einstein let out a helpless sigh.
"Your performance in Nagazora City last time was too calm—this isn't a criticism, you actually did very well."
"You immediately got Mei out of the main city area, then depleted her power, allowing that agent named Leo Ash to find an opportunity to defeat the Herrscher-fied Mei."
"But what Otto needs is a reckless Siegfried who is burning with rage and easily loses his reason, not a Siegfried who has killing intent towards him but can still act rationally."
"After all, for Otto, the latter is far more troublesome than the former."
After Einstein finished speaking, Tesla, on the other side, also slumped on the table and continued listlessly to Siegfried.
"This message he sent out this time may seem like a big deal to us, but in reality—what did he lose?"
"Under normal circumstances, no one can catch you and bring you back anyway."
"So if the wanted notice is gone, your reputation is ruined instead, your mood will worsen, and subconsciously, your killing intent towards him will continue to grow."
"If Otto continues to provoke you, you will sooner or later lose your cool and walk right into his trap."
"For the one holding the initiative, his actions may seem like a retreat on the surface, but in reality, he's in a situation where he either profits or profits massively."
"Just by removing a useless wanted notice, he gained all these benefits. Now..."
"—Siegfried, do you still think that big news that son of a bitch Otto cooked up this time has no meaning?"
Listening to their analysis, Siegfried finally realized just how vicious Otto's move was.
He had to admit, the entire Anti-Entropy combined couldn't hold a candle to Otto when it came to schemes and intrigue.
Although Cocolia was the one who started this incident, from the current situation, Otto had likely been fanning the flames from behind the scenes.
And Siegfried, the unlucky bastard who went to the scene to save his friend's daughter, was first used by Otto, then hunted after his power was spent, and after finally making it back to Anti-Entropy, Otto started messing with him again with a single command.
Damn it, how is he so smart.
If this bastard wasn't such a bastard, and instead used his brain to fight the Honkai...
The whole world might have a few less tragedies.
....