At Leo Ash's call, Fu Hua easily took control of her body, cutting off the erosion from the Honkai...
If things were really that smooth, Leo Ash would have thought he was still dreaming.
This world had long since gone off the rails. Any sudden incident would only increase the danger of his surroundings.
As for breezing through it with ease, that was clearly impossible.
Leo Ash's words did indeed make the struggling look on Fu Hua's face gradually disappear.
But looking at Fu Hua, who was still in 'red-eyed' mode, Leo Ash knew that his verbal persuasion had obviously failed.
Moreover, at that moment, Fu Hua's character profile even popped up before his eyes.
Nothing else had changed, except that her affection rating had suddenly jumped up by another three points.
*Wait, I have a question.*
*Why are you popping up now when the atmosphere is so tense?*
*That rule you mentioned about 'not being able to appear once a fight starts' was a complete lie from the beginning, wasn't it?!*
[Not at all. And why do you think a fight is inevitable right now?]
[Look at that affection rating. Do you really think your Master has the heart to lay a hand on you?]
...
*Don't do this. You're making me feel even more stressed.*
[Being stressed won't help. Otto is a real piece of work in some respects.]
[None of this mess was supposed to happen today, but because of his actions, he indirectly caused the Honkai to make a drastic move.]
[Otherwise, the Honkai would theoretically have taken more time to slowly erode Fu Hua's consciousness, rather than taking the risk of having her 'awaken' now.]
*Ah, although I don't know what Otto did, I feel my killing intent towards him has risen again.*
*What the hell did that bastard do?*
*Isn't his policy to 'prepare to clean up the Honkai while allowing it to develop'?*
*Otto has maintained that style in the past without ever pushing the Honkai to the brink.*
[Ah, it's probably not a good idea to interrupt your train of thought, but are you sure it's okay to be chattering with the System like this?]
*Of course, it's fine.*
*I've already told you I've mastered the art of multitasking.*
As his mind raced with speculation, Leo Ash looked at the 'Fu Hua' before him and finally chose to speak up.
"Class Rep, have you calmed down now?"
"Mm, of course. After all, what you said before was right."
'Fu Hua', now looking calm, placed her hands on her hips and spoke to the group.
"I am me. I am Fu Hua. I am the Immortal Red Kite!"
"Why should I start doubting myself just because some little girl who doesn't understand me scolds me for no reason?!"
Hearing 'Fu Hua's' speech, Durandal shot a very peculiar look at Leo Ash and Su.
*What the hell?*
*Fu Hua is the legendary guardian of Shenzhou, the Immortal Red Kite?*
*And neither this Previous Era pioneer, who almost fought the Bishop, nor Leo Ash, who is maintaining a calm demeanor, seems to have any doubt or surprise about this information?*
*Eh, does that mean everyone knew about this?*
*What's going on? This feeling of being the only one out of the loop—it's really uncomfortable!*
Although Durandal had many questions, in the end, she chose to keep her mouth shut.
It wasn't that she thought there was nothing wrong with Fu Hua; it was mainly that Durandal had a decent amount of self-awareness.
She knew very well that her mind didn't work fast enough, and she wasn't very good with words.
And as a former Schicksal special agent a few years her senior, Leo Ash certainly didn't share her weaknesses in thinking and rhetoric.
*That guy managed to spin me and Rita around in circles before. With all the tricks he has up his sleeve, handling Fu Hua...*
*...shouldn't be a problem, right?*
"Ahem, but speaking of which, now that Otto is dead or gone, I don't think there's any need to hide things from you anymore."
After composing herself, 'Fu Hua' wiped the expression from her face, tried her best to put on a serious demeanor, walked up to Leo Ash, and cleared her throat twice.
"Leo Ash, you may not know this, but I am not just your Class Rep. I am also—your Master."
*Ah, she's revealed it herself?*
*Strange, this isn't Fu Hua's personality at all.*
*I feel like I've forgotten something very important. Is it just my imagination?*
'Fu Hua', who had yet to use Fenghuang Down on Leo Ash again, looked at his still-calm expression and figured he probably didn't believe her sudden declaration.
However, she wasn't about to get angry with him over something like that.
"Sigh, Master was foolish before to team up with that bastard Otto."
"To help him complete some damned plan, I couldn't reveal my identity and could only use special means to have you train with me and learn my ultimate technique, the Edge of Taixu."
"The reason you learned this ultimate technique in your dreams is that I used the [Eighth Divine Key - Fenghuang Down] to hypnotize you, and under hypnosis, I imparted these techniques to you."
"But now Otto is gone, so I don't need to hide it anymore!"
At that moment, 'Fu Hua' suddenly grabbed Leo Ash's shoulders, her gaze filled with hopeful sunlight as she gave him intense, unspoken hints.
"I'm the Archbishop of Schicksal now! You don't have to be at Otto's beck and call like in the past!"
"I believe that as long as we, master and disciple, join forces, all the enemies in this world will be crushed by us!"
Hearing these highly unreliable words, Durandal was now completely certain that this person was not Fu Hua.
A person's speech patterns and mannerisms are hard to change. In Durandal's eyes, even if the real Fu Hua had similar thoughts, she would never express them with this tone and attitude.
As for Leo Ash right now...
What else could he do but try to smooth this husky's fur and figure out how to play along?
"If it is... Master who says these things, then I am willing to believe you, Master Fu Hua."
"After all, in my eyes, Master Fu Hua is not someone who speaks recklessly."
Hearing Leo Ash's words, Su's expression remained unchanged, but he let out a genuine sigh of relief internally.
He had sensed that something was wrong, but no matter how wrong it was, the most important thing for them right now was to stabilize his temperamentally changed comrade, not to pursue the so-called truth.
As for Fu Hua having a Herrscher Personality inside her, that was indeed a significant issue.
But Su hadn't forgotten that one day before the Finality, one of his comrades had sacrificed himself to bring new hope to the people of this era.
The Herrschers of this era could be won over. As long as Mr. Ash could display his negotiation skills, then—even if this Herrscher was one upon whom the Honkai had placed great hopes, this fight wasn't a necessity!
And thinking about it another way, if the Herrscher was won over by Mr. Ash, then as long as the Herrscher Personality didn't cause trouble, Hua could even control the Herrscher's power in battle.
As for why Su didn't plan to step in and talk to Fu Hua about this himself, to put it bluntly, he could feel that 'Fu Hua' held a grudge against him.
This resentment certainly didn't come from Fu Hua herself but from her Herrscher Personality.
However, this resentment was currently locked onto Su and hadn't spread to Leo Ash. For this reason, Su felt that Leo Ash was better suited than him to win over the Herrscher Personality inside Fu Hua.
And after Leo Ash had spoken, Su could genuinely feel that the Herrscher Personality occupying Fu Hua's body had clearly become even more pleased with Leo Ash.
"Good, good, very well said!"
At this moment, 'Fu Hua' looked at her disciple with satisfaction, a sly smile suddenly appearing on her face.
"Seeing as my dear disciple trusts his master so much, I'll forgive you for your previous act of betraying your master."
*Betraying her master?*
Hearing this phrase, which shouldn't exist between Leo Ash and Fu Hua, Su and Durandal both turned slightly, looking at Leo Ash with peculiar gazes.
It wasn't that they had no trust in Leo Ash, but mainly—the current 'Fu Hua' didn't seem like the type to keep things bottled up.
In a sense, although the current 'Fu Hua' was more extreme than before, she was also, in a way, more 'honest,' as easy to read as a schoolchild.
[Ah, it's finally happening. Host, be strong!]
*Wait, hold on, what's this about betraying my master, and what's with the 'be strong'?!*
[Well, let me give you a hint—oh, never mind, no hint needed. You should just focus on how you're going to talk your way out of this.]
Looking at Leo Ash, whose expression was still calm but whose eyes clearly wavered, the smile on 'Fu Hua's' face grew even wider.
"What, you did it but won't admit it? Are you feeling shy?"
"Your master is the Immortal Red Kite. How could I not have noticed you stealing a kiss from me?"
?
??
???
*Wait, hold on, how does she know about that?!*
[Isn't it obvious? Just because Fu Hua was asleep doesn't mean *she* was. Of course, she knows.]
*You mean her Herrscher Personality was already awake back then? What about the core! Didn't anyone sense it?*
[The System suggests you stop thinking about these trivial details for now. The problem at hand is... well, be strong.]
Meanwhile, hearing this shocking piece of information, the gossip-loving spectators, Durandal and Su, were even more stunned.
*What, Leo Ash secretly kissed Fu Hua?!*
*And he's not denying it, which means he admits it?!*
*Wait, this has nothing to do with me, so why do I suddenly feel a strange sense of annoyance?*
*Ah, so that's how Mr. Ash feels about Hua.*
*So that's why he hesitated for a second when calling her 'Master' back then...*
*I see.*
'Fu Hua' looked at Leo Ash's rigid body and suddenly rushed forward to hug him.
"Alright, alright, Master isn't blaming you."
"It's not a bad thing for a disciple to want to be close to his master, not to mention Master is naturally beautiful..."
The moment she said that, 'Fu Hua's' eyes suddenly reverted from scarlet to their original color.
At the same time, Fu Hua, who had just been calmly hugging Leo Ash, shot back as if electrocuted, frantically retreating away from him.
[Ah, this is...]
*What happened, System?*
[Unbelievable. What kind of maneuver was that?]
[Because the Herrscher of Sentience said something that Fu Hua found too embarrassing, it actually stimulated Fu Hua's own personality, which was originally losing ground and hadn't even realized the true nature of the situation. She suddenly gained the upper hand out of sheer shyness.]
[Sigh, a brat will always be a brat. When it comes to messing things up, she's truly—anyway, here's your chance, Host!]
*Right, this is my chance!*
Looking at Fu Hua, whose face was gradually turning red, Leo Ash tentatively asked.
"Master, have you... calmed down?"
"Don't..."
"Ah, don't what?"
"Don't—call me Master!"
Remembering the words she had just spoken, Fu Hua felt like she couldn't face anyone right now.
*What, what's wrong with me? Why would I say such strange things?*
*And Leo Ash—he's such a scoundrel!*
*No, wait, how is my disciple wanting to be close to me being a scoundrel?!*
*Besides, my body recovered to its peak condition after he kissed me once. This means my disciple had his reasons!*
*Yes, Leo Ash had his reasons, his reasons—his healing ability isn't that powerful!*
Although the current Fu Hua should be trying to calm herself down, once she discovered the anomaly in these events, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
*He's definitely hiding something from me!*
*But everyone has little secrets; that's normal.*
*But now that I know, I have to make him tell me!*
*He's young and can't control himself, doesn't know what he should or shouldn't do!*
*If I hadn't punched that bastard Otto's head in, not just him, but even that little girl Durandal would still be deceived by Otto!*
*Wait, are these really my thoughts?*
*And why do I feel an incredibly terrifying energy fluctuation from not too far away???*
*It's not Honkai Energy, it's Herrscher energy!*
*Putting aside Leo Ash's little secrets for a moment, a Herrscher has the audacity to appear here?!*
*The nerve!*
*No, in the first place, why can I sense the fluctuation of Herrscher energy?*
At that moment, Fu Hua, who had faintly guessed the truth, looked at the three comrades beside her.
And as expected, the three people before her did not sense this particular Herrscher energy.
*I see, only I can perceive this special power.*
*Those thoughts were not entirely my own either.*
*I detest Otto, and perhaps I did harbor murderous intent towards him.*
*But to destroy Schicksal HQ just to kill Otto is clearly too extreme.*
*Internal strife in Schicksal will reduce everyone's efficiency in fighting the Honkai.*
*And I, who have done something that benefits the Honkai and can easily sense Herrscher energy...*
*—I am, without a doubt, a Herrscher.*
........................