When Fu Hua realized she had become a Herrscher, she immediately tried to take a step back.
But the moment she was about to act, a thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
*No, wait, why should I retreat?*
*Strange, even if I've made this deduction, I am still me.*
*Mei, Yuna, both of them.*
*After obtaining their Herrscher Cores, they went through some level of shock and became Herrschers who stand on the side of humanity.*
*My willpower is stronger than theirs, so...*
*—even if I've become a Herrscher now, I can still rely on my own will to become a Herrscher for humanity!*
*Why should I retreat?*
*No, wait, this is the will of the Honkai manipulating my thoughts!*
Fu Hua, who now knew the truth, instantly understood the Honkai's move this time when different thoughts emerged in her mind.
Because Fu Hua was a MANTIS and thus stronger than an ordinary Herrscher Host, the Honkai had clearly used a completely different method on her than on other Herrschers.
There was still a 'Herrscher Personality' inside Fu Hua's body, but the will of the Honkai hadn't let her Herrscher Personality realize that it *was* the 'Herrscher Personality'. Instead, it kept instilling the idea that 'you are the real Fu Hua' into it.
Under these circumstances, the Herrscher Personality wouldn't see itself as a Herrscher, yet it would act according to the Honkai's guidance.
This method was troublesome, but it was also subtle enough.
If it weren't for that flash of Herrscher energy from nearby, Fu Hua really wouldn't have figured out her current state.
*And that fluctuation of Herrscher energy...*
*I see, that familiar feeling, it's Yuna.*
*It's an energy fluctuation from one of our own, so I don't have to worry for now—like hell I don't!*
*Although that girl has suppressed the personality within her Herrscher Core, she is ultimately still susceptible to the Honkai's influence.*
*To think I was about to ignore the disaster she might cause... I finally understand.*
*There is indeed a Herrscher Personality inside my body, but that Herrscher Personality is not me, it's you!*
*You despicable thing, after my enlightenment, you masqueraded as the old, pedantic me, trying to use this method to usurp my place and frame me, the real Fu Hua, as the 'Herrscher'?*
*You've got some nerve!*
At that moment, Fu Hua, sensing the other personality within her beginning to resist violently, managed to maintain her composure and spoke to the three comrades before her.
"Su, Leo Ash, Durandal, this is very sudden, but I've become a Herrscher."
"To prevent me from being guided by the Honkai and causing a greater disaster, the three of you must attack me together and knock me out!"
"Leo Ash, you have the HSN serum with you..."
Seeing Leo Ash pull out an 'HSN serum' of a seemingly incorrect color from somewhere, Fu Hua felt a temporary sense of relief.
"You really are meticulous."
"Master, you..."
Looking at Fu Hua, Leo Ash, who had already brandished the God-Slaying Spear, spoke with a sense of helplessness.
"I'm sorry, please bear with it."
"I already told you, don't call me Master..."
*This child, sigh...*
"Leo Ash, step back."
At that moment, seeing Leo Ash preparing to approach Fu Hua, Durandal suddenly took a step forward, positioning herself between him and Fu Hua.
Simultaneously, Leo Ash also took a sharp step back, dodging a sudden attack from 'Fu Hua'.
"Hmph, Herrscher... you have some nerve!"
Fu Hua, her eyes now crimson, glared at Durandal who was blocking her path to Leo Ash and threw a vicious punch.
"Get out of my way, little girl!"
"That damn Herrscher actually wanted to use the HSN serum to weaken me, to slow me down."
"Enough is enough! That damn Herrscher Personality, pretending to be the old me is one thing, but to come up with such a venomous plan!"
Durandal, blocking with Abyss Flower, was unexpectedly forced back a step.
*Wait, what is this terrifying impact—is she trying to kill Leo Ash?!*
*If I hadn't blocked her just now, even if Leo Ash had sensed something was wrong and stepped back, she could have landed a heavy blow on him while he was unprepared for battle.*
*Fu Hua... the Honkai really went all in, choosing her to become a Herrscher.*
*But I have to admit, the Honkai's big gamble this time has indeed caused us considerable trouble.*
*Through this method, it has thrown Fu Hua into chaos, directly neutralizing a powerful warrior on our side, and at the same time, turning the confused Fu Hua into our enemy.*
*Fu Hua's course of action itself is not a problem. If Leo Ash and I attack together, even if that man named Su doesn't act, as long as he doesn't help Fu Hua, Leo Ash and I can take her down and use the HSN serum to temporarily suppress the Herrscher Personality within her.*
"Little girl, I'll say it again..."
Looking at Durandal, who was guarding against a surprise attack on Leo Ash, 'Fu Hua' spoke to her word by word, annoyed.
"I don't dislike you, but right now—you must get out of my way!"
"Yeah, right. You think I'd give you a chance to ambush Leo Ash?"
"You, you, you, you, you're going to be the death of me!"
Seeing her comrade treat her with such an attitude, the red-eyed 'Fu Hua' stomped her foot in frustration and pointed at Durandal's nose, cursing.
"Have you even figured it out yet? If we fight here at Schicksal HQ, who's going to be happy—we humans are fighting amongst ourselves, the Honkai will laugh its ass off!"
*Ah, that seems to make some sense.*
"Making several of humanity's top combatants fight each other, that's the Honkai's plan! You big-chested airhead, think about whether what I'm saying makes sense!"
*Ah, that does seem to be the logic.*
Durandal, who was already feeling a bit paranoid, was about to turn her head to look at Leo Ash behind her for an answer.
But when Durandal shifted her gaze away from 'Fu Hua', the first thing she saw was not something else, but the Schicksal comrades who had been indirectly harmed by 'Fu Hua's' previous attack.
At the same time, 'Fu Hua', following Durandal's gaze to glance at those innocent victims, suddenly spoke with immense guilt.
"I admit, I was a little hasty in chasing Otto just now—but that's Otto's and the Honkai's fault, isn't it?"
"If Otto hadn't caused trouble, what's wrong with me cooperating with him? Why would I need to hunt him down?!"
"And the Honkai—hmph, it must be the Herrscher Personality interfering with the precision of my energy output, causing it to spread to places it shouldn't have!"
"Bianka, stop staring at me like you're interrogating a criminal. This was all just an accident caused by the Honkai—its goal is to sow discord!"
"Ah, indeed."
After retracting her gaze, Durandal looked at Leo Ash behind her and said.
"Leo Ash, although I still feel something isn't right, my brain has never been as good as yours—I can't trust that man. Right now, I can only trust your judgment."
"...Then step aside for now, Bianka."
After pondering for a few seconds, Leo Ash gestured for Durandal to move aside. He then walked towards the gray-haired woman before him, still not in a combat stance.
"I believe that Master would never harm me."
"...My good disciple."
Seeing Leo Ash approaching her with the HSN serum, 'Fu Hua' was genuinely moved.
"Indeed, I was not wrong to take you as my disciple."
"So, disciple, could you please put that thing away?"
"Trust me, Master. Your Master is very strong!"
"After the initial chaos, I can suppress this detestable Herrscher Personality whenever I want—Leo Ash, get away from me!"
At this moment, looking at the young man before her, Fu Hua suddenly roared at him.
"If you truly acknowledge me as your master, then give me your all and strike me down!"
"Su, Durandal, you too!"
"I don't know how much longer I can maintain my sense of self, but it's clear something is wrong with me!"
"I am standing here to fight the Honkai, don't let me..."
"—Don't let me continue to make one mistake after another!"
"Master, you, calm down."
At this moment, Leo Ash really couldn't figure out why he kept feeling that something was off.
But a voice in his heart was constantly telling him one thing.
This voice was telling Leo Ash to trust Fu Hua, no matter what.
And it was because of this voice that a coward like Leo Ash, who could be attacked or even run through at any moment, chose to continue approaching her in this defenseless state.
"Calm? I am very calm."
The eyes of 'Fu Hua' suddenly turned crimson again, and she unhesitatingly read the minds of all three.
First was Su—oh, she couldn't see the thoughts of a psychic MANTIS like Su.
But from the very beginning, Su had maintained a faint wariness towards her, a fact she could still sense.
*Damn it, Su has been deceived by the Herrscher Personality.*
*And he even beat up my dear disciple before.*
*Su, you are now my enemy!*
As for Durandal, although Otto had trained her resistance to psychic attacks, it wasn't strong enough to completely block this kind of mind-reading.
Therefore, after some effort, 'Fu Hua' also saw Durandal's inner thoughts.
*Fu Hua is a comrade worthy of respect—heh, the little girl doesn't say it, but she's quite complimentary in her heart.*
*But for that very reason, I can't let her continue to make mistakes—I take back my praise, why do you still think I'm the problem?!*
*Damn it, this little girl is also my enemy!*
*As for my dear disciple, let's see...*
*Trust Master!*
*Master is innocent!*
*It must be the Honkai's doing!*
*Just trust Master, and everything will be fine!*
Seeing the thoughts in Leo Ash's mind, the originally murderous 'Fu Hua' suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
*Ehehe, I believed my dear disciple when he said he trusted me before.*
*But I didn't expect him to trust me to this extent—Master truly didn't dote on you for nothing!*
*No, wait, something's not right here.*
Although 'Fu Hua's' eyes remained crimson, her mind sensed a trace of abnormality that she shouldn't have been able to perceive.
Leo Ash's thoughts felt less like 'sincerely trusting Fu Hua' and more like he had been half-suggested by a psychic ability to believe in me unconditionally.
*Leo Ash isn't a fool. Faced with such a momentous decision, he wouldn't choose to believe me blindly. He should have been analyzing the pros and cons in his mind before making a choice.*
*I understand now. I finally understand.*
*You, Herrscher, you're using your Herrscher powers to interfere with Leo Ash's mind?!*
Fu Hua, having realized the abnormality, watched Leo Ash slowly approaching her and instinctively wanted to push him away.
But at that moment, the hand she used to push him suddenly, unconsciously, turned from a palm into a fist, striking at Leo Ash with extreme viciousness.
"Damn i—"
"Leo Ash, get back!"
Faced with the shouts of alarm from the two behind him, Leo Ash made his choice.
With his reaction speed, it was possible to use Royal Guard to block the blow.
But at that moment, Leo Ash did not choose to evade. Instead, he did the complete opposite.
The moment Fu Hua's fist flew towards him, Leo Ash calculated its trajectory, observed the energy fluctuations on the fist and the force behind it using Precision Control, and made a judgment.
*Mm, a hasty punch. It won't kill me.*
*And her sudden punch now means she's 100% in a panic, so the probability of her maintaining the mind-read on me is high. That means I don't have to keep dwelling on what happened before.*
*Thinking calmly, what she needs is a certain degree of shock, so...*
In the next instant, to everyone's disbelief, Fu Hua's fist easily pierced through Leo Ash's body.
Moreover, Durandal and Su, who were already rushing forward, saw Leo Ash do something incredibly foolish that he should not have done.
Leo Ash's Godsbane Armor, [Zero Knight: Moonshade], was a defense-enhanced suit specially designed by Otto, who was worried he might die out in the field.
However, faced with this sudden attack, not only did Leo Ash not activate his Honkai Energy shield and armor, but he also deactivated the armor entirely, taking Fu Hua's punch with his bare flesh.
"I, I, I—no, it shouldn't be like this!"
Immediately pulling her hand out of Leo Ash's body, 'Fu Hua' stared at him in disbelief, never having expected things to turn out this way.
It was already part of Fu Hua's subconscious knowledge that Leo Ash, when properly equipped, was strong enough to fight a Herrscher.
Because of this, 'Fu Hua' had never imagined that a single, inexplicably thrown punch would critically injure the disciple who trusted her.
"Sorry, Master..."
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Leo Ash collapsed to the ground. Lying on the floor, he spoke to Fu Hua with a thread of a voice.
"I still think you should take your medicine on time, so—don't blame me for being too harsh."
Looking at the 'HSN serum' jabbed into her right arm, 'Fu Hua', unwilling to face the situation, stomped heavily on the ground and vanished from everyone's sight.
"Leo Ash!"
Seeing Leo Ash lying in a pool of blood, Durandal immediately activated the creation power of Abyss Flower, healing his wounds.
Then, she looked at him and roared in fury.
"Why did you deactivate your armor! If her attack had been just a little stronger—"
"Because you were here, Bianka."
Getting up from the ground, Leo Ash looked at the retreating Fu Hua and spoke to Durandal with utter helplessness.
"I wanted to take a gamble. It's just a pity that it seems to have made Master want to face me even less."
"Let's go save everyone first, and then..."
"Next, with Bishop Otto temporarily missing, I think we're going to be busy."
"Mr. Ash, Miss Bianka."
Having locked onto Fu Hua's coordinates with Thousand Worlds, Su spoke to the two with a helpless tone.
"Although Mr. Ash and I had a misunderstanding before, I believe we are now in the same boat."
"Rather than continuing to suspect each other due to old grievances, I think—Mr. Ash, why don't we put aside our differences and start cooperating in earnest?"
"Heh, while I don't intend for infighting, do you think I would trust you?"
Leo Ash shot Su a cold look and said.
"If you are preparing to fight the Honkai, I won't interfere with your actions. But if you're planning something big—I will not let you run wild."
In that instant, Leo Ash felt his mind connect with another psychic force.
[Mr. Ash, Mr. Otto has most likely left Schicksal HQ. Do we really need to maintain this 'hostile' attitude?]
*Naturally.*
*He is Otto, after all, Mr. Su. When it comes to the contingencies he's left behind, I think it's better to be safe than sorry.*
[Understood.]
*Also, you can track Master's location, right?*
[She's heading towards Mount Taixu. However, the shock you gave her was a bit too much.]
[I think, for a while, we should let Hua cool down a bit.]
[Your modified HSN serum has already helped her suppress the Herrscher energy within her. Given time, with her resilient will...]
[She will, sooner or later, return to our side.]
....