"Can Siegfried hold out?"
Slightly heavy words came from the mouth of Tesla, who was watching the battle from afar.
"I'm afraid not."
Einstein spoke, and a rather pessimistic statement fell upon the ears of those around her.
She gazed into the distance. The scorching flames erupted from the greatsword of Judgment once more, but in the face of that apocalyptic, dark-red ray, they were gradually showing signs of fatigue.
It was hard to imagine that a man who, before this, couldn't even last three seconds against the Sovereign could now casually unleash attacks powerful enough to turn a city to ash after activating his genes.
But what was even more unimaginable was that even though Siegfried had become that strong, he was still at an absolute disadvantage.
Faced with the Second Herrscher, who continuously used the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason to simulate other powers, everyone present fell silent.
The Second Herrscher's strength was definitely broken.
And—
The Second Herrscher had yet to use the power of Space.
This was a terrifying fact.
The Second Herrscher's Authority had always been "Space," not "Understanding."
But up to this point in the battle, 'It' had been consistently using Welt's Authority, which 'It' had acquired not long ago, rather than 'Its' own inherent Authority!!
"It seems 'It' is having a lot of fun."
After a long silence, Einstein finally let out a faint sigh.
The Second Herrscher's strength threw the First Herrscher completely in the dust; it could even be said that 'It' left all Herrschers except the Finality in the dust.
Next, they could only count on Welt.
Einstein took a deep breath, then exhaled a cloud of turbid air to calm her mind.
The city of Troy withstood a ten-year siege from the Greek army led by Agamemnon and Achilles, but in the end, it fell because a wooden horse hiding warriors was brought into the city.
So, could Welt, hiding among the 300,000 souls of Berlin's dead, play the role of the Trojan Horse?
The female scientist of Anti-Entropy, not knowing the answer, took another deep breath.
Welt, the fate of humanity is in your hands.
---o---
The perspective shifts to the other side.
To the so-called interior of the Herrscher of Reason's core.
The first Herrscher, Welt Joyce, was a special existence.
He should have been the first angel to sound the trumpet for humanity's doom, but for various reasons, he absorbed the soul fragments of the 300,000 victims of the Great Berlin Eruption.
The goodwill of those 300,000 souls helped him resist the temptations of the Honkai, allowing him to break free from its control.
And after Welt Joyce died in battle, the residual souls of those 300,000 dead remained within the Herrscher of Reason's core.
Welt Yang stood among a crowd of residual souls, using his own control over the Herrscher core to observe the outside world.
He had actually been awake for a long time.
Or rather, he had been awake ever since the Second Herrscher headed for the battlefield.
Theoretically, as Welt Joyce's successor, he should have thrown himself into battle the very first moment he awoke.
After all, although the Second Herrscher was powerful, if 'It' faced an attack from the Herrscher of Reason from within and the bombardment of the Judgment of Shamash from without, 'It' would be caught in a bitter struggle, and might even be defeated.
But—
Welt remained motionless within the Herrscher core.
If one had to describe it, the Second Herrscher was something akin to a nightmare for Welt Yang.
'It' had effortlessly crushed him at his full power, seized the Herrscher core he had inherited from Joyce with a playful attitude, and revealed the most terrifying aspect of the Core of Reason...
It could be said that deep in his heart, Welt feared the 'God' known as the Second Herrscher.
But resolve is about forging a path forward in the dark wilderness.
Welt—after taking on this name, it meant he had to fight for this world until the last drop of his blood was shed. Carrying the resolve inherited from Welt Joyce, he would not retreat even in the face of fear.
The reason he had not yet made a move was that he was waiting for an opportunity.
The Second Herrscher may have acquired a great deal of knowledge from the Previous Era.
This was Welt's judgment.
According to records, the Second Herrscher, Sirin, was just a fourteen-year-old girl who had received little education before becoming God's apostle.
Clearly, Sirin's level of knowledge was insufficient to wield the Authority of the Herrscher of Reason, which, among all Herrscher Authorities, had the highest knowledge requirement.
But the Second Herrscher's use of the Herrscher of Reason's Authority had already reached an unbelievable level.
The attack 'It' used to kill him was even the Authority of the Herrscher of Wind!
There was only one other person in history who could simulate the Authorities of other Herrschers in an instant.
That person's name was Welt Joyce.
During the New York battle in 1955, in his fight against Otto, he successively analyzed the powers of the Star of Eden, Black Abyss White Flower, and the Oath of Judah, applying them to his own body.
Even Joyce, the orthodox Herrscher of Reason, had to first analyze the Divine Keys before he could replicate their powers. How was Sirin, of all people, capable of so easily simulating and using the Fourth Herrscher's Authority?
The answer was already obvious.
She possessed a reservoir of knowledge far exceeding that of the current era, and might even have extensive knowledge concerning the Divine Keys.
If that were the case, the reason for the Second Herrscher's terrifying strength was clear.
'It' had used knowledge from a civilization with a technological level far superior to modern civilization to strengthen 'Itself' to a point far beyond him, then crushed him and took his core, completing a second round of enhancement.
He had to consider the worst-case scenario.
For instance...
Sirin can simulate the Herrscher Authorities recorded in all the Divine Keys.
The Authority of the Void that governs imaginary space, the Authority of Thunder that controls electromagnetic fields, the Authority of Wind that plays with ideal fluids, the Authority of Flame that controls molecular motion, the Authority of Death that decomposes and restores...
Just thinking about those Authorities being integrated into a single Herrscher sent a chill down Welt's spine.
That would be the strongest combat power beneath the Finality, a monster that the current human civilization simply could not withstand!
But—
This also gave him a chance to fight back—no, to turn the tables.
Welt, who had clearly sensed that the Second Herrscher actually preferred using the Herrscher of Reason's Authority, had a sharp glint flash in his eyes.
Be it for attack or defense, 'It' relied too heavily on the Authority of Reason.
Welt watched the outside world.
The white-haired man was fighting the Second Herrscher with all his might.
Just a little more.
Force the Second Herrscher to defend.
The man who had once traded his life to force the Second Herrscher to be unable to return to imaginary space, forcing 'It' to seize the Authority of Reason and create an ideal fluid for defense, meticulously checked his own control over the Herrscher core. A slight smile crept onto the corner of his mouth.
If, after the Sword of Judgment descends, the control over the Herrscher of Reason's core is seized, and the spatial gates are sealed, can the high and mighty 'It' still withstand the Flames of Judgment?