At a secret coordinate, deep under the ocean.
"Hmm?"
Kali, the Herrscher of Blood, who was focused on her "work," suddenly frowned.
She was personally making real-time adjustments to every detail of the now fully deployed "Cold Wave" operation. Her goal was to maximize its effectiveness and further shorten the countdown to the official arrival of the Ice Age.
But in the middle of this...
"Two 'Blood (Snow) Mountain Shrines' have been temporarily destroyed?"
"And..."
A large number of her "Spawn" stationed in Central Europe had suddenly lost contact.
They had all been annihilated in a single instant.
"..."
Kali fell silent for a moment.
She began to retrieve the final memories of those "Spawn" before their deaths.
A short while later...
"So that's what happened."
After reviewing those earth-shattering scenes, she immediately deduced the full sequence of events.
That strongest human, the heretic who shamelessly stole the Power of God by wielding the so-called Divine Key, Kevin Kaslana.
He had made a move against another Apostle of God, the Fourth Herrscher.
From the looks of it, the Serene Miniature Garden had been completely destroyed.
But...
"None of the contingency plans she left behind have been activated?"
By now, Kali's spies were already spread to every corner of the globe.
Under these circumstances, except for a few special areas, such as the Newborn World Serpent's headquarters located beneath the Sahara Desert in North Africa, which she could not effectively infiltrate, almost every other place had mobile cameras roaming around.
Some were humanoid impostors, while others were even disguised as a single grain of sand.
They were impossible to guard against.
And speaking of the Newborn World Serpent's headquarters...
It couldn't be helped. That place was guarded by several psychic-type MANTIS, led by Aponia. That bunch, especially that heretical nun, was indeed difficult to deal with.
Aside from that, Kali could "see" almost everything.
Because of this, she knew a fair bit about the contingency plans left behind by the Fourth Herrscher—the "larvae" that also lay dormant throughout the world, ready to "Hatch" at any moment and unleash massive plagues, or even fundamentally alter the human body, forcibly turning people into another species.
She had even praised the plan before, saying, "As expected of a fellow Apostle of God. Our methods of carrying out the duty of Destruction are so similar."
But now...
"Since none of those contingency plans have been activated, there are only two possibilities," Kali analyzed inwardly. "First, something unexpected happened. The Fourth Herrscher betrayed God and abandoned her duty. Therefore, even in death, she chose not to activate those plans."
"Second..."
The woman with skin as blue as the sky let her lips curl into a slight smile. "The Fourth Herrscher wasn't destroyed. Just like me..."
"She chose to fake her death to escape, and has now gone into complete hiding."
Kali's second guess was half right.
In fact, as the Fourth Herrscher, Seele had not chosen to fake her death.
She hadn't even had the luxury to make such a choice back then.
Instead...
Someone had seized the opportunity to help her.
This was a comfortable recovery ward.
The short-haired girl, now wearing a loose hospital gown, lay on a clean white bed.
At one moment...
"Ugh..."
The short-haired girl's brow twitched slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Where am I..."
"Long time no see, Miss Seele."
Inside the ward... by the bed, a rather annoying male voice rang out.
Seele turned her head toward the source of the voice.
In her line of sight, that white clown mask she loathed so much came into view.
"You woke up so soon..."
Fwoosh—
A burst of purplish-black mist instantly swallowed the man whole, leaving not even a scrap behind.
However, not long after...
Creak—
The ward door opened. There stood the same white clown mask, wearing the same exquisite suit.
The blond man appeared before Seele once again.
"Your temper is still as... distinctive as ever."
The blond man continued to smile casually. "However, for the time being, I suppose I am your... savior?"
"Anyway, would you allow me to finish what I have to say first?"
"..."
Seele did not respond.
She had already learned from that man (Kevin) that she had been played by the one before her.
"You're the one who lured that guy here!"
Seele's voice was cold as she spoke. "Where is Bronya?"
To this...
"No, no, no, please don't misunderstand, Miss Seele."
The blond man, Otto Apocalypse, explained with a smile, "I had originally intended to use the seven Seeds of Immortality I obtained from you to make friends with some people of status and power. That way, they could help me out when I needed to do certain things in the future."
"I never expected that the people over there (the Newborn World Serpent) would conduct a comprehensive, brainwashing-like terrorist campaign against the higher-ups of various countries and major factions recently."
"This truly exceeded my expectations."
"As a result, all this subsequent chaos ensued, which in turn affected your peaceful life..."
Otto... hmm, it was likely still an Avatar of Elation... stood a short distance from the hospital bed, not too close, took off the white top hat with a black band from his head, bowed slightly and said: "My sincerest apologies."
Seele said nothing.
She did not feel even the slightest hint of genuine apology from his words.
This was nothing more than a few pleasantries.
And the pleasantries were not over yet...
"As for Miss Bronya... please rest assured, she is fine, and very safe."
"She knows nothing about everything that happened today."
"If necessary..."
"She will never know."
Otto informed her with a meaningful tone.
He then suddenly said jokingly: "Of course, what I meant by this was... after Miss Seele has handled those annoying trifles, let her wake from her dream."
"Absolutely, absolutely no other meaning."
Seele's expression grew even more grim.
She could, of course, understand the threatening intent behind his words.
But then...
He had accurately targeted her weakness.
Seele said nothing more, silently waiting for what he would say next.
She knew that since he had schemed against her so thoroughly, shifting the blame and then seizing the opportunity to bring her to this unknown place, he must have another purpose.
And sure enough...
"Don't worry. Although Otto Apocalypse is despicable, shameless, and cunning, he does not have a habit of avoiding responsibility."
The man slowly began to speak. "Although this was not my intention, it has indeed had a very bad impact on you."
"Therefore, not only did I risk a great deal to perform a rescue mission for you and the person you cherish, Bronya Zaychik..."
"But I also specially prepared a grand gift for you based on this."
"As for the contents of the gift..."
At this point, the blond man wearing a white jester mask gestured toward the hospital room doorway. "If you've rested well, why don't you come with me and take a look?"
"..."
Seele remained silent.
But she still got out of bed and walked straight out of the hospital room.
On one hand, she wanted to see what this despicable blond man was really up to.
On the other hand... she needed to know where Bronya was.
And...
"If I want to take Bronya and escape from this guy... or even kill him in return, I need to figure out the situation first."
That was her thought.
So, after walking out of the hospital room barefoot, she temporarily cooperated with his actions, letting the blond man lead the way while he spouted uselessly flattering words.
Before long...
In the dim hallway... light appeared ahead.
"Please look, Miss Seele."
The blond man led her to a long, horizontal floor-to-ceiling window at the end of a corridor.
And now, as he bowed and gestured, what came into her view was...
"!!!"
It was a massive arms factory.
Inside, she could see many staff members in full-body hazmat suits moving about.
They would occasionally gather, discussing and recording something on an electronic tablet.
Or they would stand before certain machines, skillfully operating and adjusting the buttons.
However, looking around...
This giant arms factory was not producing guns, artillery shells, or various intelligent weapons.
It was producing... humans!
She saw countless small, white-haired girls floating silently in rows of nutrient pods, stacked several levels high.
Gulp
Bubbles floated to the surface inside the pods.
They were all living beings.
They...
"Previously, even when you controlled the entire Republic of the White Eagle, the subordinates (puppets) you acquired were merely ordinary people who could live a little longer," the blond man's voice came from beside her. "They could do nothing against an absolute powerhouse."
"Destroying them is no harder than stepping on ants."
"And here, I, Otto Apocalypse, will prepare an army of superhuman beings for you."
"They have all been implanted with at least Emperor-class Honkai Beast Genes."
"Although right now, they must seal and limit the activity of these genes to maintain their human form and prevent self-destruction."
"But I believe that if you exercise your Authority, these restrictions will no longer exist."
"Even... their level of life will reach an even more unreachable height."
At this point, he turned and bowed to Seele, his posture elegant. "From now on, these PRI-Valkyries will become the most loyal, fearless, and sharp claws in your hand."
"They will clear the path for you and tear through all obstacles."
Otto slightly raised his head, his eyes hidden in the shadows behind his mask narrowing. "I wonder, will Miss Seele be satisfied with this great gift?"
At this moment...
Hearing these... demonic whispers... played by "The Fool" in her ear...
"Heh~"
Seele smiled.
She took another step forward...
Her right hand rested on the floor-to-ceiling window, and the corners of her lips curved upward.
"Not bad."
As she replied, the girl's eyes gleamed with endless killing intent. "I'm very satisfied."
She felt a surge of malice toward "The Fool" standing beside her.
But the latter simply smiled, completely unbothered.
Besides him, there was also...
"Kevin, you've made me lose too much today."
"Next..."
Purplish-black mist swirled around Seele.
Her pupils had already turned crimson as blood. "It's my turn!"