Inside the Observation Car of the Astral Express...
Today, under Conductor Pom-Pom's guidance, Sirin was learning how to make custard slices.
The young girl studied with complete seriousness.
Her only goal in life now was to remain by "God's" side as a faithful believer.
It had to be said that this way of thinking was not wrong.
Whenever a certain person was in a good mood, he would occasionally bestow "Divine Grace as Vast as the Sea."
It was much like Eden, that fabulously wealthy woman who would casually hand out gemstones whenever she got drunk.
On a whim, out of pure enjoyment, in the heat of the moment...
Of course, Sirin's little scheme could never be hidden from "God."
But Ling Ke did not care.
In his view, as long as someone was human, they should possess desires of their own.
Someone without any wants or desires had already stopped behaving like a normal person.
Moreover, as long as they pursued those desires in the right way, there was nothing wrong with having them.
Sirin's respect for him was genuine.
The fact that she desired something in return did not make her feelings impure.
So what was wrong with allowing the young girl to have a modest goal to work toward?
At the very least, it did not ruin his mood.
As for someone else...
"Pardo, oh Pardo. You really are a clever little thing."
Through his Omniscience, Ling Ke easily observed Sim Pardofelis's actions from afar.
Indeed, when he established their "Three-Point Agreement," he had deliberately left some leeway in several of its restrictions.
After all, although Pardo's sudden transformation into an Emanator of Harmony had caught him by surprise, it could not be considered "cheating."
Pardo had genuinely been chosen by the current universe's Aeon of Harmony, Bastet, naturally fulfilling the conditions required to become an Emanator on her own.
If Ling Ke completely forbade her from doing anything merely because she had suddenly become too overpowered, that would be an excessively biased ruling.
Though, admittedly, Ling Ke had made plenty of biased rulings for his own amusement.
Of course, he also understood that if he placed no restrictions on Pardo's actions, the trial confronting human civilization on Earth would become a complete joke.
Even an Emanator whose power was not suited for combat possessed more than enough strength to overturn everything on the third planet of the Solar System.
Under those circumstances, if Pardo entered the conflict without reservation, the Herrscher side would have no chance.
Even if Kali stood only one step away from victory, perhaps already preparing to deliver her victory speech, she would still suffer a tragic defeat when humanity staged a desperate comeback.
Naturally, Ling Ke would never allow such a "game-breaking" variable to run wild.
What? Had he not interfered as well?
To be honest, his decision to forcibly reduce the hatching time of the "Nihility" embryo to one-third of its original duration had not made any substantial difference, had it?
After all, Kali later established a victory deadline even earlier than the one he had shortened.
And now...
"Since you found the 'rule loophole' I deliberately left behind, I won't interfere with what happens next."
Seated on the circular sofa, Ling Ke crossed both his arms and legs. A faint smile rested upon his lips as he made his decision.
"In any case... this era is already beyond saving."
"From this point onward, the only question is how much longer humanity can hold out."
Yes.
To a certain extent, Kali had already secured victory from the moment the "Nihility" embryo appeared.
However, she had not understood what the Black Hole Creature's egg-cocoon truly was at the time. Its creation had also been entirely accidental.
Strictly speaking, it could not be counted as "her success."
But things changed afterward.
When "Crustal Displacement" became inevitable and the countdown to civilization's destruction was reduced from ten years to roughly three, that result had come from Kali's meticulous planning and gradual execution.
It was entirely her own achievement.
Since then, Kali had steadily built upon that foundation, shortening the countdown to civilization's destruction even further.
Three years was still not enough to satisfy her.
If Ling Ke had to describe her current approach...
"Before, Kali was playing for a guaranteed victory. Now, she's playing for a high score."
That was his assessment.
Some people said that a story became far less interesting once its ending was known.
That was indeed true.
Therefore, Ling Ke had only one reason to remain in this era.
He wanted to witness exactly how much shorter that "three-year" countdown could become.
According to his present analysis...
If Pardo chooses to stand aside as well, forget three years. Humanity might not even survive for another three months.
Of course, even if she intervenes and offers indirect assistance, the effect she can produce will remain extremely limited.
"After all..."
His gaze turned playful.
"Manipulating events from the shadows and forcing everything to develop exactly as you wish isn't so easy... is it, Big Pardo?"
Meanwhile, on the North American Continent...
"..."
With the Cold Wave still raging, Kiana had been traveling alone through the wind and snow.
Now, she stared at the golden-orange portal that had suddenly opened in front of her, utter exasperation written across her face.
What kind of sane person pulls a stunt this obvious?
She decided to take a detour.
But the moment she turned away...
"..."
The portal instantly shifted from its original position and appeared directly in front of her again.
Travel-worn and covered in dust, Kiana felt the corner of her mouth twitch.
"If you want something from me, why don't you show yourself so we can talk about it?" she shouted.
Silence.
No one responded.
Only the open portal remained, silently waiting before her.
Kiana stood there for a long moment...
"How weird."
She muttered under her breath, then turned to take another detour.
Fwoosh~
Sure enough, the portal shifted again.
(￣皿￣#)
At that moment, the Bug-brain appeared to be overheating.
What followed was a truly dramatic scene amid the frozen, snow-covered wilderness.
A white-haired girl with a travel bag on her back darted, leaped, and dodged around a small area, desperately trying to avoid the teleportation gates that repeatedly blocked her path.
But after struggling for barely half a minute...
!!!
Kiana stared in shock.
The instant she leaped into the air, the single stationary teleportation gate suddenly multiplied into six, surrounding her from every direction.
This was downright dishonorable.
"Hmph!"
Now Kiana's competitive spirit had been fully ignited.
While suspended in midair, she unleashed her Path Power and briefly returned to her former Herrscher of the Void form.
Memory Replication.
Through this exceptionally rare Path Ability, which nearly touched the threshold of the Divine Realm, Kiana manifested the power of her past self.
So this is how you want to play...
Teleportation... as if I'm the only one who can't do it.
Fwoosh~
Kiana instantly flashed out of the encirclement formed by the six teleportation gates.
However, at that exact moment...
Clang~
"What?"
A colossal teleportation gate, several kilometers in radius, appeared directly above her.
Brute force wins.
The gate's mere appearance caused Kiana, who had temporarily assumed her former Herrscher form through Memory Replication, to lose control over the surrounding space for a moment.
That... was simply the difference between their levels of authority.
Now truly unable to teleport, Kiana could only watch as the colossal gate descended upon her.
It was like the Great Sage Equaling Heaven confronting his destined Five Elements Mountain...
"..."
Unable to escape the enormous gate's range, Kiana was instantly transported from the North American Continent to South America.
And then...
???
Several kilometers ahead of her, two groups were locked in a fierce battle.
She recognized one side.
They were the forces of humanity in the Current Era, led by Kevin Kaslana.
She recognized the other side as well.
Otto. Durandal. Rita. Li Sushang.
And...
"Auntie... Principal?"
High above them, the colossal teleportation gate had already vanished.
Somewhere behind the scenes, a certain catgirl (?) who had engineered all of this wearily wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead.
Naturally, both sides in the battle had noticed the colossal gate's appearance and disappearance.
After all, it had been far too large to ignore.
For a moment...
"Respected Kevin Kaslana, current leader of human civilization."
The blond man wearing a pure white jester mask spoke with a trace of helplessness in his voice.
"Didn't you used to ask people, 'Death or Submission,' before attacking them?"
"Why didn't you ask this time?"
"Who knows? I might actually choose to submit!"
Kevin did not respond.
The blond man pointed toward the distant sky.
"Look. A new situation has arisen, and its outcome is still uncertain. There is no reason for our two sides to keep fighting and killing each other, is there?"
As the blond man spoke, both he, looking rather disheveled himself, and the white-haired young man (?) nearby saw Kiana, who had been forcibly dropped into the scene.
More importantly, they saw the "Herrscher attire" she was currently wearing.
"The Sixth Herrscher... The Herrscher of the Void, once again?"
"And just like Raiden Mei... have you also become a Herrscher?"
"Kiana Kaslana."
Kevin's expression turned grim.
In his eyes, the worst possible outcome had just become reality.
Yet at that very instant...
"Huh?"
Otto, who stood nearest to Kevin, suddenly froze.
Hiss~
Inside the Astral Express, Ling Ke could not help leaning backward in a tactical retreat.
His expression seemed to say, "I knew there would be problems, but I never expected this specific one.jpg."
He sharply inhaled a breath of cold air, making his own tiny contribution toward pushing back the global Cold Wave.
And elsewhere...
"Eh?"
Pardo, who had only just succeeded in teleporting the wildly evasive Kiana, was completely stunned.
First, her "Cat's Eye" could not see the future. It could only observe the present with exceptional efficiency.
Second, as previously mentioned, using her brain to devise grand plans was not one of Pardo's strengths.
She merely possessed a knack for small tricks.
Therefore...
"No, no, no! Boss Kevin, don't do this!"
Inside her little tent, Pardo descended into frantic panic.
Even Can-chan, who was always by her side, seemed to be making a "sweating soybean cat face.jpg" expression.
The catgirl (?) truly had no bad intentions.
She merely wanted Kiana to stop the battle between Boss Kevin and Otto's group.
After all, had Boss Kevin and his companions not been searching for Kiana, hoping to form an alliance with her?
Pardo had assumed that once they saw Kiana, Boss Kevin and the others would temporarily cease hostilities and prioritize speaking with her.
Then they would quickly realize that Otto and his group had only been exposed because the Herrscher of Blood was using them as bait.
What humanity truly needed to worry about was the Herrscher of Thunder, who was exploiting the chaos to cause trouble elsewhere on Earth.
Using her extreme speed and electromagnetic Authority, along with the special frequency developed by the Herrscher of Blood, the Herrscher of Thunder was currently awakening large quantities of the "Legacy" left behind by the Herrscher of Death.
If the bodies of vast numbers of ordinary people were altered in this manner, the consequences would be unimaginable.
But now...
"What do I do? What do I do?"
Inside the tent, Pardo watched in despair as her "Cat's Eye" showed the situation in South America growing even more chaotic.
Suddenly...
"Wait, Kevin."
A pink-haired girl from the Newborn World Serpent approached the white-haired young man (?) and offered a reminder.
"Look carefully. She isn't a Herrscher."
"She's using a Path Ability to imitate a Herrscher's Authority."
"..."
Kevin fell silent.
Huuu~
Pardo released a long breath of relief.
"Thank goodness..."
"Thank goodness Elysia is here."
The catgirl's (?) eyes filled with tears.
"I'm never doing anything that requires this much courage ever again! Waaaah~"