A dangerous imbalance was beginning to take shape within human society.
On one side were those who had been transformed into long-lived individuals with stronger Honkai resistance, effectively becoming walking pieces of "Tang Monk's flesh" in the eyes of everyone else.
On the other were the people controlling humanity's remaining institutions, whose tempers and judgment were gradually being twisted toward fanaticism and extremism.
Put those two conditions together, and the outcome was obvious.
It was the very scenario the Newborn World Serpent feared most:
Civil war.
And with humanity already stretched to the breaking point by the Cold Wave, the Herrschers, mass evacuation, and collapsing infrastructure…
Once internal conflict truly erupted, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The one outcome the Newborn World Serpent fears most.
Civil war.
Then comes the next question.
With humanity already stretched to its breaking point, what happens if widespread internal conflict erupts now?
The answer…
"Check."
Inside a hidden cave, a serene smile slowly spread across Kali's face.
She was finally about to fulfill the commission entrusted to her by "God."
Meanwhile, in South America…
"Please wait, Kiana."
Fu Hua was among the combatants who had accompanied Kevin's group to deal with Otto.
So when Pardo, acting as their hidden support for the first time, forcibly teleported Kiana to South America, it naturally fell to Fu Hua to stop her and explain the situation.
As for everyone else…
"Otto Apocalypse."
Kevin held the blazing sword in his hand, its point aimed directly at the blond man standing before him.
"I have no need for your surrender."
In terms of raw strength, Otto was no match for him.
And this time, Kevin had no intention of holding back.
There was, however, someone standing in his way.
Durandal.
After stepping onto the Path of Abundance, she had once fought Fu Hua in her Active Honkai Reaction form to a standstill during their battle in India.
Now, clad once again in gleaming golden armor and transformed into the Immaculate Star Anchor, she stood between Kevin and Otto.
"We only want to save our own era."
Durandal faced him without retreating.
"Kevin Kaslana, we have no intention of becoming your enemies."
Whoosh!
Kevin answered with a scorching slash.
Too many times.
Far too many times, hesitation and second thoughts had cost him opportunities he could never recover.
He would not make that mistake again.
Even before Pardo teleported Kiana here, Kevin had already swung the Judgement of Shamash without hesitation and incinerated Otto's final secret base.
The unfinished Base City being built above it vanished with the facility below.
So did the fledgling Clone Valkyrie force and Otto's last surviving production line.
Everything he had tried to rebuild was reduced to ash in a single strike.
All that remained of Otto's faction now were five people.
Otto himself.
Durandal.
Rita.
Li Sushang.
And Theresa.
Even Kiana's sudden arrival did nothing to change Kevin's resolve.
The others could live.
If the Newborn World Serpent truly intended to cooperate with Kiana, then killing people she cared about would only antagonize her.
Kevin understood that much.
But Otto?
Otto Apocalypse had to die.
At this point, the only meaningful trump cards Otto's group still possessed were their Path powers and a handful of Divine Keys.
Durandal still wielded Abyss Flower.
Li Sushang carried several Water's Edge blades, weapons derived from the Xuanyuan Sword.
Rita, meanwhile, had not entered the battlefield with her usual scythe.
In fact, she had not initially appeared beside Otto at all.
Relying on her experience as an assassin, she had hidden herself at a concealed firing position some distance away, the Seven Thunders of Retribution transformed into its sniper-rifle form in her hands.
Her intention was obvious.
Wait for the right moment.
Then fire a single shot capable of overturning the battle.
Unfortunately…
That plan had failed almost immediately.
The instant Kevin's first strike destroyed the base, Sakura, who had arrived with the others, found Rita.
She did not even need to use Blink.
As a former world-class assassin herself, Sakura recognized the hiding place almost instantly.
Then, with the short-range burst of speed granted by her Yaksha genes, she closed the distance and subdued the Umbral Rose before Rita could fire.
The Seven Thunders of Retribution changed hands.
Now it rested with the former "Forget-Me-Not."
In a strange way…
Perhaps it had simply returned to someone more suited to wielding it.
All of this had happened within moments.
When the difference in strength was this overwhelming, the weaker side had no time to adapt, much less fight on equal terms.
And now…
"This really is troublesome."
Theresa remained beside Otto, still under his control.
Faced with the overwhelming torrent of fire rushing toward them, Otto did not hesitate.
He pulled his adopted granddaughter into his arms, appearing almost as though he intended to shield her with his own body.
Then…
[Oath of Judah: Zeroth Rated Power.]
[Grace Field.]
"Directional Deployment!"
When it came to controlling the Eleventh Divine Key, Otto was far more skilled than Theresa.
His current Soulium body lacked Theresa's Vishnu factor, which meant it possessed none of her monstrous growth potential.
However, after stepping onto the Path of Elation, Otto could still draw considerable power from the Key of Binding.
Of course, he remained far below the Herrscher of Binding from the original timeline, whose Anti-Energy Field could suppress an area spanning roughly a hundred kilometers.
Nor could Otto imitate Kevin and wield a Divine Key with power surpassing the Herrscher from which it originated.
Against the current Kevin, harming him was out of the question.
But if Otto only needed to survive a single attack…
Whoosh!
"…!"
There was one problem.
Otto had never obtained complete information on every Flame-Chaser.
Naturally, he did not know that Sakura, the fastest among them and bearer of the title "Setsuna," possessed a technique called Blink.
Before they arrived, Kevin had already made his position perfectly clear.
"The others can wait."
"But Otto Apocalypse must die today."
Sakura remembered those words.
So she did not hold back.
Otto's mistake was deploying the Grace Field directionally.
There was a reason he had done it.
A full-area deployment risked affecting Theresa and the people around him.
More importantly, concentrating the field in a single direction greatly increased its anti-energy suppression, giving him just enough strength to withstand Kevin's frontal attack.
But every advantage came with a cost.
By concentrating the field ahead of himself…
Otto had weakened every other direction.
And Sakura needed only one opening.
Puff!
Mercury-like liquid metal sprayed from Otto's chest.
But that was only the beginning.
Sakura had struck to kill.
And the weapon she used for that first Blink attack was Jizo Mitama.
The moment the blade pierced Otto's Soulium body, the red-black Ultimate Virus began spreading through him.
Puff!
A second strike followed immediately.
Sakura was not taking chances.
Kevin and Fu Hua had already told her enough about Otto Apocalypse for her to understand what kind of man she was dealing with.
One fatal wound might not be fatal enough.
So after infecting him with Jizo Mitama, Sakura drew the Seven Thunders of Retribution in its katana form and cut him again.
Two different forms of destruction erupted through Otto's body at once.
The Ultimate Virus began corrupting his inorganic Soulium structure.
At the same time, the lightning of the Seven Thunders tore through matter at the atomic level.
Against both simultaneously…
The former Overseer of Schicksal had no means of resisting.
At the very end…
"Cough."
Otto loosened his hold on Theresa.
His adopted granddaughter slipped from his arms.
And with that…
Otto Apocalypse's final Soulium body reached its end.
Clatter.
A pure white jester's mask fell into Theresa's arms.
Strangely, the mask itself remained untouched.
Not a single crack marred its surface.
Theresa, meanwhile, still did not wake.
"Overseer!"
"This…"
Nearby, Durandal and Li Sushang, each locked in combat with other Flame-Chasers, stared in shock.
Only Rita showed almost no reaction.
Sakura had already defeated her.
Now she simply lay flat on her back nearby, staring into the dim sky above.
The Cold Wave had not yet completely receded, and each breath she released became a faint cloud of white mist.
Rita watched it disappear.
Lost in thought.
With Otto dead…
"Surrender."
Kevin turned toward the four remaining members of his faction.
His gaze settled on Durandal.
"Do not resist."
"Submit, or die."
"Choose."
His expression did not change.
Kevin had already thought this through.
Durandal.
Rita.
Li Sushang.
Theresa.
Those four could not simply be killed.
Theresa in particular had to survive.
If the Newborn World Serpent hoped to establish any kind of cooperation with Kiana Kaslana, guaranteeing Theresa's safety was essential.
As for the other three S-rank Valkyries…
They could be detained for now.
Afterward…
Once they understood how desperate the situation had become, Kevin hoped they would make the right choice themselves.
That was his plan.
Unfortunately…
"It's too late."
Elsewhere in South America, Pardo collapsed helplessly inside her little tent.
The reason she had forcibly teleported Kiana to Boss Kevin in the first place was simple.
She had hoped Kiana's sudden arrival would make Kevin realize that Otto and his Remnants of the Old Days were only bait.
A distraction.
But now…
The Herrscher of Thunder had already begun carrying out Kali's real operation.
Even if Kevin realized something was wrong at this very moment, he would still be too late.
The Herrscher of Thunder had already swept across Europe.
And next…
She would move on to other regions.
More Cocoons would be activated.
More would hatch.
More Phantasm Butterflies would find hosts.
The process would continue until roughly one-fifth of humanity's surviving population had been transformed into "Long-Lived Species."
Once that happened…
Internal conflict would become almost impossible to avoid.
"Sigh…"
Pardo pressed her forearm against her forehead and let out a long, helpless breath.
She was an absurdly powerful combatant by Earth's current standards.
But when it came to schemes and strategy, she still saw herself as someone who only knew how to pull off little tricks.
And she had already tried everything she could think of.
If she wanted to interfere any further…
She would have to cross another line.
She would have to test Boss Ling Ke's limits.
"Eek!"
Pardo shuddered violently.
A dreadful chill ran through her entire body.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
That idea disappeared from her mind almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Instead, she turned her Cat's Eye toward the Newborn World Serpent Headquarters.
By now, the Herrscher of Thunder had resumed operating openly on a massive scale.
News should already have reached Kevin and the others.
And yet…
The Headquarters Base remained strangely quiet.
No alarm.
No response.
No sign that anyone there had realized what the Herrscher of Thunder was actually doing.
There was a reason for that.
Someone MEI had specifically assigned to monitor global developments was preventing the information from reaching the others.
Pardo's expression gradually fell.
"Sister Vill-V…"
Her voice was unusually subdued.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"