"It's not impossible. That damn Otto's plans are truly something no one can figure out."
"Not to mention Theresa—even I, as an outsider watching the plot, can't tell which of Otto's words are true."
"I think all of this is probably within Otto's plan. He deliberately guided Theresa just to make them fight him."
"How is that possible? Otto may be a jerk, but he's not stupid. Letting people come kill him? That's insane!"
"How is it impossible? If that's not the case, then why is he going so hard at mocking Welt and pulling aggro like crazy!"
"Who cares—damn Otto better die soon! I wish he'd drop dead right now."
"Same! Right now I just want Otto dead, otherwise who knows what else this guy is going to pull!"
"…"
Unlike the chat group,
the break room in the company was now extremely quiet.
Because those who understood kept watching, and those who didn't understand were too embarrassed to ask. Everyone was colleagues, after all—no one wanted to look stupider than the rest, right?
So they could only silently watch the television, thinking there would be answers later.
On the television.
After Otto's communication was cut off,
Theresa asked the two doctors: "I want to confirm one thing, Dr. Einstein, Dr. Tesla. The Will of Honkai—are we truly completely ignorant about an entity bearing that name?"
Einstein said: "Unfortunately, from a technical standpoint, yes."
Tesla also said: "Although the core of the Herrscher of Reason blocked Welt's communication with the Will of Honkai, turning him from the very beginning into a Herrscher who fights for humanity…"
"On the flip side, it also caused Anti-Entropy to lose any opportunity to study the Will of Honkai in any way."
"Understood." Theresa sighed: "In other words, under the current circumstances, we can only treat his claims with the attitude of 'better safe than sorry'—better to believe it exists than not."
Einstein said: "You could put it that way."
Tesla said helplessly: "Although I really hate to admit it, I'm afraid that's the reality. Damn it, we clearly know he's leading us around by the nose!"
Theresa comforted them: "On the battlefield, sometimes things like this just happen. There's no commander in the world capable of dominating every strategy at every moment. Sometimes an unavoidable decisive battle is simply inevitable."
"Let's set out. We'll notify everyone to assemble while we walk, and discuss our assault tactics along the way."
After the Hyperion was raised to its highest alert status, the once relatively quiet inner corridors were now filled with tense and noisy voices.
—And among them, the loudest source of noise was, naturally, none other than Dr. Tesla's booming voice.
"What? Split up? Wouldn't that just weaken our own advantage?!"
Einstein said: "This enemy is no ordinary foe. We must approach him with the utmost caution and first figure out what he's truly capable of."
Tesla snorted: "In my opinion, the guy emphasized that '12 hours' thing earlier just to buy time. We should concentrate all our combat power in one place, use the Hyperion to complete fire preparation first, then break through directly from the nearest route and take that damn church in one go!"
Einstein said: "This isn't a game of military chess, Dr. Tesla. Doing that might end up blowing up all the Schicksal-related personnel still in the town."
"Moreover… we actually still know nothing about Otto's true hand. Rashly triggering a decisive battle could unexpectedly expose us to risks we can't predict."
Tesla said: "Didn't he just steal the authority of the Herrscher of Domination? We already defeated the real Herrscher of Domination—don't tell me we're afraid of a bootleg version now?"
Einstein reminded her: "Don't forget, Dr. Tesla… that man's name is Otto Apocalypse."
"The amount of suffering we've endured at his hands is probably more than the coffee beans needed to brew a super-strong cup of coffee."
"…"
Hearing that name, Tesla immediately fell silent.
She couldn't refute it!
Completely unable to refute that point.
She could only look toward Theresa: "Theresa, what do you think? Don't worry too much about Chicken Head's opinion—you're the real commander here responsible for formulating the operation."
Theresa said: "Dr. Tesla, I actually agree more with Dr. Einstein's thinking. Right now we've only detected the movements of those soulium replicas—but they're just the other side's puppets."
"Perhaps when dealing with the authority of the Herrscher of Domination, we can already handle it with ease…"
"But whether it's the movements of the S-rank Valkyries or the agreement the other side reached with the Will of Honkai, at this moment we know absolutely nothing about any of it."
"Given that, our operation must be divided into two phases: In the first phase, we should indeed split our forces appropriately—fight while exploring, and try to gather as much information as possible about the enemy's true strength before the decisive battle."
"That way, in the second phase, after we reconcentrate our forces, we can engage the enemy in a final decisive battle in a steadier, more solid manner."
Einstein also said: "Tactics like lightning warfare require enormous intelligence superiority as support, and intelligence is precisely what we are currently most lacking."
"In other words, the combat method you proposed is too risky for our current situation, Dr. Tesla."
"…"
Hearing both of them say this, Tesla no longer insisted: "Fine, you both have your reasons. I'll follow Theresa's suggestion and redraw the plan in two phases."
"Perfect timing—our engineering department actually has some good stuff ready to be put to use."
Then Theresa issued the assembly notice.
The Hyperion's frontline combat personnel assembled at the designated location within five minutes.
Kiana, Bronya, Fu Hua, Seele, Rosalia, and Liliya—under the abnormal sky, every one of them wore a serious expression, awaiting the commander's order.
"Everyone, time is short, so I'll keep this brief."
"Before announcing the operation plan, I need to synchronize two pieces of information—"
"First, according to Otto's statement, he has reached an agreement with the so-called Will of Honkai, allowing him to forcibly trigger a reversal of time."
"He intends to use this method to regress the entire world outside Kolosten Town back to the state of more than five hundred years ago, thereby giving Saint Kallen a second life."
"Second, just a short while ago, Anti-Entropy's scientists discovered through research that Otto has, through some means, actually stolen the original authority of the Herrscher of Domination."
"The puppet replicas currently surrounding the Hyperion are being unified and controlled by him using the Herrscher of Domination's authority."
"Because of the above two points, in the upcoming operation plan, I intend to divide the Hyperion's frontline combat personnel into three routes—"
"Route One: composed of Bronya, Seele, Rosalia, and Liliya. Advance along the main road on the opposite bank of the river toward St. 537 Church where Otto is located."
"Rosalia and Liliya, your combat experience is still limited. If you encounter any difficulties, you may stay behind and wait for support. Do not push yourselves."
Liliya and Rosalia both stated together that they would follow Bronya and Seele's arrangements.
Theresa continued: "Good. That's the situation for Route One. Now let's assign the task for Route Two: composed of Kiana and Fu Hua. You will set out shortly afterward, take the mountain road on the south side of the river, seize control of the upstream bridge—"
"And act as a surprise force, rapidly approaching St. 537 Church from an unexpected direction to scout out the situation. I hope your classmates on Route One can help draw the enemy's attention during this time."
"Compared to Route One, Route Two needs to quickly strike into the enemy's main base and clarify their situation."
"Therefore, do not get bogged down in combat. Even if you separate, at least one of you must keep pressing forward."
"Yes, Principal (Auntie)." The two shouted together.
Theresa continued: "Next is Route Three, mainly composed of myself, the two Anti-Entropy doctors, and the Hyperion's support personnel."
Einstein said: "We will install and upgrade the Spartan system on-site, doing everything possible to block the Herrscher of Domination's special communication mechanism, and use that as a foundation to support everyone's combat."
Theresa asked: "Does anyone not understand the above operation plan?"
Fu Hua spoke up: "If we encounter Otto himself, what does the Principal suggest we do to respond?"
Theresa said: "Please try to delay him as much as possible and wait for follow-up support. At the very least, according to his threatening statement, we still have 12 hours to stop him."
"Understood."
Seeing that no one had further questions,
Theresa directly announced the start of the operation!
The three teams began advancing toward St. 537 Church along different routes.
As expected, Bronya's four-person squad encountered Rita and a major battle broke out. With Rita's own strength alone, she was unable to handle four combatants at the same time. For this reason… she used the ability Otto had given her.
She dragged all four of Bronya's group into the Theater of Domination of the Herrscher of Domination and separated the four on the battlefield. She faced Bronya alone, but in the end she was defeated by Bronya.
At the same time.
The second team also encountered their enemy—Li Sushang.
The person she met first was Kiana, while Fu Hua arrived a little later due to other reasons.
Li Sushang said helplessly: "Rakshasa, how did your plan go wrong again? Even the promised opponent is different…"
Suddenly she remembered that when Otto was explaining the plan to her, he had already named her opponent—Fu Hua.
She immediately became excited: "Wait… hehe, you'll have to wait another day if you want to beat me. Grandmaster is here!"
Fu Hua was also shocked to see her: "What… it's you…"
Li Sushang said respectfully: "Grandmaster—Phoenix Ancestor, long time no see."
"…" Fu Hua looked at her for a long moment before saying: "Indeed… it has been five hundred years. I never imagined you were still alive in this world, but… this is indeed something that man would do."
Li Sushang said: "Right? I was shocked when I woke up too."
"But although times have changed, the ancients from five hundred years ago are all still here—it feels like I just had a very long dream."
Kiana asked curiously: "Class President? She is…"
Fu Hua said: "An old acquaintance. It's a long story, so let's not go into it now. Are you alright, Kiana?"
Kiana said: "I'm fine, but Class President, be careful. She looks like one of Otto's subordinates."
Li Sushang said discontentedly: "Who's Rakshasa's subordinate?! The whole Valkyrie thing is just a title that guy slapped on me himself—I never wanted this job."
Clearly, the quiet whispering between the two in front of her hadn't escaped her ears.
"Don't misunderstand. Rakshasa saved my life, so I agreed to help him fight one battle. But he only asked me to stop Phoenix Ancestor—he never said anything about extra helpers, did he? One-on-one is fine, but two-on-one I can't win."
"—This is way too unfair. Does Rakshasa really think that highly of me?"
Fu Hua looked at Li Sushang.
She already understood everything.
Otto had not misjudged Li Sushang, nor had he misjudged her.
Everything—even including Theresa's plan to split forces, who would take which route, what kind of personalities the people on each route had, and how they would act—everything was within Otto's calculations.
She looked at Kiana: "Kiana… you might need to go on ahead first."
"Class President?"
Kiana didn't understand why she said that.
Fu Hua explained: "If my judgment is correct, the two of us together could indeed leave her with no options… but that would also delay our mission. In the worst case, she might defeat me while holding you up for a very long time."
Li Sushang said: "Honestly, I don't have confidence, Grandmaster…"
Fu Hua said: "To achieve that kind of outcome naturally requires paying a considerable price. For most other people, they might weigh the pros and cons and adapt on the spot."
"But you… when it comes to keeping your word, I believe you disregard gain and loss. Once the words are spoken, even four horses cannot overtake them—"
"That doesn't change just because the other party is a pretentious hypocrite."
Li Sushang said helplessly: "What on earth has that Rakshasa guy been doing these five hundred years? I've never heard anyone say a single good thing about him."
Though the words were spoken lightly, Fu Hua's judgment of her was not off by the slightest degree.
Valuing promises above life and death was not exactly a rare virtue in the era when she grew up.
The stories she had heard since childhood—the assassins who never returned, the swordsmen who cut empty robes—had all made her feel that this was simply how a righteous person should live.
Kiana said worriedly: "But Class President, if that's really the case, you alone…"
Fu Hua said: "Kiana, don't forget our mission. No matter what, we must ensure that at least someone continues moving forward. There are more important things waiting for us."
"Rather than letting her hold you up, it's better for me to hold her up."
"This…" Kiana still didn't want to leave.
Fu Hua sighed softly.
She could already guess the other party's next reaction. If their positions were reversed, she herself would probably hesitate in a similar way.
However, when facing that former Schicksal Bishop who never played by the rules, prioritizing the bigger picture was especially necessary.
She had prepared a more convincing reason.
But before she could say it—
"I understand, Class President."
She didn't get to use that reason. Kiana said nothing more, simply turning around quietly.
"Just… when facing that Otto guy, honestly I don't have much confidence either. So you have to come help me quickly, okay?"
Fu Hua nodded: "Mm. Be careful."
Kiana said: "You too, Class President."
With that, Kiana looked back at the two of them once more, no longer lingering in pointless hesitation. A few seconds later, the sound of her footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Fu Hua asked Li Sushang: "Don't you need to do something?"
From earlier, she had already prepared herself fully, ensuring that even if the other party made a move, Kiana could still leave safely.
Whether it was Otto who had placed her here or Fu Hua herself, both understood just how extraordinary the seemingly young girl before them truly was.
In terms of Taixu Sword Qi alone, in Fu Hua's understanding, the other party could even be called peerless in the current era.
But the anticipated strike never came.
Li Sushang simply smiled and spread her hands: "No need. I only promised one match—one match means one match. One extra fight won't earn me any reward from him."
Fu Hua: "…"
Li Sushang gave an awkward laugh: "Uh… meeting again after five hundred years feels a bit awkward. I've already fought Grandmaster, right? Even though I forgot, Rakshasa said that Phoenix Ancestor and I are already even."
Fu Hua said: "You have a promise you must fulfill. I have a mission I must complete."
"That's true." Li Sushang scratched her head: "Whether it's helplessness, fate, or repaying one debt with another—I don't really understand it myself."
At this point in the conversation, Li Sushang took her first step, walking over from the edge of the observation deck.
The two, who were so strikingly similar in some subtle ways, finally stood face to face.
Fu Hua immediately assumed a combat stance: "If there's anything to reminisce about, let's save it for after everything is over."
Li Sushang said: "Yeah. If something unexpected happens, the things we'd have left to reminisce about would just become something brand new."
"—Excuse me then, Phoenix Ancestor."