"Hmph!" Vill-V sat inside the clean and orderly cockpit of the Cosmic Juggernaut, fuming. "A five-hundred-year-old man bullying a sweet eighteen-year-old girl in the prime of her youth—does that make any sense at all?"
What, you say Vill-V is one hundred and forty-eight years old? Can the age from a past life be counted against the present one?
"Otto, you old fox, this young lady is not telling you any information about the future. If you want to know, go find out yourself. Bleh!"
The moment Otto spoke those words, Vill-V sensed that he was about to draw his blade.
In truth, he already had. The imitation Fenghuang Down was an invisible guillotine—one that exercised total control over everything above the neck.
If it had been anyone else, they likely would have already been hypnotized by Otto and made to do something unspeakable.
"Did you really think Fenghuang Down would work on me?"
"I am a master of manipulating consciousness. After immersing myself in the domain of cognitive partitioning for so many years, I long ago mapped out my own sea of consciousness."
"What's more, I've got the others keeping watch. If you've got the guts, come into this young lady's head yourself."
"I guarantee I'll show you something very interesting!"
Though Vill-V had not truly acquired the cognitive partitioning ability of a MANTIS, relying on the techniques of Expert and Occultist at the level of consciousness, the cognitive partitioning she now possessed was already nearly indistinguishable from that of MANTIS Vill-V.
If Otto truly attempted to invade her mind with Fenghuang Down now, Vill-V could simply show that old V-circle gachi Otto a little film of Kallen—or perhaps a Teriri brainwashing animation.
Of course, it would all be in animated form. Reality and animation were still different, after all. Vill-V had never seen what the real Kallen or Teriri looked like, so she could only show him the animated versions as a token gesture.
Naturally, claiming Fenghuang Down was ineffective was merely Vill-V boasting. If Otto truly exerted its full power—or if Fu Hua wielded the genuine Fenghuang Down—then with Vill-V's current abilities, she would likely still be drawn into it.
As a Key of Consciousness forged from the Eighth Herrscher's Core, Fenghuang Down was simply too overpowered when used against intelligent life.
Otto's proficiency with Fenghuang Down was far inferior to Fu Hua's. Moreover, Vill-V had switched personalities to catch him off guard, allowing her to evade Fenghuang Down's "sneak attack."
If she did not possess the ability to switch personalities, then even a rigorously trained professional psychologist—armed with psychiatric drugs and brainwave equipment—would have no way to prevent Fenghuang Down from seizing control of their consciousness.
After all, Fenghuang Down was not crafted by the current Vill-V. Even she did not know what backdoors it might contain.
"Still, Fenghuang Down really is convenient," Vill-V muttered to herself. "Being able to hypnotize cute girls at will... that's way too lewd."
As she spoke, she returned to the Schicksal North American Branch base. Or rather—it should now be called the Anti-Entropy base.
The Cosmic Juggernaut was not an actual train. Traveling to a designated location required only an instant.
"So this is the Anti-Entropy base?" Vill-V frowned, glancing at the slip of paper Dr. Tesla had given her. After cross-checking it with an American map, she confirmed that this was indeed the address Tesla had specified.
"Isn't this just a pile of ruins?"
Vill-V looked around blankly. The temperature here was so high that she had no desire to step out of the Cosmic Juggernaut.
What was this, some live-action filming location for Flaming Mountain?
That was right—the ground beneath the Cosmic Juggernaut looked as though it had been plowed over by countless missiles. Everything was scorched black. Unextinguished flames still flickered across the earth.
If the map had not confirmed it, Vill-V would have thought this was some massive waste incineration plant.
...
Several hours earlier.
At the Schicksal North American Branch, Anti-Entropy had not yet officially declared independence. Tesla and the others had not even intended to provoke Otto for the time being—after all, Vill-V was still in his hands.
However, Schicksal's advance Valkyrie unit had no regard for Tesla's considerations. Their mission was to strike first and seize control of the North American Branch. As for legal justification, that would be decided by the Schicksal Council.
The advance unit consisted of twenty-six Valkyries, organized into five A-rank squads.
Thunder Squad, Gale Squad, Shadow Squad, Steelwing Squad, and the Starflare Guardian Squad led by Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie, Katerina.
They were all active elite forces of Schicksal. Each squad possessed formidable combat strength and outstanding tactical coordination. Their power was sufficient to contend with an Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
The Valkyries of Steelwing Squad had even participated in the Second World War. With only five members, they had resisted an enemy armored division and effortlessly broken through its defensive lines.
Originally, these five unstoppable Valkyrie squads had been carrying out world-level missions across the globe. Even their "easiest" assignments involved eliminating Honkai Beasts in severely afflicted disaster zones. Yet because of the North American Branch's rebellion, they had been forced to interrupt their operations and assemble here.
This was not Otto using a butcher's knife to slaughter a chicken. He had no choice but to treat the North American Branch with such gravity—because it housed someone worthy of that level of attention.
The Herrscher of Reason, Welt.
But when they had nearly secured full control of the North American Branch, an unexpected figure appeared.
The Valkyries had anticipated encountering the Herrscher of Reason here, and had deliberately refrained from provoking him.
Yet the Herrscher of Reason they encountered was not Welt.
It was the permanent honorary professor of Imperial University—Emma Planck.
"First Herrscher!" Fury burned in Katerina's eyes as she raised Oath of Judah, struggling amid the boundless artillery fire.
As for her comrades...
Every single one of them had fallen.
That was all it took—one brief exchange with Planck.
When the Honkai energy indicator displayed "5617 HW," everything was already settled.
The phantom of the Cosmic Juggernaut had granted Planck the ability to traverse the quantum domain. The Valkyries had not even detected her presence before she emerged from the quantum realm and launched a surprise attack—
A surprise attack from a Herrscher of the Previous Era.
And not just any Herrscher—but the Herrscher of Reason.
One could imagine how terrifying that was.
Having personally experienced a pseudo black hole, Planck had already mastered its construction. Though the pseudo black hole she created was three parts weaker than the one released by Dr. Einstein, it was more than sufficient against Valkyries still bound in mortal flesh.
Katerina truly deserved her title as an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. The instant the black hole formed, she sensed something subtly amiss in the air. Instinctively, she unfolded Oath of Judah behind her. Chains shot out, binding and anchoring her body in place, barely resisting the terrifying gravitational pull.
The other Valkyries were not so fortunate.
They had no means of resistance. With a single pseudo black hole, Planck suppressed them all into the depths of the earth—whether dead or alive was unknown.
But Katerina did not need to think long to know the truth. An event horizon had already formed at the edge of the black hole. Once something fell in, not even light could escape—let alone mortal flesh.
They were likely beyond saving.
"But..." Katerina's trembling voice was filled with confusion. "Why isn't the Key of Binding working?"