"Planck was struck by Edison. Her Honkai energy has dropped significantly. She's already at the end of her strength. The fact that she can no longer maintain the forms of those two Divine Keys is proof," Einstein analyzed as she observed Planck's condition.
"And don't forget, she had just fought Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie, Katerina. She had already consumed a large amount of Honkai energy. On top of that, the Divine Keys themselves drain her further. There's no way she still has surplus Honkai energy to create a pseudo black hole to counter ours."
Beyond these deductions, Einstein had another reason.
Whenever Planck forced herself to endure something, she would subconsciously avoid making eye contact with others.
And the Herrscher of Reason, from the very beginning, had been avoiding their gaze as well, only looking at their bodies or elsewhere.
In other words, this was the final opportunity Planck had left them.
Dr. Schrödinger had long since realized this as well. Her sacrifice had bought precious time and opportunity for Welt and the others to carry out their plan.
From the start, following Einstein's instructions, Welt had constructed a pseudo Star of Eden inside Tesla's exoskeleton gauntlet.
The moment the pseudo black hole appeared, it began roaring as it devoured everything around it. Even the flames burning across the ground were swallowed cleanly.
A massive accretion disk formed into a blazing fire cloud. Yet those standing nearby felt no heat at all. They felt only endless cold, because even heat itself was consumed by the pseudo black hole.
Welt had completely lost consciousness. Supported by Einstein and Tesla, he was anchored firmly to the ground with an entrenching shovel to prevent himself from being dragged into the singularity. There was no escape now. All they could do was endure and wait for the pseudo black hole to vanish after absorbing sufficient matter. If it failed to disappear before they were exhausted, then they would perish together with the Herrscher.
Compared to Einstein and the others, who stood at a greater distance, Planck—within the black hole's critical range—was being twisted violently by the overwhelming gravitational pull.
Even straining their eyes, Einstein and the others could no longer clearly see her figure.
"Did it work?!"
"Old hag..."
As it turned out, one should never raise a flag before the dust has truly settled. What unfolded before them left Welt and the others stunned once again.
"How is this possible? Why does she still have so much Honkai energy?"
From the lightless abyss burst forth a dazzling radiance.
Golden light flowed around Planck's fist as light and darkness clashed within their vision.
Then the darkness that devoured light began to retreat before her punch, erased entirely by the golden brilliance.
The rocks and debris suspended in midair by the black hole's gravity crashed back to the ground.
With a crisp shattering sound, the blue glass sphere streaked with crimson lightning shattered into dust.
The Fist of Oath of Judah!
With a single punch, Planck annihilated the black hole Welt had created with all his strength, and shattered the pseudo Star of Eden within it.
She descended once more to the ground and mocked them in the Current Era language, "Did you think what I lamented earlier... was merely Tesla's trash gauntlet?"
Upon hearing that, Tesla immediately roared back in furious indignation, "Trash? It's not trash! That's my genius invention!"
"Heh. In any case, it seems that even if Welt regains his position as the Herrscher of Reason, it amounts to nothing. He is still inferior to me, even when my power is less than a tenth of what it once was."
Yes, Planck was indeed forcing herself to endure. But even so, she still had more than enough strength to deal with Laboratory 42 working together.
"Welt, you insignificant boy... sleep here forever!"
As she spoke, Planck raised the Judgment of Shamash in her right hand toward the unconscious Welt and pulled the trigger.
...
Dr. Tesla arrived at a villa and stepped out of the car with Vill-V.
"Where are Dr. Einstein and the others now?" Vill-V asked.
Tesla jerked her chin toward the building. "Inside. Lying there."
As she spoke, Tesla led Vill-V into a temporary ward set up inside the villa. Opening the door, they saw five patients wrapped head to toe in bandages, hooked up to IV drips and life-support equipment.
They were Welt, Dr. Einstein, Edison, Dr. Schrödinger, and Katerina.
Katerina was in the worst condition. She had been placed inside a life-support chamber that looked entirely out of place compared to the surrounding environment.
Vill-V clicked her tongue. "Even though Planck really did spare them, they're seriously injured."
"Tell me about it..." Doctor Morgan gestured as he described the earlier surgeries. "Dr. Schrödinger had obvious pleural effusion. Her wound penetrated as deep as the lung lobe. Einstein's body is covered in penetrating and tearing injuries. The right temporal region of her skull had a penetrating wound. The fact that she survived is pure luck. We were fortunate the high temperatures prevented infection."
"And Katerina is even more unbelievable. Her cells were carbonized. She wouldn't even need cremation before being placed into an urn. Yet Planck somehow maintained her life. That can't even be described as a medical miracle anymore."
I see. So this was Planck's intention?
Seeing this, Conductor roughly understood why Planck had beaten all of Anti-Entropy into such a state.
"I have no idea what your Teacher Planck did, but somehow she managed to keep them alive."
"Even so, even if they survive, there's a high probability they'll end up in a vegetative state."
"What did you say?! That's not what you said earlier!" Tesla shouted again, completely disregarding that they were in a hospital ward.
As if awakened by her voice, a groan came from one of the beds.
"Mm..."
Tesla hurried over and discovered that Welt had woken up. Her excitement instantly vanished. "Why are you the first one to wake up, of all people?"
"Where is this..." Welt opened his eyes and saw twin crimson ponytails swaying before him.
Tesla shoved a bottle of mineral water into his hands. "Don't talk. It's over. Just rest quietly."
"Einstein, she—"
"I told you she's fine. Now give me... quiet... rest!"
Tesla said to be quiet, yet her buzzing voice nearly shook Welt's heart into suffocation.
The First Herrscher of the Current Era could only respond meekly, "O-okay."
Dr. Tesla had once again defeated the Herrscher of Reason. Truly the woman who had dealt the most damage to the First Herrscher in the Current Era.
Tesla pulled Vill-V out of the ward and closed the door behind them. Leaning against the hospital corridor wall, she slowly slid down to the floor. Behind her glasses, her eyes were filled with confusion and sorrow.
"Einstein... she'll be fine, right?" Tesla asked in a hoarse voice.
Vill-V was someone from the future. She knew what lay ahead. She must know.
"Mm. She'll be fine." Vill-V stroked Tesla's head gently.
"Vill-V, you big liar. What future are you talking about? That Planck... the way she spoke, the tone she used when she first arrived—it was exactly the same. She's clearly the Herrscher of Reason from the same world as you."
"Just who exactly are you people?"