Reanna recounted the specific events of the story to the Valkyries. Though she could not speak with the flourish and vivid animation of a professional storyteller, they nevertheless grasped the key points.
"So that means... what stands before us is the gate to the underworld?"
"What is that supposed to mean? Are we meant to sacrifice Sesigan to open it?!" Sesigan's teammate drew her gun at once.
The Valkyrie beside her immediately grabbed her. "Stop, Strong. No one said anything about sacrificing Sesigan."
"Hm." At that moment, the long-silent Archbishop Otto finally spoke. "What we are meant to do... may not be a sacrifice."
Otto walked to Sesigan's body and slowly crouched down. He looked up at Reanna and asked, "Are you certain she is truly dead?"
No one understood life and death better than the wielder of Black Abyss White Flower.
Reanna nodded heavily. "Confirmed. There are no signs of life remaining in her body."
"I see. Mikasim, come here." Otto suddenly called out to a Valkyrie standing among the onlookers.
The Valkyrie named Mikasim blinked in confusion, pointing at herself before hastily approaching Otto and kneeling at his side, uncertain why he had summoned her.
Before everyone's eyes, Otto calmly lifted her outer garment. Under her flushed, embarrassed gaze, he retrieved two gold coins from the pocket hidden inside.
They were coins Mikasim had picked up earlier from the golden sand outside.
Ignoring Mikasim's face, red as if it might drip blood, Otto turned back to Sesigan's tightly shut eyes and lifeless face.
This expression... was the same as when Kallen died.
Death always arrived so suddenly, freezing a person's life in that final instant.
Perhaps this was something every human must face. Yet such a curtain call was far too dull—far too lamentable—far too painful.
"Do you know? In the underworld flows a river of suffering. Only by boarding Charon's ferry can one reach the other shore."
As he spoke softly, Otto gently placed the gold coins over the dead woman's eyes.
"And these coins are the fare paid to Charon."
The moment the coins fully covered her eyes, something extraordinary happened. Countless flowers bloomed around the corpse, enveloping it completely.
They were of many colors—some pure as white snow, some deep crimson as though stained with blood, some pale yellow like the first rays of dawn. Each blossom seemed to carry a faint trace of life, solemn and sorrowful.
"Are those... flowers of the other shore?"
Even as the Valkyries stared in astonishment at the spectacle, the body moved—
Cough, cough! "I'm choking to death here! Who stuffed flowers up my nose?! I'm allergic to pollen!"
Sesigan burst out of the blossoms and sprang to her feet. "Strong! Was this your doing?!"
Before she could finish speaking, the Valkyrie named Strong threw herself into her arms. "Sniff... thank goodness, Sesigan... thank goodness..."
"What? What's going on?" Sesigan awkwardly wrapped her arms around Strong, utterly bewildered.
The Valkyries surrounded them, cheering in unison. All of them were overjoyed at their comrade's return to life.
Watching the scene, Reanna smiled and turned to Otto. "Lord Otto, thanks to your wisdom, the riddle has been solved... Lord Otto?"
Faced with this spectacle of death reversed, Otto appeared even more shaken than the other Valkyries. Yet Reanna's voice quickly brought him back to himself.
He understood that this might not truly be resurrection at all. It could simply be another magic performance by Vill-V.
Yes. The Resurrection trick originally prepared by Vill-V for Mei had now been performed once before Otto. The great Magician had long contemplated and prepared this illusion in meticulous detail—especially in how to prevent interference from Aponia. In that regard, Magician had spared no effort. Even if Aponia herself arrived, she could only shake her head and sigh, "No saving this. I'll take my leave."
Otto, of course, knew none of this. Though he suspected it might merely be a deceptive illusion, he still felt his breathing grow heavier, his eyelids twitching. Though this was only a soulium body, those instinctive human reactions surfaced nonetheless.
How long had it been since he had felt such excitement and exhilaration—even if it were false?
Clatter—
The chains binding the gate to the top floor fell away. The tightly sealed doors slowly swung open, and gray mist spilled outward from within.
Steadying his breath and rubbing his fingers lightly together, Otto regained his composure. In a low murmur, he said, "It seems I must reconsider my previous strategies."
...
Countless golden cannons manifested across the sky—the projected constructs replicated by the authority of the Herrscher of Reason.
Each cannon was a piece of 22nd-century high-tech artillery, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stone.
Looking up, there were hundreds of them suspended overhead.
And all of them were aimed at a single, solitary girl.
Yet the gray-haired girl answered with nothing but her flesh and blood.
"Ki—Impact!"
Hundreds, thousands... no—tens of thousands of fist shadows surged toward the incoming barrage.
In a single instant, the storm of punches engulfed the cannon fire, obliterating every Herrscher construct in the sky.
"Is she even human?!"
Planck had long heard from Vill-V that a powerful Azure Empyrea of Shenzhou resided at Schicksal Headquarters. Though said to be extraordinarily strong, Planck's pride as a Herrscher had kept her from taking it seriously. She had even intended to test her.
But who could have imagined that sheer fists alone—without relying on technology—could be this terrifying?
Seated upon a gliding device, Planck maneuvered agilely to evade the storm of Fu Hua's strikes.
Below, Fu Hua had already locked her gaze onto Planck.
"A Herrscher?"
Confusion flickered across Fu Hua's face. Though this Herrscher had attacked Schicksal Headquarters, she had not killed a single Valkyrie.
There were clearly many secrets hidden within her. She must be captured alive.
Flames ignited around Fu Hua's body. Facing a genuine Herrscher, she would show no restraint.
She understood better than anyone how powerful a Herrscher could be. Though her memories had grown blurred, the overwhelming might of the Herrschers of the Previous Era remained deeply etched into her mind.
"Come—"
Watching the Herrscher darting through the sky, Fu Hua shifted into her opening stance.
"Sword Soul—Initiate Blade: Sky Rend!"
With a single punch, the air itself shattered. Planck felt as though countless blades slashed at her back. The glider beneath her splintered apart, forcing her to descend to the ground.
Fu Hua, demonstrating impeccable martial courtesy, refrained from striking her midair. Only once Planck had landed did she call out sharply:
"Who are you? Why attack Schicksal?"
"Me? ... The First Herrscher, obviously. Didn't you already figure that out?"
Golden light flared around Planck. A futuristic mechanized armor enveloped her form.