All along, Fu Hua had believed that Welt was the First Herrscher. Although he had never displayed anything unusual, she herself had participated in the Berlin disaster.
Fu Hua remembered it clearly. It was the first day of 1952. People should have been gathering in the streets and alleys to celebrate the New Year.
Yet that Honkai Eruption turned the city into a graveyard where not even wandering spirits remained, and it gave birth to the first Herrscher of Reason of humanity's Current Era.
According to the survivors, that first Herrscher of Reason was not the present-day Welt, but a far more mature man.
But now, who the true First Herrscher really was no longer mattered.
The green-haired woman before her carried a dense Herrscher aura—one Fu Hua was all too familiar with.
"First Herrscher... given your strength, you are worthy of that title." Fu Hua looked at Planck, her gaze like a blade honed to a razor's edge. Her body was taut as an arrow drawn upon the string, every ounce of her presence focused and locking Planck firmly within its grasp. "However, the Herrschers I have known rarely take the initiative to speak with others."
If possible, Fu Hua did not wish to kill. She, too, desired to communicate with the Herrscher of Reason. She was no longer the decisive, demon-slaying Azure Empyrea of old.
Planck crossed her arms and laughed. "Haha, not necessarily. Aren't I speaking quite nicely right now?"
"Then tell me—what is your purpose in coming here?"
Without embellishment, Planck answered, "To weaken Schicksal and buy more time for Anti-Entropy to develop."
Fu Hua frowned upon hearing this. In the end, she had still become entangled in the human civil war between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.
Was this Otto's calculation once again? Even if she shut herself away from the world, she would still be dragged into the battlefield.
But now that she stood within it, Fu Hua had no choice. She could not allow a Herrscher to wreak havoc within Schicksal Headquarters.
Schicksal was humanity's guiding force in the fight against the Honkai. If it were weakened at this moment, Shenzhou would lose its umbrella of protection.
"My apologies..."
Just as Fu Hua—the most powerful warrior in the world—was about to strike with her full strength, Planck suddenly raised her hand and called out:
"Wait a moment, Azure Empyrea."
"You wouldn't want this world to be destroyed either... right?"
...
Upon reaching the top of the Time Library, Otto and Reanna beheld a gray plain known as the Field of Truth. Legend said that the palace of Hades stood here.
On the gray expanse, Magician had been waiting for some time.
"Some of history's greatest philosophers have said this: all great world-historical events and personages appear, so to speak, twice—first as tragedy, and the second time as farce."
"How fortunate we are to gather once more with our friends from Schicksal."
Following the voice, they saw an imposing young girl sitting solemnly upon an icy throne, awaiting Otto's arrival—like Kevin frozen into an ice sculpture... except she was literally stuck to it.
"Honestly, I told her this ice sculpture wasn't a good seat. Magician just had to sit on it... and now look, I'm the one left holding the bag." Conductor muttered unhappily, full of complaints about Magician dumping this mess on her.
She twisted constantly in the seat as bone-chilling cold seeped into her marrow. Conductor was genuinely worried she might catch a cold. She certainly did not possess Ancestor Kevin's talent for cold jokes.
An icy tension spread through the air. With a face as cold as frost, Reanna raised Black Abyss White Flower and pointed it at Vill-V. Though they had cooperated before, Vill-V now stood on the enemy's side. Reanna would show no mercy.
The Valkyries of Schicksal surrounded the icy throne tightly. At a single command from Otto, they would surge forward and apprehend Vill-V.
More than twenty A-rank Valkyries, along with the strongest S-rank Valkyrie, Reanna—Vill-V had nowhere to escape.
On the surface, Schicksal appeared to have complete control of the situation. But Otto knew that Vill-V still held the trump card of the Cosmic Juggernaut. Although he possessed a pseudo-Judah, it was already an exposed card. Vill-V likely had a countermeasure prepared.
Judging by her composed expression, she undoubtedly had a backup plan.
The golden-haired Archbishop smiled calmly and walked toward Vill-V. "Vill-V, has the magic show already ended? I was rather enjoying myself."
Magician, having once again been shoved out by Conductor to clean up the mess, replied:
"Yes, the magic show ended long ago. It's a pity—I had prepared many even more spectacular acts. But since something went wrong with the Cosmic Juggernaut, they're all unusable now. Ah..."
With regret in her eyes, Magician toyed with a lock of hair and half-reclined against the armrest of the icy throne. The armrest gradually melted, leaving her soaked as she stood up.
"Ah—ah—ah—achoo!" Vill-V, cold and drenched, sneezed as expected.
Otto naturally did not believe Vill-V's claim that something had gone wrong with the Cosmic Juggernaut, nor her theatrical sneeze.
He gave the shivering Vill-V a long look before conjuring a small fire upon the ground and asked, "Vill-V, do you believe you have any chance of winning by doing this?"
Conductor understood Otto's meaning. He was not referring to the hostile situation between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. Rather, he meant whether humanity could still defeat the Honkai after abandoning those inhumane experiments.
If Schicksal continued to exist, it would persist in conducting human experiments. Anti-Entropy would oppose and interfere with those experiments.
If Schicksal continued to exist, it would maintain its façade of parliamentary governance while enforcing dictatorship in reality. Anti-Entropy would resist that dictatorship, hindering Schicksal's attempt to centralize humanity's anti-Honkai power.
The fundamental contradiction between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy lay here. It was not a matter of high-level power struggles.
If both sides fought each other, it would only intensify humanity's internal attrition, leaving the Honkai to reap the benefits.
Otto understood this. Before he could speak, Vill-V suddenly said, "Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan..."
"Hm?"
"These... are all cities you attacked with Honkai Fission Missiles."
"In every lightless night, I see that man lying in a pool of blood..." (Quoted from Welt Yang)
The Valkyries present did not understand the riddle Vill-V was speaking. But Otto did.
He seemed to see the devastation of those regions—the vast ruins, the countless corpses scattered across scorched earth, and the Honkai Beasts devouring them.
When Otto looked into Vill-V's eyes again, they remained as clear as ever. There was no anger within them.
"Hahaha... I see. It seems that in terms of 'saving the world,' I am indeed inferior to you."