Chapter 146: Raising the Sword of Rebellion Against Heaven
Instantly realizing the newcomer was no simple opponent, Wendy immediately dropped into the hurricane beside her, forming a wall of wind in front of her. However, the intense impact still knocked her away.
The ethereal blue particles on the surface of the golden figure finally faded away. Wendy looked closely at the person before her and immediately recognized her as the captain of the Immortal Blades, currently the strongest S-Rank Valkyrie—Durandal.
"You go on ahead, Rita," Durandal said, glancing at Rita, who was holding a beautiful girl under one arm like a bandit raiding a village. "I can help handle the rest."
"Understood, Lord Durandal." Rita nodded. But just as she was about to leave, Irene, who had appeared to be unconscious, suddenly sprang up with a knee strike aimed squarely at Rita's head.
Rita reacted swiftly, immediately letting go. Her armor provided a burst of thrust, moving her chin away from Irene's knee. Having lost Rita's support, Irene's body plummeted straight down.
Wendy instantly abandoned Durandal in front of her and caught the mid-air Irene. "Miss Irene, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Irene's voice carried a hint of weakness. The wounds on her body seemed to have begun healing, but her aura remained somewhat faint. "Don't worry about me, save Kiana."
Hearing Irene say this, Wendy finally noticed from the corner of her eye that Rita had already hoisted Kiana onto her shoulder and vanished into the distance.
"I am truly sorry, Miss Wendy." Durandal hovered in mid-air, gripping her lance as she looked at Wendy. "I cannot let you pass."
"That's not up to you to decide!" Wendy didn't care whether Durandal was currently the strongest S-Rank Valkyrie or not; she immediately tried to rely on her speed to forcefully break through Durandal's defense.
But Durandal's speed performance at this moment was even faster than Wendy's. She directly intercepted Wendy, swinging her cavalry lance like a massive club straight toward her.
Wendy immediately manipulated the surrounding cyclones to form a wind shield, forcibly withstanding the blow, but her body was knocked back. "Just what exactly are you trying to do?"
"Merely executing orders." Durandal sighed. She didn't actually want to fight either, but these were Overseer Otto's orders.
Furthermore, she believed this matter would be beneficial to civilization. As for the potential problems it might cause, Durandal temporarily chose to ignore them.
"However, Miss Wendy, you should attend to Miss Irene first. Her condition doesn't seem very good." Durandal looked toward Irene.
For some reason, she felt that the weak aura emanating from Irene was somewhat strange. But upon closer sensing, she couldn't find anything actually wrong.
Moreover, she didn't want to fight Wendy and the others right now. Although a battle was likely inevitable later, until the situation developed to an absolutely unavoidable point, Durandal had no intention of genuinely starting a fight.
Hearing Durandal's words, Wendy actually hesitated. Compared to the kidnapped Kiana, the current Irene did indeed seem to need care more urgently.
Wait... speaking of care, Wendy cast a somewhat suspicious glance at Irene. Wasn't Irene the Herrscher of Death? How could she be injured this badly?
Noticing Wendy's slightly strange gaze, Irene sighed inwardly. She had forgotten to coordinate her acting with Wendy. After all, she hadn't expected Cocolia to move so quickly.
Thus, she used the Bodhi imprint to connect with Wendy's mind: [Let them go. This is also part of my plan, although I do feel a bit sorry for Kiana.]
[Why do you have to pretend, Miss Irene?]
[It's for the sake of the plan. If I don't follow through with this, things might spiral out of control later.] Irene's tone was filled with apology. After all, she truly did feel bad for Kiana regarding this matter.
But for the story to progress normally and to prevent that guy Otto from causing trouble, it had to be done. This wasn't an event that could be avoided simply by maintaining a strict guard.
Otto was determined to achieve his goal. To ensure he didn't do anything beyond her imagination or take extreme measures, she could only play along.
[I understand.] Although Wendy didn't completely comprehend, since Irene said so, she would cooperate.
[But Miss Irene, if what you're doing is exposed, you might get beaten up.]
Hearing Wendy's words, Irene merely replied calmly: [If taking a beating is all it takes to protect everyone—to save all of you—I'd gladly take beatings all day long.]
After ending the communication, Wendy shot a glance at Durandal, then carried Irene and flew back. Seeing Wendy leave, Durandal breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly departed as well.
Seeing Wendy fly down from high above, the crowd immediately gathered around. But upon seeing only the somewhat frail-looking Irene in Wendy's arms, Theresa immediately asked.
"Wendy, where is Kiana?"
Wendy wasn't good at lying, so she could only shake her head. Fortunately, everyone just assumed Wendy was feeling embarrassed for failing to save Kiana.
"Theresa," Himeko turned to look at Theresa. "Principal, what do you plan to do?"
Theresa turned her head to look at the Hyperion hovering in the sky. "I don't know what Grandpa intends to do, but I absolutely cannot let him continue."
"Himeko, ready the Hyperion. We're going to Schicksal HQ to demand her back."
"Understood." Himeko nodded. "But Irene, you should come with me. Head straight to the Hyperion for treatment. Everyone else, pack up your equipment and come with me immediately."
"Understood."
Hyperion · Infirmary
After simply finishing Irene's sutures and administering some injections, the medical staff left the infirmary. After all, they had to depart urgently and still had many things to do.
Coupled with the special requests from Himeko and the Principal, they quickly cleared out Irene's ward. Thus, at this moment, Irene's ward was completely empty save for herself.
Lying on the hospital bed, Irene suddenly opened her eyes and looked toward the door. "Since you're here, just come in. I know you two have a lot of questions you want to ask me."
"So, does this mean I can assume you're perfectly fine?" Himeko pushed the door open, looking at Irene, who was now sitting up on the bed. She didn't look like someone who had just suffered heavy injuries at all.
"Irene, you're from another world. Do you have any clues about this matter?"
"Of course I do. I know the entire cause and effect of this event, though naturally, that doesn't include Anti-Entropy's recent siege." Irene sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Himeko and Theresa.
"Then what exactly is going on with Kiana?"
"This involves Overseer Otto. He hopes to complete a certain plan." Irene looked at Theresa, who had posed the question. "To that end, he needs the Authority of the Herrscher of the Void."
"Let me ask you, who would be more suitable than Miss Sirin, who was the Awakened Herrscher of the Void to begin with?"
"Wait, wait, wait." Himeko suddenly interrupted Irene. "The Herrscher of the Void... isn't Sirin dead? Then what exactly is going on with the current situation?"
"That's another story." White mist surged from Irene's body. As the mist swept over her, her wounds were instantly made completely anew.
"Anyway, in our world—or rather, it's the same in your world." Irene looked at the two. "Overseer Otto will spare no effort to complete and push his plan forward."
"I have already averted many things, but this event was unavoidable. I had to consider whether he might take extreme actions, actions that even we couldn't bear."
Himeko frowned as she looked at Irene. "So I can understand this as you actively triggering a certain mechanism to awaken Sirin, just to bait the Overseer into taking action?"
"Then Kiana..."
"Don't worry. After interacting with me for so long, Teacher Himeko, you don't actually think I'm the kind of bad person who disregards everyone, do you?" Irene interrupted Himeko, a somewhat helpless expression on her face.
"Rest assured, there won't be any problems with this matter, because even that Herrscher of the Void is on our side. I've already made contact with Miss Sirin and established a bit of a relationship with her."
"Therefore, she won't cause any harm to Kiana, much less harm anyone else for any reason."
"Wait, wait, wait, why am I getting more confused the more I listen?" Originally, the two of them had come to find Irene with some intent to hold her accountable, but how were they now being overwhelmed by Irene's intelligence?
"Do you remember recently, Kiana inexplicably started... well, I shouldn't say inexplicably, but she started sleeping in class again?"
"That was actually because I was talking with Miss Sirin and building our relationship, and I even took her out to play once."
Himeko pinched the bridge of her nose, looking at Irene. "So all of this is truly under your control?"
"At least for now, yes. This is merely a play dedicated to Otto." Irene nodded, but her tone then turned serious. "But only for now."
"Based on the stories I know, I understand one thing: no matter the time, one must never underestimate Otto."
Schicksal HQ · Heimdall Laboratory
"Lord Overseer, our Honkai energy reserves are down to 42%." A researcher holding a tablet looked at Otto, who was seated in the main position. "Are we really going to continue?"
"Keep injecting. Since our Princess hasn't been satisfied yet, we can only exert our utmost effort."
Otto nodded, looking at Kiana, who was submerged in a liquid formed by purple Honkai energy. Faint golden feathers lingered around his hand.
A smile hung on Otto's lips, but his eyes held no trace of mirth. "Her brainwaves are so active, yet her eyes remain tightly shut. Is she dreaming? Or is she greeting her other self?"
Otto had no interest in directly entering her mind to disturb her. After all, if he ended up getting beaten up, it wouldn't be a pretty sight.
"However. Even at this level, she still hasn't been able to gain an overwhelming advantage?" Otto looked at Kiana, a slight hint of dissatisfaction showing between his brows.
He had already poured more than half of the energy from several floating islands entirely into Kiana's body. Yet, was this energy still not enough for Sirin to gain complete dominance?
"Increase the injection dosage. It seems this level still isn't enough to pique her interest."
The researcher reporting to him hesitated for a moment. "But if we inject any more... what if an accident occurs? Even if she is a Herrscher, she is ultimately a clone..."
"You said it yourself, she is a Herrscher." Otto turned to look at the researcher. "To a Herrscher, this level is merely child's play. Keep injecting."
"We don't have much time. Accelerate the Honkai energy infusion. The Second Herrscher can withstand it." Otto turned his gaze back to Kiana. "And my little granddaughter is quite vindictive; she will be here soon."
"Understood." The researcher nodded and returned to continue operating. The machinery pushed the current rate to its absolute limit. The purple hue within the culture tank visibly deepened, even faintly obscuring the [Kiana] inside.
"It is somewhat a pity that the Gem of the Herrscher of Death has indeed become an empty shell." Otto looked at Kiana, covered by the purple liquid. "Otherwise, a Dual-Core Herrscher wouldn't have been out of the question."
As Otto said this, his eyes flickered. After bringing Kiana back, he had conducted a scan of her body.
After all, he had to ensure Kiana's physical health. However, during this process, he discovered an issue he hadn't noticed or perceived before.
There was no Gem of the Herrscher of Death inside Kiana's body, nor was there any sign resembling the Authority of the Herrscher of Death. The Authority of the Herrscher of Death wasn't here.
Then where did the missing Gem of the Herrscher of Death go? He was very certain that the Gem of the Herrscher of Death had definitely been activated; otherwise, there wouldn't have been that energy signature.
Fu Hua's words had also confirmed that someone must have inherited the Authority of the Herrscher of Death. So, who could it be?
Because there had been no changes and no indications, he had always believed that the one who inherited the Authority of the Herrscher of Death was the original owner of the Gem of Serenity, Sirin.
But now, another fact was proven: the absence of the Gem of the Herrscher of Death in Kiana's body proved that it was someone else.
And at that time, there was only one person who could have done it. That was Irene. Then it was strange—how could the dignified Herrscher of Death be heavily injured by a missile strike?
"Interesting. Is this an attempt to fish in troubled waters, or simply a desire to muddy the waters?" Otto stared at the culture tank before him. "Miss Irene, just who exactly are you? And what are you trying to do?"
Right at this moment, the energy infusion seemed to finally reach a certain climax. The purple hue within the culture tank rapidly dissipated, revealing Kiana.
A unique fluctuation began to emanate from Kiana's body, spreading in all directions.
At that exact moment, the Honkai energy detection radars at Schicksal HQ began to blare frantically. Several target points instantly appeared on the radar display.
"Lord Overseer, a massive gathering of Honkai energy has been detected around Schicksal. Several clusters of Honkai Beasts have started appearing from all around, currently impacting the defense systems surrounding Headquarters."
Several monitoring images and radar graphs unfurled before Otto. He casually waved them away. "Activate the defense systems. Boot up the omni-directional defense satellites."
"Deploy the Sub-God Machines, and have the Valkyrie squads begin clearing them out. Oh, right, remember to leave an opening."
"Understood."
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