Chapter 157: Celestial, I Did Not Lie
"Phew." Irene shifted her body slightly. Aside from the massive influx of Honkai energy that uncontrollably manifested her Herrscher outfit, the most significant change was the heterochromatic wings behind her.
She could feel that the pristine white wing represented the Authority of Life, possessing immense healing power. The motes of light constantly drifting across its surface were actually the physical manifestation of concentrated Authority of Life.
It could heal or hyper-heal anything she wished to touch. The latter was not a good thing; much like the hyper-polarization of her Active Polarization, it would cause the energy to completely run rampant and consequently trigger a direct explosion.
Excessively strong healing would instead lead to a series of problems, such as rapid aging or even more terrifying physical and bodily mutations.
Fortunately, if she didn't want it to affect certain things, these particles of light could simply remain as pure visual effects. But if needed, she no longer had to manually channel the white mist to heal someone.
Her Herrscher outfit had also undergone changes. The white mist constantly surging over it was also a symbol of the Authority of Life. She no longer needed to specifically activate her Authority just to heal her body.
The layer of black mist on it could also dissolve attacks, and the black wing behind her shared this function. However, compared to the omnipotence of the white wing, the black wing's utility was somewhat mediocre.
It merely allowed her to rapidly spread the black mist. It wasn't exactly useless, but its impact was relatively minor. She favored the Authority of Creation side much more.
This side was far more useful to her in various strategic senses. Of course, the black wing was still helpful; the black mist it emitted could be turned into an Explosive Blossom with just a little processing.
So far, it was quite regrettable that Irene and the others had only researched the Herrscher of Death's Authority up to this point. After all, breaking down matter really didn't seem to leave much room for flashy tricks.
[Irene] hadn't ignored the idea of using it in more creative ways, but truthfully, it held little meaning. The ultimate direction usually boiled down to how to cover a larger area with the black mist, or how to detonate a massive amount of black mist inside an enemy's body within a short period.
And the Explosive Blossom could accomplish both of these things.
The former could be achieved by breaking it down after a ricochet explosive multiplication, directly bursting into a vast amount of black mist. As for the latter, the Explosive Blossom could do the exact same thing once it pierced into an enemy's body.
The final conclusion was that [Irene] ultimately realized that researching other tactics really wasn't as effective as simply pulling out a massive amount of Explosive Blossoms and hurling them at the enemy.
Just like a certain Yan; even though he acquired all sorts of ultimate weapons and skills later on, wasn't his most relied-upon move still the Buddha's Angry Lotus Flame?
Unless they truly encountered an enemy like Kalpas who could directly and completely annihilate the Explosive Blossom, it would remain effective no matter what.
And the endurance limit of the Explosive Blossom was growing increasingly higher along with the enhancement of her Honkai Adaptability. Even Kalpas wouldn't be able to output an attack sufficient to completely annihilate the Explosive Blossom in a short period of time.
Now, it was even more impossible.
As for the other benefits brought by absorbing the massive amount of Honkai energy this time, they could only be tested later. Irene looked down at Sirin, who now looked completely identical to the Queen in her memories.
"How do you feel?"
"Not bad, it's not much different from before. My strongest period was still after I obtained multiple cores; this is about what it was like when I was just the Herrscher of the Void."
Sirin shrugged. A Herrscher's Honkai energy and output power were not the absolute prerequisites for determining their combat strength; the development of their Authority was.
Strictly speaking, her current Honkai energy reserves probably still couldn't compare to her past self. But if they were to face off head-on, relying on her mastery over her Authority, she could probably directly defeat her former self when she was just the Herrscher of the Void.
Of course, this did not include her later multi-core state. The enhancement from multiple cores was simply too massive; having various cores multiplied her Honkai energy output by more than just a few times.
There was a saying called 'with enough thrust, even a brick can fly.' Once it reached that level, mere mastery over an Authority was no longer enough to be the decisive factor.
"Oh, right, there's another person who wants to speak with you," Sirin said.
As she spoke, the golden light in one of her eyes gradually dimmed, returning to an azure hue.
After blinking, Kiana looked at Irene. Her voice still carried a reverberating echo blending with Sirin's, and it held a hint of grievance.
"Sister Irene, you really deceived me."
Just now, her senses had been linked with Sirin's. She could hear, feel, and see everything Sirin saw, so naturally, she had also witnessed Irene's entire series of transformations.
She already knew that Irene was the Herrscher of Death. Of course, Sirin had actually already made this clear within their consciousness earlier.
Regardless, the moment Irene reunited with them, her identity as the Herrscher of Death was destined to be exposed. It was better to bring it up early so Kiana would have some time to process it.
And Kiana had indeed realized that earlier had just been an act. After all, as the Herrscher of Death, even if Irene was indisposed, she couldn't possibly have been severely injured by a few missiles.
Did she think the Authority of Creation was just for show? Back in the day, relying on the Authority of Creation within her body, Sirin had forcefully withstood the Judgment of Shamash several times without taking much damage at all.
Not to mention Irene, who was the actual Herrscher of Death. Those injuries were likely just simulated by Irene using the Authority of Death. As for her objective, Sirin had already explained it to her.
To be honest, Kiana would normally have been a bit angrier, but now... how should she put it? She had truly discovered that a certain bastard really wasn't human at all.
How could he act so heartless and self-righteous when talking about launching the missiles, and then use that very matter to mercilessly provoke them right now without a second thought?
After discovering that Otto was even more inhuman than she had imagined, she also seemed to understand why Irene had orchestrated such a plan—all to deceive Otto into thinking his scheme was still proceeding normally.
It was to prevent him from doing something even more deprived of humanity to trigger her awakening. But right now, Sister Irene's plan had probably failed, right?
"I'm sorry." Irene looked at the Queen with one gold and one azure eye, feeling somewhat emotional.
She hadn't expected the eye color scheme of the Void Drifter—which should have only appeared after some time, or rather, after enduring numerous tragedies—to start appearing right now. Even though the Void Drifter and the current Queen were not in the same state.
"Forget it. I think I can roughly understand why you did what you did now, Sister Irene," Kiana finally sighed.
She then turned her head to look into the distance at Otto, who was mingled among the swarm of Sub-God Machines.
"Right now, I just really want to beat him up. Will this interfere with your plan, Sister Irene?"
"It won't. In fact, I kind of want to beat him up together with you right now," Irene shook her head. "Besides, I've realized a truth: never assume others are too stupid. At the same time, the more someone excels at scheming, the easier it is for them to fall into a trap."
"So sometimes, resorting to fists might actually be more effective."
She had constantly been thinking about outsmarting Otto. Perhaps it was out of confidence, or maybe pride—it could be considered a common flaw among Transmigrators, or perhaps the journey had simply been too smooth so far, causing her to overlook one crucial detail.
Even if she managed to outsmart Otto once, it was only because she knew and saw things that he didn't. She was even able to scheme against him precisely because Otto had originally wanted such an outcome anyway.
Once Otto filled in that gap, or roughly figured out what Irene was trying to do, he could immediately begin countermeasures, or even weave himself into her plan.
Scheming against Otto had never been a simple task. However, she couldn't tell the others about this matter for the time being—she and Otto had reached a collaboration of sorts in a certain sense.
Otherwise, it would be very difficult for Sirin to integrate with them again. Otto had voluntarily acted as the common ground that allowed them to unite, playing the role of the villain.
In that case, she could only take advantage of the atmosphere to get a few more kicks in on Otto for show.
Seeing Irene and Sirin's gazes fall upon him, Otto, who had begun grafting his body onto a Divine Machine, shrugged. He operated the Divine Machine's arm to gesture them over with a beckoning finger.
"Come then, Miss Irene. This play is not over yet; the villain cannot bow out from the stage so easily."
Irene was definitely willing to cooperate with his plan; otherwise, out of all those Divine Machines currently clashing with Benares, it wouldn't be just a scattered few that had been taken over by the Corruption virus so far.
Speaking of which, there was likely some kind of connection between Miss Irene and the Herrscher of Corruption. This was also a piece of exploitable intelligence.
Otto looked up at a suit of armor in front of him, manipulating and modifying something on it. Suddenly, his movements stopped, and he turned to look behind him.
"Old friend, have you completed your mission?"
"Otto, why are you here..." Fu Hua's figure appeared from the shadows. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
"..."
Hearing Fu Hua's question, Otto's expression remained unchanged, maintaining a calm smile.
"I wonder just what my Old friend has heard?"
"What exactly are you willing to sacrifice for your goals?"
Fu Hua looked at Otto, her tone turning grave.
"What on earth are you planning, Otto?"
"When you first decided to resurrect the Second Herrscher, was it truly just an attempt to create a Herrscher that fights for humanity, like the Herrscher of Reason?"
"Of course, my Old friend," Otto replied, spreading his hands slightly. "If my experiment succeeds and Kiana can overcome the Herrscher personality, we will naturally gain a new Herrscher who fights for humanity."
"Naturally..."
A smile bloomed on Otto's face, yet dozens of golden chains suddenly shot out from his hand, rapidly extending toward Fu Hua.
Fu Hua naturally wouldn't be hit by such a direct attack. She immediately flipped, passing through the gaps in the chains. However, the moment her feet touched the ground...
From the shadows behind her, Rita seemed to have been waiting for a long time. A syringe was thrust directly into Fu Hua's neck. As the bright red serum was injected, Fu Hua immediately felt the strength being drained from her body.
"Ugh!"
As the Honkai energy within her body was rapidly expelled, Fu Hua collapsed to the ground. She was tightly bound by the chains, completely severing any possibility of a counterattack.
"Lord Overseer."
Rita walked to Otto's side. After handing a faintly glowing golden feather to Otto, she left the room. What happened next was not something she should be privy to.
"Although I can't completely hide it from my Old friend," Otto once again transformed the feather in his hand back into the Void Archives, "hiding a single person should still be relatively simple."
"And facts have proven that I was indeed correct. Just as my Old friend so easily used her clearance to track down my location and come knocking on my door."
"Hah..."
Fu Hua tried to prop her body up, but the expulsion of the highly concentrated Honkai energy from her body made it completely impossible. Seeing the look in Fu Hua's eyes, Otto continued speaking on his own.
"As for my objective, it is also very simple. I need a Herrscher of the Void entirely loyal to humanity. In the beginning, my thought was indeed to let K423 take control of the body."
"To achieve this, I was prepared to make any sacrifice necessary."
Otto looked at Fu Hua and explained everything he had done in detail, even including the process of how he created K423.
"I need Sirin to awaken, but I do not need a Sirin consumed by hatred for humanity."
Otto looked at Fu Hua. "So, my original plan was that after Sirin awakened..."
"...I would let Kiana watch her friends die because of her, thereby forcing her to reclaim control of the body and become a Herrscher for humanity."
"You planned to sacrifice the people of St. Freya? What about Theresa?"
"If possible, of course I wouldn't wish for things to reach that point..."
Otto took a slight step back. A phantom shrouded in golden feathers threw a punch at the spot where he had just been standing, before vanishing.
"Oh, Old friend, how truly surprising. To think you can still activate a Divine Key while pierced by the Godsbane Spear and bound by the chains of Binding?"
"Would someone like you even believe in love and emotion?"
Fu Hua panted heavily. Forcefully using a Divine Key while restrained by the Power of Binding and completely stripped of her Honkai energy was an incredibly heavy burden for the current Fu Hua.
"You ignite a nuclear bomb that you cannot even guarantee you can control, and then hope that this bomb will extinguish itself?"
"Yes," Otto nodded without hesitation. "I believe that human emotion can transcend everything, even the laws of the world."
"Since love born from the desire to protect can overturn common sense, I believe that love born from fury can accomplish the same."
When Otto reached this point, he chuckled. His smile carried a hint of relief, perhaps even a touch of self-deprecation. "But fortunately, Miss Irene helped me accomplish this ahead of time, sparing me from having to make such a difficult choice."
"And now, Old friend, having heard my words, do you truly still intend to make an enemy out of me?"
"Heh. Otto, you truly make me feel pity." Fu Hua looked at Otto. "Friend? In your words, all I hear is endless selfishness and lies."
"Toying with the wills of others, trampling on their emotions... Even now, you do not consider yourself a villain."
"Otto Apocalypse."
Fu Hua's voice seemed to be squeezed through her gritted teeth.
"You truly fill me with unparalleled disgust and pity."
"...No, Old friend, you are mistaken about one thing."
Otto's expression did not change in the slightest. He slowly raised his hand, and a golden light materialized into the Judgment of Shamash.
"Celestial, I did not lie..."
"I am genuinely grateful to Miss Irene, and I have never once denied being a villain."
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