Chapter 198: Turning Point: Otto's Plan
"Wendy, Kirataka!"
Seeing the blue wind ball falling from the sky, Theresa hurried to the two of them with the Oath of Judah.
After landing on the ground, Wendy's feet touched the ground again after a long time.
Because she was not used to standing, she put her arms around Kirataka's arms and leaned her whole body on him.
"Teacher, I'm back,"
"Wendy, is this... the power of a Herrscher?"
Theresa felt the Honkai energy on the girl up close and asked cautiously.
Because she often interacts with Mei, the Herrscher, she is already quite familiar with the Herrscher.
Wendy now exudes a similar aura to Mei.
"Well, teacher, don't worry, I'm still me."
"…I'm glad you're alright."
The white-haired girl patted her chest and finally felt relieved.
It's a good thing that Wendy didn't turn into a Herrscher who lost her will.
Although this can be seen from the fact that Wendy did not attack them just now, but instead helped them to eliminate the invading Honkai beasts, seeing is believing. Now that she saw that there was no change in Wendy's body, she was completely relieved.
"I'll go check out the damage here first, you guys..."
Theresa originally wanted to ask them to help, but after glancing at the girl nestling in Kirataka's arms, she changed her mind and said:
"Do whatever you want."
After watching Theresa go away, Kirataka looked at the girl beside him and asked:
"What do you say, Wendy?"
"Well... let's go and help. Using my ability, it should be faster to clean up the rubble."
The girl's tone was somewhat eager.
She has rested enough in the past three years, and now that her health has recovered, she naturally doesn't want to stop anymore but wants to move around.
Just like the wind, it never stops.
However, she still couldn't walk normally with her legs. Although she could actually fly instead of walking, but...
'Well, I am still a little reluctant.'
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Kirataka nodded.
Without any hesitation, he picked up the girl by the waist in a princess hug.
However, just as the two were about to rush to support others, a kitten appeared in front of them.
——Stan.
'I almost forgot about this guy...'
"Is this a cat...?"
Wendy saw Stan and looked curious.
"This is..."
Kirataka considered how to explain it.
Stan shuddered.
——It had originally intended to continue to faithfully carry out the task assigned to it by the Jackal and take away the container of the Herrscher of Wind in the chaos.
However, when Stan finally found his target and stood in front of Wendy, he felt a sense of fear in his heart.
It was a spontaneous feeling of...fear.
——It is the fear that naturally arises when lower-level creatures face higher-level creatures.
Facing the human being in front of her - no, she didn't know whether she should still be defined as a human being. In short, Stan's instinct as a living being made her feel an extremely strong danger signal.
As an ultimate creature, its senses and intuition are far stronger than those of ordinary cats, and the same goes for this danger signal instinct.
It was very sure that if it attacked her, it would be the one to die in the next second.
It was afraid and terrified. At the soul level, it realized that it would never be able to defeat the girl in front of it.
'Even if she didn't seem to have any ill will towards me, as a Honkai beast, I couldn't possibly defeat her...'
Therefore, facing the pressure of survival, Stan relied on her instinct and chose the most reliable strategy:
It lay down at Kirataka's feet, with its four legs facing the air, revealing its belly, while gently waving its hands and making cute sounds.
"Meow~"
——Use your relatively cute appearance to gain sympathy.
Stan, surrender to Wendy.
Kirataka: "…"
......
Schicksal headquarters, floating island.
"Your Excellency the Bishop, this is the latest situation report of the Oceania branch."
Amber reported what happened in Oceania to the blond man.
Otto glanced at the information she handed over and said casually:
"Amber... Let Durandal come back. No need to rush to the Oceania branch for support. Oh, and have someone retrieve the explosives and serum installed in the branch base for research."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
The white-haired girl with pigtails nodded obediently before retreating back into the shadows to carry out his orders.
It's not that he was completely unaware of the World Serpent's plan to attack the Oceania branch, but he had already grasped the relevant clues a long time ago.
But Otto did not interfere too much with the attack of the World Serpent, because he also wanted to see whether, under a life-threatening situation, he could prompt the container of the Herrscher of Wind, which had not evolved in three years, to change and awaken.
Although Theresa was already there, in order to prevent and capture the Herrscher of Wind, he had arranged for Durandal to set off early, intending to deal with the aftermath of the battlefield and capture the Herrscher alive after the attack broke out.
Although as a result, the Herrscher of Wind did awaken as expected, the process was not quite what he had imagined.
In Otto's expectation, the awakened Herrscher of Wind would become the messenger of the destruction of civilization. No matter whether it was Schicksal, the World Serpent, or ordinary people, they would all be within its indiscriminate attack range.
He had seen the ability of a pseudo-Herrserker during the Second Eruption. Even if it was not the original, the Herrscher's power could create a giant tornado that could destroy a city.
Therefore, he believed that the entire New Zealand, including the Oceania branch base, would become the price for the birth of the Herrscher of Wind.
However... the newly born Herrscher of Wind did not attack humans and civilization. Instead, it helped them resist the attack from the World Serpent.
What does this indicate?
This means... she still has her own will, and is driving this power with her own subjective will.
Joyce, Sirin, Mei Raiden, Wendy...
The four Herrschers who have appeared in this generation seem to have never been completely controlled by Honkai.
Even for that Sirin, Otto, who had once confronted her at close range, understood that she possessed considerable independent will and was not simply a puppet of Honkai.
He sighed and said as if talking to himself:
"My old friend, sometimes I wonder if there are any errors in the information about the Herrscher stored in your library."
Beside him, a golden cube quietly emerged.
The first Divine Key: the void archive.
The cube shook and replied in the exact same voice as his:
"You can doubt my attitude towards you, but you cannot doubt my attitude towards [knowledge]—I can't possibly deceive you on this."
"The Herrschers of the previous civilization were all apostles of Honkai who only wanted to destroy human civilization. This is beyond doubt."
"It is precisely because your knowledge conflicts with the reality I see that I am so... confused now."
Otto shook his head slightly.
"Although I don't understand the reason, this is a good thing for your plan... isn't it?"
Void Archives said.
As a partner of five hundred years, it has long been Otto's ally and knows what he wants to do better than anyone else.
"…"
Otto did not answer this question but continued to browse the information passed by Amber.
There was one item in particular that caught his attention.
——On the eve of the awakening of the Herrscher of Wind, Kirataka left the base with him and went for a walk in the wild.
"Humph... First it was the Herrscher of Thunder, and now it's the Herrscher of Wind..."
Otto looked at the words in front of him and pondered.
It is obvious that these two Herrschers have a close connection with Kirataka.
Wendy's completely independent regulation is probably related to him.
This is the fact before Otto, and it forces him to pay more attention to Kirataka's value.
——In order to revive Kallen, he must create a Herrscher of the Void who can perfectly master it's power.
In his plans and arrangements, this must be a kind of growth that can only be achieved at the cost of the lives of his relatives and friends.
But now, Kirataka showed him another possibility.
——Perhaps, it doesn't need to be so complicated?
If ordinary interactions can cause such changes in Herrscher of Thunder and Herrscher of Wind, then Kiana, the Herrscher of Void, should naturally be able to undergo the same changes.
He could use gentler, more natural means... to wait for the Herrscher of the Void to mature.
If he could save some effort and make the plan less variable, he would naturally be very happy.
When it comes to planning, the fewer people involved and the simpler the steps required, the higher the probability of success.
But there is a problem.
——That is Kirataka, who is not willing to be controlled by him.
"I tried to test him last time... He was a very cautious man."
Otto leaned back in his chair and lay down, thinking seriously about his next plan.
What should he do in the future?
Otto felt as if he was standing at a crossroads in his life.
He has to make a choice.
The wise man closed his eyes and thought for a long time before he came up with his own answer.
He opened his eyes, and his green eyes became sharp:
"As expected, we should keep such existence firmly in our own hands."
He would not allow any deviation in the plan to resurrect Kallen.
Although Otto does not intend to eliminate Kirataka like he did to Siegfried and Joyce, it does not mean that he will not do something to Kirataka.
Since he is useful to him, then Otto can completely... use another method to [control] him.
A plan gradually took shape in his mind.
"Rita has been at St. Freya's Academy for a while. It's time for her to return to Schicksal."
The Archbishop of Schicksal muttered to himself as he sent mission information to his capable subordinates.
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