The icy touch was like a venomous snake coiling around her body.
Deadly, suffused with killing intent.
The moment that fellow vanished from her sight, Bronya understood she had misjudged one thing.
That guy didn't need gemstones as a medium to activate spatial transfer.
Because today's plan concerned Seele, she had been too hasty, losing her usual composure, and had somewhat fumbled.
"Achieving spatial transfer by manipulating the Fictional Element: Imaginary Numbers is one of my own abilities," the magus, who could connect to Type-Moon's Magecraft Foundation even in another world thanks to the system, said while holding the Exorcist Attire: Kiritsugu to the girl's neck.
"The gemstones and such are merely for storing energy and reducing consumption."
Bronya remained silent, merely gathering her strength.
"Don't always be thinking about a counter-kill," the young man holding the short sword said, as if sensing Bronya's thoughts.
"After all, if someone like me, who is desperately trying to prevent the Honkai's descent, dies, leading to your foolish mother's artificial Herrscher experiment succeeding, Seele will be doomed, you know."
Seele will die?
Bronya's pale gray pupils contracted rapidly.
She no longer had time to ponder why this unknown fellow knew Seele's name and understood that Seele was in the Sea of Quanta.
The thought that the most important person in her life would die completely seized her mind and rationality.
She looked at the magus in disbelief, wanting to demand an explanation.
"Wanting to free Seele from her quantum state by turning her into a Herrscher is indeed a decent idea, but before you experimented, didn't you check what kind of characters are in the Sea of Quanta?" There was a hint of mockery in the words of the young man holding the short sword.
"Ah, I almost forgot. Given your information gathering capabilities, it's probably very difficult to find news about Kevin."
Kevin? Who is that?
Bronya, completely clueless as to who Kevin was, felt her mind thrown into a bit of chaos.
"Forget it. Consider it a little bit of common knowledge I'm sharing with you, just because you look cute." Perhaps because he had been a "Lore Custodian" in his past life, the young man held a considerable fondness for Banya and Seele.
Don't ask him why his attitude towards Miss Mei was so average; if asked, the answer was "lolicons."
"In the Sea of Quanta, composed of countless World Bubbles, there is an artificial World Bubble constructed by the Second Divine Key—the Key of Perpetual Kalpa [Thousand Realms, One Vehicle]."
"That dilapidated little world was built by an ancestor of the Apocalypse family to imprison the Previous Era's strongest warrior, Kevin."
Listening to the narration of the magus who held an inexplicable fondness for her, Bronya couldn't help but feel her blood run cold.
A character who needed a dilapidated world just to be imprisoned—could he truly still be considered human?
"That monster, who possessed power exceeding Herrscher-level even at his lowest point, eventually left that prison. He's searching the Sea of Quanta for high-energy substances, wanting to borrow their power to return."
Speaking up to this point, Li Zihan withdrew the short sword from Miss Banya's neck and continued, "Tell me, if that freak, who is in dire need of energy, sees a Herrscher appear before him, what do you think he'll do?"
Bronya froze completely, her entire body turning ice-cold, drenched in a cold sweat.
A Herrscher Core was the substance with the highest energy density in this world.
"It's not that there's no way to rescue someone trapped in the Sea of Quanta, but it's definitely not that suicidal plan your foolish mother came up with."
Is there another way to save Seele in this world?
Hearing these words, Bronya's thoughts began to flutter.
She looked towards the magus, who seemed very adept at manipulating space, wanting to ask.
Before she could speak, a very flippant voice sounded from the distance, shattering the temporary peace of the countryside.
"Oh~, it seems this great one heard some fellow spouting nonsense about non-existent characters, deceiving Cocolia's little girl."
The source of the voice was a man wearing a blue overcoat. He was quite handsome, yet he gave off a sense of disharmony.
"This great one has never heard of anyone in this world surpassing this great one—the First Herrscher."
He held a banana in his hand, munching on it as he strolled towards Li Zihan and Bronya.
"So it's the First Herrscher, Lord Welt Joyce."
Watching the man advancing towards him, Li Zihan's lips curled upwards slightly, forming a smile that, in Bronya's eyes, was deeply sarcastic.
Hearing this title, the advancing man suddenly froze.
In his memory, the agents had only ever called him "Welt," but had never mentioned the surname Joyce.
Is my surname Joyce? Seems like it. Tsk tsk, I'll have to go back and ask Cocolia properly later.
"Oh, I thought you were just some small fry, but I didn't expect you to actually know this great one's name." Welt-One, feeling that his surname should indeed be Joyce, thrust his hands into his pockets and stopped not far from Li Zihan.
Simultaneously, a dark, profound blue manifested around him, like swirling clouds.
"Since you know this great one's name, things will be much simpler." Welt-One, who could barely mimic the abilities of the Ninth Divine Key—Star of Eden, due to the muscle memory of the real Welt Joyce, wore a rampant expression.
"Be crushed into meat paste by a hundred times gravity, or hand over Raiden's daughter and come with me. It's a two-choice question; you should know what to do."
"Hey, Mister Welt, you should know, if Cocolia's experiment succeeds, everyone in Nagazora City will die." The young man, who had at some point disappeared from Bronya's side and reappeared next to Raiden Mei, who had been watching from the sidelines, calmly stated a certain fact.
"To be able to sacrifice themselves for Anti-Entropy's cause is their honor," the inferior copy, who shared a face with the hero who had created a protective shield to defend New York from Honkai Fission Bombs while heavily injured, ultimately dying of exhaustion, said with utter indifference.
"Alright, you should give an answer now. Considering you know this great one's name, I can give you a few more minutes to think."
As these words sounded, the deep blue substance surrounding Welt-One condensed. A hundred times gravity awakened from within it, pulling at everything in the vicinity.
Wild winds howled, and soil flew. Under the pull of gravity, or rather, gravitational force, the surrounding environment was changing at a rate of almost every minute, every second.
Although this fellow was a counterfeit, he still possessed terrifying combat strength.
"Looks like the type I absolutely can't beat." The young man, who indeed had no good way to deal with an enemy who could use map-wide skills as basic attacks, put his arm around Raiden Mei's shoulder and whispered into her ear.
"Are you willing to trust my judgment?"
Raiden Mei, being this close to a male other than her father for the first time, felt her body stiffen slightly.
This isn't a polite contact like a handshake, this has crossed the line!
"I trust you."
Suppressing the discomfort in her heart, a blush appearing on her face, Raiden Mei gave her answer.
She had also heard the exchange between Li Zihan and the two people opposite him. Although they hadn't explained the specific details clearly, some information had been revealed.
For example, Cocolia's side was conducting human experiments, and once the experiment began, not only would she become a test subject, but everyone in Nagazora City would die.
And this not-at-all-gentlemanly fellow was a bounty hunter protecting her and Nagazora City.
"What the hell are you two up to?" "Welt," who hadn't heard what Li Zihan and Raiden Mei were saying, frowned, his expression turning fierce.
"Let me make this clear first, if you're thinking of escaping using spatial transfer, this great one will not spare you."
"Just discussing a little something, how to protect this city, that's all." The shadow beneath the feet of the magus, who wasn't entirely unprepared for encountering "Welt," suddenly spread out.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, that shadow transformed into a giant beast, leaped up abruptly, and swallowed the gentle girl in one gulp.
Squish—
Bright red blood flowed from the corners of the beast-like shadow's mouth, dripping onto the ground, moistening the soil.
"As you can see, now, there is no longer a suitable host for the Gem of Conquest," the young man, who had sent the girl who trusted him into the mouth of the shadow-beast, stated flatly.