"Jackal, what the hell have you done?!" Raven was about to lose her mind.
Only by witnessing the figure descending over Sky City like a god incarnate did she truly understand what real, unspeakable terror meant.
This attempt at the Stigma Project had failed.
And then... what the fuck is that?
"..." On the other end of the comms, Jackal remained silent.
But in the very next moment, she sounded almost proud. "That's right! This is my power, Jackal's power! From now on, you will all show me some respect!"
"The Sovereign's Stigma Project has not failed!"
Her voice grew increasingly shrill, fervent—whether directed at the Sovereign or the terrifyingly beautiful silhouette that had suddenly appeared over Sky City, she seemed to believe every word she said!
"This is the true power of our Stigma Project."
"That unknown entity... will be our goddess, the one who will never fail in our fight against the Honkai, the ruler of Earth!"
Goddamn it!
Raven's blood pressure was through the roof.
Even now, you're still this confident, you bastard!
Next time we meet, I'm gonna kick your ass so hard.
She was fuming.
All because she'd stayed behind out of curiosity—to see if K423 could save this city.
And now look...
She was barely two or three kilometers away from the Herrscher of Finality. What was this?
Couldn't she see that Miss Seven Thunders of Retribution was shaking like a leaf?
Run?
If she did, she'd probably be targeted instantly.
The nail that sticks out gets hammered, damn it!
But...
If she didn't run, wasn't it way too dangerous?
Her instincts were screaming at her.
Half terror, half fury.
She felt like screaming her lungs out, and the more she thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed!
At the same time, Raiden Mei, who was even closer to Kiana, wasn't faring any better.
She, too, was a Herrscher.
But she could feel it even more acutely—the overwhelming pressure emanating from the source of power after the Herrscher of Finality's descent.
Even glimpsing just a fraction of it was like comparing a single insect to the vastness of a rainforest; she couldn't help but tremble uncontrollably.
It wasn't any one tree or anything else in the rainforest that terrified her so.
It was as if the entire rainforest was alive, and she was nothing but a mayfly floating within it...
Incomprehensible! Unfathomable!
She didn't want to believe it!
Even the slightest hint of hostility from her felt as if countless, blood-drenched characters for "death" were flooding her vision, her mind, her body—each one radiating sheer horror, searing into her very soul.
"Ugh..." A whimper escaped her lips.
Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
The Herrscher of Thunder inside her was under even greater pressure, suffering even more.
But seeing Mei in such a state, she forcefully seized control of their body, mustering every last bit of strength she could to transform into a bolt of lightning and flee into the distance.
But...
Would running even help?
Distance... meant nothing.
Trying to put space between them, seeking some pathetic sense of safety—it was nothing more than the self-delusion of the weak.
Meanwhile, Durandal caught a glimpse of that faint, flickering lightning out of the corner of her eye.
But it didn't matter anymore.
"Lord Otto," she spoke, whether he was listening or not, her decision already made.
"Due to the unknown changes occurring in K423, World Serpent's Stigma Project has completely collapsed."
"At the same time..."
She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, trying to steady herself.
"The Honkai energy contamination levels across Sky City have dropped rapidly, falling below historical lows. It's almost equivalent to a Honkai energy void."
"This indicates the Herrscher possesses the ability to absorb Honkai energy."
"As for more information... I'll find out myself!"
Durandal knew that Kiana's Honkai energy levels were off the charts.
In fact, the more she looked at her, the more unnerved she became. The more she observed, the more she felt that despite seeming full of openings, Kiana was overwhelmingly powerful—flawless.
It was like staring into impenetrable darkness.
The less response any stimulus provoked, the more it felt like a black hole—evoking a profound sense of powerlessness from deep within.
"Lady Durandal... please, don't be reckless!" Susannah's weak voice came through, tinged with urgency.
But after making her report, Durandal turned off her earpiece.
Her blood was boiling!
She had never shied away from a challenge. But this time, she felt fear.
And precisely because she was afraid, she refused to back down.
Driven by her will, the 4th-generation battlesuit, Bright Knight: Excelsis, entered overdrive from the very start.
Clad in the aura of a white Valkyrie, accompanied by brilliant blue starlight, one second, two seconds...
A brief charge-up.
Then, she launched herself toward Kiana high above.
A new meteor streaked across the sky.
Everyone in the city saw it.
The entire world was watching.
The strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal, one of Otto's ultimate trump cards—Durandal.
Could she defeat that monster?
A flicker of hope stirred in some.
After all, numbers were just data; seeing was believing.
Moreover, their instincts refused to accept the existence of such an unimaginable Herrscher.
Was it all a bluff, or was it real?
Durandal's attack would reveal the truth!
But in reality, the moment Kiana was struck without warning, her mind snapped back into focus.
She hadn't been inactive before—she'd just been focused on repairing the damage to her body. It wasn't like she'd gone AFK.
Seriously, she hadn't realized until now...
When did her body become so battered and broken?
Was this even her body anymore?
Drained, overexerted, covered in wounds—it was a miracle she was still alive...
Dammit!
And now, while meticulously untangling and stitching herself back together, Kiana caught sight of a streak of light rushing aggressively toward her.
She was already irritated.
With a wave of her hand, she summoned her favorite: the Authority of Binding.
"Piss off!"
And this wasn't just any ordinary Authority of Binding.
Now that she was serious,
Where I stand is holy ground!
Where I stand is Heaven itself!
I am your God!
"!!!" What?!
Durandal hadn't expected her opponent to strike so fast—it was as casual as a basic attack, with no warning whatsoever.
And more importantly, in that single instant, her battlesuit turned to scrap metal. The Honkai energy within her, all her strength—it all vanished as if it had never existed.
She'd been stripped down to a blank slate.
She was hardly any better off than an ordinary person now.
Even the fundamental energies of her body—bioelectricity, atomic and electron movement—were thrown into disarray.
Was it that Kiana couldn't affect those?
No!
She simply didn't need to!
Is this the Divine Prayer barrier...?
Durandal dismissed the thought immediately.
Since when was the Divine Prayer barrier this strong?!
Just then, without her battlesuit's power, she couldn't stay airborne.
Everyone watched as Icarus, who had dared to approach the sun, came crashing back down.
Thankfully, her physical body was exceptionally resilient.
Otherwise, the sheer inertia of her fall—smashing through skyscrapers, tumbling uncontrollably, and slamming into the ground—would have killed anyone else.
Even so, Durandal coughed up blood, her face a mask of embarrassment.
Not only had she failed to break free from the Binding domain, but now, she wasn't even a blank slate anymore—more like she'd been downgraded to an N-card.
"This power..." It's just cheating!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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