Singapore border area.
In the border area of Singapore, Siegfried, having just turned around to kill a Pseudo-Herrscher soldier, leaped from his motorcycle and pulled the trigger again mid-air.
But this time, after being pursued for so long, Siegfried finally failed to dodge the enemy's attack as he had before.
His shot successfully killed one enemy.
But at the same time, Siegfried was hit by a gravity sphere fired from another direction and was forcefully pinned to the ground.
"Tsk, what a pain."
A weakened gravity manipulation ability couldn't easily harm the body of the Kaslana clan's strongest warrior.
But for Siegfried, what he lacked most right now was time.
Being held up by the enemy like this was clearly more unacceptable for Siegfried than being injured.
And speaking of which, he really felt that—these World Serpent people must be out of their minds.
Motherfucker, this is your home turf!
Otto wants to tear down your home, and you're attacking me—I think you're all fucking crazy!
And now, although there were no more civilians in Siegfried's area, he still had no intention of using Judgment of Shamash Unleashed here.
With the situation this critical, Siegfried had to consider the worst-case scenario.
Even if Dr. Magi and the World Serpent people have made contact, they should still be lingering around the Singapore border.
In other words, if Siegfried doesn't catch up to Dr. Magi and the Fourth Eruption occurs, then...
After the Honkai Energy erupts, the civilians in Singapore's urban area at least won't die immediately.
And at the same time, if the Fourth Eruption occurs, Siegfried would surely be able to detect the Fourth Herrscher's location from the resulting shockwave.
At that time...
If he could kill the Herrscher instantly, he could at least minimize the disaster.
Therefore, Siegfried had to save his strongest trump card for the Herrscher, no matter what.
"Seriously... Otto, World Serpent, why doesn't a single one of them care about human lives!"
Forcibly pushing himself up from the ground, Siegfried looked at the Herrscher soldiers gradually surrounding him, took a deep breath, and drew the other Judgment of Shamash from his waist.
Thinking about it differently, the more relentlessly the enemy pursues me, the more it proves my choice is correct.
If I quickly kill these Herrscher clone soldiers and then search the surrounding area, the probability of finding Dr. Magi shouldn't be too low.
Ha, I hope these World Serpent people come to their senses now.
Otherwise, the allied nation you worked so hard to find will be completely destroyed under Otto's control.
At the same time. Singapore border region.
In another border area of Singapore, Gray Serpent, seeing the Valkyrie who had suddenly caught up, immediately shielded Dr. Magi behind him.
"Doctor, please go first. I will deal with this dog of Otto's."
"Go into the city, someone will be there to meet you."
After Gray Serpent deliberately referred to the opponent as 'Otto's dog,' Dr. Magi's guilt towards the Valkyrie before him was instantly overwhelmed by his hatred for Otto.
At the same time, Gray Serpent's act of staying behind to cover the retreat made Dr. Magi trust this ally even more.
"Mr. Gray Serpent, if possible..."
"Ah, I know Dr. Magi has a kind heart and made this choice because he couldn't bear to see these young girls persecuted."
Gray Serpent, having taken out a Honkai Beast transformation potion, injected it into his own neck and said to Dr. Magi.
"I will do my best to spare her life."
"Thank you."
Listening to Dr. Magi's increasingly hurried footsteps, Gray Serpent, who had transformed into an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, just felt that...
—Dr. Magi was seriously overestimating him.
Dr. Magi might have been too old to see clearly who the Valkyrie in front of him was.
But as World Serpent's intelligence analyst, Gray Serpent would of course recognize that the Valkyrie named Yuno was not only a Valkyrie but also a Pseudo-Herrscher.
This Pseudo-Herrscher, with the support of the Honkai, had once even defeated Theresa, the wielder of the Key of Binding.
Even if she now chose to stand with humanity and had lost the Honkai's support, Yuno, who could wield the authority of a Pseudo-Herrscher, was still not someone an Emperor-class with only a three-minute transformation time could kill.
If Gray Serpent hadn't already dispatched clone soldier units to support him and Dr. Magi when he discovered Siegfried rampaging through the city, he might have despaired and thought it was all over.
Three minutes. As long as I can forcefully stall her or even injure her by trading blows within these three minutes, then once Dr. Magi and the Gem of Serenity are in our hands, the remaining Pseudo-Herrschers will be enough to defeat Yuno.
And Leo Ash... heh, although he's a ruthless person, he's not so ruthless as to disregard the safety of his comrades.
From past intelligence, we can clearly see that he is a person who values emotional bonds.
In other words, as long as this Pseudo-Herrscher is defeated and falls into our hands, with a hostage, we can naturally stall for more time.
I can't despair yet.
On the contrary, I can now see a glimmer of hope!
"Ah, the Honkai Beast transformation potion that Senior mentioned before."
Looking at the Honkai Beast and the frantically running Dr. Magi, Yuno gently brushed her hair aside, then suddenly slammed her fist into the ground.
"A mere inferior Emperor-class dares to be arrogant in my presence?"
"I'm really being looked down upon."
The moment Yuno's fist hit the ground, Dr. Magi suddenly saw a row of wooden barriers sprout from the ground on the previously clear path, blocking his way.
These wooden barriers were about three meters high, and instead of being covered in thorns, they were incredibly smooth.
Seeing this barrier, Dr. Magi froze on the spot.
This, this is...
Ah, I remember now, this girl is the other Herrscher from the Far East Branch.
But wasn't it said that she always suppressed her Herrscher Personality, and thus couldn't use her full power?
But now, this terrifying power was nothing like what a Pseudo-Herrscher who was suppressing their Herrscher Personality should be able to exert.
A Pseudo-Herrscher... the Gem of Serenity... and the potent poison she once used to knock out Theresa... the 'power of creation' to instantly grow plants...
At this moment, as a scientist who researched Honkai Energy and the Artificial Herrscher Project, Dr. Magi, as if having realized something, looked back at Yuno in disbelief.
The Gray Serpent, transformed into an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, had already been knocked to the ground by a giant wooden golem that had suddenly appeared in front of it.
And Yuno's body was clearly emitting a powerful Honkai Energy fluctuation visible to the naked eye.
"Don't come any closer!"
Watching Yuno approach step by step, Dr. Magi finally realized what a foolish thing he had done.
"Young lady, listen to me! Otto has been carrying out the Artificial Herrscher Project. As his accomplice, I have caused the deaths of countless promising Valkyries."
"But when the project failed to succeed, out of my hatred for Otto and my guilt towards those girls, I stole the Gem of Serenity."
"So?"
Yuno, who had stopped, asked Dr. Magi nonchalantly.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"You still don't realize the severity of the situation?!"
Dr. Magi, realizing that he might have indirectly caused a major Eruption, kept backing away while continuing to speak to Yuno.
"It's strange that I was able to steal the Gem of Serenity in the first place. Something like this, there's no way Otto wouldn't have kept it under heavy guard!"
"Yes, old man, you're right."
Seeing that Yuno had actually stopped moving, Dr. Magi let out a long sigh of relief and completely relaxed.
"You..."
"But I'll say it again—what does that have to do with me?"
At that moment, Yuno, standing her ground, used her Herrscher authority to create vines that bound Dr. Magi's body. With another vine, she snatched the Soulium container and tossed it into her own hands.
"No! You can't!"
Dr. Magi, bound by the vines, watched as Yuno opened the Soulium container and shouted at her in a panic.
"A Pseudo-Herrscher coming into contact with the Gem of Serenity will only—"
"Will only what?"
At that moment, looking at the Herrscher Core slowly floating out of the box, Yuno smiled sweetly.
"Old man, I am a Herrscher on the side of humanity."
"Even if I fuse with the power of the Gem of Serenity, I will still... still... still..."
At that moment, looking at the gem before her, Yuno suddenly felt something was wrong.
Strange, what was I trying to say?
Meanwhile, Dr. Magi, seeing Yuno's abnormal state, suddenly felt his body go completely limp.
His theft of the gem, this Herrscher girl's pursuit, it was all arranged by Otto.
And now, everything was proceeding according to Otto's plan.
Yuno had come into contact with the Herrscher Core.
And Yuno, with her vacant eyes, had clearly been bewitched by the Herrscher Core.
If no one stops her, the probability of a Pseudo-Herrscher whose fundamental authorities already align with [Rebirth] and [Death] transforming into the Herrscher of Death is absurdly high.
Damn it, I still underestimated Otto.
I originally thought Otto was just using Singapore as a testing ground to see if any of the millions of people here were suitable hosts for the Herrscher of Death.
But in reality, he had already selected a suitable host for the Gem of Serenity and incorporated that host into his plan.
Think of something, Magi, you have to take responsibility for your actions!
That's it!
At this moment, Dr. Magi, taking advantage of Yuno's confusion, reached into the pocket of his white coat and took out his trump card.
When leaving Schicksal, Dr. Magi had brought three vials of the latest version of the HSN serum he had developed.
And now, after taking out one of the vials, he unhesitatingly smashed it against the vines, using the power of the HSN serum to instantly 'melt' them.
Seeing that the old man actually had the power to resist her, Yuno, who had been in a daze, was suddenly startled awake.
"This, this is!"
"My apologies, young lady!"
At that instant, Dr. Magi took out the other two HSN serum vials from his pocket and charged at Yuno.
Although he was immediately bound by vines again, in that moment, he had already thrown the two vials in his hand at her.
"Damn you! You human!"
The two vials smashed at Yuno's feet, shattering on impact and releasing the serum near her body.
Although in this situation, the serum was certainly not as effective as a direct injection into a Herrscher, under the interference of the HSN serum, Yuno temporarily regained her consciousness.
"I... why did I just have such a terrible thought?!"
Recalling the countless evil thoughts that had just filled her mind, Yuno's gaze towards the gem was now filled with apprehension.
But now, so close to the Gem of Serenity, Yuno had lost her final chance.
The gem, as if it had a will of its own, suddenly flew towards Yuno, its surface's corrosive black mist breaking through the surface of her skin.
Leo Ash, who had just arrived at the scene, saw the Gem of Serenity about to enter Yuno's body and pushed his motorcycle to its maximum speed again.
"Yuno! Get away from that thing!"
But in the next instant...
—An incredibly terrifying amount of Honkai Energy transformed into a powerful shockwave, blasting his body away.
Leo Ash, who blocked the shockwave with the Zero Knight's Honkai Energy barrier, saw Yuno, now fused with the gem, slowly float into the air as the dust settled.
And the girl who appeared before his eyes...
—once again overlapped with the figure Leo Ash had seen in Nagazora City in the past.
...