Inside Singapore, World Serpent Temporary Base
Within the temporary World Serpent base, Gray Serpent ignored the profusely sweating Jackal, instead staring at the image on the light screen, beginning to wonder if he was seeing things.
After the Third Eruption suddenly broke out, Gray Serpent had adjusted World Serpent's operational strategy.
As an intelligence analyst, Gray Serpent had, of course, already figured out Otto's intentions.
It was just that in Gray Serpent's view, since Otto dared to trigger the Third Eruption here, he must have had a backup plan.
And Otto's backup plan could not possibly be Leo Ash, who had wiped out a squad of clones on the way.
Although Leo Ash was growing absurdly strong, there was still a massive gap between him and Herrscher-level combat power.
In Gray Serpent's eyes, Otto's trump card was, in the end, that young woman.
Of the three S-rank Valkyries publicly acknowledged by Schicksal, one was missing in action, and Rita Rossweisse's combat strength had long been figured out by World Serpent.
Only Durandal, wielding Abyss Flower, was considered by World Serpent to have the power to threaten a Herrscher.
It was precisely because of this judgment that Gray Serpent had a portion of the Herrscher clones tie down Siegfried while sending the vast majority of his remaining clones toward the epicenter of the Third Eruption.
Originally, Gray Serpent had hoped to let Durandal and that little girl named Yuno fight each other to a standstill, then send in this force to pick off the winner.
But just as this team arrived near the scene, World Serpent's Honkai Energy detectors told Gray Serpent that the energy intensity at the site of the Third Eruption was plummeting.
With a hint of confusion, Gray Serpent commanded the soldiers to the scene.
And then, through the soldiers' visual sensors, he saw the Fourth Herrscher, who should have been on a rampage, being held in Leo Ash's arms.
Leo Ash defeated a Herrscher????
Gray Serpent really did not want to believe it.
But whether he believed it or not, his objective remained unchanged.
Seize the Herrscher Core, and get a Herrscher Core into his own hands!
The next moment, the Herrscher clones under Gray Serpent's command all moved.
Yuno was unconscious, Leo Ash was weakened, Siegfried was held up, and Durandal had yet to even arrive.
The Gem was right there for the taking. At this point, it wasn't just Gray Serpent; even Jackal could see they had to charge!
And so, Gray Serpent sent his soldiers in.
A second later, they had all typed GG.
Before the soldiers died, Gray Serpent saw a sky full of blood blades, just like the blades of light Leo Ash had used to kill the first batch of Herrscher soldiers, but this time they tore through the soldiers' bodies with even greater ease.
Truthfully, in the past, Gray Serpent's feelings toward Leo Ash were more of caution than fear.
But now, Gray Serpent had to admit—he was genuinely scared.
Lord Kevin had also defeated the Previous Era's Herrscher of Death, but at that time, Kevin had already been a soldier for several years.
But Leo Ash now...
Not long ago, he was just an underage agent.
The thought of World Serpent having to face off against such a ruthless character in the future made Gray Serpent's cyberbrain start to glitch again.
If he hadn't kept ten clone soldiers back at the base as a final reserve, he might have just gambled away his entire fortune.
"Gray Serpent, I have a good... actually, I'll just get to the conclusion."
After getting a fierce glare from Gray Serpent, Jackal quickly spoke at top speed.
"After the Third Eruption, the energy disturbance it caused has disrupted Anti-Entropy's blockade on us."
"Just now, I found that our Quantum Teleportation System has regained unstable teleportation capabilities..."
"—Go!"
Upon hearing this, Gray Serpent spoke to Jackal with extreme urgency.
"Singapore is a total loss. There's no need for us to stay here any longer."
"Since we can leave now, I'll activate this temporary base's self-destruct sequence. We won't leave a single shred of data for the enemy!"
"Okay, I'll set the destination for the new ba—"
"—Who the hell told you to go there!"
Gray Serpent, in his fear, looked at his incompetent colleague and snarled at Jackal.
"Take these ten clone soldiers with you!"
"Although the Third Eruption is over, Otto will definitely have to clean up this mess!"
"In other words, a significant portion of Schicksal's forces and attention will be forced to concentrate around Singapore."
"Go to the Oceania Branch. Now! Immediately!"
"Strike them directly while they haven't noticed our movements!"
The Herrscher of Death is probably a lost cause.
But the Wind of Desire might still be within our grasp.
Leo Ash's rate of evolution is simply too fast.
A week ago, he was just an expert capable of killing a Pseudo-Herrscher.
A week later, he has seemingly become a monster who can defeat a Herrscher and still retain significant combat strength.
We can't give him any more time to grow.
We must retrieve our Lord as quickly as possible. Only then can our World Serpent's Stigmata Project continue.
Damn it, I need to get Cocolia to hurry up too.
Abyssal City is still in the hands of the conservatives...
There's no time to worry about so many things.
Let's see if we can extract the gem from that little girl, Wendy.
If not, then...
—We'll just throw her directly into the Eye of the Deep.
Throwing a Herrscher with a gem inside might just produce the effect we want!
And so, it was happily decided!
Faster, we must be faster!
Although The Hour of Binding is three years away, the time between the Second and Third Eruptions was too short.
If we don't speed up the process, and the Honkai decides to flip the table, play sneak-attack, and accelerate everything...
—This world will be utterly destroyed by the Honkai's acceleration!
After killing the powerful enemies before him, the first thing Leo Ash felt was neither pleasure nor disgust.
Having consumed a large amount of his own blood to convert into Holy Blood, Leo Ash had successfully destroyed the enemy's barrier thanks to its unique properties, but it had come at a great cost.
Although he had become much stronger than when he first arrived, his body was still fundamentally 'human'.
When humans lose a large amount of blood, they experience discomfort and dizziness at best, and at worst, they fall unconscious or even die.
Cecilia, who saved Asia with her Holy Blood fourteen years ago, died in the First Eruption precisely because she expended too much of her own blood, burning her life away.
To be honest, just now, Leo Ash actually had other ways to deal with these clone soldiers.
But being forced to face one crisis after another, Leo Ash's inner emotions had already deteriorated to an extreme point.
On the way to chase Yuno, Leo Ash had once felt a sliver of pleasure from slaughtering his enemies.
And just now, his move combining the Schariac Holy Blood and the Endless Jizō Blade was clearly filled with killing intent.
The Endless Jizō Blade was originally a technique created by the Jizō Monk to 'save people'.
Although the move had slaughtered tens of millions, it was, in essence, a technique that emphasized the 'desire to save others' over the 'desire to kill others'.
But recalling his actions just now, Leo Ash was shocked to realize that while what he did was still self-preservation, that was merely the result.
Just a moment ago, he had genuinely thought, 'Every last one of you sons of bitches can just go and die'.
Such a thought wasn't necessarily wrong, but it was too extreme.
For Leo Ash, who possessed the Sphere [The Wavering Scales], once the 'scales' in his heart completely lost their balance, he could face the fate of the Sphere going berserk.
"Haah..."
After letting out a long sigh, Leo Ash endured his headache and cast a Powerful Healing Spell on himself again.
Only this time, the Powerful Healing Spell was forced to stop halfway through.
"Tsk, what a pain."
Feeling the mana in his body depleted once again, Leo Ash lay weakly on the ground, muttering to himself.
"I just refilled my mana with the Divine Dragon's Ancient Water..."
[You, who were thinking, 'I just refilled my mana with the Divine Dragon's Ancient Water,' instantly understood the real reason the healing spell was interrupted.]
[The Powerful Healing Spell was unable to fully heal Siegfried because it consumed too much mana.]
[For you, who are now countless times stronger, the mana required for a Powerful Healing Spell has naturally increased dramatically.]
[Besides, having lost over fifty percent of your blood, the fact that you haven't passed out already is a testament to your mental fortitude.]
Oh, that makes sense.
But what reassures me the most is—you're out, which means there are no more enemies, right?!
[Ding! The rewards received by the Host this time are (Special Item - Special-grade Ten-pull Lottery Ticket), (Special Item - Special-grade Ten-pull Lottery Ticket), (Special Item - Intermediate Lottery Ticket).]
Hearing the System's cold notification, Leo Ash was completely relieved.
The System's prompt indicated two sets of rewards were given, which clearly meant this incident was well and truly over.
[Yes, this incident is over.]
[But it's more like, this incident actually ended just like that.]
You sound like you were hoping I'd get tormented to death before this was settled.
[Not at all.]
[But honestly, from the start of the Third Eruption to its end, only five minutes passed. Do you think—that's really reasonable?]
...
Hearing the System's prompt, Leo Ash instantly fell silent.
Okay, to be honest, it is very unreasonable.
[A guy who's too fast won't be popular with the ladies.]
Even if you're trying to make a dirty joke right now...
Go away, it's not like I'm fast in *that* way.
And it's not like nobody likes me!
I'll have you know, if I weren't afraid of triggering Kiana and letting Sirin out, I'd have held a developer conference already!
[Mhm, the System is convinced.]
What's with that tone?
[Nothing, the System is just calculating the time and probability of success.]
I get the feeling you're definitely up to something.
[Don't be like that. Besides spouting lewd trash in your head, when has the System ever screwed you over?]
True, I really shouldn't doubt you like that.
[Oho, interesting.]
Hearing the System let out a strange laugh, Leo Ash suddenly tensed up and looked around.
Is there an enemy?
[Nope.]
[The System just sees a future where you're working overtime.]
...
I'll deal with the future when it comes.
What I need now is power I can wield in the present!
The moment he said this in his mind, Leo Ash used the Intermediate Lottery Ticket to draw a low-tier reward first.
After the lottery was complete, Leo Ash saw a blue skill book floating before his eyes.
[Skill Book - Pharmaceutical Mastery (Enhanced Edition)]
[Skill Description — Those who learn this skill can fully analyze the composition and ratios of any potion before them and know how to concoct it.]
[Additionally, by actively using this skill, potions can be fused with certain creations. Effects unknown.]
[Note: This skill will have a more powerful effect when combined with 'Medical Mastery'.]
[Note 2: After activating this skill, it will automatically determine whether the object before you is considered a potion.]
Looking at the skill book before him, Leo Ash, after learning it, could only feel that this skill was a bit strange.
Seriously, are you sure this skill is a good match for me at all?
Somehow I feel like the System is just handing these out randomly?
[You're overthinking it. Just keep drawing.]
After hearing this, Leo Ash immediately used a Special-grade Ten-pull Lottery Ticket.
Then, looking at the pile of white junk, he felt utterly speechless.
Seriously, can't you just recycle these things in the future?
I have to find time to throw this pile of junk in the trash, and I have to avoid being seen by cameras using telekinesis—you're just increasing my workload, you know!
[No can do. The System is a system of principles. What's mine is mine, what's not, I don't want.]
...Fine.
Let's see what deep red item I got this time.
Watching as the first deep red light flashed by, Leo Ash was suddenly stunned.
Before him was not a skill book, but a small vial filled with a purple liquid.
And before Leo Ash's eyes, the item's name was revealed.
[Full Rejuvenation Potion (Diablo Series)]
...