World Serpent Headquarters
After informing Su that 'Leo Ash might become the Herrscher of Binding,' Gray Serpent immediately began surveillance on Leo Ash.
Fortunately, after arriving in England, Leo Ash did not, as he had expected, start frantically searching for information on the Second Divine Key.
The Leo Ash who arrived in England had irresponsibly thrown all his work to that adopted daughter of Cocolia's.
As for himself—he was mostly just slacking off, either wandering around aimlessly or having picnics with junk food.
At first, Gray Serpent thought Leo Ash's actions were a ruse to deceive any potential enemies in the vicinity.
But after three days, Gray Serpent felt he had been overthinking it.
Apart from avoiding the Thames River, the man was just slacking off to his heart's content.
To say he was on guard against his surroundings... frankly, Gray Serpent didn't think Leo Ash would waste his time putting on a show for enemies that might not even exist.
He had previously thought this guy was some kind of monster, but now it seemed he was surprisingly normal.
That made sense. No matter how strong Leo Ash was, he was still human, and humans get tired.
After the Third Eruption, there shouldn't be a Fourth Eruption happening so soon.
Under these circumstances, it was quite normal for him to relax a bit.
*Heh, I used to think this guy was Otto's most terrifying hound, but now...*
*This hound isn't very obedient.*
*Very good, very good.*
*Although we will definitely have to kill you in the future, for now, since you're not actively searching for the location of the Key of the Void, we'll let you live a little longer.*
As for that little girl Bronya, while she might be an expert in electronic warfare, no matter how strong her skills were, it would be impossible for her to detect the location of the Key of the Void.
To find the Key of the Void, Otto himself would have to lock down a region and then dispatch Schicksal's Mechanized Units to conduct a prolonged search with their detection systems. Only then might they detect the location of the Key of the Void through minute spatial discrepancies.
But right now, it was impossible for them to find it. If we were to act rashly at this time, we would only expose ourselves.
As for Su... hmph, that traitor may have betrayed the Sovereign, but for the one thousand five hundred years that followed, he had locked himself away in that world bubble.
It was true that he betrayed the Sovereign, but his feelings for the Sovereign were by no means false.
Out of guilt, Su began to punish himself, not even intervening to help humanity during the massive turmoil of the Second Eruption.
So, under these circumstances, he probably wouldn't actively seek out Leo Ash either.
Everything was heading in a good direction. Next, as long as we train those two sisters to be strong enough, then...
"Gray Serpent, we have a huge problem!"
Jackal, who was reading a research report within the organization, suddenly shouted at the administrator, Gray Serpent.
"Something big has happened!"
"What is it, Jackal?"
Hearing Jackal's shout, Gray Serpent instinctively felt a sense of dread.
However, as a cyborg, no matter how panicked Gray Serpent was, he couldn't show it too obviously.
Besides, with so few people available in the organization now, he was the big brother and had to hold things together.
The current Gray Serpent had to appear calm and collected, to give the half-dead-from-fright young Jackal a sense of security upon seeing him...
"According to the report from our intelligence personnel in England, they discovered that—Leo Ash suddenly vanished on his way back to the hotel!"
*What?*
"The intelligence personnel have confirmed it ten times. They are certain that Leo Ash disappeared into thin air!"
Looking at this piece of intelligence, Jackal said to Gray Serpent with extreme nervousness.
"Could it be that Schicksal has also mastered the Quantum Teleportation System?"
"If that's the case, we've lost our advantage in that area!"
"If only that were the case."
Pulling up the footage uploaded by the intelligence personnel from the database, Gray Serpent saw Leo Ash's actions before he disappeared.
In the footage, Leo Ash didn't look like he was being teleported by an ally, with preparations made in advance.
On the contrary, his constant struggling looked exactly like he was being suddenly attacked by someone.
Considering there was no one else around, that Leo Ash suddenly started struggling, and then he was gone—putting all this information together...
*Damn it!*
*Su, actively sought out Leo Ash?*
Based on Gray Serpent's understanding of Su, the probability of him suddenly getting bored and launching a psychic attack on someone was practically zero.
That man was a standard good old guy; why would he do such a thing?
Therefore, Gray Serpent thought of a possibility he didn't want to see, but was highly likely.
*Su, you traitor, don't tell me you're going to side with Leo Ash!!!!!!!!!!*
When this inference appeared in his mind, Gray Serpent, for a rare moment, felt an emotion called 'despair' budding within him.
Though it was boosting the enemy's morale and lowering his own, Su's strength was so great that he could single-handedly annihilate all of World Serpent's forces.
So now, even if Gray Serpent were to fall out with Su regardless of the consequences, he—couldn't even land a hit on him. What was there to talk about?
He had no means to stop Su from doing things that were detrimental to World Serpent. As for the puppet that Sovereign Kevin had placed outside the Key of the Void...
That puppet only had one percent of the Sovereign's power.
If Su wanted to cause trouble, could a single puppet stop him???
*Damn it, a traitor is always a traitor.*
*You betrayed the Sovereign back then, and this time, you have once again chosen to stand against us...*
*I shouldn't have counted on him from the beginning.*
*We must speed things up. We need to make Cocolia spit out the coordinates.*
*Nothing else matters now. What that little girl Wendy thinks is irrelevant.*
*One last gamble. Once we have the coordinates to Abyssal City, we'll just throw that little girl into the Eye of the Deep.*
*With the Sovereign's great power, as long as he has a chance, the probability of him breaking out is one hundred percent.*
*And once the Sovereign is out...*
*—All of you traitors and fools will die!*
.....
About two and a half hours after Leo Ash's disappearance. Schicksal Headquarters
For the past few days, Otto had actually been having his intelligence personnel keep an eye on Leo Ash's movements.
Frankly, Otto was now mostly at ease with Leo Ash. Sending people to watch him was mainly out of curiosity to see if Leo Ash's vigilance had dropped and if he was heeding Otto's previous advice.
And from the summary reports sent by the intelligence department these past few days, Leo Ash hadn't been doing anything at all, just slacking off, recuperating, and enjoying himself.
Regarding Leo Ash's behavior, Otto was, of course...
—giving it a big thumbs up.
He had sent Leo Ash to England with the intention of letting him rest while using Bronya to lure out Cocolia and get her hands on some of her technology.
And now, Leo Ash was proactively slacking off. This was a great thing.
At this point, Otto no longer expected Leo Ash to bring him anything more.
After all, the current Leo Ash, even if he slacked off for the rest of his life, had already brought him more than enough returns.
If it weren't for Leo Ash's own strong desire for revenge, Otto would have wanted to put him in semi-retirement, waiting to be served up as a feast for K423.
But now, Otto felt the problem was a bit serious.
About two and a half hours ago, the Schicksal intelligence department sent a message saying that Leo Ash had suddenly disappeared.
Otto immediately felt something was wrong and promptly questioned Bronya, who was still at the hotel organizing intelligence, to find out if Leo Ash had said anything unusual beforehand.
Unfortunately, faced with this sudden event, Bronya was also stunned.
After failing to get the information he wanted from Bronya, Otto gave her a few perfunctory words, promising that 'as long as Cocolia surrenders obediently, not only will I not kill her, but I will also give her a sufficient position.' As he hung up the phone, he even thought he heard a faint 'Hooray.'
*Sigh, little girls are like this, only looking at the surface of things.*
*If Cocolia really surrenders obediently and hands over her technology, what's the big deal about giving her a cadre position with no real power?*
*At that time, I can just publicize that 'even the radical faction of Anti-Entropy thinks Anti-Entropy is failing,' which will be another blow of false logic against Welt's group.*
*As for Cocolia's past actions, I'll just say she was acting under Welt's instructions.*
*Anyway, Anti-Entropy is already being suppressed by us on the outside and can barely hold its head up. If Cocolia obediently says these things, it will only accelerate the matter.*
*Plus, Cocolia knows the coordinates of The Ark. Her sincere surrender would be highly beneficial to me.*
*But, you pitiful little girl, I don't think your adoptive mother will surrender so obediently.*
*Although I don't know her particularly well, based on her previous actions, she won't surrender. Instead, she'll probably pull off some big stunt.*
*But none of that matters now.*
*Leo Ash, where on earth did you go?*
*You absolutely cannot die at the hands of others before Kiana meets the conditions for her awakening.*
"Lord Otto!"
Amber, who had been watching the light screen, suddenly exclaimed to Otto.
"Knight Leo Ash has just unlocked the teleportation program for [Zero Knight: Moonshade]!"
"Excellent!"
Although activating the armor's teleportation program was undoubtedly a sign that Leo Ash was in danger.
But being in danger was better than having no news at all.
"Leo Ash is in danger now... Rita is still asleep, and even if she wakes up, she might not be able to help."
"Bianka has been working twenty-four hours a day without rest to clean up the Honkai around the world, and she's a long way from England right now..."
After a moment of thought, Otto said to Amber.
"Tell Yuno she doesn't need to stay at headquarters to train her powers anymore."
"Leo Ash is in danger. Yuno, who can fully control her Herrscher powers for a short time by releasing her core and can heal others' injuries, is the most suitable member of Schicksal to rush to the battlefield."
"Tell her what happened to Leo Ash, and then send her to England."
*Anyone else can die, but Leo Ash absolutely cannot.*
*Leo Ash, even Herrschers couldn't kill you. At a time like this...*
*—You won't let me down, will you?*
....
England. Inside a certain hotel
After receiving another affirmative reply from Bishop Otto, Bronya's heart was somewhat at ease.
Although the current Bronya was also very worried about the missing Leo Ash, there was nothing she could do no matter how anxious she was.
People have their priorities.
Even if Leo Ash had given her a sense of closeness she had never felt before, it didn't mean Bronya had completely abandoned her still very much beloved adoptive mother.
Besides, using the chip in her brain to search for Leo Ash's whereabouts and arranging a meeting with Cocolia to persuade her were not mutually exclusive.
As for why Miss Bronya was so excited today, the main reason was...
—Cocolia had finally contacted her just now and agreed to meet with her.
At this moment, the girl walked out of her room, feeling a spring in her step.
*Although I'm very sorry to Brother Leo and Sister Yuno, as long as I can successfully persuade Mother to surrender during this period while Brother Leo is missing and Sister Yuno is training at headquarters, then Mother can survive.*
*Bishop Otto is by no means a good person, but thinking about it now, if Mother sincerely surrenders, it would only be beneficial to him, with no downsides.*
*The best opportunity has arrived. As long as Mother can listen to Bronya's advice, then...*
*No, this matter is definitely not that simple.*
*Mother might think that my heart has been corrupted by Schicksal and be disappointed in me.*
*But to ensure you live, Bronya, this time, even if I have to knock you out, I will bring you back to Schicksal headquarters to keep you alive.*
With these thoughts in mind, Bronya arrived at the appointed place about three hours later.
And upon seeing Cocolia, Bronya's heart instantly tightened.
"Hi, Bronya. It's been a while. Have you missed Mommy?"
The moment she met Bronya, Cocolia greeted her with that confident smile of hers.
Looking at her adoptive mother before her, Bronya felt that the probability of her needing to resort to force today had just increased significantly.
*You are still so confident...*
*Have the continuous failures of the past two months not managed to calm you down?*
If it were the old Bronya, she would definitely have been infected by Cocolia's confident smile, thinking she was a wise strategist with everything under control.
But now, having shed the fan-goggles and knowing the vast difference between the radical faction of Anti-Entropy and Schicksal, Cocolia's confident smile, in Bronya's eyes, had clearly become a display of someone who didn't know the gravity of her situation.
"What's wrong, my dear daughter? Does seeing your mother make you so unhappy?"
Looking at Bronya, whose eyes now held a trace of sorrow and helplessness, Cocolia moved closer to her and dropped her smile.
"Or are you unhappy because Mommy rejected your communications earlier?"
"No, Mother Cocolia, Bronya would not be angry over such things. But in return... please don't be angry at Bronya's words either, okay?"
"Oh, my dear daughter, how could you ever make me angry?"
Though her words were forgiving, Cocolia's heart was clearly not as tolerant as her expression suggested.
In fact, from the very beginning, Cocolia had her subordinates on the lookout for anyone other than Bronya approaching the area.
But so far, it seemed her daughter, at least in this regard, had not disappointed her.
Bronya had truly come alone, just as they had agreed.
"You... should listen to what Bronya has to say first."
After taking a deep breath, Bronya said to Cocolia with utmost seriousness.
"Bronya hopes that Mother will abandon her identity in Anti-Entropy and surrender to Schicksal."
"Bishop Otto has personally promised Bronya that if Mother joins Schicksal, you will not be treated as a prisoner, but will instead be directly promoted to a cadre."
"...So, you asked me out not to give me intelligence, but to persuade me to surrender for Schicksal?"
Listening to Bronya's incredibly serious words, Cocolia laughed out of anger and shook her head.
"My dear daughter, when did you—become so naive?"
"Otto Apocalypse is a madman, our enemy."
"You've only infiltrated the enemy's camp for two months, and you've already been brainwashed by him?"
"If you take back those words now, I can pretend nothing happened."
"Come back to Anti-Entropy with me, tell me the intelligence you've gathered, and you will still be my good daughter."
*...Just as I expected.*
*Mother Cocolia is indeed not so easily persuaded by Bronya.*
*Thinking about it, it makes sense. If Mother Cocolia's will wasn't strong, she wouldn't have been able to climb from an ordinary officer all the way to the upper echelons of Anti-Entropy, and even almost succeeded in a power grab.*
*But—for your sake, Bronya must continue to make you angry.*
"Bronya is serious."
Looking at the incensed Cocolia, Bronya, far from shrinking back, took a confrontational step forward.
"Mother, you want to contend with Bishop Otto, but right now, the trump cards you hold are nearly exhausted, aren't they?"
"A portion of your Titan mechs was destroyed by Teacher Himeko in Nagazora City, and another portion was destroyed by Brother Leo in Jiuyou. After that, the number of Titan mechs you have left should be quite small."
*Teacher?*
*Brother?*
Listening to these heartfelt titles, Cocolia felt the anger in her heart burn even hotter.
*I am your family, and they should be your enemies!]
*This ungrateful traitor, how dare she call those two by such intimate names?*
Completely oblivious to the rage flaring up in Cocolia's heart, the now very anxious Bronya continued speaking to Cocolia.
"You might think that as long as your plan succeeds, you will eventually obtain the power of a Herrscher Core."
"But have you considered this? The blue-haired clone you created poses no threat to Brother Leo, and the current Brother Leo can even kill a Herrscher on his own."
"Let alone Schicksal HQ, even against the Far East Branch, the trump cards you hold... how long can they last?"
"The Headmaster possesses a Divine Key and can fight against a Herrscher."
"Teacher Himeko can connect to the Hyperion's main cannon via the Nexus System, giving her the firepower to annihilate a large number of Titan mechs in a single shot."
"Although Sister Yuno and Sister Mei cannot fully utilize their Herrscher powers, they can unleash the power of their Herrscher Cores for a short period, and they are by no means enemies that Titan mechs can handle."
"Although Class Rep Fu Hua was severely injured in her fight against the Pseudo-Herrscher, she still succeeded in killing her opponent."
"Even Sister Kiana, now with the Godsbane Armor, has seen a great increase in her power..."
The more she spoke, the more terrified Bronya became. She shouted anxiously at Cocolia.
"Forget everyone at the Far East Branch; just sending two or three high-level combatants would be enough to wipe out all of your trump cards."
"You will really die if you continue to oppose Schicksal."
"If you don't court death, you won't die! Why don't you understand!"
"Ah, I finally understand."
Seeing the smile on her adoptive mother's face, Bronya was shocked, thinking that she had actually managed to persuade her.
But in the next second, a sharp pain shot through her brain, and Bronya realized...
"I finally understand that my adopted daughter has completely betrayed me."
—she had been too naive.
*Brother Leo was right all along.*
*There really was a backdoor in Bronya's bio-chip to control Bronya's body.*
*Bronya once thought this was a gift from Mother Cocolia, but now, Bronya finally understood.*
*Mother Cocolia, really...*
*—had never trusted Bronya.*
Upon realizing that Bronya had completely sided with Schicksal, Cocolia immediately activated the switch she had left in Bronya's bio-chip, forcing Bronya to activate the [Valkyrie System].
After all, knowing that her adopted daughter had become an enemy, Cocolia certainly had to guard against the mech her daughter could summon at any time.
Perhaps the past Cocolia could have defeated this very capable daughter of hers while armed.
But now that her opponent had a Quantum Mech, even if Cocolia was arrogant, she wasn't so conceited as to think she could guarantee a win with just the Judgment of Dawn.
"Sigh, my foolish daughter. I gave you a chance, but it's a pity you didn't cherish my feelings for you."
Looking at the girl who was now completely under her control, the last trace of gentleness in Cocolia's eyes vanished.
"Heh, surrender to Otto? Forget it. That man is not such a kind leader."
"I've investigated. During the Second Eruption, Otto could be ruthless enough to strike down even Lady Cecilia, who had performed meritorious service for him."
"Although it was Lady Cecilia who requested that Schicksal fire the fission missile, but—that's still enough to prove that Otto doesn't care about the lives of his subordinates at all."
Even though the girl beside her had lost control of her own body, Cocolia continued to mutter to herself as if venting her emotions.
"Otto is willing to sacrifice even the subordinates he personally trained. So, if a so-called surrendered general like me were to fall into his hands—I would just be devoured whole."
"A person can never rely on others. Even the adopted daughter I had always trusted has betrayed me."
Taking out her buzzing communicator, Cocolia looked at the message that appeared on it and let out a cold smile.
"Forget it, forget it. There's no need to be sad over a foolish traitor."
"Heh, Knight Leo Ash... I was originally planning to use his disappearance to exchange information with Bronya, but now, to think that this has happened."
After deleting the message [Leo Ash has appeared in the English countryside, severely injured], the corners of Cocolia's mouth finally curled up uncontrollably.
"He's Otto's favorite. Even if Otto doesn't value his subordinates, he should still have some value."
"And now, no matter how strong he is, he can't possibly still have great power after being severely injured."
"First, I'll take advantage of the lack of Schicksal combat troops in England and capture this little brat."
"If Schicksal can offer sufficient benefits, it might not be out of the question to let him go."
"But if Schicksal is tactless, then..."
"—after extracting all the intelligence this brat holds, I'll just find a time to kill him."
"Moreover, the relationship between Raiden Mei and him has become so good. If Leo Ash dies, Raiden Mei will surely be unable to suppress her despair."
"At that time, if the Third Herrscher begins to rampage, causing problems at St. Freya High School..."
"Heh, with Schicksal in chaos, my chance will come."
Meanwhile. The English Countryside
As a massive force surged into his body, the heavily injured Leo Ash fell miserably onto the deserted grassy field.
"Damn it, that squinty-eyed bastard—"
At that moment, Leo Ash looked as if he wanted to curse someone.
But as he tried to prop himself up with his arms, this warrior who had become famous in the underworld in a short time, fell back weakly the next second, closed his eyes, and appeared to have completely lost consciousness.
But only Leo Ash and Su, who was inside the Seed of Sumeru, knew that although Leo Ash was genuinely injured, he was not hurt to this extent.
After Leo Ash and Su engaged in a harmonious and friendly sparring match, the two fought for about half an hour with the attitude of not getting carried away.
And in that half an hour, Leo Ash finally witnessed what professional expertise truly was.
Su was a doctor before joining the Fire Moths, and as a doctor, some of Su's methods in combat truly made Leo Ash feel that he had underestimated him in the past.
During the fight, Su's attacks on Leo Ash were aimed at places that looked like they would bleed but wouldn't significantly affect his mobility after being hit.
Because of this, the current Leo Ash looked miserable, but his combat effectiveness hadn't actually dropped too severely.
As for why he made himself look so pathetic...
On one hand, Leo Ash and Su absolutely could not appear to be on good terms. They had to be enemies to deceive Otto.
And on the other hand, Leo Ash felt that to fish, one must at least cast bait.
And whether it was Cocolia or Gray Serpent, no matter how weak they were, they were still sharks.
And sharks, when they smell the 'scent of blood,' are more likely to appear near the source of that scent.
Right now, Leo Ash didn't know what those two groups were thinking.
But he felt that his status was high enough.
Given that Leo Ash had foiled their plans multiple times and his current high status as a member of Schicksal, the probability of them launching a surprise attack upon seeing him suddenly and severely injured was quite high.
*Heh, I'm already pretending to be half-dead. At a time like this, you guys probably won't be that cautious, right?*
*Cocolia or Gray Serpent, today...*
*—whoever gets caught is just unlucky.*
.