Inside the Demon Castle
"Oh, although I knew before that you had the ability to travel through worlds, to think you came to a new world so quickly."
In front of Aaron, Esdeath, sitting on a bench, chuckled at this moment.
"Heh, my Master, the secrets on you are much more numerous than I imagined."
"But regrettably, the current me does not yet have enough power to assist you."
"Wow, rarely do I decide to let you go out and fight to your heart's content, yet you actively refuse?"
Glancing at the blue-haired woman in front of him, Aaron said somewhat suspiciously.
"Did dying once change your nature?"
"That is definitely impossible. I am itching to continue fighting other enemies right now, but regrettably..."
After mobilizing the power within her body, Esdeath let out a rare sigh of helplessness.
"Unlike Cecilia. Her soul can already materialize for a long time, while my soul can currently only materialize for a few minutes before entering a dissipating state due to insufficient power."
"You told me you need to help a little girl with low combat power find a bodyguard who can deal with high-speed enemies. Although I don't like bodyguard missions, if I can fight others, being a bodyguard doesn't matter."
"But to be a bodyguard for a long time, I cannot do it with my current power. So, you'd better let Cecilia go out."
"Sigh, if only it were a month later, I could have completely stabilized my soul. Truly regrettable."
"Can't be helped then."
Aaron had intended to let Esdeath, who possessed freezing abilities, act as Bronya's guard, but after communicating with Esdeath, he could only temporarily abandon this idea.
Although Cecilia was much stronger than Esdeath, she seemed to lack means to counter high-speed enemies.
A bit of a headache.
"However, since you came in, I happen to have something to tell you too."
After closing the book in her hands, Esdeath stood up slowly.
"According to our research and discussion, soul bodies dominated by you will develop a connection with you to a certain extent."
"Hm, I'm clear on that point too, so?"
"As time passes, we will become stronger and stronger, and at the same time, the connection between you and us will become tighter. After the connection becomes tighter—you can directly use a portion of our abilities."
"Hm, that man named Su said so."
*...I really am an idiot.*
*The Power of Dominance, after dominating other soul bodies, allows the user to use the abilities harbored by the monsters dominated by this power.*
*Soma Cruz, after defeating those monsters, could throw projectiles, suck blood, convert energy, and stop time; all relied on this ability.*
*If he could use monsters' abilities through this method, naturally I can also use this method to use the powers of these soul bodies.*
*Hm, in that case, my combat methods seem to have increased by quite a lot.*
*Although aside from Esdeath's two Trump Cards, Su's Fusion Warrior abilities, and Cecilia's Holy Blood, the others...*
*Does Higokumaru still remember she is the Herrscher of Corruption?*
*If Higokumaru was still that Herrscher of Corruption filled with hatred toward humanity and hadn't forgotten her Authorities back then, Aaron would have definitely had to spend more effort to handle her.*
*But now, Higokumaru who is hiding in the Demon Castle slacking off... even if I let it out, she probably doesn't have the combat power of back then where she instantly eroded all humans in the base.*
*I have the Key of Corruption, but the difference between a Divine Key and a Herrscher actively using Authority is huge.*
*No time for this mission; after I get back, I have to grab Higokumaru and give her some proper military training.*
*Otto will inevitably cause trouble in the future. To deal with a troublemaking Otto, a qualified Herrscher of Corruption is indispensable.*
After saying goodbye to Esdeath, Aaron arrived at Dr. Magi's laboratory.
Called a laboratory, it was actually just a small room inside the Demon Castle.
And here, Aaron saw Dr. Magi and Cecilia, who was here for some reason.
"Hm, you came just in time."
Seeing Aaron, Dr. Magi handed a tube of reagent that looked very clear, and another that looked very ominous, into Aaron's hands.
"Although with your strength you probably don't need these two things, you should keep them for now."
"...What is this?"
Taking these two test tubes, Aaron always felt an inexplicable slight sense of revulsion toward them.
"Although I wasn't the researcher directly responsible for [Project Holy Blood], having worked with Otto for so many years, I can roughly grasp some of his lines of thought in scientific research."
"Based on the HSN Anti-Honkai Serum I developed, combined with Cecilia's Schariac Holy Blood, I temporarily improved these two potions."
"The clear-looking one is the mild potion. If it's a person whose body has been eroded by Honkai Energy, injecting just 5ml will completely restore them."
"And if it's a Valkyrie who uses Honkai Energy to fight and whose body is more severely eroded by Honkai Energy, injecting about double the amount will restore them."
"And then turn into a cripple?"
"That's the effect attached to the old version from the past. Now we have Holy Blood here, Holy Blood—this stuff works much better than ordinary potions."
"Cecilia, as a member of the Schariac clan, has the ability to manipulate Honkai Energy. After being injected with this clear potion, the Valkyrie injected with the potion can not only heal the damage caused by Honkai Energy erosion on her body but also enhance her Honkai Energy manipulation ability."
"As long as the other party wants to continue fighting, this potion is equivalent to extending their life while also making them stronger—but you can't inject it."
Changing the subject, Dr. Magi looked at the eager Aaron and immediately poured a bucket of cold water on him.
"When you came to me before, I drew your blood a few times. After researching, I found the problem is a bit big. Somehow, your blood actually contains Honkai Beast factors."
"For someone like you with Honkai Beast factors in your body, the improved HSN potion mixed with Schariac Holy Blood isn't a miracle drug but poison. Whether you can withstand injecting it, I don't know, but even if you can withstand it, there won't be any positive effects anyway."
"...No wonder I felt a sense of revulsion just now."
"In addition, the other potion is an enhanced version with adjusted Holy Blood concentration. However, potions with heavy dosages generally aren't used to save people."
At this moment, Dr. Magi's eyes became incredibly cold.
"I combined some previous events and discovered you might have a decent intelligence network. If you can inject this enhanced potion into the subject's body before the Herrscher awakens, then even if the other party awakens as a Herrscher, there is a high probability they ultimately won't be able to trigger a large-scale Honkai Eruption."
"But as the price, that person will inevitably have an extremely high probability of dying suddenly on the spot because of this."
"...Is that so? That stuff really is terrifying."
*And in a certain sense, Dr. Magi, your thought circuit really hasn't changed at all.*
*In the past, you had no bottom line for scientific research; now, for the sake of fighting the Honkai, you chose to sacrifice others.*
*...Sigh, his line of thought is the normal person's line of thought.*
*Not everyone is a genius like Mei, Kiana, or Wendy who can retrieve their human heart after their body and mind are taken by the Honkai God.*
*In terms of efficiency, discovering someone suspected of potentially becoming a Herrscher and directly using harsh medicine to resolve the other party is actually being responsible to other lives in the world.*
*Just now, for a moment, I had the thought 'Herrschers' lives are lives too'...*
*Hah, I really am getting more and more arrogant.*
Although he sensed that complex emotion in Aaron's eyes, Dr. Magi chose neither to rebuke nor to enlighten him.
He was just a researcher, and researchers just needed to do a good job with logistics.
Specifically how to choose during operations was a problem frontline soldiers should think about.
"Oh, one more thing."
"We discussed before that after your connection with our souls becomes tighter, you can use a portion of our abilities. Leaving aside a smelly old man like me who has no abilities to lend, Cecilia should be the first soul to sign a contract with you."
"But don't use the Holy Blood, absolutely do not use the Holy Blood!"
"Is it that scary?"
"I said before, the improved HSN potion might have some adverse effects on someone like you who is full of semi-activated Honkai Beast factors."
"Holy Blood is much more terrifying than this stuff. If you accidentally get your body infected by the power of the Holy Blood... uh, when the time comes, let alone using Holy Blood to sanction enemies, I'm afraid you'll mess yourself up halfway through the fight causing your combat power to drop drastically, and finally die directly at the enemy's hands."
"It is just as Dr. Magi says."
Cecilia, who had been silent all along, added to Aaron at this moment.
"As a soul body, I can now exist on the outside for a long time. As long as the mana supply is sufficient, this time can be extended further."
"If a time comes when Holy Blood is needed, please summon me to fight—absolutely do not use the power of Holy Blood recklessly yourself."
"Oh, alright. Then you follow me out now. I just happen to need a thug."
Seeing Aaron preparing to retreat, Dr. Magi immediately prepared to speak.
Then he was interrupted by Aaron.
"The equipment has been sorted out for you; arrival in three days."
"Then it's fine."
Accompanied by a blur in consciousness, Aaron returned to the space of reality.
And beside him, Cecilia, who had already turned into spirit form, looked through the window beside Aaron and Bronya at this moment and saw a dilapidated town.
Calling it dilapidated, yet there were no piles of broken walls and ruins here.
It was just that, no matter how one looked at it, this place didn't look like a place with human habitation.
"Ah, Master, have you woken up?"
Sensing Aaron was watching her, Bronya, who had been working all along, immediately stopped the action in her hands.
"Sorry, Bronya still cannot forcibly breach ZECT's highest-level defense network immediately."
"...If you told me now that you had already breached ZECT's defense network, I would suspect you were hacking."
Glancing at the slightly guilty girl in front of him, Aaron only felt the other party's hacking skills were too ridiculous.
In the original work, Bronya could easily enter Schicksal's database just one month after entering St. Freya.
And now, just after defeating those Worms and finding some corpses of ZECT Troopers nearby, taking a few tactical communication terminals from the corpses, Bronya began trying to use the network connected to these terminals to prepare a counter-attack on ZECT's database.
If ZECT's database was taken down on the spot by an isekai kid in just a few hours, then...
"However, aside from the highest-level commanders like Kagami Riku and Mishima Masato, Bronya has already downloaded the contents of other databases."
*How about you guys at ZECT just announce your immediate bankruptcy?*
"Only regrettably, Bronya did not see Kurosaki Issei's data. Being directly under Kagami Riku's command, he has no data in the database."
"In other words, if we want to find him, the database route is a dead end, right?"
"Hm. Moreover, during this time hacking the database, Bronya also thought about some things."
"The Golden Rider actively attacks those Riders in the original timeline. But he doesn't look like the kind of person who would choose a [Fair Fight]."
"Facing the rebel Oda Hidenari who transformed into Kamen Rider Hercus, the Golden Rider directly activated Hyper Clock Up upon meeting him and insta-killed Oda Hidenari."
"And when fighting Tendou Souji and Kagami Arata together, he also decisively used this power stronger than ordinary Clock Up. Combined with his actions, Bronya feels—this person is a bit of a bully who fears the strong."
"Once he detects that you, Master, are too powerful, he might not come out to challenge you."
"Meaning I have to continue feigning weakness?"
"Hm. Even more troublesome is that you can't feign being *too* weak. Too weak and you won't catch his eye and he won't bother with you; too strong and he might actively avoid you."
"In other words, unless this person is absolutely sure of success, he is very cautious."
*Ah, I thought I came to this world to act out the underdog counterattack Kabuto script.*
*Why does it feel like now, I'm not here to play Gundam, but have turned into playing hide-and-seek instead.*
*Sigh, as the top-level combat power of a world, why can't this person learn from Nogi Reiji?*
*Say, if you were a bit more reckless and came out to send yourself to death actively, how much effort could I save?*
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