"Houraiji Kyuusyou... no... who are you?" The brown-haired man emerged from behind what was left of a tree... no, there were no trees left nearby. Even though Kyuusyou had deliberately limited the black hole's range, it had still shredded everything around it.
In the small basin created by the black hole, Welt Yang stood facing the tall woman before him.
"Wow... it's you. Should I call you Joachim Nokianvirtanen? Or Welt Yang?" The mature woman's voice dripped with playful mockery as her murky, scarlet eyes sized up the man before her with keen interest.
"...Welt Yang. It's the name I chose myself. And you, Houraiji Kyuusyou—I can't imagine someone with your power deigning to become a mere B-rank Valkyrie for Schicksal?"
After a moment of silence, Welt Yang delivered his answer and posed his own question, only to be interrupted by a voice from the side.
"Mr. Welt, do you need any assistance?"
Einstein emerged from the nearby forest, her gaze fixed on the pair in the basin, seemingly oblivious to the basin that had suddenly appeared beneath their feet.
"Wait, Dr. Einstein, get back! She's dangerous!"
Seeing the blue-haired girl, Welt's earlier composure against Houraiji Kyuusyou vanished, replaced by urgent concern.
"Whoa whoa, relax! Does my current appearance intimidate you that much?" Kyuusyou chuckled, deliberately taking a few steps back to give the two facing her more space.
"Leader, I have something to report," the Doctor said to Mr. Yang, ignoring Kyuusyou's antics.
"What is it, Doctor? This place is too dangerous—"
"I met the daughter of Schicksal Overseer Otto Apocalypse..."
The man's words cut off abruptly, his face contorting into a look of utter shock.
"...Dr. Einstein, do you realize what you're saying?"
"She used her own blood to bypass the secret laboratory's authentication system—a system I originally needed a long-forgotten backdoor to access—allowing us to persuade Theresa to join our plan more quickly."
"When the Schicksal Underground Laboratory's authentication system scanned her blood, it explicitly recognized her lineage and granted her the highest level of authority..."
"Finally, she mentioned wanting to meet with us."
The blue-haired girl recounted everything she had just experienced in the underground laboratory.
"This... then where is she now?"
"Over there," Einstein pointed in another direction.
Before her words could fully register, a voice utterly familiar to Welt Yang echoed from the forest path.
"Snow?" Welt Yang stared at yet another familiar face emerging from the woods.
"Why does your boss's second phase come with a beauty makeover and height boost?"
The late-arriving blonde girl completely ignored Welt Yang, who was on high alert, facing two Valkyries of unknown strength and uncertain allegiance. Instead, she glared at Kyuusyou, whose height had already reached nearly 1.75 meters, and pouted in annoyance.
"What's wrong with getting bigger? Are you... jealous?"
Kyuusyou leaned in close to Snow's face, her ample chest pressing against the golden-haired girl's modest, yet not entirely flat, figure.
"...back off," Snow snapped, grabbing Kyuusyou's ridiculously long bangs and yanking hard.
"Ow—don't pull! They'll fall out!"
The tall woman seemed to have been struck at her weak point. With Snow's forceful tug, her entire figure shrank back to the familiar five-foot-two frame Welt Yang had often seen.
"Ahem... Miss Houraiji Kyuusyou and Miss Snow Apocalypse, correct?" Yang interrupted their exchange, looking at the two enigmatic figures before him.
"That's me. A proper introduction at last—Mr. Welt Yang, Leader of Anti-Entropy," Snow said, nodding respectfully to her history teacher.
"You said you wanted to talk to us... So, whose will do you represent? Your own? Or that of Schicksal's leader, your father?"
"If you represent Otto's will, then there's nothing for us to discuss—"
Mr. Yang gazed at the solemn-faced girl before him, his body tensed, ready to defend against any sudden attack from the Valkyrie.
"You've allied with the most suitable Anti-Entropy ally within Schicksal, Welt Yang—"
"Theresa's friend lost her life during the Second Eruption due to my father's orders, and even her descendants—and the friend herself—were extensively used by my father as genetic samples for cloning."
"Her own child's fate remains uncertain after she assisted in an escape action, and now you're pinning your hopes on Otto's most successful experiment, his most cherished subject—Second Herrscher's Vessel K-423..."
"Yet K-423, as the linchpin of Otto Apocalypse's plans, is destined to follow a path contrary to Theresa's wishes—"
"The Far East Branch is destined to rebel—and with Anti-Entropy extending an olive branch to Theresa at this very moment, what reason does she have to refuse?" Snow's eyes, filled with amusement, turned toward Mr. Yang.
"Hmph, you're Otto's agent after all, aren't you! Joachim, chicken-head! I don't think there's anything more we need to discuss with her!" A red-haired girl with pigtails and glasses suddenly appeared on the projection screen.
"...You seem to misunderstand me... Esteemed Dr. Tesla, the Far East Branch's rebellion—was always part of Otto Apocalypse, my father's plan..."
"The friendships, familial bonds, and all the connections that experimental subject girl forged at this academy—they will all become pawns on the battlefield against her when the Herrscher Consciousness within her awakens once more—"
"—pawns sent by my father to die one by one, stimulating the awakening of the benevolent personality you see now... thereby fostering a Herrscher like Mr. Yang, one who wields divine authority with a human heart."
The blonde girl calmly laid out her father's plan, while the faces of the Anti-Entropy Trio across from her grew increasingly grim.
"Can't we just take the test subject directly?" the Lobster-head Doctor asked again, her voice bristling with impatience.
"She's the most crucial element in my father's over five-hundred-year plan..."
"Do you think Otto—the Schicksal Overseer—would just let her disappear without going completely mad?"
"He's the Schicksal Overseer, not some ordinary office worker—Dr. Tesla!"
"This won't work, and that won't work! Aaaargh... this is so frustrating! Out of the entire Apocalypse family, only that little runt is remotely tolerable. The rest are just asking for a beating!"
Seething with impotent rage, Tesla abruptly cut off the communication, storming off to vent her anger elsewhere. Snow watched the blank screen and shrugged.
"So, Miss Snow, do you have a solution?" Welt Yang turned to the golden-haired girl, her signature smile unwavering.
"Of course... and I also have a quest for you, along with a condition you can't refuse—"
"The resurrection of Welt Joyce... no, to be precise, the alteration of history to prevent Welt Joyce's death—"
Bloody Earth silently spread as a massive golden tree materialized before the Anti-Entropy duo. Golden leaves drifted down, dissolving into Welt Yang's hand.
"What is this? You...!" Welt Yang felt his riddled body revitalizing, life surging back into his wounds.
"Consider this a sign of good faith and a down payment for our collaboration—though I suspect, Mr. Yang, you'll inevitably revert to your old ways," the Valkyrie said, crossing her arms and studying the history teacher as if she knew his nature all too well.
"...Tell us your plan, Miss Snow. And... to be honest, we don't have much hope for Joyce's resurrection. We never found Joyce's soul within the First Herrscher's Core."
"We don't need souls for this. As I said, we'll rewrite their history—literally."
The one who needs a soul for resurrection is another child.
So don't even think about kidnapping K-423...