While Kiana and Ren could sleep peacefully in the night breeze, some others would likely struggle to have good dreams.
Crack!
The sound of a wine glass shattering echoed in the office. Vivid red wine splashed onto the floor, forming a puddle that resembled blood.
"Cough, cough."
At Schicksal HQ, Otto slumped back in his chair, his fingers trembling involuntarily. Intense pain churned in his mind. Even his body, forged from Soul Steel, was spasming and shaking uncontrollably.
"It's happening again." After a few minutes, he recovered from the stinging pain in his consciousness. This was the price he paid for contacting the Honkai Will.
The Honkai's erosion of consciousness was more severe than he had imagined. Even with 500 years of memories, Otto found it difficult to withstand the cost of directly facing a god.
However, compared to the knowledge he gained from the Honkai Will, Otto was fully willing to accept this level of price.
Knock, knock.
"Bishop Otto?" A knock came from the door, and Amber's concerned greeting sounded.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Otto controlled his new Soul Steel body and instructed, "Amber, retrieve the data from the Project Einsturzbringen XS-768 archives. There are some things I need to verify."
The amount of data acquired by Project Einsturzbringen was terrifying. Sifting through it for the information he needed was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, with the knowledge provided by the Honkai Will, Otto was able to significantly narrow down the search range.
What originally might have taken several years could now be shortened to a few months. This meant he was one step closer to reviving Kallen.
"Yes, sir." Amber responded softly from outside the door, clutching her folder as she headed towards the laboratory.
Just as she passed the entrance of the corridor, a subtle air current brushed past her hair.
"Hmm?" Sensing something, Amber paused and looked around in confusion, only to see an empty hallway.
"Is it just my imagination? I thought someone just passed by me."
Puzzled, Amber could only temporarily put aside her curiosity and prepare the experiment as Otto had requested. Unbeknownst to her, less than 10 meters in front of her, a gray-haired girl stood perfectly still, watching her leave with keen interest.
"This thing is really useful. Just by blocking others' perception, she can't see me."
The girl looked at the feather in her hand, a satisfied expression on her face.
This was the Eighth Divine Key, the Fenghuang Down, which Fu Hua had always wielded.
And this gray-haired girl was undoubtedly [Fu Hua].
Back then, to protect the safety of Shenzhou, Fu Hua chose to reach an agreement with Otto. As a Valkyrie, she entered St. Freya Academy to monitor Kiana, the Herrscher of Void who was yet to awaken.
Until Otto's experiment began, the Herrscher of Void in Kiana's body reawakened, and the Schicksal battle broke out completely. Fu Hua helped Mei and the others temporarily repel Bella - Benares and handed the crucial Godkiller Spear serum to Himeko.
And as a Valkyrie, she chose to help Otto against the Herrscher of Void who was attacking Schicksal HQ.
This was the final stage of her deal with Otto. To fight against Sirin, Fu Hua was severely injured, her body almost collapsing.
However, after successfully resolving the Schicksal crisis, she, who had fought desperately, was betrayed by Otto. She was struck in the head by the Judgment of Shamash in its gun form, simulated by Otto, and died in an unknown corner.
"Otto probably never imagined that I would be resurrected,"
[Fu Hua] muttered to herself, as if communicating with an invisible presence.
Recalling the memory of being killed, she unconsciously tightened her grip on the Fenghuang Down, anger rising within her.
"That damned bastard, I will definitely make him pay the price."
"Of course, that's what you should do. That despicable villain must be made to feel the pain of death." This was another voice from within Fu Hua's mind.
"No, he is only doing this for the smooth execution of the plan. If you retaliate, you might hurt other innocent people." And this was the third consciousness.
At this moment, three consciousnesses existed simultaneously within Fu Hua's body, representing the three mental structures of a person.
The real Fenghuang Down had actually been damaged during the battle between Kiana and Ren in the Pacific. The remaining parts were just auxiliary carriers, unable to unleash the true power of a Key of Sentience.
And the Fu Hua who had been accompanying Kiana all along was currently in a slumber in ARC City. So, this [Fu Hua] was in fact just a newly born soul, a Herrscher who controlled the authority of Consciousness.
The Eighth Herrscher—Herrscher of Sentience.
Of course, if Ren was counted, she should actually be the Ninth Herrscher.
"Too noisy, I don't need you to teach me, just be quiet."
Id, Ego, Superego.
This newly born Herrscher of Sentience possessed the three aspects of human consciousness. However, in ordinary people, these consciousnesses are not so distinct. But as a Herrscher of Sentience, these three newly formed consciousnesses were clearly defined.
The Id represented desire, currently filled with hatred for Otto and destructive instincts.
The Ego represented reality, which was the form the Herrscher of Sentience was currently manifesting.
The Superego represented conscience, the constraint of morality.
At this moment, the three consciousnesses were mixed within [Fu Hua]'s body, appearing particularly chaotic. Fortunately, there was still a clear goal at present, which was revenge.
"In any case, I will eliminate that Otto bastard first."
Having made a decision, the Herrscher of Sentience stopped thinking about unnecessary things, and walked towards Otto's office with the Fenghuang Down.
However, she did not notice that the Fenghuang Down in her hand was pure black and had a somewhat cheap feel—as if it were woven from some kind of thread.
…
"Rita is still responsible for the follow-up work on Coral Island, Durandal is stationed at HQ, and as for Li Sushang…" Sitting in his office, processing documents, Otto frowned unconsciously as he looked at the files of the three S-rank Valkyries in his hand. "Playing with the children at the orphanage?"
The children he brought back from Nagazora City were sent by Otto to Schicksal's exclusive orphanage. Durandal herself had grown up in an orphanage, so these children were also entrusted to her care.
Originally, due to the threat of World Serpent and the frequent appearance of Herrschers, Otto realized that Schicksal lacked high-end combat power, which was why he awakened the sleeping Li Sushang.
However, Otto's plan to use her to restrain Ren had not escaped Ren's notice. After the ARC City incident, Li Sushang showed obvious rejection towards Otto. Not only did she not accept his dispatching orders, but instead became addicted to games and the Chiyou doll.
Now, she had even run off to spend time with the children at the orphanage.
However, Otto didn't care. He saved Li Sushang only to have her help him at a crucial moment. As for now, he would temporarily let her be.
Putting away the files, Otto sighed and took out a new wine glass from the cabinet, pouring himself a glass of red wine to relieve his mental fatigue.
"Coral Island… Ren… Herrscher." The energy fluctuations on Coral Island this time were very strong, once approaching the level of Herrscher of Void's eruption. However, because it was consciously restrained, it did not spread to other areas.
Otto naturally knew that this was the work of Ren and Kiana, but he could not allow these two to threaten Schicksal's position, nor could he allow them to shake his plan to revive Kallen.
However, Ren's mystery made Otto feel a little uneasy. Even though he had seemingly successfully outmaneuvered the other party twice, he still had a feeling that he couldn't see through him.
"Ren? Who is that?"
In the empty office, a girl's curious voice echoed.