"It's you?!"
Yuno, her efforts thwarted at the last second, hadn't even had time to feel angry before she saw the familiar face Fu Hua revealed after removing her mask. She froze for a moment, then burst out of the sand, demanding in disbelief, "Why is it you?!"
Fu Hua had no desire to participate in such a senseless battle, but it was an order from Otto she couldn't refuse. Living under his roof, she had no choice but to comply.
Having successfully retrieved Anna, she had fulfilled her duty to Otto and intended to stop there, no longer wishing to be involved. Now, hearing Yuno's furious question, she couldn't help but look back, her expression growing even more complex.
"It's you. You remember me?"
Of course, she remembered Yuno. She and Lin Wei had brought her out of Nagazora City together. She had been the one to carry her from the ruins.
The past was gone, leaving only sighs. But she remembered Yuno being in a deep coma at the time, unconscious. She shouldn't have seen her.
Did Lin Wei tell her later? Fu Hua guessed.
"Of course, I remember you! The warrior from the Previous Era, the Flame-Chaser of the Elysian Realm!" Yuno grew even more incensed, charging at Fu Hua like a furious beast.
"Give her back to me!"
"Elysian Realm..." Fu Hua murmured the words, deftly dodging Yuno's attack.
The memory of it had long since faded from her mind. She had only heard Lin Wei mention it once, and only then had the words been seared back into her consciousness, though she couldn't recall its shape or form.
Clang!
On the other side, Yae Sakura saw the situation and, with another slash, forced Rita back. She then thrust her blade forward, moving with the speed of a shooting star to provide support.
"Don't be reckless. She's not the memory you know," Yae Sakura said, stopping the impulsive Yuno. She turned to face Fu Hua, who was both familiar and strange at the same time, and sighed with emotion.
"It's been a long time, Miss Fu Hua..."
Whether it was the somewhat naive and stubborn Hua from the Elysian Realm, the feather-clone in Lin Wei's consciousness that had helped them several times, or even Fu Hua herself, who had provided critical aid to both her and Lin Wei at the very beginning...
All these factors combined made her reluctant to face this person as an enemy.
"It's you," Fu Hua recognized Yae Sakura, or rather, her face. "Weren't you already..."
"Dead, right? In fact, the Yae Sakura of today can't truly be called 'alive' either..." Yae Sakura was surprisingly philosophical about it, brushing it off with a light chuckle.
Then her expression turned serious, and she extended a hand toward Fu Hua, demanding, "But let's get back to business. How about you give me back the girl in your arms?"
"..."
Fu Hua remained silent, her silence a clear answer.
"...Is that so? Then it seems today we must fight for our respective masters."
Yae Sakura wasted no more time. She drew her blade, and with a quick "Pardon me," she slashed at Fu Hua.
Yuno tried to follow, but a menacing giant scythe blocked her path. Rita had arrived.
"Get out of my way!"
Frustrated, Yuno had no choice but to engage her.
But her tendrils and plant-based powers were at a disadvantage against the extreme cold of Argent Knight: Artemis's domain, a stark contrast to how easily Yae Sakura had handled it. She was even being suppressed.
Rita, though she had the upper hand, was only defending, clearly just trying to hold her back.
"Squad member Yuno, your power has regressed," Rita commented with a frown, sounding like an instructor on the training grounds. "But your movements are more composed than before. Not bad."
To act this way at a time like this was somewhat absurd, and Yuno was once again enraged.
"Shut up!"
Unfortunately, anger didn't augment her strength, nor could it help her easily defeat Rita in her fourth-generation Godsbane battlesuit.
Meanwhile, Yae Sakura and Fu Hua were locked in combat. Both were worried about harming Anna, so they instinctively held back seventy percent of their strength, fighting with only the remaining thirty.
Blade and fist clashed back and forth. After just three to five exchanges, their positions had subtly shifted. A thought sparked in Fu Hua's mind; she realized something.
She retracted her fist, took a breath, and then unleashed a full-power strike, whistling through the air as it aimed for Yae Sakura's chest, as if to shatter her ribs and lungs.
But Yae Sakura didn't dodge. Her expression hardened, and she met the attack head-on, holding the Third Divine Key horizontally in front of her chest to block.
BOOM!
The slender blade of the Seven Thunders of Retribution bent under the force of the mountain-shattering punch, then snapped back into place.
Yae Sakura was sent flying, but she was neither angry nor annoyed. Instead, as she was launched backward, her lips parted, and she uttered two crystal-clear words.
"Thanks."
A closer look revealed that Yae Sakura had used the force of the punch to propel herself in another direction—straight toward where Lin Wei and Durandal were...
Fu Hua's "successful" strike was followed by another pause. She glanced at the rapidly departing Yae Sakura and at Lin Wei in the distance, then back at the still-fiercely-fighting Yuno and Rita. She sighed softly and decided not to intervene in their battle, silently taking Anna to "report" to Otto.
---||---
At the moment Fu Hua officially appeared, Lin Wei, who had already fallen a considerable distance, showed no surprise. There was no rage at his plan's failure, nor any fury at Fu Hua's sudden "betrayal." Instead, he burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Lin Wei's laughter was hysterical, so much so that the muscles in his stomach cramped, and he had to bend over, clutching his abdomen, yet he continued to laugh uproariously.
"Hahaha! A Divine Maiden from Shenzhou, two S-rank Valkyries, and three Godslayer battlesuits! You've brought out all your elites just to deal with me—O-t-t-o A-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e! What a grand spectacle you've arranged!!!"
Lin Wei laughed and mocked loudly. Though Durandal was closing in and he seemed to have reached a dead end, it couldn't extinguish the surging, heroic passion in his heart!
Because, at this very moment, he had once again set an unprecedented record—single-handedly forcing Schicksal, the ruler of the world, to deploy nearly all of its core combat power just to deal with him!
To date, the only battle that surpassed today's in scale was the Second Honkai War!
A mere mortal, an outsider who had walked this world for just over a year, had forced Otto Apocalypse, the Schicksal Overseer who had schemed for five hundred years, to treat him with such gravity. How could this not make Lin Wei laugh out loud?
Win or lose, today, just like in Manila, he would leave an indelible mark on the hearts of everyone present!
Compared to the grandeur of today, what was that so-called "confrontation" at Schicksal headquarters?
---||---
Durandal arrived before Lin Wei shortly after. Looking at the young man, who stood once again on that strange flying device, still full of spirit despite facing a desperate situation, she too fell silent.
She knew Lin Wei wasn't a man of great power.
But at this moment, with Otto, herself, and even the entirety of Schicksal serving as his backdrop, she had to admit: the young man before her, who couldn't last a second round against her, was an undeniable powerhouse.
"What? Durandal? We've come this far. What's there for you, me, or anyone else to hesitate about? It's just a matter of using our own means!"
After his unrestrained laughter, Lin Wei looked at Durandal, who was flying slightly lower, as if she were beneath his feet, and smiled.
"Everyone has their own pursuits, and everyone has their own constraints. I understand that. So I don't blame you, and I don't blame Fu Hua. And of course, I hope you don't blame me either."
Durandal was taken aback. "Heh, you're putting on such a carefree act again. I really don't know which one is the real you."
"I have always been myself. Sincere to my friends, and ruthless to my enemies," Lin Wei also smiled.
"Before today and after today, I still hope to be friends with you. To sit down, have tea, chat, and exchange things you like and I like..."
As he spoke, Lin Wei slowly drew a beautiful sword from its sheath, its ominous crimson tip pointing diagonally at Durandal. He declared proudly, "But today, and today only, you fight for Otto, and I fight for myself. Our positions are opposed, destined to be enemies!"
He was so arrogant, brazenly issuing a direct challenge to Durandal, the strongest Valkyrie in history!
"Is that so? I understand."
Durandal knew that Lin Wei was saying this to help her dispel her hesitation. She accepted his kindness, the weight in her heart lifting. "Pardon my intrusion!"
Then, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes, and she prepared to return a punch full of respect. But in the next second, she spun around, the massive blue and white lance, Abyss, appearing in her hand, blocking a thunderous slash in the nick of time!
Clang!
Yae Sakura had arrived just in time. Though her strike failed, it forced Durandal back a considerable distance. She used the recoil to leap up, landing steadily on the "flying device" Lin Wei extended to her, standing by his side.
They exchanged a reassuring glance. Lin Wei then smiled at Durandal again.
"This mortal body of mine can't withstand a punch from the strongest Valkyrie! Calling a helper to let you have a little fun shouldn't be too much to ask, right?"
On the battlefield, it was every man for himself. Durandal naturally had no objection. But the attack style of that last slash seemed familiar.
Looking at Yae Sakura's long, cherry-blossom-pink hair, Durandal asked suspiciously, "Are you... the one who interfered in Manila?"
At that time, a mysterious figure, completely wrapped up, had suddenly appeared and taken away the "World Serpent member" the Overseer had ordered to be captured.
Her only impression of that person was a breathtakingly sharp slash and the few strands of pink hair that had fallen from her forehead as she retreated...
At this moment, that memory perfectly matched the long-eared, pink-haired shrine maiden before her.
Yae Sakura didn't deny it, smiling faintly. "Miss Durandal has sharp eyes. To be recognized so quickly after just one meeting."
"Who are you? Are you with World Serpent?" Durandal asked in a low voice. "Is the man beside you also one of you?"
In her mind, this was the most likely answer.
"World Serpent? No," Yae Sakura shook her head, speaking lightly.
"Yae Sakura has long been dead. The person you see before you now is merely a Stigmata of Lin Wei's, an insignificant other half."
"Other half?"
Durandal was surprised, but before she could say more, Yae Sakura had already swung her blade at her again!
In the heat of battle, fighting for one's own side, who had time for idle chatter?
---||---
Meanwhile, Rita and Durandal had their own tasks to attend to. The only two—or rather, "three"—free agents converged without incident.
"Well done," Otto said with a smile as Fu Hua approached, holding a somewhat dazed-looking girl.
"Your request," Fu Hua replied coolly, gently placing Anna on the ground next to Otto.
"I just wanted you to prevent any potential accidents. As for her..." Otto shook his head, his gaze shifting to the silent, head-bowed Anna. He said suddenly, "Actually, it wouldn't have mattered if they had taken her..."
"You!"
Fu Hua glared at him. Did you bring me here just to humiliate me?
"Heh heh, just kidding, just kidding," Otto, realizing his slip of the tongue, laughed to cover it up. He then turned his attention to Anna, staring at her for a moment before saying abruptly, "Right now, you really want to kill me, don't you?"
He could clearly see Anna's hand gripping the handle of her gun so tightly that her knuckles were white, trembling uncontrollably.
Hearing this, Anna shot her head up, her red eyes burning with hatred as she looked at Otto. "Yes!" she ground out through clenched teeth.
"...Is that so?"
Otto nodded, not at all angry. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes, tilted his head up slightly, and raised his arms a little, as if offering his neck to be slaughtered. His voice was gentle.
"I'll give you the chance."
"..."
Anna's breathing grew heavy, her chest heaving violently, the bloodshot veins in her eyes becoming more prominent.
But no matter how she breathed, how she mustered her anger, how quickly she drew the gun and pressed it against Otto's unmoving forehead...
She couldn't pull the small trigger. It was as if it weren't a light piece of metal, but a mountain, immovable.
Gradually, she began to lose her nerve, and tears streamed down her face once more...
"Otto, that's enough of your pretense," Fu Hua couldn't watch anymore. She pulled Anna behind her, shielding her slightly.
"You knew from the beginning that, as Valkyries, they could never do it."
"Heh heh, my apologies. My mistake," Otto opened his eyes, smiling as he turned the page. He gently pushed down Anna's arm, which had gone stiff from tension, and then paid the pitiful girl no more mind.
"Let's talk about you. That punch just now was a seamless, perfect collaboration."
He had seen every detail of the interaction between Fu Hua and Yae Sakura. Nothing could be hidden from him.
"I know what you're talking about. It was just a small mistake that she took advantage of. After all, anything can happen on the battlefield."
After spending so much time with Otto, Fu Hua had long since mastered the art of lying with a straight face. "Besides, with Durandal there with Lin Wei, what difference does one more person make?"
"Heh heh, true," Otto smiled, then his expression turned cold. "Answer me. Who is that pink-haired, long-eared girl?"
He remembered clearly that the woman had dared to call herself Kallen's lover. That was practically dancing on his last nerve.
Fu Hua told the truth, effectively "confirming" Yae Sakura's earlier statement.
"Hmph. A village girl from the Far East from five hundred years ago, her body corrupted by the Herrscher of Corrosion that escaped from the Divine Key. How could she possibly be alive today?" Otto retorted coldly.
When Kallen had returned to Schicksal, she had confessed everything about her experiences. He had been present at the time and remembered the story clearly.
"Yes, she should have died..." Fu Hua looked up at the sky. The pink-haired girl, whose movements and sword skills were so sharp, was now in a precarious position, on the verge of defeat. She, too, was confused.
"For five hundred years, the Herrscher of Corrosion completely occupied her body, weakened only by Kallen's seal. A year ago, I personally saw her merge into Lin Wei's body and become one of his Stigmata. From any angle, she shouldn't be standing before us, alive and well..."
"...Are you saying she came back from the dead?" Otto quickly seized on the most interesting element. "Elaborate."
And so, for the first time, Fu Hua recounted the entire incident—from Yae Sakura's appearance in Nagazora City to her fusion with Lin Wei.
Otto listened quietly, easily discerning that Fu Hua was not lying or fabricating facts.
"So, regardless of whether that woman truly lived for five hundred years like me, she should have completely disappeared from the physical world when she fused with Lin Wei," Otto murmured to himself.
"But here she is, alive and well, full of spirit and power. A dying life, becoming a Stigmata through self-destruction, yet living again. It's a paradox, a miracle, a... a thing I have desperately sought!"
How could he not be excited by a living, breathing example of "resurrection" appearing right before his eyes?
"Yae Sakura... Lin Wei... Stigmata... Herrscher of Corrosion..." Otto quickly extracted the key elements of the story.
"A girl from five hundred years ago and an ordinary citizen eroded by Honkai energy could never achieve this. And the Stigmata is just the final result, or perhaps just an intermediate step... So the key element that caused all this can only be..."
The answer was obvious—the Key of Corrosion, or rather, the Herrscher of Corrosion who had orchestrated everything at the time!
But no matter what, the true core answer was singular—the authority of Corrosion!
"Corrosion... Corrosion..." Otto began to pace anxiously, muttering to himself in frustration.
"Yes, I was too fixated on the authorities of the Herrscher of the Void and the Herrscher of Death. Why didn't I consider that the authority of the Herrscher of Corrosion could offer a new path?"
"Actually, that question is baseless. The Herrscher of the Void has already been born, and the Gem of Serenity, containing the authority of Death, is in Schicksal's hands. Before Lin Wei appeared, the 'authority of Corrosion' didn't even exist in this world!"
"A Stigmata is just a gene fragment, but with the intervention of the authority of Corrosion, it can completely retain the consciousness of the living..." Otto grew excited.
"If the genes of the dead were transformed using the same method, could their living consciousness be awakened?"
The thought rose in his mind and became unstoppable. He immediately looked up and shouted, "Durandal, stop wasting time! Take him down!"
I will tear the Key of Corrosion from his chest with my own hands!
Otto thought excitedly, effectively pronouncing Lin Wei's death sentence!
The authority of Corrosion was dangerous, but so what?
When his lifelong wish was at stake, it was a risk he was willing to take!
---||---
On the sky battlefield, Lin Wei and Yae Sakura were on the verge of defeat, teetering on the edge. The flying device that held them was repeatedly destroyed and reconstructed.
At that moment, all three of them heard Otto's loud, undisguisedly excited shout from the ground.
"Hahaha, you never cease to amaze, Otto! Going back on your word, changing your mind at a whim. When it comes to letting people down, you never disappoint!"
Lin Wei projected a railgun-form "Seven Thunders of Retribution " and fired it fiercely at Durandal. Yae Sakura simultaneously fired an identical railgun blast from another angle, momentarily halting Durandal's advance.
The railgun blast was powerful, not only disrupting Durandal but also sending Lin Wei flying back from the recoil.
"In that case, the gift I so kindly gave you—the Second Divine Key—I'll just take it back!"
Lin Wei, who had used the recoil to create distance from Durandal, spun in mid-air, his gaze fixed on Otto's position—or rather, the position of the Second Divine Key. His expression hardened, and he roared, "Kevin, what are you waiting for?!"
"What?"
The name "Kevin" struck Fu Hua like a bolt of lightning, freezing her in place for an instant.
But there was no time for any further questions, thoughts, or memories. A sudden, massive turn of events had once again exceeded everyone's expectations.
Just as Lin Wei's words faded, a loud bang erupted from within the Second Divine Key. A hidden door burst open, and from it emerged a small figure, less than a meter tall.
He had white hair, blue eyes, and wore a black cloak, wielding a "pocket-sized greatsword" wreathed in roaring flames that perfectly matched his stature!
The next second, the stoic little figure stepped silently through the doorway. Ignoring Otto and the others, who were just over ten meters away, he simply swung his sword toward the sky. In an instant, it felt as if the very air had ignited!
In that moment, a massive, overwhelming torrent of flame erupted wildly, brushing past the edges of Lin Wei and Yae Sakura without touching them, and completely engulfed Durandal!