"I like this gift very much. Is there anything you'd like in return? As long as it's something I can provide, you can pick whatever you want."
"Really? Hehe..." Upon hearing Otto's words, Ryn immediately gave him a strange smile.
"Looks like you're going to ask for something outrageous. Don't worry, I'm the Overseer, I have everything... Stop! What are you doing! Stop pulling at me!"
"Hand over this Soulium body! I need Soulium!"
"If you need Soulium, wait for me to give you an approval slip and have Amber send it to you! Why are you pulling at me!!"
"Unprocessed Soulium is useless to me, and besides, the value of the Soulium you give me definitely won't be as great as this body you're using yourself! I want this one!"
"My fists are clenched. If I couldn't kill you, I would have killed you by now."
"Well, it's a good thing you don't have blood pressure anymore, otherwise I'd have to worry about you getting high blood pressure."
"You, you, you!!"
———————————————
At the spot where Kukulkan was originally sleeping, a group of researchers surrounded it with various equipment.
The sleeping Kukulkan felt something touching its skin. It was itchy, and a little comfortable, like a massage...
"Dr. Nagamitsu, the high-frequency cutting blade failed to penetrate Kukulkan's defenses."
"Is that so... How troublesome... Why are none of Ryn's Retinues easy to deal with? The last bird burned down my lab, and now we can't even extract tissue samples from this dragon for research."
Nagamitsu sighed, then took out a several-meter-long round pole.
"We'll have to resort to some unauthorized methods. Sacrifice yourself for the sake of science."
Nagamitsu raised the long pole and poked it through a gap in Kukulkan's mouth, prying open a passage large enough for a child to enter.
The other researchers, looking as if they were facing death, crawled into Kukulkan's mouth with various instruments.
Is there food to eat even when I'm hungry? The sleeping Kukulkan felt something enter its mouth and for a moment didn't know whether to swallow or not.
Strange... this tastes like a person, right?
Huh?
A person!
Kukulkan woke up with a start and spat out all the researchers in its mouth.
These treacherous commoners were trying to get it killed! If Ryn found out it had eaten people, he would definitely slaughter it. Besides, it was a god of civilization, a god who was close to humans, how could it possibly eat people.
Kukulkan glared angrily at the mortals below. Even if it had fallen on hard times, it was still a god, not to be trifled with by mortals.
"Roar!" (What do you think you're doing!)
Nagamitsu and the others looked at each other. They didn't understand what the Honkai Beast was saying, but it should be able to understand them, right?
Nagamitsu shouted, "We need to take some of your body tissue for research on a new species like you."
"Roar!" (Research my ass.)
Kukulkan flapped its wings, shaking off the research equipment on its body, and then flew away from Schicksal HQ.
After Kukulkan left, the researchers left behind first, then immediately burst into tears and wailed.
"No! My analyzer." "My resonator..." "It's over, it's all over... I won't be able to pay this off even if I work for another 200 years..."
Nagamitsu adjusted her glasses and jotted down a string of rough data about Kukulkan on her laptop.
"Defenses that even high-frequency system weapons can't penetrate, plus the largest known Honkai Beast body size besides Chiyou, and this abnormally strong Honkai energy reaction...
It has completely surpassed a conventional Judgment-class Honkai Beast, so should we classify it as a Dharma-Ending-class Honkai Beast? But... can a Honkai Beast rating truly measure this creature?"
(Dharma-Ending-class is also a type of Judgment-class Honkai Beast, it's just that it has special abilities within the Judgment-class, so it's classified as Dharma-Ending-class.
Kevin has long surpassed the scope of a Honkai Beast, but he's still classified as Dharma-Ending-class, so there's probably no higher rating after that. Dharma-Ending-class is the highest level.)
"Huh... Ryn can already command a Dharma-Ending-class Honkai Beast! Doesn't that mean he can also command ordinary Honkai Beasts!"
Nagamitsu's eyes suddenly lit up. There were many experiments that couldn't be achieved with human power alone, but if it were Honkai Beasts...
"Hehe... hehehe..."
——————————————
Ryn ran out of Heimdall Labs carrying Otto's Soulium body. After a series of intense struggles, Otto finally withdrew his consciousness from the body and "gave" the Soulium body to Ryn, but at the cost of Ryn giving Otto a few more crystals of Honkai energy from the other world.
Kika has Sabayon, Kiana has the Key of Domination, and Mei can use Jizo Mitama... Looking at it this way, it seems only Bronya needs to use Soulium, right?
No, no, during the Jiuyou incident, Ji Lin shared the power of the Xuanyuan Sword with everyone, and Bronya's Project Bunny was also enhanced with Soulium properties.
In that case...
Ryn first broke off Otto's arms and legs, created an Abyss Flower with the power of Creation, and then threw the remaining Soulium to Cortana.
"You said last time you wanted to fight Otto for Soulium, and this time I helped you fight for it. Here, take it and upgrade."
"Hehe! Master, I love you to death!"
Cortana gleefully hugged the limbless Otto and ran to the side, then raised the Judgment of Shamash and plunged it into Otto's chest, melting his Soulium body.
Then she extracted the useful materials and Soulium and fused them into her own body for an upgrade.
"It's Ryn when there's trouble, and Master when you need something."
Ryn pursed his lips and prepared to go back to his little house in Schicksal to pick up Kika and return to St. Freya High School.
Halfway there, the screens in every corner of Schicksal HQ suddenly lit up, and Otto's figure appeared on them.
"Everyone in Schicksal, please pause your work for a moment. I, Otto Apocalypse, the Schicksal Overseer, have an announcement to make.
I believe you have all seen the various negative reports about 'S-rank Valkyrie Ryn' on the Schicksal headlines recently.
After a rigorous investigation by myself and Amber, we have found that all such news is a rumor! And that Lü Baihe is a spy! A spy from an otherworldly force! Her intention was to sow discord between us and Ryn, to weaken Schicksal's power!......"
Ryn couldn't be bothered to watch anymore. It was just an explanation of the rumors and then shifting the blame to the outsiders.
As for Otto's apology, Ryn had already accepted it. After all, Otto had given him too much.
Because Otto had decided to create Kamen Rider "RabbitDragon" as Ryn's new armor.
Ryn strongly stated that compared to "RabbitDragon," his reputation was completely worthless.
Schicksal provided each Valkyrie stationed at Schicksal HQ with an independent apartment. Ryn naturally had one too, though he had rarely stayed in it.
Ryn opened the door and returned to his long-unvisited home. But he found Durandal sitting on the sofa, having waited for him for a long time.