"Hmph, one after another, they just keep coming!"
Faced with the relentless arrival of reinforcements, Otto's expression finally grew grim.
Yet, even with the appearance of not one, but two Herrschers, his confident smile didn't waver. "Fine then! Since you pesky rats have crawled out on your own, it saves me the trouble of hunting you down. I'll wipe you all out right here."
As Otto's killing intent surged, Herrscher Fu Hua once again began gathering massive amounts of Honkai energy.
"Fire!"
Before that buildup could erupt, Bronya made the first move.
'Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!'
With her command, the countless Keys of Truth deployed in the surrounding airspace unleashed their full firepower in a coordinated barrage aimed at Otto and Fu Hua.
But even if Fu Hua was not the true embodiment of "Finality," as the so-called Herrscher of the End, the power she now wielded far surpassed ordinary Herrschers.
'Fwoosh—!'
With a casual wave of her hand, golden walls of flame rose around Otto and Fu Hua, blocking Bronya's entire assault.
The terrifying power of the Keys of Truth—capable of piercing through anything and freezing all it touched—couldn't even scratch the flame barrier.
"Do you see now?" Otto sneered. "This is the difference between Herrschers. Don't think that just because your numbers have grown, you stand even the slightest chance of winning!"
'RUMBLE—!'
As his words fell, Herrscher Fu Hua raised both hands above her head toward the heavens.
The burning feathers scattered across the sky—seemingly never-ending—began to spin and converge as though answering her call.
A fiery storm gathered above them all.
Those seemingly harmless feathers suddenly pulsed with deadly intent.
As Fu Hua infused them with overwhelming Honkai energy, they transformed into searing agents of annihilation.
In mere moments, the rapidly intensifying energy turned the feathers into chaotic firestorms.
Even a single feather now carried enough destructive force to obliterate the Hyperion—perhaps even enough to overwhelm a Herrscher.
"Crimson Plume: Thousand Cinders!"
An unfamiliar name, yet its power was immediately clear.
With a decisive motion of her arms, Fu Hua sent the flaming feathers plunging toward the battlefield in a blazing meteor storm.
Everything in their path was doomed to be incinerated—reduced to ash and forgotten.
So what if you're the Herrscher of Thunder?
Could you dodge such a rain of fire?
And the Herrscher of Reason?
Could you withstand an assault that could even slay the gods themselves?
And yet...
'Snap!'
A crisp finger snap echoed from behind Kagura.
In that instant, everything… fell still.
Fwhoosh! Fwhoosh! Fwhoosh!
Golden rings—void wheels—unfolded in the sky one after another, like black holes drawing in the falling flaming feathers. These rings, each connected to a subspace dimension, acted not as barriers, but portals—absorbing the entire onslaught into the void.
Their method of defense wasn't "resistance," but "relocation"—strikingly similar to the power of Kagura's spatial gem.
"What… is that?" Otto narrowed his eyes and looked up past the group.
Floating above them was a figure he knew all too well—and desperately didn't want to see.
"Kiana… no, that's—! The complete Herrscher of the Void?! Impossible!"
"There's no such thing as impossible."
Kiana's golden eyes burned bright with runes of the Herrscher of the Void.
"Otto, for Mei, for everyone, for this world—I will defeat you here and now!"
The energy of countless powers gathered in her palm, condensed into a void-wrapped Thousand Cinders Plume.
With a single sweep of her arm, she released the orb of void energy, reversing Fu Hua's deadly attack in an instant.
"Go—burn all our enemies to ash!"
'Fwhoosh! Fwhoosh!'
The golden void rings expanded again, but this time they surrounded Otto and Fu Hua.
'BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!'
The very feathers meant to annihilate the heroes now rained down on the enemy in a relentless inferno, scorching everything in their path toward nothingness.
At the same time, the others weren't idle.
Raiden Mei unleashed her full power, calling down a cataclysmic bolt of lightning from the skies aimed directly at Otto.
Bronya summoned a new formation of Keys of Truth, casting blinding white beams across the battlefield.
Even the seemingly indestructible fire surrounding Fu Hua was being snuffed out by the ice-cold light.
Himeko charged in, brandishing the Godslayer Blade. The Gem of Haste, core of the Herrscher of Flame, ignited with divine heat as a massive fiery crescent tore toward Otto and Fu Hua.
"Let frost freeze all in its path!"
A silver-white scythe traced an icy arc through the air, freezing every enemy it touched.
All forces converged in a single, overwhelming strike—an assault of such sheer magnitude that even Herrschers would falter.
'BOOOOOOM!'
A mushroom cloud erupted from the deck of the Hyperion.
Had they not carefully controlled the area of effect, the entire ship would've been obliterated ten times over.
'Cough… cough…'
"Hmph… haha… for a bunch of rats and bugs, you've done… well enough…"
As the smoke cleared, Otto wiped the blood from his lips and grinned again. "Too bad. You're still not strong enough. Trash like you will never defeat me—or the Herrscher of the End!"
In the instant before the impact, Fu Hua had summoned a pure Herrscher energy barrier.
The overwhelming Honkai energy formed a nearly impenetrable shield.
Even with three Herrschers and two Valkyries combined, they couldn't break through.
"What's the matter, Herrschers?"
Otto continued mocking them. "Out of tricks already? Then I suppose it's my turn!"
Despite being bombarded just moments ago, the golden-haired man remained composed and calculating.
"Did you really think the only threat you faced was my Herrscher of the End?"
He grinned maniacally, as if everything was still within his grasp.
"Tell me—what do you think would happen if I called in one more S-Rank Valkyrie to join my side?"