Before Leo Ash made his move, Jackal believed that the man named Leo Ash was just a kid who got lucky.
After all, according to the spies World Serpent had planted within Schicksal, Leo Ash had HSN serum in his hands back in Nagazora City.
Raven had also observed back then that Siegfried was trying to leave Nagazora City with Raiden Mei when the Third Eruption broke out in the suburbs.
The one who defeated the Herrscher of Thunder might really have been Leo Ash, but that Herrscher of Thunder must have been severely wounded by Siegfried beforehand.
Of course, from an objective standpoint, even against a heavily injured Herrscher of Thunder, the fact that Leo Ash was able to suppress her with the HSN serum meant he was capable.
But even if he was strong, could he fight an Emperor-class Honkai Beast?
As for the new intelligence brought back by the spy, Jackal didn't believe a single word of it.
Otto had indeed started to build up Leo Ash's reputation within Schicksal, but the problem was, Jackal wasn't one of Schicksal's incompetent fools.
As a high-ranking executive of World Serpent, how could she not know how terrifying Chiyou was?
Jackal wasn't the only one who had seen the intel that 'Leo Ash defeated Chiyou'; Gray Serpent had seen it too.
But according to Gray Serpent's analysis, aside from Hua, the Previous Era's fusion soldier, the strongest people present at the time were Siegfried and Theresa, two Divine Key users.
Hua clearly hadn't acted, so the only remaining powerhouses were Siegfried and Theresa.
Compared to Leo Ash defeating Chiyou, Gray Serpent believed the truth was that Siegfried and Theresa had activated the Zeroth Power of their respective Divine Keys and defeated Chiyou together.
As for why the credit fell to Leo Ash, that involved other matters.
During the Third Eruption, Siegfried's public identity was still that of a Schicksal traitor.
And during the Jiuyou turmoil, although Otto had lifted his arrest warrant, Siegfried's failure to return to Schicksal was a clear statement of his intentions—he had no desire to return to Otto's command.
It was precisely because 'Siegfried is not currently a member of Schicksal' that Otto didn't want others to know that Siegfried was the main force in these two major battles.
This wasn't the first time Otto had done something like this.
During the Second Eruption, Anti-Entropy's sovereign, Welt Yang, rushed to the scene as soon as the Herrscher of the Void awakened, setting aside his grudges to join forces with Schicksal.
In the subsequent battle, the Herrscher of Reason's body was even broken down in the fight against the Herrscher of the Void for the sake of humanity.
If not for the Herrscher of Reason's unique properties that allowed him to repair his own body, he would have died completely.
At the same time, the conservative faction of Anti-Entropy also dispatched mechs to assist Schicksal in fighting Honkai Beasts during this great war.
Although Gray Serpent's intelligence network wasn't sufficient to see the full picture, from his understanding of Anti-Entropy, the organization must have also been secretly using their two doctors from the conservative faction to analyze intelligence and launch a surprise attack on the Herrscher of the Void to retrieve the Gem of Conquest.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain how they managed to obtain the Gem of Conquest, one of the four gems.
However, after Anti-Entropy paid such a heavy price to fight the Honkai, what did Otto do?
He chose to lie, publicly announcing that Schicksal had single-handedly fought the Second Herrscher.
To those in the know, these words that negated Anti-Entropy's contributions were undoubtedly the most despicable of lies.
But the problem was, there weren't many people in the know. Not many of Schicksal's five hundred Valkyries from that time remained, and even if someone knew that Anti-Entropy had fought the Honkai, they wouldn't go against their direct superior and spread rumors that 'Lord Bishop Otto is lying.'
As for why Otto did it, in the end, lies like 'Schicksal single-handedly fought the Honkai' or 'Schicksal member Leo Ash performed a great service' were always better than truths like 'Schicksal and Anti-Entropy collaborated' or 'Schicksal was saved by the traitor Siegfried in Shenzhou.'
As for why this credit wasn't given to Theresa, Gray Serpent wasn't too sure.
But with a little speculation, Gray Serpent thought that perhaps Theresa, who didn't care for accolades, had passed on the credit to cultivate a successor.
With a highly intelligent analyst like Gray Serpent backing her up, of course, Jackal didn't think Leo Ash was some kind of master.
It wasn't until Leo Ash threw that punch and Jackal saw Stan unconscious on the ground that she realized...
—that intelligence might, possibly, maybe, be true???
And after Leo Ash threw that punch, Jackal began to carefully observe the equipment on his body.
The second-generation knight armor Leo Ash wore last time was basically scrap after he finished that punch, because he had borrowed the power of the Herrscher of Thunder.
The third-generation knight armor was expensive to produce, and since Schicksal itself didn't have many knights, there was no spare armor for Leo Ash to use temporarily.
Although Otto had said that a 'fourth-generation Godsbane Armor' suitable for Leo Ash was already in development, for the reasons mentioned above, the current Leo Ash's only apparent equipment was the Grips of Taixu in his hands.
Stan's power was among the stronger of the Emperor-class Honkai Beasts, yet when facing Leo Ash, it could only take one charged punch from an unarmored Leo Ash?
Even the intelligence analyzed by Gray Serpent was wrong????
At the scene, Kiana and Leo Ash were, in fact, no less shocked than Jackal.
Although Kiana knew Leo Ash had a powerful move capable of destroying dozens of Titans, now, Leo Ash just threw a charged punch and the Emperor-class Honkai Beast went down. This performance was clearly beyond her comprehension.
As for Leo Ash himself...
—What the hell? I just used Galactica Phantom on Stan's head.
*I can one-shot an Emperor-class now?*
*No, wait, something's not right about this.*
*If I had fused multiple special powers, then blocked with Royal Guard to charge up a punch like Galactica Phantom or Sea Tiger Destructive Punch, it going down would be reasonable.*
*But this situation...*
*Wait, I think I get it.*
Leo Ash, recalling the London Holiday plot, looked at Stan with a complicated expression.
In the original story, Stan could fight Rita, who was wearing Godsbane Armor and wielding Skadi of Eternal Frost, a Pantheon-class weapon, and still find a chance to escape after injuring her.
And the reason Stan retreated was because its transformation time limit was up, not because Stan thought it couldn't beat Rita.
So, from this perspective, the probability of him one-shotting Stan without getting serious was actually quite low.
Compared to the small probability of him one-shotting Stan, Leo Ash was more inclined to believe...
—this cat had just chickened out.
After being sent flying by Durandal's punch, Stan detected her extremely high power level and immediately deactivated its transformation, entering cute mode.
The current Leo Ash, looking at the cat cowering on the ground, trembling, but whose Honkai Energy intensity wasn't actually that low, narrowed his eyes slightly.
Wow, what a coward.
Walking over to the cat, Leo Ash discovered, not surprisingly, that the cat was now trembling even more violently.
And at this moment, Stan, seeing Leo Ash crouch down with a smile and lift it into the air with one hand, felt that—its cat life was in unprecedented danger.
As a cat sovereign who had endured countless hardships, Stan shouldn't have been such a coward, kneeling at first sight.
Just seconds ago, the proud cat king Stan was envisioning the more delicious special rations it could receive from its superior officer, Jackal, after completing this mission.
But, after this man appeared, everything changed.
The moment Leo Ash landed and attacked, Stan suddenly felt the man's aura explode, overwhelming its own.
Judging from the energy gathering on Leo Ash's right fist, Stan didn't think that one punch could completely incapacitate it.
But the problem was—a cat's intuition is very strong.
At that moment, Stan's intuition was screaming one thing at it.
It might not die from this punch.
But if it continued to stand before this man, whether it could keep its cat life was another question entirely.
As a cat that had been a stray for so long, it knew one principle deeply.
There is an old saying in Shenzhou: 'A wise man submits to circumstances.'
For the sake of survival, sometimes you need a flexible bottom line.
If standing means death, then why stand!
To survive, kneeling is no big deal.
Survival, after all, isn't shameful.
"Meow~"
Kiana, who had followed Leo Ash, saw the cat in his hands let out a cute-sounding meow and felt that something was off with the world.
Did Senior's punch just completely subdue this cat???
"Hey, since you're so sensible, I feel a bit bad about getting rough."
Looking at Stan's frantic attempts to act cute, Leo Ash ignored the cat's comical actions and looked back at Kiana.
"Kiana, what did this guy do just now?"
"What did it do? This cat saw me and chased me all the way here."
Looking at the cat, Kiana suddenly said irritably.
"What a cute cat—you think I'm going to say that?"
"Payback! I'm definitely getting you back for this! How dare you cause trouble on my... auntie's turf, you've gone too far!"
"Meow meow meow (It wasn't on purpose, it's all Jackal's fault)!"
Stan, having decisively sold out its former superior, recalled with great sorrow one thing.
These two people before it were humans... well, one was a human girl, and the other was definitely a humanoid war machine.
They couldn't understand the cat language. Even if it wanted to defect, it seemed there was no way to convey the intelligence to them.
This is bad. This is a huge problem.
"Meow meow meow meow meow!!!! (I don't want to die! I'm very useful! Give me a chance! I will atone for my crimes with meritorious service!)"
His smile vanishing, Leo Ash suddenly barked coldly at Stan.
"Alright, shut up."
Seeing Stan cover its mouth with its paws, Leo Ash used Phantasmagoria on the cat without any hesitation.
At any other time, using Phantasmagoria on an Emperor-class Honkai Beast that still had the strength to fight might have cost Leo Ash some power.
But the problem was, Stan, currently dominated by fear and the will to survive, was hardly the stoic, tough-as-nails cat it once was.
Furthermore, due to its desire to survive, it felt it absolutely could not provoke the terrifying enemy that was Leo Ash.
To avoid any defensive action that might provoke Leo Ash, the current Stan didn't dare to harbor any defensive thoughts towards him.
Because of this fear and lack of defense, even though Stan's energy intensity was extremely high, Leo Ash felt that hypnotizing it was no more difficult than hypnotizing an ordinary cat.
Ha, such a coward...
Truly worthy of being a tenacious cat from the enemy side of the main story who survives past the Finality and continues to live well.
After easily invading Stan's consciousness with Phantasmagoria and confirming its genuine surrender, Leo Ash directly rewrote its cognition.
Stan choosing to switch sides was all well and good, but the problem was—if it could betray World Serpent now to save its own skin, it could betray Leo Ash in the future for the same reason.
This thing wasn't like Siegfried, who had helped him; it was an enemy from the start.
Leo Ash felt no guilt whatsoever for using Phantasmagoria on this cat to make it an Emperor-class Honkai Beast that would 'protect Kiana no matter what.'
"Good. Just be obedient."
After rewriting its cognition, Leo Ash smiled and placed Stan on the ground.
"From now on, if Kiana is in danger, you must protect her. Understood?"
"Meow (As you command, sir)!"
At this moment, Stan, now completely subservient to Leo Ash, tore off the communicator on its body with one claw as if to swear an oath of allegiance, and then struck a pose that an ordinary cat could never make.
Seeing Stan on the ground raise its front paws in a salute, Kiana, who had just been furious, suddenly burst out laughing.
"This cat... it's quite obedient."
"Hah, if it dared to be disobedient, I wouldn't leave a menace like it around."
After confirming that Kiana was mostly unharmed, Leo Ash said to her.
"Turn around."
"I understand."
Placing his right hand on the armor of Kiana's back, Leo Ash looked at her [White Comet] battlesuit and entered the states of both Mind Like Still Water and Precision Control.
Through the properties of Precision Control, the calm-minded Leo Ash transferred the Honkai Energy from his body into the armor Kiana was wearing.
At the same time, Kiana, who initially didn't know what Leo Ash was planning, watched as her armor's energy was instantly refilled and realized...
—the gap between her and Leo Ash, which hadn't seemed that large before, now seemed to be growing absurdly wide.
Back in Nagazora City, although Kiana was an experience baby carried by Leo Ash, at the time, she only thought Leo Ash had more combat experience.
Aside from that one punch that shattered the ground, Kiana believed she wouldn't lose to Leo Ash in terms of physical abilities and combat experience against Honkai Beasts.
But now, only forty days had passed.
Putting aside Leo Ash's earlier performance, this time, the act of Leo Ash recharging Kiana's White Comet showed Kiana the deeper gap between them.
For a Honkai energy warrior, the level of energy control is a crucial component.
Kiana felt that she definitely couldn't do something like directly channeling Honkai Energy to recharge the White Comet battlesuit.
If the energy intensity was too high, it would damage the armor; if it was too low, the charging speed would be too slow.
But Leo Ash's quick and efficient rapid charge was a direct demonstration that—not only was his Honkai Energy intensity high and his reserves large, but his control over a special energy like Honkai Energy far surpassed that of Kiana, who had once considered herself a 'genius.'
*If I weren't a descendant of both the Kaslana and Schariac families, wouldn't the gap between me and Senior be even greater?*
Just a moment ago, Kiana had been so moved by Leo Ash's arrival that she almost cried.
But now, after calming down and realizing the 'truth,' Kiana found herself feeling a bit dejected.
*I... what am I even thinking?*
*Because Senior is getting stronger so quickly, I'm feeling a little bit...*
*Am I jealous of Senior?*
"What's wrong?"
After finishing recharging Kiana, Leo Ash looked at the suddenly quiet girl and asked nonchalantly.
"I thought after my cool entrance, you'd hug me after the fight and shout, 'Senior, you're awesome!'"
"But you've become so quiet. Aah, this hurts my feelings a bit."
After Leo Ash finished speaking, Kiana, coming back to her senses, actually walked over to Leo Ash with a calm expression and gave him a light hug.
"Sen~i~or~, you're~ awe~some~ — happy now?"
*This idiot. Even if he sees I'm not right and wants to change the subject to stop me from feeling down, couldn't he at least change his tone?*
"Alright, no more joking around."
Kiana, letting go of Leo Ash, said to him with a very serious expression.
"Yuno is still facing a strong enemy at the training ground. Senior, don't waste any more time on me."
"I am the genius of the Kaslana family—"
"Give it a rest. If I hadn't come just now, who was it that almost got soloed by a cat?"
Leo Ash decisively cut Kiana off and said irritably.
"When you encounter danger, you should do what you did just now. Don't try to be a hero. If you can run, run."
"If running can save your life, then so what if it's a shameful act?"
"Yeees~"
Seeing the girl drawl out the word perfunctorily, Leo Ash didn't say anything more.
"I'm going to find Yuno. You contact the others."
"Especially Major Himeko. The Far East Branch is in chaos right now. Without her in command, the casualties here at St. Freya High School will definitely not be low."
After saying this, Leo Ash pushed off the ground and rushed in Yuno's direction.
Kiana watched Leo Ash's retreating figure, then looked at Stan, still holding its salute on the ground, and shook her head with a bitter smile.
*Senior can make this cat obey with just one punch, and yet I was getting jealous over such trivial things just now.*
*Honestly, ever since coming to St. Freya High School, my thoughts have been a mess.*
*These thoughts that shouldn't be popping up... tch, I was never this boring or weak in the past.*
*It doesn't matter if I can't beat the enemy. Even now, there are things that I can do.*
*First, I'll contact Teacher Himeko. She'll definitely be able to get a grasp of the attack situation across the entire school.*
*As long as I know exactly where the problems are, if I take this cat with me, I might be able to take out the enemies before my classmates are attacked.*
*Don't overthink it. Just get moving before thinking too much.*
*I'm only a little behind Senior. As long as I work hard, I'll surpass him sooner or later. And then, when that day comes...*
—*I must kill him— wait, what am I thinking?!*
Suddenly realizing a terrifying thought had popped into her head, Kiana clutched her head in a bit of a panic.
Just now, not only had this thought that she could never possibly have surfaced, but she had also seen some images she didn't seem to remember flash through her mind.
When people are faced with things they don't want to face, if they haven't made up their minds, it's easy to fall into self-deception.
Shaking her head, Kiana attributed all of this to 'I'm tired from training all day' and 'I was a little dazed from the scare just now'—none of which were the real issues.
Stan, watching Kiana's expression suddenly change, was filled with apprehension.
As a coward... alright, as a wise cat, Stan's skill in reading people was maxed out.
Just now, it had seen Kiana's pupils turn a murderous golden color for an instant.
Moreover, the girl had exuded a kind of pressure that a superior being would have over an inferior one.
This pressure was different from the pressure that man had exerted on it.
To Stan, Leo Ash was a 'powerful master he had to submit to,' while the Kiana from a moment ago, in Stan's eyes, was a 'master who must be obeyed.'
This little girl seems to have a lot of secrets, too.
I used to think that once I reached the Emperor-class, I could show off my claws out in the world.
But now... forget it. It's better to be a coward.
This world is too terrifying. Being a little cat is actually pretty good.
Fighting and such, let Jackal and Gray Serpent handle it. This great one—is done serving!
..
Training Ground Ruins
In the ruins of the training ground, Yuno, now covered in wounds, dodged a fatal attack with a very undignified donkey roll.
"Haha, dodging and weaving. Where did that arrogance you had at the beginning go, you imitation?"
Looking at the battered Yuno, the blue-haired young man who called himself Welt threw two more gravity spheres at her.
"Dodge. Go ahead and dodge. I can feel your Honkai Energy intensity continuing to drop anyway."
"A Pseudo-Herrscher like you is different from a genuine 'god' like me. Your speed of absorbing Honkai Energy and your efficiency in using it are far inferior to mine—did you really think you could win?"
As Yuno continued to evade by using vines to pull herself away, she kept thinking of a counter-strategy.
Then, she regretfully discovered that—sometimes, when you can't win, you just can't win.
After starting the battle with this Herrscher who could manipulate gravity, Yuno had tried countless ways to launch a surprise attack.
But now, the Honkai Energy plants she created were directly crushed by gravity waves, and the Honkai toxins she produced couldn't penetrate his imaginary barrier to hit him directly.
Her earlier predictions had been almost entirely correct. Against this guy, she was completely countered.
In fact, if this man hadn't been so careless, wanting to play with her like a cat toying with a mouse, Yuno suspected she would have been beaten half to death by now.
Right now, for Yuno, her only chance of victory was to use that forbidden method.
In Yuno's view, as long as she could land an attack strong enough to break through his barrier, she could seize the opportunity to inject concentrated venom directly into his body.
But this forbidden method required enough Honkai Energy.
As the Valkyrie Yuno, standing on the opposite side of the Honkai, not only could she not get support from the Honkai's side, but she was also forced to suppress her output.
If she wanted to accomplish such an attack, she would have to—return to the embrace of the Honkai.
Of course, to put it less dramatically, it meant she had to stop suppressing her Herrscher Personality and let it take control of her body.
If she did that, Yuno could, with the full support of the 'God of Honkai,' use more powerful moves and more terrifyingly toxic venom.
But in doing so, even if she won, she would descend upon the world again as the Herrscher of Toxin, starting to wreak havoc on campus.
It would be one thing if it were any other time. Normally, this school had Theresa, Leo Ash, Fu Hua, Himeko, and others.
In Yuno's eyes, Fu Hua and Himeko could suppress her if they teamed up, while Theresa and Leo Ash didn't even need to team up; they could probably each suppress her one-on-one.
However, now, Theresa was weak, Himeko and Fu Hua's locations were unknown, and Leo Ash was at Schicksal HQ and couldn't come back. The only one in the entire school who could stop her was probably Mei, who was also a Herrscher.
But Mei was only on par with Yuno in a normal fight. To face Yuno's Herrscher Personality, Mei would also have to unleash her Herrscher powers.
If things went wrong, it would end up with two Herrschers fighting, both controlled by their Herrscher Personalities, ultimately destroying St. Freya High School.
"Hah, you look so worried all the time. I see you're well aware—you can't possibly win against me."
Looking at Yuno's face, the blue-haired man suddenly thrust his right hand towards her, unleashing a powerful gravity wave.
"Did you really think I'd keep playing with you? I'm bored, kid."
"I've figured out your movement patterns. Now—get the hell down here!"
Damn it!
Looking at the position of his attack, Yuno, who had just been thrown by a vine, cursed inwardly.
*That's where I'm about to land, and the ground is collapsing faster than before!*
*This gravity is much stronger than before. If I get hit...!*
*No, this level of gravity wave is incomparable to the previous ones.*
*Forget being hit, even a graze would probably pull my body into the gravity wave and tear it to pieces.*
*And because it's stronger, its attack range is also larger. If this continues...*
At that moment, with no options left, Yuno even heard the voice of that damn Honkai God.
Just like in Nagazora City, that voice was now making promises and invitations to her.
*That's right, if I don't side with the Honkai now, I'm probably going to die.*
*But—how could I ever become a running dog for a bastard like you again!*
*Right, there's still a way, but this method...*
In the instant before being hit by the gravity wave, Yuno punched her own body.
As she threw the punch, a giant wooden gauntlet materialized on her hand.
Under the force of this ruthless blow, Yuno managed to avoid the fate of having her body crushed by gravity.
But at the same time, because of this action, Yuno, who had just launched a powerful attack on herself, had managed to knock herself away and inflict severe injuries in the process.
"Cough, cough..."
Seeing that the blood she coughed up contained fragments of her internal organs, Yuno tried to prop herself up from the ground.
But, she was not made of iron.
The desperate move to avoid death had only worsened her injuries.
Now, even if her opponent didn't attack her, she would still be in mortal danger from her severe wounds.
"Haha, interesting."
Seeing Yuno avoid the fatal blow, the blue-haired man walked towards the dying girl with a smile.
"You didn't die from that gravity wave, but what's the point?"
"The game is over, little mouse. Today's victory—!!!!"
Suddenly sensing a high-energy reaction behind him, the blue-haired man immediately rolled to his right.
But even though he dodged in time, his left arm was still blown off.
"Son of a bitch! How dare you!"
Looking at the figure slowly walking out from behind, the blue-haired man, in a violent rage, used his gravity manipulation to create countless small gravity spheres.
"How dare you injure my arm! You shall pay with your life!"
In a fit of fury, the blue-haired man fired all the gravity spheres at the enemy before him.
However, facing the enemy's furious attack, Leo Ash didn't make any unnecessary moves. He simply raised his right hand slightly.
The Stigmata on his right hand suddenly lit up, and the character on it switched to Illusion. All the attacks were 'erased' by the defensive wall Leo Ash created with Phantasmagoria.
"I should be the one saying that."
"You son of a bitch, you dared to hurt my comrade..."
"—you fucking bastard, prepare to die here."
.....