To be honest, for the current Leo Ash, a lone Pseudo-Herrscher was no longer a threat.
The Joyce clone was pathetically weak compared to the original; that much was a fact.
But in reality, the Joyce clone, who could wield the power of gravity manipulation and perform some delicate operations relying solely on Joyce's muscle memory, was already considered a powerful Pseudo-Herrscher.
If he were truly a weakling, he wouldn't have been able to last more than four minutes against the Herrscher of Thunder.
But the problem was, with everything and everyone accelerating, Leo Ash couldn't expect the plot to follow the original story anymore.
When he went out to beat up Honkai Beasts, he had, at least, read the intel on the transport plane.
It was no secret that Singapore was courting disaster and stirring up trouble.
Never mind the underworld, even the mainstream news had begun reporting on Singapore's sudden assertive stance.
World Serpent had just been forced by Otto to abandon Shincheng Pharmaceutical, and now Singapore was suddenly rising to prominence. Any bit of thought would lead to the conclusion that World Serpent and Singapore had joined forces.
Oh, on the surface, it was an alliance, but given that the people in the original story's Singapore were nearly sacrificed by Cocolia, they were probably being used as a tool for Gray Serpent to fight Schicksal after being duped by him.
If it was just the beginning of the Moon Shadow Arc, it wouldn't be a big deal.
The biggest problem in the Moon Shadow Arc was the second Welt... which was no longer a problem for Leo Ash.
In the original story, the greatest difficulty during the Moon Shadow Arc was actually keeping Kiana and Dr. Magi from making contact.
As long as that could be ensured, Kiana, having never touched the Gem of Serenity, wouldn't experience a surge in her internal Honkai Energy, which led to Sirin's brief awakening after absorbing the gem.
But the problem was—the original story had now deviated from the Mariana Trench all the way to the Himalayas.
On Chiyou's side, Raven had released the beast ahead of schedule, and now, the Moon Shadow Arc was also clearly changing.
The organization allied with Singapore had changed from the radical faction of Anti-Entropy to World Serpent.
After allying with World Serpent, Singapore wasn't maintaining the 'hey, we're neutral' attitude of the original story; they were directly posturing for international status.
Although Leo Ash thought that the Singapore and Dr. Magi of the original story, who trusted a massive powder keg like Cocolia, were incredibly stupid, in the current situation, he couldn't treat a group of dirty politicians and Otto's former collaborator as complete idiots.
So, thinking on the premise that these people had at least some brains...
Singapore's top brass was being much more brazen than in the original story, which meant the trump cards they held were significantly stronger.
As for Dr. Magi... in the original story, he dared to work with someone like Cocolia, let alone the current World Serpent, which hadn't yet caused trouble in Tianqiong City.
Besides, the Gem of Serenity was one of the treasures Otto needed at that stage. The fact that Dr. Magi was able to leave Schicksal with it was ridiculous in itself.
Judging from how Otto dispatched Durandal to Singapore at lightning speed afterward, he was clearly the mastermind behind it.
So, for Otto to suddenly come knocking with Godsbane Armor—this was definitely not a good thing!
Setting aside the lower-ranked Valkyries, generally, anyone who directly received benefits from Otto was someone Otto had his eyes on.
And anyone Otto had his eyes on—just look at how miserable the original Kiana was to know it was not a good thing.
Although he had long been mentally prepared, looking at the unnamed armor now, Leo Ash felt his fatigue vanish without a trace.
In its place, fear descended upon him.
If he hadn't immediately activated his (Poker Face) special ability after Otto contacted him, the expression on his face would have been quite a sight.
"What's wrong, Leo?"
Seeing the silent Leo Ash, Otto asked, puzzled.
"I think giving this armor a suitable name should be of great significance to you."
*Ah, if possible, I'd rather you just let me go like a kite.*
But that was obviously impossible.
*I used to think that if Otto was pushed into a corner by World Serpent, he wouldn't have time to bother with me.*
*But now, that's clearly a grave mistake.*
*No matter how pressed this bastard is, most of the time he's secretly pulling strings from behind the scenes, letting others fight and die for him on the front lines.*
*As for how many times Otto went to the front lines before completing his plan in the original story...*
*The first time, he got his face smashed by Joyce with the Oath of Judah, then angrily dropped a fission missile.*
*The second time, he got his face smashed by Siegfried's Kaslana iron fist, then could only endure it and plan his revenge for later, only to drop another fission missile.*
*The third time, he met the Pseudo-Herrscher of Death. At least he didn't screw up this time.*
*The fourth time, Fu Hua had already taken care of Sirin for him, but he delayed for too long, indirectly causing Fu Hua's memory loss and Cheng Lixue's death in battle.*
*The fifth time, Raven took him out with one shot. What's there to say.*
*Thinking about it this way, Otto probably hunkers down in the rear because he's been beaten scared.*
*Nothing good ever happens when he goes to the front lines himself. In that case, letting others risk their lives while he squats in the back suits both his interests and his personality.*
*This armor looks pretty good.*
*Ah, I must wear this suit to smash Otto's damn head in the future.*
"A name isn't really that important."
Leo Ash said casually to Otto while looking at the armor.
"But since you've said so, Lord Bishop..."
"Zero Knight: Moonshadow. Let's go with that name."
Hearing this name, Otto fell into deep thought.
Then, he shook his head with a helpless smile.
"You... do you really have to be like this?"
*???*
*No, I really just said a name off the top of my head.*
*Bishop Otto, you're supposed to be the brainiac of this world. You're not going to overthink a name I just made up, are you?*
Looking at the silent Leo Ash, Otto put away his wry smile, his face showing only helplessness.
"'Zero' represents nothingness, and the character 'Yin', in the Shenzhou language, means hidden, secluded, concealed, and latent."
"For you to use such a nihilistic name...Well, I really don't know what to say to you."
At this point, Otto spoke to Leo Ash with a hint of concern.
"Young man, I've seen far too many avengers like you in my five hundred years."
"Those who are solely focused on revenge will only be consumed by hatred in the end."
"I've also studied the I Ching of Shenzhou. Based on the five elements, 'Moonshadow' is a wood-earth combination. Wood overcomes earth, so wood is dominant."
"This name represents a relatively strong-willed, unyielding personality with a kind and peaceful exterior."
"But at the same time, this name also represents emotional volatility, poor patience, impulsiveness, and a tendency to act on emotions. It suggests stubbornness that can lead to unexpected losses."
"From the moment you chose this name for the armor, I've already seen a serious safety hazard in you."
"You usually appear very strong-willed, and after failing the review, you still wanted to do something big, which shows that you are indeed not one to admit defeat."
"But at the same time, this action of yours was indeed a stubborn move against Rita and Bianka's advice. In your impulsiveness, you nearly died in Nagazora City."
*Damn, that was clearly an accident, okay?*
*Oh, part of it was my acting. Never mind then.*
"If possible, I hope you won't take this matter of revenge so seriously."
"Life is precious. People should cherish their own lives."
*...I'm speechless. Didn't I just randomly fill in three characters in the 'X Knight: MoonX' format?*
*How did you manage to spin a 500-word essay out of it???*
At this moment, looking at Otto, Leo Ash suddenly realized—he had truly been completely fooled by him.
But in order to maintain the persona he was 'supposed' to have, Otto now thought he was just a battle-hungry fighter, which meant he would definitely be sent to more dangerous battlefields in the future.
*So, this 'Aigis System' mentioned in the design documents is an energy shield system created because he's afraid I'll die out there?*
*He really... I'm moved to tears.*
*Bishop Otto, to repay you, I will definitely use the Grips of Taixu to mercilessly beat your Soulium face in the future.*
Otto, completely unaware of Leo Ash's inner thoughts, saw his continued silence and assumed he was too embarrassed to speak after having his mind read.
To this, Otto could only think—*sigh, the thoughts of the young are so easy to understand.*
*I actually thought he might pose some kind of threat to me before. It seems I was overthinking it.*
*He has some ambition, but not much.*
*Overall, his only thought is to kill the Honkai. To me, he's just a low-spec Bianka who lacks power but has a bit of a brain.*
*Like Bianka, he will follow the orders of an evil man like me to fight the Honkai, unlike Siegfried, who would raise his weapon against a perceived enemy without a second thought.*
*I can relax a little. As long as he doesn't die out there, everything else will be fine.*
"Alright, if you like this name, then I'll register it as the official one."
"As for what you'll do in the future—that is for you to decide."
After saying these two sentences, Otto cut the communication, leaving a bewildered Leo Ash to stare blankly at the armor design schematic.
*Wow, if I didn't know what kind of son of a bitch you are, I'd probably be moved to death by those words.*
*But now... forget it, I'll just look at the design.*
*The dangers I'll face in the future will only increase, so in this situation, stacking armor is definitely not a bad thing.*
*And the armor Otto designed can now, on top of its original defense, directly deploy an energy shield through the 'Honkai Energy Burst' feature.*
*Oh, this thing Otto named the 'Aigis System' can not only deploy a shield with Honkai Energy but also transform Honkai Energy into a second layer of armor to envelop my body.*
And at the same time, although the Zero Knight: Moonshadow visibly has enhancements for close-quarters combat, there's another system on this suit.
[Brionac System].
In Celtic mythology, the sun god Lugh wielded a magic spear, [Brionac].
This spear, whose name means 'Piercing,' was said to split into five rays of light when thrown, each attacking a different enemy.
And the [Brionac System], named after it, can not only condense Honkai Energy to fire light spears at five different enemies like the legendary Brionac but also condense Honkai Energy into a single, more powerful light spear to be used as a javelin to pierce an enemy's body.
To be honest, for Leo Ash, who on the surface excels in melee combat, this system wasn't particularly intuitive.
But from these two systems, Leo Ash could feel that Otto was genuinely afraid of him dying out there.
In terms of defense, Leo Ash, who knew the characteristics of other armors, had never seen any other Godsbane Armor with such thick plating.
On the offensive end, the Brionac System Otto developed was a clear and frantic hint to Leo Ash: kill enemies from a distance if you can, don't run into melee combat every day, it's too dangerous.
Honestly, even knowing the other party was a scoundrel planning to use him, Leo Ash couldn't deny that Otto was genuinely concerned about him right now.
If he were just an avenger seeking revenge against the Honkai, the current Leo Ash would probably be moved enough to pledge his life.
After realizing this, Leo Ash had to admit that when Otto did someone a personal favor, he would definitely want to collect more interest from them.
Even though Otto's goal was to protect the offering for K423, he nearly managed to win over a person's heart through the armor's design and a few words of advice.
If this ability wasn't used for evil, Leo Ash really wouldn't mind helping Otto fulfill his long-cherished wish.
But alas, nothing in the world can be perfect.
If Otto really stopped being a bad guy, he wouldn't be 'Otto' anymore.
Forcing these thoughts from his mind, Leo Ash made himself focus on the armor's design schematic.
Defensively, the Aigis System would indeed provide him with a significant boost.
As someone who feared death, how could he complain about his armor being too thick?
And on the offensive end, while the Brionac System seemed to overlap with the Special Beam Cannon, there were still differences when examined closely.
The light spear fired by the Brionac System could instantly attack different enemies from different angles, and judging by the estimated time from condensation to launch, its casting speed was ridiculously fast.
Although the Special Beam Cannon was much more destructive, and Leo Ash could even modify it to some extent with Precision Control, its activation time was always a critical weakness.
Overall, for the current Leo Ash, this suit of armor was indeed a god-tier piece of equipment that could significantly increase his power.
*However, after taking the benefits, Otto will definitely work me to the bone even more.*
*So I should probably just go to sleep. Continue the grind in my dreams.*
*The sooner I can increase my own strength, the sooner I can escape this state of being controlled by others.*
Just as Leo Ash was about to activate the Phantasmagoria, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.
"Student Leo Ash, are you asleep?"
Lying in bed, Leo Ash heard Fu Hua's voice and replied helplessly.
"The door's unlocked."
"I see."
At that moment, Fu Hua, dressed in white pajamas, saw Leo Ash on the bed and the light screen in front of him, and she suddenly froze.
"What... is this?"
"Ah, this? Lord Bishop Otto said he made me a suit of armor and asked me to test its performance."
Following Fu Hua's incredibly shocked gaze, Leo Ash realized that the look in her eyes as she saw the Godsbane Armor design was definitely not right.
*Ugh, that's enough. These people are probably overthinking something again.*
*I can't be bothered to guess. You can think whatever you want.*
Recovering from her shock, Fu Hua felt her emotions starting to go haywire.
Over the past week, because Leo Ash and Fu Hua were constantly on missions in different regions, Fu Hua hadn't had a chance to meet Leo Ash privately.
Now that they were both back in the dorm today, she finally found an opportunity to use Fenghuang Down to hypnotize him, hoping to make him keep his healing ability a secret.
But now, seeing that Leo Ash had already obtained a Godsbane Armor, Fu Hua's heart felt a little... strangely uncomfortable.
Of course, she would never feel any bizarre jealousy towards Leo Ash.
In fact, Leo Ash getting his own Godsbane Armor was normally a good thing for him.
Fu Hua, who wanted Leo Ash to live, should have been happy about it.
But the timing was just all wrong.
After Cioara defected to Schicksal, World Serpent changed its style, stepping directly onto the international stage with Singapore as its ally, and began to display its power.
And in fact, the strength Singapore had shown during this period had already made some smaller countries restless.
For someone like Fu Hua, who had fought the Honkai for over fifty thousand years, she certainly knew that the power difference between a Pseudo-Herrscher and a Herrscher was night and day.
But to the leaders of small countries, a Pseudo-Herrscher... was still a Herrscher, no matter what.
Now, Singapore was able to mass-produce Pseudo-Herrschers. If they could gain this power by aligning with them, who wouldn't want to give it a try?
Of course, there were no fools who would openly break with Schicksal.
But Fu Hua estimated that there were definitely more than one or two countries making contact with Singapore in secret.
At this point, Otto would certainly not let this third-party force continue to act so arrogantly.
Giving Leo Ash armor at this time—wasn't that just sending him to fight a life-or-death battle with World Serpent?
If Leo Ash was covered in wounds just from fighting the Honkai, Fu Hua would only feel sorry for him, but she would still painfully respect his will.
But if Leo Ash were to be injured or even killed because of Otto's ambitions...
Even though that was an inevitable future if Otto carried out that plan, the current Fu Hua absolutely did not want Leo Ash to be harmed over such a trivial matter.
Furthermore, the recent series of unforeseen events had caused Fu Hua's already limited trust in Otto to plummet to rock bottom. While this Godsbane Armor wasn't enough to make Fu Hua completely explode, it was enough to ignite the anger in her heart.
"I see."
Suppressing her anger, Fu Hua nodded slightly, closed the room door naturally, and slowly approached Leo Ash.
And then...
"Since you have some free time now..."
Taking off her glasses, Fu Hua unhesitatingly activated Fenghuang Down on Leo Ash.
"—Let's have a proper chat."
The moment she activated Fenghuang Down, Fu Hua felt the familiar pain emanate from her body.
But, as she expected, activating Fenghuang Down this time only caused her body pain; it wasn't enough to put her in a severely injured state.
*Indeed, Leo Ash's healing ability has already repaired some of the damage I sustained back then.*
*Ha, this way, my limitations will be much fewer.*
Looking at Leo Ash, whose gaze had become incredibly calm, Fu Hua wiped a trace of blood from the corner of her mouth and spoke slowly.
"That healing ability of yours from before, have you used it on any other colleagues this past week?"
"No, because those Honkai Beasts were too weak. They couldn't possibly harm my colleagues under my watch."
*...That's true. He can kill Emperor-class beasts and Pseudo-Herrschers without a scratch. His standard strength now far surpasses mine in my normal state.*
*And here I was, worried about his safety... How arrogant of me.*
"Very good. From now on, unless it's absolutely necessary, please do not reveal this ability in front of everyone."
After saying this, Fu Hua told Leo Ash.
"Especially Otto. He must never know that you have this ability."
"I understand."
Looking at Leo Ash's eyes, which were as still as water, Fu Hua seriously doubted whether Fenghuang Down had any effect on him at all.
But right now, she couldn't test it, nor did she want to test whether Leo Ash was free from her control.
In just about three weeks, Leo Ash had learned most of the practical parts of the Edge of Taixu martial art at a terrifying speed.
Fu Hua believed that as long as Leo Ash could accept her teachings this time, he would at least be able to master, if not fully, the aspects of Heart, Form, and Spirit Skandhas, and could study them thoroughly on his own in the future.
However, just as Fu Hua was about to speak again, she suddenly saw the Leo Ash in front of her fall forward.
"Leo, you...!"
Seeing Leo Ash suddenly collapse, Fu Hua immediately rushed forward to catch him and began to check his pulse.
Then, she found, to her amusement and exasperation, that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his pulse.
At that moment, seeing the blood at the corner of Fu Hua's mouth, Leo Ash really didn't want to continue playing the part of a hypnotized person.
Fu Hua's body had indeed healed to some extent, but the fact that she still got injured from using Fenghuang Down showed that she clearly hadn't recovered to her peak strength.
She gets hurt just by using Fenghuang Down now, and to be honest, Leo Ash didn't value the techniques, cultivation insights, and combat skills of the Edge of Taixu that much anymore.
With the [Good Study] skill, he could study all of these things to the limit of his own cultivation in the lucid dreams created by the Phantasmagoria.
Why should he let Fu Hua continue to pour her heart and soul into him for problems he could solve himself?
He already owed Fu Hua more and more. If he just calmly watched her spit blood to help him under these circumstances...
Wow, that would be too beastly.
Based on this thought, Leo Ash directly used Phantasmagoria on his own consciousness right in front of Fu Hua.
Of course, because his personal casting method was rather subtle, Fu Hua couldn't tell what had happened to Leo Ash. She could only judge from the snoring sounds he was making that he was too tired and had fallen asleep.
*Sleepiness that even Fenghuang Down can't resist...*
*This guy, could he have been pushing himself too hard to protect his comrades?*
*I've used my special clearance to read all his mission reports, and there were indeed no casualties.*
*This guy... he should take his own body into consideration a little more.*
Holding Leo Ash, Fu Hua looked at his innocent sleeping face and shook her head helplessly.
*He's this exhausted. If I wake him up by moving, I might just make it harder for him to sleep, robbing him of this very rare rest time.*
*Never mind, I'll stay still for now.*
*I'll just maintain this position, and when he's had enough rest, I'll leave the room.*
**The next morning.**
In the dorm kitchen, Raiden Mei was unusually preparing breakfast for the other members of the dorm.
Normally, breakfast in the dorm was usually made by Leo Ash after his morning workout.
But in recent days, with Leo Ash constantly out on missions and having no time for such things, the task of making breakfast naturally fell to Mei, a girl with no special missions.
But now, having almost finished making breakfast, Mei felt that something was off today.
Leo Ash came back yesterday, but everyone saw the unconcealable fatigue on his face, so no one disturbed him.
But now, no matter what, he should be waking up soon.
Could it be that this mission had exhausted him too much?
"Hah... Morning, Mei."
Seeing Mei just walk out of the kitchen, taking off her apron, Kiana yawned and asked.
"Strange, where's Senior? It's so late today, and he's still not up?"
"Yeah, I was wondering too..."
*'Creaak~'*
Just as Mei was about to answer Kiana, the door to Leo Ash's room suddenly opened from the inside.
However, the person who walked out of the room was not the Leo Ash they expected.
At the doorway of Leo Ash's room, Fu Hua, with faint dark circles under her eyes, looked at the two of them quite naturally and asked.
"Student Kiana, Student Mei, good morning."
"Why do you two suddenly have such strange expressions? Did something happen?"
After hearing the commotion outside, Bronya, who had been analyzing intelligence, suddenly opened her repaired room door with a sense of unease and looked at the three people outside.
Then, a look of undisguisable unease appeared on the young girl's face.
*Oh no, something's happened.*
*Class Rep and Brother Leo...*
*—You two should be more careful about this kind of thing!*
On the other side, after the two girls came to their senses, they shouted at Fu Hua in unison.
"Student Fu Hua—"
"Class Rep—"
"Why..."
"—Are you coming out of his room!"
...