The next day. Theresa's office.
"What did you say?"
Looking at the calm expression on Leo Ash's face, Theresa immediately refused.
"Apply to conduct a connection experiment between the Blank Key and a Divine Key?"
"No, absolutely not."
The thought that this person, Leo Ash, would dare to fight a Herrscher with just a Stigmata made Theresa instinctively want to reject his application.
If others got good equipment, Theresa wouldn't worry about them being reckless.
But Leo Ash was different.
Don't be fooled by how calm he looked now, because...
—his expression was just like this when he fused with Herrscher power to deliver the finishing blow to Chiyou.
In Theresa's eyes, when Leo Ash maintained this expression while discussing important matters—her intuition told her that usually, nothing good would come of it.
As for why a commander would believe in something like intuition—don't ask. Just know that the Kaslana family's bloodline provides a huge boost to intuition.
"Well..."
Looking at Theresa, who was shaking her head frantically, Leo Ash said helplessly.
"The Bishop gave me the Blank Key. I can't just let it sit there and collect dust, can I?"
"I get angry just thinking about that!"
The moment Leo Ash mentioned Otto, the expression on Theresa's face instantly turned to rage.
Recently, Theresa had been going out on patrol less often. In urgent situations, even if she wasn't on patrol, she couldn't possibly hide away to read HOMU manga.
The day the Blank Key was delivered by Fu Hua, Theresa stayed up all night using her authority to access the Blank Key's data and studied it with Himeko for a while.
In the end, according to Himeko's own account, the Blank Key, as the prototype for Valkyrie/Knight armor, did indeed possess immense power.
But with great power comes great risk.
The Blank Key itself had high requirements for its user, and these requirements would only increase after the user connected it to a Herrscher Core.
According to the text descriptions the two found in the database, the Blank Key, unlike its 'descendants', could be considered a part of the user's body as an armor capable of connecting to a Herrscher Core.
After the core and the human body are connected through the Blank Key, as long as the user can withstand the burden of the armor and the core, they can become a Herrscher for a short period.
In the Previous Era, a user of the Blank Key once switched between the three Herrscher Cores she was connected to in rapid succession within a short time.
The first time, the user connected to the Herrscher of Thunder's core for 201 seconds, killing hundreds of Herrscher of Domination minions before the connection was severed because her body couldn't handle the load.
The second time, after a ten-minute rest, she reconnected to the Herrscher of Wind's core. This time, although she also killed the enemies before her, the connection only lasted for 65 seconds before being cut off.
The third time, the user picked up the Judgment of Shamash and connected to the Herrscher of Flame's core for five seconds, killing the last enemy.
But after this battle, the user sustained incurable, severe injuries.
Of course, based on Himeko's analysis, that user, who was a researcher, was definitely inferior to Leo Ash in terms of Honkai Energy adaptability and control.
But—this didn't mean the Blank Key was a safe weapon that Leo Ash could use casually.
Theresa hadn't forgotten that in Jiuyou, just touching the Seven Thunders of Retribution with his hand had caused it to be corroded by Honkai Energy.
And now, even though his Honkai Energy resistance had been significantly increased by the HSN serum modified by Dr. Magi, the problem was still very serious.
For most Honkai Energy warriors today, touching a Divine Key was equivalent to slow suicide, and using a Divine Key was basically just suicide.
And connecting to a core through the Blank Key was clearly more dangerous than touching or using a Divine Key.
In Theresa's eyes, this was probably only slightly better than [directly swallowing a Herrscher Core to become a Herrscher]. Under these circumstances—it would be a miracle if she agreed to let Leo Ash, a subordinate she cared about, use the Blank Key.
"Grandpa clearly knows how dangerous this thing is, yet he still sent the armor over."
"He..."
*He must want you dead*—Theresa wanted to say.
But considering that Otto had been vigorously building up Leo Ash's reputation ever since he defeated Chiyou about a month and a half ago, Theresa held her tongue.
She knew what kind of person Otto was, but Leo Ash didn't.
*Sigh, poor Leo Ash. He probably still thinks Grandpa giving him the Blank Key is a sign of his high regard.*
*But now it seems... Grandpa is one hundred percent thinking of ways to mess with him.*
*Giving this power to Leo Ash, will he choose to risk using it or give it up—the answer is all too obvious.*
*See, it hasn't even been a few days, and Leo Ash has already come knocking.*
And what Theresa found most terrifying was that the Divine Keys Leo Ash listed on the application weren't just the Seven Thunders of Retribution; he even included her Oath of Judah.
Using Divine Keys for connection experiments twice in a row, in Theresa's eyes, was clearly a sign that Leo Ash's 'condition' was getting worse.
"But..."
Looking at Theresa, whose expression was complicated and who was probably mentally cursing Otto, Leo Ash could only say quietly.
"I have the HSN serum. If something really happens..."
"Leo Ash, I need to say something."
At this moment, Himeko, who had been watching the two, suddenly spoke to Leo Ash.
"After using the special HSN serum you gave me, I truly felt the marvel of this serum."
"Dr. Magi, who could develop such a serum, is undoubtedly a genius. But at the same time, I think you've forgotten something."
"If you use the serum too much, first, your strength will definitely drop significantly, and second—if your body develops a resistance to it, then when you need the serum to save your life, it won't work, and you might really be done for."
Hearing Himeko's words, Theresa nodded with great satisfaction.
"Himeko is right, so—"
"Branch Commander, I haven't finished speaking."
Interrupting Theresa, Himeko said to her with great seriousness.
"I was just making Leo Ash aware of the limitations of the HSN serum. Rationally speaking—I don't think it's a bad thing for him to experiment with the Blank Key now."
"Hey, you traitor!"
Being 'slapped in the face' by Himeko on the spot, Theresa felt genuinely annoyed today.
*It's one thing for Grandpa to mess around, and another for him to drag Leo Ash into his mess—but how could you backstab me too!*
*How can I tolerate this?*
"Alright, I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious just yet."
Pulling Theresa aside, Himeko said something to the furious Headmaster that Leo Ash couldn't hear.
It's just that...
*Sys, you there?*
[You know what I'm going to say.]
*As long as you're here, it's fine—since you can detect nearby surveillance devices, can you help me eavesdrop on what they're saying?*
[Oh, that's not hard. Let this System take a listen...]
[It's a very uninteresting conversation, really. Pretty much what you guessed.]
On the other side, after hearing Himeko's reasoning, Theresa also calmed down a bit.
Faced with Theresa's anger, Himeko had helplessly explained—even if she stopped Leo Ash now, when a critical moment arrived, there was still a very high probability that Leo Ash would take the Blank Key and fight the enemy to the death.
Instead of having Leo Ash fight desperately with the Blank Key and run into trouble because he doesn't understand its performance, capabilities, or his own limits with it, it would be better to let him adapt to this new power now while there are no enemies attacking.
In truth, Theresa still felt Himeko's reasons were too risky.
But considering Leo Ash's own propensity for action, she truly suspected that if a fight broke out, he would do something as drastic as Himeko predicted.
"Alright, alright, I'll approve this application, but—"
Looking at Leo Ash, whose face remained calm, Theresa said to him with great seriousness.
"You can conduct the Herrscher Core connection experiment, but Himeko and I must be present."
"And not just the two of us. Yuna must be there too."
After adding this, Himeko said to Leo Ash.
"The Bishop has instructed us to properly train Yuna's ability to control her authority."
"If you really run into trouble while using the Blank Key, having Yuna nearby will give us some peace of mind."
*Though, if possible, I hope Yuna won't have the opportunity to use her authority.*
*Sigh, Leo Ash.*
*In two days, you're supposed to go to the beach with those girls, yet you're still thinking about how to fight the Honkai during your rest time.*
*A disease of the heart requires a medicine for the heart, but the problem is, for his kind of illness...*
*—What kind of heart medicine can we find?*
...
About half an hour later. Theresa's personal training ground.
When Yuna arrived at the training ground, she looked at Leo Ash, who was already wearing the Blank Key, and couldn't help but feel...
*Sigh, I've planned so much, but it feels like Senior's illness is only getting worse.*
*I don't know if my plan can progress fast enough to catch up with the worsening of his symptoms.*
*You're going to have fun in two days, yet you're still being such a tryhard...*
*Have you bought your swim trunks?*
*Are you mentally prepared?*
*Have you eaten enough nourishing food?*
*And you're still thinking about how to fight the Honkai.*
*I'm starting to suspect that the scene I saw a few days ago was just a hallucination born from my own impatience.*
"Alright, Yuna is here, so let's begin."
Watching as Leo Ash extended his hand towards the Seven Thunders of Retribution placed before him, Theresa emphasized again.
"The moment you feel your body can't take it, you let go of the Divine Key."
"I know you're eager to fight the Honkai, so you must cherish your own life even more. Don't waste it on an experiment like this—understand?"
"Understood."
*Ah, that perfunctory tone.*
*He definitely wasn't listening to me seriously.*
At that moment, after picking up the tachi-mode Seven Thunders of Retribution, Leo Ash directly connected it with the Blank Key.
And the instant he did so, a flash of lightning erupted from his body.
At the moment the lightning burst forth, the three people present all took a step back.
As a user of a Divine Key, Theresa was already watching Leo Ash's hand that was touching the Seven Thunders of Retribution for any signs of 'Honkai zombification' the moment he completed the connection.
However, the Blank Key truly lived up to its reputation as a weapon on par with the 'Divine Keys'.
At this moment, Leo Ash's body showed no signs of Honkai Energy corrosion or zombification after completing the core connection.
Although Theresa felt that the currently stoic Leo Ash was definitely just holding his breath and was actually on the verge of collapsing, this—was much better than the situation she had imagined.
As for Leo Ash himself, after picking up the Seven Thunders of Retribution, he didn't feel as weak as Theresa had imagined.
Honestly, back then, Dr. Mei had connected to the core for 201 seconds before becoming too weak to continue the connection with the Herrscher of Thunder's core.
Now, Leo Ash was much stronger than Dr. Mei. He shouldn't be weaker than her in this regard.
Moreover, Leo Ash had already used the properties of the Key of Domination to fuse with the Herrscher of Thunder's authority twice before.
The first time was in Jiuyou, and the second was when Yuna was on the verge of becoming a Herrscher. Having wielded the authority of the Herrscher of Thunder twice, Leo Ash was, in some respects, already familiar with the process.
In addition, Leo Ash had already subjected his body to a much cruder 'military drill' using a Pseudo-Herrscher Core. So this time, after connecting to the Herrscher of Thunder's core, he surprisingly felt only a little strained, without much else to note.
After maintaining the core connection mode for about a minute, Leo Ash chose to disconnect and placed the Seven Thunders of Retribution on the metal platform before him.
"...That's it?"
Seeing that Leo Ash was acting as if nothing had happened, Theresa suspiciously looked him up and down for a while before actually reaching out to touch his body.
"Matriarch, stop touching me."
Looking at the extremely worried Theresa, Leo Ash said to her confidently.
"I'm not that weak yet."
"Mm, you're full of spirit. Then today's experiment is over—"
"Hey, what are you doing!"
Seeing Leo Ash's actions, Theresa, who just a moment ago thought everything was fine for the day, immediately clung to his arm.
"Let it go! Let that thing go!"
After putting down the Seven Thunders of Retribution, Leo Ash clearly had no intention of taking off the armor.
And now, the reason Theresa was so nervous was...
—After letting go of the Seven Thunders of Retribution, Leo Ash had actually grabbed the Oath of Judah and started a second round of the core connection experiment.
.......