Several hours ago.
Esdeath, who had inexplicably appeared in the Demon Castle, had been completely dominated in body and mind by Aaron using the Power of Dominance after being thoroughly defeated by him once again.
However, for Esdeath, this matter... was actually no big deal.
She was a person who believed in survival of the fittest. Since she was the weak one here, she didn't find any issue with the opponent doing anything excessive to her after defeating her.
Moreover, after beating her down, the opponent had no intention of tormenting her further and left her in this castle without caring.
To be honest, this treatment of a captive was simply... too generous.
After wandering around the castle for a while, Esdeath had to admit that this castle surprisingly fit her aesthetic.
Although the atmosphere of the castle was incredibly gloomy, setting that aside, it had a unique beauty.
But after wandering for a bit, she sensed a fluctuation of energy in the castle.
When she arrived at the initial room of the castle, she discovered—this castle had welcomed a new guest.
"Um... where is this..."
Cecilia, having just been transported to the Demon Castle, walked into this strange castle completely unsure of what she should do.
However, upon entering this room, she immediately saw a bunch of strange monsters... weird, these monsters didn't look like Honkai Beasts?
That gentleman... hm, I still don't know his name.
That unnamed gentleman asked me to come here. Aside from letting me rest, did he intend for me to help deal with these monsters?
The Danger Beast soul fragments, which had been beaten up by Aaron and forcibly dominated, simultaneously released incredibly vicious auras upon seeing a new enemy enter their 'territory'.
Since Aaron obtained the Power of Dominance, these Danger Beasts were first taught a lesson by Esdeath, who had appeared alongside them.
Not long after Esdeath taught them a lesson, Aaron appeared and beat them up again.
Having been beaten up twice in a row, the Danger Beast soul fragments were in a terrible mood. Under these circumstances, seeing someone appear before them, would they kindly watch her walk past?
The answer was obviously no. The reason Danger Beasts were called Danger Beasts was that these monsters were incredibly dangerous to humans in both 'personality' and 'ability'.
Looking at Cecilia before them, the group of Danger Beast soul fragments pounced without a word.
Then they were taught a lesson for the third time.
"Ah, how strange. I actually feel a sense of... 'similarity' to me from these monsters?"
After effortlessly beating up these Danger Beast soul fragments, Cecilia looked at the Danger Beasts whimpering in the corner and scratched her hair helplessly.
"Really... didn't you guys pounce on me? You're so weak, it makes me feel like I'm the bad guy."
"Oh, a new guest?"
Walking into the room, Esdeath glanced at the Danger Beasts whose injuries had worsened and immediately understood the situation.
Although she didn't know this woman's background, seeing that she was uninjured and the Danger Beasts were sulking, she must be a skilled fighter.
Ah, another powerful enemy. This life is simply... wonderful!
Then she was taught a lesson.
Although Esdeath was a warrior who had fought her way from the bottom to the high ranks of the Empire, her combat experience and skills often involved crushing victories against other strong figures in the Empire.
Among the few in the Empire who could spar with her freely, the Minister was too lazy, Budo didn't want to fight, and she had little interaction with the remaining few weaklings.
So in terms of interpersonal combat, Esdeath lacked experience against high-level warriors.
On the other hand, Cecilia had no such trouble.
Even though she wouldn't fight her husband after marrying Siegfried, she usually sparred with a gray-haired friend.
Apart from the special power that friend possessed, her martial arts had reached the pinnacle of perfection.
Therefore, Cecilia completely suppressed Esdeath in terms of interpersonal combat experience.
Esdeath's skills were indeed excellent, but in Cecilia's eyes, they were clearly far inferior to Fu Hua's.
Moreover, Esdeath enjoyed the feeling of battle and often wouldn't fight at full strength right away. In this situation, Cecilia caught a flaw and easily defeated the girl before her.
Of course, Cecilia didn't go for the kill.
She wasn't a bloodthirsty person, and seeing that the person before her clearly had 'fighting spirit' rather than 'killing intent', Cecilia simply knocked her down, confirmed she didn't intend to ambush, and helped her up.
After a friendly exchange, Esdeath and Cecilia roughly understood each other's identities.
At the same time, they realized they were essentially the same.
They both counted as dead people.
"Hmm, so you were sent here after being... killed by that unnamed gentleman?"
"Yes, the situation is a bit special. But that's a minor matter now."
Hearing the intelligence Cecilia shared, Esdeath felt as if ants were crawling all over her body.
As a pugnacious fighter, Esdeath always craved endless battle.
Not just duels with strong enemies; as a General of the Empire, she also enjoyed leading soldiers to defeat hordes of enemies in various ways.
And now, this woman named Cecilia told her she had come to a world with 'Honkai phenomena'.
The so-called 'Honkai phenomenon' was essentially a testing mechanism that tested humanity in various ways. The existence known as [Honkai Beasts] was one of those mechanisms.
Honkai Beasts weren't exactly everywhere, but according to Schicksal's intelligence, after a Great Eruption, local small-scale Honkai outbreaks would become increasingly frequent.
And with small-scale Honkai outbreaks, Honkai Beasts would inevitably appear.
As long as Honkai Beasts appeared, Esdeath wouldn't lack enemies.
Moreover, judging from Cecilia's description, Honkai Beasts far surpassed those Danger Beasts in both size and combat power.
Cecilia currently retained less than ten percent of her power, yet even at her peak, encountering the strongest Honkai Beasts didn't guarantee a stable kill.
Knowing this, Esdeath felt she was going crazy.
There were suitable opponents in the outside world, but she couldn't participate in battle because she lacked a physical body...
For a fighter craving endless conflict, this was simply too unbearable.
But just then, the two felt the Demon Castle tremble.
As the trembling stopped, the two women, who had found a room to sit in, suddenly noticed a slight change in the scenery outside.
And this castle... it feels like the ground is suddenly a bit tilted. Is it our imagination?
"Ah, this is."
Looking out the window, Cecilia saw a large fox head pressed under the castle, and her eyes suddenly became sharp.
"This feeling... a Herrscher?!"
"Hmm, this is a Herrscher?"
Watching the struggling fox head, Esdeath narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Cecilia, you said Herrschers are strong beings above Honkai Beasts. But the situation now seems different from what you said."
Seeing the struggling fox head letting out miserable screams, Esdeath couldn't connect this oversized fox with the Herrschers Cecilia described as 'each possessing the power to destroy the world'.
It wasn't that the oppression Higokumaru gave her wasn't strong enough.
In fact, even Higokumaru, who had lost most of its power over fifty thousand years, could definitely defeat Esdeath's soul form in a fight.
But well... mainly...
This fox was too embarrassing. Even if Esdeath knew it was stronger than her, she couldn't regard such an embarrassing guy as a powerhouse.
A powerhouse needed absolute strength, but if one had absolute strength without the bearing and mindset of a powerhouse, they were ultimately just a clown with 'power'.
Conversely, even if a warrior's strength wasn't up to par, if they had the bearing and mindset of a powerhouse, Esdeath believed that given time, such a person would inevitably become a powerful warrior.
Higokumaru, suppressed by the Demon Castle, looked to Esdeath like a brat who had gained power, only to rage impotently upon finding its power couldn't suppress the enemy.
"How should I put this... Herrschers and Herrschers are probably different too."
Looking at Higokumaru below, Cecilia could confirm the opponent was indeed a Herrscher.
But the oppression Higokumaru gave her now... was probably only a notch or two stronger than the Pseudo-Herrscher she insta-killed before she died.
A Pseudo-Herrscher?
Or perhaps, this Herrscher... has already been taught a lesson by that gentleman?
"You bastard... you actually dared to ambush me!"
Higokumaru, pressed down by the Demon Castle, felt not only the weight on its body but also an oppression on its soul.
The Demon Castle formed by the Power of Dominance completely suppressed this clever-clever fox from consciousness, mind, to soul.
If not for being in this consciousness space, Aaron, who had just obtained the Power of Dominance, wouldn't have been able to summon the Demon Castle into the real world yet.
Of course, if they had fought in the real world, Higokumaru would have been directly exploded by Aaron already.
"Ambush... Ah, you can't blame me for your own carelessness."
Watching Esdeath and Cecilia jump down from the window ledge, Aaron spoke to them calmly.
"You two, do me a favor. This guy doesn't seem convinced yet. Please beat it until it is."
"Is this... really a Herrscher?"
Looking at the struggling Higokumaru, Cecilia truly felt this scene was too weird.
Her current strength was only one-tenth of her peak, but the feeling this Herrscher gave her... why did it seem to be declining?
Something's wrong. Is this a watered-down Herrscher?
On the other side, Higokumaru suddenly stopped struggling.
When Cecilia approached, it saw the object in her hand.
[Divine Key of Death — Abyss Flower]. This was a powerful weapon developed in its era.
A weapon created by combining the core of the Sixth Herrscher, the [Herrscher of Death], with special materials, allowing the user to wield the Herrscher's power for a short time.
Of course, that wasn't the main point.
The point was, it had previously seen this weapon... and this woman in Aaron's memories of Otto via its Authority!
Cecilia Schariac. This Schicksal Valkyrie, who should have been killed by Otto fourteen years ago, was actually here in this space.
In an instant, Higokumaru sensed a very wrong situation.
In Aaron's memories, Otto determined Cecilia was dead.
But in this consciousness space, Cecilia was still alive. This meant... this man was hiding things from Otto and doing things Otto wouldn't like.
Right, combined with the man's disgust toward Otto earlier, it seemed he wasn't on Otto's side to begin with.
Even if I resist now, I might not be able to beat these three.
Instead of taking a beating and possibly being tormented, why don't... I just surrender obediently?
At this moment, Higokumaru felt its violent temper calming down along with its brain... okay, actually, the temper was forcibly suppressed after being handled by the enemy.
It had been killed once fifty thousand years ago. It absolutely didn't want to endure that pain a second time.
Defeating these people was impossible now.
Since I can't defeat the enemy...
If you can't beat them, join them!
Suddenly, with clarity of thought, Higokumaru felt that trying to resist only to get beaten up would make it look like a massive fool.
Having thought it through, Higokumaru immediately switched forms, changing from demon fox mode to small flying object mode. It prostrated before Aaron in a 'Fierce Tiger Lands on Ground' pose, looking at him with incredibly sincere eyes.
"Boss, I'm sorry, I was wrong!"
"From today on, I'm willing to be your obedient subordinate. Please, absolutely do not kill me!"