Looking at the blown-away tree, Raven, who had dodged the strike, felt her entire body soaked in cold sweat.
Although she was a Divine Key user, Raven knew her physical constitution was just average.
Saying she was weak wasn't accurate, but against true experts, her melee capabilities were definitely not enough to see.
But the problem is...
Damn it, seeing a little girl take out a straw and blow away a large tree is still very scary, okay (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻!
And considering that if she had been a bit slower, there was a high probability that straw would have hit her...
Generally speaking, being hit by a normal pistol would at most leave a hole in your body.
Even if killed by that kind of attack, one could at least leave a whole corpse.
But if hit by this kind of power, Raven felt that if Gray Serpent arrived nearby later, he would probably only see her face, too late to make a painful expression, and a ground full of minced meat.
After realizing what just happened, Raven felt she might need to go home and change her pants.
Moreover, while gathering intelligence previously, Raven had seen a passage on the internet.
Remember well, although names like "Soul Reaper" and "Dragon's Breath" seem to be everywhere, no one can bear the shame of being killed by "Pink Fluffy Rabbit".
The same logic applied to her current encounter.
If she died at the hands of a Divine Key or a Herrscher's direct attack, Raven figured Gray Serpent wouldn't say anything even if she died.
But if she was really stabbed to death by a straw, then...
Gray Serpent would probably be very speechless and inhumanely destroy her corpse directly.
And Jackal would very wickedly start mocking Raven for being so weak.
Although I knew long ago that the Kaslana family are descendants of the Liege, there wasn't this kind of monster among the Kaslana members we investigated before, okay!
Gray Serpent, this guy, why is the intelligence he gave so seriously problematic!
At first, I thought that in the team surrounding the man named Aaron, the only combatants worth noting were Aaron, who is suspected of suppressing the Herrscher of Thunder, and the [Herrscher of Thunder] Raiden Mei.
But looking at it now, the Liege's descendant also inevitably possesses terrifying sensing abilities and destructive power.
And I can feel that there wasn't any Honkai Energy in that strike at all, hey!
She couldn't have struck out with that terrifying attack relying purely on physical capability, right?!
Forget it, time to bail.
I've already been discovered. If I stay here and don't leave, when those two guys come knocking, let alone surveillance, I reckon I won't be able to keep the Divine Key or my little life.
[Gray Serpent, mission failed.]
[...What is the situation?]
Gray Serpent, who was preparing on the other side, responded immediately upon hearing Raven's communication.
[They discovered you?]
[You might not believe it, but I was almost taken out by a straw just now.]
[What?]
[We need to reformulate the plan. Gray Serpent, I'm serious.]
[Calm down.]
Sensing the panic in Raven's heart, Gray Serpent didn't reprimand her immediately.
Gray Serpent wasn't usually such an easygoing person, but right now there were only a few high-level personnel in the organization. Punishing Raven at a time like this... would be useless.
He, as the half-master who trained Raven, knew exactly what kind of person she was.
This woman was absolutely serious when she worked.
Especially for this mission, Raven, as a veteran, knew very well that this mission concerning the Divine Key was incredibly important to Gray Serpent.
If she would take the initiative to tell Gray Serpent 'Hey boss, I can't handle this' at such a time, it meant the problem was truly severe.
[I am very calm.]
Having snatched that straw with a trembling hand, Raven continued speaking to Gray Serpent while retreating from the scene at top speed.
[It is precisely because I am calm now that I can retreat from the scene.]
[What exactly happened with you almost being taken out by a straw just now?]
[Simply put... Kiana Kaslana, this descendant of the Liege, is moving with Aaron. And then, she discovered me.]
[The little girl casually took a straw and threw it at me... This is damn well kilometers away, hey!]
[I dodged the strike in time, but the tree beside me was directly blown away. Not pierced, but directly blown away by this terrifying force.]
[And I swear, I absolutely did not feel half a bit of Honkai Energy on the straw. Rumor has it the Kaslana family has terrible monstrous strength... Damn, having this kind of physical strength is just too terrifying!]
Raven, now speeding away, was even more afraid after truly calming down.
[And now that I think about it carefully, the problem is even more wrong. After that tree was blown away, it didn't hit anyone around it. This brat had already calculated what would happen after I dodged from the moment she made her move.]
[She definitely calculated the attack angle and force to not harm the innocent bystanders around while performing such an exaggerated act.]
No, why do I feel it was just a coincidence.
The Liege's descendant can use the Meta-Morph Factor and terrifying physical constitution because they have the Liege's bloodline.
It is precisely for this reason that the Kaslana family became the strongest spear in Schicksal's hands, crowned with the title of [Knight] within the Three Houses.
But the problem is, this little girl...
Even when Siegfried was young, he didn't have this kind of strength, right?
Is this the warrior born from combining with the bloodline of the [Schariac] family genius Cecilia Schariac...
Otto, that guy, really created something incredible.
[It is precisely because that little girl has this kind of terrifying power and attack precision that I feel we need to consider changing the plan slightly.]
[Now that I analyze the situation, I find the situation might deviate from what we imagined.]
[Before, we thought Aaron was the person who suppressed and subdued the Herrscher of Thunder. But looking at it now, Kiana Kaslana inevitably also possesses terrifying power.]
[Raven, do you mean... she is the one who suppressed the Herrscher of Thunder?]
[That is one possibility. But the possibilities are far more than just this one.]
[I have roughly deduced three scenarios now.]
[The first is that our idea was correct, Aaron suppressed and tamed the Herrscher of Thunder. He has power above a Herrscher, and Kiana also has impressive power; we have to consider her power in this four-man team as well.]
[The second is that Kiana and Aaron combined tamed the Herrscher of Thunder. If it's this case, then we don't need to change the plan. After all, two people who add up to one Herrscher are actually easier to deal with than a normal Herrscher-level.]
[Looking at your meaning, are there other scenarios?]
[The last scenario is that Aaron has the power to suppress the Herrscher of Thunder. And Kiana also has power rivaling him. If a fight really breaks out, we might be facing three Herrscher-level combatants.]
[Your currently arranged backup, plus the combat puppet modeled after the Liege around the Key of Blankness, can at most stall two Herrscher-levels temporarily. Any more...]
Reading this unfinished message from Raven, even Gray Serpent felt a phantom pain in his non-existent stomach.
Three Herrscher-levels...
If three Herrscher-level enemies appeared on the battlefield simultaneously, Schicksal would have to pay a huge price deploying their entire army to barely defeat them.
But now... where would World Serpent get so much combat power to throw in!
And even if they had this much combat power, Gray Serpent still felt a headache.
Currently, Aaron and his three companions coming to London are only suspected of targeting the Key of Blankness.
But once it is confirmed that Aaron came for the Key of Blankness, if Gray Serpent causes a huge commotion with a bunch of Honkai Beasts, Anti-Entropy and Schicksal will inevitably realize there is an anomaly in London.
Anti-Entropy is currently feeble because their Sovereign is absent, so even if they come, the trouble they create is limited.
The problem is Schicksal.
Otto Apocalypse has already dispatched a Schicksal S-Rank Valkyrie here.
As long as a massive commotion appears here, he will definitely send troops to investigate immediately.
Moreover, the Gem of Serenity is still in Aaron's hand.
Otto might very well seize this opportunity, while we and Aaron fight over the Key of Blankness, to find a chance to ambush us directly and reap the benefits.
Also, the Herrscher of Thunder is there... looking at it this way, if a fight breaks out in London, Otto could join in at any time.
Whether Aaron wins or Otto wins in the end, World Serpent, having the Key of Blankness snatched away, will only become the biggest loser.
Without the Key of Blankness, how will they retrieve the Liege?
Without retrieving the Liege, for World Serpent to complete Project Stigma with its current size...
Difficult, very difficult.
It can even be said to be almost impossible to succeed.
Even if Hare continues the plan on her side, Schicksal will sooner or later detect World Serpent's existence.
Once Schicksal detects the nature of Project Stigma, then Otto, that dog, will definitely go to war with World Serpent at all costs.
Gray Serpent didn't know what that man was seeking, but from his actions, Gray Serpent could analyze—this guy didn't really want to destroy the Honkai.
Then World Serpent, which wants to destroy the Honkai, naturally has an inevitable conflict with Schicksal.
[Raven, have they caught up?]
[Looking at it currently, no.]
[What about that straw?]
[Of course I snatched it. After this mission ends, I'll send it back to Jackal for analysis.]
[Very good. This mission won't count as your failure, but you still have to remain in London next.]
[Of course I know that too... If I ran at a time like this, you'd definitely kill me.]
[But Gray Serpent, I still have to say, although Cocolia handed the Quantum Teleportation System over to us, she definitely kept a portion of the data.]
[Although that guy's operations are often idiotic, she won't take a loss in this regard. The Quantum Teleportation System she gave us is inevitably imperfect.]
[If we don't want to be controlled by others like this, we'd best think of a way to perfect the Quantum Teleportation System ourselves.]
[Jackal has already started preparing for this matter. As long as we can link with the Key of Blankness and utilize a portion of its Authorities to link with the Quantum Teleportation System, our system will inevitably have performance stronger than Cocolia's complete version.]
[That's great then—the problem is how long will Jackal take?]
[I don't know. And now isn't the time to discuss these matters. Let's discuss these things after we secure the Key of Blankness.]
Gray Serpent, who didn't continue passing messages with Raven, began to think about another matter.
Although the Liege's deeds in the ancient British region had been sung as the deeds of King Arthur encountering Merlin, in this day and age, how many people could know that the legendary [Great Magician Merlin] was a savior wielding a greatsword.
The people who could know this intelligence were countable, and even if they knew, they wouldn't necessarily analyze that the legendary Avalon was the Key of Blankness.
Did a mole appear on our side?
It shouldn't be... Aside from Hare, Jackal, me, Raven, and the [Former Raven] Clarence, not many people know this intelligence.
Hare couldn't betray the Liege, and Raven and Jackal have no reason to betray World Serpent.
No, even if they were to betray, there's no need to go find Aaron's group to cooperate...
Aside from Jackal's commendable intellect in research, her intellect in other areas isn't sufficient for her to be a good spy.
And Ciora... Hmph, how could she cooperate with a Herrscher's companion.
She, who hates Herrschers incomparably, even if she betrayed World Serpent, couldn't possibly cooperate with the Herrscher she hates.
Strange, analyzing it this way, is the mole actually myself?
Are you kidding... No, this is actually possible.
There is more than one Gray Serpent. The possibility that one Gray Serpent had an issue and secretly thought of a way to contact Aaron is low, but not non-existent.
And even not considering the possibility of a Gray Serpent having issues, Aaron was a 'normal person' before the Third Honkai Eruption.
He, who hid his power at the time, might have already contacted and stolen a certain Gray Serpent's memories through some means.
If that's the case, then everything makes sense.
But looking at it this way, the probability of him being persuaded by us to join World Serpent is even lower.
The originally resourceful Gray Serpent discovered that this time they had almost entered a dead end.
Aaron has already begun to meet up with his companions.
And the more Gray Serpent analyzed, the more he found the probability of him finding the Key of Blankness was extremely high.
Once a battle breaks out, Schicksal enters the game, and World Serpent will surely lose in this event.
And this person, Aaron, although they grasped his data, they found that Aaron didn't have anyone he valued.
No, maybe the people he values are these companions beside him.
In that case, hostage tactics are useless too.
At this moment, Gray Serpent thought of a long sigh let out by a certain Emperor of Shenzhou while attending a certain banquet.
Sigh, what can be done?