If the fuse were to blow and the worst-case scenario occurred, Evan would have the Herrscher Mei use her electromagnetic abilities to cover the sky above St. Freya Academy, forcibly blocking all communications through violent means. At the same time, Himeko Murata was already on standby on the Hyperion, ready to intercept the Schicksal transport plane should it attempt to take off.
Evan hadn't explicitly told them that Kiana had been abducted, instead giving them rather abrupt orders to prepare. However, neither Herrscher Mei nor Himeko Murata asked further questions; they simply nodded and agreed decisively.
Herrscher Mei just added a request in passing, saying she hoped to go on a date with Evan. Evan didn't refuse, though he was slightly surprised that Herrscher Mei would proactively make such a request.
One had to know that compared to Raiden Mei, the Herrscher Mei's personality leaned more toward being domineering.
However, now was not the time to consider such things.
Standing in the shadow of a high-rise building not far from the tarmac, Evan watched the transport plane in the distance.
Schicksal naturally wouldn't conduct tests on Kiana in a public setting; their series of activities would only take place inside the transport plane. Neither naked eyes nor high-tech instruments could penetrate the plane's fuselage made of special alloys to see the situation inside. Evan could only sense the state of the "fuse" and be ready to deal with any special situations at any moment.
Cutting off communications was to ensure that if the worst outcome occurred and conflict erupted between St. Freya Academy and Schicksal, Rita wouldn't be able to report the situation to Overseer Otto. Otto, not knowing the true situation, wouldn't come to St. Freya Academy personally just because he lost contact with this unit. It was more likely he would choose to wait until the anomaly was confirmed before sending another Schicksal S-rank Valkyrie.
The time span involved could be as short as a few days or as long as ten days to half a month. If it really came to the point of complete opposition against Schicksal, this time would be very precious to Evan.
As for having Himeko Murata go to the Hyperion, it was simply to prevent the transport plane from kidnapping Kiana and escaping. Even if Schicksal's technology was superior to St. Freya Academy's, the relatively small size of the transport plane destined that it couldn't carry any exaggerated technology. A single Hyperion was enough to intercept it.
As for Rita, the S-rank Valkyrie, Evan was also prepared to fight her. With his strength increased again and holding the Key of Corruption [Jizo Mitama], Evan wanted to see who was stronger between him and an S-rank Valkyrie.
In the worst case, there was still Yae Sakura as backup, who possessed a Pseudo-Herrscher body comparable to a true Herrscher.
If things developed to that stage, Evan had also thought out the subsequent plan—to lay his cards on the table directly with Teacher Welt, whose true identity was the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, and establish an alliance between St. Freya Academy and Anti-Entropy to jointly fight Schicksal.
The only two things that might cause complications were the attitude of the Anti-Entropy Sovereign and the attitude of St. Freya Academy's Principal, Theresa. But in Evan's view, if all the hidden circumstances and pros and cons were explained clearly, neither of them would oppose the alliance.
Looking at the transport plane that remained very quiet on the tarmac, Evan let out a light breath.
"Although it's not the most appropriate time, I am ready. What will you do? Otto."
The one deciding whether things would evolve to the worst stage was that fuse. And the one deciding whether that fuse would blow wasn't Rita or the other Schicksal researchers in the transport plane, but Schicksal Overseer Otto.
Whether it was Rita or the others, they were all executing Otto's orders. They wouldn't take extra actions on their own initiative, nor would they disobey orders and do anything less.
Otto, who ostensibly wanted to realize the ideal of "mastering the power of a Herrscher in a human body," actually harbored other goals. He had formulated a very meticulous plan without revealing the full picture to anyone.
Otto had fueled the flames in the dark, ensuring Kiana reached Nagazora City and letting Theresa know Kiana's movements, causing the two to connect and indirectly leading Kiana to join St. Freya Academy.
That was one link in Otto's plan, and now was a new link. He seemed not to believe anyone could hinder the plan, and St. Freya Academy and Theresa indeed hadn't had any suspicions before this.
However, Otto didn't know that this world had an extra visitor who originally didn't exist. And the current St. Freya Academy wasn't completely helpless against Schicksal. Otto, who had lived through five hundred years, was indeed as wise as an abyss, but he was ultimately human, not a god; there were omissions.
Having been the Overseer of Schicksal for five hundred years, sitting on the throne of humanity's highest power for so long, Otto's life experience had become richer, but he had also become prouder.
Because of pride, he wouldn't test a person or force he believed he already understood sufficiently again.
One minute, five minutes, ten minutes.
Evan didn't let down his guard because of the passage of time. He silently sensed the state of the fuse.
In a corner of St. Freya Academy, on the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings, the purple-eyed Herrscher Mei was leaning against the railing, looking at her phone.
Once Evan sent a text, she would use her electromagnetic abilities to disrupt the magnetic field of St. Freya Academy, disabling communication equipment.
The Hyperion's dedicated hangar was currently open. St. Freya Academy's strongest aerial battleship could take off at any time to seize air superiority. Himeko Murata, who had changed into her battlesuit, was also waiting for Evan's communication. Beside her were crew members who were slightly confused but performed their duties, operating various instruments.
Another ten minutes passed. It had been nearly half an hour since Kiana was taken into the transport plane. The face of Evan, who had been staring expressionlessly at that spot, finally changed.
Rita carried the still-comatose Kiana out and said something to Fu Hua, after which Fu Hua carried Kiana on her back and left.
The fuse didn't blow. Schicksal's action this time was truly just to check Kiana's body, without any extra experiments.
Evan took out his phone and sent two texts to Raiden Mei and Himeko Murata respectively, then left the shadow.
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