Everything that happened in Russia was within Otto's expectations. Although he wasn't on site, and Russia didn't have a Schicksal branch, Schicksal's network still covered the Russian region.
"Your Eminence. There's a strong Honkai Energy reaction in the city center of Russia. Just as you predicted, Cocolia plans to trigger an artificial large-scale Honkai."
"I know. This isn't the first time Cocolia has used this tactic to create a new Herrscher. If I'm not mistaken, Cocolia must have already ambushed troops to snatch the Herrscher's power. However, she underestimates Schicksal too much."
Otto smiled disdainfully. That woman Cocolia thought her actions were flawless, but it was just Otto's tacit approval.
Before the Herrscher of Death was born, Otto would absolutely not allow Honkai to disappear; in fact, he even had to protect Honkai.
The Herrscher of Death is the Sixth Herrscher. The known Herrschers already include the First Herrscher and the Second Herrscher, and the Third Herrscher has already been born. There is still some distance to the Sixth Herrscher.
Therefore, Otto was very happy to see Cocolia's attempt to artificially trigger a large-scale Honkai to give birth to a Herrscher.
However, Otto believed more in creating a Herrscher through his own methods, as he needed to control this power. This way, Anti-Entropy's titans would just be child's play.
"Hmm? Your Eminence. The city center's surveillance suddenly reported an anomaly. It seems someone has infiltrated Russia's surveillance system."
Suddenly, the city center's surveillance system was infiltrated, and the surveillance footage turned to static, making it impossible to see the content.
"Oh? Those Anti-Entropy guys shouldn't be doing such superfluous things. Ignore all surveillance except for the Queen Hotel. Try to restore the surveillance near the hotel as much as possible. I want to see who wants to join this gem snatching battle."
"Yes, Your Eminence."
It was impossible to restore all the city center's surveillance immediately, but keeping some of it operational was not a problem.
Soon, the monitor screens returned to normal, and the surveillance cameras inside the Queen Hotel also returned to their original state.
The moment the monitors recovered, a black feather caught Otto's attention.
"That image just now, monitor number two hundred seventy-eight, pull that image out separately."
"Yes, Your Eminence."
Although she didn't understand why Otto's emotions had changed so much, the girl still carried out Otto's order and brought up the previous image.
This was external hotel surveillance, and there was nothing unusual, except for a black-purple feather on the ground.
"Replay, replay the footage of this video. Let me see how that feather appeared there."
The monitor screen kept replaying. Under Otto's gaze, a figure quickly leaped across the monitor's view, moving so fast that even the monitor couldn't capture its image.
The appearance of this figure caught Otto's attention. He personally came to the screen, isolated this figure, and continuously operated on the virtual keyboard.
The initially blurry figure continuously changed under Otto's control. First, the clothes: this figure was wearing a very elaborate gown with a purple mask on its face, and the familiar silver hair made Otto's eyes widen.
No one was more familiar with the origin of this gown than him. It was the gown made for Kallen to disguise herself as a phantom thief.
"How is this possible… No, it can't be confirmed yet. I need more evidence. Slow down the other monitors and find the frontal image of this shadow!"
Otto did not immediately react; he calmly thought about why this image appeared.
He had spent several months looking for clues about Kallen, but there had been no news. If it weren't for the previous video, he would have almost thought that Kallen's appearance in Schicksal's database was just a program error.
Soon, Otto found the frontal image of this figure in a surveillance footage and, through special methods, extracted this person from the video.
He waved at the virtual screen, and another virtual screen was pulled over, displaying a very frontal photo of Kallen.
The purpose of pulling out this photo was not for nostalgia, but to compare whether Kallen and the figure appearing in the monitor were the same person.
Just like a dress-up game for girls, Otto swallowed, his right hand trembling as he put on the raven feather mask, and finally, the purple gown.
After putting on the clothes, Kallen was then compared with the Kallen appearing in the monitor. The system quickly reported the comparison results: the similarity was almost as high as ninety-five percent.
Such a high similarity could basically confirm that the figure appearing in the monitor was Kallen.
"Send the S-Rank Valkyrie Durandal to intercept Anti-Entropy's troops! Also, send Rita to Russia. It doesn't matter if she doesn't recover the gem, just capture Kallen!"
"And, prepare for me; I want to personally go and welcome Kallen."
"Your Eminence, there is no accurate information yet. If the opponent is truly Lady Kallen, given her identity, Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie would not be able to catch her at all."
After a moment of hesitation, the girl beside Otto answered truthfully.
If the opponent was truly Kallen, Schicksal's Valkyrie would not be able to catch her at all. Moreover, from the surveillance, it was clear that someone was helping Kallen enter the Queen Hotel.
Most importantly, Otto could not leave Schicksal Headquarters casually. Even if he had to leave, he would need a large number of guards, but Russia did not allow Valkyries or armies to enter.
No, after the explosion last night, the Singaporean government had already cut off contact with Schicksal and begun searching for Fu Hua.
Anti-Entropy's Cocolia must have made some deal with the Singaporean government, which is why she could bring titans and gems here.
The Singaporean government's actions could no longer be considered neutral, so it was not impossible for Schicksal to dispatch support troops.
It's just… doing so would be too troublesome. It would be better to let Rita and Durandal clarify the situation first, and then let Otto take action.
"…Then let Rita go there first to check the situation. Wraith should be nearby, can she be rushed over?"
"A-Rank Valkyrie (codename) Wraith is indeed on standby at a bar near the Queen Hotel, but with the power of an A-Rank Valkyrie, I'm afraid…"
"Is that so? Still not enough. However, this is also because Kallen is too powerful. Even without the oath of judah, ordinary A-Rank Valkyries and S-Rank Valkyries are no match for Kallen. Hehe~ This is the Kallen I know."
Even if he couldn't see Kallen this time, Otto had no dissatisfaction; he even smiled happily.
It wasn't that Schicksal's Valkyries were too weak, but that Kallen was truly too powerful. Schicksal's current Valkyries were no match for Kallen.
"By the way, how is the other target doing now? Have you found any news about her yet?"
The other target Otto referred to was Inaba Tsukiyo, who was also participating in this mission.
From the start of the mission until now, they still hadn't found Inaba Tsukiyo, as if Inaba Tsukiyo had vanished from this world.
"Bishop Otto, do you suspect she has ties to Anti-Entropy?"
"No... While it's not impossible, I saw her attitude towards Cocolia very clearly. She is not an Anti-Entropy person, nor is she a Schicksal person. However, she definitely holds secrets we don't know about, even keeping things from my beloved Granddaughter and my ally."
"How interesting. It seems my plan will have to undergo some slight changes because of her. Of course... the most important thing is to bring Kallen back as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, Inaba Tsukiyo, who was operating at the Queen Hotel, was evading patrols and moving towards the room where the gems were stored.
The figure of Kallen that Otto saw on the surveillance was Inaba Tsukiyo, transformed using Kallen's power. Of course, maintaining this appearance in the real world has a time limit.
"I say, is this really okay? If the cameras spot you, your identity will be exposed."
"Don't worry. To some extent, your purpose this time is to let Otto discover your whereabouts. Use this opportunity to make Kallen appear, then Cecilia, and then Sirin. Heh heh~ Having Sirin appear in Europe will surely cause chaos, won't it?"
Herrscher Tsukiyo deliberately relaxed the degree of corrosion on the hotel's internal surveillance cameras, allowing Otto to see Inaba Tsukiyo infiltrating the building through the monitors.
Of course, doing this was merely to provide a good reason for Cecilia and Sirin to appear later.
Don't think that Herrscher Tsukiyo making Kallen, Cecilia, and Sirin debut as idols was because she was bored; she had a purpose.
(fuhai: Otaku will... (￣ _ , ￣))
As long as Kallen appears first, it will be much smoother for Cecilia and Sirin to appear afterwards.
Even if she no longer had the idea of destroying the world, she wasn't prepared to get along amicably with humans.
Of course, she also didn't think humans would get along amicably with Honkai. Honkai had destroyed countless human homes, and between humans and Honkai, there would only be a conclusion when both sides fought until the last moment.
It's just that this time, Herrscher Tsukiyo wanted to try a method other than the Final Herrscher, the Fourteenth Herrscher, to end this world.
"First, go to the place where the gems are stored. Even if you don't plan to retrieve the gems, their power can still be recovered. The serene death, this power will also help you."
"I understand."
With Herrscher Tsukiyo's guidance, Inaba Tsukiyo quickly arrived at the room where the gems were stored.
Entering the room through the Herrscher of Corrosion's power, it was indeed immersed in a high concentration of Honkai Energy. The Honkai Energy intensity detector nearby had already reached a value of around two thousand and was still continuously rising.
Arriving before the device holding the gem, Inaba Tsukiyo unhesitatingly picked up the gem placed on it.
The moment the gem was picked up, the gem of serenity connected with Sirin's Stigmata, and purple patterns began to appear on Inaba Tsukiyo's arm and eyes.
At the same time, the other soul sleeping within Seele's body opened its eyes.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 40 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
👉 patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!