A fierce white light emanated from Inaba Tsukiyo. Durandal shielded her eyes, thinking Inaba Tsukiyo had some special attack.
But after waiting for a while, she didn't detect any special attack from Inaba Tsukiyo. Thinking it was a diversion to escape, she charged forward, wielding the Black Abyss White Flower.
Before Durandal could get halfway, a long spear suddenly flew out from the white light.
Facing the incoming spear, Durandal tried to use the Black Abyss White Flower to defend, but found that the spear passed directly through the Black Abyss White Flower, like an intangible phantom.
However, this oddly shaped spear reminded Durandal of the power of a terrifying entity recorded in Schicksal's archives.
As Durandal fell into thought, the phantom-like spear had already passed through Durandal's body, just as before, without causing her any harm.
The next moment, Durandal felt an intense sense of crisis, which made her quickly move away from her current position.
Snap!
A crisp snap of fingers sounded, and the spear, which had been like a phantom, suddenly gained substance.
Although Durandal had dodged in time, her body still suffered a graze, and a tear appeared in her clothes from the spear.
"This is... an Imaginary Spear? Impossible, this can't be! This isn't..."
Durandal clutched her injured spot, her face pale as she looked at the location where the light had dissipated.
Inaba Tsukiyo's figure had vanished, replaced by a purple-haired girl.
The moment Durandal saw the other person, her pupils widened. She was all too familiar with her identity.
Or rather, no Valkyrie of Schicksal could fail to recognize this person; this was... "The Second Herrscher—Herrscher of the Void, Sirin. Why? Why are you here?"
...Hmph! Annoying weapon. From your appearance, are you also a Valkyrie of Schicksal?
Stepping on an Imaginary barrier, Sirin looked down at Durandal, who was clutching her wound, her tone filled with disgust.
Although Sirin's personality had somewhat recovered under Inaba Tsukiyo's brainwashing, she couldn't muster any friendly feelings towards Durandal, who held the Black Abyss White Flower.
Cecilia had defeated her with the Black Abyss White Flower back then, so how could Sirin have a good attitude towards the wielder of this weapon?
A large number of Imaginary Spears appeared behind Sirin, and a multitude of Imaginary arms also emerged around Durandal.
Facing the power of the Second Herrscher, even Durandal, wielding the Black Abyss White Flower, felt immense pressure.
But she did not give up resisting. She gripped the Black Abyss White Flower in her hand and once again began to output its full power.
"This is the true power of that guy? No wonder she's called a Herrscher; she's really amazing."
On a nearby rooftop, Kiana and Yae Sakura were watching Sirin and Durandal's battle.
Since she couldn't help, Kiana chose to be a good spectator, holding a hamburger and cola she'd bought from who-knows-where, watching the spectacular scene.
"Don't underestimate the power of a Herrscher, Kiana. If they were truly serious, do you think this area would be safe and sound? Have you forgotten the disaster caused by the Second Honkai Eruption battle?"
Higanbana's reminder made Kiana recall the crisis humanity faced when the Second Honkai Eruption descended.
That was a global catastrophe, especially after Sirin gained a portion of a god's power on the moon, she became even stronger.
Did she think this was Sirin's full strength? What a joke. Sirin was only using the power of the Herrscher of the Void now, and hadn't used the abilities of her other cores.
The Sirin within Inaba Tsukiyo possessed her full power from her prime. Although she didn't have the assistance of the other four gems, she had already gained enough energy from her previous contact with Raiden Mei and the gem of serenity.
At this moment, Sirin had already reclaimed the powers of the Herrscher of Death and the Herrscher of Thunder. Now, only the powers of the Ruler of Flame and the Herrscher of Wind remained to be acquired.
"…That guy is actually that powerful? Then, did she hear everything I said in front of Mom?"
Kiana had spoken ill of Sirin in front of Inaba Tsukiyo. As a part of Inaba Tsukiyo, Sirin shouldn't have heard her badmouthing, right?
If… if Sirin really heard what she called her, then would Sirin… Kiana began to imagine Sirin suddenly appearing before her, looking at her with a smile, saying, 'You're very arrogant, aren't you?' while controlling imaginary lances and imaginary arms to approach.
She couldn't help but shiver, biting into the hamburger in her hand, trying to vent her inner unease this way.
Suddenly, Inaba Tsukiyo's phone in her pocket rang.
Kiana, who was biting her hamburger, took out the phone in confusion, realizing it was a call from Tesla.
"Hello, what…"
"What exactly are you doing?! Why has the Honkai Energy value in your area exceeded 1000HW?! Do you want to create a new Herrscher?!"
Kiana hadn't finished speaking when Tesla's furious roar directly pierced Kiana's head.
Kiana hastily moved the phone away, but she still felt a bit dizzy. It seemed Tesla's roar just now had immense power.
Actually, it wasn't that Tesla wanted to be like this; it was because seeing the Honkai Energy reaction at Anti-Entropy headquarters had scared her.
A value of 1000HW, though not as terrifying as the 4000HW value in Russia last time, 1000HW of Honkai Energy could theoretically create a new Herrscher.
Coupled with the fact that this abnormal Honkai Energy spot was where Inaba Tsukiyo and her team were on a mission, Tesla couldn't be blamed for overthinking.
"Um… actually, you can't blame us. It's because the S-Rank Valkyrie from Schicksal suddenly appeared in front of us. Mom is currently fighting that person."
Kiana scratched her cheek and told Tesla the general situation.
Through Kiana's narration, Tesla finally understood what had happened. Simply put, Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie Durandal wanted to stir up trouble.
Initially, Inaba Tsukiyo and the other party were evenly matched, but later, for some unknown reason, she suddenly turned into Sirin and beat the other party mercilessly.
"Durandal, Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie. Did Otto discover your location and send her to capture you? And she actually turned into the Second Herrscher. Is it because of the Black Abyss White Flower that the Second Herrscher got angry?"
Tesla was proficient in physical knowledge, but she had no research on such psychological matters.
However, the Honkai Energy was constantly increasing. If it continued like this, that area was very likely to give birth to new Honkai Beasts, and then things would be terrible.
"Dr. Tesla, we should try to end the battle as soon as possible. Since Schicksal's Valkyrie has arrived, then Schicksal's troops must be on standby nearby. If a battle breaks out, this town will not be spared."
"I know that, of course, but how do we end this battle quickly? I don't think the Second Herrscher will listen to us?"
If the Second Herrscher really listened to them, the Second Honkai Eruption wouldn't have happened back then, and those tragedies wouldn't have occurred.
"No, we don't need to do anything. We just need to remind her, after all, she is not simply the Second Herrscher, Dr. Tesla."
On the other side, the battle was nearing its end. Durandal was no match for Sirin. At this point, she no longer had the strength to continue fighting and could only rely on the Black Abyss White Flower to keep herself from falling.
Compared to the incapacitated Durandal, Sirin was much more relaxed.
Like a queen drinking tea in her palace, Sirin sat in the void, looking at the constantly gasping Durandal on the ground, and sighed with a hint of disappointment.
"I thought you, who inherited that guy's weapon, would be more powerful. Is this all you amount to? How disappointing."
Cecilia had once engaged in a tug-of-war with her using the Black Abyss White Flower, persisting until Otto believed Cecilia couldn't defeat Sirin, which was why he launched the missile.
As a result, Durandal lost her combat ability so quickly, which, while satisfying to Sirin, also left her very disappointed.
Durandal bit her lip tightly. She wanted to stand up, but her exhausted body was no longer enough to allow her to rise again.
Although she had known the Second Herrscher was very powerful, she hadn't expected her to reach such a degree.
How did Cecilia manage to fight such a terrifying existence back then? No wonder she was Schicksal's only S-Rank Valkyrie at the time; it was truly frightening.
Seemingly tired of playing, Sirin no longer intended to continue fighting Durandal.
She snapped her fingers lightly, and countless Imaginary Spaces appeared behind Sirin, all aimed at Durandal.
Behind these Imaginary Spaces were all the attacks Sirin had stored in Imaginary Space during her battle with Welt.
Although she scoffed at human weapons, using human weapons to deal with human weapons was, to some extent, even more enjoyable.
The target of the Imaginary Space was Durandal, but once the attack was launched, the town would be affected, and tens of thousands of people would be caught in the crossfire.
Thinking of this, Durandal propped herself up with the Black Abyss White Flower and stood up from the ground. Although she no longer had the strength to continue fighting, she couldn't fall yet.
At least… at least she had to block this attack. She would reduce the losses as much as possible, even if it meant sacrificing her own life.
Just as Sirin was about to launch her attack, her expression suddenly froze. She then whispered something, as if talking to an invisible person.
Then Sirin sighed helplessly, and all the Imaginary Spaces behind her disappeared.
"I'll let you off this time, Schicksal's Valkyrie. Next time, you won't be so lucky."
"! How could I let you escape here! I… I'm going to capture you and bring you back!"
Seeing that Sirin had thoughts of escaping, Durandal, drawing strength from who-knows-where, stood up from the ground, trying to stop Sirin.
Just as she rushed forward, Sirin's appearance began to fade, and Inaba Tsukiyo appeared before Durandal.
Quietly watching the rushing Durandal, Inaba Tsukiyo's pupils suddenly turned golden.
"Kneel! Human!"
The surrounding gravity suddenly intensified, and Durandal was pressed to the ground by this powerful gravity, unable to move.
'My body... it's so heavy. I can't move at all. How many powers does this person... actually have?'
Durandal struggled to lift her head and look at Inaba Tsukiyo. This person's existence was simply illogical. What was going on?
Inaba Tsukiyo glanced indifferently at Durandal, then her body vanished under the power of the Imaginary Space.
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