Mobius looked at the black mist and white light in her hands, the corners of her mouth curling up into a smile once more.
"I understand now. So, you want to learn biology to take your understanding of the Authority of the Herrscher of Death to the next level, correct?"
"Yes, Dr. Mobius." Irene nodded without concealing anything. If she had exposed her identity as a Herrscher without anyone endorsing her beforehand, entering the Realm would have resulted in hostility from the others, to say the least.
There was no other reason; considering how much the Previous Era had suffered at the hands of Herrschers, their hatred for them was just as intense. The reason Mei wasn't killed immediately was, firstly, because Kevin had spoken to Klein.
Secondly, Elysia had approached Mei from the start, proving to everyone that Mei was not an evil Herrscher, but one who fought for humanity.
That was why she didn't face a gang beating from the Flame-Chasers. Of course, Mei's treatment later on was largely her own fault for stepping on too many landmines; she was practically dancing in the minefield on the opposite side.
However, Irene naturally wouldn't do something like dancing in a minefield. So, even if Irene revealed her identity as a Herrscher now, she wouldn't face too much difficulty.
She had already farmed enough favorability from the Flame-Chasers and demonstrated her friendliness. Therefore, the identity of a Herrscher would instead receive a different kind of preferential treatment here.
This was beneficial to her. Furthermore, Irene turned to look at Elysia. Seeing the increasingly gentle smile in the other's eyes, it also let Elysia understand that her efforts were not in vain.
"How truly interesting, Lab Rat." Mobius looked at Irene. "Since that's the case, I can teach you. But tell me, what does it feel like to undergo Herrscher transformation?"
Mobius had always wanted to know why there was such hostility toward humans after becoming a Herrscher. Aside from a certain guy, no one had given her an answer. But that certain guy was a natural-born Herrscher, so her feelings were obvious and couldn't count.
As for why she wanted to know, there was no special reason, nor was it for research; she simply wanted to know.
She wanted to know: after becoming a Herrscher, does one really directly turn their back on humanity?
Hearing Mobius's question, Irene was a bit puzzled. She didn't quite understand why Mobius would ask such a thing. Aside from it hurting a lot at the time, she really didn't feel anything special.
Seeing Irene remain silent, Mobius continued to press, "What is it? Is this question difficult to answer?"
"Mm... it's not that it's hard to answer." Irene shook her head. Did she have any feelings at that time? She definitely did, but all that remained was the pain.
Aside from that...
After thinking for a moment, Irene poked [Irene], who was lurking in her consciousness.
[Come out and help. You explain it; you should know, right?]
[No problem.] [Irene] nodded. She took over control of the body that Irene handed over, looked up at Mobius, and the aura around her body quietly shifted.
"Good afternoon, Miss Mobius and Miss Elysia. I am [Irene]."
"Oh my." Elysia looked at [Irene], who had suddenly switched tones, and instantly understood the situation. After all, there was already Vill-V among them who frequently performed similar acts.
"Hello there, Miss Irene?"
"It is [Irene]." [Irene] raised her hand and pointed at the smile on her face. "To get back to the topic, I am the dear Herrscher personality."
"I am the Herrscher personality who should have been born under the catalysis of the Honkai, inheriting all of my Dear's memories, and then destroying everything with malice toward humanity."
"...Inheriting memories and then being filled with malice toward humanity?" Mobius took a deep breath and looked at [Irene], continuing her inquiry. "Then why, looking at you now, do you not possess such emotions?"
"And what exactly is the situation with this so-called malice toward humanity that was catalyzed?"
"Mm, the correct answer is, I don't know either." [Irene] spread her hands, delivering the optimal answer directly to Mobius. "I am just a Herrscher personality."
"However, I can answer the other question. The answer is that my Dear has absolutely no negative emotions toward this world or humanity in her heart."
"Even the Honkai couldn't find a possibility for my Dear to resent this world. Subsequently~" [Irene] pointed at herself. "As a substitute, the Herrscher personality of my Dear—that is, me—was born."
"I successfully accepted all of my Dear's memories, but regrettably, just as I said, the Honkai could not find a single shred of negative emotion in my Dear's mind or memories."
"Therefore, having obtained all of [My] memories, I fell in love with my Dear. Since that is the case, the Honkai or whatever doesn't matter anymore. My Dear is what's important~"
"Since my Dear wants to save this world? Then I am willing to save this world together with my Dear. It is just that simple. I wonder if this answer satisfies Dr. Mobius?"
Mobius listened to [Irene]'s answer and remained silent for a long while before speaking. "...I am not satisfied. However, since you have given an answer, I will naturally teach you."
Mobius had already seen that [Irene] was the true body utilizing the Herrscher Authority, and the one who needed to learn was actually [Irene]. However, Irene's answer didn't actually explain the doubts in Mobius's heart.
Mobius's gaze bypassed Irene to look at Klein, who was standing to the side holding a tablet. There was no longer any need to know the answer to that question. Too much time had passed.
Moreover, the events had long since occurred, and there would never be a time for regret. Even if she knew the answer to that question, what could be done?
So, Mobius merely felt a bit of regret. That was all, truly.
On the other side, Elysia's gaze toward Irene became increasingly gentle and satisfied, especially regarding [Irene]'s statement just now about why she held no malice toward humanity.
It was because even the Honkai couldn't find a shred of anything in Irene's heart that could serve as a negative emotion.
"Since you want me to teach you, then prepare yourself properly for hellish learning." Mobius looked at Irene. "My teaching won't be as relaxed as it is in school."
"No problem, I am already prepared." Irene took back control from [Irene]. Looking at Mobius, she needed to learn exactly how to master every bit of her power.
The more she mastered, the more likely she would be able to accomplish more in the future. This was a necessary sacrifice.
"Oh, right. Before studying, can I ask about Rin's current status?"
"That little one's status?" Mobius turned to look at an inner laboratory room. "I am still looking for a method, but I think the replicas that were originally prepared probably can't be used directly."
"After all, it was the virus that Dr. Mobius had Hua extract from the Black Box back then," Cangxuan suddenly spoke up at this moment. "Those viruses should also originally belong to a Herrscher personality. It's normal that there's no way to use them directly on Rin."
"Although they can't be used directly, I have plenty of data." Mobius glanced back at Cangxuan. "And in the end, the experiment was a success, wasn't it? Cangxuan."
Sensing that the atmosphere was a bit off, Elysia seamlessly interposed herself between the two, looking at Mobius. "So, does our cute Professor Mobius have any leads?"
"Not for the time being, but I will get it done." Mobius's words were filled with confidence, even though she indeed had no leads right now.
After all, Rin's current state was truly difficult to handle. Perhaps due to Rin's own personality, or perhaps due to the influence of self-formatting, the activity of the Corruption virus acting as Rin's carrier was not high.
The desire for self-replication wasn't strong; otherwise, after so much time, it wouldn't still be this scarce. But the problem lay in the fact that Rin simply lacked the virus as a carrier.
However, she was Mobius. As long as she researched for a period of time, she would definitely be able to find a way.
Mobius turned back to look at Irene. "However, there might be progress among the researchers over there too. I will teach you properly in my spare time, Lab Rat~"
Irene looked at Mobius and said weakly, "I still hope Dr. Mobius can go easy on me. I really can be counted as having zero foundation."
"It doesn't matter. As long as what's on top of your neck isn't an egg, I think I should be able to help you build a solid foundation." Mobius wore a smile on her face.
In the Previous Era, although her reputation wasn't good, if she said she wanted to recruit a disciple, there would be a pile of people willing to sharpen their heads just to squeeze in.
With Mobius's content of knowledge, as long as Irene wasn't an idiot or truly inept at learning, she could at least teach Irene to the doctoral standard.
As for the speed, that would really depend on Irene's IQ and talent.
St. Freya Academy
Inside the Principal's Office, Theresa Apocalypse was pacing anxiously, clutching a communicator in her hand, seemingly waiting for a response from the other side.
She had been trying to contact Irene for a full day.
Several days had passed since Irene took leave. At first, Theresa could force herself to remain calm, believing Irene's excuse that she would "return after handling some matters."
But as time passed, Theresa became worried. This morning, she finally couldn't resist calling Irene's phone, but all she heard was the prompt that it could not be connected.
Irene's sudden disappearance without cause, and the inability to contact her now, made Theresa considerably worried. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about using Schicksal's resources to query Irene's whereabouts.
With Schicksal's intelligence network, locating a Valkyrie wouldn't be a difficult task. But the moment this thought emerged, Theresa forcibly suppressed it.
After all, Otto was above her. If she used her authority to specifically search for Irene, it would definitely be known by Otto.
If Grandpa became interested in Irene then, it would be terrible. With no other choice, she remembered another option: Anti-Entropy.
Having established a certain degree of secret cooperation with Dr. Einstein last time, Theresa had obtained a communicator to contact Anti-Entropy and had relayed her request.
However, what Theresa found strange was that Anti-Entropy seemed very concerned about Irene's affairs.
The communicator flashed a few times, and Einstein's calm yet slightly lazy voice came through. "Ms. Theresa, we found that Miss Irene arrived in London via a commercial airliner several days ago and stayed for one night at a booked hotel."
"After checking out the next morning, she took a taxi from the hotel entrance and left... but after Miss Irene got into the taxi, no further records of her can be found."
Theresa's heart sank. "...Vanished?"
"You could understand it that way." Einstein's voice remained steady but also carried a trace of doubt. "The information for that taxi was forged; it cannot be traced."
"..." Theresa pursed her lips and continued to ask, "Is there anything special happening in London?"
Irene definitely wouldn't appear in London without reason; there must be something Irene had to do there.
"There is indeed something worth noting." Einstein nodded. "Two days after Miss Irene left London, a high-intensity energy conflict occurred in a certain area along the River Thames in London."
"Based on the surveillance we could find, it can be determined that Durandal and Rita were fighting something. Judging from the scene of the battle, it appears they were facing a combatant who uses fire."
"But at that time, Miss Irene had already left. Moreover, Miss Irene's ability list shouldn't include fire, right?"
Theresa's breathing paused slightly. Durandal and Rita dispatched at the same time? One had to know that in the entire Schicksal, there were only three S-Rank Valkyries. Aside from herself, it was Durandal and Rita.
A mission requiring the dispatch of two S-Rank Valkyries must be extremely important.
"What was the result of the battle?" Theresa asked urgently. "Do we know why exactly? Did a Great Eruption occur in London?"
"The battle seemed to be controlled within a relatively small range, but the destructive power was astonishing. Schicksal is keeping this matter highly confidential; we cannot ascertain more details."
"We can only determine that it was not due to a Great Eruption. The area we know of has now been sealed off by Schicksal, leaving behind ruins that need clearing."
Both ends of the communicator fell into silence. Theresa sighed, hung up the communicator, and her eyes looked somewhat melancholic.
Although Irene had already left when the battle occurred, a fierce battle involving two S-Rank Valkyries broke out in London just after Irene departed.
This couldn't be a coincidence. Something must have happened in London—something Irene went to handle. But why was Irene out of contact now?
Theresa put away the communicator and turned to look at the setting sun gradually sinking outside the window, the afterglow dyeing the academy in a warm orange.
"Irene... where exactly... are you?"
________________________________________
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