What exactly was the Herrscher's power?
Based on its expression, it was nothing more than the manipulation of threads, which then extended to the control of puppets.
It seemed that all its combat power lay in the threads and that puppet, suggesting it was not skilled in direct combat.
If one only analyzed its performance, this would be the conclusion. But what if the scope was expanded? Expanded to include all its aspects, encompassing the entire battlefield.
Shu raised his hands. The environment around him began to shrink, eventually transforming into an extremely exquisite sandbox that settled before him.
The first anomaly—Mei's fragility.
Only after he calmed down did he sense that something was wrong with Mei. Kiana's blow was significant, but was Mei the type to give up halfway through a battle?
One could only say it was possible... At least at the time, Shu feared such a thing and, in his panic, failed to notice anything amiss.
But in reality, the probability of this was very small, so small that even a little bit of calmness would have revealed that something was wrong...
The reason was unknown, but for now, he would attribute it to the Herrscher.
The second anomaly—how did Bronya fall under its control?
Bronya was not on the front lines. From the traces of the battle, the Herrscher had been fighting Mei and Kiana the entire time. The frequency of their exchanges was high, but the total duration was short.
This indicated that the battle was intense. Based on Shu's own assessment of the Herrscher's strength, it likely didn't have much spare capacity to deal with Bronya.
Yet, with limited ability, it managed to make Bronya fall, while Kiana, another target of its control, was unaffected at the time.
Was it a matter of distance? No, Seele was at the same distance, but she wasn't attacked.
A matter of contagion? Sin Mal had encountered the controlled Frélle, and yet...
Frélle?
Shu suddenly realized something. Among the three people controlled by the Herrscher, it seemed only Frélle had truly sided with the enemy, attacking Sin Mal.
Compared to Kiana's struggle, Bronya's loss of consciousness, and Frélle's controlled state, the conditions of these three people seemed to form a chain, a progressive relationship.
So, what was increasing in content, leading to the worsening of the "illness"?
Undoubtedly, it was the Herrscher's power, but there had to be a trigger, right? Like the Herrscher of the Legion using words...
...
Threads, puppets, hiding in the shadows, skilled at scheming, and equally adept at exploiting weaknesses...
Shu directly applied this similar template to the Herrscher. Similar flowers might not be able to replace each other, but they could always produce similar effects.
Just as there are always interchangeable herbs in a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, it's just a matter of a few more supplementary ingredients.
And once he substituted in the Herrscher of the Legion, the first factor that came to Shu's mind was the issue of mentality.
Mentality... The common mentality shared by Frélle, Bronya, and Kiana was—
Being controlled.
The control exerted by a noble family on its members from birth, the control Cocolia had over Bronya's free choice, and his own control over Kiana out of distrust.
All three had it, and the key to the progressive relationship was this—!
Then what was the medium for activating the ability?
Was it threads, words, Honkai energy, or...
The views and gazes of others?
Shu understood. The essence of the Herrscher's power.
It wasn't physical threads that controlled the puppets, but people's lines of sight.
The puppet had only ever appeared within people's line of sight. No wonder that in front of the train, despite its high mobility, it chose to engage in a firefight with him like a turret.
Because all the "audience" was behind him, all gazes were in one direction. And when everyone's attention was drawn to the thread attacking the train, the puppet vanished.
Everything was too coincidental. It appeared right before his eyes, as if it had to be performed for him to see.
The power's influence on Frélle came from the gazes of her family. The influence on Bronya came from Cocolia's gaze on her. The influence on Kiana came from his own gaze on her...
And in the end, the power's influence on Mei likely came from him as well.
It was his fear of further loss, his fear that Mei would actually do that extremely improbable foolish thing. His gaze became substance, and his inner thoughts thus formed a "script" that the other could manipulate and realize. And so, the scene he didn't want to see appeared.
This was the Herrscher's true power—to rely on the thoughts in others' hearts to achieve the scenes in their minds.
It was [Desire].
Shu let out a long breath. He didn't know if his mood was one of heaviness from the pressure or relief from finally having the answer.
But the hand he had been dealt was still not optimistic. Shu was almost certain that, compared to him rushing in and fighting to the death, turning the other's script into a [Tragedy], the other would definitely prefer him to stay outside, giving it a chance to proceed step by step.
That canopy was meant to stop him. That was why it hadn't chosen to kill them.
In other words, he had already been forced into the other's chess game. This feeling... was remarkably similar to his battle with Evolution.
But this time, he was the challenged powerhouse, forced to step into the other's plan and seek a breakthrough from within.
Since the other would use Noah's power fluctuations to hide its movements, then Noah and Cocolia were definitely part of its calculations as well.
In fact, everyone on the Mediterranean coast was part of its calculations.
He needed a [blind card] that the other couldn't see.
"We need one more helper." Shu clasped his hands together, as if gathering all the surrounding light into his palms. Cocolia, who had returned to the room, felt as if she had been reborn.
Her estimation of Shu had been too low... but none of that mattered now.
In this cooperation, Shu was determined to have the lead. She saw no chance of gaining it herself. Moreover, besides Shu, she was the absolute weaker party.
"Are there any other helpers?" Cocolia sighed. It was the first time she had been in such a humble position.
"An AI," Shu answered succinctly, then turned and quickly left the room.
At the villa's entrance, the two burly men were still craning their necks to look inside. In the blink of an eye, they saw Shu striding out.
"Take us to the train station." Shu saw the armored car nearby. This was a residential area; the armored car must have been driven here by someone else.
"Huh?" The bearded man was taken aback for a moment, then nodded excitedly. "Alright! I understand!"
"And you two, go inform everyone here to head to the train station. Be ready to depart at any moment. Mobilize everything you can."
"And then..." Shu looked toward the island.
"Wait for me to tear all of that bastard's scripts to shreds."