"Siegfried Kaslana..."
"—Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
Normally, if a junior pointed at someone's nose and cursed them for being out of their mind, that person would get angry to some extent.
Someone with a slightly shorter fuse might even think, 'Damn it, I'm gonna blow up right here and now with you.'
Of course, Siegfried was also very angry right now.
But his anger was only partly due to being cursed at by Leo Ash.
Ultimately, although Siegfried's reputation within Schicksal had been ruined by his wife's obsessive fan spreading rumors, putting aside some details, Siegfried's personality was actually quite good.
And crucially, he was a reasonable person.
He was angry that Leo Ash called him crazy, but what made him even angrier was...
Leo Ash was actually pretty justified in saying so.
As a victim and an insider, Siegfried himself knew that Otto was up to no good.
But just because Otto was up to no good didn't mean that the current Anti-Entropy was doing the right thing.
Cocolia was a member of Anti-Entropy.
And it was true that she was preparing to trigger a large-scale Honkai Eruption.
Combining these two points—in the eyes of an outsider, isn't Anti-Entropy just a monstrous and insane organization that would recklessly trigger a large-scale Honkai Eruption?
Under these circumstances, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Leo Ash choosing the Schicksal organization, 'the boss may not be a good person, but he saved my life.'
In the current situation, it was as if Cocolia was stabbing Anti-Entropy with a knife, over and over again.
Forget about a poor little unlucky guy like Leo Ash, whose life was saved by Schicksal and thus had a natural good impression of it; even a complete bystander would probably shake their head in disbelief at Anti-Entropy's actions.
Incomprehensible, completely incomprehensible.
In the Third Eruption incident, Otto, that schemer, didn't even need to do anything. Just by letting Cocolia proceed smoothly, he could completely ruin the reputation Anti-Entropy had built up over the years.
Welt, oh Welt, how can you just sit back and watch at a time like this!
Siegfried, half-dead from Cocolia's infuriating actions, was now thoroughly convinced that he couldn't win an argument against this kid.
It wasn't just that his eloquence was poor; the key was that Anti-Entropy was in the wrong in this matter.
As long as the other party's thinking was logical, it was impossible for them to follow him and join Anti-Entropy.
As for Siegfried directly disclosing the incident from fourteen years ago to Leo Ash, telling him, 'Hey kid, back then Otto blew me and my wife half to death with a Honkai Fission Missile, that's how my wife was done in.'
Someone would have to believe it for it to matter.
Afterward, Siegfried and a few good friends analyzed the matter, but no matter how they analyzed it, they couldn't fully understand why Otto would choose to silence Siegfried and Cecilia after Sirin's death.
At that time, the three strongest warriors in Schicksal on paper were the strongest warriors of the three great families, who respectively held the Divine Keys: the [Key of Destruction], the [Key of Creation], and the [Key of Binding].
Otto must have been bored out of his mind to backstab and try to kill the loyal geniuses of the Kaslana and Schariac clans...
Who would believe such a story?
"There's no other way."
At that moment, Siegfried looked at the young man before him and sighed helplessly.
"If talking won't work, then I'll just have to knock you out."
"Hang in there, kid. I won't use lethal force."
"Oh, thanks a lot for that."
Confirming that the System hadn't popped up with a reward notification, Leo Ash nodded slightly.
Sigh, that's just how good guys from the righteous faction are.
Seeing that I'm alone and not a threat, they can't even be bothered to kill me—which is great.
"Alright, the chit-chat ends here. I don't want someone tailing my daughter all the time, kid..."
At that moment, Siegfried suddenly disappeared from before Leo Ash's eyes.
And at the same time, Leo Ash immediately activated the skill he had acquired earlier.
Royal Guard, activate!
Relying on his own physical abilities, Siegfried took just one step forward and dashed directly behind Leo Ash.
With a blow delivered with controlled force, he struck the young man on the back of the neck, knocking him out with a single hit...
—At least, that's what he thought.
But just at the moment he was about to hit his target, the other party actually turned around and blocked Siegfried's blow with incredible precision.
"Hmm...!"
Before engaging, Siegfried had observed him.
This little guy seemed to have some foundation in close-quarters combat, but his skill level was just average.
There was no Honkai Energy surrounding his body; he looked like just an elite among ordinary people.
Facing an ordinary person who didn't know how to use Honkai Energy, Siegfried not only refrained from using Honkai Energy in his attack, but he also adjusted his strength to an incredibly low level.
After all, Siegfried really had no intention of killing him; he just wanted to knock him out.
But even so... isn't it a bit too exaggerated that this kid easily blocked my attack?
However, Siegfried didn't know that it wasn't over yet.
In a split-second exchange, the two fought to a draw.
But Siegfried's physical constitution was faster. After realizing his attack was ineffective, Siegfried had already begun to get slightly serious.
Although he still wasn't using Honkai Energy, he had stopped holding back the monstrous strength of the Kaslana clan.
As a result, to his utter surprise, the young man in front of him could still accurately block his attacks even after he unleashed his monstrous strength.
Wow, this is a little terrifying.
Even if I only have one arm left, and my body is half-crippled due to the so-called [Power of Salvation], I shouldn't be held up by a little kid.
And right now, I can still feel it—he still has no Honkai Energy on him.
How strange. No Honkai Energy, fighting skills only slightly better than an ordinary person, no Stigmata or other equipment... how is he blocking this monstrous strength?
And something's not right.
His close-quarters combat skill is actually improving?!
If, at the beginning, Leo Ash facing Siegfried was just barely able to parry his attacks, then after less than twenty seconds of fighting, the situation started to feel off.
Hold on, wait, what's going on?
Even though I only have one hand.
Even though I fought that girl named Rita today and lost some strength.
Even though I'm not using Honkai Energy right now.
But no matter what, I'm still the strongest of the Kaslana clan, right?
So what is this feeling right now?
This kid, in terms of hand-to-hand combat...
—seems to be overpowering me???
.