Meanwhile,
Deep within Jiuyou, Rita had once again donned her Valkyrie battlesuit.
Only this time, she hadn't chosen the lower-consumption 'Striker Fulminata,' but had directly equipped the more demanding Argent Knight: Artemis and Skadi of Eternal Frost.
"My, I never expected the land of Jiuyou to hold such a profound mystery."
Holding her scythe, Rita surveyed her surroundings, chuckling to herself in the empty space.
"To be able to absorb me into this place through the walls, the mystical land of Shenzhou is truly not to be underestimated. However..."
"—Master of Jiuyou, after inviting Rita, do you not intend to show yourself and meet me?"
After saying this, Rita began to concentrate, trying to sense any impending movement.
But unfortunately, her words had no effect on the situation.
It had been a little while since she was drawn into this place.
However, looking at Shenzhou's Eight Trigrams Formation printed on the ground, Rita still chose not to act.
The person who had drawn her here surely held ill intentions towards her.
What a bother.
Communications with headquarters are still down.
It seems Anti-Entropy's interference is still ongoing, which is why I can't contact Lord Otto and Miss Amber?
Logically speaking, as a remarkable person who could be full of energy after just four hours of sleep a day, Rita naturally had more time to learn a variety of skills.
But right now, none of the skills she possessed could solve the current situation.
She really didn't understand esoteric Shenzhou knowledge like the Eight Trigrams Formation.
If she could contact headquarters, Otto could naturally have Schicksal's relevant scholars assist Rita in studying the formation at top speed to help her escape.
But now, unable to contact headquarters, Rita obviously couldn't just sit and wait.
This place, Jiuyou, already felt sinister enough to her.
If Leo Ash and the others were to come here as well, and more people were to get trapped, the situation would only become worse.
Moreover, Rita hadn't forgotten that there were currently three Herrschers in Jiuyou.
If the mysterious power here interfered with the minds of those three Herrschers and caused them to fully awaken in this place, things would get out of hand.
Rita firmly believed that with the power of Schicksal's headquarters, suppressing three awakened Herrschers would be no difficult task.
But before headquarters could dispatch sufficient forces, she would definitely be severely injured, or even killed, by the three Herrschers.
No, it wouldn't just be her. Even Leo Ash, Fu Hua, and that little girl outside could be defeated by the appearance of the three Herrschers.
As for Theresa and the Far East Branch members on standby outside...
Yuna had already defeated Theresa while in her Herrscher form.
Even if Himeko activated the Nexus System, she could at best hold off a Herrscher for a few minutes.
"Sigh, thinking about it that way, I really can't delay any longer."
After saying this, Rita began to walk forward, looking at the Eight Trigrams Formation ahead.
I have no choice.
Proactive trial and error may be a clumsy method, but it's still better than sitting here waiting.
However, just a few steps after she began to move with this thought, Rita immediately felt a sudden increase in the surrounding Honkai Energy fluctuations.
"Oh my, it seems I took a wrong step..."
Watching the Honkai Beasts and Honkai Zombies that suddenly materialized before her, Rita elegantly sliced through the creatures' bodies with her scythe.
But after felling the monsters, Rita felt no sense of relief.
She had taken just one wrong step, and these Honkai Beasts had appeared around her.
Doesn't that mean...
—The Judgment-class Honkai Beast [Chiyou] sealed here, even while sealed, emits enough Honkai Energy to turn this place into a terrifying purgatory?
.....
Somewhere in Jiuyou, inside Chiyou
Forced to enter Chiyou's body for her mission, Raven faintly heard a soft and gentle voice, as if speaking right beside her ear.
"Brave young maiden, the seal is broken, the monster is about to awaken."
"I will leave my final power in the sword. I beg you, you must seal her away."
"A sword... Heh, I don't see any damn sword."
Raven, holding the Seven Thunders of Retribution in slingshot mode, glanced down at the 'weapon' in her hand and retorted irritably.
"This little lady here is all I need."
"Besides, I'm no good person. It's a fool's dream to expect me to help for free."
After saying this, Raven suddenly noticed a change in the Seven Thunders of Retribution in her hand.
The weapon, which had been in slingshot mode, suddenly transformed into its tachi mode after hearing Raven's words.
Although the tachi mode's destructive power was less than the sniper rifle mode's, it was still a hell of a lot better than a slingshot and a lipstick!
"Thanks, little lady."
Gripping the Seven Thunders of Retribution in her hand, Raven began to search for the two seals that existed within the still-slumbering beast.
Sigh, that strange voice just now mentioned that the seal was already broken.
But Chiyou clearly hasn't woken up, which means something else nasty was sealed in this place besides Chiyou.
I have to speed up and finish this mission.
After I complete the mission, Chiyou will awaken, and I still have to find a way to get out of its body.
What a headache. This big bounty really isn't easy to earn.
Even if—fate is on my side, this mission is just too troublesome.
Upon seeing the so-called seal, Raven unhesitatingly stabbed her blade into it.
Raven could feel that the protective power on the outside of this seal was absurdly strong.
If she were to bombard it with other weapons... it would probably take an energy output of 500HW just to break through its defenses.
However, the Third Divine Key, [Seven Thunders of Retribution], was no ordinary weapon.
As the [Key of Judgment] created using the Herrscher of Thunder's core, the Seven Thunders of Retribution naturally possessed immense destructive power and inherited a portion of the Herrscher of Thunder's 'power.'
Under the power of the Herrscher of Thunder's core, anything it struck would be decomposed into molecules.
And even though the seal before her was incredibly durable, under this characteristic of the Key of Judgment, it was gradually being destroyed by Raven.
"Phew, this thing is a real pain."
Looking at the first seal, now completely destroyed, Raven wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a light sigh.
She had thus easily unsealed one of Chiyou's two seals.
But after stepping inside Chiyou's body, Raven, as a Honkai Energy warrior, could get a rough sense of what kind of monster this thing was.
Once Chiyou was unsealed, leaving aside whether Raven herself could escape, Chiyou would definitely bring ruin to countless people.
In her eyes, this thing, once fully unsealed, would probably be on par with a legendary Herrscher.
And because of Chiyou's tough hide, standard-issue weaponry would be useless against it.
At that point, Chiyou's rampage would only bring chaos to the land of Shenzhou.
By then... a lot of people will probably die again.
However, after thinking this far, Raven only hesitated for a moment before deciding to press on.
Although World Serpent was an organization that 'fights the Honkai,' its core [Stigmata Project] would inevitably lead to massive sacrifices.
In other words, theoretically, every executive and even every member of World Serpent was destined to be an executioner.
As a core executive of World Serpent, Raven certainly couldn't stay out of it.
She was never a good person to begin with, and she would harm many more people in the future.
So, at a time like this, instead of worrying about some ordinary, unlucky souls out of sentimentality, Raven thought—she might as well worry about herself.
"One more seal to go. After I break the second seal, I need to find a way out of Chiyou's body."
"Once outside, I'll contact Gray Serpent and Jackal as fast as possible to see if the Quantum Teleportation System can get me out of here quickly."
"As for Chiyou..."
Walking in another direction, Raven pulled down the hood of her black cloak and muttered to herself in an icy tone.
"Heh, what am I even troubling myself for?"
"The world's largest anti-Honkai organization is Schicksal. Haven't those guys already prepared for battle?"
"Using Chiyou to drain Schicksal's strength is killing two birds with one stone for the organization... and here I am, troubling myself over such a perfect plan."
"It seems I've gotten weaker after saving those few brats in Nagazora City, thinking about all this nonsense."
That's right, I don't need to think about it this much.
My goal has always been to survive.
As long as I can achieve my goal, then...
—Trampling on others as stepping stones in order to survive has always been my creed.
...
Outside, Kiana, while pushing the wooden wheelchair Yuna had created with her powers, snuck a glance at Leo Ash, who was feigning sleep in the wheelchair, and couldn't shake a strange feeling.
She had thought that after entering Jiuyou, having obtained a new battlesuit, a new weapon, and having grown stronger through training, she could show off her skills here and be a great help to Leo Ash.
But the reality she now had to face told her—you're overthinking it, young lady.
In the three-person team of Kiana, Leo Ash, and Yuna, Yuna was in charge of detection and reconnaissance with her Honkai-powered plants, and after Leo Ash made his move, he took out the enemies in one go. As for Kiana...
—The only thing she could do was push Leo Ash's wheelchair???
This wasn't just different from what she had imagined; it had absolutely nothing to do with it!
"Yuna."
Leo Ash, with his eyes still closed, suddenly spoke to Yuna.
"Can you detect the flow of Honkai Energy in the surroundings?"
"I've been detecting it this whole time, Senior. But..."
Yuna retracted her vines and said helplessly to Leo Ash.
"Every part of Jiuyou has a strange feeling to it. And as we go deeper, the Honkai Energy intensity keeps getting higher."
"Is that so..."
Looking at Leo Ash's incredibly pale face, Kiana suddenly asked with some concern.
"Senior, are you... really okay like this?"
"Looking at you now, I feel like you're..."
"Of course I'm fine, Kiana—cough, cough, cough, cough, cough."
After a few dry coughs, Leo Ash, pale and extremely weak, said to the two of them.
"Keep moving, don't mind me."
"But—"
"Keep moving."
Leo Ash said again, his tone suddenly rising a few notches.
"I'll be fine after some rest. But since this place feels so strange, we need to be even more prepared."
"Although the Branch Commander and Major Himeko are on standby outside, if possible, if the six of us can resolve this crisis, we can earn a higher score. And you, naturally, can speed up your promotions and acquire better equipment."
Well said. And it's also more convenient for you to climb the ranks and get more chances for revenge, right?
Kiana, who had completed this sarcastic thought in her mind, ultimately chose to swallow her words.
She was very dissatisfied with Leo Ash's current morbid mentality, but the problem was—they were on a battlefield, and arguing about these things wasn't what they should be doing right now.
Senior's psychological problems... I feel like they haven't gotten better, but have actually gotten worse.
In a way, it's a good thing he has no strength right now.
Given his current state, if he had even a bit of energy, he'd probably choose to keep charging to the front lines.
As for Leo Ash, who the two had judged to be 'completely exhausted,' in reality...
—He was nowhere near as weak as he appeared.
When he used Taixu: Endless Jizō Blade earlier, Leo Ash had indeed suffered significant strain due to the overload.
But even overloads came in many different forms.
If Leo Ash's physical condition were categorized like a video game into [HP - Injury Level], [MP - Energy], and [Special Power - Mental Strength], the energy Leo Ash consumed in that one attack was only the mental energy for [Mind Like Still Water] and the large amount of Honkai Energy and mana for Endless Jizō Blade.
He himself was perfectly fine. Uninjured, he still maintained enough combat capability to handle the situation.
But this is strange. I've been deliberately faking weakness for so long, yet no enemies have shown up to attack.
Could it be that Fu Hua's side has already been attacked several times, while our side...
—is actually the safest route?
...