Not even a moment was spent mourning Shigure Kira's collapse. The next person to arrive on the battlefield was — the launcher of Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie Judah, Schicksal's Archbishop's granddaughter, the second-in-line successor of Schicksal, the former world's top idol, the magical girl Teriri…
On the endless snowy plain, a short white-haired girl wearing a thickened nun outfit was stepping on a golden cross that was taller than herself, flying toward Babylon Tower at extremely high speed.
"Captain, have you finished your mission? Or did you go slacking off again? You say you like Theresa the most, but you won't spend money on me to buy Judah…" From the carefree way she was humming, one could tell she was in a pretty good mood.
And that was indeed the case. Theresa had stared at the barrier left behind by her grandfather for so long and had finally learned how to use Judah's Zero Rated Power.
Only then had she bid farewell to the cage that had been watching her and rushed nonstop toward Babylon Tower.
"Fellow Daoist, please wait!" A child who looked about ten years old suddenly ran out and blocked Theresa's path, looking exactly like someone trying to scam her.
Fortunately, Judah was no ordinary Divine Key. Braking with it could bring tears to Newton's eyes, so it did not pass through Shun's body.
In truth, even if Theresa hadn't braked it wouldn't have mattered, but Shun was afraid that Theresa would charge into the range of Fenghuang Down without any preparation, which would add yet another head to Sirin's side.
This was currently the only opportunity to get involved. Judah's Zero Rated Power was a bug no matter when it was used. Even if Sirin had a few more Cores on her, it was still a skill that could potentially trade one for one.
"Hey, you kid, do you know how dangerous it is to suddenly jump out and block a vehicle like that!" Theresa looked irritably at Shun, who had jumped out to block Judah. The more she looked at him, the more familiar he seemed.
"But if you go even a little further forward, you'll enter the illusion of Fenghuang Down. Like this." Shun pointed at Shigure Kira, who was still sleeping peacefully and even smiling, and said.
"Kira… I thought…" Theresa saw her good friend whom she had thought was dead and felt a moment of relief.
However, thinking of the empty grave for Shigure Kira that had already been set up in the Schicksal cemetery, Theresa felt a bit awkward.
"Still… if Kira is still alive, then the person beside her… you must be little Shun, right?"
WC, boxed! No, it was normal for Theresa to know about his existence. Hadn't Cecilia told her about it back then?
Shun nodded and replied, "If I remember correctly, you're the Theresa-nee that Cecilia-nee mentioned, right?"
Since his identity hadn't been exposed yet, he might as well continue relying on his age advantage and act cute.
"Mm. But I remember you're Sirin's little brother, right…" Theresa said, as if recalling something.
WC, this time he was really boxed. You people from Schicksal really work fast — when did you manage to dig up information on me?
Shun saw that he could no longer keep hiding it, so he decided to be straightforward with Theresa. "That's right. Kira-nee brought me here because she wanted to help me find Sirin and see if we could stop her."
In truth, that wasn't the case — Shigure Kira had come for revenge. But wasn't she still dreaming right now? She couldn't jump out to refute him anyway.
"Little Shun, I want to become the world's number one idol…" Look, she was even talking in her sleep. She didn't even know that the former world's number one idol was standing right beside her.
"Sirin is your older sister. You should understand her better than I do. Tell me, how do you plan to persuade her?"
Theresa's greatest strength was knowing her own limits and being willing to listen to advice. With Shun — Sirin's family member — here, if they could avoid fighting this Herrscher and resolve the Second Honkai Impact, that would naturally be the best outcome.
"Who said I was going to persuade Sirin? I can strip Sirin and the Herrscher Core out from her, stopping her at the root."
"?" What are you talking about? Have I been locked up for so long that I can't keep up with the current version anymore? Why can a child like you strip out a Herrscher Core?
"Shun, do you have a fever?" Theresa said as she reached out with the back of her hand to feel Shun's forehead, but Shun quickly dodged by shaking his head.
"Theresa, I'm not lying." Shun stared into Theresa's eyes and spoke seriously. Perhaps because she wasn't used to being stared at like that, the two of them stared at each other for a while. Theresa finally sighed and gave in.
"But… fine. Just don't trick me, okay?" Just like how Theresa would easily believe Shun more than ten years later, the Theresa from more than ten years ago also inexplicably believed Shun as if she had been bewitched.
"Tell me what I should do. I'm not very good at thinking."
Seeing Theresa relent, Shun also breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know how he had managed to convince her, now was not the time to think about that.
"Theresa, how long can you maintain Judah's Zero Rated Power at most right now?"
"About one minute… If it exceeds one minute, the Vishnu Factor in my body might collapse. If it goes over one minute, Judah will automatically stop it for me."
Theresa recalled that when she had opened the Divine Grace Barrier in Otto's secret room, it had also been forcibly stopped by Judah after one minute.
One minute… Although it wasn't long, it was the maximum time Theresa could strive for.
Shun thought of one of the functions of his Stigmata — "Touch Reality." Using that should allow him to forcibly extract the Herrscher Core from Sirin's body.
"Then what do we do now? If we enter that range we'll be hypnotized like Kira, so won't we just be stuck here staring blankly?"
"Wait. Wait until the Fenghuang Down illusion shatters. Theresa, have Judah carry both of us and fly to the top of Babylon Tower as fast as possible."
If the plot development wasn't too different from the original, then Old Yang's Core was probably still inside Sirin. In that case, the Herrscher of Reason — who had sacrificed his life for humanity countless times — would definitely cause trouble again inside the dream.
Although Shun often complained that he was the Herrscher of Failed Negotiations, right now he really needed Welt Yang to use his Authority of Failed Negotiations to break the Fenghuang Down illusion.
At the very least, the current Sirin, even if she might develop some goodwill toward Cecilia because of the illusion, would not be so easily moved by her.
Sure enough, after Theresa had waited until she was starting to get impatient, an angry roar rang out. The several-kilometer-long Demon Dragon once again appeared in the sky, and the battle entered its second round.
"Theresa!" Shun reminded the girl sitting with him on Judah.
In fact, there was no need for Shun to remind her. As a battle-hardened veteran, Theresa had instinctively sensed it the moment the illusion collapsed. The next instant, Judah flew toward the top of Babylon Tower at maximum speed.