The Herrscher of Dominance's Stronghold

Crunch.

Pushing aside the collapsed debris, Kiana slowly rose from the wall she'd crashed into. Ignoring the cuts on her body, her gaze fixed intently on the sword-wielding girl.

"It's you!" Kiana wasn't familiar with the name Li Sushang, but seeing her face instantly brought back memories of their encounter in ARC City.

Back then, consumed by indescribable grief over Ren's death, she might not have learned the truth about his faked demise for a long, long time if she hadn't accidentally overheard Sushang muttering to herself. Because of this, she retained a vivid memory of the girl who wielded the Taixuan Sword Eminence.

But right now, the girl clearly wasn't here for a friendly reunion, otherwise she wouldn't have attacked without warning.

Realizing this, Kiana's expression darkened. A sense of foreboding crept into her heart. She quickly scanned her surroundings, only to discover that, at some point, numerous airborne battleships had completely surrounded the Hyperion.

"I didn't expect to meet you under these circumstances either," Li Sushang admitted frankly. "But I owe someone a favor and have to do something for him." She made it clear she was essentially working for hire.

"Are you from Schicksal?" Kiana reacted quickly. Only Schicksal could mobilize military forces on such a large scale.

However, Li Sushang simply shook her head slightly. "I said I'm just doing one thing for him; I'm not his subordinate. Honestly, I don't really approve of Otto's current methods, but repaying kindness is the duty of us chivalrous folk."

As they spoke, the wreckage of the bridge suddenly exploded. The next second, a barrage of laser beams shot towards Li Sushang. Simultaneously, the sky darkened abruptly as several massive golden crosses plummeted towards her position.

BOOM!

The immense force caused even the battleship-class Hyperion to tremble. Yet, Li Sushang, the target of the attack, had already vanished, leaving only a slowly blooming lotus flower as evidence of her presence.

"Kiana, are you okay?" Having forced Li Sushang back, Theresa and Bronya rushed to Kiana's side.

Kiana shook her head gently, indicating she was mostly unharmed. Glancing around, her expression remained grave. She warned quietly, "Be careful. Her strength far exceeds a typical S-rank. Even a Herrscher might not have an easy time against her."

Sure enough, with a flash of sword light, the already heavily damaged deck was sliced open again. Unscathed, Li Sushang landed gracefully from the sky, standing lightly on her sword.

"Aiya, even if you're going to sneak attack, at least wait until I finish talking."

Theresa wasn't about to show mercy just because the girl was about her height. "Hah, you're the ones who attacked first! First with missiles, then boarding to take advantage. That's hardly honorable conduct. You know, many crew members on this ship are just ordinary people."

"No, no, no, whatever 'miss-aisle' you're talking about has nothing to do with me," Li Sushang corrected. "I only promised Otto I'd bring you back to Schicksal. Someone else attacked you." She added, "At least, he didn't tell me he'd use this method."

Clearly, Otto was indeed capable of such actions. But Li Sushang had always been straightforward and wouldn't lie about something like this.

"So, other factions were involved in the attack?" Confirming Li Sushang wasn't lying, Theresa fell into thought.

In fact, she had sensed something was wrong earlier. As the captain, she knew how robust the Hyperion's shields were. Yet, the previous attack consisted only of ordinary missiles hitting the cockpit.

"Bypassing the ship's defense systems, and accurately tracking our flight path..." She subconsciously glanced at Bronya beside her, noticing a similar expression. They exchanged looks and voiced their shared suspicion simultaneously.

"Looks like there's a traitor within Anti-Entropy."

However, now wasn't the time to dwell on traitors. The girl before them was the immediate problem.

"Well? Have you decided?" Li Sushang asked. "I don't actually intend to fight you. If you're willing to come back with me quietly, things will be much simpler."

Throughout the exchange, Li Sushang hadn't shown strong hostility. But her proposed condition was clearly unacceptable.

Moreover, Kiana had just spoken with Mei and gained a deeper understanding of Ren. She absolutely couldn't put herself in danger now. If Mei was right, Ren's emotional state was currently unstable. If she fell into Otto's hands, he might truly do something irrational.

Of course, it wasn't that Kiana didn't trust Ren; she was afraid of becoming bait, leading him into Otto's trap.

Therefore, without a shred of hesitation, she rejected Li Sushang outright. "That's impossible. I have things I must do right now. If you continue to obstruct us, we won't hesitate to take more direct measures."

"Oh, so we have to fight then. That's fine. Even though it's one against three, I'm still somewhat confident."

A smile appeared on the sword-wielding girl's face. The next second, countless ice crystals condensed in the air, transforming into numerous floating swords.

"Li Sushang, successor of the Taixuan Sword Qi, first disciple of the Peerless Free Will Sect. Please offer your guidance!"

In an instant, thick dark clouds gathered over the once clear Atlantic sky, followed by a torrential rain of swords.

As the battle commenced, the Schicksal fleet formed arrays. However, the fight between S-rank Valkyries and Herrschers was clearly beyond the capabilities of ordinary Valkyries. Thus, they merely surrounded the Hyperion tightly, giving Theresa and the others no chance to retreat.

————————————

While turbulent clouds gathered unseen over the Atlantic, a certain industrial city in Central Europe also welcomed several uninvited guests. They wore neat uniforms and carried peculiar weapons. At the forefront stood a golden-haired girl wielding a black and white lance.

"Lady Durandal, where is this?"

"Linburg City."

"Uh..."

Knowing what her subordinate wanted to ask, Durandal explained, "The files provided by the Overseer detail Ren's life and movements. Based on Schicksal's speculation, he likely became a Herrscher within the last year. During that time, he didn't actually interact with many people. Besides the Herrscher of the Void, it was mainly classmates and neighbors."

"However, those people were just ordinary civilians, not worth investigating. But some time ago, I discovered that among Ren's classmates, there was a girl named Jian Yun. After the Honkai outbreak in ARC City, she was ostracized by other survivors. But after a while, this ostracism suddenly stopped, and Jian Yun abruptly bid farewell to her parents and moved to another city alone."

"Are you suggesting Jian Yun might be connected to the Herrscher of Dominance?"

Sighing, Durandal nodded. "Although the girl is also a victim, various signs indicate a high probability of her contact with the Herrscher. And according to the intelligence department's analysis, Jian Yun should be in this city right now."

"Meaning, if she really is connected to the Herrscher of Dominance, then this entire city might be linked to them. Finding her, even if it doesn't lead directly to Ren, should yield some useful information."

"As expected of Lady Durandal."

Having worked as a detective with Rita before and being an avid reader of detective novels, Durandal's calm reasoning immediately earned the admiration of her squad members. However, focused solely on the mission, she paid no mind to their praise. Gazing at the small European town, the image of the gray-haired boy inevitably surfaced in her mind.

"But Linburg Town is so close to Vienna. I remember the database mentioning Schicksal's old headquarters were located in Kolosten town, near Vienna. If the Herrscher of Dominance is really hiding here, isn't that a bit too audacious?"

While the reasoning was sound, the sensitive geographical location inevitably raised some doubts.

But Durandal just smiled. "There's a saying in Shenzhou, 'Darkness under the lamp,' meaning the most unlikely places are often the easiest to hide. Perhaps other Herrschers wouldn't dare take such a risk, but if it's him..."

"Let's go. Miss Sushang has already found the Herrscher of the Void over there. It's time for us to move too."