The First Step of the Plan - Taking Your Throne

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"So, after delivering that sword strike, what's the second step?" On the bed, Shu, finished noting down the first step Otto described, bit on his pen cap and looked at Otto.

"Don't rush, we have plenty of time." Otto glanced at Shu's notes, confirming that Shu fully understood before explaining the second step of the plan.

"First, he'll try to make peace with you. This is the respect you earned from him with that sword strike, and that bullet." Otto said.

"You're not going to ask me to play nice with him for a while, are you…" Shu's face twitched. He didn't think that was a good idea…

"No, you can refuse him outright. Or do you want to play around a bit?" Otto shook his head and smiled. "It's best to refuse him in the most direct and decisive way."

"And then?" Shu diligently noted this step.

"Then it's up to you." Otto nodded. "I need you to enrage him as much as possible, so he can't think straight, to set up the next step."

Otto paused, then looked at Shu with a meaningful smile. "Have you thought about how you're going to curse him out?"

Shu thought for a moment, confidently patting his chest. "Don't worry, I'm familiar with this! But what exactly is this next step you're talking about?"

"Remember the scene you played, the one about 'Deceive'?" Otto asked.

"You mean the one with Herrscher of Sentience and Fu Hua?" Shu put down his pen and asked.

Otto nodded. "Authority is a separate entity, difficult to divide, and can be contested… Strength, caution, and the instantaneous application and burst of power can all shake the authority itself.

"And your next objective is to contest the Herrscher's authority."

Shu's eyes widened. "That's impossible…"

Otto raised a hand to stop Shu's instinctive objection. Shu obediently closed his mouth, waiting for Otto's explanation.

"In the Theater of Domination, the first step in contesting authority is to make contact with it. And the only possibility of you directly contacting the enemy's authority is when he uses his distortion ability on you.

"And this is also his killing move against you, right?" Otto asked with a smile.

Shu recalled their two confrontations. The enemy had indeed harbored such intentions… The first time, he considered this move his ultimate attack, and the second time, he waited for Shu to approach…

So Shu nodded.

"That's why I need you to enrage him. In a state of anger, the most effective way to relieve pressure is to defeat the enemy in the strongest way possible." Otto leaned back slightly, stretching leisurely.

"The enemy is easily angered, prone to breaking down, and can be intimidated by a few rebuttals… So, as long as you can enrage him, he'll use this move on you."

Otto paused for a moment. "The sequence will likely be a low-power ranged attack. At this point, you can pull him towards you.

"Because of his rage, he won't realize that you've grabbed his authority, and will instead gloat that you've willingly approached him, believing you're completely unaware, and directly connect his authority with you…"

"At this point, you can…" Otto looked at Shu, who was already dumbfounded, raised a hand, and clenched it tightly in front of him.

"Pull the authority out of his body."

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In the air, [Vakh] finally realized the most serious problem.

His authority had been seized!! Shu actually possessed a method to separate his authority from his core!

Due to that momentary shock, the core and the authority had separated, and it was now in Shu's hands!! Forcefully pulled out from his throat!!

[From Otto: Temporarily become the Herrscher of Dominance!]

Shu's hand finally moved away from [Vakh]'s body. The [Hope] within him was drastically depleted by almost two-thirds, just from this action!!

"Bastard!!"

Vakh roared. The separation of his authority had caused him to instantly lose control. His body began to twist grotesquely, his suppressed genes running rampant!

But [Vakh] grabbed Shu's right hand with a backhand!

And the core authority within his right hand!

"That's mine!" [Vakh], half of his face already unrecognizable, roared at Shu, who was within arm's reach. The sheer force of his voice made Shu shudder, and a stream of blood spurted from his ear.

His eardrum had been ruptured!

In that instant of distraction, [Vakh] grabbed his authority.

This was, after all, the authority formed within Vakh's body, coupled with the attraction of the core. The authority seemed to know where its home was, and who its original master was.

The authority, in [Vakh]'s widened eyes, began to slowly flow back into his body. The Herrscher's power began to return.

Haha! You miscalculated! Didn't expect me to have this up my sleeve!!

Just as [Vakh] broke into a victorious smile, Shu's left hand suddenly produced a small scepter, pressing it against [Vakh]'s face.

What is this now?

[Vakh]'s face was still in the process of forming a smile, but his mind was focused on the scepter.

The next instant, a burst of intense lightning erupted, engulfing them both. [Vakh] and Shu simultaneously screamed in agony.

The moment the lightning struck, driven by instinct and habit, Shu gritted through the pain, pushing the glowing orb in his right hand towards his chest.

Then, the two finally crashed to the ground, buried beneath a mountain of debris.

Otto immediately maneuvered the drone closer to the rubble, trying to locate the two figures within the swirling dust.

That scepter was none other than the Staff of Thanatos. Striking at the moment of authority separation was enough to completely disrupt any Herrscher's control over their own authority.

"BOOM—!!"

A battered figure furiously tossed aside a large piece of concrete rubble. He stared with a ferocious expression at a faint, glowing orb floating above, then roared in a certain direction within the ruins.

"Shu!! I will kill you in the cruelest way possible!!"

"That's my authority! MY AUTHORITY!!"

As [Vakh] screamed in his breakdown, Shu crawled out of the rubble. This time, a faint smile graced his lips.

"Is that so… a lowly insect dares to roar at a giant?"

"You—!!"

Shu looked at the orb above, then weighed the emptiness within his body, a bitter smile forming in his heart.

This really was a gamble…

Including the previous sword strike, from the start of this battle until now, a mere dozen or so seconds, all of Shu's reserves of [Hope] were completely depleted!!

But simultaneously—Vakh's authority had been successfully stripped, and control over it was now equally divided between them!!