"Cecilia, are you alright?!"
"I… I'm fine. That Herrscher didn't harm me—he just threw me away," Cecilia said, still shaken.
She was certain that if Elias had truly intended to kill her, she would have already been impaled by the massive subspace spear.
"What? What's going on?" Theresa was momentarily stunned.
She dusted off her nun's habit, still covered in dirt. After Cecilia had left the battle, Theresa had fought Bella alone.
And, well… she had gotten wrecked.
If it weren't for Oath of Judah saving her, Theresa was fairly certain she'd be dead by now.
At the same time, Siegfried's consciousness began to return.
On the other side, even Fu Hua had momentarily halted her attack.
"It is strange. I can sense battle intent from this Herrscher, but… it doesn't feel like killing intent."
As a MANTIS warrior who had fought since the Previous Era, Fu Hua's instincts were beyond sharp.
From the moment their fight began, she had noticed something—
Elias' attacks were undeniably powerful and relentless, but every strike was aimed at her limbs rather than her vital points.
It was as if he only wanted to incapacitate her.
Not kill her.
"Master, these people are really strong."
"Yeah… Maybe we should find an opening to slip away."
Though neither Elias nor Bella had suffered injuries, Elias knew full well that there was no real reason for him to fight them.
So… this entire mess? Completely Siegfried's fault!
Just as Elias was about to discreetly open a portal, planning to retrieve Sirin and make a tactical retreat—
"Everyone, may I have a moment of your time?"
A bespectacled man with brown hair appeared on the scene.
Welt Yang, the Herrscher of Reason, had finally arrived, holding a simulated Star of Eden, ready to activate a gravity field at any moment.
"The First Herrscher?!"
"Why is the leader of Anti-Entropy here?"
"And what do you want?"
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
It was no secret that Schicksal and Anti-Entropy were bitter enemies.
Now, the leader of Anti-Entropy had shown up, facing off against Schicksal's strongest forces—and on top of that, a five-core Herrscher with unclear motives was standing right there.
This was basically a three-way standoff.
However, despite their differing allegiances, everyone present was technically on the same side in the long run.
None of them were true enemies—
And all of them were reasonable enough to talk first and fight later.
After a moment of silence, they chose to listen.
"I have no intention of fighting any of you. I came here to speak with the Herrscher of the Void. I assume Schicksal's goal isn't too different, is it?"
"…That's true. If we can resolve this peacefully, there's no need for more violence."
Cecilia was the first to lower her weapon.
She was a kind-hearted woman with sharp intuition—and something told her that neither the First Herrscher nor the Second Herrscher were truly enemies.
Seeing her best friend lower her guard, Theresa followed suit. Even Fu Hua gave a slight nod—
Avoiding needless bloodshed was always preferable.
And if negotiations did fail… well, they could always go back to fighting.
After all, she was basically invincible.
"Then, Herrscher of the Void—what is your decision?"
All eyes turned to Elias.
No matter what they discussed, his answer was the only one that mattered.
If he chose to continue fighting, then none of them had any choice but to resume battle.
The tension in the air was palpable.
To everyone's surprise, Elias didn't hesitate for even a second before withdrawing his powers.
"Of course, we can talk. I never wanted to fight in the first place—violence is dangerous, after all."
"Then… what about Siegfried?"
"He attacked first. I was just defending myself. If you don't believe me, ask him."
All eyes immediately turned to the Kaslana husky in question.
Siegfried flinched.
"I-I-I mean, how was I supposed to know you could talk?! Otto said you were a ruthless Herrscher! He told me you slaughtered everyone in Babylon Labs and destroyed a dozen Schicksal warplanes!"
"I don't know who this 'Otto' is, but you just believed everything he said? Yeah, I killed those people—but those bastards in Babylon Labs deserved to die!" Elias spat.
"Wait, what? But… wasn't Babylon Lab a facility for researching a cure for Honkai disease?" Theresa asked, confused.
"Hah! What a joke! Looks like none of you have a damn clue. 'Honkai disease research'? That place was a human experimentation facility! They used hundreds—thousands—of kids just like me as test subjects to create artificial Stigmata for Valkyries!"
Even thinking about it made Elias furious. He didn't hold back, recounting every gruesome detail of Babylon Lab's atrocities.
The cruel experiments, the countless children who suffered and died for the sake of artificial Stigmata research…
As the longest-surviving test subject, Elias knew the truth better than anyone. He gritted his teeth and revealed every horrifying detail.
Cecilia, Theresa, Siegfried, Fu Hua, and Welt all went pale.
"How… how could this be…?"
"Schicksal was conducting human experiments…?"
"The artificial Stigmata… were created through such inhumane means…?"
They were all hardened warriors, but the reality of what they just learned made their skin crawl.
Elias scoffed. "If you don't believe me, go check for yourselves. I teleported the surviving children to different parts of Siberia. You'll find some if you look. Go ask them what they've been through."
"There's no need… We believe you."
"Oh my god… Babylon Lab was that kind of place? Grandpa never told me anything about this…"
"Damn it, Otto! This is the 'ruthless Herrscher' you told me about?! Bullshit!!"
"Then… you became a Herrscher because…?"
"Yeah. Your Schicksal scientists did this. Impressive, isn't it? Right when they were about to torture me to death, Honkai gave me power—and I finally got the chance to return the favor."
Elias sneered.
The Schicksal-affiliated members fell silent.
If everything Elias said was true, then Schicksal had brought this upon themselves.
In fact, they couldn't even blame him. Deep down, they felt like those researchers deserved to die.
"I'm sorry, Herrscher of the Void. I offer my sincerest apologies—on behalf of myself, at least. If what you say is true, then this is our sin to bear." Cecilia's voice was filled with sorrow.
She lowered her head in a deep bow toward Elias.
The Saint of Schicksal—one of the most respected S-rank Valkyries—gazed at him with eyes full of remorse.
As a mother who had just given birth not long ago, the thought of children being tortured like that made her heart ache.
According to Elias, children died every day in Babylon Labs. Hundreds—thousands—were sacrificed for artificial Stigmata research.
There was no doubt about it.
Schicksal had committed an unforgivable sin.
Schicksal had stolen them from their birth parents.
Schicksal had sacrificed them for artificial Stigmata.
Cecilia placed herself in their shoes. If it had been her own daughter—if Kiana had been subjected to such horrors—just the thought of it made her chest tighten. It was unbearable.
"…I don't accept your apology. And there's no need for one, either."
Elias looked at her with a calm yet distant expression.
"You're Cecilia, right? You seem like a good person—so I hope your child never has to suffer like we did."
"Besides, I've already taken my revenge. Everyone who hurt me is dead. And if anyone dares to try again, they'll meet the same fate."
"If people don't cross me, I won't cross them. But if they do—" Elias crossed his arms, his tone cold. "I will never forgive them."
At this moment, he was undoubtedly one of the strongest beings in the world. Even if Otto mobilized all of Schicksal, Elias had no reason to fear them in a direct confrontation.
As long as he didn't grow inflated—as long as he didn't let anyone get close—who in this world could stop a Herrscher of the Void?
If they pushed him too far, they'd better pray he didn't start dropping meteors from space.