Belief

Looking at the aggressive Rita, Raven quickly realized that she might have fallen into a trap.

Why had the Herrscher of the Void suddenly awakened? Why did the Schicksal Valkyrie appear just as she was about to defeat her? There was no doubt now. This had been planned by Schicksal all along.

It was likely that Schicksal had been prepared, quietly noticing World Serpent's arrangements. They had used the Herrscher of the Void as bait to lure her into a trap. Rita was probably lurking nearby, waiting for the Herrscher and her to weaken after their fight. Then, she would strike, taking Raven down in one fell swoop.

As for whether the Herrscher of the Void had planned this—Raven quickly dismissed that idea. As someone who had suffered greatly because of the Herrscher, Raven couldn't imagine that one capable of destroying the world would go through such lengths just to set a trap. Moreover, with the Herrscher's power, they could have killed her directly. Why hold back?

"So insidious," Raven muttered under her breath.

After sorting through all of her thoughts, Raven finally understood.

No wonder the Herrscher of the Void hadn't gone to slaughter the civilians after awakening. It must have been because she was being controlled by Schicksal.

And the reason she had come to the suburbs after the battle? Probably because she had guessed that Raven would become suspicious and follow her.

Most importantly, Raven—who was at her wit's end—had actually managed to hit the Herrscher of the Void with an arrow. It wasn't because the Herrscher was weak, but because Schicksal had injected her with something similar to the HSN agent.

As for the red-haired woman, based on World Serpent's intel, she was undoubtedly the Schicksal Valkyrie, Murata Himeko. Raven had thought she died in the battle with the Herrscher of the Void, but it turned out that wasn't the case. It seemed Schicksal had saved her. And perhaps even the Herrscher of the Void's appearance in ARC City had been orchestrated by Otto.

Looking at Raven's continuously changing expression, Rita wasn't any better. Ever since she had lost to the woman codenamed Scarlet Serpent, she had thought she'd been cautious enough. Yet, she hadn't expected to still be outmaneuvered.

Not only had they taken the weakened Herrscher of the Void, but they had also destroyed her transport vehicle. More importantly, the Immortal Blades squad, who was supposed to provide support, had been unable to intervene because the Eos was still being inspected.

"What a calculation!"

"What a scheme!"

After understanding the situation, both women, feeling insulted, began fighting without saying a word.

Frost quickly spread. This time, in order to avoid the same situation as last time, Rita had equipped herself with her new form of armor—Argent Knight: Artemis. It was the fourth-generation God-Killer Armor developed by Schicksal, designed specifically for particle flow diffusion.

The armor symbolized the terrifying side of the moon, spreading a cold so intense that it could extinguish all life. It brought despair to everything it touched.

Tonight should have been covered by dark clouds, but the power of the Herrscher of the Void pierced through them, revealing a bright moon. The moonlight reflected off the silver-white scythe that Rita gripped tightly, walking slowly toward Raven. This time, she wouldn't be careless.

As expected, while she approached, a bomb buried underground detonated. If Rita hadn't been cautious enough, she would've been affected.

"Hmph~" Feeling satisfied with her preparation, Rita smiled. The cold frost continued to spread toward Raven.

Of course, Raven had no idea that the explosion wasn't from a bomb, but from a Void Lance buried by Ren. The pressure of facing the S-rank Valkyrie weighed heavily on Raven's heart. Even worse, her supply of arrows had run out, and she only had two backup pistols left.

Bang—

Gunfire echoed. Raven knew the importance of keeping up a distance. With nowhere to run, she had no choice but to fight to the death. The two pistols fired rapidly. Though she seemed desperate, she had actually sent a backup request. The only others left in ARC City were her and Jackal. Although Jackal was badly injured, if his mind was still sharp, he wouldn't die easily.

...

Beep beep beep—

The urgent request for backup echoed in the laboratory. Jackal looked at her communicator, and her expression turned ugly.

"Dr. Clio, your communicator is ringing." A strange female voice sounded from the shadows.

Jackal looked up and saw long golden hair swaying in the dim light. Her eyes were filled with anger.

This strange woman, whom she had never seen before, had infiltrated the underground of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical with ease. When Jackal had been preparing to treat her injuries, the woman had forcefully interrupted her. Raven, who should have been guarding the facility, was now nowhere to be seen. Jackal had watched helplessly as the woman did whatever she wanted in her laboratory.

This woman was Ren, using the [Mother] puppet as a host. Her body was now covered in Honkai cracks, marks left by Jackal during the Stigmata Awakening plan.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" The woman's voice was deep, laced with madness from the Honkai's erosion.

The alarms grew more urgent. Jackal silently pressed the button to turn them off. After the Honkai beast agents had faded, her original body had returned, but she was unable to move. Her lower leg had been completely fractured, and she was in her weakest state.

Under perfect medical equipment, these injuries weren't insurmountable. But after Ren had lured Raven away, he had used a spatial rift to reach the underground, turning off all of her equipment in front of a helpless Jackal. His actions were truly despicable.

"Who are you exactly? Your body has been eroded by more than 50%. It's impossible for a mere experimental subject to have such high resistance." Having seen countless experimental subjects turn into zombies after failing the experiment, Clio understood that it was impossible for an ordinary person to remain conscious, even if they were infected by the surrounding energy, let alone be eroded to such a degree.

Although this woman had almost reached her breaking point, she was still able to maintain her sanity while standing in front of her, which meant that not only was her ability to adapt to the Honkai far superior to others, but her will had been trained as well. And someone like this would have chosen to become a test subject willingly. There was definitely another purpose.

"Who I am isn't important. I've only come here to ask Dr. Clio for some experimental results, such as… the agent that allows you to transform into 'that form'." Perhaps it was because of the intense pain, the golden-haired woman's voice was trembling slightly. "What a perfect existence. It allows me to get closer to my god. Human bodies are too weak. Only that form can accept the gifts of the gods."

She thought that she was a member of some powerful organization, but it turned out that she was just a member of some secret cult that believed in Honkai. Jackal breathed a sigh of relief. There were countless organizations like this all over the world. Many of these crazies would intentionally try to come into contact with Honkai, and attempt to gain the Honkai's favor with their own will.

There were countless people like this, and their fates were predictable. Although World Serpent also attempted to awaken and activate the Stigmata in people through force, they at least used a legitimate method. After realizing that her opponent was just a madman, Jackal relaxed a little.

"You can have the things. You can even have the agent that is used to awaken the Stigmata, but I doubt you will be able to hold on for much longer."

"That's none of your business. Give me your research data and the finished products, and I will naturally leave."