Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

Although the Herrscher of Origin's powers aren't detailed in the story, the only thing explicitly shown is its ability to link other Herrschers together.

But for Jiang Qiao, who was currently the Herrscher of Origin and close to the truth, he knew exactly what the Herrscher of Origin's power truly was.

"Linking is just a superficial manifestation of it. The true essence of Origin should be [Connection]."

Jiang Qiao held the bowstring with his index finger, his pink, divine eyes reflecting the essence of Origin, and the arrow of authority flowing in his hand was precisely the arrow of the Origin!

Unlike all other Herrschers, even though they were all projections of the Finality, Origin was the closest to it.

This wasn't due to any difference in status; aside from the Herrscher of the Finality, there was no difference in status among the thirteen Herrschers that were all projections.

Instead, it was decided by their position within the Finality.

Just like the Tiger Talisman in Jackie Chan Adventures(series), which represented [Balance], the Origin, which represented [Connection], had the role of a central mediator.

If the [Finality] was likened to a system, then the role that Origin played in it was similar to that of a manager.

The reason why later Herrschers underwent changes was precisely because Elysia, who had the identity of a manager, used her [permissions] to rewrite some data within the [Finality] system.

However, this also resulted in Origin not being as distinct as other Herrschers in terms of combat.

It didn't have the extreme destructive power of the Herrscher of Flame, the absolute attack power of the Herrscher of Thunder, nor the troublesome abilities of the later Herrschers. The methods of the Origin were extremely singular and pure.

—It was just a case of "brute force" and overwhelming power.

The Herrscher of Origin, who played the role of a manager, far surpassed all Herrschers except the Finality in terms of the pure manipulation of Honkai energy.

Elysia's precision in using Honkai energy, which even Kevin had praised, came from this.

And the current Jiang Qiao had undoubtedly surpassed Elysia in his use of this body!

As the arrow shot into the sky and expanded, crystallizing and covering the entire space in Elysia's signature pink, Jiang Qiao looked at Sirin, who was still in place, with great interest, and softly asked:

"Now, what are you going to do?"

Area-of-effect techniques weren't exclusive to the Herrscher of the Void.

Under the barrier of the sky that contained the Herrscher of Origin's power, Sirin, who had originally intended to pull the battle to her advantage, had undoubtedly failed.

Jiang Qiao liked to provoke. This wasn't because of some kind of arrogance or hubris, but simply because provocation could make the enemy angry, and often, once they were angry, they would reveal a fatal flaw.

Why wouldn't he do something so easy and effortless?

—See, wasn't the effect quite significant?

…

~Clang!

A self-defense robot that was half a human's height was sent flying into a corner by a baseball bat. With a burst of black smoke and a pungent smell, sparks of electricity began to flicker.

"Seriously, I can't see any signs of a passage at all. Is that bastard Cocolia really here?"

Kiana, who was carrying a baseball bat, looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, complaining irritably:

"This place is way too big!"

Behind her, the hallway was littered with self-defense robots. Kiana had smashed at least a few dozen of them on her way here, and even the white-haired fluffball was starting to feel annoyed.

Elysia's voice came through the headset:

"After all, it's the leading company in Nagazora City's electronics sector, and it also has to act as a surface cover for an Anti-Entropy base. It's not that strange."

"Mei, have you found anything on your end?"

"I'm sorry, not yet."

Mei was also quite helpless. Even she couldn't help but feel a bit resentful towards Raiden Ryoma at this moment.

If only her father had given her even a small hint, things wouldn't have been so difficult.

But with Raiden Ryoma's stubborn personality, it would be strange if he had told his precious daughter about such matters.

Suddenly, a somewhat arrogant and unfamiliar voice rang out:

"Hey, what are you looking for?"

Soon, Mei saw the owner of the voice.

A shark-toothed little brat who looked like a delinquent, surrounded by several Titans.

Clearly, the newcomer had ill intentions!

"Enemies have appeared! The leader is an unknown child, who looks similar to that other child from before! They're in the east parking lot on the second basement level!"

Mei's tense and flustered voice that came through the communicator made Elysia and Kiana alarmed.

The two, who were still looking for the passage in different locations, arrived at the coordinates Mei had mentioned as quickly as possible.

They saw Mei struggling to hold on, only able to keep dodging under a Titan's playful attacks.

Was she… playing?

The two were filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

After noticing their arrival, Sin grinned, revealing her somewhat terrifying shark teeth, and said with malicious glee:

"You've finally arrived! I was getting impatient waiting for you!"

"You were waiting for us? Why?"

"Of course, to make it easier for me to take you all down in one fell swoop!"

"I already told my mom that I would take care of all of you, so if you ran away, wouldn't it be more troublesome for me?"

Looking at the girl before her, Elysia raised an eyebrow and asked:

"Do you know what Cocolia is planning to do?"

Out of concern for girls, she hoped that those by Cocolia's side, like Bronya, could find their way back.

Because of this, Elysia would attempt to inform the other party how terrifying Cocolia's plans were in order to awaken their human conscience.

But—

"What does that have to do with me? Mother Cocolia's orders for me are simply to get rid of all of you!"

Of course, Sin knew what Cocolia was going to do. And, to be honest, she was also somewhat unhappy about it—but don't misunderstand, this wasn't out of good or evil, it was just that she was dissatisfied with Cocolia's objective.

After all, this was all to save that coward.

And due to her childhood experiences, she hated that monster very much.

But hatred was hatred, and now, what she had to do was just help Mother Cocolia get rid of these annoying pests!

Clearly, it was impossible to communicate.

Realizing this, Elysia gently stroked her chest and said with some sadness:

"I'm a little heartbroken. Seeing a cute young girl walk down the path of no return, even I can't help but feel anger towards that person called Cocolia."

"Hmph, you're just spewing disgusting nonsense. If you want to be angry, then wait until you're in hell! Titan, take them down!"

At Sin's command, the giant machines behind her began to roar.

Kiana also refused to be outdone:

"Who takes down whom is still up for debate! Watch me beat you up just like that shortie from before!"

The battle was about to begin.