LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 105: The Audience
With World Serpent's retreat, the information lockdown on Schicksal in the city had finally come to an end.
Rita quickly connected to Schicksal headquarters, reporting everything to Otto. But Otto wasn't focused on World Serpent. He was staring intently at the screen before him, where a live broadcast was playing.
To prevent widespread panic, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy always took extreme measures to block any news related to the Honkai. The moment any mention of the Honkai was detected online, it was immediately suppressed.
However, after communications in ARC City were only disrupted for a day, discussions about the Honkai began to spread like wildfire. In just a few short hours, at least a third of the millions in the city had already learned about the existence of the Honkai.
And it wasn't just limited to Shenzhou anymore. Someone had even used the global network to broadcast a live stream showing the Honkai outbreak in ARC City.
After a second or two, the live stream was abruptly cut off. The account that had been broadcasting was blocked and investigated.
Though the stream lasted less than a minute, it had already been seen by many people around the world.
Among them were cities also under attack by the Honkai. These cities didn't yet know what the monsters actually were, so they referred to them by various names.
But now, with the truth revealed, those who had been attacked began to understand that the monsters were tied to the Honkai outbreaks. This revelation only sped up the spread of information.
"Those World Serpent people are crazy!" There was no doubt that this was something that only World Serpent would have done. He quickly scanned Rita's report, immediately noticing the insane Stigmata Project plan.
After mentioning that Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical had been destroyed, their motive for spreading Honkai-related information became even clearer. It was revenge!
As for the small portion about Rita's suspicions regarding Kiana, he directly ignored it. As the most important part of his plan, he knew Kiana even better than she knew herself. Cunning, manipulative, far-sighted… those words wouldn't be used to describe K423.
Fortunately, the situation wasn't completely out of control yet, and Durandal would also be arriving in ARC City soon. As long as he was able to capture the Herrscher of the Void, the spread of this information could be stopped.
…
Within the range of the signal tower, the World Serpent mechas that had been lying in ambush had finally begun their final counterattack. The dense storm of bullets created an impenetrable net of death, intending to kill Kiana here.
When the gunfire began, the surrounding civilians finally realized the seriousness of the situation. They no longer dared to stay.
As for the magical girl? She's so powerful, she'll definitely be able to deal with these robots.
If she were to die like this, then it would mean she was just a fake.
In any case, I'm just an ordinary person. If I get hit by a bullet, then I'd die. Why would I care about some unknown magical girl?
Even Kiana felt trapped under such intense gunfire. Not being able to use the Herrscher of the Void's powers meant that she couldn't even create Void Lances.
But, the energy leak from the Honkai bomb was growing stronger. It had unknowingly reached a level where it could infect humans with Honkai. If it were to increase any further, even if she was successful in dismantling the bomb, many civilians would still die.
"I can't stop here." The Herrscher of the Void's erosion and the massive drain on her stamina made Kiana feel as if every breath she took was fire that was burning her lungs, but she still gritted her teeth and directly smashed a thick cement pillar.
Then, using this small obstacle, she charged towards the mechas.
Boom—
A ball of fire erupted. Thick, black smoke billowed, completely obscuring Kiana's figure.
Both their optical detection and heat sensors had temporarily failed. The mechas could only predict Kiana's location based on probabilities.
However, what was even more decisive than the mechas, was Kiana. She didn't even try to dodge, and directly charged through the mechas' line of defense.
Boom—
Boom—
Explosions continued to echo until there were no more sounds of gunfire. The shattered rubble flew everywhere, landing on the ground with scorching heat.
Then, with a sizzling sound, any blood that had fallen on the rubble evaporated.
Blood kept dripping down. Kiana's figure walked out from the smoke and dust. She was injured.
Using such a reckless method to break through the blockade, any other person would have been completely destroyed. That Kiana was able to survive and eliminate the entire mecha squad, she had paid a heavy price of being covered in wounds.
Her waist, abdomen, shoulder, and lower leg were covered in blood. She looked as if she had walked out from a sea of blood.
"Kiana!" In a corner where no one could see, Murata Himeko's heart ached as she looked at the blood-soaked Kiana. She wanted to rush out to help, but Ren had her firmly bound, and she could only be an observer. She couldn't even yell out.
She turned her head abruptly, glaring at Ren who was standing next to her. Himeko even wanted to grab him by the collar and give him a beating, but she didn't have a choice.
"Aren't you afraid of what she'll do when she finds out?" Although she knew that Ren didn't have any malice towards Kiana, allowing Kiana to be so severely injured, even though he could have easily dealt with it himself, was still something that she couldn't understand.
Ren glanced at her, and didn't say a word. But the threads in his hand began to spread.
Seeing the familiar puppet strings, Himeko's body trembled. After being swept by the golden eyes, the thoughts in her heart about going against Ren's will were quickly suppressed.
"She's stronger than you think." Just as Himeko thought that Ren was going to remain silent, he spoke. "Murata, don't use your past memories to judge her. She's no longer that reckless child that needed your constant care. She's a warrior. She's a hero."
"You mean to say that you understand her better than her teacher, who has been with her for many years?"
"Of course… Everything about her…" Ren didn't finish his statement. He had suddenly realized that he had probably said too much. Himeko didn't know about what he had done to Kiana yet. She naturally wouldn't know how twisted their relationship was.
In her eyes, Ren was just a temperamental Herrscher. As long as he didn't move against her students, she wouldn't care too much.
"Hmm?" Just as Himeko was still pondering the meaning of Ren's unfinished statement, her body suddenly lost its control, and her consciousness was plunged into darkness.
When she came back to her senses, she had returned to the Dominance Theater.
"I worked so hard to act for so long, and I can't even watch the show when it's being performed?!"