Somewhere within a records room at the Newborn World Serpent Headquarters.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several Vill-Vs continued to pour fire toward the only exit.
But the thirty-second countdown was drawing ever closer.
Finally, at a certain moment...
Bang!
Just as they had predicted, the barrels and muzzles—which had been continuously outputting maximum firepower—shattered violently as they failed to dissipate heat.
In an instant...
Swish, swish, swish—
Dozens of projectiles tore through the air.
The moment the firewall ceased, the Vill-Vs had barely leaped back to avoid the blast from their own exploding weapons before a barrage of Blood Spikes, Wind Blades, and Ice Shards shot from the corridor.
Notably absent were any fire or lightning-attributed attacks.
It was clear the attackers had a specific agenda.
They wanted to leave the bodies of everyone inside the records room intact.
The only saving grace was the narrowness of the corridor, which prevented an even larger volley of attacks from being fired all at once.
As for the records room itself, its outer walls had been reinforced exceptionally well, as it housed too much critical information to risk.
It was impossible to break through the entrance in a short time without also damaging the interior.
This was the only reason MEI and the Vill-Vs, who had arrived first, had managed to hold out until now.
But just then...
Vrrr—
A golden-orange teleportation gate opened behind MEI, even as the Vill-Vs continued to fend off the barrage of attacks.
Realizing what was happening...
"It seems I won the gamble."
The purple-haired girl habitually raised her hand to adjust the glasses on the bridge of her nose. She let out a long sigh of relief as she gazed at the green pop-up window on the electronic instrument screen before her, symbolizing "Success."
She was just about to turn around...
"No, I won."
"!!!"
At that moment, MEI's face froze in astonishment.
Because the voice she heard... the voice coming from behind her... was a man's.
The next second...
Ugh—
MEI had just summoned the invisible power she had obtained after embarking on the Path of Erudition, but she was a fraction of a second too slow.
Her neck was already clamped tight by the newcomer's right hand.
She immediately found it difficult to breathe.
In her field of vision, she saw a white clown mask.
She had long known of this blond man, whom she was only now, at this very moment, meeting formally for the first time.
Otto Apocalypse.
A remnant of the Old Days—the era of the Old World Civilization—who had already completely vanished.
He...
Squelch—
The right hand that had been crushing MEI's neck suddenly severed at the elbow.
MEI was clearly not one to resign herself to death.
A moment ago, though she had been slow to activate her Path Ability—a clear sign of her lack of combat experience—she had forced herself to remain conscious, sustaining the momentum of her nearly interrupted attack.
Now, a trickle of blood escaped the corner of MEI's mouth... It was obvious she had bitten her own tongue, using the searing pain as a pillar for her consciousness.
Only then was she able to use that invisible force to sever the man's arm.
"Cough, cough-cough—"
MEI hurriedly cast aside the severed hand from her neck, bending over to cough violently several times.
She knew the Herrscher of Blood's methods, so... she carefully wiped away the blood from her lips and body.
At that moment, six Vill-Vs had already formed a protective circle around her.
Four of them were visibly battered, their clothes torn and bodies bearing severe wounds. Yet, six floating discs hovered around each of the six Vill-Vs.
At the edges of these discs, razor-sharp saw blades spun relentlessly, forming a total of thirty-six levitating circular saws.
With these weapons, the Vill-Vs had established a new line of defense: a ring of cylindrical energy shields.
Of course, this new defense was incredibly fragile. There was no hope it could hold out as long as their previous one, which had relied on firepower and terrain advantages.
Logically, the enemy—who held the numerical advantage and could manipulate space—should have broken through it in no time.
And yet...
Hum—
Another golden-orange portal materialized.
Sensing its appearance, the one-armed blond man's expression shifted beneath his mask. A frown creased his brow as a wave of dread washed over him.
As expected...
"Enemy unit confirmed."
"Annihilation Mode: Engaged!"
The voice boomed before the figure even appeared. And immediately following it...
Fwoosh—
The sound of air being torn asunder echoed.
A colossal mechanical fist shot out of the teleportation gate, striking the nearest blond man to MEI and Vill-V and sending him flying.
And that was just the beginning...
BOOM!
The entire archive room shuddered violently.
The blond man, propelled by the giant mechanical fist, was slammed into the metal wall behind him, his body embedding itself into the surface.
Cough—
Beneath his mask, the man coughed up blood.
But in the next instant, his body began to slowly dissipate.
Clearly, this was still just an Avatar of Otto's "Elation."
In this final moment, as the Avatar faded away, he saw her clearly...
"So that's..."
It was a humanoid girl floating in mid-air, her joints resembling mechanical parts, stepping out from the teleportation gate.
And in the palm of her left hand, a Golden Hexahedron spun on its own.
"So, that's how it is."
Otto understood everything.
The Void Archives, his old friend, had finally escaped.
Yet, with his last fleeting glance, he looked upon the humanoid girl...
"And who might she be?"
Meanwhile, within a certain World Bubble.
"..."
Otto's main body abruptly stood up and walked straight toward the location of the Cosmic Juggernaut.
By his side were Durandal, Li Sushang, Rita... and Theresa, whom he controlled.
"Lord Overseer?"
Seeing Otto suddenly move without a word, Rita couldn't help but ask tentatively, her expression filled with confusion.
Hearing her...
"The plan has failed," Otto said calmly. "It's time for us to make the final strategic transfer."
At the same moment, his avatar in another area of the current World Bubble, specifically tasked with communicating with the Fourth Herrscher (Seele), also spoke up abruptly.
"Miss Seele."
"Hmm?"
The short-haired girl, whose smile had not yet faded from her face as she was clearly in the middle of her "enjoyment," paused in surprise. "What's wrong?"
She had been relentlessly berating Kevin, and she was clearly displeased that Otto had suddenly interrupted her "pleasure."
But then, she heard...
"A special situation has just arisen."
"Our deal is over."
Ignoring Seele's bewildered stare, Otto continued speaking to himself, "Rest assured, I will keep my promise and return Bronya Zaychik to you."
"She is currently in recovery room 309 on the third floor of this building. Her mental state is stable, and you can go retrieve her at any time."
"However, a friendly warning..."
Otto's body began to dissolve on its own.
Finally, he left her with a single sentence: "Don't try to stop the inevitable. Run away now!"
"They will be counterattacking very soon."