I was transported to a broken world, yet my dreams are connected to Star Iron?

　Before Walter could recover from his shock, Sirin, furious to the extreme, was already in front of the blond clown.

　Perhaps out of anger, Sirin did not use her usual weapon, the Void Spear, but instead tried to tear the man apart with her bare hands. As she made her move, intense spatial fluctuations covered Sirin's hands and even distorted the space in front of her.

　but……

　"Don't be in such a hurry. It's not good for a child to be so restless."

　As if he had anticipated Sirin's attack, the blond clown raised his hand in advance and gently pushed forward, just like stopping a child who was playing.

　Then, the distorted space was instantly smoothed out, and the Honkai energy that Sirin had gathered in her hand was easily wiped away, just like ice and snow melting under the scorching sun.

　"Honkai energy... has disappeared?"

　Walter's eyes widened instantly. While Sirin, as someone who had witnessed the event, might not have fully grasped the situation, Walter, who was standing nearby, had clearly seen the entire thing.

　The moment this unidentified man raised his hand, a red, unidentified substance that looked somewhat familiar to Welt flowed beneath his sleeve, and Sirin's Honkai energy transformed into a wave of energy.

　"So this girl is someone important to you? Oh dear, I'm so sorry~"

　Although they were wearing masks, both of them could clearly hear the Joker's slightly amused tone.

　"Cirin, don't be impulsive, his abilities are terrifying!"

　Faced with such an unknown enemy, Walter dared not be careless. An energy wall that was instantly generated was placed between Sirin and the clown to prevent Sirin from losing her mind in anger and attacking the guy again.

　Before understanding the opponent's capabilities, a blind attack could very well...

　"Due to some planning needs, I have to let the lovely Miss Suzumo leave the stage first. But please rest assured, my method is clean and efficient, and she did not die a very painful death."

　"Of course, if Miss Sirin requires it, I can also sincerely apologize to you, or even kneel down and weep bitterly, how about that?"

　Unfortunately, as soon as the clown opened his mouth, Walter knew that his words would have no effect.

　"you you……!"

　Xilin's small chest heaved violently, and her golden eyes seemed to be shrouded in blood.

　"You! Die!"

　"Well, I told you not to be impulsive..."

　The blond clown seemed oblivious to danger, or rather, he appeared to be deliberately provoking Sirin.

　"How can I put this? You may not have Lingmo, but you still have me. I can definitely be your guide in life, can't I?"

　Walter sighed as he watched Sirin charge at the clown again.

　"Eden's Star, Zero Rated Power, Simulated Black Hole—"

　In their brief previous encounter, he had already realized that this person wearing the clown mask needed to come into contact with the Honkai energy in order to eliminate it.

　In that case, he only needs to take the initiative and use his own energy to replenish the opponent's strange absorption ability.

　Thus, the clown either chooses to neutralize Sirin's attack and then be captured by her black hole, falling into a slowed state; or neutralize her Eden Star and then try to dodge Sirin's attack using other means. In short, no matter what the opponent chooses, under Walter's attack, he must expose more of his abilities.

　"Tsk, as expected of the leader of the Anti-Entropy Alliance, he's really troublesome."

　As it turned out, Walter's conjecture was correct.

　Otto was using a technology that Schicksal was still researching—a god-slaying spear made of the blood of the Shaniat.

　During this period, the God-Slaying Spear was only a preliminary theoretical model. Its source was entirely Cecilia's body, with some practical modifications by Otto. It was not possible to mass-produce it at all. What Otto is carrying now is basically 70% of his stock.

　However, just as Welt had guessed, the Honkai energy neutralization ability of the God-Slaying Spear was limited, and Welt's pseudo-black hole was precisely the type he couldn't ignore.

　"It seems we have no choice but to finish this quickly..."

　A resolute glint flashed in Otto's eyes.

　He no longer actively tried to eliminate Sirin's attack, nor did he choose to counteract Walter's pseudo-black hole. Instead, he directly condensed his stored God-Slaying Spear into a blood-red spiral and faced Sirin.

　"bass--"

　With a sharp metallic cutting sound, the clown's head flew off. Sirin's furious attack gave Otto no chance to fight back, especially since he had deliberately lowered his guard. The Spear of the Void directly helped him cosplay as Louis XVI.

　And the price of this attack...

　"hiss……"

　Xilin clutched her blood-soaked abdomen, her lips twitching uncontrollably from the pain of the wound.

　"Trade your life for an injury?"

　At this moment, not only Walter, but even Sirin had somewhat sobered up from her anger. After all, judging from the strength that the mysterious man had shown before, he should have had no less than five better ways to deal with the situation. In any case, he shouldn't have ended up losing his life.

　"No, trading one's life for another is the right thing to do, but the target has been chosen wrong."

　After rolling twice on the ground, the head with the clown mask still attached suddenly spun around, turning the front of the mask directly towards Walter and Sirin.

　"Because... I'm afraid it's not me who's about to die."

　"Celine?"

　Walter suddenly turned his head, but Sirin, who had been floating in the air just moments before, was now kneeling helplessly on the ground, clutching the wound Otto had just pierced, her consciousness fading. Purple Honkai energy concentrated on the wound in an attempt to heal it, but it was as ineffective as a firefly drawn to a flame.

　Walter's eyes narrowed, and he instantly projected the repair fluid used in the Anti-Entropy medical pod onto his hand. However, just like the Honkai energy that Sirin used to heal herself, this fluid was quickly decomposed into primordial Honkai energy the moment it came into contact with the wound, and then dissipated.

　"Are you kidding..."

　Only now did Walter realize just how terrifying the thing in the hands of this clown-masked guy really was.

　It's important to understand that after becoming Herrschers, both he and Sirin are no longer human in a sense. Their physical strength and recovery speed are elevated to an unbelievable level by the Herrscher core. Not to mention penetrating wounds, even limb-severing injuries can be quickly restored to combat power as long as they are treated properly.

　A large portion of the Honkai energy that Sirin absorbed in the Tower of Babel was used to summon Bella. After two more battles, she is now not only unable to heal her injuries, but even the remaining Honkai energy in her body is about to be swallowed up by this strange red substance.

　This substance reminded him of something that existed only in theory, something that Welt personally investigated when Siegfried and Cecilia first met—the Herrscher Slayer, the God-Slaying Spear.

　"Who are you?"

　"Ha ha……"

　The head that Sirin had severed and dropped to the ground flew up automatically and fit perfectly onto Otto's body, which had never fallen, and then quickly completed its repair.

　"I am merely an insignificant clown."

　Chapter 28 Even the wisest person can make a mistake.

　"Roar--"

　However, just as Walter felt the situation was taking a sharp turn for the worse, a violent roar, as if it were about to cause an avalanche, suddenly rang out from behind the two of them.

　Then, accompanied by a cracking sound, a huge, blue-white dragon-shaped Honkai Beast broke out of the light cocoon in the valley.

　"The Second Herrscher's companion Honkai beast?"

　Otto was slightly taken aback.

　"I woke up a little earlier than I expected... Oh well, it doesn't matter, after all..."

　The next second, just as Otto had expected, the newborn Bella instantly sensed her master's dying state. Then, in a panic, Bella flapped her wings and quickly picked up the unconscious Sirin, flying away into the distance.

　"After all, the companion Honkai Beast is not an ordinary Honkai Beast. With a certain level of intelligence, she can easily judge that the current situation is not one that she can easily resolve."

　"Under such circumstances, taking away the seriously injured master first and conserving her strength to protect her is her best option."

　"What do you think, First Herrscher, Mr. Welt?"

　"Are you the chosen one?"

　Walter didn't rush to continue the attack, but suddenly asked a question.

　"Or rather, you're only realizing it now?"

　The blond clown adjusted his hat and said with a hint of mockery, "As expected, whether in terms of aptitude or ability, you are far inferior to Joyce."

　"No, I just realized that your body... is very similar to that of an old friend of mine."

　Walter shook his head: "And..."

　"I'm just stalling for time."

　"boom--"

　A gunshot shattered the atmosphere of their conversation.

　Siegfried, wielding twin golden pistols, has arrived at the battlefield. Walter had just heard from Ain after communications were restored, which is why he decided to chat with her briefly.

　"Siegfried, don't linger in the fight! And don't worry about me!"

　Black light reappeared from Walter's hand. Ignoring the protests from his body, which had reached its limit, he once again activated the zero rated power of Eden Star.

　"Go and retrieve that girl's body!"

　"what?"

　Siegfried was slightly taken aback, but his excellent combat skills allowed him to quickly change the direction of his charge.

　"Trying to steal my people? The two of you aren't enough."

　Otto flicked his wrist, and two streaks of blood-red light shot out from his sleeves again, directly interrupting Walter who was charging up his power. At the same time, his other hand quickly reached out to intercept Siegfried, who was trying to snatch Suzumo's corpse.

　But to his surprise, Siegfried's lips curled into a wicked smile.

　"You've fallen into a trap!"

　Siegfried, who was originally charging towards the corpse, suddenly clasped his hands together as if he had planned it all along. His golden twin pistols instantly transformed into flaming swords, and he turned around to slash at the arm of the blond clown.

　At the same time, several golden chains descended from the sky, quickly wrapping around Lingmo's corpse and gently tugging at it.

　The delicate, boneless girl was instantly protected by Theresa and entered into the oath of Judah, as lightly as a feather.

　“Your abilities have already been synchronized to us by Welt. I want to see if your strange tool for dissolving Honkai energy can break through the shell of the Divine Key.”

　The white-haired loli, arms crossed, looked down at the somewhat stunned, mysterious blond clown with a smug expression.

　"But the more I look at it, the more familiar it seems..."

　"So it was three against one? No wonder you remained calm even after Benares withdrew at the last minute... It seems I underestimated you before, leader of Anti-Entropy."

　Otto was silent for a moment, then simply flicked his sleeve.

　"Well, I've already achieved my main objective. If I continue, I'm afraid I'll have to turn against my colleagues."

　"What? You hit someone and you think you can just leave?"

　Upon hearing this, Theresa's voice rose several octaves, and golden chains flew out from behind her, attempting to bind the mysterious man.

　"Hehe, although my abilities are indeed insufficient to break through the Divine Key, if I want to leave, you probably can't stop me even without using the Zero Rated Power."

　A crimson light surrounded Otto, easily transforming the energy chains derived from Judah into primordial energy. Just now, he noticed that the Void Treasury had recovered somewhat from its shutdown state: "Farewell, everyone."

　As he spoke, his figure suddenly disappeared from the spot.

　"His location is completely untraceable."

　Aiin's voice came through Walter's earpiece: "Also, Joachim, your body can no longer allow you to continue fighting. Retreat for now."

　"Okay... Also, Aiyin, didn't you say during your second communication that there were no other suspicious signals around the battlefield and that I should finish this quickly?"

　Walter asked, somewhat puzzled, "Could it be that the mysterious person infiltrated later?"

　However, what sent a chill down Walter's spine was Ein's next words.

　"What? There are no other suspicious signals around?"

　Ain's voice was even more puzzled than Walter's: "After our first communication, our communication line was interfered with, and we just restored it to normal... Where did this second communication come from?"

　"..."

　Walter was silent for a moment, then he remembered that Ain's voice was indeed distorted during their second communication.

　Furthermore, the way that "Ain" addressed him was... Walter.

　"Ain, prepare to activate the backup line. Fate, no, Otto... has probably completely hacked into our communication lines."

　……

　"Objective one, by killing Suzuma, has forced Sirin back to the opposite side of humanity, and has been achieved."

　"Objective two: explore Lingmo's secrets. Hmm... Although Void Archives paid a huge price, it seems he didn't get Lingmo's memories. Instead, it made things even more confusing. Well, since Lingmo's mystery has indeed been verified, let's consider this objective half accomplished for now."

　"Objective three: By severely injuring Sirin, we forced her to go to the moon and obtain the help of the Honkai God who can heal her injuries. This has been achieved."

　"Objective four, killing Walter, the variable, failed... Although we set a trap for Walter by hacking into his communications, this guy is surprisingly difficult to kill. Why can't he learn from Joyce in this regard?"

　"Objective five: to take away Suzumo's body for cryopreservation and subsequent research. Failed... mainly because of Theresa. With her around, this objective was impossible to achieve."