"Damn it! Bastard! Why did things turn out like this? We were so close! Damn Schicksal, damn Otto to hell!!!"
In a temporary backup base in Nagazora City.
Cocolia, her green military uniform covered in dust and torn in several places, looked utterly battered as she slammed her fist against the wall.
Her once vibrant blonde hair was now dull and lifeless. Her eyes were wide open, and she let out a furious, teeth-gnashing roar like an enraged mother beast.
"That damned coward Otto, always hiding behind his Valkyries! If he dared to show his face in front of me, my Titan mechs would have smashed him into pulp with a single punch!!"
Cocolia violently swept the instruments and water cup from the desktop onto the floor. Her ample chest heaved dramatically as she remained trapped in a state of impotent rage, unable to break free from her emotions for a long time.
"The plan was progressing steadily! I fooled everyone!! Even my colleagues in Anti-Entropy didn't know what I was up to. Why did Otto have to notice, and how did he dispatch Valkyries to invade my stronghold without anyone knowing?!"
The leader of the Valkyrie squad that invaded ME Corp was none other than Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie, Rita Rossweisse.
A team led by an S-rank Valkyrie would undoubtedly have exceptionally skilled members. Watching Rita and the Valkyries wreak havoc, dismantling all the Titan mechs she had painstakingly built, Cocolia realized the true identity of this Valkyrie squad.
---It had to be Schicksal's most elite unit, the Immortal Blades!
Being targeted by Otto's Immortal Blades for a cleanup operation, Cocolia was so furious she didn't know whether to be angry at Otto for bullying the weak or curse him for thinking too highly of her.
The ME Corp forces Cocolia had taken over were wiped clean by Schicksal's Immortal Blades.
Not only were the Titan mechs almost entirely annihilated, but even the clones of the Herrscher of Reason were all eliminated by Rita Rossweisse. All the advanced equipment in the base fell into Schicksal's hands.
After enduring a devastating battle, Cocolia was left with only a handful of stragglers. Her strength was less than a tenth of what it was, and her situation was utterly miserable.
Even her temporary base had to be this backup option, a place far inferior to the ME Corp stronghold in terms of both facilities and equipment.
This drastic fall from grace, from the verge of completing her plan to an instant descent from paradise to hell, made Cocolia feel like she was on the brink of madness.
Especially when she recalled the mocking glint in Rita's eyes as she watched Cocolia flee in disarray—like a cat playing with a mouse—the anger in Cocolia's heart blazed even hotter.
Rita's gaze, which seemed to take in the whole situation with an air of guaranteed victory, even made Cocolia subconsciously feel that Rita might have another scheme waiting for her. Perhaps her successful escape from the Immortal Blades' encirclement was all part of Rita's... part of that madman Otto's plan.
However, Cocolia quickly dismissed this ridiculous thought that only served to boost the enemy's morale.
She, Cocolia, had managed to break out of Schicksal's encirclement entirely through her own strength, with a little help from her adopted daughter, Bronya Zaychik.
She definitely wasn't deliberately let go by the enemy!
And even if Rita had intentionally let her slip through, Cocolia was determined to make Rita and Otto pay.
The past was the past. The current Cocolia was on guard. As long as she regrouped, she could definitely use Anti-Entropy as a springboard to deliver a heavy blow to Otto and Schicksal in retaliation!
"The turning point when things started to go downhill... That's right, it started with the failed assassination of Ren Amamiya! It must have been because that failed assassination leaked information, and that's why I came to Schicksal's attention! Damn you, Ren Amamiya!!!"
Cocolia carefully replayed everything in her mind, and soon she recalled the starting point of her streak of bad luck.
The beginning of all her troubles was the failure of the operation to assassinate Ren Amamiya.
Compared to Otto, who stood at the pinnacle of the world, and Schicksal, the largest and strongest organization globally.
Cocolia, now reduced to a defeated general, chose the "soft persimmon" [easy target] in her eyes and viciously cursed Ren Amamiya for disrupting her plan to artificially induce the birth of the Herrscher of Thunder.
"Instead of meaninglessly venting your anger at Ren Amamiya, who isn't even here, you'd be better off thoroughly screening Anti-Entropy's intelligence personnel. If Anti-Entropy's intel agents were even slightly competent, things wouldn't have reached this state."
Bronya Zaychik was curled up quietly in a cold corner of the room. Her voice was icy as she spoke to Cocolia.
The exoskeleton armor on her left leg had been damaged in battle, cutting her mobility by more than half. Until the exoskeleton armor was repaired, Bronya could no longer float and move through the air as nimbly as before.
As the one who executed the plan to assassinate Ren Amamiya, Bronya was undoubtedly a direct victim of Anti-Entropy's intelligence failures.
Bronya, the world-renowned top assassin "Silver Wolf of the Urals," should have been able to assassinate an ordinary person with ease; it should have been overkill.
However, the incompetence of Anti-Entropy's intelligence personnel had undoubtedly put Bronya in grave danger, nearly getting her killed by Ren Amamiya when he revealed his true strength.
Because Ren Amamiya had instantly changed into his phantom thief attire, and his physical abilities had drastically increased.
Bronya judged that the black, wing-like trench coat he wore utilized Schicksal Valkyrie Battlesuit technology. Schicksal had even used the extremely resource-intensive quantum transmission technology specifically for Ren Amamiya.
That powerful being who looked mysterious and dangerous, who completely suppressed Project Bunny, clad in red ceremonial attire with black bird-like wings sprouting from his back—that must also be a special ability attached to a Valkyrie Battlesuit.
After the battle, upon being rescued and brought back to the ME Corp base, Bronya had specifically used her skills as a genius hacker to infiltrate Schicksal's internal network, successfully finding the information she sought.
The results of her investigation were not unexpected.
According to information from Schicksal's network, the latest top-tier Valkyrie Battlesuit currently under development and testing by Schicksal labs was apparently equipped with a special function that could summon a Persona-like entity [guardian spirit] during combat to fight alongside the Valkyrie herself!
The intel stated that this technology was still in development and testing, but Bronya had clearly experienced its terrifying power firsthand in actual combat.
Schicksal was truly despicable. It was clearly a technology that had been fully developed and put into application, yet they still claimed in their internal records that it was not yet complete!
Although the corrosive power of Jizo Mitama, which had seeped into her body after being struck by Ren Amamiya, continuously affected Bronya's mind.
But Bronya, with her firm will and ironclad determination to complete Cocolia's plan and rescue Seele from the Sea of Quanta, still managed to resist the influence of the corrosive power, doing her utmost to convey the news to Cocolia that Ren Amamiya was likely an important figure in Schicksal.
However, to Bronya's disappointment, Cocolia did not take the intelligence Bronya provided her seriously, maintaining an arrogant, self-assured demeanor as if victory was already hers.
And so, the situation eventually developed into what it was now.
Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie squad launched a surprise attack on Cocolia's forces stationed at ME Corp. The Immortal Blades virtually wiped out Cocolia's entire setup in Nagazora City, turning Cocolia's meticulously laid preparations into a complete joke.
To be honest, Bronya had somewhat anticipated that Schicksal would send a Valkyrie squad to attack Cocolia.
It was just that, due to the increasingly strong influence of the corrosive power, after managing to convey the information to Cocolia once, Bronya no longer had the spare energy to continue advising Cocolia.
The only thing that surprised Bronya was the excessively lavish lineup of Valkyries that attacked the ME Corp stronghold.
An S-rank Valkyrie leading more than a dozen A-rank Valkyries, the best of the A-ranks, into battle.
Ren Amamiya's status within Schicksal seemed to be even higher than Bronya had originally anticipated.
"Bronya, you're right. Those intelligence agents are completely useless! Next time we make a comeback, I absolutely must strictly verify the authenticity of the intel they send!"
After a period of impotent rage, Cocolia, who could do nothing but fume, finally began to calm down.
Although Bronya's speech was naturally cold, Cocolia, having spent a long time with her, keenly sensed the iciness and distance in Bronya's words towards her.
Bronya had played a crucial role in Cocolia's successful escape from the pursuit of Schicksal's Valkyrie squad and their arrival at this backup temporary base. Cocolia naturally wouldn't get angry over Bronya's coldness.
Moreover, Cocolia knew why Bronya was angry.
The reason for Bronya's anger was also one of the sources of the raging fire in Cocolia's own heart.
According to the intelligence provided by Gray Serpent, the Authority of Conquest possessed the mighty power to tear space.
And Raiden Mei, in the process of awakening as the Herrscher of Thunder, did indeed display the ability to unconsciously tear open a passage between the real world and imaginary space.
Although, because Raiden Mei had not yet fully awakened, the rift in imaginary space would quickly self-repair and disappear.
But this undoubtedly verified the correctness of Gray Serpent's theory.
As long as Raiden Mei was catalyzed to awaken as the Herrscher of Thunder, as long as the fully awakened Herrscher of Thunder was captured, and the technological principles of tearing space were researched from her.
Opening a passage to the Sea of Quanta to rescue Seele from it was clearly no longer an unattainable dream!
Yet, just when the dawn of victory was within reach, the plan, which had been steadily progressing to the point where Raiden Mei was about to complete her Herrscher transformation, suddenly fell apart at the last moment.
This immense disparity from dashed hopes—it was completely natural for Bronya to harbor resentment towards her because of it.
Cocolia could fully understand Bronya's feelings.
Therefore, Cocolia also knew what she should say at this moment to comfort her kuudere adopted daughter, who constantly worried about Seele in the Sea of Quanta.
"It's alright, Bronya, we still have a chance... Although the plan to artificially induce the Herrscher of Thunder was forced into bankruptcy because of Schicksal, we can still find other ways to enter the Sea of Quanta and save Seele."
"Anti-Entropy once discovered the ruins of a previous civilization, called the City of the Abyss [Eye of Deep]. Within the City of the Abyss, there's a device that can theoretically open a passage to the Sea of Quanta. However, the danger of that device has not yet been formally ascertained. Since the Herrscher of Thunder path is blocked, we can only take the risk and try the Sea of Quanta passage in the City of the Abyss."
As Cocolia explained, she could clearly see Bronya's originally dim and indifferent eyes gradually begin to shine with light.
"The location of the City of the Abyss is in the hands of those old fogeys in the conservative faction. Although the plan to artificially create the Herrscher of Thunder failed, precisely because of this, my true purpose wasn't exposed, and I can still gain the trust of those stubborn old fools in the conservative faction who only have research on their minds. With my abilities, obtaining the coordinates of the City of the Abyss from them is only a matter of time."
Cocolia, skilled in manipulation, a master of human nature, and nicknamed the "Mother Fox," was practically a god of internal conflict [master of infighting] among the higher-ups of Anti-Entropy, whose minds were filled with scientific formulas.
With World Serpent's help behind the scenes, Cocolia was confident she could bring the City of the Abyss under her control.
"I've already contacted Tesla. She'll send people to help us leave Nagazora City. If we just wait patiently for a little longer, we can definitely rescue Seele!"
Cocolia's skill in reading people was practically maxed out. Tesla, moreover, was an open book who couldn't hide her thoughts. Cocolia could tell what she was thinking at a glance.
After lowering her head to finish the video call requesting aid from Tesla, Cocolia was completely certain that Tesla had no idea what arrangements she had made in Nagazora City.
As long as she hurried and evacuated Nagazora City, once she returned to her own territory, even if Tesla discovered what she had done in Nagazora City, there would be nothing Tesla could do about her.
"A beautiful thought, but unfortunately... Cocolia, you won't live to see that day."
Within the room of the temporary base, a grim figure holding a black umbrella silently appeared.
Gray Serpent materialized noiselessly behind Cocolia, raised the firearm glinting coldly in his hand towards her, and then, without hesitation, pulled the trigger.
Bang----!!