But that did not mean Vill-V intended to avoid Otto altogether. As mentioned before, she still needed to exchange certain information through him—for example, the movements of the Herrscher of Reason, Planck.
Vill-V had parked the Cosmic Juggernaut on the street outside the restaurant. That, too, was a gesture of sincerity toward Otto. A Divine Key hidden away was far more threatening than one displayed openly.
By leaving the Cosmic Juggernaut outside, it was effectively equivalent to disarming in Schicksal's eyes—a signal of peaceful dialogue.
As for why it counted as disarming, that was because Divine Keys were simply too powerful. Compared to them, other armaments might as well not exist.
It was the same logic as placing an S-rank Valkyrie before the Oath of Judah—at that point, only the launcher of Judah truly mattered.
(What? The times have changed? Judah is outdated now? Well then, never mind.)
Of course, even without the Cosmic Juggernaut, the Magician had her own means of self-preservation. When it came to escaping, she did not mean to boast, but aside from Elysia, no one could catch her.
If Otto still wanted to play hardball, then she would not hesitate to respond in kind.
Weapons from the Previous Era—even weapons from the Three-Body world's human civilization—might not have been effective against Herrschers of the Previous Era, but against Schicksal's forces, they would pose no issue at all.
Just toss out a self-regulating soulium robot and see if present-day Schicksal had anyone capable of handling it.
Send an A-rank Valkyrie with a rare soulium weapon to fight?
Excellent. Then she would deploy a full battalion of soulium robots...
After all, the soulium walls of the MOTH S-1 Experimental Base had been stripped down by the Expert for materials. There was no shortage of secondary-grade soulium.
Did Otto even have a battalion's worth of soulium weapons?
Of course, constructing soulium robots would take time. If the Conductor were to choose, she would be more inclined to employ nuclear weapons of mass destruction instead. And to counter soulium robots, Otto would likely resort to Honkai Fission Missiles.
That would inevitably cost the lives of many Valkyries—something Vill-V could not bear to see. Valkyries were, after all, human heroes with ideals and aspirations. They should not die for Otto's schemes.
So it would be best if Otto refrained from any crooked ideas. Everyone could sit down and talk peacefully. No need to shout about war and detonate nuclear blasts at the slightest provocation.
Vill-V also believed that even that scoundrel Otto would not refuse an opportunity for peaceful discussion. Though Welt had called him a tyrant, he was not one. Power, wealth, fame, virtue—none of those held any meaning for Otto. He would not pursue harm for its own sake nor seize things through brute force alone.
Well...
At that thought, Vill-V felt a little less confident.
That scoundrel Otto could not be judged by normal standards. He was, after all, someone who could declare that "any form of rule is tyranny," that "a world without Kallen has no meaning to exist," and who had used Reanna's body to trigger a self-destruction.
Talk first?
Better prepare to eat a pseudo-Fenghuang Down.
...
Seeing that Vill-V neither agreed nor refused, Reanna spoke up in support. "Based on my understanding of Archbishop Otto, I believe this will be a conversation beneficial to Miss Vill-V. It would not hurt to at least hear him out."
"If Archbishop Otto truly harbors ill intentions toward Miss Vill-V, I promise I will intervene to stop him."
Do you understand Otto better, or do I? Vill-V thought. Would Otto ever be such a benevolent soul? Besides, if you intervene... I should be grateful if you do not end up controlled by Otto and stabbing me again.
Although Reanna felt goodwill toward Tesla and the others, her allegiance still lay with Schicksal.
Or perhaps Otto had performed too well before her, and Reanna now trusted him completely.
After all, every inch of her body had been personally modified by Otto into soulium. A backdoor had been implanted within her. She had become, in every sense, Otto's person. And if he wished... she could even become Otto at any moment.
He played far wilder games than anything in fiction.
Since Reanna had spoken thus, Vill-V decided to grant her a small favor. "Very well. But... I have not finished eating."
At the opening of the banquet, the Magician's desire to perform had flared up. She had put on numerous magic acts before everyone and had not even had time to eat.
The wielder of the Oath of Judah gave a faint smile. "Archbishop Otto anticipated this and has specially arranged another banquet for you."
More like a Feast at Swan Goose Gate, Vill-V thought.
"In that case, I shall accept the Archbishop's gracious hospitality. Let us go."
"Oh, and Welt, if I get captured, do me a favor and take the Star of Eden to rescue me, will you?"
Welt, suddenly addressed, pointed at himself. "Huh? Me?"
"That's right. Let him witness what it looks like when stars shatter!" Vill-V laughed as she rolled up her sleeves.
Welt complained, "I'm a Herrscher who was just released from Schicksal's laboratory. What makes you think I can confront the Archbishop of Schicksal head-on?"
Welt, do you perhaps misunderstand what it means to be a Herrscher...
...
Edison watched Vill-V depart with Reanna, her eyes flickering. Now that Vill-V had gone to Schicksal, Otto would likely not let her leave easily.
But after a moment's hesitation, Edison still chose not to stop them.
It was not yet time to fully break relations. To do so now would be unwise. Two S-rank Valkyries could easily suppress all of them. Tesla and Einstein had little combat capability, and Dr. Schrödinger required Reanna's Black Abyss White Flower to sustain her life.
As for Reanna's promise, everyone still chose to trust her. Even before Otto, she would likely protect Vill-V's safety.
As the Valkyrie most favored by Otto, Reanna's face carried weight. Otto would at least grant her some consideration.
Edison called over one of her employees and instructed, "Notify everyone. In one hour, return to your stations and enter Level-One alert status. Prepare to execute Plan Six and Resolution Three at any moment... and thank you for your hard work."
This mobilization was also a form of pressure upon Otto—warning him not to act rashly against Vill-V.
Vill-V was now effectively one of Edison's people. If anything happened to her, Edison would make Otto pay the price.
Here, Edison cast a glance at Katrina. Whether out of extreme confidence or genuine goodwill as she claimed, Katrina made no move to stop Edison's personnel from dispersing.
Katrina was clearly the stabilizing force Otto had dispatched here. Transferring Reanna—who had close ties to Laboratory 42—was also Otto's precaution, to prevent her from hesitating out of old sentiment.
Similarly reluctant... was Welt, who still held a Rocky Mountain oyster in his hand. It was Professor Planck's favorite dish, yet Planck herself was nowhere to be found. It would be a shame to waste it.
So Einstein teased Welt into eating it, and the foolish fellow actually did so. Say one thing and he would comply. He grumbled nonstop, yet his body was surprisingly honest.
"Relax, Welt. Even if Vill-V really gets captured, no one will truly send you to rescue her. She was just teasing you... and so was I. So put down that Rocky Mountain oyster."
After stopping Welt from actually biting into the bull testicle, Einstein turned to Dr. Edison and asked, "By the way, where did Planck go?"
Planck had previously been executing the 'hostage protection plan.' Now that Joachim had appeared here and the Norfolk Naval Base had been destroyed—without even a single message sent out—while Honkai radiation interference was a factor, Planck must have encountered trouble.
At that moment, as if on cue, the communicator rang.
"Ha, we were just talking about Planck, and she calls," Edison said with a light laugh as she looked at the incoming channel.