Hertatomb knew exactly who Herta was referring to when she ntioned the "army"—the Land of Light.
Assembling the Ultras would undoubtedly be a spectacular sight, but it also ant that in that short span of ti, countless worlds in need would be left without aid.
That thought wiped the smile from her face.
She actually wanted to talk it over with Herta. In her view, dealing with Kakamond shouldn't require such an overwhelming show of force. But with the enemy right before them, now was certainly not the ti to dampen their own morale.
So Hertatomb said nothing, simply waiting for Kakamond's response.
For her part, the Lord of Silence fell into a brief, contemplative silence.
She lowered her head, seeming to review the data—the information about Amphoreus she had always longed to know.
While the details were vague, the matters concerning Irontomb were laid out with crystalline clarity.
A calamity capable of destroying the entire galaxy. The Fourth Instant calculated by Nous.
No wonder even soone as proud as Herta felt the need to gather so much support.
With a silent, internal sigh that sounded like rustling feathers, Polka Kakamond recalled her final eting with Zandar.
"If I'm not mistaken, the 'grand army' you speak of must be the Space Garrison from the Land of Light."
"Not just the Garrison~" Herta's tone was amiable, but her words were laced with deadly intent.
"The Land of Light has yet to have a proper opportunity to display its ultimate power. Thanks to you, this place now holds the attention of the entire cosmos. I wouldn't mind using you to make an example."
The collective hopes of all Ultras belonging to the Land of Light, fused into a single entity.
That was an absolute miracle, powerful enough to crush anything known or unknown.
The Knowable Domain?
What even is that? I thought it was a speed bump.
Try saying that to the bonds of our Land of Light!
The Ultras are beams of miraculous light that bring Hope.
Hope is the key word.
The reason it hasn't been used is simply that no catastrophe of such magnitude has been encountered before.
And also because Herta had her pride. She preferred to defeat fellow geniuses using her own intellect.
That was where the sense of accomplishnt lay.
But if Polka Kakamond, after reviewing the data, still failed to read the room...
If she insisted on pursuing and assassinating Bai Ming at this very mont...
Then Herta would truly have to resort to the ultimate asure.
Even if she genuinely disliked the wretched state Bai Ming was currently in, that didn't an Polka Kakamond could brazenly dismantle this Irontomb wearing her face right in front of her!
Was admiring her own posthumous likeness not enough? Did she have to see her own 'corpse' being taken apart all over again?
'Looks like that mask on Kakamond's face needs so dismantling too,' Herta thought.
When the ti ca, old and new grudges would be settled together. Kakamond had better pray she could survive.
A mont later, Polka Kakamond retracted her scalpel and stood down.
If there had been a genuine chance to kill Bai Ming today, she might have tried it.
But since the ultimate goal was now unattainable, with Herta herself not present and thus impossible to assassinate, and... for so reason, Zandar's other segnts had jointly intervened, adopting an attitude that seed intent on excluding her...
And with Herta clearly resolved to bring down the hamr...
Continuing this stalemate truly served no purpose.
She couldn't possibly take on the Land of Light head-on.
Even Polka Kakamond wouldn't be so stubborn as to test Herta's so-called 'ultimate power' for no reason when her primary objective was out of reach.
So, in the end, Polka Kakamond chose to withdraw.
Watching the Lord of Silence depart, Celenova then turned her gaze to Hertatomb, as if pondering what to do next.
Noticing this, Hertatomb tilted her head toward Celenova. "What, still want to fight? I don't mind, but if I win this ti~"
"Speak properly!"
Before Celenova could even react, it was Herta who couldn't stand Bai Ming's tone anymore, cutting in to chastise her.
Did this creature even rember she was currently wearing Herta's face?!
But as Celenova looked at the wounds covering Hertatomb's body—at least half of which should have landed on her instead—her rising temper inexplicably subsided.
"Hmph. Too many disruptors today. I'll let you off for now. I also need to assess Irontomb's condition. I will temporarily station my army here. We shall fight another day."
With those words, Celenova shrunk her giant form back to normal and vanished into her legion, her whereabouts unknown.
The Legion of Destruction ca to a halt at the opposite end of Amphoreus.
Celenova's choice took everyone by surprise.
But since they were already here, and Amphoreus clearly seed to be undergoing so transformation...
They might as well stick around to see what would beco of this Irontomb.
And while they were at it, figure out how to defeat that infuriating creature!
-- --
Watching the legion settle down peacefully, Hertatomb arranged the portion of the army she had commandeered right next to the Legion of Destruction.
Only then did she find a mont to chat with Herta.
"Why do you still have ti to monitor outside affairs? What's the situation inside Amphoreus?"
"With another '' and Screwllum there, what could possibly go wrong? That Zandar fellow seems to be keeping his word, genuinely intending to compete with us."
Herta gave a light humph.
Watching Hertatomb maneuver these Legions of Destruction, she changed the subject. "It's you I'm more concerned about... If I hadn't stepped in just now, were you really planning to fight Polka to a mutual demise?"
The displeasure in Herta's voice was almost tangible.
If it were a genuine case of being outmatched, that would be one thing.
But Hertatomb had held back significantly, due to her considerations for Screwllum.
And then she would have gotten herself killed by Polka Kakamond while wearing Herta's face.
The very thought was infuriating.
"Ah... sorry about that. I forgot I was wearing your face. Next ti, I'll make sure to change my appearance before pulling a stunt like that."
Hertatomb could clearly hear Herta's irritation.
Given the other's level of narcissism, her annoyance was perfectly understandable.
"You think there's going to be a next ti?!"
But apparently, Herta grew even angrier upon hearing her response, her voice pitching several notches higher.
Why did that make her more upset??
Hertatomb felt a wave of helplessness internally, but refrained from voicing it.
"Well... Kakamond has been trying to kill . I had to test her capabilities. Besides, even if this mimicked body is destroyed, I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."
Herta was montarily speechless.
Her retort had been almost reflexive, blurted out without much thought.
Hearing Bai Ming's explanation, she quickly realized the other's approach was actually correct.
She must have been genuinely infuriated earlier.
"Hmph. Can't be bothered with you. Just don't co crying to for rescue if you really get yourself killed one day."
"Could you maybe wish well for once? By the way, when did you implant a vocal unit in ?"
Hearing Hertatomb's question,
Herta's mood improved considerably, even prompting a light chuckle.
"You've been running the code we developed through your body, completely unprotected, who knows how many tens of thousands of tis. I should be asking you where you got the confidence to think your body still entirely belongs to you."
"..."
Why did this woman have to phrase it so strangely?
And wait, you all collaborated on this without telling ?!
"No, that's on you. It started as a whim—I left a program behind just to ss with you for fun. Who knew you'd have absolutely zero sense of vigilance?"
As if guessing what Hertatomb was thinking, Herta explained breezily, her tone light and amused.
At the ti, she had genuinely just found Hertatomb's appearance unnerving and wanted to play a little prank for her own entertainnt.
She never expected Hertatomb would let the program implant itself without a shred of detection.
Seeing that complete lack of guard, Herta found herself inexplicably spurred on.
She grew curious—just how far could she go before this creature noticed sothing was wrong?
And the result?
Complete! Utter! Unawareness!
Here she was, bearing the title of Rubert III, yet completely oblivious to the piles of code buried within her own body.
In the end, it was Ruan i who, feeling sowhat guilty, quietly intervened to put a stop to it.
Only then did Herta, sowhat reluctantly, cease her 'mischief.'
As for Screwllum... He had been standing by, gently observing his colleagues' little sches, saying nothing and doing nothing.
"Herta, you! Holding a grudge for centuries, is that it?!"
"Mhm~ You tell ?"
Hearing Bai Ming's flustered, indignant scolding, Herta couldn't explain why, but it simply put her in a good mood.
Even though this reaction was entirely within her expectations—she had anticipated this very exchange—
She just couldn't resist hearing it with her own ears.
-- --
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