In this war, both the Etheric Academy and the Tower of Babel had people stationed.
The forr was to further observe the efficacy of the Black Knight in the war; the latter...
The latter was probably just trying to make the final change to soone's thoughts, or to prepare in advance for the worst mont.
"... Miss Ziegler," the Count of Watson tightly held the black ring in his hand, his face full of unresolved heaviness, "Is it really... just do as you say?"
Ravenna's tone was as cold as ever, "I've already explained everything to you... never mind, I'll repeat it one last ti."
"Due to ti constraints, the current Nidhoggur is far from perfect. It still has many limitations and negative effects, and is not stable enough. To defeat the chanized Armor, we have adopted many extrely aggressive designs. As the operator, your ether curcuit may be devoured by it, damaging your body, destroying your soul, and in the worst case, you may die directly, but—"
"But, I can win, right?"
Watson said, the heaviness on his face gradually fading.
"That's right," Ravenna nodded, "Nidhoggur can definitely pierce the armor of the Black Knight. As soon as it touches its etheric circuit, the war is over."
"The premise is that you can hold on until then, and let the Nidhoggur cluster be in a highly intact state when it contacts the Black Knight. As for how to maintain the integrity of Nidhoggur..."
She pushed her glasses up, "We discussed the counterasures yesterday."
"Right."
Watson slowly exhaled, putting the black bracelet on his wrist.
In an instant, the entire bracelet directly locked onto Watson's wrist, and visible fine black lines spread from the bracelet in all directions towards his wrist.
If you look closely, those densely packed "black lines" are not lines at all, but countless... bugs!
"How does it feel?" Ravenna stared at Watson's wrist, her lenses reflecting the flowing light.
"...Not very good." Watson's expression was sowhat twisted, it seed that the pain he was enduring was far stronger than his verbal expression.
"It's a necessary link establishnt process, the feeling of your soul being bitten is indeed uncomfortable, but can you control Nidhoggur normally?"
The young lord took a deep breath, the fine "black lines" flew off the bracelet, forming a large cloud of black fog in the air. He stared blankly at the black fog in front of him, subconsciously reaching out to touch it, but was imdiately slapped away by Ravenna.
"They have no other restrictions or settings now, other than accepting your commands, they only have an instinct to attack. If you don't want to die, don't move recklessly."
"What is this..." Watson murmured in disbelief, "What is this...? I feel like my body has an extra part, I can freely..."
"I explained it clearly to you yesterday, there's no ti to repeat it now."
Ravenna's tone was sowhat impatient, actually, they should have let Watson use Nidhoggur once yesterday, but the current product will quickly lose its effectiveness after being used once... in the end, ti did not allow them to make a better product.
"Rember," she stared at Watson, emphasizing again and again, "Your only goal is to send Nidhoggur into the Black Knight as much as possible. As long as you can achieve this, victory is within reach."
Watson, who seed to have mastered Nidhoggur, nodded. He excitedly commanded the small but nurous alchemical insects to fly up and down, and without wasting too much ti, he quickly let the Nidhoggur cluster scatter and disappear into the air.
"So, I'll go to the front line to command the battle... heh, although I've never experienced a so-called war, but if I have it, if I have this kind of weapon..."
Watson's face was alight with excitent as he hastened to the front lines, while Ravenna stood her ground for a mont before turning to Hendrik and saying:
"Let's go, depart to find a vantage point suitable for observation, and not squander this opportunity to test the efficacy of the Nidhoggur."
"...Ravenna."
Hendrik's expression was a complex tapestry of emotions: "Must you really... take it to such lengths?"
Ravenna's brow furrowed slightly: "I thought we had concluded this discussion long ago."
Sacrifice, cost, choice, worthiness... Hendrik had been attempting to communicate with her on these topics for days, but Ravenna's responses were invariably succinct and chilling:
"It is the most logical decision."
Especially upon learning that the war would not involve civilians, Ravenna's heart, which had little hesitation to begin with, had now beco colder and harder than steel.
But what Hendrik desired was not Ravenna's concession on the matter; he yearned for her to extricate herself from the maelstrom of her pathological frenzy. He did not wish to see Ravenna led down a path of no return by her own obsessions.
Yet reality... left him feeling utterly powerless.
A profound sense of fear and helplessness overwheld Hendrik.
It was as if... as if sothing was propelling Ravenna, step by step, to her current position, transforming her into the person she had beco.
Since the invention of the ether firearms, the many events Ravenna had faced, those she deed "logical decisions," had they been slightly less severe, she might not have resorted to such seemingly rational yet extre thods of thought; had they been slightly more severe, they could have caused her to experience intense emotional fluctuations under the pressure, or even a breakdown, leading to reflection.
But neither scenario occurred.
Be it the ether firearms, the mass production of floating cannons, the new weapons, or the war itself...
And the nurous events over the past three years that had turned Ravenna increasingly cold.
All maintained within a range that made her beco more "correct" and "rational."
When Hendrik accompanied Ravenna to witness this war, he harbored a selfish and cruel hope. He hoped that the civilians rcilessly killed by the flas of war, the countless bloody tragedies, the scorched and ruined aftermath, would awaken Ravenna's humanity and conscience, offering her a chance to break free from the abyss of so-called rationality.
But... by so cruel twist of fate, this absurd war did not involve civilians.
The two lords had decided the outco of the war through a duel, as if they were knights in a joust.
Under such circumstances... unable to grasp the true brutality of war, Ravenna was even less likely to perceive any fault in her choices.
She would only believe that she was not mistaken.
But the question remains: Is it that Ravenna Ziegler has made no mistakes...
Or is there soone weaving a malevolent veil, obstructing the path that could have led her to enlightennt, and instead, she steps into an abyss of darkness, following what she believes… to be the correct path of no return?
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