Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

Aleph didn't catch a break even when the operation was ongoing. He left a portion of his mind to watch over Elysia while the rest began formulating countermeasures.

'Four Herrschers… given they could coordinate well, it's a hassle. I should be able to defeat all four of them alone if I catch them off guard. If they know about me…'

Situations such as that popped up in his mind.

'Then, in the worst case, Yamato should have been exposed along with Durandal. The Nitro Sword doesn't matter much. So… this leaves me with my two shots of 'Stella'.'

Aleph wasn't unaware of means to manipulate information. He himself has the 'Information Imprint' ability that allowed him to create a projection of himself out of nowhere. 

It could be programmed to respond to certain keywords. At best, it could theoretically be used along with the "sealing" function from Aleph's 'Red Strings of Fate' to instruct the girls regarding his power.

Apparently, it creates a ''copy' of one of his abilities whenever they kiss. Even techniques such as Juezhao could be passed on.

It wasn't that hard to test it, either.

Aleph's lips were enough to withstand such 'tests'.

Hum.

Aleph momentarily halted. He opened one of his eyes and saw a short twin-tailed girl on a black-red gothic dress.

Kurumi walked towards him before sitting on his lap. The degree of 'naturalness' was enough to suggest they had been doing it for a while.

As if finding their match, Aleph's arms circled her waist.

Feeling the slightly heavy weight on her shoulders, Kurumi's rapidly beating heart calmed down.

'Ever since that day…'

It was they who led Aleph around. He was, after all, grasping their set boundaries to avoid making them uncomfortable.

When the sudden interruptions happened thrice, he decided to relax instead, hence the cuddling.

Since Kurumi did not give him any signals to do ambiguous things, he thought it was fine to continue like this.

The two did not talk for a while. Only the calming silence existed between them.

"How was it?" 

Aleph asked as he partially lifted his face that was previously buried on her neck.

"Most of the clones I sent ended up well. There were times I lost contact. The senses of high-level MANTISes are sensitive to my gaze."

Kurumi worked hard during this time period. Aside from sorting the 'baggage' on her pocket dimension, she was also responsible for spying upon several key figures, namely the councilors.

Though, she could not carry out full reconnaissance due to the high-level MANTISes on their side. It was quite ironic to know that the first batch of MANTISes weren't sent out to fight the honkai, but to become exclusive bodyguards instead.

Her clones could not use any of her time-altering power, hence the best they could do is to spy from the shadows.

The information she gained was incomplete, but they were enough to track the councilors' general movements.

Aside from them, there were also several people whom Aleph asked her to keep an eye on—this time, for rescue purposes. Major Himeko, the Seele of this era, and Major Anna were some of the included people.

That way, Aleph could rush to them as fast as he could.

"Aren't you going to ask me which reward I want~?"

Kurumi's cheek touched his. The sudden close contact startled Aleph.

"What do you want?"

"You."

From the moment she saw the opportunity, Kurumi did not let it go. She turned her head over and touched his lips with hers. It did not last long as she separated quickly.

The similarity that Kurumi and Mei had was their 'rich upbringing'. It caused them to be reserved. It was due to Aleph's reactions that their reservations slowly broke down.

Nevertheless, it still existed.

Only Mobius had the raw desire of 'eating' him alive.

As such, they were much more 'reserved' when doing specific things.

Embarrassment slowly crawled onto Aleph's head. He gave the black cocoon behind them a look.

"Are you worried she could see us?"

"...It's quite bad." Aleph nodded.

"Then, just the kisses?"

"Um."

With a compromise, the two began their deeds.

*****

"How troublesome."

A black-haired girl overlooked the Fire MOTH headquarters from a high-rise building. She wasn't in the Mu Continent but on an archipelago hidden from the map.

This place housed Fire MOTH's 'real headquarters'. Not only were their trump cards against the honkai stored here, more than half of the Fire MOTH councilors spearheaded this place. It was considered to be one of the safest locations in the entire world.

The signal jamming, visual interference, and all sorts of anti-honkai weapons were present.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to detect the said girl.

Nobody knew of her presence here, save for the contact person she chose. The councilor, Stuart, was one of the few 'public figureheads' that appeared in the public press conferences.

The process of tracking him down wasn't that hard. The 'acquaintances' she had through her aunt managed to track down one of his assistants.

One thing led to another until she reached him out.

At first, she wanted to kill him. Although, she changed her mind as soon as she heard the 'factions' within MOTH. Several cross-references and dead bodies later, she had a general grasp of the situation:

Aleph was terrifyingly strong, to the point the interests of several councilors were put at risk.

Ling did not use any obvious attacks, either. Without the worries of her Herrscher Core being detected, she made them die out of natural causes such as heart attacks and strokes.

As for how she hid the energy inside her Herrscher Core…

"Why are you hostile to him..? Was it because he fought for humanity..?" She muttered rhetorically.

Unfortunately, it was destined to stay that way—a rhetoric.

The meeting inside the white space was indescribable. She met an entity who took upon a human form. Even then, she wasn't able to fully understand its intent.

There were only three things.

'Sir Aleph.'

'A broken pillar.'

And most importantly…

'A comet.'

After 'it' manifested these images, Ling received the ability to conceal her Herrscher Core. She also gained full control of the ability embedded inside her body—the ability to travel in the Sea of Quanta.

Simply put, she could now use the Sea of Quanta as a 'bridge' to suddenly appear in the physical world.

These two things were her confidence to go against a strong foe like Aleph.

"If I could kill everyone here and then…"

Her right hand reached out towards the building. The budding temptation on her mind grew stronger. One snap was all it takes to send humanity crumbling down.

She clenched her hand into a fist.

Nothing happened.

"Defeating Sir Aleph… and proving that they are unworthy of his protection. That's what I should do."

Unknowingly, the girl's obsession towards the 'sole' decent person she knew deepened.