The Vixen's Gambit: Tonight We Hunt

Lee was, without a doubt, the strongest Herrscher at this moment. Possessing both Elysia's and the Herrscher of Sentience's cores, she was in an unprecedentedly excellent state, both mentally and physically. Coupled with her honed combat skills, she had no weaknesses.

And now, she was holding the Divine Key Seven Thunders of Retribution, which had the best compatibility with her. Therefore, her strength could easily kill all enemies from ancient times to the present!

Kevin, similar to Lee, was undoubtedly the strongest human in history. He was also flawless, both mentally and physically. His consciousness was protected by the precept set by Aponia, and even Lee couldn't break through it in intense combat. His combat skills were equally impeccable.

And his physical fitness, enhanced by the Chimera Project, was even higher than Lee's. The ice he controlled was stronger than Lee's attacks, and the Might of An-Utu in his hand was even more terrifying than Lee's Seven Thunders of Retribution... terrifying!

How could the battle between these two strongest beings in history be small?!

Flames and thunder roared on this land. Wherever they passed, mountains became plains, cities turned into wasteland, and the sea boiled in this fierce confrontation!

If it weren't for Lee having already exterminated humanity in advance, even if Kevin intentionally shifted the battlefield to uninhabited areas, the aftermath of the battle between the two would have been enough to kill countless humans.

However, even among the strongest, there were differences. When the range of their battle crossed a large circle, they finally returned to Fortress Three, which proved the destruction of human civilization, and revealed the arrival of the result.

Red flames fell from the sky and slammed into the ground. Was the loser Kevin?

No, it was Lee, who had been pinned to the ground by his Might of An-Utu!

At this moment, Lee had lost all the elegant posture she had before the battle. Her original elegant white dress was tattered and covered in blood. Lee's body was also covered in visible wounds, frostbite, and burns.

Even the Seven Thunders of Retribution, which she had originally held tightly in her hand, was now broken in the middle of the blade and fell to the side.

On the other hand, although Kevin had many wounds on his body, his combat power did not seem to be affected at all – therefore, there was no need to say who the winner of this battle was.

"Hah... It hurts, cough cough..."

Lee lay on the ground, coughing up blood that spilled from the corner of her mouth. Her vacant eyes looked at Kevin above, and the only thing separating the two was the Might of An-Utu, which had retracted its flames.

"I, lost again....."

Forcing a smile, Lee said softly, "What are you waiting for, Kevin?"

"Do it....."

Even though Lee had already said such words of surrender, Kevin still remained silent.

Do it..... Yes, it was time to do it.

It was time to destroy this Herrscher who had destroyed humanity, this Herrscher who had occupied his beloved.

He shouldn't be soft-hearted. Even though this body was the person he loved, Kevin loved the person, Lee, not a body. Whether it was for humanity, or for his companions, or for Lee, he should avenge this Herrscher.

Might of An-Utu was now against this Herrscher's neck. Kevin didn't even need to move. As long as he retracted the power that restrained the temperature of Might of An-Utu, the high temperature on the blade would be enough to make this Herrscher die in great pain.

Although she was a Herrscher, her body still followed Lee's original condition. As long as the connection between the core and the body was severed, she would lose her mobility.

And in the previous battle, Kevin had destroyed all the Divine Key-like structures in this Herrscher's body. At this moment, she had no fighting power.

Even if she could recover, it would take a long time.

Killing her would be an easy thing..... It should be an easy thing, right!?

However, even though it was such a simple decision, Kevin hesitated for a long time, and even the tip of Might of An-Utu began to tremble slightly.

".....You're still hesitating, Kevin."

Lee slowly closed her eyes. "It's not good to be so indecisive all the time....."

"If, you won't do it..... let me—cough cough cough....."

Lee's arm struggled to touch the broken sword that had fallen beside her, but in the end, she failed. She was too seriously injured. Even if Kevin didn't resist at all now, Lee no longer had the strength to pick up this broken sword and stab it into Kevin's neck.

Looking at Lee struggling like this, Kevin gritted his teeth, and finally spoke painfully.

"Lee, you're not..... a Herrscher at all."

Yes, this was the reason why Kevin had been hesitating.

Whether it was her aura or her appearance, Lee at this time was indeed no different from a Herrscher. And what she had done was so crazed that only a Herrscher could do it.

But even though facts and reason were telling Kevin this, only his intuition kept refusing this answer!

Kevin remembered that a long time ago, he had asked Lee how she could so accurately judge whether a person was a Herrscher, and the answer she gave him was – intuition.

After killing many Herrschers, there would be an intuition when seeing a Herrscher. Herrschers might lie, they might hide, but this intuition wouldn't lie.

Kevin hadn't killed as many Herrschers as Lee, but as one of the only two people who had eliminated multiple Herrschers, he finally chose to believe his intuition.

".....What nonsense are you talking about." Looking at Kevin's painful eyes, Lee said softly, "I've killed so many people."

"I don't know why you're doing this, but you, Lee, are definitely not a Herrscher!"

".....Hah, idiot." Lee twitched the corners of her mouth. "My acting... was clearly very good, right? Everyone, couldn't see through it....."

"Why did you do this—?!" Kevin tried hard not to shout.

He couldn't understand. Why would Lee, who deeply loved humanity, do such a crazy thing?

If Lee had done such a thing because she was disappointed in humanity in previous events, Kevin would even feel better, but there was no reason at all now!

The Herrscher of Finality was right in front of them. As long as they crossed the final hurdle, they would be victorious. But why, at this time when they could already see hope—

"Because, we can't win."

In stark contrast to Kevin's excitement, Lee's tone was extremely calm, so calm that it was desperate.

She lay on the ground, speaking of the prophecy that humanity would surely be defeated, as if it were an already established fact.