Alex's words would serve to only anger Hua(?) even more as the two clashed once more.

Because her emotions were running rampant, the fake was no longer aiming or striking with precision allowing Alex to easily land in more attacks on her.

As this battle went on, an idea came across Alex's head as his mind wandered over to the feather.

'Hey Hua. Answer me something.'

"What is it Alex?"

'Right now, we're able to communicate because your feather is in direct contact with me, correct?'

"Yes that's right. Wait, don't tell me you......."

'If I'm able to get close enough and touch the fake with the feather, that should allow you to enter that body and take it over.'

"While it would work, getting that close while she's this enraged could lead to a brutal outcome for me."

Despite Fu Hua's warning, Alex simply smiled.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take." He said to himself as after getting some separation again from Hua(?), he immediately ran into a nearby building that was abandoned.

"Oh NOW you wanna run away and hide!? Come out and fight me!" Shouted the fake as she stormed inside, following after him.

Inside, there was tons of cluttered debris and rubble that even the smallest amount of movement could cause a massive cloud of dust.

Despite this, the fake Hua had no more room for patience as she began to kick and punch her way through the clutter, already causing a decently sized dust cloud to envelop the area.

As she smashed her way through, Alex sat behind a corner at the other end of the room, waiting for the right moment as he had a hand on the handle of his sword, with Fu Hua's feather held tightly in his other hand.

"Focus Alex. You only have one shot at this."

'Yeah. I know.'

He waited and waited, the fake getting closer and closer.

Then, it was the time to strike as Alex stood up, immediately catching Hua(?)'s attention.

"Aha! There yo-!" Before she could finish speaking, Alex brought forth the Olympus' flames and dealt a massive fire slash, completely destroying ever piece of rubble and debris in that space as a large dust cloud enveloped them, completely obscuring their vision.

"D-Dammit!" Said the fake in frustration as she desperately tried to swat the dust away.

As for Alex, he hadn't moved an inch until he got the word from Hua.

"She's right there! Go!"

The boy immediately dashed foward and jumped up, bursting through the dust cloud.

Hua(?) would notice him too late as Alex would place his right hand where the feather was, right on the fake's forehead.

When he did so, a bright light began to slowly emerge from there before blinding Alex's vision.

Once it came back, he saw that the dust cloud was gone as well as the fake Hua.

It was just him all alone in the building as he looked around.

"The hell? Was I just dreaming all that?" He asked himself before noticing a light shine outside from where the battle was first taking place.

He stepped back outside and saw a figure there standing in the middle as he approached them.

"Thank you, Alex." They said, the voice turning out to be the real Fu Hua as she turned around to face him.

She looked very similar to the fake however the color pallette was much brighter not to mention that Alex didn't sense anything malicious from her.

"Is that it?" He asked as Hua nodded.

"Yes. I guess now's a good time to explain what's happened." She said as Alex remained quiet, ready to listen.

"Back when Sirin awakened, I had attempted to fight her after Durandal let me pass."

"Yeah I remember. She also let me pass shortly after you. That's when I tried to help. Unfortunately, the Herrscher knocked me out cold."

"After that happened, she turned her attention towards me ready to finish me off until Otto appeared. The two had a brief conversation until Sirin left for a short while. Then, that clown approached me. That was when he told me his maniacal plan."

"The one about having someone sacrifice their self to reawaken Kiana's psyche? Yeah I know. That blonde fool told me everything prior to that."

"I was beside myself when he told me. I, really thought that I was helping a noble cause. That was when I laughed and called him out. Then, he aimed a golden gun at me, and fired."

When Fu Hua said that, Alex was quickly taken back by shock.

"That asshole tried to shoot you!?"

"Tried. Right before he fired, I had managed to transfer and ship my mind and soul out of my body. When Otto fired, he was left with an empty vessel. Despite that, the twisted clown still managed to hatch an idea. He took my dormant body and healed it back into prime condition. The process took many months to complete, until today."

"What happened?"

"Back when Kiana was being held in North Africa, the Serpent had attacked the Schicksal base there. During the commotion, I aided in Kiana in trying to flee. Unfortunately, we were caught by Kevin. In order to keep Kiana safe, I used all the power I had left to delay him as long as possible. In the process, my soul would detach from Kiana and fade away." She explained as Alex nodded.

"I see. That's why Kiana was in that bad of a condition when me and Mei found her in Nagazora. Judging from what you said, your soul fading means you should be dead for good now. I'm assuming that fake I just fought played a role in it returning?"

"Since Otto was restoring my real body back into prime condition, it basically meant that it wasn't dead. I guess my soup wounded up wondering back into that body. At the same time however, the Honkai managed to also make its way into my body, using it to birth a new Herrscher."

"My gut instinct was right then. I was fighting another Herrscher."

"To be more accurate, it was more like a clone of it. The real Herrscher is no where near here. When the Herrscher within my body first awakened, Otto tried to smooth talk it over. Unfortunately it didn't work as the Herrscher pulverized him and quickly made a huge scene at Schicksal's HQ. The Overseer is currently listed as missing."

"Is that so huh? I don't buy it. That rat is probably making moves in the dark."

"Anyways, now we're caught up. The Herrscher is currently at the mountain where Kiana and Bronya are headed towards. Thanks to this encounter, I'll be able to make my way back to Kiana and help her. Thank you, Alex." She said with a smile as the boy nodded.

"No problem."

"One last thing. What the fake offered was true. I can indeed send you over there so you can help the two. Would you want that?" She asked.

Alex thought this over as while he initially wanted to accept and go, he turned and looked back at Serpent HQ in the distance as he chuckled to himself.

"I appreciate it but nah. I trust that Kiana and Bronya can get the job done. Especially with your help. Besides, someone's gotta stay here to look after Mei right?" He said as Hua was a little shocked at this but honored his decision.

"I see. Very well then. I'm about to transfer my soul out of this fake to the real one. From there I'll get back to Kiana's. I'd like you to slay this fake body to make sure it's never used again." She said, closing her eyes and preparing the transference.

"Hey. When you're over there, do you mind passing Kiana and Bronya a message for me?" He asked.

"Sure. What is it?"

Alex would withdraw his sword, ready to take our the fake's body as he gave his message.

"Tell Kiana and Bronya that one day I promise.............no........one day, I guarantee Mei and I WILL find our way back to them. All four of us will be back together." Declared Alex.

Fu Hua simply gave a soft chuckle as she nodded.

"Very well. I'll pass that along to them. Now then, go ahead and erase this body."

Those would be Hua's last words as the body flashed for a bit, the white colors going back to the darker ones as Alex immediately stabbed into the body's heart as it remained motionless before slowly disintegrating away into pieces as Alex watched them float away into the sky with a smile.

He then heard footsteps approach from behind as he turned around and saw Mei standing there.

"Alex! Thank goodness you're okay." She said in glee as she approached him, noticing some scuff marks and patches of dust on him. "What happened to you?"

"Eh. Just a brief scuffle. I'm okay though."

"Come on. We should head back now. Stuff's going on at the base." She said.

The boy nodded as the two made their way back to the Serpent's base as Alex had one last thought.

'Kiana, Bronya, Fu Hua, good luck. I know you three can do it.'

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Chapter 18: Complete