"BOOM!!!"
Sirin casually tossed the fireball into the sky.
The barrier of flames in front of Agata was utterly fragile. In an instant, an explosion with a mere five-meter diameter completely annihilated the pseudo-Herrscher. That's right, the explosive range of the flame bomb Sirin had thrown was less impressive than the fireworks at a small festival.
The few scattered flames that escaped the explosion didn't even affect the Ruoshui sword in Cheng Lixue's hand.
But it was precisely because of this...
"What terrifying control."
Cheng Lixue subconsciously took two steps back.
This level of energy control was far beyond her own by countless degrees. Though her earlier waterspout had looked immense and powerful, that was only good for frightening ordinary people who knew no better. If the power of the [Ruoshui] could be condensed to its absolute limit, not a single ripple of water would spill from the blade's edge.
The ability of this [Tenth Key of God], the Key of Domination, was to mimic the power of the Previous Era's Fourth Herrscher, the [Ideal Fluid]. Unfortunately, in Cheng Lixue's hands, she could only manage [Water Flow], failing to bring out even a tenth of the weapon's true power.
And the inconspicuous fireball in Sirin's hand just now...
The exquisite control it displayed was precisely the realm Cheng Lixue dreamed of achieving.
"Whoosh!"
A biting cold wind blew through the buildings. Although it couldn't extinguish the sea of fire that was still spreading outwards, it did provide some slight cooling to the blazing city.
"You—"
Cheng Lixue called out to the "Sirin" who didn't even deign to glance at her.
"No need to thank me for such a small matter."
Sirin still didn't turn back.
She was walking towards Agata, who had been burned to a charcoal husk and had fallen to the ground. The pool in the center of the park had preserved this small patch of greenery. Though the flowers, baked to a scorched yellow, were wilted and had lost their former beauty, they had at least avoided being turned to carbon and could just barely serve as decoration for a grave.
Just then...
"?"
Above Agata's charred corpse, a spatial rift opened, and a giant female arm, so pale it was almost unsettling, emerged.
"..."
It was a manifestation of the [Authority of the Void].
In other words, this was the Pufferfish's backup plan. No matter how worthless a pseudo-Herrscher core was, it was still condensed from pure Honkai energy and Herrscher Authority. After being retrieved, it could still be reused.
Sirin obviously noticed this.
She had originally planned to burn the arm to a crisp, but in the end, she chose not to act.
Even without being proficient in the [Authority of Sentience], Sirin could tell that the other party had not focused her consciousness or attention on this arm made of pure Authority. Attracting the Pufferfish's attention was one thing, but even with Sirin's intellect, she knew that if she accidentally provoked the "Honkai Consciousness," it would absolutely ruin their grand plan.
Therefore...
"Hmph~"
In the final moment before the spatial gate closed, Sirin attached her own [Authority of the Void], weakened several times over (by converting Imaginary energy to Honkai energy), to the arm, which vanished without a trace the next second.
According to her original plan, Sirin had intended to use the [pseudo-Herrscher Core] to reverse-engineer the location of the Herrscher Cores.
Now, it seemed that marking it with an ability that had the exact same aura as her counterpart's would work just as well.
"Are you Sirin?"
Seeing that Sirin was about to take to the skies, Cheng Lixue, knowing she would lose her chance if she didn't speak up now, hurriedly shouted at her. As a high-ranking Tianming commander, Cheng Lixue knew a great deal of classified information: the "soul" of the First Herrscher, Walter, who was also the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, was actually formed from the collective "will" of 300,000 people. If this girl before her was also Sirin, it meant the birth of the Second Herrscher also had aspects that differed from the "Previous Era intelligence," and many of Tianming's targeted countermeasures would...
"..."
"BANG!!"
A massive gravitational field slammed Cheng Lixue directly to the ground. The Ruoshui sword, which had been cracked during the fight with Agata, exploded into countless cyan fragments.
"Mortal, I have not given you the right to speak my name!"
Although she had successfully postured, this pseudo-Herrscher was simply too weak to give Sirin any satisfaction. An opponent who could only use the [Authority of Flame] to start fires... even if its Honkai energy reserves weren't small, frankly, its skill level was lower than that of a first-year student at St. Freya Academy.
Sirin was in a hurry to get to the next show.
Furthermore, her ability to lie—no, her application of conversational arts was highly problematic. Sirin at least understood the principle that the more one talks, the more one is prone to error, so she simply chose not to answer Cheng Lixue's question.
"Swoosh!"
A cone of cyan airflow converged before her.
With a shriek that tore through the air, Sirin's figure instantly vanished from Cheng Lixue's sight.
As for the gravitational field left behind to restrain Cheng Lixue—
One minute, two minutes... four minutes and thirty seconds.
"Bang!"
Sirin could easily maintain an Authority of this level for over an hour.
But at that moment—
"Lixue."
A powerful blow from an external source directly shattered the Honkai energy maintaining the Authority.
"Master..."
Fu Hua, her expression stern, helped the fallen Cheng Lixue to her feet while carefully examining the dissipating Honkai energy.
"Was it Anti-Entropy?"
The pseudo-Herrscher was gone, and her disciple hadn't been killed on the spot.
In this situation, it was clear that a third party who didn't want interference had stepped in. As far as Fu Hua knew, the only powerhouse capable of using "gravity" was the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, Walter.
However, intelligence she had just received from Otto stated that Siegfried, who had gone to the moon with Walter, had clearly reported that Walter had already lost his life at the hands of the Second Herrscher while creating an opportunity for him to bring the "Previous Era legacy" back to Earth.
A Kaslana would not lie.
From this, it seemed that Anti-Entropy, which was currently allied with Tianming, was likely hiding something...
"No, Master."
Clutching her chest, Cheng Lixue finally stood up straight. The direct impact with the ground due to the gravity had caused the "only part of her that didn't quite resemble her master" to ache faintly.
"It wasn't Anti-Entropy."
"The one who drove off the pseudo-Herrscher..."
Cheng Lixue reorganized her words.
"Was very likely the human part of the Second Herrscher."
---o---
"Alert!"
"Alert!"
Inside Babel Tower.
"Salome, what's happening?!"
Red hair flowed like satin beside her. After Walter's initial repulsion of the Second Herrscher, Tianming had already retaken this facility. Shub Nicholas, the "Spawn of Chaos" of the Snow Wolf Squad, shoved open the doors to the command center.
"Spatial fluctuations."
Salome's calm voice made Nicholas quiet down slightly.
"A giant warship has suddenly appeared above Babel Tower."
"Based on its abilities and aura... it should be a creation of the Second Herrscher after absorbing the core of Anti-Entropy's Sovereign, Walter."
"The vanguard is a retainer of the Second Herrscher, tentatively designated as the Judgment-class 'Benares'."
"Judgment-class?"
Nicholas frowned slightly, but soon—
"Perfect."
"I've never seen what a 'Judgment-class,' which I've only read about in files, is truly capable of."
"Have the garrison prepare for battle. I hope it's stronger than a Monarch-class..."
"No."
"Prepare to retreat immediately."
The chair in the center of the command room swiveled around.
Salome, who had been calm just moments ago, now had visible beads of sweat tracing faint lines down her cheeks as she slowly opened her eyes.
"The number of Honkai Beasts on that warship has already exceeded ten thousand."
Although it was classified as a "warship," this massive construct, delivered through a spatial gate, was several times the size of a battleship.
"And the detector readings..."
Salome turned off the alarm that was incessantly piercing her eardrums. Her right hand, sweeping across the keyboard, was trembling unnaturally.
"If this thing isn't broken."
"The massive energy source on that warship is even stronger than the Second Herrscher was a few days ago."
"..."
Undoubtedly.
After receiving the "God's" blessing, not only had the Second Herrscher's power increased by leaps and bounds, but Benares, already a Judgment-class Honkai Beast, had seen its combat power skyrocket to an absurd level after obtaining a pseudo-Herrscher core... at least, relative to a Tianming Valkyrie.
"They're coming!"
Dense purple dots appeared on the radar, diving towards Babel Tower!
"Everyone, leave the command room and move to Hangar G-2!"
"Nicholas!"
Salome grabbed the wrist of her teammate, who was moving in the opposite direction.
"Listen, most of the vehicles here are unarmed."
"The armor is... it's obvious from the energy readings of these Honkai Beasts that they are all enhanced variants. It would be a miracle if the armor could withstand even a single hit."
She spoke very quickly.
"Ten thousand."
Salome repeated the scale of the enemy they were about to face to her teammate.
"If you charge in like that, you won't even be able to kill a tenth—no, a hundredth of them."
"..."
"Our objective is to retreat."
"The data here is crucial to Tianming... to humanity."
"These achievements may be stained with filthy blood, but for that very reason, we cannot let those children die in vain."
"Shub Nicholas."
"Do you understand what I mean?"
"..."
Nicholas's fingers, which had been tightly gripping his long spear, slowly relaxed. The sharp tip, pointed at the metal floor, moved back behind him.
"I'll listen to you."
"Good."
She gently patted her teammate's shoulder.
"After we leave Babel Tower."
"The two of us will stay on the roof of the vehicles and be responsible for eliminating the surrounding Honkai Beasts. Don't let them get near the convoy—"
Before she could finish her sentence.
"Lady Salome!"
"This is... this is bad!"
A Tianming researcher who had just left rushed back into the command room.
"The hangar exit..."
"From G-2 to G-8, all the hangar exits are blocked by Honkai Beasts!"
"What...!?"
"BOOM!!!"
---o---
An explosion erupted directly in front of Hangar G-2.
A massive, circular shockwave sent a large number of small and medium-sized Honkai Beasts, like the Assault-class and Knight-class, flying.
However.
Even though the Chariot-class beasts were heavily damaged—their enhanced bodies still hadn't surpassed the 10-meter threshold—there were still more powerful Templar-class beasts guarding the location, not to mention the Warlord-class beast leading them.
"Clang."
On a nearby mountain peak, a red-and-black cannon made of Soul Steel, crackling with agitated electricity and black smoke, fell onto the snow-covered Siberian landscape.
Patricia Highsmith, the "Genius" of the Snow Wolf Squad.
She was the warrior who, along with Theresa, had infiltrated Babel Tower before the incident escalated, and had lost her right arm in a confrontation with the newly born Second Herrscher. Her true identity was that of an Anti-Entropy spy, originally sent to retrieve the Herrscher host from Babel Tower before the Herrscher's birth. As it turned out, she was clearly a step too late.
Highsmith, who had been waiting and recuperating at the Anti-Entropy camp...
Using the last dregs of Honkai energy in her body, she had forced herself to fire one last shot, successfully drawing the attention of the Honkai Beasts blocking the hangar entrance.
"You two..."
"You really can't manage without me, can you..."
Purple-red veins appeared in patches on Highsmith's healthy, wheat-colored skin. Even without a Honkai Beast laying a hand on her, her body was clearly on the verge of collapse.
"But, if you knew about my betrayal, you'd all be furious, wouldn't you?"
"Swoosh!"
The snowstorm was pushed back by Honkai energy.
The Templar-class Honkai Beast that Highsmith had just attacked appeared directly behind her via [Teleport].
"I'm sorry."
"Captain Cecilia, and everyone in the Snow Wolf Squad..."
The pure white tip of a lance ignited with flames.
Just as the Templar's lance was about to enter from behind, to pierce straight through her front and back that her clothes couldn't possibly restrain—
"Swish!!"
"Ting."
Two delicate fingers lightly pinched the spear.
"Don't be in such a hurry to die."
"It seems you have other uses."
---o---
At the same time...
"Fish that slipped through the net?"
Benares, in its pseudo-Herrscher form, circled Babel Tower, flapping its abnormally magnificent wings.
"In your dreams."
Its wings rose.
Thick, cyan lightning fell from the gloomy sky.
Lightning serpents and electric arcs rapidly converged above Benares. A soul-stirring ball of lightning, surrounded by smaller "electric orbs," crackled with a deafening thunder.
"Not good!"
Salome was the first to sense the change above.
"If we don't block that..."
An A-rank Valkyrie was no match for a Judgment-class Honkai Beast.
Even if its current strength was at the bottom of the Judgment-class, Benares's attack was not something the two of them below could withstand.
To protect the convoy... there was no other choice but to risk their lives!
And in the instant Salome pushed her [Superconductive Magnetic Field Blades] to their limit to form a defense—
"RUMBLE!!!"
A massive pillar of lightning, several times wider than the ball lightning, descended from the heavens!
Brilliant white light obscured everything. The storm kicked up by the explosion even shook the very foundations of Babel Tower.
At the epicenter of the lightning strike.
"Who..."
A single blow was all it took to leave it grievously wounded and near death.
The pseudo-Herrscher core inside Benares, endowed with the [Authority of Thunder], allowed it to wield lightning while also granting it a near-total immunity to lightning damage.
However.
"I'm sorry, my other self."
Dark ripples enveloped her. The voice that entered her mind was already hazy and indistinct due to her fading consciousness.
"Your identity..."
"I'll have to borrow it."