"Ugh!!"
The immense tornado scattered into the void.
"Am I too late?"
Sirin, who had been rushing through the air, came to a halt mid-flight.
Her speed was by no means slow. After dealing with the first pseudo-Herrscher, she had immediately rushed to Novosibirsk. The one dispatched here by the Second Herrscher was the "Pseudo-Herrscher of Death," Galina. A mist containing the [Authority of Death] had eroded the entire city. Living beings and buildings alike were all turned to dust within the dark, windy fog.
The person Tianming had sent here was Bishop Otto's dedicated secretary, "Amber."
As a Kallen-clone who had even sparred with Theresa, Amber certainly had combat capabilities, but when faced with a pseudo-Herrscher...
It was nowhere near enough.
If Sirin hadn't arrived early, her entire squad would have likely perished at Galina's hands.
After rescuing Amber, Sirin immediately rushed to the location of the final pseudo-Herrscher. However, by the time she arrived...
"As expected of Aunt Cecilia."
"Even as a counterpart, she's still amazing."
Cecilia, riding in a high-speed aircraft, had launched a surprise attack from high above.
The descending [Black Orchid] pierced straight through the body of the "Pseudo-Herrscher of Wind," Avrora, instantly blasting her to dust. Then, the [White Lily] bloomed vigorously from the point of impact, steadily catching Cecilia as she fell from the sky and lowering her to the ground.
"I wonder how Bella is doing."
Sirin didn't linger. The combat prowess of the pseudo-Herrschers hadn't been enough to satisfy her. The real fight... was still back at Babel Tower.
"I hope her 'plan' is going smoothly."
What does it mean to be childhood friends?
To say she had no clue about Bella's intentions would be a complete waste of their close relationship. Although she didn't know the specifics of what Bella wanted to do, the "usually" not-so-bright Sirin would certainly not stand in her way.
This was...
Her way of treating their friendship.
---o---
"You're the only one who came back?"
At the top of the towering Babel Tower.
Watching Benares emerge from the spatial gate, the Second Herrscher's expression didn't change much, but the dissatisfaction in her tone was obvious... as was the sorrow hidden within.
Agata, Bella, Galina, Avrora.
The names Sirin had used for the four pseudo-Herrschers she created with the "Consciousness's" power were the names of her emotional pillars in Babel Tower—her companions who had been "discarded" by the facility after they lost their experimental value.
Although she couldn't bring back her friends' souls, and couldn't even find their remains, taking revenge on humanity in their names... this was an obsession in the Second Herrscher's heart, and it was the only thing she could do for them.
But now.
"Forget it."
"Useless pawns."
The Second Herrscher's moodiness didn't last long.
"Bella!"
"Never mind these fools."
Her flowing dress moved without a wind, and distorted eyes and tentacles rapidly converged in the clouds high above Babel Tower.
Purple and black twisted and intertwined.
Together, they formed the pattern of a giant eye. The next moment, the closing eye gradually transformed into a rift that pierced the heavens!
A large-scale Honkai energy rift!
"There are still so many humans."
"In that case—"
"SWOOSH!!!"
The rift tore space open.
Countless lower-tier Honkai Beasts spread out in all directions like a torrential storm!
"Five hundred thousand of them."
"I have to entertain some guests who didn't bother to knock."
"You will lead them. I do not wish... to see a single human left alive on this land."
"..."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Her gaze shifted from the high edge of the tower.
In the very center of the rooftop, directly behind the two of them, the "guests" the Second Herrscher had spoken of had appeared:
Otto and Fu Hua.
---o---
"Bang!"
Giant dragon wings unfurled in the sky as Bella entered her draconic Collapsed State.
"As I thought, she didn't recognize me."
The Second Herrscher was being held up.
Things were progressing just as she had hoped. Once Fu Hua's [Divine Sword of Taixu] severed the connection between the Second Herrscher and the Honkai Consciousness, the final and most dangerous obstacle would cease to exist.
"Five hundred thousand Honkai Beasts."
For Bella, satisfaction was one thing, but this number was still a bit exaggerated.
Although these were all just [embryonic Primordial Species] that used Honkai energy, Bella reckoned it would be difficult for her to directly control even one percent, let alone one-thousandth of them.
"I'll have to do my best."
The territory of the Empire was not large.
One important reason for this was the Empire's extremely small population, which was more than sufficient for its current domain. The Empire had an absurdly low birth rate. If not for the fact that its natural death rate was infinitely close to zero, its population would have long entered a state of negative growth.
The Empire could directly absorb Honkai energy from Imaginary Space, but because the "test" had long since ended, no new Honkai Beasts could be born there, which was another significant reason for the low birth rate.
"ROAR!!!"
With a tremendous roar, Bella slowly closed her eyes.
Although the Honkai energy rift summoned by the Second Herrscher was massive, it had been a "forced entry," so no high-tier Honkai Beasts of Monarch-class or above had been born from it.
What Bella was doing now was using the [Authority of Sentience] to link with the lower-tier Honkai Beasts that held command authority: the Warlord-class and Honkai Emperor-class.
Incidentally.
There were no awakened "aberrant species" among these Honkai Beasts.
To be precise, in all the parallel worlds observed by the Empire, not a single one had shown the phenomenon of Honkai Beast "awakening."
In other words.
The "aberrant species" of lower-tier Honkai Beasts that possessed their own will, much like the Herrschers who were granted "humanity" by Elysia, were actually an effect of the Authority of "Origin."
However.
The "Origin" effect in this case was very likely related to the Monarch... regardless of whether He had been "born" at that time or not.
"Good."
After fifteen seconds had passed, Bella slowly opened her eyes.
"I can barely control them."
Bella was very familiar with the situation she was about to face.
Tianming would launch a saturation strike on all of Siberia—every heavy missile in its arsenal would be unleashed upon the Siberian land.
It wasn't that they had to use so many, but rather that it was all they had.
Even so, after the saturation strike, 5% to 10% of the Honkai Beasts would still survive. At that time, Valkyrie units led by Siegfried and Cecilia respectively, a total of 442 individuals, representing all of Tianming's B-rank and above Valkyries (the minimum rank permitted on the battlefield), would engage in an annihilation campaign from both the north and south.
Bella needed to protect them.
These non-sentient, lower-tier Honkai Beasts lacked the intelligence for teamwork. To pull this off right under the noses of the Second Herrscher and the Tianming forces, there was only a brief window of opportunity:
[Divine Sword of Taixu].
Bella could sense her friend approaching; the spiritual imprint she had left on her was growing clearer.
When Fu Hua used the [Divine Sword of Taixu] to sever the connection between the Honkai God and Sirin, and when Otto's mental energy was entirely consumed in a fruitless attempt to find a way to revive Kallen using a [Mimicked Fenghuang Down] to search for the [Authority of Death]...
Bella would use her own Authority.
She would deploy a gigantic shield with a radius exceeding ten kilometers. This would likely consume over ninety percent of her own Imaginary energy, but considering the time it would take for Sirin to return...
The Second Herrscher, along with the five Herrscher Cores under her control, would all fall into their hands.
Neither the [Judgment of Shamash] nor the [Black Orchid and White Lily], nor even the Second Herrscher disconnected from her "God," would be a match for Sirin.
By then, the answer sheet for this mission, along with the bonus question of 500,000 Honkai Beasts...
"We've won."
"CHIRP!!"
Just as Bella confirmed the final steps of her plan, a clear and resounding bird cry, accompanied by fiery clouds that blotted out the sky, surged above Babel Tower!
"So fast..."
The battle on the mental plane was instantaneous.
In about half a minute, the [Divine Sword of Taixu], imbued with thousands of years of memory and unparalleled might, was already descending straight towards Babel Tower. The soaring, fire-winged bird would, along with the "Honkai Consciousness" dwelling within the Second Herrscher and Babel Tower itself...
BE CLEAVED ASUNDER!!!
"BOOM!!!!!"
---o---
On the far side of the moon.
Within a stone ruin buried by wind and sand, the pitch-black night was momentarily illuminated.
Beneath the seemingly dilapidated structure, past layers of doors, walls, and traps, finally, within a completely sealed stone chamber—
"Click!"
A faint white light illuminated the patterns on the stone wall. With just a few strokes, the history of an entire civilization was engraved upon it.
A shadowy silhouette with a vaguely discernible outline slowly precipitated from within.
"..."
A signature set of drill-like pigtails gradually became clear, and delicate facial features were carved out, bit by bit, as if by an invisible chisel.
But, in the final moment before its formation was complete—
"Oh?"
A vast, ocean-like mental wave echoed across the entire moon.
"You're not going to run?"
On the dark side of the moon, a place untouched by light, dim starlight connected into lines. The form of a massive dragon slowly emerged from the starlight, as if to completely envelop the moon.
[Grand Sovereign Entropy Dragon]
This was a mental projection of the Monarch's avatar.
The "main body" of the Monarch's avatar was currently stabilizing the "time origin" five thousand years in the past. What had come to this timeline was merely a creation of the [Dominion of Erudition].
"..."
"You are Honkai."
After a brief silence, the mental fluctuations of the "Honkai Consciousness" were transmitted with perfect precision into the Monarch's mind.
"I see."
Whether he was satisfied or not was hard to say.
But the four words that came from the mouth of the giant dragon whose shadow could obscure the sky were undoubtedly spoken with a "smile."
The Honkai Consciousness, or more accurately, [Prometheus No. 17 Avatar].
Its very creation was for the purpose of eliminating the Honkai, not protecting humanity (Aponia's "Discipline" had a very subtle effect on this). Regardless of the method, the only result it cared about was "the Honkai being eliminated."
The Monarch was Honkai.
This fact alone was enough for Prometheus No. 17 to make its choice:
Regardless of whether the opponent was stronger than itself, as long as there was an opportunity, Prometheus No. 17 would do everything in its power to destroy them.
Therefore—
"Then let's continue."
Perhaps "I see" was not the right response. "As expected" would have been more fitting for the current situation.
Watching the solidifying body of Prometheus No. 17 dissipate once more, the Monarch's consciousness also receded back into the starry sky.
Bella had been discovered.
No, before that, Sirin had likely been identified as a "transmigrator" by Prometheus No. 17 much earlier.
No, no, before all of that.
The changes to the entire flow of time, starting from the time origin, had already been vaguely sensed by Prometheus. The appearance of Sirin and Bella had merely provided it with conclusive proof.
And this proof...
Was deliberately exposed by the Monarch.
---o---
That's right.
An opponent that even Otto had to be wary of "awakening"—how could Sirin and Bella possibly hide their identities from it?
Unlike the missions at other time nodes, the true, hidden objective of this Singularity during the Second Honkai Eruption was precisely to allow Prometheus No. 17 to confirm this fact: the power of the Honkai had intervened in the flow of time, and the development according to the "Previous Era's sequence" would likely be affected as a result.
In the eyes of Prometheus No. 17, this power, though great, was not invincible.
Even if it wasn't a match for them, it still had reinforcements. That man's injuries had not yet healed, and he might not be a match for this external force on his own, but if a few more helpers were to arrive...
There were many reasons for using an avatar instead of his main body to come to this parallel world and stabilize the "time origin." One of the most important was: this level of power did not exceed the leaf's tolerance limit, and it wouldn't induce the impulse to "run on sight."
Correct.
The Monarch's plans were never singular.
There were plans hidden within plans, and the truth of any exposed plan was always questionable.
The third objective being executed for this purpose was precisely to use the "distress signal" that Prometheus No. 17 would send into deep space to lure in an alien race:
The [Sky People].
According to the original timeline, the arrival of the Sky People at the "Current Civilization's Earth" was still at least twenty years away, and that was only after their vanguard had reached the solar system.
But.
When a deliberately broadcasted signal from a civilization is received, the already chaotic flow of time will become even more muddled due to the externally induced impact:
The vanguard of the [Sky People] would arrive early.
After that, by following the "path" of the Sky People, their home planet would no longer be a secret.
And after that.
"As the first opponent in our expansion into the sea of stars."
The [Sky People] were members of the [Antimatter Legion], the retainers of Nanook, the Astral God of Destruction. And further up the chain of command of this legion that spread terror across the cosmos was the Emissary of Destruction:
The [Lords of Annihilation].
"You should be quite suitable."
At the same time the Grand Sovereign Entropy Dragon's form faded, guided by the information left behind by the "Traveler siblings" who had wandered the continent of Teyvat, a branch of the Legion, led by an [Apostle], was already following the cosmic tracks towards the [Astral Express].
And at a Singularity five years from the present—
"Teacher Welt."
"It feels like I'm back in my student days at St. Freya Academy!"
Welt and Himeko appeared together on a path paved with bluestone slabs.
"Indeed."
Looking at the somewhat familiar scenery, he said.
"Just like at the graduation ceremony, do your best."
"Leave it to me!"