"DONG!!!"
A silver-black "warhead" plummeted straight down from above the clouds.
The [Honkai Fission Bomb], launched from Tianming Headquarters, was turned into a solid iron ball by the effect of the electromagnetic pulse.
"A trivial matter."
A purely technological weapon, lacking the protection of an Authority, had absolutely no value before the [Authority of Thunder].
The battle was over.
The [Divine Sword of Taixu], unleashed by Fu Hua at the cost of a millennium of memories, had been completely blocked by the "Honkai Consciousness" within the Second Herrscher's body.
After that, while Theresa, Siegfried, and Cecilia rushed in to hold back the Second Herrscher, Otto swiftly retreated from the scene with Fu Hua.
However, even when facing three S-rank combatants (one male, two female) wielding Keys of God, the Second Herrscher still held the upper hand in the fight—until the "Kaslana Factor" within Siegfried's body connected with Kevin, who was still inside the Sea of Quanta.
Combined with the information brought back from the moon and the "Hyper-mutation Serum" discovered by Anti-Entropy in the ruins of the Previous Era, Siegfried successfully achieved a half-human, half-beast "Over-limit Hyper-mutation." Relying on the power of two Keys of God, he successfully activated the ultimate form of the Judgment of Shamash.
In his over-limit hyper-mutated state, Siegfried completely overwhelmed the Second Herrscher.
And Otto, having successfully retreated to his headquarters... resolved that he "must eliminate them both." Siegfried's combat power had exceeded Otto's plans. The existence of such a variable, possessing the purest form of brute force, could very well overturn the chessboard he had so carefully arranged.
Therefore, even if it meant sacrificing two vital combatants in the fight against the Honkai, Otto still launched the [Honkai Fission Bomb] without a moment's hesitation.
And then—
"You are...?"
Siegfried had already lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
Cecilia, who had been prepared to sacrifice herself to stop the superweapon, watched with her own eyes as this "Sirin" appeared above them in the final moments before she unleashed her own bloodline, effortlessly swatting the incoming Honkai Fission Bomb out of the sky.
"Don't mind me☆~"
Sirin replied to Cecilia with a lighthearted tone, even as she walked straight towards the fallen Second Herrscher.
Of course, although her words were nonchalant, the steps Sirin was taking... were filled with panic.
"Only two."
There were only two Herrscher cores inside the body.
Aside from the [Core of the Void] belonging to the Second Herrscher, only the Gem of Serenity, symbolizing the [Authority of Death], remained.
She crouched down.
"Plch!"
Forming a blade with her hand, Sirin plunged her arm directly into the other's body and retrieved two gems from a mini-Imaginary space hidden within.
"I am a Herrscher."
"God has gifted me a brocade robe and offered me the wine of death, sweet as a dream."
"The King of Serenity."
The moment she touched the gems, a chant-like voice flooded into Sirin's mind without warning, spreading rapidly along her neural network towards her Honkai Core—
"Crack!"
It slammed into a virtual barrier and was instantly shattered into nothingness.
"..."
"Phew."
Sirin let out a forceful breath, her heart still pounding with lingering fear.
Even a pufferfish like her quickly figured out what had just happened: the Second Herrscher should have had five Herrscher Cores, and no external forces had interfered during the entire battle. There was only one possibility for this outcome.
The "Honkai Consciousness" of this parallel world had made a move.
While taking away three gems... or more accurately, while only having time to take three, it had launched a mental attack against her.
Sirin couldn't tell if this was the [Authority of Sentience] or the [Authority of Erosion], but it was obvious that the force had been blocked. The defense Bella had set up for her couldn't possibly stop an attack of this level. The one who had intervened was either an Apostle, or... simply His Majesty the Emperor himself.
"It should be..."
"I didn't mess things up, did I?"
Watching the two gems in her hand slowly dissipate, Sirin thought with some trepidation.
The Herrscher Cores and the power they contained had "returned" to the Emperor's hands. It was clear that the ruler of the Empire was now fully aware of the events that had transpired at this "Singularity."
Since there was no clear indication of "punishment," it probably meant...
It wasn't a big deal?
At this moment, Sirin's mind was racing faster than ever before: the three cores that escaped represented the Authorities of [Flame], [Thunder], and [Wind].
Her good rival Kiana and her "sidekick" were obviously a perfect match for two of those targets, and considering their mission was set for a later time node than her own...
To put it simply, His Majesty the Emperor had already taken this possibility into account.
Just as Sirin, like a blind cat finding a dead mouse, happened to stumble upon the right conclusion—
"BANG!"
A white dragon burst forth from the earth, emerging from a crater more than ten meters deep!
"Bella, are you okay?"
The faint aura of Honkai Beasts she had sensed earlier began to appear in large numbers in Sirin's perception with Bella's arrival.
Amidst a faint blue shadow, Bella, whose aura had weakened to just a tenth of its original strength, had already reverted to her human form.
"I'm fine."
"Human weapons are not as powerful as I imagined."
Bella lightly twisted her neck and limbs, answering Sirin's question with her usual deadpan expression.
"As long as you're okay."
"..."
"Mother Cecilia."
Sirin turned around and spoke to Cecilia, who was hesitant to speak and clearly wary of Bella's appearance.
"'I' have already lost my core."
"A Herrscher without a core, while still very different from an ordinary human, can at least start to lean in that direction."
The Empire's "core-extraction" techniques were highly mature.
Even a poor student like Sirin could pass her "Emergency Aid" class... failing meant you weren't allowed to advance to the second year. While extracting the [Core of the Void], Sirin had experienced all of the "Pufferfish's" memories in an almost first-hand manner.
"As for the rest..."
"I'll leave 'me' in your care."
---o---
2005 A.D., Anti-Entropy Headquarters, North America.
"The new calculation results are in."
A red-haired, flat-chested girl with twin ponytails, Tesla, stood beside a star chart, seriously observing it with a finger on her chin.
"Asteroid No. 439, discovered near Jupiter, will be captured by the sun's gravitational field and will fall into the sun in 30 days."
A somewhat listless voice came from beside her.
"Its closest approach to Earth will be over 7.5 million kilometers, so it will not affect the planet."
After re-verifying the data on the projection screen several times, Tesla finally relaxed, collapsing onto the sofa behind her with a thump.
She took off her glasses and vigorously wiped the sweat rolling down her forehead.
"That's good."
"With our current technology, the probability of a Silver Bullet hitting a high-speed meteorite in space is probably less than 30%."
"Oh, right."
Tesla picked up the communicator beside her. After a brief "beep."
"Ryoma, the crisis is averted."
Raiden Ryoma, Raiden Mei's father.
"Withdraw the Silver Bullet deployed in New Mexico and transport it back to Holloman Air Force Base along with the Arahato."
"Two 'Titans' from the covert operations team will accompany you."
"Be careful not to be spotted by civilians..."
"..."
A deep male voice, tinged with static, replied from the other end.
"That's right, watch out for any movements from Tianming."
While Tesla was communicating with Raiden Ryoma...
"Thank goodness."
Einstein, finally letting out a sigh of relief, relaxed her furrowed brow.
"If the Silver Bullet had failed, we would have had to let the Sovereign pilot the Arahato to destroy the meteorite... The injuries he sustained five years ago have never fully healed."
---o---
The same year.
California Institute of Technology, Department of Space Science.
"The black hole is the most astonishing celestial body predicted by the theory of general relativity."
"Within the scope of classical physics, its gravity is so strong that not even light can escape its pull... Black holes can be formed by the gravitational collapse of ordinary celestial bodies, provided the Chandrasekhar limit is met—"
(The latest astronomical research indicates that black holes actually emit a certain kind of radiation, subverting the traditional impression that they only "devour" and never "expel.")
"Ring, ring, ring!"
"..."
"Well, that's all for this class."
In the large, circular lecture hall, the brown-haired man standing behind the wine-red lectern announced the end of the lesson.
Welt Yang, Sovereign of Anti-Entropy.
Still in his recovery period, he was helping to substitute for Einstein, whose workload was becoming increasingly heavy.
"Rustle."
The wind rustled through the grass and trees on campus.
"I understand."
"That is indeed good news."
Welt had received a message from Einstein.
"Yes, the classes here are going smoothly, too. The knowledge I learned from you and Tesla has been very useful."
"And in my class—"
"Excuse me! Excuse me!"
An red-haired Asian girl in a white shirt, holding a thick stack of books, hurried past Welt.
"Is that..."
The hasty figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the path.
Bending down, he saw an ID card with "California Institute of Technology" written on it scattered on the ground... along with a wallet with a rocket charm attached by a colorful string.
"Himeko?"
"I think she's a student in Einstein's class."
---o---
"Nest-head!"
"Quick, look at this intelligence!"
Not long after finishing the orbital calculations for Asteroid No. 439, Tesla, who had been about to go to the lounge for a short rest, burst through the door of Conference Room 3 once again. The old door bolt couldn't withstand such force, and it fell to the ground with a "clang" along with the door panel.
The coffee in Einstein's hand nearly spilled all over the floor... no, at least half a cup had already splashed out.
"I just received Tianming's trajectory calculation for Asteroid No. 439!"
"Hmm."
Einstein calmly drank the remaining half-cup of coffee. Her spherical assistant robot and database, Ein, was already cleaning the floor with a rag.
"Bishop Otto previously expressed his 'goodwill,' saying he was willing to assist us with the calculations."
"Could it be..."
"That Tianming's results are different from ours?"
"No."
Putting down the tablet, Tesla had already rushed to the main computer in Conference Room 3.
"Tianming's results are completely identical to ours."
"But."
Tesla's fingers flew across the keyboard projection.
"Look here!"
"..."
"How can that be?"
In the center of the conference room, outside the projected image of Earth, a previously undiscovered satellite had appeared!
"That's right."
"A brand-new satellite, unrecorded in any database. Its designation is... the Fourth Key of God!"
"And not only that."
The explosive intelligence Tesla brought was far from over.
"There's an encrypted file hidden within this data."
With a final tap on the keyboard, new information overwrote all other images:
"To our friends at Anti-Entropy, please forgive my presumptuous contact."
"But this is the only rare opportunity I have to bypass Bishop Otto and deliver this important message to you."
"Tianming has been hiding the existence of the Fourth Key of God and is preparing to use it to attack you..."
"..."
After the brief, one-way message.
"Murata Ryusuke."
"The head of Tianming's St. 7308 Research Institute wants to defect to Anti-Entropy, using the 'key' to the Fourth Key of God as a bargaining chip..."
Einstein recited the intelligence she had just read.
"Nest-head, what should we do?"
Turning off the projection, Tesla turned around from the main computer. The thick, soft white fabric tightly wrapped around her thighs pressed against the sharp metal edge of the console.
"Should we inform Welt?"
"No."
Einstein replied after careful consideration.
"We still don't know if this intelligence is genuine. Let's not disturb the Sovereign for now."
"Using the encrypted phone number they provided..."
"Let's try to make contact first."
---o---
At the same time, New Mexico.
"I'm sorry!"
"Teacher Welt."
"I failed to check the authenticity of the intelligence beforehand, and ended up making you come all this way for nothing... I'm truly sorry!"
Murata Himeko.
After graduating at the top of her class, with a "protagonist-level" ability to publish papers in international journals while still in high school, she had been accepted into Caltech. Himeko wanted to study interplanetary flight dynamics. There were no universities in Europe, where her father worked, that specialized in the subject, whereas the aerospace dynamics department at Caltech in North America had always been at the forefront of the field (as of 2005).
And so...
Himeko, who was very interested in aliens, had received internal intelligence (from a club) about a meteorite landing in New Mexico, with even reports of suspected alien sightings. She immediately set off for the state.
Then, after losing her wallet, Himeko was finally caught up by Welt at the airport—and Welt really had to chase, as Himeko ran incredibly fast.
And after that, Welt, having hacked Himeko's phone, replaced the "coordinates" she had received with the city of Santa Fe, over 200 kilometers away.
As for why he did this...
The meteorite that had landed in New Mexico was the real deal.