After Ai Hyperion returned, she specially crafted an exclusive training bubble world for the Herrschers.
Within this bubble world, the Herrschers could freely use their own authority without worrying about the impact or destruction they might cause. The bubble world could also generate different enemies for sparring practice.
Maria Schariac entered the bubble world and at a glance saw Anna Schariac training with full concentration.
At this moment, dense Honkai energy swirled around Anna. She controlled the Honkai energy, and with every surge came intense frost that caused hard ice to crystallize in the surrounding air.
"Anna, do you have any Honkai energy crystals?" Maria Schariac stepped forward and asked.
Hearing this, Anna Schariac's control over the Honkai energy faltered for a moment. She turned her head. "What do you want them for?"
"I need them. Do you have any?"
Maria Schariac did not explain what she intended to use the Honkai energy crystals for.
Anna Schariac thought of the recent rumors spreading about becoming a Herrscher in another world. "You want to become a Herrscher in another world?"
"Yes." Maria Schariac nodded firmly, determination shining in her eyes. "Can you help me?"
Anna Schariac looked at her seriously. "Can you accept that you're no longer human?"
Only by willingly abandoning one's identity as a human and accepting the Honkai could one truly adapt to the immense and dangerous power of a Herrscher.
Maria Schariac tilted her head back to look at the sky, a trace of emotion in her voice. "The world has already entered the Honkai era. Herrschers are regarded as humanity's evolution. Does it still matter whether I'm human or not?"
In this Honkai era, becoming a Herrscher might be a new path forward.
Anna Schariac studied Maria Schariac with a scrutinizing gaze. After a long while, she let out a soft sigh. "The power of the Honkai is very dangerous. You must be careful when using it."
As she spoke, she slowly raised her hand. In her palm, purple Honkai energy rapidly gathered like a living thing. Before long, it condensed into a Honkai energy crystal that emitted a blue glow.
"I understand." Maria Schariac accepted the Honkai energy crystal.
In this Honkai world, the seats of the Thirteen Herrschers seemed long predetermined by fate.
Her chances of becoming a Herrscher here were so small they could be ignored.
Rather than waiting to be eliminated in failure, she might as well try her luck in another world.
After leaving the bubble world, Maria Schariac happened to see her younger sister, Angelia Schariac, surrounded by a group of girls.
Angelia looked somewhat absentminded, as though she did not know how to handle the enthusiasm of the girls around her.
Maria Schariac stopped walking, her brows unconsciously knitting together. She stared at Angelia, and a strange feeling rose in her chest.
Ever since Angelia returned, she had seemed like a different person. Maria Schariac suspected that, like Raiden Mei and Seele, her sister had developed a Herrscher persona.
Moreover, the change was peculiar. After some time, she would revert to normal.
Maria Schariac always felt that her sister's Herrscher persona resembled someone in particular, yet she could not recall who.
In truth, many people had noticed Angelia's abnormal behavior.
But everyone assumed that Herrschers might possess a Herrscher persona. So far, those personas not only refrained from harming the original personality, but instead doted on and protected it in every possible way.
Just like when Kiana became Angelia, her straightforward and airheaded personality made her seem adorable at first glance.
Sensing Maria Schariac's gaze, Angelia Schariac turned her head and gave her a sweet smile.
However, Maria Schariac did not respond. Her feelings were complicated. Seeing how radiant her sister had become, a quiet sense of inferiority took root in her heart. She quickly turned away and left in haste.
...
Three days later, in the interdimensional transfer chamber of Chiba Academy, Ai Hyperion installed a powerful teleportation spell within the academy.
The girls who were not Herrschers stood atop the massive teleportation magic circle, nervous yet filled with anticipation.
One minute later, the pattern of the magic circle on the ground lit up with a mysterious purple glow. The light grew brighter and brighter, and in the next second, everyone was transported away from the Honkai world by that immense power.
When Maria Schariac regained her senses, she found herself standing in a pure white space.
As she was still puzzled, she saw a girl with red pupils floating in midair.
The girl's black hair reached her calves, its inner layers a deep crimson. She wore an off-shoulder furisode kimono in white as the main tone, accented with red and black. Overall, she looked somewhat listless.
"You've all read the world's information already, so I won't waste words. Prepare for the exam." Mushoku Kika looked at this batch of lower-year students and spoke in a flat tone.
What information? What exam?
Maria Schariac was full of confusion. She looked around and saw that some of the people present she recognized, while others she did not. Many of them were clearly not dressed as students of Chiba Academy.
Before she could think it through, Mushoku Kika vanished instantly.
Immediately afterward, everyone was transported to an entirely new world.
As soon as they arrived, a translucent panel popped up in front of Maria Schariac. Two options were displayed on it: Option One, Human; Option Two, Enemy of Humanity.
Maria Schariac instinctively reached out to choose Human. Yet at the moment her fingertip was about to touch the option, her hand stopped.
She suddenly remembered the purpose of her journey here.
She chose "Enemy of Humanity."
Maria Schariac stood on a stretch of unfamiliar land.
After choosing the identity of Enemy of Humanity, foreign memories surfaced in her mind, informing her what this so-called Enemy of Humanity truly meant.
The so-called Enemy of Humanity was merely a fabrication of the government. It did not truly exist.
Or rather, in this world, those who awakened special abilities—espers—were labeled as the Enemy of Humanity.
A hundred years ago, a brutal war broke out between ability users and ordinary humans. The ability users suffered a crushing defeat.
Now, the vast majority of them were imprisoned in concentration camps, treated like criminals under twenty-four-hour surveillance. They had even been stripped of their identity as human beings. In secret, they were no longer regarded as the same kind.
They were seen as threats to humanity—enemies of humanity.
The upper ranks of the government, ordinary people with no abilities, were deeply wary of rebellion from the ability users and feared they would overthrow their rule.
After all, ability users could quietly emerge from among ordinary people. They were impossible to eradicate completely, and their abilities would continue to evolve.
Thus, the authorities dared not wipe them out openly. Instead, they relied on lies and assassination, inciting ability users to kill one another while secretly eliminating them from the shadows.
After sorting through the memories in her mind, Maria Schariac focused on the flashing mission prompt on the blue panel before her.
[Mission: Humanity is evolving, yet the foolish old humans suppress that evolution, preventing humanity from entering a new era. Overthrow the rule of the old humans and establish a brand-new social order.
Hint: You have chosen to become an Enemy of Humanity. Awakening your superpower... Superpower successfully awakened. Special-type: Summon Guardian (can be taken out of this world).]
The sudden awakening of her superpower made Maria dizzy. She instinctively raised a hand to her forehead as her body swayed.
At that moment, a pair of hands steadily caught her. Then a familiar and pleasant female voice sounded by her ear. "Are you okay?"
After a while, Maria regained her senses and gently shook her head. "I'm fine."
Because of the height difference, she looked up at the white-haired girl before her, instantly revealing a look of surprise. "Kiana? Why are you here?"
But soon, she noticed the blood-red eyes of the Kiana before her, which inexplicably radiated danger.
Maria immediately realized this was not the Kiana she knew.
The Will of Ruler, who had descended into this world in Kiana's identity, curved her lips into a faint smile. "Why are you so surprised to see me? This appearance of mine is quite famous. I even have plenty of counterparts."
Only then did Maria recall that Kiana's appearance was indeed highly recognizable among the Will of Ruler's incarnations.
"It's not that. I just didn't expect to run into you in this world," Maria explained.
Kiana waved her hand dismissively. "That's because of some special circumstances. Anyway, forget that. We happened to be assigned together, so let's team up!"
Maria was about to refuse, but the thought of Kiana's special identity flashed through her mind. After a brief hesitation, she nodded. "All right."
"What superpower did you awaken? Mine is a special-type ability called [Dark Devour]—it releases dark energy to attack targets."
Kiana shared her ability without reservation. In her view, it was just a randomly obtained ordinary power.
As she spoke, an eerie black flame ignited at her fingertips. She casually flicked it toward a tree not far away.
The flame struck with precision and, in the blink of an eye, set the entire tree ablaze.
Strangely, on the charred trunk, horrifying human faces slowly emerged as if screaming. The branches twisted and warped into sharp claws. The whole tree seemed to come alive, transforming into a monstrous treant.
Maria stared at the unsettling scene and roughly understood the principle behind Kiana's ability: once the black flame completely devoured a target, it would corrupt and transform it into a monster.
As for whether there were other hidden effects, that remained unknown.
Seeing this, Maria decided to test her own newly awakened ability—Summon Guardian.
With a shift of her will, the soil on the ground rapidly rose and gathered, condensing in the blink of an eye into a lifelike humanoid figure.
"Making clay dolls?" Kiana walked over to the mud guardian curiously and reached out to touch it. As expected, it still felt like ordinary earth.
"Your superpower feels a bit similar to mine," Kiana mused. She lightly tapped the mud guardian's chest with her finger, and the black flame instantly swallowed it.
After being burned by the black flame, Maria clearly sensed that the mud guardian's strength had increased dramatically.
"What's the point of this superpower?" Maria muttered under her breath. To her, what she had summoned was merely a mud figure. Even if strengthened, it was still just mud.
"You haven't even developed it properly yet. How can you conclude it's useless?" Kiana rested her chin on one hand and tilted her head slightly, a thoughtful glint in her eyes. "For your ability, its form, material, size, density, structure—everything is a direction you can explore."
Maria's eyes lit up. Only then did she realize that her Summon Guardian ability relied on surrounding materials.
If she replaced the summoning material with steel, wouldn't the guardian's durability skyrocket?
And the guardian's shape didn't have to be humanoid either.
"There's a saying where we come from—there are no useless authorities, only Herrschers who don't know how to use them."
Kiana blinked playfully. "The same principle applies to superpowers."
"Though, the superpowers in this world might indeed include some that look pretty underwhelming. They're not quite the same as our Herrscher authorities."
"But your ability? No matter how I look at it, it doesn't seem like trash at all."