After several months of calm and tranquility, Schicksal's Floating Island Headquarters finally welcomed its second Herrscher.
But compared to the grand arrival of the previous Herrscher, the new guest caused much less of a stir after the initial explosion.
There were no Honkai Beast Hordes roaming around, nor were there any Judgment-class Honkai Beasts that flew away only to come back again. Everything seemed to be going smoothly—
Except for the fact that this Herrscher's combat power might not be so pleasant and smooth... The Herrscher of Sentience, who had abandoned the Honkai Beast sea of enemies tactics and the Judgment-class Honkai Beast that came with her, was completely contrary to her title.
The true young girl, who shared the same face as Fu Hua, swung a greatsword and various other weapons with fierce power. She used a method that could be described as either paying New Year's greetings or hoeing the earth to leave deep furrows on the Floating Island's platform.
As the first one to engage the Herrscher, Durandal was now riding Krishna, skirmishing with the "Fu Hua" before her.
The Herrscher in front had inherited the body and memories of the MANTIS from fifty thousand years ago; both her strength and skill were far beyond what the current Durandal could ever hope to reach.
Perhaps in terms of raw strength, the blonde Valkyrie could hold her own, but when it came to their respective techniques and combat experience, she was almost completely suppressed.
Controlling Krishna and fighting like heavy cavalry against infantry, Durandal was forced to scramble and leap about by the Herrscher, who constantly shrieked and kept switching between blades, spears, staves, and clubs to chase her.
"Useless, useless, useless—!!!"
"Fu Hua" wore a very healthy smile as she blocked all of Durandal's attacks, letting out a wild, arrogant laugh.
However, the Herrscher of Sentience, who was just going on a killing spree by smashing the nearby Schicksal Mecha and chasing Durandal all over the place, hadn't even had time to properly gloat before she was suddenly blasted away by an unexpected explosion...
"Phew... Class Monitor, do you think we should call that move 'Fusion Punch' or something?"
Squeezing a miniature sun in her hand, Kiana waved her hand and clicked her tongue, watching Senti who had been blasted away after her sudden ambush.
"As long as you're happy, Kiana..."
Looking at Kiana, who seemed to have found a new way to use her abilities, the somewhat ethereal Fu Hua beside her shook her head helplessly and looked with a serious expression at the "herself" who was cursing and jumping up.
"Herrscher of Sentience... your journey ends here—"
"Enough already, Kiana... By the way, Kiana... What is—?"
Looking at Fu Hua's ethereal image beside her, who had taken over the fight and performed the sword mudra of Shenzhou martial arts, and then looking at the Herrscher "Fu Hua" who performed the exact same mudra, Durandal's little head gradually felt that her brain capacity was no longer sufficient.
"Hmm... How should I explain this... Class Monitor Fu Hua cannot become a Herrscher, but a Herrscher can become Fu Hua?"
After thinking for a long time about how to describe it, Kiana came to this conclusion.
"???"
Durandal's expression became even more confused...
"Fu Hua is not a Herrscher, a Herrscher can be Fu Hua???"
"So, the ethereal-looking Class Monitor we're seeing is the real Class Monitor. During the last Schicksal War, she abandoned her physical body and transferred her consciousness into me..."
"The body that guy Otto picked up was just an empty shell without a consciousness. Then, over time, a new consciousness was born under the influence of a certain Honkai Will."
"Uh... Kiana, do you mean this Herrscher possessed... uh, no, that's not right... um... Anyway, she stole Fu Hua's body and then caused a huge commotion at Schicksal?"
"Yeah... simply put, that's it... To put it more complexly... that Herrscher of Sentience has all the memories Class Monitor left in that body... a full fifty thousand years' worth."
"So...?"
Durandal had a strange guess.
"So that Herrscher of Sentience's perception might be a little bit off...?"
"Sister, are you sure that's just a perception error?"
Durandal glanced at Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience, who had already started their standoff, and wiped away non-existent cold sweat.
"You old fossil!!! Your Taixuan Eminence is the most useless of all!"
The Herrscher of Sentience, who could do anything by twisting all phenomena, not only stood on the left side of the two in their line of sight, but also kept verbally attacking the unmoved Fu Hua.
"So we're just watching this??"
Looking at the two charging up for a clash, Durandal for a moment didn't know how to handle the situation in front of her.
"Um... Class Monitor said, if possible, she wants to personally educate this Herrscher."
Just as the two were talking, a certain Headmaster who arrived late also reached the scene...
"Kiana? And Durandal? Wait, why are there two Fu Huas??? Am I still dreaming..."
-
"So, this Fu Hua is fighting a Herrscher who is pretending to be Fu Hua?"
After Kiana's brief explanation, Theresa nodded, indicating she understood.
"So, Auntie, what do you think?"
Looking at the Herrscher and the ghost (?) fighting more fiercely below, the Kaslana family's younger generation turned to a certain guardian.
"Me...? They're destroying Schicksal's public property!"
"And there's a quote from Kyuusyou that I actually quite like..."
Theresa pulled out the Oath of Judah and began to swing her arm.
"Who cares about martial honor or chivalry? When you have the numbers, you gang up on the few! Are you trying to build reputation for the enemy or just farm experience points?!"
The Headmaster charged into the battle between Fu Hua and Senti.
"Ah, what does Overseer Theresa mean by this...?"
Seeing Theresa directly break into the fight to perform a righteous two-on-one, Durandal seemed to not react immediately. She looked at Kiana, who was stunned beside her.
"Although as a Knight of the Kaslana family, ganging up isn't a good reputation... but if the opponent is a Herrscher, surely my ancestors will forgive me?!"
Kiana dragged a still-dazed Durandal into the fray.
With the fair one-on-one duel now stripped of its fairness and certainly no longer one-on-one, the scene was a modern echo of Shenzhou's ancient tale of three heroes fighting Lu Bu: today, Schicksal had three heroes and one "ghost" fighting Senti.
"I'm not fighting anymore! I'm not fighting anymore! You lack martial honor! You come and sneak, you come and cheat, and you ambush me, this old master!!!"