The sunset over the Nevada desert stained the ruins of the "Anvil" Base blood-red.
The roar of the Abomination and the sounds of destruction were the only main melody of this hellscape.
Inside the command vehicle, General Ross's face was ashen, yet his eyes burned with an unwilling madness.
His final weapon, the "Zeus" system, was charging, aimed at the green monster he both feared and hated—the living proof of his failed project.
However, on the distant East Coast, in the study of a seaside cottage, the atmosphere was equally heavy.
Several floating screens surrounded Artoria, displaying real-time, fragmented footage transmitted from satellites, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, and residual battlefield communication channels that Minerva had hacked into.
The destruction caused by the Abomination rampaging through the Base, the futile resistance and tragic deaths of the soldiers, General Ross's hysterical orders, and the dangerous charging readings of the "Zeus" system were all presented clearly and unmistakably.
Artoria watched quietly, the firelight and death reflected deep within her emerald eyes.
Her fingers unconsciously stroked a smooth, warm white chess piece—it was one that Minerva had polished for her using some kind of synthetic material, and it felt excellent to the touch.
"It is estimated that the 'Zeus' system will take another four minutes to fully charge. The system is an indiscriminate area-of-effect weapon. If detonated inside the Base, excluding the Abomination, there are at least forty-seven soldiers and technicians who have failed to evacuate within the effective kill radius, with a survival rate of less than 5%."
Minerva's voice was steady, but her speaking speed was slightly faster than usual, "In addition, Iron Man has arrived on the battlefield and is attempting to contain the situation, but his efficiency is limited. A S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjet is in position and in an observation state. Dr. Banner's life signal has appeared three kilometers southeast of the battlefield and is rapidly approaching. His emotional indicators show extreme instability, with a high probability of transforming into Hulk due to stimulation upon arrival."
Artoria closed her eyes.
Images intertwined in her mind: the devastating battle between the Abomination and Hulk in Harlem from the movie, the cries of countless civilians, the collapse of buildings.
And now, this Abomination—who might have been born earlier or perhaps was even more unstable due to her intervention (saving Banner)—was preparing to be caught in the Base, along with Hulk, Iron Man, and countless soldiers, by General Ross's foolish final resort.
"If Hulk appears and engages the Abomination within the Base, coupled with the indiscriminate strike of the 'Zeus' system..." Artoria said softly, as if stating a fact, or perhaps asking herself.
"Simulation results: The core area of the Base will be completely destroyed. The survival probabilities for the Abomination and Hulk are 72% and 65% respectively, but the likelihood of severe injury is high, and they will enter an even more uncontrollable berserk state. The probability of Iron Man's armor failing under the 'Zeus' strike is 40%. Personnel casualties will exceed two hundred, including all those who failed to evacuate. The survival probability of Dr. Banner in his human form is less than 10%."
Minerva provided the cold numbers, "This does not even include the possibility of the two monsters escaping the Base and entering nearby towns in the desert, or worse."
It must not happen.
This thought was clear and firm.
It was not just because she knew the plot and foresaw the disaster.
It was more because of the despair of those living lives on the screen at this moment, because of the pain of Banner struggling to survive, and because of General Ross's madness—the willingness to drag everyone into hell just to cover up his mistakes.
She possessed power, not to sit in a comfortable room and watch tragedies play out according to the script.
"Minerva," she opened her eyes, no longer holding any hesitation, only a clear sense of determination, "Prepare to deploy the 'Beacon' remotely. Set the coordinates to five hundred meters above the Base, away from personnel on the ground. I am going there."
"Artoria," Minerva turned to her, her optical sensors glowing steadily, but her tone carried a trace of subtle tension, "Directly intervening in a high-risk battlefield and exposing yourself to multiple factions and two high-threat mutated creatures—the risk assessment is 'extremely high.' Even with the use of a Projection, there are unpredictable variables. We can try other remote intervention methods, such as..."
"Remote intervention cannot stop the Abomination, nor can it save those trapped in the Base, and it certainly cannot stabilize Hulk before he goes berserk." Artoria interrupted her, stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the calm sea outside. Her voice was not loud but exceptionally clear, "Some things must be done by someone. And I happen to have the ability. This is not impulse, Minerva, this is a choice."
She turned around and looked at Minerva: "Besides, I need to convey a message. A message that is clear enough and carries enough weight. To Ross, to those in the Military who think they can play with power without consequence, and to all the 'eyes' watching the dark side of this land. The fairy tale time of the Magical Girl is over. Now it is time to let them see what true 'off-the-charts' power is, and the price of crossing the line."
Minerva was silent for two seconds, then nodded decisively: "Understood. Deploying the Beacon. The optimal intervention and extraction paths have been planned. I will maintain the highest level of monitoring and support. Please be careful, Artoria."
"Don't worry." Artoria smiled at her slightly, a smile that carried reassurance and unquestionable confidence.
She sank into her consciousness. "System, activate Projection—a character capable of controlling the battlefield with an absolute stance, correcting errors, and possessing judgment and purification traits against 'twisted creations' and 'human malice.' I need an entity that can 'define' this conflict."
The interface cycled, and this time, it was not a saint symbolizing protection and healing, nor a fairy of guidance and purification.
Instead, an icon symbolizing "End and New Beginning," "The judgment of absolute order against chaos," and "Its existence itself is the embodiment of law" slowly lit up, carrying a majesty and tranquility that made the soul tremble.
[honkai impact 3rd: Kiana Kaslana (Herrscher of Finality Form)]
[Authority of Finality / Space-Time Domination / Existence Reconstruction / Final Judgment]
[Note: Ascended the throne of divinity at the end of civilization, wielding the Authority of Finality. Its power can define order, judge existence, and dominate space-time manifolds. It possesses absolute restraint and purification characteristics against the concept of "Honkai" (chaos, distortion, and the erosion of order). In its divine form, its will is the law of the local World.]
The Herrscher of Finality. Not an apostle of destruction, but the "Arbiter" responsible for putting a period to the old era and preserving possibilities for the new era within the cycle of civilization.
The essence of its power is high-dimensional order setting and existence management, perfectly fitting Artoria's current need to "stop chaos, correct errors, and demonstrate absolute power."
[Using Projection: Kiana Kaslana (Herrscher of Finality Form)]
There was no earth-shattering explosion of aura.
The light in the study seemed to be gently "smoothed out" by some higher-dimensional existence, becoming uniform, constant, and devoid of shadows.
Artoria's form underwent a fundamental change.
A pure white divine dress replaced her casual clothes, with pale golden patterns flowing on it, as if composed of the birth and death of stars and the rhythmic movements of cosmic strings.
Her long hair turned into a pure platinum color, moving without wind, with tiny, pale golden light particles like the embers of creation lingering at the tips.
Her eyes turned into a brilliant gold, with no distinction of pupils, reflecting the end-times scene of all things returning to one and the light of infinite possibilities.
A simple yet majestic pale golden crown phantom appeared before her forehead, and her body was naturally enveloped in a silent force field that slightly distorted space and refracted light.
She just stood there, as if she had become the "origin" of space and the "benchmark" of order.
Minerva's optical sensors sent strong overload warnings; her system could not fully parse Artoria's current form of existence and could only barely judge that her energy level and nature of existence had completely exceeded the conventional physical framework of the current World.
"Channel established." Minerva's voice came through an invisible barrier, sounding somewhat distant.
Artoria (Herrscher of Finality) nodded slightly and took a step.
She did not pass through a space gate; rather, the point of "space" where she was and the point of "space" where the desert beacon deployed by Minerva was located were temporarily defined as "the same" under her will.
She walked into a painting as if from its edge; her figure disappeared from the study, and the next moment, she appeared silently at the predetermined coordinate, five hundred meters above the Nevada Base.
She looked down.
The chaos, fire, smoke, the roar of the Abomination, the whistling of Iron Man, the human soldiers scurrying like ants below... all the clamor and motion, in her golden eyes reflecting the end and creation, seemed to have become a three-dimensional scroll that had gone wrong and was awaiting correction.
Her arrival did not cause any conventional energy fluctuations or physical phenomena, but all living beings on the battlefield—from the berserk Abomination to the circling Tony, from the tense special forces to Ross in the command vehicle—felt an indescribable "stasis" originating from their life instincts at the same moment.
It was as if time had not stopped, but some deeper flow regarding "possibility" and "chaos" had been temporarily "anchored."
The Abomination's movements stiffened, his yellow-green chaotic eyes snapped upward, locking onto the figure in the air emitting a pure "order" and "high-status" aura that made his soul (if he still had one) tremble.
It was not a gap in the strength of power, but a fundamental difference in the level of existence, like an ink dot on a two-dimensional painting looking up at the painter holding the brush.
The alarms of Tony's armor blared shrilly, and his pupils contracted beneath the faceplate. "Jarvis?! What is this?! Where are the energy readings?!"
"Un...unable to detect conventional energy radiation, sir. The target... the target seems to have directly distorted the physical constant baseline of local space. Optical observation confirms its existence, but all detection methods report 'conceptual interference' or 'missing information.' Threat level... cannot be estimated."
The binoculars in Coulson's hands nearly fell; he stared fixedly at the pure white deity who seemed to have walked out of a religious painting, his throat dry: "My God... what on earth is this..."
Artoria's gaze swept across the scene and finally landed on the Abomination.
There was no disgust or anger in that gaze, only a pure, rational calmness, like a scholar examining a failed experimental specimen.
"Error Sequence-753, codename 'Abomination'."
Her voice rang out, not transmitted through the air, but presented directly in the "cognition" of all conscious beings—ethereal, magnificent, devoid of any emotion, yet containing a majesty that made it impossible to disobey. "Based on the illegal distortion of life form, the fracture of the existence logic chain, and the excessive contribution rate to local order entropy increase. In accordance with Article *** (incomprehensible information stream) of the 'Universal Existence Fundamental Law'... I hereby pass judgment."
She did not even make any spell-casting gestures; she simply raised her right hand toward the Abomination, palm upward, and closed it gently.
"Definition: In this domain, chaos is invalid."
Word of Power: Order Anchor.
"Hum—!"
Centered on the Abomination, the space within a radius of fifty meters suddenly "solidified."
It was not freezing, but a temporary rewriting of physical laws.
The air stopped flowing, the flying dust froze, sound propagation was prohibited, and even the violent and restless gamma radiation halo on the Abomination's body surface seemed to be forcibly "smoothed out" by an invisible force, its light dimming, shrinking, and finally being firmly locked onto his body surface, unable to leak out in the slightest.
The Abomination felt as if he had been poured into transparent "order" cement that was stronger than any metal, and even his thinking became sluggish and difficult.
He wanted to roar, but his vocal cords could not vibrate; he wanted to throw a punch, but his muscles could not be mobilized; even the violent power within him seemed to have encountered a supreme natural enemy, shivering and cowering.
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