"Hiss... such a familiar silhouette..."
Feeling the wave of heat radiating from the woman, "Evangeline" let out a sigh. She quickly searched this body's memories and found the name belonging to the inferno before her.
But, perhaps intentionally, the other party didn't give her a chance to announce the answer.
"Sigh... Michael and Kevin both seem to have said this line. Though boys' lines are always so embarrassing to say out loud, it actually fits quite well here—
"Friend or foe, choose!"
After so many years, she raised that fiery greatsword, aiming it at the Herrscher once more.
......
"Himeko!"
Mei clenched and unclenched her fists twice. She suddenly seemed to remember something, ran back to the table, opened the briefcase underneath, inside which lay the cores of the Third and Fourth Herrschers, neatly arranged.
Then what was Himeko using?
"Boom—"
Starting with a dull echo, the entire laboratory began to vibrate intensely. Then, the armor plating, clearly made of special alloy, began to melt under the high temperature, even acting as fuel, flickering with flames.
"The Authority of Flame... But the Seventh Divine Key is clearly in Kevin's hands..."
Mei's plans were completely disrupted, but there was no time to worry about that now. Anyone thinking normally would understand that the most important thing wasn't figuring out the entirety of Michael's version of the plan, but escaping immediately—
The Authority of Flame possesses the most unreasonable destructive power. Even Kevin, theoretically the most compatible wielder of that Divine Key, accidentally leveled the target along with several abandoned city blocks the first time he used the Judgment of Shamash. No matter how careful Himeko was in battle, it would be difficult to avoid collateral damage hitting them.
"Quick, let's go!"
The laboratory's safety doors detected the high temperature and automatically slid open. Mei quickly shoved the case containing the cores into Vill-V's hands. Vill-V didn't forget to grab another large case from under the table before Mei started dragging her into a sprint.
Reaching the corridor, they happened upon Hua, limping and leaning against the wall...
And so, Mei, the only ordinary person among the three in their normal state, the weakest existence, now grabbed Vill-V's pant leg with one hand and Hua's wrist with the other, running back as fast as she could until she slammed headfirst into a [Black Curtain].
"Aponia? Aponia!"
The Deep isn't just a simple "prison"; it's also the testing ground for a certain plan.
The conventional facilities are just for show. Its main body is actually a Bubble Universe separated by Vill-V using the Second Divine Key. Consciousness is its only rule. It doesn't connect to external infrastructure and naturally wouldn't be affected by the "serum rain."
So, in Mei's plan, this was originally the final failsafe, a place to retreat to for survival if necessary. But for some reason, Aponia had sealed off The Deep, offering not even the slightest response.
"Is Aponia tied down too?"
Mei suddenly remembered Gill... I see, I see...
This solved her previous confusion—Gill preparing a vessel for the Ninth Herrscher could be attributed to coincidence, but his betrayal and madness seemed so illogical. Perhaps Fire Moth's numbering was wrong; perhaps Gill had already become an individual of the Tenth Herrscher before the Ninth even emerged. Only that could explain everything.
Unfortunately, both she and Michael had fallen into fixed thinking: How could the Tenth Herrscher possibly appear before the Ninth?
Thinking back now, Gill's madness was likely also part of some calculation. He used it to infiltrate The Deep and was thus able to tie up Aponia now... Of course, the help of the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness was probably indispensable, which was clearly part of the Tenth Herrscher's calculations too.
Understanding all this took Mei less than a second.
She quickly turned back. She wasn't too worried about Aponia; after all, a Tenth Herrscher individual wielding only a small part of the Authority of Sentience and an Eighth Herrscher consciousness without a core could, at best, only hold Aponia up for a short while.
And when the flames reached this place, the artificial Bubble Universe housing The Deep wouldn't crumble so easily, but Mei herself would...
Besides, judging by the rapidly rising temperature, if they didn't escape soon, they might die of dehydration before burning to death.
So she started running back the way they came.
"Vill-V! Stop spacing out! Do you have another back door?"
Vill-V certainly didn't disappoint. While weakly crying out in pain, she navigated for Mei:
"First fork ahead, turn right, then left three times, then right once..."
So Mei dragged the two of them, making five turns in less than two hundred meters, finally reaching Vill-V's "real back door," the escape route not marked on any map.
By now, their clothes had been soaked and dried repeatedly, leaving their bodies dehydrated.
The world inside the armor plating had practically become an oven. Even this far from the inferno, the internal temperature was still approaching fifty degrees Celsius.
Mei let go of Hua's and Vill-V's hands and feet, letting them use the scalding armor walls to pull themselves up. She herself gripped the helm-shaped handle on the back door, but likely due to thermal expansion, it wouldn't budge no matter how hard she pulled.
"Let me..."
A weak voice came from behind her. Unsurprisingly, it was Hua.
The serum's effects wouldn't wear off so quickly, of course, but besides her fusion factors, Hua also had the enhanced constitution granted by the 'Divine Sound' [SWARA]... though that was just a byproduct of her body adapting to higher Honkai Energy compatibility.
Opening this door, letting everyone escape, was now not just something she could do, but something only she could do.
She took half a step back, then stepped forward with crossed feet, delivering a standard front kick. The door seemed to dent slightly, then, along with the large chunk of camouflaging reef on the outside, flew over a hundred meters away, crashing into the sea and sending up a huge splash.
The surrounding air cooled slightly, but Hua fell into deeper despair—the sea outside was also burning.
Red tongues of flame leaped across the dark sea surface, as if it weren't water burning, but oil.
But they knew that was impossible. The sea burned simply because the Authority of Flame could make it so. That was all.
"This... I never expected that just half of the Seventh Herrscher Core could unleash such power in Himeko's hands... If I'd known, I would have overhauled Surtr. The synchronization rate with the core could have been even higher."
Vill-V muttered to herself involuntarily, inadvertently revealing a great deal of information.
However, Mei had already figured it out.
The core in Himeko's hands could only have come from two sources: one constructed based on Michael's abilities, or one stripped from the Seventh Divine Key.
If it were the first source, it would inevitably drain Michael's core output, breaking the stalemate between him and the Eleventh Herrscher.
That left only the second possibility. Conveniently, the first form of the Seventh Divine Key was a pair of pistols. Back then, due to immature technology, Vill-V chose to split the Seventh Divine Key in two, allowing it to be used by two people now. This also explained why Kevin had been unwilling for so long to transform the Divine Key into its more portable dual pistol form.
As for why he agreed to this plan, giving half the core to Himeko without Mei's knowledge, the reason went without saying.
Mei gently pressed a hand to her chest, complex emotions swirling within her.
Perhaps they were right. At least, the facts proved that this half-core in Himeko's hands... seemed a bit too powerful...
"No, Himeko might have the upper hand initially, but no matter how compatible she is with the Seventh Herrscher Core, her body is ultimately that of an ordinary person, one eroded by Honkai sickness multiple times. She won't last ten minutes, maybe not even five..."
Mei hadn't finished speaking when her eyes suddenly became vacant and dull. Fortunately, Vill-V beside her shook her awake, despite clutching her own head.
"This is... a psychic attack... Is Aponia's battle affecting us here... or is it the Tenth Herrscher attacking..."
Before they could figure it out, there was a thud. They looked towards the sound and saw Hua collapsed on the ground.
......
"Hnngh... Ah!"
Himeko twisted her body, the seemingly heavy, edgeless blade carving a perfect arc, slicing the Evangeline attempting a sneak attack from behind in two. The energy overflowing from the greatsword's swing caused dozens of Tenth Herrscher individuals within a hundred meters behind Evangeline to follow her fate.
"Hmph—"
Reversing the tip, she plunged the sword into the ground. Himeko leaned on the hilt, resting for less than a second before the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind again. She quickly ducked, then twisted her body almost parallel to the ground.
A wind blade slashed past, severing strands of hair fluttering at her temples. Facing the sky again, she used the momentum for a whip kick, turning the head of the individual who had just attacked her into paste.
"Damn it, why are psychic attacks useless against her!"
Himeko, leaning on Surtr, slowly climbed up from the ground, just in time to hear the Herrscher individual's curse.
"Heh heh..."
She gave a bitter chuckle. Unseen by the Herrschers, within her mind, a Fenghuang Down feather lay quietly.
"That kid Michael really thinks of everything."
She used the brief pause to catch her breath twice, then raised the greatsword high and leaped back into the fray.
Flames trailed behind her like a long tail, making her look like an unquenchable meteor. Wherever she passed, the weak Tenth Herrscher individuals didn't even have time to resist. The lucky ones were split in two by Surtr; the unlucky ones were splashed by the flames from the cloak behind Himeko.
No matter how they tried to beat out the fire, even burying themselves in the sand or leaping into the sea, they couldn't extinguish the blaze. Instead, they ignited the beach and the sea surface.
"Four hundred thirty-one..."
Himeko silently recited the number, her steps faltering slightly as she recovered a bit of stamina.
She didn't know if her count was accurate; it was hard to spare the attention to tally kills mid-battle, but it was probably close enough.
Michael had told her the Tenth Herrscher had a thousand individuals in total. Controlling the flight group to lure and pin down Kevin required one or two hundred. Assuming the rest were all here, that meant Himeko (PE) had already eliminated nearly half the enemy.
"Heh, the Tenth Herrscher is nothing special after all."
The feather in her mind suddenly rotated, pointing its tip towards the back of her head. Himeko let out a sound that was hard to define as a sneer or a gasp, twisting her waist again, bringing Surtr around to cleave the Herrscher attempting a sneak attack from behind in two.
But when she saw the face of the slain individual, her eyes suddenly widened, her pupils trembling slightly—
"Impossible!"
No mistake, that was Evangeline, without a doubt.
Himeko's memories quickly aligned. If she remembered correctly, she had killed Evangeline once right at the beginning. The battles in between were hazy, but she'd killed her again not long ago, and just now again.
As for the other Herrscher individuals, they were all unfamiliar; she couldn't tell if this had happened with them.
What's going on?
Was she dragged into an illusion by a psychic attack?
No, the Fenghuang Down feather Michael gave her—more accurately, a part of the Eighth Divine Key—protected her from almost all psychic attacks, at least enough to be immune to the attacks of these weak Tenth Herrscher individuals.
"Cough cough!"
The air was thick with a scorching, smoky smell, enough to make one cough uncontrollably. But the most unbearable part was the lack of oxygen—although the principle by which the Authority of Flame created fire differed from traditional combustion, it didn't mean the flames wouldn't prioritize consuming oxygen in an oxygenated environment.
Oxygen deprivation inevitably made Himeko's limbs numb, her head feel heavy and feet light, even making her want to retch, but it also reminded her—this was the real world.
That left only one possibility.
She braced her abdomen against the sword hilt to keep herself from falling, coughing violently while greedily gulping the little oxygen remaining in the air.
At the same time, she glared, scanning her surroundings. The surviving Herrscher individuals cautiously formed an encirclement again.
And beneath their feet, some corpses—not all, just a small portion—their wounds writhed, severed limbs regenerated, and then they stood up again.
"No mistake, it's the Authority of Death. But this contradicts what Michael said. He claimed the Abyss Flower has been in his hands this whole time; the Herrscher shouldn't have been able to seize the Authority of Death... Did the Tenth Herrscher emerge much earlier? Or do Herrschers gain abilities differently than Michael deduced?"
Delving into these details was meaningless. The battlefield only cared about results.
The only slight reassurance was that only a very small number could get back up. Most Herrscher individuals hadn't received a share of the Death Authority; dead was dead for them.
"Gasp... Gasp..."
Himeko glanced down. Evangeline was using her hands to piece her lower body back together, almost fully recovering in the blink of an eye. This completely confirmed for Himeko that the Herrscher possessed part of the Authority of Death.
She kicked Evangeline away and intended to follow up with a sword strike, but a sharp pain suddenly flared in her chest. Not daring to show it, she could only continue leaning on Surtr, coldly watching the Herrschers closing in.
But her gaze inevitably flickered downwards. Purple markings crawled across her arms and the back of her hands, already reaching her chest.
Her Honkai sickness went way back. She had used the serum once before the Third Honkai Eruption, and once after, but the serum only cleared the Honkai Energy radiation temporarily; infection could still occur afterward.
When she retired from active duty back then, while a certain disappointment was the main reason, being reinfected with Honkai sickness and feeling unable to bear the cost of a third serum treatment—the weight of another thousand lives—also played a part.
Fortunately, the Tenth Herrscher's "serum rain" earlier had inadvertently helped temporarily eliminate her Honkai sickness.
Afterward, her connection with the Seventh Herrscher Core was unexpectedly smooth, and her body didn't seem to feel any significant burden. She had thought... too bad... in reality, her body was already riddled with hidden wounds...
Now she could only hope the Tenth Herrscher hadn't noticed, but the signs of Honkai sickness were very obvious, and this Blank Key battlesuit did leave large areas of skin exposed. It would be hard for the Herrscher not to notice.
"Hehehehe... Hahahahaha!"
Evangeline was caught by other Herrschers. Before her feet even touched the ground, she started pointing at Himeko and laughing maniacally:
"Undeniably, your synchronization rate with the Seventh Herrscher's core is even higher than that Kevin's, almost like the real Seventh Herrscher. But, your body is ultimately just that of an ordinary person...
"Once the purple markings reach the heart, it's incurable. You—are—about—to—die!"
Evangeline cupped her face, her voice exaggerated and grating.
Himeko initially wanted to ignore her, but on second thought, letting her talk more wasn't bad. It was a chance to recover some stamina, and also...
Evangeline was right. As the purple markings spread, Himeko's life was already on a countdown. The more she fought, the worse the Honkai Energy erosion would become, and the sooner the end would arrive.
In other words, regardless of whether she could unleash her previous combat power again, eliminating all the Herrscher individuals was now impossible.
But she wasn't alone. Behind her stood the entire Fire Moth. When the battle started, there was only about half an hour left until the Second Divine Key finished recharging. Surely close to ten minutes must have passed by now?
If she could just hold out for twice the time that had already passed, Sakura could be deployed to the battlefield by the Second Divine Key, and Kevin could return after dealing with the Herrschers sent to lure him away...
But this was ultimately just wishful thinking.
The Tenth Herrscher's mocking laughter surrounded Himeko, rising and falling like monstrous waves crashing from all directions, threatening to drown her small flame.
Just as she hoped they would laugh a little longer, they stopped abruptly, showing remarkable restraint.
Then, unexpectedly, they stopped trying to keep Himeko surrounded. Instead, they bent down one by one, picked up the various severed limbs and corpses scattered on the ground, and quickly gathered behind Evangeline.
"Let me guess, this thing you're wearing is the so-called Blank Key, right? It's certainly impressive, allowing an ordinary person like you to maintain such perfect synchronization with the core."
She clearly misunderstood the Blank Key's function, but Himeko didn't deny it—
Not because she didn't want to speak, but because her mouth had filled with blood at some point. She didn't want to show weakness before the Herrscher, even though they already knew her physical condition was poor.
Of course, there seemed no need to correct their thinking either.
"Doesn't matter if you won't talk. Anyway, as long as we destroy this thing, humanity will have no choice but to throw all their MANTISes at breaking the Eleventh Herrscher's barrier, right? Hahahahaha... And then, what will you use to fight the next Herrscher..."
"You can't destroy it."
Himeko swallowed the blood, suppressed the urge to vomit, and said muffledly.
"Oh? Looks like the earlier 'playtime' gave you an unrealistic assessment of your own strength... Fine, let the real battle begin then—Let me show you what the power of a thousand bodies is! What true Herrscher power is!"
To Himeko's astonishment, all the Herrscher individuals began to dismember themselves into masses of rotten flesh composed of cells. Even the corpses did the same.
Losing their basic life forms, the masses of flesh turned a stiff, grayish-brown.
"Good chance!"
Himeko wouldn't abide by any rule about 'not attacking during the enemy's transformation sequence,' but just as she raised Surtr, she stumbled, ultimately forced to plant the sword back into the ground.
"Can I... no longer fight at all?"
Himeko's lips trembled as she watched the Herrscher Cores within the piles of flesh emit a golden light.
Drawn by the golden light, all the flesh masses rapidly writhed towards the center until they piled together.
Then, catalyzed by the small amount of Death Authority, the cells of these flesh masses rapidly divided, converged towards uniformity, and fused together.
"This is—the power of a LEGION!"