A storm howled. Red light flared across the sky.
Truth be told, the people of San Diego had grown numb. Even if a meteor came crashing down and buried everything in sight, it might've felt like mercy.
Nature's unfathomable wrath gave no heed to human circumstance. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands vanished—erased from the face of the Earth.
Kosma stared blankly into the red light, his mind locking up.What fresh hell was the Herrscher about to unleash?
Then—his breath caught.
…Something's off.
The storm halted at the city's edge. Its deafening roar faded into silence.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
The unmoving wall of storm.
The people, holding their breath.
Everyone just watched, unmoving—until light swallowed the sky.
Whoosh—
A soft, slicing sound.
A line of wind pressure whipped across the sky, leaving a brilliant white trail. Kosma reflexively shut his eyes, shielding his face with both hands. He cracked them open slowly—his pupils shrinking in awe.
The storm had come and gone like a mirage.
If not for the ruined skyline, one could mistake it for a dream.
The sheer strangeness of it all left Kosma dazed.
"…Dystopia, pinch me."
Slap.
The girl smacked him straight to the ground. Then, scratching at her disheveled hair, she muttered,
"My hand hurts. Guess it wasn't a dream."
"You—" Kosma sprang up, but let the protest die halfway.
Now wasn't the time to bicker.
He raised a trembling finger.
"Look. Over there… what is that?"
High above the devastated zone, two starlike lights slowly descended.
Beneath them lay a grotesque mountain of death—piles upon piles of corpses. When the storm had vanished, all the debris it stirred had fallen back down.
Wrecked warships. Twisted buildings. Concrete shards. Unidentifiable human remains.
All of it had coalesced into a single grotesque monument: a mountain of trash, two to three hundred meters high—towering above even the tallest skyscrapers.
And the twin lights were descending right onto it.
As the storm's residual energy faded, the surviving masses finally saw their true forms. The muscles they'd just allowed to relax now tensed once more.
"…Are those… people?"
Kosma squinted.
Even at a distance, he could make out the shapes—undeniably human.
A pink-haired girl.
A black-haired young man.
Their hands intertwined as they quietly surveyed the broken world below.
Anyone not frozen with fear could guess the truth— These two… had stopped the storm.
But that kind of power?
It was incomprehensible. Borderline divine.
"The storm has dispersed. Satellite visuals confirm light signals—identities locked—"
"It's Miss Elysia and Dr. Ryan!"
Back at Fire Moth HQ, the intel officer practically screamed the announcement, as if he'd forgotten how he looked minutes ago—like the world had ended.
The image zoomed in. Over a hundred staffers stared breathlessly.
Onscreen, the pink-haired girl stood in the wind, her flowing dress dancing among the residual currents. Her beauty was otherworldly—like something torn from myth.
This was what the word "Goddess" truly meant.
Beside her stood the black-haired youth.
He was quiet, his presence less radiant—but his cold, elegant poise gave him a beauty all his own.
Equally unforgettable.
"Excellent!"
"Hooray!!"
No one knew who shouted first— But in the next moment, the crowd erupted.
These two had dispersed the storm. Saved the city. And with their striking appearance, even the most skeptical soul couldn't help but cheer.
"…They did technically act on their own, didn't they?"
Karius clapped with the rest, though he shook his head. According to protocol, those two were supposed to stay put.
Still, he couldn't fault them.
When it came to protecting humanity, nothing else mattered. That was the highest form of correctness—political or otherwise.
"There's no getting around it now," Chalice sighed, forcing a smile.
"The entire PR campaign depends on them to salvage what's left of our reputation."
This—he wondered—was this what it felt like to swallow a bitter pill?
Fire Moth's aggressive posture had backfired. An entire fleet lost. A major city nearly wiped off the map.
If blame was assigned, every party involved would come out looking foolish.
"So we promote them, make them the model faces of this battle—but blur their appearances, redact their identities."
The Director's voice was low. His smile was tight.
He could already feel control slipping through his fingers.
There was no denying it—
Ryan's actions had served humanity's best interests. No personal opinion could override that.
And this… this was Fire Moth's first public confrontation with a Herrscher.
Not only had they failed to display strength or leadership, but all credit had gone to two outliers—under the eyes of thousands of witnesses.
Unacceptable.
"Revise the plans. Put future operations on hold for now. At the very least, they're still Fire Moth operatives."
Karius nodded and stood, raising his hands to calm the thunderous applause around him.
"Dr. Ryan and Miss Elysia are Fire Moth's strongest assets. Their duty is to protect humanity, and it is their honor to do so. But this battle isn't over. Locate the Fourth Herrscher. Focus on your responsibilities."
"Yes, sir!"
Over a hundred staff members stood and bowed in unison before returning to their terminals, diving back into their work.
The Director watched as morale surged. And yet, unease gnawed at him.
He could feel it—Prestige—rising fast, expanding beyond containment.
He glanced up at the screen, at those two figures standing atop the wreckage, and sighed inwardly.
Right now, humanity needed heroes.
And ironically, the original plan for this battle had been to put the council's personal guard—the Sword of Punishment, a squad of fusion warriors fiercely loyal to the ruling elite—into the spotlight.
But the Fourth Herrscher had refused to show.
And these two?
These two had stolen the scene without even trying.
In the end, the truth remained: A hero is not appointed. A hero is chosen—by the people.
Ryan, meanwhile, could feel the eyes on him.
Even now, fearless media drones and helicopters had arrived, circling above, capturing footage from every angle.
"It's my first time being this famous. I feel so shy ♪"
Elysia leaned over and bumped Ryan with her elbow, winking playfully.
"Should I wave? Maybe blow a kiss?"
"It's fine. The Honkai residue still obscures our visibility. Besides…"
He gave her a sidelong glance.
"…Didn't you say you were shy?"
"I'm just a little shy."
Ryan rolled his eyes and tuned her out.
But a moment later, his lips eased into a faint smile.
He hadn't planned for any of this.
The Herrscher had escaped, yes—
But in the aftermath, he had stepped out from behind the curtain and onto the center stage.
Prestige.
It might seem trivial.
But it was the kind of power brute force could never earn.
No losses today.
He would hold onto it.
Sooner or later, the right moment would come.
Naturally, someone like Ryan wasn't about to put on a show.No grand gestures. No public theatrics.
He simply stood at the highest point of the wreckage, silently surveying the shattered city—feeling the weight of countless eyes upon him.
Fear. Awe. Reverence.… And even a touch of disgust?
He didn't flinch. Being perceived as a monster didn't bother him.Human beings were complicated. No one had the right to expect uniform gratitude.
Elysia, of course, cared even less.
Completely unfazed by the mixture of fear and adoration in the crowd, she paused for a moment… then raised a graceful hand and offered a dazzling, radiant wave.
Her beauty alone was enough to spark obsession.
No doubt some people were already printing her image straight from the broadcast, ready to tape it above their beds.
"…Sometimes I envy you," Ryan murmured. "You care about nothing."
"Everyone's liked by someone, and disliked by someone else, right?" Elysia replied with a wink, her voice carefree. "It's okay to only see the ones who like you ♪"
Cheers erupted in the distance. Not unanimous, but overwhelming.The fear hadn't vanished, but gratitude was louder—relief that these two had halted the nightmare, saved their lives.
Pure intentions.
Ryan mused. Can't say I'm all that familiar with them.
He was endlessly tolerant of Elysia, letting her steal the spotlight however she pleased.
As for himself?
He had no need for worship.
He was here to capitalize on Prestige—nothing more. To use it. Not to enjoy it.
His days of adolescent fantasies—of being some world-saving hero—were long gone.
Let Mei handle the labyrinth of politics.
Let Elysia take the glory.
He would remain in the shadows, moving pieces across the board.
Before the news crews could even lock on to his position, Ryan was gone.
He stepped down from the corpse-strewn mountain of rubble and quietly disappeared into the ruins.
Only his steel-grey eyes flickered faintly in the dark.
The Herrscher of Wind has escaped.
A smart play.
She likely understood that replicating this kind of destruction would require immense amounts of Honkai energy—something not easily gathered again.
Ryan tilted his head upward, scanning the sky.
Fire Moth aircraft were finally arriving.
One helicopter caught his attention. A faint Honkai signature.Suspicious.
His gaze locked in.
Near the open cabin door—silhouettes.
Sword of Punishment?
Ryan recalled Mei's intelligence reports.
Thanks to his interference, the Fusion Warrior Project had started earlier in this timeline—more refined, less rushed. A properly structured rollout, rather than a last-minute gamble.
No wonder the higher-ups want a celebration.
So this was it—Fire Moth's elite squad.
They weren't like the failed Pureblood experiments.
Still built from low-grade Honkai beast factors, yes—but fundamentally different. Truly post-human.
Strong enough to overwhelm the Herrscher of Wind.
Strong enough to steal the spotlight from Elysia.
A counterbalance—purposefully designed.
"Another clandestine research division, bypassing Mobius," Ryan murmured. "Looks like no one wants to be outplayed."
He didn't object.
If anything, it was a good move. Another asset in humanity's arsenal.
For now.
He remembered how it had played out the first time:
The Fusion Warriors—once numbered in the thousands—were nearly wiped out during the assault by the Herrscher of Binding. Only then did Mei finally wrest control of Fire Moth.
These warriors could restrain her.
And knowing Mei, she could've used Kevin to crush all opposition in a heartbeat—yet she didn't.
Because the Council still held counterweights.
Because she understood timing.
"If she waits until she controls everything… it'll already be too late."Ryan's voice was quiet.
He wasn't as intelligent as her. He could admit that.
But in raw power?
He was one of the top three in all of humanity.
Still, this war… it wasn't the same war.
The world had changed.
Humanity had birthed monsters early.
Herrschers had learned to adapt.
The next battles would be worse.
As he stepped onto the cracked and bleeding earth, a bitter, crooked smile crept onto his face.
"…Earth," he whispered, "I hope you survive this."