When the news of a Herrscher's descent reached them, everyone in the Fire Moth base reacted like they'd been struck by lightning. They jumped to their feet and sprinted toward their stations at full speed.
With the bitter lesson of the Third Honkai Eruption still fresh, Fire Moth dared not show even the slightest carelessness this time.
At the same time, Helixcraft's mech legions were also mobilizing. Even though the two organizations often butted heads, when it came to Herrscher-related matters, they never hesitated to join forces.
However, just as Elias and the others were racing toward the helipad to deploy to the Herrscher's location…
"All units, halt! Captain Elias, Vice-Captain Elysia, Kevin, Dr. Mobius… report to the operations conference room immediately for an emergency Herrscher suppression meeting!"
"Hm?"
Hearing the voice in his earpiece, Elias froze. His first thought was that Fire Moth's higher-ups were up to something suspicious.
But the next moment, he recognized the voice—it was Mei. Or rather… Dr. Mei now.
"Elias, what should we do?"
"Why is Mei suddenly calling us to a meeting?"
Elysia and Kevin came up beside him, both clearly puzzled. A meeting? What was there to discuss? The Herrscher was out there—just go straight at it!
It was a Herrscher, after all! Every second of delay could mean irreparable damage.
"Relax. If Mei says so, she has her reasons. And it's fine—Helixcraft is here. One meeting won't make a difference."
"Mhm!"
"Alright."
With Elias' words, the two instantly calmed down.
Standing not far away, Hua's expression was complicated. She was still just an ordinary soldier.
It wasn't that Elias didn't want to arrange a Meta-Morph surgery for her—but her assigned Judgment-level Honkai Beast, Garuda, hadn't even been born yet. There wasn't a single scrap of intel on it—no clue whether it would be a wild Honkai Beast or a Companion Honkai Beast of a Herrscher.
Even in his memories of the previous life, there were no details. And Elias wasn't about to assign her some random Honkai Beast just to make do. She was destined to be one of the Flame-Chasers—better to wait for the right one.
Hua, however, was getting impatient.
(I really want to grow stronger, so I can stand with them…)
The group quickly arrived at the conference room.
Mei gave Elias a small nod before standing to speak. Though she had only joined Fire Moth after the Third Honkai Eruption, with Elias' strong support and her own extraordinary genius, she had risen rapidly to the management level and now headed a research institute.
"Mei, what's going on? The Fourth Herrscher is here—we need to eliminate it immediately!" Kevin urged.
"Kevin, calm down. Let Mei speak." Elias pressed down on the excitable husky.
"Always the composed one, Elias. The reason I ordered the troops to stand down is simple: deploying now would be pointless. The Fourth Herrscher's codename has been confirmed as the Herrscher of Wind—and her behavior is completely different from the previous Herrschers."
"Hm? What has this Herrscher done?"
Elias frowned, sensing something off.
He had no prior intel on the Previous Era's Herrscher of Wind. And considering all the changes he'd already made to history, it was no surprise that the original plot had been thrown into disarray.
If humanity had changed its actions, it was only natural for the Honkai to change as well.
Mei adjusted her glasses and said with a trace of disbelief:
"The Herrscher of Wind… ran away."
"???" xN
Everyone froze. Even Elias stared, wide-eyed, wondering if he'd heard wrong.
Mei had expected this exact reaction. She opened a projection screen and played the footage captured by satellite.
...
Ten minutes earlier—
In a small coastal town, a massive Honkai Eruption suddenly broke out, its scale even greater than that of the Herrscher of Thunder.
Then, a girl with azure wind-wings sprouting from her back and a white scarf wrapped around her neck ascended into the sky like a goddess—this was the Fourth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Wind!
With a wave of her hand, towering waterspouts rose from the sea. The apocalyptic sight drew cold sweat from many who watched.
Kevin and the others' expressions hardened. Even knowing how terrifying Herrschers were, seeing them unleash their authority firsthand was always nerve-wracking.
Next, the Herrscher of Wind lifted an entire small island from the sea and hurled it toward the mainland.
Elias: (Why is the island flying…? If Raven saw this, she'd probably get PTSD.)
Just then, the video showed a mech squad charging at the Herrscher of Wind.
Elias realized that he had, in fact, built a hidden hangar in that area. But those were only low-grade mechs meant for dealing with ordinary Honkai Beasts—against a Herrscher, they would be obliterated instantly. Still, if they could distract her for even a few seconds, they wouldn't have been built in vain.
He and Vill-V had classified mechs into three tiers:
Low-grade mechs: For sub-elite Honkai Beasts.
High-grade mechs: For elite-class Honkai Beasts.
Godslayer mechs: For Herrschers.
The third tier was still in the design phase. Even a genius like Vill-V needed time to design Herrscher-grade mechs, and constructing them would also take Elias a long while.
But back to the footage—
Instead of swatting the low-grade mechs away like flies, the Herrscher of Wind turned tail and fled without looking back.
"What? The hell—?!"
"The Herrscher… ran away?!"
"Seriously? That cowardly?"
"She's already gone!"
Jaws nearly hit the floor in the conference room.
Even Elias was stunned.
This Herrscher wasn't overconfident?!
How was that even possible? A Herrscher without arrogance—was she even a Herrscher?
Elias: (Come on! Have some pride! Since when do Herrschers back down? Which of your predecessors didn't face the world head-on, never flinching? Even your future successors will stand and fight against the entire world. Even the Herrscher of Corruption has more guts than you!)
Even Elias himself, upon becoming a Herrscher, had his moment of inflated ego. But this Herrscher of Wind? Scared off by a few low-grade mechs. It was like a lion fearing ants—utterly laughable.
"Her retreat caught everyone off guard," Mei admitted. "But more important is her speed. Even with a rough estimate… she's already hitting Mach 7."
"What?! That fast?!" xN
Shock rippled through the room again. Mei wore a troubled expression. Barring the special case of the Herrscher of the Void, the Herrscher of Wind's mobility was unmatched—not just so far, but possibly among all Herrschers yet to appear.
And if such a Herrscher chose not to engage in direct combat but instead to run, humanity had almost no means to capture her.
Even trying to predict her flight path and set up an ambush would be unreliable—she could change course at any moment. And if she chose to fight instead of run? Facing the Herrscher of Wind in the sky was tantamount to suicide.
At present, few fusion warriors could even fly. Those who could wouldn't stand a chance against a master of ideal fluid manipulation.
"So what do we do now? We can't just ignore her. If she tosses out a couple of tornadoes while on the run, who knows how much damage she could cause!"
"But even our fastest fighters can't catch her, and even if we did, we couldn't stop her. What are we supposed to do?"
"Damn Herrscher—if you've got guts, face us head-on!"
The conference room was filled with frustration and helplessness. The Third Herrscher had been just as despair-inducing, and she'd even had a Companion Honkai Beast—but at least she had stayed in one place, within reach.
This Herrscher of Wind, on the other hand, refused to give anyone a chance for direct combat. She zipped around the world, and even when confronted with the weakest mechs, her first reaction was to bolt.
So cautious and timid she barely seemed like a Herrscher!
Just as everyone was wracking their brains—
"Ely, remember how I promised to give you this kill? Do you still want it?" Elias asked with a calm smile.
"Elias, don't joke around right now. Use that smart brain of yours to think of a plan!" The pink elf looked at the screen with a deeply troubled expression.
"If you don't want it, then I'll take it for myself."
"Yeah, fine, no problem… Wait, WHAT?!"
Everyone in the room turned toward Elias in unison. His easy tone made it sound like the Herrscher of Wind was already as good as dead.
Instantly, every eye was on him in expectation.
They couldn't help it—
This white-haired youth had already defeated two Herrschers in a row. Twice, when everyone else had been ready to give up in despair, he had reversed the tide and brought victory to humanity.
"Elias, you've got a way to handle this, don't you!"
Even the supposedly utterly rational Dr. Mei couldn't help feeling hopeful. If it were anyone else, she would have assumed such composure was just an act.
But Elias was different.
As long as Elias hadn't given up… humanity hadn't lost to the Honkai.
That was the reputation he'd earned through victory.
"Yes. You can all start preparing for disaster relief. Focus on supporting and aiding the areas she's damaged—the Herrscher of Wind, I'll deal with her."
"Good! Good, good!"
"As expected of Elias—reliable as always!"
"Finally, hope…"
The tension in the room evaporated, replaced by a surging, indescribable excitement.
Seeing Elias so calm and confident made the crisis that had seemed so daunting moments ago feel as if it had already been resolved.
Elysia's eyes sparkled. Mobius' expression took on a strange note of pride. Kevin clenched his fists in awe. Even Mei, never one to trust easily, entrusted her faith to Elias.
Elias turned and walked out of the conference room.
In the next moment, pure white draconic traits manifested across his body. This inhuman form radiated a sacred brilliance, like a myth given flesh and worn as armor.
BOOM!
Dragon wings unfurled, and Elias shot into the sky, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Above, the endless white clouds split as if a massive force had torn them apart.
"Track Elias' coordinates. We may not know what method he's planning to use against the Herrscher, but we must be ready to support him at any moment. Wait… what's this speed…?!"
Dr. Mei rubbed her eyes instinctively.
And she wasn't the only one—everyone still in the conference room stared at the projected display, wondering if the instruments were malfunctioning.
"Elias' flight speed… Mach 13?!"
The pen in Dr. Mei's hand clattered to the floor. On the screen, the blue dot marking Elias' position was closing in on the Herrscher of Wind at nearly twice her speed!
Everyone turned to Mobius.
The message in their eyes was clear: You performed Elias' fusion surgery—don't you know what's going on?
Mobius: "Don't look at me! I don't know a thing!"
The snake herself shivered slightly in surprise, clearly not expecting Elias to have such a hidden trump card. Then she licked her lips in excitement—of course the man she had her eye on would keep delivering surprises.
"Ahem. Enough. The Herrscher of Wind is finished. Everyone, follow Elias' earlier instructions and prepare for post-battle relief and support." Dr. Mei cleared her throat and addressed the room.
...
"Hah~ this feels amazing."
Flying at over Mach 13, Elias watched the scenery blur past in an instant. Even the dynamic vision of a fusion warrior couldn't track details at this speed.
It was his first time flying this fast, and he wasn't even going all out.
"Honkai, this time your plan was decent. Unfortunately for you, your opponent is me." Elias spoke as if addressing the omniscient god of the Honkai itself.
If humanity couldn't win head-on through either of its two developmental paths, then simply set the fastest Herrscher to keep running. Humanity wouldn't be able to catch her, and she could destroy the world at her leisure, tossing out attacks mid-flight.
"A simple, brutal, and effective tactic. But it only works if your Herrscher of Wind is the fastest Herrscher alive. Too bad—she's not."
With a powerful snap of his pale dragon wings, the air boomed, and his speed increased even further. Cities vanished behind him almost as soon as they appeared.
"Caught you, Herrscher of Wind."
A green figure entered his vision. His fists clenched, and like a white meteor, he smashed into her.
"A human? How—aghhh!!"
Before she could finish, Elias was in front of her, punching her tens of kilometers away.
"Still alive? Figures…" Elias glanced at his smoking fist and casually shook it off.
He hovered above, looking down at the Herrscher of Wind who had been slammed into the sea. Any other Herrscher would be dead, but the Herrscher of Wind's ideal fluid shield—nearly absolute defense—had kept her alive.
"Human…! How could you possibly catch me?!"
Soaked and sputtering, she stared at him in disbelief. How could she lose in speed to a human?
"I'm not obliged to answer. Die."
His fingers came together, encased in flawless white dragon scales—an artwork of ultimate violence.
"Damn you—die!"
The words left her lips, but her body betrayed her, turning to flee again at full speed.
The Honkai's orders to her were absolute: never engage, always flee, unleash destruction while running. To her, it was like an unbreakable core command.
"Still trying to run? This is over."
Faster than twice her speed, Elias caught her in an instant.
"Winds, guard me!"
"Winds, obey me!"
"You—you can't possibly—?!"
Her eyes went wide. She had summoned her invincible ideal fluid shield—only to see Elias wielding the same authority.
His output crushed hers outright, shattering her shield before it even fully formed.
The next moment, Elias' fingertips pressed against her chest.
"Ki—Impact!"
His fist clenched, and explosive power burst forth. Her heart was pulverized instantly, the shockwave ripping through her body and scattering every cloud in the sky.
"Target neutralized. Herrscher head count: +1."
He shook his head at the lifeless Herrscher in his grasp.
"Challenging me in speed… hopeless."
After all, Elias himself was the ultimate evolved form of the Herrscher of Wind—enhanced twice over by two Gems of Desire and ascended to a transcendent state.
Against him, the Herrscher of Wind never stood a chance.