Zzzzt—
Arcs of electricity surged from Selene's palm as it pierced through the outer casing of the central control console. Azure streams of light flooded the dim underground space, illuminating it in a cold glow.
"Elysia? Hehe... Big sister seems to know quite a lot about us Flame-Chasers. Even secrets like that. It's just... you're a bit too cold."
Though an ominous premonition filled her heart, Mobius did her best to conceal the shift in her emotions.
Like an ordinary little girl, harmless and sweet, she smiled gently. Her serpent pupils fixed on Selene like a snake waiting for the right moment to strike as she narrowed her eyes and spoke.
She knows about me and Elysia. She even knows that my manner of speaking imitates Elysia's style. Then does she also know about my "shedding" resurrection ability?
If she knows, that would be truly disastrous.
According to Mobius' judgment, the Current Era civilization had undoubtedly already failed. If humanity wished to defeat Honkai, hope could only be placed in the next era.
When Selene broke into her hibernation shelter, Mobius instantly conceived a method of feigning death and escaping—provoking the Herrscher until she killed her, then resurrecting through "shedding" and biding her time.
It did not matter if this shelter and its hibernation chamber were destroyed. As a scientist—especially a scientist as outstanding as herself—leaving behind several safe houses was perfectly normal.
In fact, as a precaution, Mobius had long ago asked Vill-V for several additional hibernation facilities.
And now, they would come in handy.
As for defeating a fully realized Herrscher alone—Mobius would certainly go all out to make it convincing. With her personality, even if she were staging her own death, she would still splash Selene with blood.
But deep down, she did not hold much hope.
After all, she was merely a scientist. She did not possess the overwhelming destructive power of Kevin Kaslana.
During the Herrscher of Dominance incident fifty thousand years ago, while reviving through "shedding" and requiring energy for the process, Mobius had unconsciously devoured her assistant Klein—who had become one of the Herrscher of Dominance. (This Klein was human, not the armed puppet—she was the prototype.)
But as the weakest individual among the Herrscher of Dominance, defeating one-thousandth of that collective was hardly something to boast about.
Everything rested upon Selene lacking detailed knowledge of her abilities.
If Selene killed her and then guarded her corpse...
That would truly be the end.
Her heart pounded rapidly—an unfamiliar sensation. Placing her life upon the gamble of probability brought both immense pressure and a faint thrill.
There was no other choice.
The Flame-Chasers were either dead or missing. As for Kevin, Su, Hua, and the others' Project S.A.V.E—Mobius did not need anyone to tell her. It had surely failed.
Otherwise, why had Gray Serpent awakened her instead of Kevin? Had the Herrscher of Finality dragged such a large portion of humanity into serving her unto death?
The only reliable force currently at her disposal was her "filial son," Gray Serpent.
But he was like her—a civil official type with excellent survival ability and abysmal combat strength.
Sending Gray Serpent to fight a Herrscher would be like throwing meat buns to a dog.
Of course, if this white-haired woman with crimson eyes were merely ornamental and incompetent, Mobius would not be polite. She would convert her into nourishment for her own ascension to higher evolution.
"Heh, still pretending. Do you think I was some ignorant lab rat tricked onto an operating table?"
Zzzzt—!
As she spoke, Selene's hand embedded deep within the shelter's control core began to morph. The azure data stream representing the authority of the Herrscher of Reason twisted and warped, transforming into viscous violet-red erosion particles.
"Herrscher of Sentience..."
In the Previous Civilization, Mobius had performed numerous modifications on Fu Hua, conducting many experiments related to "erosion." She had extensive contact with her.
Thus, she was intimately familiar with the fluctuations of the Eighth Divine Key forged from the Herrscher of Sentience's core—Key of Sentience · [Fenghuang Down].
And the reaction waves of the Herrscher of Corruption mixed within were engraved into her very bones. It had been that Herrscher who shattered the Flame-Chasers and reduced humanity's final city to scorched earth.
The words nearly escaped her lips on their own.
"Herrscher of Corruption..."
In the next instant, her premonition became reality.
An indescribable terror enveloped her heart.
She lifted her head, realization dawning.
"You are... Finality."
At first, when the data Gray Serpent uploaded had been interrupted and she saw Selene wielding the powers of the Herrscher of the Void and the Herrscher of Reason, Mobius could still interpret her as a pseudo-Herrscher driven by multiple cores under Finality's command.
But as the authorities of the Herrscher of Sentience and the Herrscher of Corruption manifested—though Selene had yet to display every Herrscher authority—Mobius had already formed her conclusion.
Her expression darkened as she forced a bitter smile.
"No wonder you call yourself 'I.' The Goddess of Honkai? Finality... the name fits perfectly."
"Oh? Are you afraid? Planning to surrender?" Selene asked with interest, one hand on her hip, visibly swelling with arrogance.
Shrrk—!
She withdrew her hand from the shattered control core. In the next moment, the dense violet-red Honkai particles transformed into writhing, liquid-like tendrils.
In the blink of an eye, the five initial strands split rapidly into countless slender tentacles. A violet-red "fungal carpet" spread downward.
Zzzzt—
Within seconds, the entire control console was enveloped. The erosion seeped into every corner of the Previous Civilization shelter.
"Did you think I refrained from acting just now for no reason? I was rewriting your creation. And you—what were you waiting for? A pleasant chat?"
Selene's voice, thick with arrogance and mockery, echoed through the air. Under Mobius' strange gaze, she sat gracefully yet dangerously upon empty air at an angle.
The posture was unmistakable—she was imitating Mobius' way of sitting upon her floating stool.
Mobius ground her teeth inwardly.
This Herrscher... why is she just as insufferable as I am?
Watching the expression on Mobius' face twist as if she had swallowed a fly, Selene suddenly spoke.
"Gray Serpent."
Zzzzt—
The projection device, previously disabled by Selene's interference, repaired itself automatically. With a faint pulse of electricity, the holographic screen flickered back to life.
A black hooded sweatshirt. A bone-white monocular mask. A crimson electronic eye.
Gray Serpent appeared unchanged.
"Your Majesty."
The words that left his mouth caused Mobius' eyes to widen abruptly.
She looked exactly like a woman who had just been cuckolded.
"He truly is loyal to you... In his cognitive framework, he believes the freedom and life he possesses are gifts bestowed by you. Even the reason he founded World Serpent was simply to prove that he has value in existing."
"Mm. Such a devoted subordinate... I almost feel jealous." Selene rested her chin on her hand, a vicious smile tugging at her lips. "Unfortunately..."
Her tone shifted as she delivered the final blow.
"He belongs to me now."
The very first thing Selene had done upon breaching this shelter was paralyze its central system. While Gray Serpent's collective consciousness had transferred itself here to interface with Mobius—erosion.
Selene could clearly sense that Gray Serpent truly cared about Mobius. He had transferred the majority of his core consciousness here.
Gray Serpent's true nature was that of a collective mind—numerous identical bodies whose consciousnesses were connected within a single network, sharing the same memories.
And as long as Selene found even a single opening, she could erode the entirety of that network.
It was not merely the four authorities Mobius had identified.
Selene had also employed the authority of the Herrscher of Thunder—subtly.
The Herrscher of the Void breached defenses.
The Herrscher of Thunder manipulated electromagnetism, infiltrating electronic systems.
The Herrscher of Reason analyzed and reverse-engineered structural order, tearing through the firewall between the base and Gray Serpent's consciousness network.
Then the Herrscher of Corruption followed, racing along the traces left within the network, spreading rapidly throughout his entire cognitive web.
Finally, once Gray Serpent's core consciousness network had been fully infected by Honkai energy turned into an ultimate virus, the authority of the Herrscher of Sentience concluded the process.
There was no need to destroy his consciousness. That would have been wasteful.
Selene only needed to make minor edits to certain memory segments.
For example—one modification: when Gray Serpent first awakened from the incineration pool and opened his eyes to the world, the first person he saw was no longer Mobius—but Selene.
Another deletion: all memory data related to Sakura was erased.
Another addition: an additional motive for founding World Serpent was inserted—namely, to infiltrate humanity from within and prepare for Finality's arrival.
With these five Herrscher authorities combined, events common in human science fiction—AI rebellion, mechanical uprisings—occurring under Selene's rule would be difficult. Extremely difficult. Nearly impossible.
She could simultaneously trigger erosion reactions across an AI's entire codebase and all backups in multiple locations, erasing them utterly.
"You don't object, do you?"
Glancing around, Selene continued her mockery.
"And you scientists... why do you always prefer such gloomy environments? Living like sewer rats in the dark. Wouldn't it be better to live under the sun like proper people?"
"Heh. A person? Are you human?"
"If I say I am, then I am. And the same question—are you?"
Under Selene's gaze—like someone watching a monkey perform—Mobius found it increasingly difficult to maintain her act.
She stopped hesitating and struck first.
At worst, she would die.
Verbal sparring had placed her at a disadvantage from the start. Being repeatedly wounded by words—what kind of humiliation was that?
"Deploy!" Mobius cried sharply. "Shadow Domain of the Devourer!"
A pitch-black alien cross manifested instantly, unfolding with fluorescent green radiance. Thick torrents of dark green lightning surged outward. Massive serpentine shadows flashed within air entangled by inky liquid spikes.
Boom! Boom!
Rampaging explosions and towering lightning storms tore through the shelter's structure. Load-bearing pillars collapsed. The facility disintegrated in moments.
Crash—!
The shrill detonations buzzed in the ears like electric arcs. Watching the towering dust clouds rising from the collapsing Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Imperial Army soldiers maintaining order nearby snapped to alertness.
"What's happening? Are friendly forces operating nearby?"
"Was that a thunderstorm bomb? But the color... huh? Two colors?"
"Regardless—everyone, alert!"
Fragments of precious metals and debris blasted into the upper atmosphere by the destruction of the temple fell like a blizzard.
"Weak. Insignificant. Overestimating yourself."
Dark green lightning was suppressed beneath violet-red thunder.
Hovering midair, Selene gripped Mobius' slender neck tightly. The cold armored gauntlet constricted until Mobius' complexion paled and her lips turned blue.
"Struggling on the brink of death only hastens its arrival. Do you still not understand?"
She lifted the green-haired loli before her, no longer concealing her aura. Selene's crimson diamond-shaped pupils locked with Mobius' ferocious serpent eyes. Their noses nearly touched.
"You... with this kind of power... you truly are Finality."
Mobius knew she was afraid.
Every cell composing her body trembled beneath an immeasurable will—far beyond the limits of her imagination.
This pressure already surpassed the Herrscher of Finality from the lunar battle.
Has Finality evolved as well?
How despairing.
Defeating Honkai... even in the next era, the prospects seem bleak.
"Kill me if you wish! Do as you please, Finality—" Mobius spat viciously.
"Kill you? Why would I grant you something so cheap? Don't even think about it." Selene lowered her voice. "Be my bedwarming maid instead."
As though seeing straight through her thoughts, Selene continued softly,
"You provoked me only because you wanted me to kill you in anger—so you could exploit your 'shedding' and fake your death to escape."
"You—" How does she know? Could it be—Elysian Realm?!
"That's right. Elysian Realm. Your little toys were quite the pleasant surprise."
With that, Selene released her grip.
"Simulation · Repulsion."
Boom!
Mobius was hurled downward, a dull crash and the crisp snap of bone fractures echoing from within the crater.
Click... clack...
Selene descended slowly, the sound of her high heels echoing as though she were walking on invisible stairs.
With a casual wave of her hand, she tore through the smoke and said faintly,
"I'll ask again. Bedwarming maid—are you taking the position or not?"
"In your dreams! Are you insulting me?"
Mobius struggled upright, back hunched slightly. Her left arm hung limply at her side while her right hand pressed against her forehead, coming away smeared with blood.
She could feel Finality's Honkai energy entwining her body, drastically suppressing her regenerative ability.
"Would you like to see your Flame-Chaser comrades again?"
"Ha?" She lifted her head in a cold, mocking glare. "Which unfortunate fool did you rewrite into your obedient dog this time?"
Unbothered, Selene slowly uttered a name.
"Fu Hua."