Though the players were already brimming with resentment,
The Herrscher of Corruption clearly wasn't going to make things easy for them.
Using an overly theatrical tone, she continued:
"Griseo's father, Trace... made what you call a 'lesser of two evils' decision, recklessly sacrificing himself."
"And in doing so... pushed you into a situation where you had to endure both evils—becoming a monster, yet still failing to save your companion, your mentor and friend."
"Think back on how you felt then, won't you?"
[Another Blood Pressure Herrscher, following the Herrscher of Dominance.]
[Honestly, the Herrscher of Corruption is even more annoying than the Herrscher of Dominance.]
[After 'getting to know' the Herrscher of Corruption, I'm actually finding the Herrscher of Dominance rather elegant.]
…
Facing the Herrscher of Corruption's sarcastic jabs disguised as "persuasion,"
Kosma merely shook his head. He had already come to terms with that "tragedy" long ago.
"From the very beginning, Trace's decision wasn't a 'lesser evil'... it was a win-win."
To preserve human civilization. To let his comrades live on.
That was the goal of his sacrifice.
The Herrscher of Corruption only saw Trace's death as a "loss," but failed to realize:
sacrifice was the means—ensuring a better future was the end.
"It's because of the path he gave me... that I can stand here now—before you—to do what must be done."
Now, it was his turn.
To prove... they had made the right choice.
"..."
The Herrscher of Corruption frowned, perplexed.
What's going on? Kosma's personality, his way of thinking... had changed entirely.
But she was certain he hadn't undergone mind-splitting...
In truth, neither she nor Kosma realized—
The boy from back then was long gone.
He had stepped into the ideal he pursued.
"No jokes now, Kosma. Just... treat this as a request, okay?"
"No need to say more."
Kosma's unyielding tone drained the last of the Herrscher's patience.
"Well then… even when I first arrived here, I knew what I'd be facing…"
"But isn't it ironic? I'm supposed to be the 'villain'... yet I keep having to force you people to survive."
"That's only natural, Herrscher of Corruption—"
Before Kosma could finish, the game screen suddenly shifted.
A CG illustrated by Griseo herself appeared.
Kosma stood with arms crossed, blue flames igniting in his eyes.
His body began to transform—this was the ultimate power of Previous Era humanity against the Honkai and the Herrschers—
A form known as... Pseudo-Herrscher Transformation.
"No matter how it looks... I'm the one who seems more like the villain now."
Now!
Was the moment to achieve his purpose—
Radiant Light, Transform!!
Humanity grasped this abyssal power... to chase the light.
[So cool!]N
[Kosma!! You're too awesome!!]
[I'm fired up again!!!]
[Stand tall, Kosma! Carry everyone's will and beat the Herrscher down!!]
That was what the players thought.
But once their chat was flooded with "cool!" and "hype!"…
The game transitioned into combat—
And the character they could control...
Was still...
The Herrscher of Corruption??!
Meaning, next... they'd be forced to control the Herrscher of Corruption and defeat Kosma, now in his Pseudo-Herrscher form.
The very character they were just fired up about.
Players: ????
Upon seeing this—
They collectively choked on their own blood.
Damn it!!!!!!
Scriptwriter, what's wrong with you?!
Isn't this... maliciously obvious?!?!
They had spent so long progressing today's main story, watching the stream while playing through the plot...
And now?
You're making them fight a Flame-Chaser?!
And not just that—but control the Herrscher of Corruption to beat down a Flame-Chaser??
It was one thing to fight some mobs earlier...
But fighting Kosma? What the hell?!
They couldn't understand. They refused to understand.
[Fight Kosma? I refuse!]
[Is the scriptwriter running out of mental energy?]
[I'm lifting both hands off the keyboard. Kosma can kill the Herrscher for all I care.]
[Unfortunately, the Herrscher... is locked at 1 HP.]
[?????]
[Can't win, can't die, can't autopilot. Can we just close our eyes and let it pass?!]
…
Mobius frowned slightly as she progressed through the cutscene.
She hadn't touched the controls since the combat interface appeared.
Silently, she watched the Herrscher of Corruption get pummeled by Pseudo-Herrscher Kosma.
And thus, two things were confirmed:
First—The Herrscher had locked HP. Kosma couldn't kill her.
Second—The Herrscher would not auto-fight like against earlier mobs. Players had to manually attack to proceed.
"Tch."
Mobius, cold-faced, glanced at Hokuto wearing his jester Alpha mask.
She couldn't see his expression, but she was sure—he was definitely laughing inside.
So—
She absolutely could not show any reaction.
"Isn't this just a recycled gimmick from Chapter 9?"
That's what she said... but even she knew this was different.
After all, the player didn't personally kill anyone back then.
That came in the post-fight animation.
But this time...
Hokuto thought for a moment before replying:
"…Well, inspiration isn't infinite."
Besides, a reused idea—if it works—is still worth using.
He didn't say that last part aloud.
Still, Mobius probably guessed what he was thinking, and quipped back:
"You might think recycled content is fine as long as it works... but this level? For me..."
"Don't worry." The big one is yet to come.
"Heh."
Mobius smiled indifferently, feigned disinterest, and turned her focus back to the game.
Progressing—
…
In the story—
The Herrscher of Corruption just kept chattering.
"Sigh… so in the end, it's come to this."
"Why be so stubborn, Kosma? Look at you now... you can't even speak."
"Don't you want to leave Elysian Realm, to see the outside world?"
Of course he did.
Not just Kosma—perhaps all the Flame-Chasers wished for that.
But there were far more important things to do.
To that end—
Giving things up... sacrificing...
Was something they accepted willingly.
"The real Kevin and Griseo... they're both outside, waiting for you."
[Wait, is Griseo still alive?]
[She was on the Ark Project, so yeah, it's possible.]
[Herrscher!! Stop defiling the Flame-Chasers' resolve with your words!]
[Fighting Kosma while being mentally tortured by the Herrscher... this is too much. I'm done! I'm Alt-F4ing!!]
[You! Calm down! Don't forget the last time someone rage-quit during a typing segment. You'll just have to redo it all later.]
[...]N
The players who initially wanted to rage-quit recalled their past trauma... and gave up.
But backing off didn't make the problem go away.
They still had to face it—
Controlling the Herrscher to kill Kosma...
They were exhausted. Might as well hit the nuke button now.
Their hearts sank, and they operated like hollow shells.
Even their expectations had hit rock bottom.
Whatever came next—
Couldn't be any worse… right?
Could MiHoYo take that into the negatives?
…
Grumbling and table-flipping in their heads, they reluctantly chipped away at Kosma's HP.
The story progressed.
Suddenly, the Herrscher of Corruption muttered:
"The efficiency of the corruption... has slowed? Kosma... was this your real goal all along?"
"Merely entering Pseudo-Herrscher state and amplifying power means nothing to me…"
"But Vishnu's devouring instinct… it works on me too?"
"In other words, from the start... you've been devouring yourself?"
That was Vishnu's power.
A power capable of devouring even the Herrscher of Corruption.
[So Kosma's basically eating himself alive?? That's... cruel.]
[Just imagining it hurts.]
[Kosma!!!]
The Herrscher went on:
"No... while it may slow me down, it won't stop me. It just..."
Just delayed the inevitable.
The timeline that once seemed generous—if wasted here—would never be enough.
An unacceptable risk.
Elysia... what would you have done?
That thought suddenly surfaced in the Herrscher's mind.
Though honestly, thinking that now was laughable.
The players quickly began commenting in chat.
[Elysia would never harm a comrade... No, she'd never let it reach this point to begin with.]
[She wouldn't do it, so she'd never need to think about it.]
[The Herrscher is just a poor imitation.]
As they said—
The Herrscher and Elysia had an irreconcilable difference, one that no data could patch.
For example—
When making decisions the real Elysia would never make,
The Herrscher didn't even hesitate.
She still chose to use the one ability that could end everything with ease—
A power she'd only used once before.
And now that the backup system of Elysian Realm was fully corrupted and destroyed—
There would only be one outcome.
"Kosma… forgive me."
As she spoke, the game remained locked in first-person view.
To enhance immersion.
Though at this point, players only wanted to scream:
Stop trying to make us "immersed" right now!
Who wants immersion in this?!
But their grumbling wouldn't change the Herrscher's monologue:
"Everyone I love… they've already attained eternal and beautiful life within me."
"Letting you continue means sending them back to death."
"So... this is what it means to choose the lesser evil. At least now... I understand your feelings. If this is the path you've chosen—"
The Herrscher's speech—
Infuriating.
Confusing.
Worse than the Herrscher of Dominance.
And just when it seemed like she was done—
She dropped one final bombshell.
"I'm sorry… I never wanted this."
"But for the sake of everyone, I have no choice... but to erase you completely."
Players: …
At this point, they could only express themselves using the most refined dialect of their homeland.
Seriously, Herrscher—
Can you just SHUT UP already?!
["For everyone" my ass—you just want to live!]
[The Flame-Chasers would never accept such a fake illusion!]
[AAAAAA I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!]
Their blood pressure continued to spike.
The stream chat was now overflowing with raw, unfiltered emotion.
But the story gave them no time to cool down.
As the Herrscher's voice faded—
A prompt appeared on-screen:
[Kill Kosma]
A system message for the player.
[??????]
[Execute? You want ME to personally control the Herrscher for this?!]
[How the hell am I supposed to press that button?]
[At this point, I'd rather BE Kosma getting killed. It'd feel less painful.]
"..."
Mobius saw the prompt—and paused.
Then she exhaled, regained composure—
And pressed the attack key.
Let it end.
There was no need to continue the fight.
After all—Kosma's pain in this battle far exceeded anything the others could imagine.
Fighting... while devouring himself…
Just imagining it made one sick.
Living it? Unimaginable.
So—
Let it end.
In the game, with a click—
The Herrscher unleashed a charged arrow, striking the exhausted, bloodied Kosma.
Her authority began to take effect—
Kosma struggled…
Still trying to stop the Herrscher, trying to buy Mei more time.
But it was futile.
His form slowly, irreversibly dissolved.
Until—
The words [Data Deleted] appeared on screen.
Everything... had come to an end?
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