"Mei, can you give me a hand?"
The Herrscher of Thunder stared intently at Byakuya, as if to completely imprint the young man's image into her eyes. At the same time, the thunder in the sky temporarily ceased.
"Hmph!"
The Queen raised her hand and pulled Byakuya up from the ground. Her movements, though casual, were very considerate.
Only then did Herrscher Mei notice that Byakuya's hands were still trembling slightly, making it hard to imagine that such hands had taken down a Titan with one strike.
But he must have forced out a great deal of his potential in that critical moment.
"Watch your surroundings, it's not over yet."
Byakuya scanned his surroundings, and more Titan appeared. Although their movements were somewhat stiff due to the electromagnetic influence of the Herrscher of Thunder's authority.
"Damn it, again! Watch me tear them all apart!"
"Tsk, it seems that vixen hasn't given up yet. Kiana, don't go head-to-head, let's retreat first."
Although the mechs' movements were stiff due to interference, they still charged towards them menacingly, their raised iron fists about to smash down.
Byakuya's eye twitched. He didn't want to pick up Valkyrie fragments, so he immediately called out to Paramecium, who was about to rush into battle, to prepare for a tactical retreat.
However...
"They are nothing but a pile of scrap metal."
Herrscher Mei, who had just been almost successfully ambushed by this pile of scrap metal, now stepped forward disdainfully.
Immediately, the thunder that had just subsided roared again.
In an instant, purple lightning filled the abandoned building, striking indiscriminately everywhere except for Byakuya and Kiana's positions, instantly electrifying the Titans into scrap.
"......"
"......"
Byakuya and Kiana were instantly stunned, and could only exclaim that Mei was awesome, so cool~!
"Why did you save me just now."
As if she had only done a trivial thing, the Queen no longer looked at the pile of'scrap metal' but turned around and pressed Byakuya against the wall.
It was a domineering female CEO-style 'wall-slam'.
"What do you mean 'why'? Mei, you were in danger, how could I just ignore it? Uh, so close..."
Byakuya awkwardly averted his gaze.
It was his first time being 'wall-slammed' by a girl.
And the usually gentle and virtuous, easily shy and innocent Mei, was now pressing him into a corner with the cold arrogance of a domineering queen.
It really made his heart pound involuntarily.
And the distance was deadly close, their breaths were audible, and Byakuya could feel two soft slimes pressing against his chest.
If Mei were to close her eyes for three seconds without moving, Byakuya felt he could kiss her.
"How absurd. Don't confuse me with that crybaby. I am the Queen of Thunder, the Herrscher of Thunder, an apostle created by Honkai to destroy humanity. So, do you regret saving me now?"
Herrscher Mei looked down at the young man from above.
However, Byakuya smiled and shook his head.
"I don't think so. Although your personality is indeed different from the usual Mei, and you're very powerful, even so, you are still [Raiden Mei], my girlfriend, aren't you? If that's the case, then there's no problem."
He didn't care what Mei's identity was.
He simply clearly told the Herrscher in front of him that no matter what she truly was, he would be her companion.
And Herrscher of Thunder? On the surface, it seemed so, but the essence of this domineering Queen Mei was not the Herrscher personality created by Honkai.
That's why she had the possibility of reversing the Great Eruption.
"What do you want to say?"
Herrscher Mei's surprised eyes widened slightly, bringing the already close distance between them even closer.
Byakuya could even hear the sound of the wall collapsing from the hand she used to 'wall-slam' him.
"Haven't I already said it? I want to save you all. I don't want to think about those complicated things."
"As for destroying humanity, please, Mei, just let it go for my sake~ Such a boring thing, we might as well have dinner together, that would be more meaningful."
"......"
The Queen's majesty had no effect whatsoever.
Far from being in awe, Herrscher Mei clearly felt that Byakuya's attitude towards her was no different from his attitude towards the timid person in her memories.
Just as gentle.
Just as caring.
This feeling was so warm that it even made her feel inexplicably strange. She was clearly the Herrscher who was about to turn the entire Changkong City into a living hell, an enemy of humanity.
Suddenly at this moment.
Herrscher Mei felt a warmth in her chest.
"What are you doing."
"Uh, hmm? Maybe I tried too hard just now. I'll just faint for a bit. I hope to eat Mei's homemade dinner when I wake up."
Byakuya suddenly leaned his entire body onto Herrscher Mei, his eyes narrowing as if he was about to fall asleep, his face buried in the girl's chest.
Such an intimate gesture, even her father, Raiden Ryoma, had never made.
"However, I've already made my choice, so next... it's your turn, Mei, to make your choice. Don't disappoint me," he mumbled as if in a dream before his consciousness faded.
"Hmph, you don't think you can make me feel indebted by pretending to faint, and then make me listen to you, do you? Open your eyes and explain yourself, you... what?!"
Suddenly, Herrscher Mei seemed to sense something, and her purple eyes, filled with lightning, showed an expression of disbelief.
Then her movements stiffened, and she cautiously, almost carefully, checked Byakuya's body.
"Don't be ridiculous!" she shouted loudly.
Boom boom boom boom——!!
In an instant, the roar of thunder echoed throughout the city.
Herrscher Mei thought of what Byakuya had just said, and the choice she had witnessed not long ago.
She presented Byakuya with the options of saving the world or saving Raiden Mei, and the young man unhesitatingly chose the latter.
Now Byakuya placed the choice before Herrscher of Thunder Mei—whether to continue fulfilling the mission of Honkai to destroy Civilization, or to choose him/Byakuya.
"...I won't allow you to end like this. From now on, only I in this world can take your life, Byakuya. You must live on for me."
Herrscher Mei said, looking at the young man in her arms.
The so-called Great Eruption is irreversible.
When a Herrscher descends upon the world, with the exception of a few unusual individuals, a super-large-scale Honkai disaster will occur, severely damaging the world.
Because the Great Eruption creates the Herrscher, the Herrscher themselves should not be able to stop the Great Eruption's arrival... Under normal circumstances, this is correct.
"Kiana over there, from now on, he's in your hands. Treat him carefully."
"Mei, no, that's not right, you're not Mei. What exactly are you planning to do?"
"Hmph! I have no obligation to explain to you... Forget it, I'm just telling him my choice."
She took another deep look at the sleeping young man.
Then Herrscher of Thunder Mei completely dispersed her lightning, completely abandoned the Honkai Energy accumulated in her body, and the complete Herrscher Authority she was about to obtain.
She even returned the ownership of her body to the coward she spoke of.
During this process, the Honkai Energy concentration throughout Changkong City rapidly decreased. One second it was on the verge of a Great Eruption, the next it had retreated to a safe value.
.........
Byakuya knew very well that this was something only an abnormally born Herrscher of Thunder personality could do.
In fact, the Thunder Queen was not a Herrscher personality, but a Stigmata consciousness awakened from Mei's Stigmata.
After the conquest gem entered Mei's body, although it sealed the awakening of the Stigmata, the will of the Stigmata successfully invaded the conquest gem in return.
The Stigmata's will replaced the Herrscher personality that should have been born, thus allowing it to defy the mission of Honkai and perform the actions it just did—abandoning Authority and mission.
This is something a normal Herrscher personality would almost never do. The Previous Era never had a Herrscher abandon destroying humanity... Although basically none in the Current Civilization are normal.
Cough cough, and precisely because she gave up becoming the Herrscher of Thunder, gave up her Authority, gave up the mission of Honkai, and allowed herself to return to being an 'ordinary person'.
This caused the Great Eruption in Changkong City to recede, after all, the very purpose of the Great Eruption's existence was to allow the newly born Herrscher to absorb enough Honkai Energy.
And when her Herrscher consciousness went on strike, the Great Eruption, even if it wanted to work, could only stop.
"Kiana, I'm..."
"Hmm? This tone, it's the usual Mei!"
After Herrscher of Thunder returned her body, Mei's personality also recovered, but she had no Remembrance of the period, so she was now very confused and didn't know what had happened.
"Anyway, let's leave first. Byakuya looks a bit unwell. Let's find a place for him to rest first!"
"What?! Then let's go to my house first, it's closer, and there's a pharmacy nearby."
"Hmm, that's great. This Byakuya, I didn't expect him to be even more reckless than me.
Just as Kiana was carrying Byakuya, and the three of them—Kiana, Byakuya, and Mei—were carefully running back.
Little did they know that at this moment, the world was watching them. Anti-Entropy, Schicksal, and a snake lurking in the shadows had long since set their sights on Changkong City.
At this moment, inside Anti-Entropy.
"Damn it! Just a little bit! Just a little bit more and it would have succeeded! I didn't expect the plan to be broken by such an ordinary person. No, I can't just let it go!"
Cocolia growled furiously.
This was a grand plan she had been plotting for an unknown amount of time, and it was almost successful, but then Byakuya stopped it. Of course, this vixen couldn't just let it go.
"Pass on my order, gather all available combat power, and we must capture the third herrscher!"
"Yes, Executive Cocolia."
"Also, notify Bronya to go first. Such a big commotion must have been noticed by Schicksal. Let her go out first and see if she can capture it first."
"Yes!"
"Byakuya, right? I'll remember you."
Cocolia's purple eyes stared intently at the unconscious young man on the large screen, veins throbbing on her forehead, clearly enraged.
.........
At the same time, over at Schicksal.
"Clap clap clap clap clap~!"
Applause echoed in front of the virtual screen. A handsome blonde man spared no praise.
"Wonderful, truly wonderful~ Although that vixen from Anti-Entropy is just being clever, this young man actually managed to stop the Great Eruption by himself."
"Archbishop, here are the materials you requested."
"Thank you, Amber. Ha, I didn't expect him to really just be an ordinary person, with no special identity, no special power. In that case, the good show that happened tonight can truly only be described as a Miracle."
Otto casually put Byakuya's information aside, then instructed his secretary Amber to open a bottle of red wine.
The Schicksal Archbishop swirled his wine glass, raised it slightly towards the screen in front of him, then took a sip.
"Young man, a toast to you, and also, I truly must thank you. The Miracle you achieved corroborates my plan, proving that the emotional bonds between people can indeed trigger Miracles that transcend the will of honkai."
"What a beautiful bond. I have always believed that the feelings between people can transform into a pure and powerful force, and that force is enough to accomplish great deeds that technology and military might cannot."
"Just like your actions made a Herrscher abandon Authority for you, abandon her mission, and even abandon possessing a body. Ahhh~ it truly far exceeded my, Otto Apocalypse's, expectations."
This man was delighted.
He hadn't been this happy in hundreds of years.
Byakuya, Kiana, and Raiden Mei had actually entered Otto's sight long ago.
After all, the latter was a Herrscher vessel, and the Paramecium in the middle... was one of the most important pieces of his five-hundred-year-old wish.
However, Byakuya's appearance was truly an accident for Otto, but even more so a pleasant surprise. The reason he didn't intervene was that he regarded it as a preliminary rehearsal for one of his grand plans.
Otto wanted to see if these two people, who had formed a deep bond with Raiden Mei, could awaken her will through that bond after the girl became a Herrscher.
But the result far exceeded his expectations.
Raiden Mei willingly became a Herrscher to protect the two, and under Byakuya's actions, her Herrscher consciousness was even willing to become human again for this young man.
"I hope K423 can do something like Raiden Mei in the future. No, she must do it. Amber, go notify Theresa and tell her that her dear niece is in Changkong City, and have Theresa retrieve the Herrscher of Thunder as well."
"Yes, Archbishop."
"But it's a pity, truly a pity~ If this young man named Byakuya could also join my plan, that would be great. After all, K423 seems to have formed a bond with him too. If he were to help, the success rate would increase by a few more percentage points."
What kind of wisdom and insight did Otto possess? Although this guy was always inhumane, his abilities were beyond doubt.
He had already seen through Byakuya's current state.
"Young man, go ahead and rest, but... if you can once again trigger a Miracle and overcome this hurdle, then you will truly make Otto Apocalypse look at you with new eyes."
After speaking, Otto turned off the projection in front of him. Then, with the helpless expression of his secretary named Amber behind him, he pulled out a game console from somewhere.
He opened the game titled "Kallen Fantasy iv."
Otto: (My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, everything I do is for the resurrection of Kallen!)
Amber: "Archbishop, your work for today isn't finished yet."
Otto: "Ah~ Kallen!"
Amber: "......"
.........
At the same time, somewhere in Changkong City.
A woman wearing a black hood and a dark gray tight-fitting tactical armor was hiding in a dark corner, contacting her superior.
"It's truly hard to imagine. The third herrscher actually abandoned her Authority. Raven, is this information definitely true?"
"Believe it or not! Gray Serpent, do you know that I was almost struck by the third herrscher's lightning just now! Was it easy for me to investigate the information?!"
"The bonus for this mission is doubled."
"It's too easy! I swear on my future island villa that it's absolutely true. That young man really has some moves, he can even charm the heart of the Herrscher of Thunder."
Raven clicked her tongue in wonder, truly a sight to behold. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't time to expose her World Serpent organization, she almost couldn't resist making a move just now.
With her own strength, dealing with a fully awakened Herrscher of Thunder was simply wishful thinking.
But Raven possessed a Divine Key from the Previous Era—the Key of Judgment: Purification of Sin - Seven Thunders. Even an incomplete Herrscher would be hard-pressed to escape death if hit.
However, compared to the noble mission of protecting the world, Raven's work motivation was very realistic: saving money!
"The mission period is extended. Continue to monitor, but do not act or expose yourself. It's not time for our World Serpent to appear yet."
"Hey, I haven't rested for a week! While these three little ones are sticking together every day, gaining affection and enjoying good food, do you know what I'm eating?!"
"Triple the mission bonus."
"Deal."
As long as the money was in place, everything was negotiable.
Raven closed the terminal in her hand, thinking that her long-desired island villa finally had a lead. Once this job was done, she would have enough money.
(Wait, kids, your teacher will soon be able to make a down payment! Hmm, then I'll take on some other odd jobs to get the villa renovated.
My island villa, my island villa~)
Today, Raven was still working overtime for her island villa, but at this moment, she had no idea that a Great Eruption was waiting for her in the future.
Natasha Cioara (Raven)