February 16th, 2000, 14:00 – Kiel, Germany.
After rampaging through Finland for a time, the Honkai-born tornado swept across the Baltic Sea and made landfall in Germany.
On the shoreline stood a tall, broad-shouldered figure with dark skin—an imposing silhouette with the sharp features of an African face, her stern expression radiating natural authority.
It was a face most people would instinctively fear.
And yet, despite appearances, this person was a woman.
It was hard to imagine what kind of man could stand beside such a… formidable woman.
Even harder to understand was how that man's genes, when paired with Lewis's, could have resulted in a daughter as adorable as Carol.
Behind her stretched a column of hundreds of vehicles, each loaded with strategic missiles.
Lewis scratched her head as she looked out at the massive tornado that had stopped dead over the open waters.
Why was this Herrscher being so cooperative?
She hadn't even begun the baiting process yet!
In the operations control room, Shigure Kira stared at the holographic projection in bafflement.
The original plan was simple: launch missiles at the tornado.
They wouldn't actually harm the Herrscher, of course, but destroying them would force it to generate strong Honkai energy fluctuations.
That would allow them to pinpoint the Herrscher's exact location and bring down the ultimate weapon—S-rank Valkyrie Cecilia.
But now…
On the holographic display, high-energy readings were flickering right in the eye of the storm.
The Herrscher wasn't moving.
In fact, it was even thoughtfully dispersing the outer winds.
The glowing marker that represented the Herrscher pulsed in place, almost as if saying—
"Come on, hit me already~"
Meanwhile, the consciousness inside the pseudo Herrscher of Wind—the Wendy clone—had been tweaked by Nagami.
Although it carried Nagami's memories, its personality leaned much closer to the carefree Barbatos from those memories.
"Not bad at all~"
Wendy lay lazily on her back in the void, surrounded by emerald winds that radiated freedom.
Dozens of bottles of fine liquor floated gently on the currents around her.
They were salvaged from a wine cellar that had nearly been destroyed by Honkai beasts.
The thought of losing all that precious alcohol had almost scared her to death.
Two seconds slower and it would've been gone forever!
With a delicate hand, she raised a glass, took a slow sip, then tilted it outward.
The breeze tipped a bottle, letting crimson liquid spill like a waterfall into a crystal-clear stream.
She had been in Germany for several hours already, drinking and waiting for "clock-out time." Bliss.
The essence of a professional slacker, perfectly on display.
As for her supposed duty as a pseudo-Herrscher?
Just fudge it a little, and it'd be fine~
After all, hadn't she already put in the effort to drag this massive tornado all the way here? That was plenty of work!
From above, Wendy could sense the faint power of Fenghuang Down's feather—her "mother-in-law" had reached her designated position.
Which meant—
"Almost time to clock out!"
She took another sip, the chill running down her throat and lifting her mood.
Tilting her head back, she gazed up at the far edge of the sky.
[Mother-in-law, just drop Abyss Flower directly.]
[The Herrscher down here will catch it on their own.]
Cecilia held Abyss Flower in hand, her gaze locked on the super-sized tornado below.
"…Nagami-chan, don't you think this is a little too blatant?"
A green-haired girl, visible only to her, floated before her eyes.
Cecilia's expression twitched.
This wasn't even pretending anymore—it was outrageous.
"It's fine, it's fine! Everyone in Schicksal knows Mother-in-law is the strongest. Taking down a fake Herrscher like this is nothing at all."
C.C.'s tone was firm, her small white fist clenched in solemn determination, as though declaring Cecilia invincible.
The display made Cecilia's cheeks flush faintly.
"You really are… such a child~"
Her long lashes quivered as she smiled with fond exasperation, reaching out to ruffle C.C.'s hair—only to remember at the last second that the girl was just a projection.
"Hehe"
C.C. grinned 'innocently.' To avoid the situation where, once Cecilia returned to the future, she will discovered not only that Nagami is a boy but also the fact that aside from Kiana there were many other girls with ties to Nagami…
C.C. was working hard to raise her affection, if only to avoid being on the receiving end of an Abyss Flower strike one day.
[Still, to avoid wasting the Valkyries and the resources put into this operation, we should at least put on a bit of a show.]
She could feel the slacker below itching to "clock out," and sighed.
Truly, that Barbatos personality was showing through.
"Alright then!"
From a staggering altitude of 51,000 meters, Cecilia leapt.
The orange goggles over her eyes reflected the world below.
Before Abyss Flower could make contact, Wendy's body dispersed, leaving Cecilia twitching at the corners of her mouth.
————————————————————————
In the other place from within the rising flames, a hazy figure emerged.
Hu Tao's spear thrust forward like a shooting star, the black mist coiling around it snuffing out the leaping fire.
Otto had created a mimic of the God Key using Void Archives—its power about fifty percent of the original.
If it were half the true power of Judgment of Shamash, a mere clone wouldn't stand a chance.
But if it was only the mimicked Torch of Eons: Skyfire, then Hu Tao could handle it without issue.
What mattered most was that the pseudo Herrscher of Wind had been neutralized.
More importantly, the two main bodies creating armies of Honkai beasts in the Imaginary Space were nearing the end of their task.
————————————————————————
In the original history, Sirin had unleashed a cataclysm centered on the Babylon Tower, spreading across all of Siberia.
Five hundred thousand Honkai beasts swarmed the plains, and when it was over, fewer than a hundred humans remained alive.
For Sirin in the games, this became one of her indelible sins.
But in the past where Nagami now intervened, he would never let Sirin shoulder such agony for the rest of her life.
Of course, that didn't mean Nagami would slaughter the people of Siberia in her stead.
Instead of half a million, he created three hundred thousand Delisha-class Honkai beasts.
Yet deep in their design, he had removed the instinct to kill humans.
Their only directive was to destroy buildings and open spaces—and, in fact, Nagami even added a hidden subroutine to subtly protect human lives.
Meanwhile, thanks to Walter's coordination, Anti-Entropy had already joined forces with Schicksal's local branches to evacuate Siberia's population to nearby safe zones.
The beast horde would cause minimal human casualties.
The downside, however, was immense—the Siberian plains were going to be torn up at least three meters deep, perhaps far more.
In truth, Nagami's actions were no different than letting three hundred thousand oversized huskies loose across Siberia—and telling them they could wreck anything they pleased.
"Miss Hu Tao, won't you reconsider my proposal?"
The last wisps of black mist burned away in the flames.
A blond young man stood with one hand gripping the mimic of the Shamash.
His emerald eyes were cold, like ice crystallizing.
"Oh my, is Mr. Otto finally losing his patience?"
Bathed in gentle white radiance, Hu Tao's fire-charred skin regenerated in an instant.
"I'm still not done playing."
Otto's once-elegant suit hung in tatters, much of his outer flesh eaten away by the mist, revealing the soulsteel framework beneath.
His silence grew heavier, his gaze colder.
He couldn't explain why, but every Herrscher he'd faced in this Eruption had lunged at him like a rabid dog.
First the Second Herrscher, now this so-called Herrscher of Death.
He had unleashed Schicksal's vast intelligence network, its most hidden operatives, to find the hand behind it all. And yet not a trace had surfaced.
With such massive resources, even the shadow of that serpent should have been glimpsed, however faintly.
Who exactly was orchestrating this?
No—!
It didn't matter who stood behind this.
Nothing could stop him from reuniting with Kallen.
Not even God!
"Well then, if Mr. Otto has already lost his patience, I suppose we'll call it a day." Hu Tao clapped her hands and placed them on her hips, pouting theatrically.
"Such a pity. It's hard to find a punching bag as nice as you, Mr. Otto."
"You think you can escape?"
The golden greatsword warped into a cross-shaped spear, its edges gleaming with molten light.
From it spilled countless golden chains, slithering through the air like venomous snakes, their eyes fixed on Hu Tao.
"Escape?" Hu Tao's lips curled into a strange smile. "How could the great Hall Master run away when I haven't even secured a single client yet?"
"This won't do at all. Zero business after showing up? That won't do. Fine then—" her smile sharpened, "—I'll take you as my first client!"
The moment the words fell, her figure flickered forward at blinding speed.
This body didn't have the power of the Herrscher of Reason, but Nagami had crafted a false Herrscher Core of Death.
Though it lacked true authority, to Otto there was no telling it apart from the real thing.
And so—
Honkai energy surged inside Hu Tao, compressing upon itself in imitation of a collapsing star.
She forced it down, tighter and tighter, until the false core reached the threshold of fusion.
This method—akin to self-detonation—would release power no less devastating than a nuclear blast.
"You—!"
Otto's eyes widened as violet markings spread across Hu Tao's face, her body glowing with destructive energy.
A suffocating sense of crisis gripped him.
That energy… if it erupted, the core—the precious vessel that held even the faintest hope of Kallen's return—would be obliterated.
He couldn't allow it.
Not even the slightest fragment could be lost.
"No!"
'BOOM!'
The explosion tore the heavens apart with a deafening roar.
Black energy blossomed outward like a hellish flower, unleashing a hurricane of annihilation.
Otto's powerful soulsteel body was ripped to shreds once more, scattered into fragments by the storm.
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