Honestly, Acheron never really expected the other party to do something like this.
Should she call them confident, or just plain foolish?
With the powers of the Herrscher of Sentience, if the other party didn't want a direct fight and just focused on hiding and causing havoc, even Acheron would need a fair bit of time to dig them out.
But instead, what did they do? They went rummaging through the memories of some victims, pieced things together, and came to the conclusion that Acheron was the current strongest fighter in Fire Moth, and that by taking her out, they'd have free rein.
What kind of logic was that?
For most people, knowing Acheron's strength, they'd try to work around her, targeting others instead. But then again, thinking about it, this approach sort of made a twisted sense.
After all, this was the Herrscher of Sentience, the master of consciousness.
For a regular person, no matter how physically powerful you are, once you're dragged into the realm of consciousness, you're basically defenseless.
That was exactly the Herrscher's line of thinking. 'Alright, I admit you're strong. You took down the Herrschers of Death and Flame. You can even face the Herrscher of Flame head-on without flinching, so obviously I'm no match for you in a straight fight. But then, why should I fight you head-on?'
'Once I pull you into my world of consciousness, won't you be completely at my mercy?'
That was the plan.
So, after locating Acheron, she charged straight into her mind with what could only be described as desperate urgency, determined to take Acheron down immediately.
A dim world, like the surface of a profoundly dark and abyssal sea. Acheron's mental landscape was a stretch of darkness, without a single glimmer of light.
The moment she entered, a smug, arrogant smile spread across the Herrscher of Sentience's face. But then, a shiver ran through her.
"Strange, why is this place so... eerie?"
She couldn't help but mutter, unnerved by the discomfort emanating from the surroundings.
If she'd had a physical body, goosebumps would have been rising all over her arms.
This was just too bizarre.
Was this really the mental space of an ordinary human?
Though she hadn't been 'alive' for long, her talent in this area seemed innate.
The mental spaces of the few others she'd entered were all strange in their own ways, but none felt as chilling as this.
Even though she was a creature that knew no fear, upon arriving here, she instinctively felt a thread of unease.
Still, she suppressed it quickly. After all, as the Herrscher of Sentience, she was the invincible one within the world of consciousness!
The top priority now was to find Acheron's consciousness in this world and... erase it completely!
However, her smirk soon vanished. This world was like an endless deep sea; no matter how far she pushed forward, she couldn't reach its end, and she couldn't locate Acheron's consciousness at all.
What's more, just being here, her sense of time and space was gradually fading...
"This is wrong... how can it be this wrong?"
A flicker of panic rose in the Herrscher. She abandoned the plan of finding Acheron's will and decided to try another approach.
She would simply destroy this mental world.
For an ordinary person, once their sea of consciousness collapsed, they'd naturally be reduced to a mindless husk.
As the Herrscher of Sentience, destroying a person's mental world shouldn't be difficult.
In the next instant, violent energy gathered in her hands.
"I will... destroy this world!"
As she spoke, a crimson, lightning-like power spread from her hands.
Then, with immense force, she slammed it down onto the sea's surface beneath her!
But it wasn't what she expected.
In her imagination, after this move, the entire world would begin to crumble. Yet, under her strike, the dark, abyssal sea merely rippled slightly.
Comparing it to the ripples from throwing a stone into water would be an overstatement. A more accurate description would be... the tiny, momentary ripple from a mosquito landing on the water's surface.
To use another phrase—steadfast as Mount Tai!
"How is this possible!"
She hadn't used her full power just now, but that strike was still nothing to scoff at!
Yet, to this world, the impact was minimal, negligible.
Acheron probably didn't even feel it.
The next moment, the Herrscher of Sentience went berserk, unleashing her full power. Fierce energy churned and frictioned within this world, finally erupting!
Yet, the result still left her dismayed.
"I'm putting this much effort in, so why are you still alive?"
The Herrscher of Sentience stammered in disbelief.
The water's surface in this place only stirred with the faintest of ripples.
This time, it was like a small pebble dropping into water—able to create ripples, but leaving the water itself utterly unaffected.
However, her attack wasn't entirely without effect.
Perhaps it was like an automatic defense mechanism after being bothered by a mosquito, or maybe something had just registered as 'not right.'
Under the Herrscher of Sentience's watch, this world began to produce faint, eerie fluctuations.
Before she could even process what was happening, the world, like a bog, began to swallow everything.
Including the Herrscher of Sentience herself.
Her feet began to sink slowly, as if this boundless deep sea was the maw of the legendary Leviathan, devouring all life.
"Gurgle, glug, glug..."
The Herrscher of Sentience struggled, but she found that no matter what power she used, she couldn't break free from this world's grasp.
This world was like a black hole, consuming everything.
Then, it dragged her ruthlessly down into the depths. Even as a consciousness, she made sounds like someone drowning, choking on water.
--+--
Meanwhile, out in the corridor, Acheron was feeling puzzled.
What was going on? Didn't the other party enter her body? Why was there no movement at all?
Just then, Elysia, spotting Acheron, hurried over. "Thank goodness you're alright, Mei! The 8th Herrscher has appeared. It's here in the base, and it's launched an attack."
"This Herrscher has psychic powers; it's really tricky. If you encounter it, whatever you do, don't try to face it one-on-one. I know you're strong, but this enemy is different. Without mental resistance, you'd probably be defeated quickly."
Upon seeing Acheron, Elysia rapidly spilled all the intel she had on this Herrscher.
"Mhm, I understand."
Acheron nodded.
"However, it might already be a bit late for that."
Acheron looked at Elysia, a hint of innocence in her eyes.
"Late? What do you mean, late?"
Elysia didn't quite grasp what Acheron was implying.
"I think... I've already encountered the Herrscher..."
Acheron said.
"Encountered it? Where? Of course, it's you, Mei. I knew that Herrscher couldn't hurt you! So where is it now?"
After a brief moment of surprise, Elysia quickly recovered and pressed for information on the Herrscher's whereabouts.
"Here."
Acheron gently pointed to her own head.
"That's not funny, Mei..."
Elysia shook her head lightly. But the next moment, a phantom figure suddenly burst forth from Acheron's head. Then, this figure grew more and more solid, finally taking the shape of a young girl.
At that moment, the Herrscher of Sentience was gasping for air, like a drowning person suddenly able to breathe again, unable to control her frantic, heaving breaths for a moment.
She... she really came out of Mei's head?
Elysia stared at the scene in astonishment, unable to stop herself from speaking.
"Dammit... what the hell was that?"
The Herrscher of Sentience panted, gulping down air. As she spoke, her gaze towards Acheron held a mix of shock and disbelief.
She couldn't understand why Acheron's mind was so terrifying!
It was like an endless deep sea, drowning every challenger.
"?"
Watching the Herrscher suddenly escape, Acheron tilted her head in confusion.
From the Herrscher's perspective, she had endured a horrifying journey. But from Acheron's point of view, it was as if the other had inexplicably entered her body, and then just as inexplicably emerged severely wounded.
It was a lot like the enemy boasting before a big fight... and then suddenly committing suicide!
It was that absurd.
Because the Herrscher of Sentience's method and strength of attack were so... laughable, Acheron hadn't even had time to react.
Pure instinct alone had already crushed the enemy.
The whole situation was just hard to process.
"Whatever! I don't know what's going on with you, but... even in the real world, I'm not afraid of you! Die!"
In the eyes of Acheron and Elysia, the Herrscher of Sentience shook her head violently, as if trying to clear it, and then charged madly at Acheron.
As the Herrscher of Sentience, while she was the master of consciousness, her actual combat power wasn't weak at all—one could even say she was quite strong.
Generally, the later a Herrscher appeared, the stronger they were, because the Cocoon of Finality calibrated their strength based on the civilization's level.
So, purely in terms of raw power, the Herrscher of Sentience was actually comparable to the Herrscher of Flame. It was just that due to the nature of her abilities, she was less effective in direct confrontations.
But that didn't mean the Herrscher of Sentience was weak. In fact, once she got serious, the Honkai energy concentration in the base began to skyrocket. Rapidly, this power surged forth, spreading with an inevitable momentum.
However, to Acheron, this all felt rather baffling.
Appearing out of nowhere, declaring war out of nowhere, invading her consciousness out of nowhere, and then reappearing to pick a fight out of nowhere...
But Acheron didn't need to overthink it. She only needed to know one thing.
"Enemy... slash!"
In an instant, Acheron's speed reached its extreme. By the time she reappeared, her body was already right in front of the Herrscher of Sentience.
"How can this be!?"
She stared at Acheron in shock. She knew Acheron was strong, but she'd never had a clear concept of how strong.
After all, during Acheron's previous two Herrscher battles, there were practically no witnesses.
The memories she'd gleaned only told her that Acheron had defeated the enemies, not the specifics of how it happened.
The attack, now point-blank, made the Herrscher of Sentience's eyes widen. She wanted to dodge, but found her body unresponsive. Acheron was too fast. So fast that in that single moment, she lost any chance to resist...
In the next moment, space-rending attacks materialized in mid-air. Facing this Herrscher of Sentience, and wanting to avoid any complications, Acheron slightly drew her scabbard.
For just an instant, slashes that tore through space came from all directions. In a mere blink, four phantom images in the air intersected upon the Herrscher of Sentience's body.
Finally, blood sprayed everywhere, and a wretched scream echoed through the corridor.
The Herrscher of Sentience was dead. This Herrscher, who should have caused massive casualties, had, within less than ten minutes of invading Fire Moth, accomplished a remarkable feat.
Considering the strategy of 'capture the leader first to capture the gang,' she had directly targeted Acheron and charged right at her. And then...there was no 'and then'!
Acheron effortlessly cut her down.
This resulted in, aside from the initial wave of attacks that killed several ordinary combat personnel, virtually no losses on the human side.
--+--
"So strong! Big Sis Mei!"
After hearing Elysia's account, Dystopia looked at Acheron, her eyes full of worship.
Kosma, standing nearby, also showed a look of admiration.
In the original course of events, Dystopia would have died in this battle. However, with Acheron's intervention, before any of that could happen, the Herrscher had already been suppressed by Acheron.
Logically, the enemy's assaults and the appearance of Herrschers should grow stronger each time, something proven by past events. But because of Acheron's presence, everyone had even started to feel that the Honkai wasn't such a big deal.
For no other reason than that Acheron... was simply too strong, completely an existence outside the established rules.
And it was precisely Acheron's exceptional performance that made the higher-ups of Fire Moth increasingly restless.
Currently, none of the MANTIS warriors in Fire Moth were truly controllable. Their urgent task was to secure a powerful combatant who would fully obey their commands.
Thus, they dispatched a member of the Assassination Squad, Sakura, to undergo the MANTIS surgery.
"Then, I'll leave it to you both."
Sakura gave a slight nod to Mei and Mobius standing before her.
She looked at the two top scientists, then glanced at Acheron nearby, her thoughts unreadable.
Perhaps she had considered making a move, but under Acheron's deterrence, she could only bury the thought deep down.
As time passed, Acheron's prestige within Fire Moth grew higher and higher.
The feat of single-handedly defeating the Herrscher of Sentience made her a topic of conversation during people's leisure time.
For a while, her reputation even surpassed Kevin's.
Not that Kevin had anything to say about it. For him, being able to defeat the enemy early and reduce casualties was more important than anything else.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.