With the man's utterly insane roar, the once-controllable black flames erupted! His mask of hypocrisy shattered, Kane Pepian devolved into a monstrous being. A violent torrent of energy swept through the entire underground space, shaking the bizarre totem poles until they threatened to collapse.
Fuli, however, simply watched him calmly. An invisible tempest of aura, centered on him, formed a barrier dozens of meters wide, completely sealing out the world-consuming black flames and creating a perfectly safe zone.
After a long moment, he sighed. "You vile thing. You've sullied my eyes."
Then, he drew his blade.
The instant the Blade of Destruction and Flames was unsheathed, everything fell silent without warning. A line of light, a pillar of fire, erupted from the frigid steel of the blade. It was a brilliance hotter than a star, the very celestial fire that gave hope to humanity at the dawn of civilization.
The black flames, which sought to destroy everything, were swallowed and incinerated by that ultimate light and heat before they could even mount a decent resistance. The man's roar, filled with endless hatred and unwillingness, was cut short as if his throat had been seized.
But the radiance of Heavenly Abyss of Infinity did not stop there. The aftershock of the flame-blade surged upwards through the tunnel Fuli had carved, shooting from eighteen thousand meters underground all the way to the surface without losing momentum. Like a volcanic eruption symbolizing nature's wrath, it pierced the heavens, striking with pinpoint accuracy the massive typhoon system raging over the South China Sea, a storm summoned by the power of the Fourth Divine Key.
The thick wall of clouds, churning with lightning and rain, was torn asunder. The cyclone's violent structure was completely destroyed and disintegrated. The natural disaster, so imposing just a moment ago, burst apart like a popped balloon. In an instant, the sun's fiery glow replaced the ominous dark clouds, blooming with a boundless radiance.
A single slash stills the storm; no gods remain across the four seas.
"Let's go." Fuli sheathed his blade and was about to turn away.
"Thank you..." Tiny specks of spiritual energy, like fireflies, gathered from all directions. They were the remnant soul fragments of the natives from within Kane's body. Their voices were faint but full of gratitude. After so much suffering, they were finally, truly free.
"Don't mention it." The young man, having vented his anger, waved his hand casually, allowing these fragmented life energies to dissipate into the world. He then noticed the pure consciousness within them flowing towards him, gathering inside the small figurine on his shoulder.
After a moment of careful sensing, the corner of his mouth curved up. "Now, old man, you shouldn't have to worry about your soul dissipating anymore."
"I am...?" Murasame stared blankly at his own hands. The unprecedented feeling of fullness and stability within his being filled his voice with disbelief.
"Deified." Yunli, having also noticed, walked over and examined the small figurine with great interest. "Although it's still incomplete, you should have no problem surviving for a few hundred years in this state."
A godhead is the crystallization of faith. The soul fragments of eighty thousand natives weren't enough to create a complete divine authority, but it was enough to transform a small figurine into a spirit-like existence.
"They probably realized they couldn't help us directly, so they returned their final thanks and blessings to you," Yunli said, crossing her arms and offering some good-natured encouragement. "Keep it up, old man. If you can gather more faith in the future, you might just become a true divine authority—the kind of god you imagine."
"Become a god? Me?" Murasame murmured, his voice trembling uncontrollably. Then, as if remembering something, his tiny brow furrowed. "Wait! Even if that ghoul has been annihilated, isn't there still the Honkai source at the reservoir? With that bastard's personality, he would have definitely left a failsafe to take the whole city down with him!"
"Oh, that. We can leave it to Anna." Fuli, his mood restored, held up the faintly glowing blood-letter diary, a confident smile on his face. She was the Herrscher of Ice from the previous timeline, after all. Her potential might even be higher than his own.
---||---
At the same time, by the Changming Reservoir—
"As expected..." Sensing the tremors in the earth beneath her, far more violent and prolonged than before, and the increasingly dangerous, ominous aura from the pocket dimension above the reservoir, Anna's expression turned grim, a flash of determination in her eyes.
She too held a page from the blood-letter diary. Fuli had given it to her before they parted; when someone wrote in one book, the writing would appear in the other. Currently, the page displayed the words Fuli had just written, briefly explaining the outcome of the battle deep within the headquarters and warning that the dying Kane might make a desperate move to detonate the reservoir's Honkai source.
Anna's reply was, as always, concise and firm.
"A promise made is a promise kept!"
She carefully put the diary away, took a deep breath, and unleashed the full power within her. The Honkai energy permeating the air, as if drawn by an invisible hand, surged madly towards the girl. Like something woven from pure radiance, a magnificent and holy Valkyrie battlesuit, primarily ice-blue and silver, rapidly materialized on her body.
Ice Gauze Battlesuit: Azure, an advanced third-generation Valkyrie battlesuit developed by Schicksal. "Advanced third-generation" meant that some of its core performance metrics were comparable to a true fourth-generation Godsbane battlesuit, though it still had some unavoidable shortcomings overall. It was a limit-breaker among third-generation suits.
The Ice Gauze battlesuit's specialty was to stably boost the wearer's base strength to that of a veteran A-Rank while using its built-in Soulium computer for ultra-fine energy control assistance, allowing the user to erupt with power comparable to a Critical-class for a short period. In all fairness, among the newest advanced third-gen suits, these specs weren't top-tier. Even so, when Otto asked what she wanted as a reward for initially solving the Valkyries' retirement problem, Anna had chosen this suit without hesitation.
Schariac, one of the three great houses of Schicksal. Its members were born with the ability to manipulate Honkai energy, gathering it from their surroundings and converting it into their own power. It sounded impressive, but in truth, the family consisted more of doctors, scholars, and researchers. The number of warriors was not zero, but they couldn't compare to the all-warrior Kaslana clan.
The reason was simple. Compared to the Kaslanas, who were born with absolute Honkai resistance and incredible instincts, the Schariac bloodline's power was extremely difficult to develop and guide. Even someone as brilliant as Cecilia, with the full support of Otto, the top biologist of the Current Era, couldn't fully tap into the Schariac potential. Yet, by developing just a part of it, she became a strong contender for the title of "Strongest S-Rank Valkyrie in History." If not for the appearance of Durandal, the words "strong contender" could have been removed entirely.
After developing the latent power of the Schariacs, Cecilia had also spent great effort to compile her findings into a manual, teaching it to all her clansmen free of charge, hoping that no talent would be wasted. This cultivation method originally had no name. After Cecilia's sacrifice, most of the clan members, grateful for her selfless dedication, took it upon themselves to name it after her widely known title, "Saintess." Thus, the Saintly Power of Schariac was born.
Even so, Cecilia's own starting point was so high that even with her modifications, the minimum requirement to develop the Saintly Power was to have the talent of a warrior. Coincidentally, Anna had become an official Valkyrie at the age of twelve, her bloodline talent and fighting spirit both meeting the strict conditions for developing the Saintly Power.
And so—
"Ideal Form, First Stage—Unfold!" the girl by the reservoir chanted. An incredibly pure radiance burst from within her, and a pair of holy wings made of pure energy unfurled behind her back. A halo of soft light, irregular in shape yet filled with a flawless, sacred charm, quietly materialized above her head.
Anna slowly opened her eyes, her body awash in colors as brilliant as the aurora. The wings beat silently, scattering specks of crystalline dust.
Ideal Form, the name for the deep development stage of the Schariac bloodline. Upon entering this state, the user's level of existence would be greatly elevated, and all abilities would be enhanced across the board. According to Cecilia's own classification, the Ideal Form had three stages.
The mark of the first stage was just as Anna was now: wings of light appearing behind her, a beautiful halo above her head, and the ability to fly. This state put relatively little strain on the body, but the threshold was also extremely high, typically requiring one to reach the regular Critical-class to even have a chance of entering it. Anna clearly did not meet this hard requirement, so she found another way, using the Ice Gauze battlesuit's ultimate energy control to cheat her way to the threshold.
This was already quite remarkable. Since the Second Eruption, the number of Schariacs who had developed their bloodline to the first stage of the Ideal Form could be counted on one hand. The resulting boost was also extremely significant. For example, Cecilia's two cousins, Maria and Angelia Schariac of the God's Authority ( forgot the name) squad.
Angelia's strength was only at the regular Critical-class, yet she could hold her own against Rita without falling behind while in this state. Maria, who was originally at the bottom of the S-Ranks, could dominate her peers, and even her rival Theresa would sometimes have to avoid her edge.
Of course, such a large increase in combat power also meant that the first stage of the Ideal Form didn't have many fancy special effects. It couldn't directly solve the massive energy source about to erupt beneath the reservoir, one capable of triggering a catastrophic Great Eruption. As the saying goes, you can't stop a river by cutting it with a knife. Even if your fist could reverse a waterfall, gravity would still turn the water into rain that falls to the earth.
Fortunately, the first stage of the Ideal Form was merely a prerequisite for the next move.
Anna, with her irregular halo, ascended slowly, borne aloft by her holy wings. She looked down at the increasingly turbulent reservoir below, clasped her hands before her chest, her pink eyes shining with a determined light.
"Saint's Subjugation—Unleashed!"
At that instant, no matter where they were or what they were doing, all the residents of the city looked up as if they had felt something. They saw, in the sky above the city, a beautiful angel wreathed in endless light, her arms spread wide as if to embrace the entire world.
When a person simultaneously meets three conditions—Critical-class, Schariac Stigma, and the first stage of the Ideal Form—they can unlock the supreme ability known as Saint's Subjugation, said to have absolute control over Honkai energy.
Saint's Subjugation not only enhanced the ability to manipulate Honkai energy to its limit, allowing one to directly control the flow of Honkai energy within a certain space and forcibly merge and absorb it, but also, while it was active, a Schariac could use their absolute dominion over Honkai energy to purify the chaotic will and whispers contained within, completely freeing themselves from the fear of Honkai contamination.
Yes, this was the path Anna had chosen. She would forcibly absorb all the terrifying Honkai energy accumulated in the reservoir into her own body, fundamentally eliminating the possibility of a Great Eruption!
Not only that, but the people on the island, whether they were office workers at home or residents taking shelter, were surprised to find specks of pale purple light appearing on the surface of their bodies.
These light particles, as if summoned by the angel in the sky, detached from their bodies and became millions of brilliant shooting stars, streaking across the sky towards Anna!
This was the other great deed the girl was performing. She would use the absolute control of Saint's Subjugation to forcibly strip away all the Honkai energy that had been subtly infused into the citizens' bodies, completely freeing them from the potential threat of zombification! Just like Cecilia, who had once sacrificed herself to purify Siberia!
That being said, before this, Anna actually wasn't 100% sure she would succeed. This was, after all, the first time she had put the Ideal Form and Saint's Subjugation into such a large-scale practical application. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had Yunli continue to search the island for other possible detonation points.
Who would have thought that the moment the girl absorbed the Honkai energy from the reservoir into her body, a wonderful feeling washed over her—her affinity with Honkai energy had inexplicably skyrocketed!
The pressure of maintaining the Ideal Form suddenly eased, and the range of Saint's Subjugation expanded from the anticipated town-sized area to cover the entire island. And she had a faint feeling that, if she wanted to, this range could... continue to expand?
"Anna! Anna!" The girl, lost in thought, suddenly heard a familiar voice calling from below. She looked down and saw Fuli and Yunli, who had arrived at the reservoir's edge at some point, waving vigorously at her.
"Fufu—Mr. Fuli! Miss Yunli!" Anna replied joyfully.
Her mission complete, with a thought, her wings and halo gradually dissipated. Her figure floated down as lightly as a feather, the tips of her white boots touching the ground with an elegance that combined divinity and humanity.
"That was amazing!" Yunli was the first to rush over. She slapped her friend's shoulder hard, then puffed out her cheeks in mock displeasure. "Seriously, why didn't you tell us you had a move like that? You made us worry for nothing!"
"Well, actually, I wasn't too sure myself..." Anna replied, a little embarrassed, her gaze subconsciously searching for Fuli, hoping for a few words of praise from the teacher she so admired.
There were none. Fuli, who usually loved to join in the fun, was uncharacteristically not the first to rush over. Instead, his head was bowed, his gaze fixed on the surface of the Gem of Conquest.
High activity of the Stigma of Ice detected in target. Jizo Mitama replication program initiating—
Yikes! Holy crap! Little Angel Anna became a Herrscher?!
Fuli was shocked. He subconsciously reached out to grab Yunli. Don't be fooled by the fact that he and Yunli, a Critical-class limit-breaker, were present. A quick calculation showed that this lineup was far worse than the one that faced the Herrscher of Thunder in Nagazora! How did they beat her back then?
Theresa Apocalypse with the Key of Binding!
Himeko Murata, who had mastered the Vermilion Knight sword style!
The elite Valkyrie forces of the Far East Branch!
The Knight of Famine, providing remote support!
And on top of all that, an entire carrier battle group that transformed into an Ars Goetia engine!
Even with all that, Fuli, buffed to the gills, had to tank the front line. Bronya's Project Bunny sniper shot baited out her ultimate, Kiana's Gungnir throw locked down her movement, and the original Mei personality constantly held her back from within the Herrscher's consciousness. Only then did the final Blade of the Void finally finish her off.
Yes, even if Anna became a Herrscher now, her initial combat power would surely be no match for the Herrscher of Thunder manifested as Indra. But when they parted, they had given the girl a whole pile of powerful equipment for self-defense!
Fuli's heart pounded wildly. He could even hear Prometheus and Dr. MEI shouting in his ear, [Host, run!]
However, as he nervously looked up and met Anna's beautiful, rose-pink eyes, his hand, ready to draw his blade, hesitated. In those eyes, there was the joy of fulfilling a promise, the warmth of seeing her companions, an unconcealed admiration, and a slight confusion about her own changes... But there was none of the cold indifference that looked down on all creation, none of the hostility that sought to destroy everything, that came with becoming a Herrscher.
This isn't right. What happened to Herrschers disowning their kin?
The boy did a tactical lean-back. After making full preparations, he cautiously walked over and tentatively extended a finger.
Poke!
He lightly poked Anna's delicate cheek. Hmm, the texture was fine, temperature was normal, no out-of-control Honkai energy overflow. It probably tasted pretty good.
"What are you doing!" Yunli immediately shouted in displeasure, raising her greatsword as if to strike.
"Nothing." Fuli, as practiced as when they traveled together in the last timeline, easily drew his blade to parry the symbolic blow. His gaze remained locked on Anna. He became incredibly serious. "Young lady!"
The girl's face turned beet red. "M-Mr. Fuli? Mmph!" She bit her tongue. Cute.
Fuli was dead serious. "Can I check your body?"
"Check your sister!!!" Yunli held nothing back this time. This was blatant harassment!
"You can!" Despite not knowing what her teacher was planning, out of her trust in him, the blushing little angel Anna still stepped forward and closed her eyes, offering herself up like a sacrifice.
This, in turn, filled Fuli with guilt. He had, after all, tried to peek at the girl in the hot spring before, hoping to see if she had a Stigma of Ice on her body that he could imprint... But right now, confirming the Herrscher crisis took precedence over everything!
He tightly held Anna's slightly cool but soft and delicate hand. Under the influence of multiple Stigmata, Cold River Reflecting the Moon compressed and transformed into the Ancient Mirror Reflecting the Gods, allowing him to carefully sense the energy flow and core state within her body.
A moment later, he let go, his expression a mixture of relief and utter amazement.
"Anna."
"Yes?"
"This time, you were really lucky."
Did Anna become a Herrscher? Yes. By assimilating and absorbing the terrifying pool of energy from the reservoir, enough to trigger a Great Eruption, she had, at this moment, truly become the Herrscher of Ice of the Current Era.
So why hadn't she lost her self-awareness and become an apostle of the Honkai, like in the previous timeline? The root of it all came down to the miraculous Saintly Power.
Aside from the title of Schicksal's Saintess, Cecilia's other most widely known moniker was "Herrscher-killer." During the Second Eruption, she had personally gone to Kiel, Germany, flown above the tornado created by the Pseudo-Herrscher of Wind, and killed it in one shot from above.
The attack she unleashed at the moment of her death was even able to instantly purify the continental-level Honkai energy sweeping across Siberia.
How? The Schariac Sacred Blood, also known as the Saintly Power. This power could not only control and suppress Honkai energy and immobilize Honkai Beasts, but when pushed to its limit, it could even suppress a Herrscher Core and strip it from the Herrscher's body.
Fuli didn't know what state Anna was in when she became a Herrscher in the previous timeline, but this time, by pure coincidence, at the critical moment of absorbing a large amount of Honkai energy, she was in the first stage of the Ideal Form. Even though the girl was far from the peak Cecilia who could instantly kill a Pseudo-Herrscher, the Herrscher of Ice core within her had only just begun to form at that time.
Whether matter or life, when is something at its most vulnerable? Naturally, it's most fragile right after it's born. The result was that the nascent consciousness within the Herrscher of Ice core was completely purified by the fully operational Saintly Power in the Ideal Form the moment it was born. This allowed Anna to become the Herrscher of Ice, with perfect control over her Herrscher authority and a complete, unfettered self-awareness!
Of course, this came at a price.
Because the Herrscher core was interrupted and purified right at its birth, the current Anna couldn't possess the terrifying S-rank strength of other Herrschers right from the "start." She was currently stable at the regular Critical-class level. However, the authority derived from the Herrscher core was real, and her potential was likewise nearly infinite. That's why Fuli had remarked that she was truly lucky in this timeline.
"Lady Angel!"
"Thank you for saving us!"
Or perhaps, good people finally get a good reward? Looking at the innocent girl before him, who possessed both sanctity and power, and listening to the cheers and cries of gratitude that were beginning to rise from the city, the boy's eyes curved into crescents.
And on the far side of the moon, Prometheus and Dr. MEI, who had observed this scene, also let out a collective sigh of relief. The Previous Era's Elysia had indeed given the Herrschers of the Current Era a choice, but they weren't sure if this gift would be effective for every Herrscher. At least in the previous timeline experienced by the Regressor Fuli, the Herrschers of Void, Wind, Ice, and Rock had all been marked for defeat.
But compared to Anna's success, another question quietly surfaced in their minds: "The order of the Herrschers' birth seems to be wrong?"
At the end of the Previous Era, through Pardo's sacrifice, Prometheus #17 had successfully hacked into the Cocoon of Finality and fixed the birth order of the sequence Herrschers.
The First Herrscher of Reason, the Second Herrscher of the Void, the Third Herrscher of Thunder... So far, there had been no difference from the Previous Era they had experienced.
According to the preset order, the fourth Herrscher to be born should have been the Herrscher of Wind, who controlled ideal fluid. Or perhaps this Herrscher had already been born and was just lying low in some corner of the world?
Well, in any case, they could probably rule out the one in Schicksal's special ward, who was too busy furiously shipping Fuli with Mei to bother awakening. (lol)