"I will handle everything."
As Selene connected with the Will of the Honkai, she bypassed the sequential birth pattern of the Eleventh Herrscher · Herrscher of Binding, the Twelfth Herrscher · Herrscher of Corruption, and the Thirteenth Herrscher, and prematurely assumed the authority of the Fourteenth Herrscher of the current civilization—the authority that symbolized Finality.
Boom—!
Like the war drum of a colossal god resounding, a deafening, thunderous roar erupted across the boundless void, stirring up countless surging waves.
Ordinarily, the birth of each Herrscher within a civilization followed a strict chronological order, advancing step by step.
From the First Herrscher · Herrscher of Reason to the Fourteenth Herrscher · Herrscher of Finality, it was akin to clearing stages in a game. Only by enduring one level of trial could civilization unlock the next Herrscher.
Coupled with the large-scale Honkai disaster that inevitably accompanied each Herrscher's birth, only when both prerequisites were fulfilled could a true Herrscher emerge. Possessing a Herrscher Gem alone did not guarantee becoming a Herrscher.
But Selene was different.
Strictly speaking, she was not the Herrscher of Finality of the current civilization. She was the Herrscher of Finality belonging to the Holy Selene Empire. This was her own "self-made venture."
Although the undeniable rank of Finality upon Selene caused the Will of the Honkai's program to momentarily stall, it posed no real issue. The residual authority of the Second Herrscher · Herrscher of the Void—from Sirin—that lingered within her allowed it to recognize her as its own.
It was just that this "child" had developed a little too fiercely—leaping from a disposable tool like the previous thirteen Herrschers directly into a near-equal status as a true daughter.
Was skipping the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Herrscher's three stages of civilizational trial and jumping straight to Finality too excessive? Would it not leave civilization far too little time to prepare?
That did not fall within the Will of the Honkai's considerations.
Right now, it had only one intention—raise the difficulty. Directly elevate civilization to the level of Finality.
Because the current civilization was far too abnormal.
The legacies of the Previous Era—the ancient monsters of the "Thirteen Flame-Chasers," Dr. MEI's research—along with one Herrscher after another defecting in the Current Era... The way this civilization had passed its trials had partially deviated from the orthodox screening mechanism.
It was exploiting loopholes. Abusing bugs.
The matter could be trivial or grave. The Will of the Honkai had not ignored it out of ignorance. Rather, civilization had only partially deviated. In the grand scheme, it still remained within acceptable parameters—merely taking shortcuts.
More importantly, when the apostles it personally selected betrayed it, it had little room to complain. It was merely a program with basic cognition. It could not violate its operational laws. It was permitted only minor adjustments within its predefined boundaries.
Until it encountered the trans-spatial webway that had expanded alongside Selene's Great Crusade.
Selene's return offered it another option.
So you want to exploit shortcuts? Then do not blame me for increasing the difficulty.
Especially that group of remnants from the Previous Era led by Kevin Kaslana—they severely distorted the strength assessment of the Current Era civilization.
In effect, it was like this: during an academic year, facing the Will of the Honkai as the examiner, the Current Era—this year's examinee—had relied on guidance from previous graduates and even defecting proctors to achieve outstanding results in prior assessments.
Thus, with Selene—a ready-made vessel of Finality—already present, bypassing the Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth trials to directly initiate the Fourteenth Trial, the Judgment of Finality, was entirely reasonable.
Come then. You want shortcuts? I will lay my cards on the table. If you can pass my true daughter's test, then I will acknowledge your civilization as having passed.
Perhaps not precisely accurate, but after establishing a connection with Selene, if translated into human cognition, that was roughly the Will of the Honkai's intent.
As for that pitiful and foolish individual who once again attempted dialogue through the Herrscher of Dominance's core, seeking cooperation—
Heh. It had never cared.
Merely a backup patch plan. Disposable at any time.
Hummm—!
Although Selene's true body had yet to descend, the restoration of the Herrscher of Finality sent Honkai tides surging across the entire world almost simultaneously.
Yes.
For ordinary Herrschers, the Honkai Eruption was the prerequisite for their birth. It was not the Herrscher who caused the eruption.
But Selene was a fully matured, ready-made Herrscher of Finality.
She did not require the energy nourishment of the Honkai Eruption. She did not belong to the chronological order of Herrscher births.
On the contrary, the overwhelming Honkai energy she radiated began to feed back into the world.
The Honkai Eruption—a natural phenomenon beyond human manipulation—was triggered by Selene.
Terrifying Honkai radiation rapidly leaked outward from every Honkai-infested zone and Honkai Beast gathering site across the globe.
The site of the First Honkai Eruption—Berlin (Welt Joyce).
The site of the Third Honkai Eruption—Nagazora City (Raiden Mei).
The site of the Fourth Honkai Eruption—New Zealand (Wendy).
The site of the Fifth Honkai Eruption—Coral Island (Ana Schariac).
The judgment and annihilating will represented by the Herrscher of Finality began to awaken.
Under its influence, the Honkai Beast hordes slumbering within ruined cities began to stir—and grow increasingly violent.
Especially in Siberia, the main battlefield of the Second Honkai Eruption. The roars of Honkai Beasts nearly shook heaven and earth.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The raging Honkai energy surged from its baseline 100 HW to over 500 HW in an instant—and it continued to escalate.
This was no small number.
When the instantaneous output of a Honkai outbreak exceeded 1000 HW, there was a chance for a being known as a "Herrscher" to be born within the disaster zone.
Beneath thick permafrost illuminated by violet-red auroras, pairs of alien beast eyes slowly opened.
Sensing the surrounding air, they raised their bodies. Scarlet pupils turned toward the sky as they howled in unison—seemingly celebrating the return of their monarch.
Boom!
Through heavy snowfall, hazy sunlight reflected off their pale, gleaming carapaces.
Then, the largest Honkai Beast moved.
And as it moved, within the dense blizzard, more violet-glowing silhouettes stirred as well, rapidly gathering into a vast mass that produced a horrifying, rustling cacophony.
"ROOOAR—!!"
From the heart of the Honkai-infested disaster zones, new Honkai Beasts formed and were born at every moment, gradually assembling into full-scale Honkai Beast tides.
Wail—! Wail—! Wail—!
At this moment, whether Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, the precursors of a Honkai Eruption were detected.
Shrill alarms began to echo across the defensive outer walls of monitoring stations in every Honkai disaster region.
Soon after, dense gunfire erupted across Schicksal's Siberian Disaster Defense Zone.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rat-tat-tat!
Countless mechs deployed along the defensive outer walls of the monitoring stations to prevent the spread of Honkai Beasts roared to life. Amid the thunder of Vulcan cannons and rocket barrages, the stationed troops fired their automatic rifles while retreating behind the inner walls.
But for every Honkai Beast they killed, two more burst forth from the blizzard.
The swarms poured in from every direction, throwing themselves ceaselessly into battle.
Across the frozen tundra lay the wreckage of mechs and the shredded remains of human bodies. The crisscrossing pale wire entanglement zones had been completely crushed.
What were entanglement zones?
They were Honkai-corrupted regions that gradually receded over time.
As the corrupted areas shrank, the garrisons stationed in each disaster zone would push outward, laying minefields and barbed wire to increase defensive depth as much as possible, minimizing the impact of the next Honkai disaster on the outside world.
The soldiers rotating through guard duty in this disaster zone responded with grim composure. Their rifles roared again and again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
From the gaps torn through the tangled wire barriers, Honkai Beasts were focused down one after another. They staggered and fell, their bodies shredded by the dense metal storm, purple blood flowing hot across the snow.
"Energy output has exceeded 500 HW!"
"The entanglement zone can't hold! The minefields are nearly flattened! Alternate cover and retreat steadily!"
As he spoke, sensing the air splitting behind him, a veteran soldier twisted his body and rolled desperately across the snow, barely avoiding a sweeping claw strike.
Honkai Beast claws could tear through metal with ease. These troops were not Valkyries. Their light armor was as fragile as silk before such monsters.
"Open fire!"
They concentrated their fire and riddled the intruding lower-class Honkai Beast into a sieve. Before they could even swap their emptied magazines, a Seraph-class Honkai Beast charged toward them, leaping high—impact!
Slash!
A sharp energy particle blade burst from the side, cleaving upward through the Seraph-class Honkai Beast's skull. The white-violet carcass split in two and crashed heavily to the ground.
Having narrowly escaped death, the garrison troops looked toward the arriving mecha units with relief, shouting for their subordinates to retreat beyond the wall and regroup behind fortified positions.
Yet even the Schicksal mecha units were little more than a drop in the ocean. Under the assault of tens of thousands of Honkai Beasts, the temporary defensive line formed by the machines was swiftly swallowed by the surging pale tide. The roaring of human machinery gradually fell silent.
Still, they were not without purpose.
At the very least, they bought precious preparation time for the garrison.
Slumping inside defensive bunkers, the soldiers who had survived by a hair's breadth gasped for breath. Some new recruits, unable to bear the suffocating pressure of impending death, sobbed uncontrollably while maintaining their weapons...
Humans had limits.
Not everyone was a hero capable of facing death with calm indifference.
The last Honkai outbreak had only just ended. Repelling the riots within the disaster zone had already cost this unit dearly. They had not even rotated out yet—why had it come again so soon?
In recent years, the intervals between Honkai Eruptions had grown shorter and shorter, each one more violent than the last. Despair deepened with every recurrence.
Major upheavals at the top. Increasingly frequent catastrophes. All of it kept people on edge, leaving a haze of uncertainty about the future.
Cities were destroyed one after another.
Which city would be next?
Could humanity truly defeat the monsters of Honkai?
Could he survive this swarm?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Along the defensive wall, amid the grinding of mechanical gears, rows of flat trapezoidal turrets rotated and rolled, unleashing automatic cannon fire and energy beams into the churning Honkai tide.
Flashing artillery illuminated the pale earth. The seemingly endless swarm of beasts was dizzying to behold.
Boom!
Then came the officer's hoarse shout from the front line.
"Prepare to engage! Fire!"
...
Schicksal Headquarters—an enormous cluster of floating islands suspended above the Mediterranean Sea.
It served as Schicksal's administrative core and its most advanced research facility.
Publicly, it operated under the banner of combating Honkai day after day. What its leader had truly done behind the scenes—only he knew.
It possessed nine primary islands, named after the Nine Realms of the World Tree in Norse mythology: Midgard, Asgard, Helheim, Niflheim, Muspelheim, Jotunheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, and Vanaheim.
Helheim housed the Honkai Energy Systems Laboratory. Jotunheim served as the industrial research and development center.
Now, however, as observational reports flooded in from Schicksal branches across the globe, the headquarters of the world's largest organization descended into chaos.
Not long ago, the Archbishop who had ruled Schicksal for five hundred years—Otto Apocalypse—had abruptly initiated a global broadcast, revealing the truth of Honkai to the world. He then announced his resignation and designated Theresa Apocalypse as his successor.
Even days later, the shock of that announcement had yet to fade within Schicksal's ranks.
It had come without warning.
And Theresa...
Was she truly qualified to lead Schicksal?
One could not say she lacked ability. But comparison was inevitable. With Otto as her predecessor, it was difficult for many within Schicksal not to feel uncertain about the future.
And precisely at such a critical moment—when Schicksal stood in a power vacuum—
Wail—!
The piercing alarm of a Honkai Eruption resounded throughout headquarters.
Under the horrified gazes of all personnel, the central system received report after report—each worse than the last.
"Alert! Honkai concentration in the Nagazora disaster zone is rising rapidly!"
"Alert! Honkai concentration in the New Zealand disaster zone is rising rapidly!"
"Alert! Honkai concentration in the Siberian disaster zone is rising rapidly! It has reached 700 HW and is approaching the critical threshold!"
"Siberian garrison requesting reinforcements!"
...
Staring at the cascading disaster reports across the screen, the observation personnel erupted in panic.
"All disaster zones worldwide are experiencing unrest?!"
"Why is the affected range so vast?!"
Historically recorded Honkai Honkai disasters had been confined to single cities. Even when a Herrscher was born, it merely triggered unrest in prior disaster regions.
Never before had something impacted the entire globe nearly simultaneously.
Though no single disaster zone had yet exceeded 1000 HW instantaneously, the global rise in Honkai concentration was far more terrifying than a localized surge.
The officer on duty felt his heart lodge in his throat. His mind went blank.
A Honkai surge of this magnitude...
Was a new Honkai Eruption about to begin?
And this was only the precursor.
Damn it—how long had it been since the last one?
The scope alone called to mind the global catastrophe triggered by the Herrscher of the Void more than a decade ago.
"Notify the Archbishop immediately!" a middle-aged man wearing a monocle shouted, hands trembling as he rushed from the communications chamber.
"Honkai Beast swarms are rioting across disaster zones worldwide! Siberian garrison requesting reinforcements!"
"High probability of a new Herrscher's birth! Estimated threat level—world-ending!"
"I'll go at once..."
A Valkyrie moved to depart, but in the next instant she froze.
It was not that she refused.
Schicksal currently had no Supreme Archbishop.
She turned back, panic evident in her eyes.
"The Archbishop... is missing. Unable to establish contact!"
Former Archbishop Otto had stepped down and cut off all ties unilaterally. Theresa had not yet formally assumed office.
The strongest S-rank Valkyrie, Durandal, was absent. Even Rita Rossweisse, vice-captain of the Immortal Blades, was not at headquarters.
There was no one to make decisions.
Centralized rule—Schicksal's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness.
Unlike Anti-Entropy's alliance-style governance, Schicksal's centralized structure left it with little margin for error in the absence of its supreme decision-maker.
"Then... contact Lady Theresa immediately!"