Mushoku Kika found the orc's corpse and casually activated zombie creation magic, sacrificing the orc's mangled body. A blue magic circle spread across the ground and glowed as three Clawed zombies emerged from within.
Their magic was based on tiered magic but fused with Honkai energy, giving birth to a special kind of Honkai magic.
Similar to the dragons' magic, it was magic that belonged solely to the Honkai.
To use Honkai magic, one must naturally possess Honkai energy.
Creating zombies was essentially necromancy.
Since she specialized in ranged combat, Mushoku Kika prioritized learning summoning-type spells.
She summoned defensive and melee-specialized Honkai units to stand in front.
While she kept her distance and attacked from afar.
"Go."
After Mushoku Kika gave the command, the three Clawed zombies rushed toward the only escaping tiger beastman.
"The beastmen have gotten smarter—they're waging guerrilla warfare with us."
Aisha spoke with slight helplessness. Recently, beastmen attacks on human villages had been frequent.
Small squads of beastmen continuously assaulted the villages.
Humans, on average, were far weaker than beastmen. Except for a few advanced adventurers, most of the time, they needed her and Mushoku Kika to intervene.
"They won't last long. Once we deploy zombies and Honkai Beasts properly, these nuisances will stop."
Mushoku Kika's voice was calm. She had intentionally let that beastman escape—to see if she could track down their gathering place.
If not, it didn't matter.
After all, the nations of beastmen, ogres, and minotaurs were already collapsing into ruin.
She opened the system's minimap.
A single red dot was moving rapidly.
Her bullets were made of nanomaterial—once a target was hit, traces remained on their body, serving as a tracking beacon that continuously locked their position.
In the jungle, the tiger beastman captain's primal instincts told him that he was still in danger.
But no matter how he moved or hid, he couldn't shake off that sense of peril.
There's no escaping!
The tiger beastman captain abruptly stopped running. The enemy's goal was clearly to find his companions through him.
Since that was the case, he might as well stop, sit on the grass, and tend to his wounds.
Even now, he was still within the enemy's attack range.
After a while, the tiger beastman captain saw two human girls descending gracefully from the sky. Though they looked human, he couldn't smell any trace of humanity from them.
Why aren't you running?
Mushoku Kika landed on the grass, keeping her guard up.
She wasn't playing mind games.
In a world governed by magic, there were too many things beyond comprehension.
"Do you people enjoy toying with the weak?"
The tiger beastman captain looked at the two girls before him and asked in a deep voice.
"With this world's power levels, I'd say you hardly count as weak."
Aisha didn't rush to attack. If the enemy still had tricks or backup, defeating them would provide valuable new information.
"For humans, we're strong. For you, we're weak."
The tiger beastman captain stood, bent his knees, and suddenly lunged toward Aisha.
His tiger claws, filled with violent force, slashed toward her.
Martial Art—Steel Claw.
Aisha crossed her single swords to block.
Martial Art—Vibrating Blade.
Clang!
The single swords and tiger claws collided, and the shockwave annihilated the surrounding trees, scattering countless shattered leaves.
The tiger beastman captain was sent flying backward and fell to the ground.
Vibrating Blade could disarm opponents holding weapons, but since the tiger beastman fought barehanded, his hands simply went numb from the shock.
"Again!"
He climbed up clumsily and roared, charging Aisha once more.
Moments later, he was blasted away again, his hands completely paralyzed.
Unable to move his arms, he used his head to ram and his teeth to bite.
At that moment, he fought with the resolve to die, throwing everything into the battle.
He knew he couldn't defeat the enemy.
But he wanted them to know that beastmen were not to be underestimated.
"It's over."
Aisha's single sword sliced through the void, piercing straight into the tiger beastman captain's heart in an instant.
The tiger beastman collapsed into a pool of blood.
The sword in Aisha's hand dissolved into particles and vanished.
Seeing the enemy's fearless struggle until death, Mushoku Kika couldn't help but mutter, "Why do I feel like we're the villains here?"
"From their point of view, we probably are," Aisha sighed softly.
If humans were sheep and beastmen were wolves, then they were the ones who slaughtered wolves for the sake of sheep.
"Forget it—whether we're villains or not doesn't matter. I'm logging off now. I need to visit Lady Bronya tomorrow."
"You're not going to see Lady Kiana? Many of them evolved into Pseudo-Herrscher under her guidance."
Kiana was Sirin—Bronya's mom. It wasn't exactly a secret.
At the academy, most students who wanted to become Pseudo-Herrscher sought out Kiana.
Many simply believed that Kiana offered a better chance at becoming one.
"The result's the same either way. Personally, I prefer Lady Bronya."
Mushoku Kika shrugged. She'd heard plenty of strange rumors about Kiana, whereas there were far fewer about Bronya. As for Sirin, rumor had it she wasn't very easy to get along with.
"Alright then. It's your decision," Aisha replied, not wanting to say more.
"I'm logging off first."
Mushoku Kika transferred her nanomaterials to Aisha, then logged off on the spot.
...
Academy City.
The next day.
Honkai Academy.
Mushoku Kika appeared at the school gates.
Today, she came to register for enrollment.
Kuroka Tora Ryo and Shiryo Tora Ryo spotted the new student Mushoku Kika and approached her proactively.
"Hello, I'm Kuroka Tora Ryo. You must be Mushoku Kika, right? Please follow us to Lady Bronya's residence."
After speaking, Kuroka turned and led the way.
"Mm."
Mushoku Kika nodded.
Following behind Kuroka and Shiryo, they passed through several long corridors and arrived before a villa.
Shiryo pushed open the door.
"This way, please."
Mushoku Kika stepped into the house.
The living room was simple yet elegant, with various paintings hanging on the walls.
On the sofa, Bronya held a cup of coffee, leisurely sipping from it.
"Lady Bronya, if there's nothing else, we'll take our leave," Kuroka and Shiryo said respectfully before turning to exit.
"Sit."
Bronya gestured to the seat beside her.
Mushoku Kika nodded and sat down.
Whether or not she could become a Pseudo-Herrscher depended on gaining Bronya's acknowledgment.
That, she still didn't know.