Destiny Headquarters — Floating Island
Boom—!
"An insect is an insect. All you do is hop around wasting my time. And here I thought you might actually entertain me~"
Sirin folded her arms, irritation twisting across her face as Durandal dodged another rain of subspace spears.
Enemies like this annoyed her the most—darting around instead of facing her head-on. Cowards, a lot of them.
Then again… wasn't that how humans had always survived?
Scurrying. Avoiding. Clinging to life.
Yes. Exactly like that.
The thought amused her just enough to soften her frown.
Durandal
Subspace conversion… the Void Herrscher's ability?
Durandal had initially planned to intercept the spears with a swing of Eternal Helical Herder, but then recalled the data on the Second Herrscher's powers:
subspace manipulation
spatial piercing
multi-dimensional shift
One wrong counterattack could cost her dearly.
Coupled with Otto's order to test Sirin rather than escalate, she shifted entirely to evasion.
The battlefield was open and clear—no allies, no structures to endanger—so she could maneuver freely.
Sirin
"Well then—
this boring little game ends now~"
The moment the words fell, Durandal's instincts screamed.
Danger—behind her.
Sirin had brought her hands together, fingers forming a strange gesture.
Durandal didn't know what the attack was—but she knew she didn't have time to think.
"Queen!"
A massive autonomous weapon phased into existence behind her—a towering shield unit enveloped in a translucent honeycomb barrier.
CRASH—!
Through a spatial rift, a pair of enormous white claws tore into the shield instead of Durandal's body.
Without the Queen's sudden appearance, the claws would have crushed her outright.
But it didn't end there.
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
The claws balled into fists and began pummeling the barrier relentlessly, the shield buckling under the assault.
Durandal gritted her teeth—
Only to feel another presence in front of her.
Sirin.
Somehow already there.
Her pupils shrank.
"King!"
From above, the second autonomous weapon descended—a massive sword-bearing unit whose greatblade swung down toward Sirin.
Clash
"Hmph—petty tricks."
Sirin didn't even glance up at the falling sword.
Electricity coiled around her fist as she lunged straight for Durandal.
Durandal met her head-on.
Ryan knew the Void Herrscher's abilities well. If Sirin was choosing to strike with her fists, it meant there was no subspace barrier between them.
Which meant—
A direct exchange favored neither side.
BOOM—!
Fist met fist—
lightning surging on one side, raw physical might on the other.
The impact blasted a shockwave across the floating island.
A heartbeat later, King's giant sword crashed onto Sirin's subspace barrier above—
and failed to break through.
Sirin frowned.
"Tch… brute."
Her arm tingled from the collision.
That hadn't been pleasant.
I will not lose. I am the apostle of "God."
Humans—vanish.
Determined to reclaim dominance, she swung again.
BOOM—!
Another shockwave blasted outward.
And then—
Her eyes widened slightly.
Wait. Why am I trading punches with a musclebound human? I have more than one core, don't I? Why am I letting her force me into a fistfight…?
Realization dawned.
Sirin exhaled sharply.
Calm down. Don't get cocky. Don't forget who you are.
In the blink of an eye, she distorted the air and warped away, reappearing high in the sky.
Distance favored Herrschers.
Here, she had options.
Sirin — Activating the Cores
Wind—
Thunder—
Sirin's eyes glowed as power surged through her.
KRRAAA—!
A raging cyclone erupted around the floating island, while a dense canopy of black clouds smothered the sky.
Thunder roared like the world was fracturing.
Then—
Snap.
"Let the insects die beneath their own weapons~ ☆"
Behind her, Honkai energy condensed into colossal constructs:
aircraft
cannons
orbital guns
battleships
An entire mechanical armory materialized like an apocalyptic storm.
Otto
Watching from his control room, Otto shot to his feet.
"What—what is this…?!"
His face twisted with disbelief.
The Desire Gem—
The Conquest Gem—
And now… the Constructor's ability?
Sirin shouldn't have those powers.
There was only one way she could have:
Either she had attacked both Anti-Entropy and the Far East branch—
Or—
Or—
"Did she kill the Fourth Herrscher…?"
No. Impossible.
The Fourth Herrscher was far too strong.
But then—
Fire.
Death.
He saw traces of their authorities in her attack.
If Sirin carried the Void core, the Flame core, the Death core…
And now powers mimicking Wind, Lightning, and Reason—
That meant—
She might have six cores.
The same six the original Second Herrscher once possessed.
Otto's heart pounded wildly.
"The Second Herrscher of the past… truly returned?"
But how?
Why?
His pupils trembled as the reality sank in:
"What in the world… is going on?"
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