According to the archives reviewed later, the Third Herrscher, born during the Third Great Collapse, did not cause much damage to Fire Moth. Instead, her companion Honkai Beast, Shesa, caused considerable trouble for Fire Moth. It was not until after the Sixth Herrscher incident that she was truly eliminated by Mobius. In hindsight, historians would note this battle as an anomaly—an early victory that felt almost undeserved, masking deeper dangers yet to come.
"Speaking of which, this should be my first meeting with the Third Herrscher… Oh, there she is." Lumine looked up and saw the Third Herrscher standing on the top of the building in the distance, lightning crawling lazily around her body like an unrestrained declaration of power.
He suddenly found himself speechless. Standing so conspicuously—are you afraid people won't notice you? Are you some pufferfish from the next era? Even most Honkai Beasts possessed a basic instinct for survival. Yet here she was, elevated, illuminated, and completely unguarded.
If all the later Herrschers were as arrogant as the Third Herrscher, that would be great. The later Herrschers either lay low and developed first before appearing and causing the Honkai, or they had special powers like the Eleventh Herrscher. After all, all Honkai-powered instruments would malfunction within the Divine Grace Barrier, and ordinary people would die if they entered. Compared to them, this one felt almost… naïve.
And this Third Herrscher, just like her power of lightning, announced her existence to the world the moment she was born—loud, violent, and utterly unconcerned with consequence.
"Fourth Squad, target located, taking position."
"First Squad, target located, taking position."
"Seventh Squad, target located, taking position."
…
Such responses echoed through the communication channel, overlapping with static and distant explosions. Lumine adjusted his breathing and posture, and now roughly understood how the Third Herrscher had failed in his previous life. This wasn't a hunt—it was an execution.
Find a suitable location, set up the gun, load the specially made anti-Herrscher bullets, and aim. Each motion was familiar, mechanical, drilled into muscle memory through countless simulations and real battlefields.
His sniping skills were the best among the three, so he was responsible for sniping the Third Herrscher, while the nominal squad leader, Elysia, was off discussing the Third Herrscher's fashion sense with Sakura…
The conclusion: it didn't suit Elysia's aesthetic at all. Apparently, lightning motifs were "too aggressive" and lacked "grace."
Shouldn't you two be keeping an eye out for Shesa's whereabouts? Or at least watching for nearby Honkai Beasts…?
As if answering the unspoken complaint, Sakura drew her sword, then calmly sheathed it.
Just like that, a Breakthrough-class Honkai Beast was gone, its remains dissolving into Honkai particles before hitting the ground.
Alright then… problem solved.
"Sixteenth Squad reports: a serpentine Honkai Beast discovered. Its Honkai energy level… has exceeded the Emperor class!"
Oh, Shesa has appeared. Lumine's focus sharpened instantly.
"Seventeenth Squad reports, we have also discovered this Honkai Beast and may be unable to rendezvous."
"Twenty-first Squad reporting—"
Lumine centered the Third Herrscher in his scope and opened the channel. "Second Squad, sniper in position."
He waited for the order. In this situation, synchronized firing was optimal—if the first shot missed due to interference, the Herrscher would be alerted. Other squads were already clearing nearby Honkai Beasts to divert attention, creating controlled chaos to mask the true threat.
Through the scope, the Third Herrscher continued unleashing lightning in broad, unfocused arcs. One direct hit would be fatal. But… setting aside your terrible accuracy, are you really just going to stand there like a target? At least try melee combat if you can't aim!
He would later label her the most disgraceful Herrscher of the pre-civilization era. He hadn't seen the First or Second, so they were excluded. Judgment required comparison, after all.
He once thought the Fifth Herrscher being torn apart by Kalpas was the most humiliating fate—but after witnessing Kalpas's strength, that no longer seemed so shameful. At least she fought. At least she resisted. At least she wasn't erased by disciplined gunfire.
Lumine sighed softly and pulled the trigger on command.
"Target hit. Request permission to retrieve the Third Herrscher," he reported, his tone calm, professional, detached.
Elysia stared blankly at the spot where the Third Herrscher had fallen, lightning fading into silence. "Even if her taste was questionable," she said quietly, "this ending is still… a bit much."
Suddenly, urgent voices flooded the channel. "The target Honkai Beast has exceeded estimates—requesting backup, requesting backup!"
"Second Squad acknowledged. Moving to provide support immediately," Elysia replied. Seeing Lumine glance over, she added with a softer voice, "After all, I still don't really want to see a girl fall after being shot more than a dozen times…"
Lumine packed up his sniper rifle and slung it over his shoulder. His gaze shifted toward the direction of the escalating Honkai readings, cold and resolute. "Let's go then," he said calmly. "Time to meet Shesa."
Shesa
The Judgment-class Honkai Beast Shesa is theoretically the first Judgment-class Honkai Beast to appear. Before it, the Honkai Beasts that emerged had at most reached the Emperor-class, such as Indra. As a result, Fire Moth's early threat-assessment models were fundamentally inadequate the moment Shesa entered the battlefield.
Its danger as a Judgment-level threat lies not only in its overwhelming Honkai energy output, but also in its uniquely abnormal abilities—abilities that defied existing combat doctrine and rendered many standard countermeasures meaningless.
Mobius once called it "Shesa of the World-Eating," a name born not of exaggeration, but of frustration. Shesa can blur the very concept of "boundaries," erasing the distinction between inside and outside, terrain and organism. It can transform into a ghostly green shadow, roaming freely through any territory, ignoring walls, fortifications, and even certain energy barriers.
That enormous, liquid-like shadow is also one of Shesa's true forms, capable of engulfing targets, dissolving matter, and devouring anything it requires to sustain itself.
This ability was later demonstrated—at great cost—in experiments personally conducted by Mobius, leaving behind data that would trouble researchers for decades.
Its second ability is true immortality. Shesa cannot be destroyed through conventional means. Physical annihilation, energy saturation, and even partial disintegration proved ineffective. In the end, it was only after Shesa's larvae were recovered by Mobius and forcibly fused together that the remaining fragments were successfully restrained. The other parts of Shesa were sealed within specialized containers by Fire Moth, placed under strict isolation protocols.
No one was permitted to approach them, and they were simply left to wither away once their Honkai energy supply was exhausted.
Even this outcome could not be called a true victory—only containment.
All of this serves to demonstrate just how challenging Shesa truly is, and how far it surpassed the understanding of its era.
And in comparison to such an existence, it also highlights—almost cruelly—just how shameful the Third Herrscher's end truly was.
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