A few meters from the ship, a gray figure flew: Fu Hua. Monitoring, collecting data, and reporting everything to Otto.
"I detect a huge amount of unknown energy coming from the Helios. It seems the subject has evolved abruptly; he is now at the level of an S-rank Valkyrie. If he hasn't reached his power limit yet, he could reach Herrscher level."
The silence that followed Benares' defeat was unnatural. The remnants of purple energy still sparked on the Helios deck, but the dragon no longer existed; now it was a latent mark on my soul, a weight of 400 template points vibrating with terrifying power.
Himeko lowered her sword, steam rising from her battlesuit's coolers. She looked at me not as an ally, but as a being that had just devoured a demigod.
"That thing... was a Judgment-class," she whispered, voice broken by fatigue. "And you absorbed it like it was a common beast. Mikael, what are you turning into?"
There was no time to respond. Mechs from Anti-Entropy descended from the sky, and with them, two figures: Tesla and Einstein.
Einstein: "Thanks for giving us the coordinates, Theresa. We've arrived in time."
Theresa: "Finally! It took you long enough, Einstein."
Einstein: "My apologies. Schicksal's defenses are solid, but we've found a weak point."
"Then let's start the cleanup," I said, summoning a few residual Honkai beasts to cover the advance.
Einstein: "It won't be necessary. We've prepared new weapons for this occasion."
From the sky fell guided missiles that finished exterminating the few beasts still remaining after my battle with Benares. Controlled explosions swept the deck, leaving only smoke and molten metal.
Einstein: "We can begin the landing."
"I suppose so."
Though the alliance with Anti-Entropy might seem contradictory, reality was more complicated. They weren't a "bad" faction; their atrocities came mainly from the old witch Cocolia. Just like in Schicksal, where Otto was the cancer. Two organizations fighting the Honkai, corrupted by ambitious leaders. Theresa knew it, and that's why she had made this alliance.
The Helios advanced toward the breach opened in the Headquarters' defenses. Anti-Entropy mechs descended in formation, covering our flank while Valkyries loyal to Otto tried to counterattack. Himeko led the ground vanguard, Schiffschneider slicing enemy mechs like butter.
I decided to wait for the Hyperion. So I only took care of guarding the Helios with my spirits. While watching the battle from the edge of the Helios deck, I couldn't help feeling anxious. I had managed to absorb Benares and obtained Mahoraga. But Benares wasn't supposed to be defeated, not now. Maybe Sirin would come for me upon awakening? Could I defeat her?
The anxiety felt stronger than normal; perhaps because of my now enormous cursed energy reserves, my negative emotions were starting to dominate me. In recent days I had begun to notice it: though I was someone very calm with high emotional control, it was becoming harder to stay serene and impassive.
I breathed deeply, as the breeze waved my hair and caressed my face. It doesn't matter. I can win... I have Mahoraga with me.
Moments later, a sudden wind hit my back and a huge shadow covered me. The Hyperion was back.
Himeko spoke over comms: "Report from the ground team: We've entered the control tower! We'll disable the security systems."
It seems the main act is about to begin. Maybe it's time to unlock that new template.
[System:]
[Do you wish to unlock a new random template?]
—Yes—
The slot in my vision suddenly lit up and a purple light flashed for an instant before dimming.
[You have unlocked the Hakari template (Private Pure Love Train)]
[The 300 excess template points have been applied. Template Progress: 300/1000]
Ha —I laughed dryly while containing my euphoria—. This time I've really hit the jackpot. When I complete Hakari's template, I'll be literally immortal in almost every sense.
[New main mission: Defeat the Herrscher of the Void. Reward: +2 tickets]
[New additional mission: Defeat the Herrscher of the Void without killing Kiana. Reward: +100 points]
While I was absorbed in my system window, Himeko spoke over comms: "We'll go shut down the Helheim Labs core. When we shut it down, pilot the Hyperion over there."
Well, it's time to start moving. I stood from my spot, summoned a flying Honkai beast, and jumped onto it. "To the Hyperion," I ordered in a calm voice but with slight excitement.
The creature emitted a faint distorted sound before starting to fly toward the Hyperion at a few dozen meters above the Helios. In less than a minute I had reached it, descended slowly, and dissipated my summon. I landed softly on the ship in search of Theresa and Mei; if I wanted to find Kiana, I had to be with them.
With the help of my Six Eyes, I began scanning the entire ship for Theresa and found her on the deck near some cannons. She was dealing with a few Schicksal mechs. I walked at a slow pace toward her location.
Just then, Einstein reported over comms: "The barrier has a breach, but we've lost contact with Tesla's team."
She's about to awaken...
"Do you need help, Principal?" I asked while sending a few spirits to deal with the surrounding mechs and beginning to absorb nearby Honkai beasts. The flow of cursed energy was a cold and familiar torrent, but it no longer expanded my reserves with each dark sphere that integrated into my palm.
Theresa, panting slightly after a precise strike with her huge cross; Judas' Oath, looked at me with a mix of relief and suspicion. "Mikael, you need to prepare. We'll soon begin the assault on Schicksal's laboratories. By the way, you owe us quite a few explanations about your abilities... and your recent actions."
I suppose I haven't behaved very well lately, I thought, but aloud I replied calmly: "Believe me, Principal, I'm not planning anything bad. I just want to avoid unnecessary deaths." As we talked, we destroyed mechs together —my spirits flanking, her Judas chains crushing armors—. "Regarding my powers, I promise to share the details with you after the mission."
After finishing the wave, we headed to the Hyperion's control room, where we waited for Mei. A few minutes later, the moment Mei entered the control room —her serene expression contrasting with the palpable tension in the air—, the hologram in front of us, showing an image of the Floating Headquarters, emitted a clear and cold announcement:
—Defensive barrier deactivated.
I narrowed my eyes at the message, thinking: She's awakened. I wonder if she knows it was me who defeated Benares...
Theresa, beside me, spoke with evident doubt in her voice: "The Hyperion is almost over the laboratory." She paused, frowning. "Something's not right. Why have the defenses suddenly become so weak? It's as if they did it on purpose..."
A spatial distortion shook the room suddenly, accompanied by Theresa's shout: "Strong spatial fluctuations detected around us!"
Then a dark vortex appeared behind Mei and she was dragged out of the room in an instant, her silhouette disappearing into the black portal before I could react.
Theresa wasted no time: she immediately notified Einstein over comms and ordered me in a firm voice: "Mikael, go with her! Find her now!"
Without further ado, I exited the Hyperion while summoning Nue's wings on my body —ethereal appendages charged with electricity that sprouted from my back with a low hum—. I slightly lifted my eye blindfold to partially release the Six Eyes and quickly locate Mei. Once I spotted her —a familiar Honkai energy flow trapped in the vortex—, I flew at maximum speed toward Schicksal's laboratories, cutting the air like a dark lightning bolt.
Einstein, urgent voice over comms: "I've found her. Head to her position. Quick!"
"I know, I'm already on my way," I replied, accelerating the flight. The ethereal wings vibrated with electricity, slicing through the Honkai-charged air as I dove toward Schicksal's laboratories.
I descended toward Helheim laboratories, where the air prickled every hair on my body with an oppressive sensation, as if reality were about to collapse. Upon landing, the metal floor crunched under my feet with a hollow echo that reverberated in the tense silence. My Six Eyes immediately detected two figures.
Before me unfolded a scene I knew by heart, but witnessing it in person hit with intensity.
Above all, the figure I had been waiting for. Kiana... or what was left of her. Through my infinite perception, I saw how her human soul was buried by a tide of ancestral resentment. A heartbreaking scream —a note of divine agony— escaped her lips before her voice changed completely. Gravity no longer had jurisdiction over her. Her feet barely touched the ground as she ascended with sovereign and terrifying elegance. Her Valkyrie uniform dissolved, replaced by a pure white dress with black details that seemed to absorb light itself. Her white hair grew and waved as if submerged in an invisible fluid. Behind her back, space tore violently: fallen angel wings made of energy and spatial lances materialized with a sonic hum that vibrated my bones. She didn't even look at me at first; her attention was fixed on Mei.
So this is what Gojo must have seen when he met Itadori. The difference is that this case was the opposite: a human container being devoured by a resentful god.
Mei was there, on her knees, eyes wide in absolute shock. Before her, rising from a crack in reality, a Honkai Emperor-class beast emerged violently, roaring with primal fury.
When the newly summoned Honkai beast attacked Mei —its massive lance descending like a meteor—, I moved in a flash of speed, reinforcing every part of my body with massive amounts of cursed energy. I appeared in front of the beast just as its lance was about to impact. I stopped the blow with my bare hands, the clash sending shockwaves that cracked the ground around me. Then I turned to the girl kneeling on the ground while beginning to absorb the beast in front of me.
"Hello, Mei. How have you been?"
Mei looked at me with astonishment and disbelief, but her eyes reflected a mix of relief and concern.
At the same time, Anti-Entropy appeared. Dozens of mechs began arriving and surrounding us.
When Kiana looked into my eyes, I felt a chill: they were two golden suns with vertical pupils and marks like a weapon sight, stripped of any trace of humanity.
I watched impassively as her dress changed and lengthened, divided into 4 parts ending in eye-like shapes. Kiana, now Sirin the Herrscher of the Void, walked through the air while with simple hand gestures, dozens of portals appeared behind her. Summoning Honkai Beasts that emerged like bees from a hive.
To counter her attack, I summoned my own Honkai beasts emerging from spatial tears around me and shadow pools. Both armies clashed and began eliminating each other. However, with the support of the mechs, my army began to gain the advantage.
That caused her normally indifferent gaze to change slightly to one of anger. And for a second, she seemed to understand something.
"Humans, your existence is a mistake. Especially yours," she said, pointing at me with a serious face. "It was you, the repulsive human who ended my dear Benares; you emit that immense repulsive energy."
Then, the Titan and Wotan mech army opened fire, launching a rain of missiles that would have vaporized any mountain. She didn't flinch; a cold and contemptuous smile curved her lips. With a simple and graceful finger movement, she opened subspace portals in front of her. I saw, with the absolute clarity of my Six Eyes, the missile vectors enter the void and exit instantly behind the mechs themselves. The sky filled with explosions and molten metal, a symphony of destruction directed by her mere will —orchestrated with divine and cruel precision.
By the time the smoke cleared, all that remained of the mechs were molten metal remnants and charred fragments floating in the contaminated air.
She looked at me again, serious face and golden eyes shining with absolute contempt. "You're next, filthy abomination."
[System:]
[Critical Event: Confrontation with the Herrscher of the Void]
Let's see if you can kill me —I said, while forming a complex seal, interlacing my fingers in an ancient ritual formation.
—Rhythmic Confinement.
A dome of absolute darkness expanded from the sky over my position, covering the entire battlefield in an isolated veil that muffled the chaos and created a closed stage for our duel.
Mei and Theresa were already by my side —they had arrived running since the mech army was reduced to rubble, drawn by the Herrscher energy explosion. Mei, katana in hand and eyes full of broken determination: "Kiana! Fight her!" Theresa, Judas ready: "We won't leave you alone!"
Bronya appeared seconds later, floating with Project Bunny holding the Star of Eden —a black and red cannon with what looked like a black hole at the tip—, impassive expression but tense voice: "Bronya has arrived. Analysis: unstable Herrscher core. Internal Kiana detected. Priority: containment."
Sirin/Kiana's face contorted a bit as she paused for a moment to contemplate the barrier with evident disgust, as if my technique were a personal offense to her.
[System Notice: During critical events where the opponent represents an extreme danger to the user, the system will automatically select the song to play, adapting it to the enemy's strength.]
*Playing now: "Borderline" by Tame Impala*
The music begins to resonate inside the barrier. (The psychedelic and melancholic groove, ethereal synthesizers, and Kevin Parker's introspective voice filled the space, marking the unstable borderline between humanity's fate and the void.)
How curious... I feel that song fits my situation like a glove. We're on the borderline: me at the edge of my limits, her at the edge of absolute madness.
She didn't wait. With a disdainful hand gesture, she summoned a storm of void lances —piercing the air like cosmic needles to the rhythm of the initial verse, soft but inexorable. The lances descended in a diagonal rain, distorting space in their path and leaving dark trails that absorbed light.
I knew I couldn't get distracted. I joined my hands in a specific formation, not to create a common shadow, but to summon the "treasure" that no Ten Shadows user has fully mastered. The air grew heavy, the music dimmed for a moment as if space itself held its breath. Then I recited, firm voice echoing in the dome:
"Sacred artifact, oscillate and vibrate, eight-handled sword, divine general... Mahoraga!"
A giant cocoon materialized behind my back with a deep hum that vibrated the ground. The colossal shikigami emerged from the cocoon —an imposing figure of pale skin and defined musculature, with four arms and a positive energy sword in one hand, eyes hidden under a demonic mask exuding an adaptive and terrifying presence.
The air charged with a different pressure, pure cursed energy clashing against the Herrscher's Honkai energy.
Sirin/Kiana narrowed her golden eyes. "What... is that thing? It's even more unpleasant than you."
I didn't respond. Mahoraga charged first, positive sword slicing void lances as if they were butter —progressively adapting to them as they pierced it in all directions—. The impact generated shockwaves that cracked the inner barrier. But the wheel on Mahoraga's head turned and it broke free from the lance coffin while shattering them and regenerating.
We coordinated to the repetitive chorus rhythm of the song. Theresa launched Judas chains to immobilize Sirin, shouting: "Kiana, listen to us!" Bronya fired black hole-like missiles, Mei leaped from the flank, lightning-imbued katana slicing minor portals: "Don't give up, Kiana!"
Then, Sirin broke the chains, reversed gravity in the barrier, and grabbed Theresa by the neck. I advanced with Mahoraga covering me: using Nue's wings to fly toward Sirin, with a hand gesture in mid-flight I launched an Uzumaki. Sirin counterattacked: blocked the Uzumaki with her lances forming a barrier, reversed gravity again and increased it, crushing Theresa (she resisted with Judas anchored to the ground), portals swallowing Bronya's missiles, void lances piercing Mei's shoulder (she screamed but kept slicing). In an instant, everything seemed lost.
Mahoraga's wheel turned again and it began forcing its way toward Sirin. Upon noticing, she tried to block its path with lances and gravity manipulation, but they didn't work and it charged toward her with its sword aimed. Inches from her face, Mahoraga stopped: Sirin vanished in a blink and the spot where she was became trapped in a bubble where everything seemed in slow motion. Then a dark vortex enveloped it and it disappeared along with Sirin.
Damn, she transported Mahoraga to imaginary space...
Moments later she appeared. I knew it, Mahoraga was eliminated. With an almost imperceptible finger movement, the dome's sky fractured. Hundreds of lances rained like solid light needles. With that, the veil of my confinement disintegrated, revealing Schicksal's sky burning blood red.
*The music cut abruptly.*
A hand pierced my guard with a speed my Six Eyes couldn't fully predict. It sank into my shoulder and the other into my side. It didn't hurt at first; it was an absolute cold that numbed my nerves. She lifted me off the ground with inhuman strength and hurled me against a nearby tower wall. Before I could fall, four lances materialized and impaled me against the metal: shoulders, abdomen, and thigh. I was pinned, suspended three meters off the ground, like a butterfly in a display.
I began bleeding out rapidly. Through my blurred vision, I saw the worst. The Herrscher of the Void walked toward Mei, who was trying to crawl toward me.
"My other half... it's time you return to your owner."
The Herrscher sank her hand into Mei's chest. Mei's scream tore through Helheim's air. I saw, with the cursed clarity of my eyes, how the core was torn from Mei's soul.
—STOP! —I tried to force a Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden, but my cursed energy channels, saturated with Honkai radiation, exploded. The backlash made me vomit blood and the darkness of my technique faded before forming. Along with that, all my summons dissolved into shadowy pools.
The Herrscher turned to me, holding the radiant gem. "You've been an interesting toy, 'abomination'," she mocked, as a final lance appeared in front of my heart. "Even cockroaches die when pinned like this."
The lance fired. The impact was so violent that it not only pierced me, but destroyed the tower section where I was pinned. I was hurled into Helheim's abyss, my broken body falling into the darkness.
[System Notice]
[Status: Imminent Clinical Death]
[Cursed Energy at 20.2%]
The last thing I perceived were Theresa's and the others' screams, while in the distance a familiar figure in a dark battlesuit appeared.
So this is what Toji must have felt when he died at Gojo's hands, huh? I suppose my ego really condemned me to defeat.
In that absolute void, as blood left my body and consciousness faded, a strange clarity invaded me —as if time stopped. There was no pain, only a cold and resigned peace. I thought about everything I had done, the power I had accumulated, the lives I had tried to save... and how, in the end, I had underestimated the abyss I faced.
I suppose... I was always destined for this...
Darkness swallowed me completely, but in the last instant of lucidity, I glimpsed it: the core of cursed power, weakly pulsing deep within my being.
The pool of blood around me began showing ripples coming from my body, as if something internal were awakening. A blue pulse, almost imperceptible, coursed through my broken veins.
—End of Chapter 8—