This Law Enforcer is a Bit Too Cautious

"I've had people search that area several times. No anomalies, no signs of a Herrscher being born."

Hearing Himeko's affirmative reply, Theresa sat down with relief. She leaned back in her chair, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and guiltily pressed the half-read manga further under the documents. "Good, good. Looks like this time it's just a technical error from the science department..."

Before she could finish, a piercing alarm cut through their conversation:

"Warning! Warning! Honkai energy in the Singapore region has exceeded the safety threshold! It has reached red alert level. Current peak Honkai energy in the area is... 2700HW... 3100HW... 3600HW... 4000HW... 4500HW... 5000HW..."

"What? Breaking 5000HW that fast?"

Staring at the numbers still climbing on the screen, Himeko's expression shifted sharply.

In just over ten seconds, the Honkai energy in that region had skyrocketed from 2700HW to 5000HW. The implications of that needed no further explanation between them.

"A new Herrscher has been born!"

"A Herrscher? By order of emergence, this should be the Fourth Herrscher."

At that moment, whether in Destiny, Anti-Entropy, or St. Freya, people were whispering as they watched the still-rising numbers on their screens.

"Himeko, Fu Hua, and Kiana are still there. No matter which branch handles the new Herrscher, we need to bring them both back. I'm going on this mission with you." Theresa jumped down from her office chair and walked over to Himeko in a few steps.

"How strange. This Herrscher isn't spreading Honkai energy to infect ordinary people." Durandal gazed at the rapidly swirling black clouds above the city and the distinctive cannon fire of Anti-Entropy Mecha. After a moment's thought, she pulled out her communicator and dialed a number, speaking coolly:

"Bishop, it's been confirmed that the Fourth Herrscher has made contact with Anti-Entropy Mecha. I request your approval to join the battle."

"Oh my, already fighting with Anti-Entropy? That's not such good news. Hmm..."

The man on the other end of the line mused for a moment, as if considering something.

"Fighting the Herrscher is certainly necessary, but... since those Anti-Entropy folks care so much about this Herrscher, let them use their strength to wear it down. Stay there on standby for now."

Hearing the dial tone indicating the call had ended, Durandal silently put down her communicator and continued observing the swirling black clouds.

At Destiny Headquarters, Otto set down the disconnected communicator and watched the satellite footage, a faint, enigmatic smile curling on his lips.

"The Herrscher of Death, chosen by the Serenity Gem! Let me see what you can bring me."

Murmuring to himself, Otto dialed another number.

Theresa had barely sat down aboard the Hyperion when she heard the urgent beeping of her communicator.

Mei and the others saw the grave expression on Theresa's face and felt a sense of foreboding.

"Grandfather? What's wrong? Ah! Okay, I understand."

After ending the call, Theresa frowned at the electronic screen in front of her. It wasn't until Himeko called her name several times that she snapped back to reality.

"I just got a call from my grandfather. He said the mission to deal with the Herrscher has been assigned to S-Rank Valkyrie Durandal. Our Far East Branch is to assist Durandal in the hunt. That means two S-Rank Valkyries will be overseeing this operation."

"When we reach Singapore, Himeko, take Mei to retrieve Fu Hua and Kiana."

"I'll coordinate with Durandal to eliminate this Herrscher."

"Two S-Rank Valkyries deploying together? Looks like the Bishop is dead set on the Fourth Herrscher!" Himeko rubbed her aching forehead and sighed. "I hope that reckless Kiana doesn't go running off somewhere."

"Teacher Himeko, with Class Monitor Fu Hua watching over Kiana, we can rest assured." Bronya turned her head and comforted Himeko with a serious expression.

"Yeah, let's hope so!" Himeko smiled and waved her hand. "Target location: Singapore. Hyperion, move out!"

Singapore, on an unnamed street reduced to rubble...

Beside several Anti-Entropy Mecha that had been violently destroyed, a few strangely shaped creatures wandered.

"So these are Honkai Beasts? They don't look like much!" Xina poked curiously at the shield of an unknown Honkai Beast in front of her, then grabbed the wing of a smaller one and gave it a shake.

Just moments ago, as soon as she stepped outside, she'd run into a few metal lumps. She had no idea who those lumps belonged to, but they didn't bother with reason—they just opened fire the moment they saw her.

If it weren't for these bizarre Honkai Beasts dropping from the sky, the new dress Xina had painstakingly picked out would have been ruined by those shells.

Just as she was about to study these Honkai Beasts more closely, a voice echoed in her mind again. But this time, the voice carried strong emotion and direction, as if urging Xina to quickly fulfill her duty as a Herrscher and bring disaster to this world.

"Yes, I understand!" Xina raised her right hand high, and black mist coalesced at her fingertips into a massive sphere.

She looked up at the rapidly spinning spiral clouds in the sky, ready to hurl the black sphere into them to create a 'deadly rain,' but stopped mid-motion at the sound of Welt's agonized screams.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Xina lowered her hand and stared blankly at Welt, writhing and screaming in the black mist.

This guy was a fake First Herrscher. Though she didn't know where the real First Herrscher was, one thing was certain: there was definitely more than one Herrscher in this world!

So where had all the Herrschers before her gone?

Dispelling the black mist that enveloped Welt, Xina bent down and asked coldly, "You. Answer a few questions honestly, and I'll give you a quick death."

"Whatever you want to ask, just ask... I'll tell you everything..." Welt, broken in spirit, lay on the ground and spoke weakly.

"Good. You said you were the First Herrscher. Besides you and me, are there other Herrschers in this world? If so, where are they now?" Xina crouched down, grabbed Welt by the hair, and forced him to lift his head and meet her gaze.

"Besides you and me, there are the Second Herrscher and the Third Herrscher. In 2000, the Second Herrscher was in Siberia, jointly dealt with by Destiny and Anti-Entropy..."

"As for... as for the Third Herrscher, she's currently at—"