The End of the Turmoil

When Zhu Yufeng and the others returned to the Fire Moth, the battle was already over. Ugar and the mysterious new Honkai Beast had fought and destroyed most of the Fire Moth. The two Honkai Beasts were fighting in the air above the Fire Moth base, Fire Moth warriors below looked at each other, not knowing who to help or how to help.

However, now that the two Honkai Beasts are fighting each other, the warriors of the Fire Moth are free to deal with the other lower-level Honkai Beast that have invaded the Fire Moth base and caused turmoil, as well as the remaining Thousandth Herrscher individuals.

To everyone's surprise, although Ugar finally defeated this unprecedented Judgment-class Honkai Beast, it was the first time it had suffered a serious injury. After the battle ended, Ugar ran away immediately.

The Fire Moth naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to kill Ugar as well, but in the end, it didn't work out.

The main problem is that Ugar's attitude this time was too strange. Although it destroyed most of the Fire Moth with that Judgment-class Honkai Beast, in fact, it still helped the Fire Moth.

This Honkai Beast's attitude towards humans is rather unusual. If the X Herrscher behind it really exists, then what is the X Herrscher's purpose?

Even if Ugar is injured, it doesn't mean that the Present warriors of the Fire Moth can hold Ugar down. Moreover, this injury hasn't even reached the point of being fatal. Ugar's two companion Honkai Beast Rahu and Ketu, are also still alive, as well as Yanluo, who was assimilated by Ugar. To reiterate, before the other side shows any hostility, the human side should not act rashly. Otherwise, if Ugar turns against the Fire Moth, given the Fire Moth's current combat strength, it's likely that at most Ugar will be fatally injured, and the Fire Moth be almost completely wiped out.

Well, in fact, this attack by Thousandth Herrscher did cause considerable losses to the high-ranking members of the Fire Moth, with nearly half of the council members dying in the attack.

"So... this Honkai Beast, which is somewhat similar to the Heavenly Thunder, has a special ability that is specifically targeted?" Zhu Yufeng stood amidst the ruins, watching the researchers of the Fire Moth recover some remaining tissues from the scene, and then spoke to Kosma had been at the scene at the time.

"That's right." Kosma nodded and said, "When it appeared, although I could still mobilize the Honkai Energy in my body, I couldn't use Vishnu's special abilities, and I could only complete half of the Artificial Collapse."

"No wonder it was only Judgment Level, yet it was able to injure Ugar, who was at the End of Dharma level." Zhu Yufeng nodded thoughtfully. "So, in reality, it was it that sealed Ugar's ability to reverse time and space, right?"

"That's right." Mobius walked up from behind Zhu Yufeng, looking at the wreckage on the ground. "Based on what Mebius and I have deduced, this Honkai Beast likely created by the Thousandth Herrscher after they stole the data from the Heavenly Thunder Zeus. Its target is clearly the Heavenly Thunder. It can seal the abilities of objects or instruments with a Honkai Energy higher than a certain threshold. We are not yet sure about the range of its abilities, but it is certain that if it is on the field, the Heavenly Thunder's final battle function will most likely be unusable."

So it's like this: the effect can't be activated, but as long as the attack power is higher than its, it can still be killed.

Zhu Yufeng thought to himself, then asked, "How did they obtain the information on the Heavenly Thunder?"

Mobius looked at Zhu Yufeng for a while before saying, "According to Lilith's report, her sister Gianna became the first of the Thousandth Herrscher this time and attacked Mostima. Then, the Thousandth Herrscher waiting in other places invaded the Fire Moth's network and stole the data of the Heavenly Thunder."

"Mostima?" Zhu Yufeng's expression changed, and he almost instinctively grabbed Mobius's shoulder and asked, "What about Mostima? How is she the Present?"

Mobius sighed softly. Zhu Yufeng's pupils contracted, but before he could say anything, Mobius continued, "She killed Gianna with her own power and, despite being injured, reactivated the Fire Moth's backup firewall... However, because Gianna possessed a slight amount of Herrscher the Wind power, she was also significantly affected by Honkai Energy while being Corrosion. Therefore... to save her life, she must undergo the Fusion Warrior surgery immediately afterward."

Zhu Yufeng released his hand, his heart easing slightly. He apologized to Mobius, "I'm sorry, Mobius, I lost control of my emotions... I'm sorry."

Mobius looked at Zhu Yufeng for a while, then looked away and said, "I know you're worried about the tragedy of the past repeating itself. That incident was indeed too profound for you... This matter, whether it's me or others, can actually see it. It's not that we can't understand it, just like how I treated Klein this time, and how that kid treated Disaster."

Kosma nodded, put his hand on Zhu Yufeng's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Feng, this time... we can definitely do it, we definitely can."

Zhu Yufeng remained silent, then asked, "What about Klein and Immer...?"

"Klein hasn't changed at all yet, she's the same as in the previous life..." Mobius said with a wry smile. "As for Immer, he's still the same as before, he became Thousandth Herrscher, fought against Qianjie Calamity, and has been confirmed dead."

"And what about Raphael?" Zhu Yufeng asked again.

Looking at the remains of the Honkai Beast that could be considered a companion of the Thousandth Herrscher, Mobius said, "It has been confirmed that Raphael was very likely involved in planning this operation as the leader of the Thousandth Herrscher. He... fused with this Honkai Beast along with several other Thousandth Herrscher, just like Uriel did during the previous Seventh Herrscher Incident."

"Is that so..."

"However..." Mobius's expression became somewhat strange, but she finally said, "Never mind, it's not a big deal. The most urgent thing the Present is to assess the losses caused by this turmoil and to count the number of Thousandth Herrscher recovered."

Kosma glanced at Mobius, then at Zhu Yufeng, and decisively chose to remain silent.

When the Honkai Beast formed by the fusion of the Thousandth Herrscher was defeated by Ugar, Kosma and Disaster participated in the recovery of the remains. At that time, Raphael was still alive. When he saw Kosma, he used his last strength to grab Kosma's hand and say those words:

What has been done will be done again; what has been done will be done again.

He also emphasized that Zhu Yufeng must be informed.

Kosma could see the warrior's unwavering resolve in Raphael's nearly blurred eyes, a message he desperately tried to convey with the last vestige of his humanity... Furthermore, Kosma even understood Raphael's intentions at that moment. After inciting the other Thousandth Herrscher to launch this upheaval, he also took the initiative to fight Ugar, attempting to perish together with Ugar, this potential threat to humanity.

That's why this turmoil is so strange. Although the Thousandth Herrscher clearly planned this turmoil in an organized and premeditated manner, the execution of it is simply... less than impressive compared to the previous life.

The most outrageous thing is that Thousandth Herrscher tried to attack Griseo and Astaroth, who were with Lilim at the time. Before Astaroth could even make a move, the Thousandth Herrscher was killed by Lilim in a counterattack, which is quite absurd.

Just like how they sent someone to their deaths, there was still only one Thousandth Herrscher attacked that side.

In this operation, although the individual Thousandth Herrscher launched a targeted attack on the laboratory where May and Vill-V were located, their numbers were considerably smaller compared to the previous life...

In short, the Thousandth Herrscher stayed at the headquarters of the Fire Moth to launch the attack this time did so in a rather dispersed manner.

This "smart" operation makes it hard not to suspect that there might be a mole among the Thousandth Herrscher this time.

But... if Raphael is right, and he emphasized that Maple must be told...

(What exactly is he trying to say? Is it that the Tragedy of Binding will eventually happen again, or is there something else? However, it's really not appropriate to tell Feng about this right now... Just the fact that Mostima was attacked is enough to make Feng react so strongly. If the Tragedy of Binding happens again, or rather, if there is such a possibility, Feng... Mobius is right. Before the Eighth Herrscher Incident, I was the same way. I even became depressed and wanted to give up... Anyway, it's better not to tell Feng for now.)

Zhu Yufeng looked at Kosma, then at Mobius. Mobius had clearly wanted to say something but had forcibly held it back, while Kosma clearly showed what he wanted to say.

"Am I the one being kept in the dark now...?" Zhu Yufeng smiled bitterly to himself. He could more or less guess that this matter was related to him and that it was not appropriate to tell him.

However, since they weren't going to tell him, there was no need for him to force them to ask.

After all... no one would harm him.

"What is the current estimate of the damage this unrest has caused to the Fire Moth?" Zhu Yufeng directly changed the subject.

"It's still within an acceptable range, and compared to before, it's already a... good result." Mobius wrote in his mental notebook, "Later, I need to gather everyone who knows about this, unify our statements, and not even Elysia can be told."

And there's another thing: why did this time, the Thousandth Herrscher exhibit human-like thoughts, even if only a little? It's still better than the complete absence of any in the previous life... Is it because Elysia's powers still played a role? Or is it because in the previous life, humanity made one wrong step after another, and all those who became Herrscher have completely lost hope and no longer try to resist?

After all, Michael had explained that after she became a Herrscher of the Binding in her previous life, she still retained some of her own thoughts, but she only believed that humans no longer needed to resist and should not resist, so she resolutely carried out the will of Honkai.

In short, the Tragedy of Binding was not only a difficult hurdle for Yu Feng, but also for that woman, Elysia.

It wasn't that he was worried about Elysia's mental state; he was worried that if he told her, she would tell Yu Feng, and who would care about her mental state then?

"Speaking of which, where did Elysia go?" Mobius asked.

"As for Elysia, she went to help Seele and the others clean up the remaining Honkai Beast," Zhu Yufeng said. "By now, she should be almost done and coming over."

Although dealing with the remaining Honkai Beast would be incredibly easy for Elysia, this time Elysia was prepared to observe Seele's current battle situation as a guide.

However, Seele has reached a level of strength that is roughly equivalent to that of Flame-Chasers by now, right?

Zhu Yufeng then turned his gaze to the remains of the Thousandth Herrscher, his mind lost in thought. He once again recalled the message that the Cocoon of Finality had conveyed to him through the image of his past self in front of the Cocoon of the End.

What has happened will happen again... Is it the Tragedy of Binding, or the Final Banquet?

What does "What has been done must be done again" mean? Does it mean that I will break with Elysia again, or that Elysia will ultimately make the same choice? Or, when the Finality battle arrives, will I be the same as in my previous life?

Or is all of this just a little trick by which the Finality cocoon tries to obscure its own vision?

Ah... fate...

He suddenly recalled a conversation he had with Aponia in his previous life:

"I will not punish myself for the misunderstandings and malice I have encountered by others for taking this path, nor for the crimes they have committed, because it will only lower me and them to a lower level, and will do nothing else."

"Maple..."

"If you're going to challenge fate, then if you can't even do this much, you'll only be mocked by fate and humbly struggle in the endless cycle of reincarnation—I read this in a book."

But actually, there's another sentence he didn't say.

Doing this doesn't guarantee success. Even if you ultimately fail, fate can no longer deceive you with fancy but worthless things.

Yes, when challenging fate, one should be mentally prepared for failure, or rather, failure should be more in line with expectations, while success is proof that one has triumphed over fate.

However... the Tenth Herrscher Incident seems to be nearing its end, and the Eleventh Herrscher Incident is just around the corner... I'm still somewhat shaken, just like Kosma was during the Eighth Herrscher Incident.

He thought he had figured things out, but his subconscious actions after learning about Mostima's attack revealed that, deep down, he was indeed afraid of the nightmare unfolding.

I guess... I'll have to go find Aponia after I finish this.