The Right Way to Use the Herrscher of the Void / Herrscher of Thunder: I Heard Someone's Stealing My Spotlight?

A streak of light flashed past—

"Sorry, I was a little late."

Gwen spared a bit of his strength to help Raiden Mei, who was nearly suffocating, catch her breath, then spoke softly.

"Are you... Gwen?"

Though she had never seen Gwen in this form, merely hearing his voice made all the panic and unease in Raiden Mei's heart vanish, leaving behind only concern because she had yet to confirm the identity of the person before her.

"It's me."

Gwen nodded lightly and said in a somewhat deeper voice:

"Mei, leave. Get out of here.

As for Kiana, leave her to me...

Otherwise, this Miss Herrscher of the Void won't let us go..."

As he spoke, Gwen turned around and looked at the golden-eyed queen, who had already lifted off the ground and silently floated in midair.

"Heh... You know who I am, yet you still dare to boast like that.

Who gave you the courage to interrupt the reunion between me and my other half?"

Leaning leisurely through the air, the Queen of Void sounded relaxed, yet there was not the slightest hint of leisure in her golden eyes. She stared at Gwen with immense pressure.

"Just because you look inhuman?"

"Heh..."

Gwen forcefully shook his hand and, in his human-sized transformed state, assumed an attacking stance.

"Why not give it a try?"

Before his words had even faded, Gwen's figure had vanished—

"..."

The Queen of Void, who had been about to say something more, widened her eyes slightly. The Herrscher Core within her body surged, and an Imaginary Gate swallowed her whole, making her vanish.

Almost the instant the Queen of Void disappeared, a faintly glowing spear tip violently shattered the Imaginary barrier around her and pierced through the space where she had just been.

Gwen, glowing faintly as he lunged with Mach Movement, missed his strike. Without any hesitation, he swiftly adjusted his posture and charged toward the Queen of Void high in the air.

Almost at the same time, an Imaginary Gate appeared where he had been, intending to swallow Gwen into Imaginary Space. He narrowly evaded it.

However, what awaited Gwen this time was no longer an Imaginary barrier that the Spark Gun could shatter with one strike, but Void Lances capable of tearing space apart—

The Proper Way to Deal with the Herrscher of the Void

Crack!

Without any surprise, the Void Lance was shattered directly by the Spark Gun. However, Gwen's body stalled slightly from the obstruction, and by the time he reached where the Queen of Void had been, she had already vanished without a trace.

"Hmph!"

As an Imaginary Gate flickered, the Queen of Void reappeared elsewhere. Her golden eyes reflected Gwen's figure, shining with silvery light, and she snorted coldly.

Though the massive amount of Honkai Energy that had appeared unexpectedly had temporarily seized control of the body, the Queen of Void's control over it was incomplete—

Kiana's mental state was still relatively normal, and her consciousness was fiercely resisting the Queen of Void at this moment.

Moreover, this was no longer her original body. Without a period of adaptation, the Herrscher of the Void Core within this body alone could not provide enough Honkai Energy for her to squander. Without the aid of other gems, it was difficult for the Queen of Void to wield the same level of power she had possessed back when she had only one core.

Still, these disadvantages were not enough to make the Queen of Void retreat outright—

Even under such unfavorable circumstances, the Queen of Void still possessed the authority that was hers as the Queen of Void—

Even if her limited source of Honkai Energy prevented her from trapping Gwen directly within endless Imaginary corridors or summoning a massive tide of Honkai Beasts, she could still use her power without obstruction—

At the very least, before the Queen's Honkai Energy ran dry, it would be difficult for Gwen to hurt an opponent who could teleport without limits.

Yet exhausting the Honkai Energy of a proper Herrscher who had not expended much power was nothing short of a fantasy.

By comparison, Gwen had remained on the offensive the entire time, perfectly demonstrating what it meant to be Swift as Wind and Fierce as Fire. He had practically chased the Queen all over the sky.

But corresponding to that ferocious offensive was immense expenditure—

Even though Gwen's human-sized state consumed far less energy to maintain than his giant form.

Whether maintaining Mach Movement or fending off Void Lances that could shoot at him from any direction, Gwen's transformation time was rapidly decreasing—

In tokusatsu productions, high-speed battles for speed-type fighters consumed Tsuburaya's budget. In an actual fight, they consumed Gwen's energy and stamina.

Fortunately, as a Fusion Warrior, Gwen possessed not only stamina far beyond the limits of ordinary humans compared to a normal human host, but also a considerable reserve of Honkai Energy. His physical condition was excellent, so he was still far from having to burn his life away.

Even so, this situation, which looked as though he held every advantage but actually left him completely unable to deal with the Queen, made Gwen frown—

If this continued, he would definitely be the first to collapse.

As for countermeasures capable of breaking the Herrscher of the Void's authority, Gwen was not without them—

The Meta Field, a discontinuous spacetime barrier generated by folds in phase. Perhaps the Queen could quickly break through it with her authority over space.

However, faced with an unfamiliar subspace, the Queen might not be able to escape immediately.

And as long as Gwen had one chance to strike, he could win.

The problem was that deploying the Meta Field required a little time, and that little time was enough for the Queen to teleport away several times—

Though only a little over a minute had passed since the battle began, the two, who had exchanged blows countless times, had already gained a considerable understanding of each other. Each knew the other's strengths and weaknesses—

The Queen had gained a clear understanding of Gwen's combat power. She knew that most of his beam attacks and that sharp Spark Gun could break through her Imaginary barriers.

Yet the Queen, who had only her Herrscher Authority and lacked enough Honkai Energy to waste freely, had no means of breaking through the defenses of a Gwen moving at super-high speed.

Thus, the Queen completely avoided fighting him head-on, determined to wear Gwen to death—

She directly evaded every one of Gwen's attacks, with no intention of clashing head-on, merely continuously throwing out Void Lances to drain his energy.

Gwen, too, had gained a direct understanding of just how troublesome a Queen with authority over space was—

The Queen was simply too good at running. Even while maintaining Mach Movement throughout the entire battle, Gwen could not touch her at all. Every time, he fell just short. He had even felt the spear tip touch her body, only for her to escape through an Imaginary Gate at the very moment the battle was about to end—

The Queen had also tried to trap Gwen in Imaginary Space and fight him on her home ground. However, because Gwen's light was ignited by Nexus and he could deploy the Meta Field, he was extremely sensitive to spatial fluctuations and refused to take the bait.

For a time, the battle reached a stalemate. Neither side could do anything to the other, and the fight proceeded as the Queen intended: a war of attrition.

However, though she had the battle under her control, the Queen had no leisure to spare—

Though she had narrowly avoided Gwen's thrusting Spark Gun again and again and had not been struck by the beams he occasionally fired, the repeated sensation of facing death made the Queen grit her teeth in hatred toward this detestable human—

Once he ran out of strength and she reclaimed the Thunder of Conquest from her other half to stabilize her state, she would slice this detestable human into a thousand pieces.

With that thought in mind, a sudden sense of danger made the Queen jerk her head aside. She dodged the Particle Feather Gwen had fired while using his turn to conceal the movement of his hand, and her figure vanished the next moment.

In response, ten Void Lances shot toward Gwen from all around.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Amid a series of crisp metallic clashes, Gwen swept his Spark Gun through the air, shattering several Void Lances that were difficult to evade.

However, Gwen, whose energy consumption was immense and whose bat-wing-shaped energy core before his chest had already begun flashing, failed to evade all the remaining Void Lances. One fired from a tricky angle struck him in the back.

"Heh..."

Sensing that her attack had worked, the Queen's golden eyes brightened slightly, and a cruel curve rose at the corner of her lips.

"Gwen!"

Below, Raiden Mei, who witnessed this scene, could not help crying out—

It was not that Raiden Mei had ignored Gwen's advice and failed to leave the battlefield.

Rather, the Queen, who actually held the initiative over the battlefield, had kept the fight around Raiden Mei so that she could reclaim the Thunder of Conquest as soon as the battle ended and completely suppress the restless consciousness within the body.

"What? You didn't really think he had the upper hand, did you?"

At that moment, a voice Raiden Mei was not entirely unfamiliar with sounded beside her ear.

The Herrscher of Thunder: Heard Someone Was Stealing the Spotlight?

This time, however, the voice was no longer merely saying things Raiden Mei did not want to hear. Instead, it mocked her.

"Think carefully. In your kendo matches, when you completely suppressed your opponent but failed to land any effective hits, how many times did you win?"

"You mean..."

Raiden Mei instantly recalled her matches with her father. She froze slightly, then understood what the other voice meant.

"What? The truth is right in front of you, yet you still don't dare open your eyes and look at it?"

The voice filled with mockery sounded again beside Raiden Mei's ear, making her completely abandon the thought of deceiving herself and forcing her to face reality.

"What? Your little lover is in mortal danger, and you're just going to stand here and watch? Wait until he is completely defeated, then let that Herrscher of the Void take your life?"

Sensing that Raiden Mei was no longer avoiding that fact, the voice continued questioning her in her mind.

"I..."

Immense pressure instantly descended upon Raiden Mei's heart, forcing the girl's shoulders lower, as though all the spirit had been drained from her—

During the time Raiden Mei spoke with that familiar voice, Gwen and the Queen's battle did not stop. Instead, it grew more intense as the Queen increased her efforts—

The dignified Queen of Void had actually been suppressed by a mere human for so long. If she did not avenge this humiliation, she would be unworthy of being the Herrscher of the Void!

Spatial rifts appeared around Gwen, and Void Lances flew toward every part of his body.

Facing this suddenly intensified assault, Gwen's pressure also soared. His energy consumption surged, the energy core on his chest flashed ever more rapidly, and waves of irresistible fatigue washed over him.

As his condition continued to decline, Gwen's defense became increasingly difficult. Void Lances continuously left wounds across his body.

Though Gwen's blood was no longer its original red after transforming, instead becoming something like golden particles, the ever-increasing wounds across his body still made Raiden Mei's heart clench painfully.

"What? Are you really willing to just stand there and watch..."

Sensing Raiden Mei's feelings, the voice continued asking.

Though the voice still carried a trace of ridicule, it also contained a little more dissatisfaction.

"Do nothing?"

"But what can I do?"

As though the voice had pushed her to her limit, Raiden Mei shouted back in her mind, venting the fear and self-reproach in her heart.

Because she understood her own weakness, Raiden Mei understood all the more clearly that, faced with the battlefield before her, the current her truly could do nothing.

"Let me handle it. Leave everything to me."

The voice did not conceal its ambition in the slightest.

"What you cannot do, I can."

"No!"

Raiden Mei refused without hesitation.

"Gwen has done so much precisely to keep me from becoming a Herrscher!"

Though the other voice did not say it outright, Raiden Mei, who had already faintly sensed the surging power within her body, had guessed what it wanted to do—

Her answer to that was only refusal.

"So you can watch him get killed, then become a pair of doomed lovers with him?"

The voice questioned her with a hint of frustration at her unwillingness to fight.

Under normal circumstances, Raiden Mei would probably have argued back after the other voice repeatedly described the relationship between her and Gwen that way.

But now, Raiden Mei had no mind to care about such trivial matters—

"Even so, I cannot let you act recklessly and make everything Gwen has done meaningless."

Raiden Mei's answer was utterly resolute.

"Where did you find such an idiot?"

Though the voice was pleased by the determination of the girl who had nearly collapsed under the bullying around her just a few months ago after hearing Raiden Mei's words—

As the presence that had accompanied Raiden Mei the longest, she understood exactly how important that battered figure was to Raiden Mei. If Gwen were truly allowed to die here, then even if she were released afterward and killed that white-haired girl, this coward probably would not have any desire to live properly...

Thus, the voice angrily rebuked her.

"That woman has already absorbed all the Honkai Energy. Even if you become a Herrscher, whether you would have enough Honkai Energy to complete your transformation is still a question. And you're still worrying about triggering a Honkai outbreak?"

"I..."