Herrscher of Knowledge

After the birthday party, construction plans for Golden Courtyard began.

Considering the issue of space, Elysia stepped in and bought the training grounds everyone commonly used, along with all the surrounding land.

Flame Chasers had originally been unwilling to agree.

But she had simply offered too much.

With the armed support Vill-V provided, Sakura began reshuffling Poisoned Pupae.

Half a year after the Seventh Honkai Eruption, Su received an invitation to join Flame Chasers.

Reunited with an old friend, Kevin and Su had countless things they wanted to tell each other.

"In the end, my mentor donated his body as material for the medicine that cured me."

After hearing Su's experiences, Kevin fell silent. He had wanted to give him a hug, but could only pat him on the shoulder.

Kevin also told Su about his own experiences.

With the support of everyone in the Heroes' team, Mei's standing rose accordingly.

Afterward, Mei lifted the upper management's material restrictions on Vill-V's Spiral Workshop.

Naturally, Vill-V wanted to move as soon as possible, so she began devoting herself to developing the Fifth Divine Key.

A few days later, the Fifth Divine Key—Sleeper of All Things—was successfully developed.

After it was tested, Flame Chasers immediately sealed it away.

A weapon of such immense power could not be put into use before they found someone who met the standard of absolute kindness.

Fearing that Vill-V might come up with more trouble, Flame Chasers gave her an extended vacation.

Vill-V naturally went to Yoshikage Kira.

"Golden Courtyard isn't finished yet, and my Spiral Workshop was destroyed while developing the Divine Key, so I guess I'll have to live with you."

"...Come in."

At the age of twenty-two, in January, the Herrscher of Knowledge was born without a sound.

There was no imagined brutal battle, nor was there a tide of Honkai Beasts.

The Herrscher of Knowledge silently spread her memetic weapon through the internet.

Once someone saw words contaminated by the Herrscher of Knowledge's meme, their mind would be infected, and they would fall into a dreamscape under her control.

Ever since Su arrived, you had been keeping an eye on the birth of the Herrscher of Knowledge.

When the so-called "sleeping sickness" appeared, you warned Mei that it might be the work of a Herrscher.

Mei knew you would not make baseless claims, so she began investigating the "sleeping sickness."

Sure enough, after some investigation, Mei found something suspicious.

But it was ultimately too late. Before Mei could warn everyone, the Herrscher of Knowledge had already set her sights on Flame Chasers.

Even though they promptly shut down all communication devices, the Herrscher of Knowledge's attack still took effect.

Fortunately, you had warned everyone beforehand, so the Heroes' team suffered no losses.

Doesn't work? Yoshikage Kira scrolled through his phone, yet the Herrscher of Knowledge's mental contamination never took effect.

The same thing happened to Himiko.

Afterward, the Herrscher of Knowledge's influence expanded further. Not only were words online contaminated, but even words in the real world were affected.

Closing one's eyes prevented the effects. Simple and effective.

But it would have an enormous impact on the normal functioning of human society. It was not a long-term solution.

One week later, before the entire base fell, Dr. Mei and Spasi, the head of the Fifth Science Department, developed a medicine that could resist mental contamination.

But it merely blocked the Herrscher's advance.

To determine the Herrscher of Knowledge's location, mental-type Fusion Warriors voluntarily accepted the meme's contamination.

Watching the Fusion Warriors head without hesitation to the mental battlefield to fight the Herrscher of Knowledge,

Su sought out his second mentor—Spasi—and asked to become a Fusion Warrior.

Afterward, Su chose Maharali, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast born alongside the Eighth Herrscher, for fusion.

He prepared to enter the spiritual world as the twenty-sixth observer and launch a counterattack.

Before the operation, the Herrscher of Knowledge unleashed mental turbulence to obstruct the plan.

The mental turbulence, invisible before everyone else, had nowhere to hide before a Stand representing spiritual power.

As Killer Queen blocked the mental turbulence drifting continuously through the air, Yoshikage Kira glanced at Spasi, who was giving Su instructions, and said nothing.

Su lay down on the observation hub, his consciousness slipping into the dreamscape woven by the Herrscher of Knowledge.

At some point, the mental turbulence filling the air vanished.

Looks like Su successfully suppressed the Herrscher of Knowledge.

"I saw it. I've confirmed the Herrscher of Knowledge's Coordinate."

After waking, Su told everyone the Herrscher of Knowledge's Coordinate, and the organization sent Elysia to kill her.

As for why they did not send Kevin, it was because Kevin had been affected. Of course, not badly enough to kill him.

The Herrscher of Knowledge's physical body was not as absurdly strong as those of the previous Herrschers. Elysia swiftly defeated her and returned with the Herrscher Core.

"In just one month, she caused the deaths of over a million civilians, and left countless others in vegetative states. Sigh."

Hearing Spasi's assessment, Mei was somewhat dazed. This Herrscher had seemed rather easy to deal with?

The other members of the Heroes' team felt the same way. Aside from Kevin, everyone had merely spent a few days without electronic devices.

"I saw... the Threads of Fate of many people being woven anew, extending into the distance."

"Mm, I understand."

Seeing that Yoshikage Kira did not seem inclined to say anything, Apponia chose not to pursue the matter.

"In any case, thank you for your contribution to humanity."

Yoshikage Kira said nothing and turned to leave.

"Boss, the phone you gave me suddenly exploded. Sob..."

"...Just buy another one."

How could he keep the Herrscher of Knowledge from attacking everyone?

Simple. Blow up anything that could display words.

He had Mei make everyone take precautions in advance, used Killer Queen to stop the memetic contamination himself, and had his Stand block the mental turbulence.

With this, how could I lose?