Judas' Covenant

In a certain part of Changkong City, Feng Chen was wandering around with Yae Sakura. Since there weren't many people around anyway, he figured they might as well explore and see if they could find any Honkai Beasts or Mortals. Killing them would at least yield some Honkai Energy.

"Chen-kun, there seem to be quite a few Honkai Beasts nearby." Yae Sakura's eyesight was better than Feng Chen's, and she had already spotted some Honkai Energy lingering not too far away.

"Indeed... but they seem to be looking for something? It doesn't feel like their usual destructive rampages."

"I know the answer to that!" Hiyori Maru leaped out from Yae Sakura's clothes, flitting back and forth in front of the two.

"When a new Herrscher is born, Honkai Beasts and Mortals will appear in large numbers around the area. They won't be as mindless as usual; a higher existence will guide them to find the new Herrscher."

"But, didn't they say only one Herrscher appears per Honkai event?"

Feng Chen had specifically sought out the System for a refresher course. Of course, he knew the consequences of each Honkai event and that only one Herrscher would emerge each time.

"That's because the Third Herrscher this time was suppressed too early and didn't completely absorb the Honkai Energy here. The remaining Honkai Energy naturally went to find a new host to nurture into the next Herrscher."

"Is that so... Shall we follow these Honkai Beasts, Sakura?"

"I don't mind either way. Chen-kun, you decide." After the Sakura Cycle incident caused by Hiyori Maru, their relationship had deepened, and Yae Sakura had come to trust Feng Chen much more.

"Then let's go. Hiyori Maru, you should hide too." Of course, after Feng Chen disrupted Hiyori Maru's plan, her strength had significantly decreased. All of it was used to reconstruct the "Sakura Cycle" space. She didn't have much combat power left and could only throw fireballs from behind Yae Sakura and Feng Chen.

Hiyori Maru floated into Yae Sakura's clothes, making Feng Chen wonder if the clothes were that spacious or if Yae Sakura wasn't that large.

"What are you looking at?" Being stared at constantly was uncomfortable for a perceptive girl like Yae Sakura.

"N-nothing."

"Bang!" A golden cross fell from the sky, landing between the two. Although the ground had been damaged by Honkai and was no longer as hard as it used to be, it still wasn't something that could be easily broken.

Yet, this cross managed to smash a large gash into the ground...

"What the heck?" For a moment, Feng Chen thought an enemy had arrived, like a heavy-hitting opponent from Honkai: Crush, but upon closer inspection, it was just a cross.

In the center of the golden cross, a sword was engraved. This symbol might have been unfamiliar to Feng Chen, but it wasn't to Yae Sakura. In fact, the entire cross was not unfamiliar to her.

"Judas?" she subconsciously called out the cross's name. Feng Chen was also surprised.

"Judas? I remember I have one too, but it looks a bit different?"

Of course, saying that in front of Yae Sakura would likely cause unnecessary trouble, so he chose to ask the System directly.

[System: The Host's Judas is a replica, Judas' Embrace of Blood. Although it is also a cross, this was made by imitating the Divine Key - Judas' Covenant. It is inferior to the original in many aspects. However, the destructive power of Embrace of Blood is the strongest among crosses.]

"So, the one in front of us is the real deal?"

[System: Correct. Please quickly find the current owner of Judas, Theresa Apocalypse.]

"Is there a quest?" He knew this was definitely part of the next quest. The System wouldn't have prompted him otherwise. Besides, he wasn't foolish enough to try and keep Judas for himself. Yae Sakura was one issue, but the main point was that Divine Keys contained the consciousness of Herrschers. The Herrscher consciousness within Judas might be gone, but it should still recognize its owner.

[System: Please wait...

Quest 1: Find Theresa and return Judas' Covenant.
Quest Reward: 1000 Honkai Energy, Theresa Apocalypse Affection +5, Yae Sakura Affection +5
Failure Penalty: Yae Sakura Affection -999, Host Death.

Quest 2: Help Theresa defeat the newly appeared Simulated Herrscher in Changkong City.
Quest Reward: 10000 Honkai Energy, Theresa Apocalypse Affection +10

Quest 3: Unknown... Unlocked after completing the above quests.]

"Sakura, this cross should be..."

"It's Kallen's... No, 500 years have passed. It should belong to someone else now."

"It's probably from Schicksal, right?"

"Perhaps."

After seeing Judas, Yae Sakura had become unusually quiet, as if reluctant to recall something.

Carrying a cross weighing several hundred jin was certainly difficult for Feng Chen, but not entirely impossible. After all, he had managed to carry the replica Judas, hadn't he?

"Chen-kun, look ahead!"

The Honkai Beasts and Mortals had stopped, surrounding an academy.

Feng Chen didn't pay attention to the academy's name. What he cared about were the people inside.

"Simulated Herrscher..."

An enemy on par with Yae Sakura. If Yae Sakura weren't standing right beside him, he might have been a little scared.

"Chen-kun, be careful!"

A flash of light, and a thorny vine was severed by Yae Sakura. If Yae Sakura had been a moment slower, the vine would have climbed Feng Chen's right leg, injected paralyzing toxins into his body, and then wrapped around his neck, suffocating him to death.

"So this is a Simulated Herrscher..."

The vine had made no sound. Even Yae Sakura only noticed its approach after Hiyori Maru alerted her.

Numerous thorny vines emerged from the ground, separating Yae Sakura and Feng Chen.

"System, help me equip Kiana Kaslana."

[System: Understood.]

An Oni Mask was placed on Feng Chen's head, but it didn't cover his face. The mask wasn't large enough, only able to hang on one side of his head.

"System, did you cut corners for me?"

This armor set, apart from an Oni Mask, had absolutely nothing else...

"Cough cough... Host, please don't wrongly accuse this System. Take a look at what this armor set originally looked like first."

A picture quickly appeared before Feng Chen. Apart from the Oni Mask and a few pieces of armor, the rest of this armor set was actually a... revealing women's sailor uniform.

"You thought of this kind of armor?"

"It wasn't meant for you in the first place... This armor would look great on the Third Herrscher, wouldn't it?"

"That's not an excuse for you to cut corners."

This armor set came with a unique slashing technique specifically for the Third Herrscher—Thousand Roaring Slash. This wasn't a matter of individual preference, but rather of the item itself. If the Third Herrscher wore this armor set, lightning would regularly form a ring around her body, and this would be Thousand Roaring Slash.

Instead of the previous situation, where the lightning jumped around erratically, leading to her being beaten by Yae Sakura.