Herrscher and Simulated Herrscher

"Finally, it's a bit safer. Huh? Where did that person go?" The girl named Raiden Mei could never have imagined that someone could survive this disaster, and a male at that. As everyone knows, men's adaptability to Honkai Energy is far inferior to women's. And Mei had clearly noticed the youth using the lightning power of the Herrscher of the Void just now.

The youth had long since slipped away amidst the chaos. As if! A male who could control Honkai Energy was extremely rare in this world. He'd be lucky if he wasn't captured and dissected.

Along the way, he'd picked up quite a bit of Honkai Energy, all thanks to the gradually awakening Third Herrscher attracting so many Mortals.

"Roar!" A massive roar echoed around them, followed by a chorus of similar roars.

"It's a Tank-class Honkai Beast! Host, run! There are many of them, and even Schicksal's A-rank Valkyries would struggle. Not to mention you don't have the strength of an A-rank Valkyrie yet!" Although the intention was good, the last sentence was a bit hurtful.

"This white thing is a Tank-class Honkai Beast? It doesn't look that strong. Watch this." He felt at his waist, suddenly remembering he'd already thrown his electric blade to Mei. Seeing the Honkai Beast leaping towards him, intending to pin him to the ground and grind him, the youth finally abandoned his worthless dignity and ran.

"System, save me!"

"I told you to run... This System will show some kindness and sell you a Herrscher Core, how about it? Although this one is a bit different, it can command all Honkai Beasts below Temple-class and can also autonomously collect Herrscher Honkai Energy."

"Stop with the nonsense. How much Honkai Energy do I have now? And how much is your Herrscher Core?"

"Host has 3000 Honkai Energy remaining. This special Herrscher Core would normally cost at least 10,000, but I'll give you a 70% discount."

How can this Honkai Energy be so easily spent? The youth's mind couldn't process anything else and he immediately agreed.

"Roar..." The Tank-class Honkai Beast instantly cowered, lying on the ground and trembling.

"System, why hasn't my body changed much?" Even though I replaced the Herrscher Core, I don't feel any change. Is this system selling fake goods?

"This System does not sell fake goods. Look at what you're holding."

As it turned out, the moment he agreed, a transparent, perfectly octahedral (actually a rhombus, but I didn't know how to describe it, so I borrowed geometry) crystal was already in his hand.

It seemed the Honkai Beast was terrified not of him, but of this crystal.

"How do I use it?"

"Simple, eat it."

"Is there another way?"

"Yes, insert it into your heart."

"I'll just eat it then..."

The youth tilted his head back and swallowed the crystal in one gulp.

"Cough! Cough! Cough! Water!" This damned system, the crystal it gave me was a bit too big and I choked.

"Here." A water bottle appeared from who-knows-where. The youth didn't hesitate, picking it up and taking a big gulp of water.

It turned out the person who appeared was a girl with pink hair. She looked similar to the black-haired girl from before, the type with maximum "wife material" vibes. Her voice was also very gentle, sounding incredibly soothing.

"Thanks, I'm alive. Who are you?"

"My name is Yae Sakura. Like you, I... survived the disaster." She clearly hid something, pausing mid-sentence.

The youth happened to notice her ears, which were much taller than his own height, and said, "Your ears..."

"Ah!" Yae Sakura quickly covered her ears, a hint of unnaturalness on her face. "I'm sorry... Did I scare you?"

"No, I was just wondering what kind of ears those are. Rabbit ears? Or fox ears?" He vaguely remembered some creature called a "rabbit-fox," but wasn't sure. Anyway, this world was already turning his worldview upside down; people growing rabbit or fox ears seemed perfectly normal to him by now.

"They should... be fox ears?"

"Should?"

"It's nothing." Yae Sakura shook her head and looked at the youth. "And you? What's your name?"

"My name? I don't know. Because no one in this world knows me, I don't have a name." The youth shrugged, not noticing Yae Sakura's strange look.

"Then how about I give you one?"

"Please do."

As a result, Yae Sakura nonsensically rattled off a bunch of randomly chosen names, and more importantly, they all had the surname "Yae," making the youth retort, "Miss Yae, are you trying to make me marry into your family? Why are they all surnamed Yae?"

Hearing the word "marry into," Yae Sakura's face flushed, and she changed the subject. "I... we should go. Let's see if there's anyone else."

"Okay."

"Hey, big sister, if it were anyone else, you would have drawn your sword by now. Why didn't you act just now?" A rather lively voice sounded next to Yae Sakura's ear.

"What he swallowed just now was... a Herrscher Core, wasn't it?"

"I'm not sure, but something that could threaten us all and make Honkai Beasts submit can only be a Herrscher Core, right? Perhaps this kid had some fortuitous encounter and became a male Herrscher?"

"If it really is a Herrscher Core, it's too late to take it out now. I should go persuade him to use this power for the right cause."

"Big sister, it's useless. Everyone believes their actions are absolutely correct, just like you want to protect Kallen and protect Rin. The important thing is how to do it, not how it's done."

"Shut up." Mentioning these two names would invariably make Yae Sakura angry. This rather lively specialty ingredient from Yae Village was used to it.

Little did they know, the youth walking ahead was also talking to the System...

"System, this Yae Sakura should be that Simulated Herrscher, right?"

"Clever. How did you guess?"

"Maximum 'wife material' vibes and gentle? There probably aren't many people like that in this city."

"I didn't realize your charm was so strong. Do you know? One wrong word from you just now, and for anyone else, you'd be utterly destroyed."

A few cold sweat beads appeared on the youth's back. Weren't you supposed to be very gentle? What kind of gentleness is being utterly destroyed?

"But what's the difference between a Herrscher and a Simulated Herrscher?"

"A Simulated Herrscher is a high-level existence second only to a Herrscher. They might also be humans who have been modified by Honkai Energy and granted powerful abilities. There are many reasons for the emergence of Simulated Herrschers. The most common are high-level Mortals and humans with high compatibility. It's also possible for Honkai Energy to materialize a certain concept. There are also special cases where the original Herrscher disappears, and the remaining Honkai Energy gathers to form a new Herrscher sample. Although Simulated Herrschers aren't as terrifying as Herrschers, if Simulated Herrschers are allowed to exist, even if the Honkai Energy doesn't develop to the Herrscher level, they will still become a very huge threat."