Trouble

The young man had lost his reason. Lightning danced at his fingertips, yet instead of using it properly to fire something like a railgun, he pounced on the Honkai Beast and clawed at it wildly.

If they had been ordinary fingernails, they definitely couldn't have torn through a Chariot-type Honkai Beast's hide. But he was now a growth-type Herrscher wielding the Power of Lightning, so ripping open a Chariot-type Honkai Beast's skin was effortless.

"Host, host, calm down! You've already roasted this Honkai Beast..."

But as a transmigrator—and one who had crossed over so suddenly—even the best mentality needed an outlet. This poor Honkai Beast had become his punching bag... No, his lightning rod.

"Host, calm down! You've already encountered a Chariot-type Honkai Beast, so what does that mean? You're already very close to those three! Most of the enemies in Changkong City are gathered around the trio and Yae Sakura. You're heading in the opposite direction from Yae Sakura, so doesn't that mean you're getting closer to them? For Mission One! The mission, the mission!"

Only when it mentioned the mission did the young man calm down slightly.

"System, can you help me catch some kind of mount? I don't want to walk anymore."

"Herrscher familiars are divided into two types of Honkai Beasts: mounts and bonded beasts. Since you're a special type, I'll give you the right to choose your familiar. I can provide you with a few 'mount' options. As for what you choose, that's up to you."

"Honkai: Crush: A variant of the Chariot-type Honkai Beast. Its jumping distance and strength are greater, and it possesses a wide-area roar that knocks enemies back. It also has higher defense."

"Don't mention Chariot-types to me. Just hearing about them makes me angry. Pick another."

"Emperor Honkai and Empress Honkai: A husband-and-wife duo that sounds powerful from their names but is actually useless. They can use ground spikes to launch sneak attacks."

"Another one."

"Void Chrono: A variant of the Rush-class Honkai Beast. It can ignore the 'Time Fracture' of Schicksal's Valkyries."

"System, you... don't you have anything stronger?"

"I do, but it's already been given away. The Second Herrscher's familiar is pretty good. How about it?"

"Forget it. The Second Herrscher isn't completely dead yet. If I took her familiar, wouldn't she crawl out and kill me?"

"You could also consider Higanbana, Yae Sakura's familiar. Once you win over Yae Sakura, Higanbana would be yours too."

"Are there any other options?"

"The Head of Schicksal's Far East Branch, Theresa Apocalypse, has Vishnu DNA inside her body. How about that?"

"I... I'll go find one myself. Forget all of these. I don't want to die yet."

He hadn't gone far when the system's notification rang in his ears. "Ding! Mission One: Rescue the trio of Bronya (double-spiral twin-tailed loli), Kiana (white-haired dumpling with twin tails and the IQ of a cabbage worm), and Raiden Mei (purple-haired wife-type, maxed out). Progress: 50/100."

"Huh? What happened?" He hadn't seemed to do anything. How had he already completed half of it?

"That bag just now flew over to the trio and solved their food problem. If it hadn't flown there, they would already be considering whether to eat Honkai Beasts and dead soldiers."

"..." Come to think of it, the food had originally been prepared for them anyway. It didn't seem to matter much that the bag had flown over.

"Oh, right, Host. I can provide you with another Honkai Beast. This one is absolutely powerful, and it has no owner. Ganesha: an Emperor-class Honkai Beast. Since it has already been defeated, only most of its data remains. Its power has been restored to more than ninety-five percent. It's huge, with strong attacks and high defense—absolutely the best choice for a familiar."

"Could I... not choose it as a familiar, but raise it instead?"

"Suit yourself. Here." A huge egg suddenly appeared in the young man's hands. It was roughly the size of a human head, with a white shell dotted with red splotches.

"This is... an egg?"

"If you aren't taking it as a familiar and want to raise it, you'll have to start from the egg. Maybe it could even mutate into Parvati."

"Can you help me hatch it?"

"No, but placing it in storage will let it hatch automatically."

"Great. In you go."

The young man casually tossed it away. At the spot where it landed, space formed a vortex and sucked in the human-head-sized egg.

"How much farther?"

"A powerful Honkai Energy reaction has appeared three thousand meters ahead. Hurry, Host! The Third Herrscher may be about to awaken. Once she awakens, Mission One will fail!"

"System, is there any way to speed me up? Judging from this reaction, the Third Herrscher will awaken within five minutes!" The young man ran at full speed, drawing on the Power of Lightning from the Raiden Mei armor every time he pushed off to accelerate.

If the Third Herrscher used the Raiden Mei armor, approaching the speed of light would be entirely possible. But the young man was neither the Third Herrscher nor possessed of the immense Honkai Energy of the other Herrschers. His current speed hadn't even reached half the speed of sound.

"There is, but it will cost thirty Honkai Energy."

The young man looked at the mere one hundred Honkai Energy he had left and gritted his teeth. "Fine!" He thought bitterly, Why is Changkong City so poor? I've killed so many Honkai Beasts, yet I only have this much Honkai Energy.

"Host has comprehended the Valkyrie skill: Time Fracture."

Several lines of text immediately appeared in the young man's vision: "Time Fracture: Slows the flow of time by a certain amount. The larger the area, the weaker the effect."

"How much can I affect the flow of time over there?"

"Once activated, the flow of time over there will be two to one compared with now. You have ten minutes!"

"That's enough!" Every leap of the lightning beneath his feet was an explosion of power, and he had already reached a full seventy meters per second.

Ten minutes sounded very short, but at that moment, it seemed as long as a day, a month, or even a year.

"Everyone, stop!" The young man was too excited and failed to control the power of the Raiden Mei armor properly. Dark clouds instantly gathered as lightning flashed. Bolts of lightning faintly struck down, scorching quite a few enemies.

"Host, you idiot! If you keep this up, the Third Herrscher will soon seize control of Mei's body!"

Some of the enemies that had escaped unharmed not only failed to retreat but instead surged forward, surrounding the young man.

"Mei, let's get out of here!" The white-haired, twin-tailed girl—Kiana Kaslana—quickly grabbed the purple-haired, wife-type-maxed-out girl—Raiden Mei—and pulled her back.

"Idiot Kiana, something's wrong. Acting rashly could cause trouble." The genius girl, the little loli with double-spiral twin tails—Bronya—was much calmer than Kiana.

Mei covered her forehead and said with difficulty, "Kia... na... run... don't... come... near... me!" Mei shoved Kiana away and ran toward the dead soldiers and Honkai Beasts.

A demonic voice filled with temptation whispered in her ear. "Give up. This is an incredibly powerful force. With it, you can save your companions and even rescue your father. You could even—rule this world!"

Mei knew perfectly well that all of this was a lie. A Herrscher's power was not so easy to control.

"No... No! This power isn't mine, and besides... it'll hurt... Kiana and the others..."