February 6, 2000, 22:00, Babylon Tower.
After completing the inspection, Huò Bùfán watched the newly arrived researchers activate the equipment and resume their research. Seeing that nothing unusual had occurred, she prepared to call the team back. Just then, the detectors suddenly began beeping with an alarm, and she immediately resumed the inspection.
"Underground... Babylon Tower's underground is rapidly releasing Honkai Energy! 1,000 HW, 2,000 HW... It's still rising. A Herrscher energy response has been detected. Th-this is impossible!" A tall Valkyrie stared at the data transmitted by the detector, her face filled with disbelief.
Since the locations where Honkai disasters erupted were random, it was only natural for the Herrschers' birthplaces to be random as well. It made sense that Babylon Tower had accumulated a massive amount of Honkai Energy, but a Herrscher had already been born on February 1. How could a second one have appeared so soon? Not to mention that this Herrscher had been born underground—a method of birth that was practically unheard of.
"Regardless, report to headquarters first, then evacuate the civilians!" The A-rank Valkyrie quickly recovered from her shock and prepared to report to headquarters. The instant she initiated communications, everyone inside Babylon Tower fell to the ground. Judging from the sensation, Huò Bùfán determined that the gravity in the area had been altered.
"Crack, crack." Crisp sounds rang out as cracks appeared in the tower's more fragile materials.
"What... exactly is..."
"Rumble!" A tremendous boom interrupted Jokanan's thoughts. The ground at the very bottom of Babylon Tower collapsed, creating a pit more than two meters in radius. The two Valkyries who could still move tried to go over and investigate, but immediately sensed that something was wrong. As a stream of white vapor rose from the bottom of the pit, the tower's climate-control systems gradually failed, and the temperature inside steadily dropped until it was even colder than a winter night in Siberia.
"Brr... brr..." Huò Bùfán kept exhaling clouds of white vapor as she struggled to stand. She looked around the tower. Less than a minute had passed since the anomaly was discovered, yet they still had no idea what was happening, and there were already hardly any survivors left inside Babylon Tower.
"It's absorbing the energy from the Energy Department. In other words, it can still grow stronger." Huò Bùfán's mind raced. She was no longer thinking about how to survive, but about what means she could use to transmit as much information as possible, thereby reducing the death rate among the Valkyries who would later arrive at the battlefield.
"Rumble!" An even louder boom erupted. The entire floor of Babylon Tower collapsed. Under the severalfold increase in gravity, she had no chance of escaping and fell into the pit. However, she did not reach the bottom. The extreme cold froze her directly onto the uneven rock wall.
Huò Bùfán could feel her life rapidly slipping away. At that moment, her communication link with headquarters actually connected, and Theresa's urgent voice came through.
"Herrsch... manipulating gravity... releas... low temperature..."
"Hello? Hello? Hello!" No matter how Theresa shouted, no response came from the other end. The extremely low temperature had frozen her completely into an ice sculpture, and she could no longer speak.
22:05
As a deafening roar rang out, Babylon Tower exploded. A dazzling blue pillar of light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire heavens as brightly as day. Fortunately, because of Sirin, all unrelated personnel in the vicinity had already been evacuated. Thus, aside from the newly dispatched researchers and the troops conducting inspections and patrols, no one else died.
February 6, 2000, 22:00, London.
Inside a huge drainage outlet, wastewater continued to gurgle into the River Thames as usual. London's citizens had long since grown accustomed to the clean and sanitary River Thames.
"Oh my god, look!" Amid countless cries of alarm, a girl flew out of the River Thames. She had long, light-gray hair and wore a pale top with a dark-purple long skirt. Both legs were clad in black stockings, and she wore dark high heels. Her blood-red eyes were filled with listlessness. A pair of purple wings beat behind her, continuously lifting her higher into the air.
Faced with such a bizarre sight, everyone naturally began taking photos and recording videos. Just as countless people were watching their videos receive likes and shares, a strange black mist spread outward from the girl.
"Aaaah!" The ordinary people who came into contact with the black mist soon lost their lives amid agonized screams.
February 6, 2000, 22:00, Oslo.
Although it was already deep into the night, the oppressive black mass covering the sky was terrifying enough to make anyone who saw it tremble. Even more frightening were the tornadoes surrounding Oslo. The appearance of so many tornadoes during this season was undeniably baffling.
Meteorological experts immediately began holding an emergency meeting. No one noticed that, at the center of the countless tornadoes, stood a girl with long, pale-green hair. She wore a white-and-green top and a pure-white short skirt, with white stockings covering both legs. Yet from her appearance alone, no one would have guessed that such a lovely girl was the culprit behind the tornadoes.
February 6, 2000, 22:10, Crimean Peninsula.
"Ten minutes ago, three Herrschers appeared simultaneously in Babylon Tower, Oslo, and London." After Schicksal's information was synchronized with Enoshia, her mood inevitably sank.
"I was born on January 31, and today is only February 6. Five Herrschers have been born in seven days. What exactly is going on? According to the final information transmitted by that A-rank Valkyrie, the one in Babylon Tower is probably even the dual-core Herrscher of Frost. Anna Schariac and Chen Tianwu were only born a few years ago at this point. Why did the Herrscher that originally appeared on Coral Island in 2017 appear now in Babylon Tower, a place where a Herrscher had only just appeared?"
Enoshia had made no attempt to hide her words, so Sirin naturally heard everything.
"Wait... you said Babylon Tower? Then doesn't that mean..." Sirin thought of something, and her expression grew anxious.
"Unfortunately, the area around Babylon Tower has been completely destroyed. Their graves... surely no longer exist..." Enoshia sighed softly and shook her head helplessly.
Seeing Sirin's sorrowful expression, Bella walked over to her. She wanted to comfort her, but did not know what to say.
Sirin patted Bella on the back, then looked at Enoshia. "If none of us intervene, can Schicksal and Anti-Entropy handle it on their own?"
"Difficult."
The Immortal in South America was still nowhere to be found, so their combat strength had been severely weakened. B-rank Valkyries could only clear out miscellaneous enemies and rescue ordinary civilians. The strongest A-rank Valkyrie, Cheng Lixue, could not even defeat a Quasi-Herrscher while wielding Ruoshui, let alone a real one. Therefore, in the face of a major Honkai disaster, A-rank Valkyries could only fight elite monsters and assist the main forces.
As for the Herrschers, judging from their current showings, the Herrscher of Frost was clearly stronger than the one Anna and Chen Tianwu had become. The Herrscher of Wind was not that disgraceful Herrscher who had been elbowed unconscious by a Titan robot. As for the Herrscher of Death... anyone fighting the Herrscher of Death might still have to guard against Otto stabbing them in the back.
Among those capable of directly fighting the Herrschers, Siegfried might not be able to use Heavenly Flame: Self-Immolation, Theresa might not be able to use the Divine Prayer Barrier, and Otto might ambush his allies at any moment. The only people with both strength and reliability were Cecilia and Old Yang... Humanity's future really was looking bright.
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