Four Against One Gets Counter-Killed, Are You Even Playing Right?

"Hmph, trying to escape? Lightning Cyclone Slash!"

As Sirin simultaneously wielded the authorities of the Herrscher of Wind and the Herrscher of Thunder, thunder and lightning raged across the skies of all Siberia. The true Lightning Cyclone Slash struck the fleeing Herrscher of Ice squarely, sending it flying several kilometers through the air before it crashed heavily into the ground.

Just as Dr. Einstein had said, no other Herrscher could outrun the Herrscher of Void, who could teleport at will. The Herrscher of Ice fled, and Sirin chased it down, beating it relentlessly. Even with its terrifying regenerative abilities, against a Four-Core Herrscher, all it could guarantee was that it wouldn't die.

"Haha☆, I didn't expect it to get so weak after shrinking! Even if I don't throw it into Imaginary Space, even if it's just me alone, I can definitely take it down!"

Though she hadn't gotten stronger herself, since the enemy had weakened, Sirin had swelled with arrogance yet again. Throwing it into Imaginary Space and grinding it down slowly was clearly the safest option with the least cost, but the already puffed-up Sirin rejected that plan outright. She believed that while the Herrscher of Ice's regeneration was strong, it had a limit. Following the Anti-Entropy doctor's earlier reasoning, as long as she broke through that limit, she could destroy it.

Her judgment wasn't entirely wrong. If it truly couldn't be killed under normal circumstances, why would it have needed to flee after the self-destruct plan failed?

But she clearly hadn't considered that killing it in the most honorable way would consume far more Honkai energy than she imagined. She chased it for over 200 kilometers, crippled it hundreds of times, and it was still bouncing around lively.

"Still regenerating? Let's see how many times you can do it. I'm determined to beat you this way today."

Each time the Herrscher of Ice recovered, it didn't counterattack. Instead, it released icy mist to block Sirin's vision and kept fleeing. No one knew where it was trying to go.

Schicksal HQ, Floating Island.

Otto lounged lazily on his throne, listening to Amber's report.

"Lord Bishop, Anti-Entropy's previous plan failed. The Herrscher of Ice abandoned its collapsing body by severing its tail to survive, and squads A-12 and A-13 have all gone missing."

"Though Anti-Entropy's plan failed, the Herrscher of Rocks' core has fallen into the First Herrscher's hands. The Herrscher of Corruption's whereabouts are unknown, presumed still inside the Herrscher of Ice. In the Herrscher of Void's battle with the Herrscher of Ice, her methods were somewhat... clumsy. Should Schicksal offer assistance?"

Otto swirled the glass of red wine in his hand and spoke unhurriedly: "No need. If the Herrscher of Void were smarter, things would become inconvenient. Mutual destruction... is the outcome I want. Amber, how is the weapons arsenal?"

"Everything is in order. As per your instructions, Lord Bishop, new terminals have been deployed. The new control terminals only manage the launch of high-damage weapons like the Honkai Energy Fission Bomb, making them more efficient and convenient. However... Lord Bishop, even with the new system, if the Herrscher of Corruption wanted to take control, Schicksal likely has no defense against it."

Seeing Amber's worried expression, Otto chuckled lightly.

"I never planned to stop her in the first place."

"Then..."

"If she wanted to destroy the world, no one could stop her. The fact that she can control nuclear launches at any time but hasn't pressed the button only proves that she and the First Herrscher are fundamentally the same kind of people—just as capricious, just as unwilling to cooperate, just as... heh. Amber, I'll be going out for a while. Handle everything here." Otto drained the red wine in one gulp and slowly rose from his throne.

"Herrscher of Void, Herrscher of Corruption, don't disappoint me... No matter how severe the injury, it can heal instantly, huh? I wonder if it can..."

Amber bowed deeply to his retreating figure.

February 9, 2000, 12:00.

Sirin had chased from dawn until noon, thoroughly hooked. Over and over, she blasted it to pieces, then watched it come back to life. Seeing that its recovery speed had dropped significantly compared to before and its pace had clearly slowed, she revealed an excited smile. Though the process was grueling, she had proven through practice that the Herrscher of Ice's regeneration wasn't truly invincible.

"If a hundred times isn't enough, then a thousand. If a thousand isn't enough, then ten thousand. Weren't you recovering pretty fast before? Keep going! Why can't you do it now?"

Already a bit carried away, Sirin pointed her right hand upward. A massive thunderball appeared in the sky again. But just as she was about to blast it to pieces once more, a wave of weakness washed over her, and the thunderball vanished without a trace.

"Huh? What's going on... Why... can't I use it?"

Without a doubt, among everyone fighting the Herrscher of Ice, Sirin with her four Herrscher Cores was the strongest by a landslide. But her efficiency in using Honkai energy was the worst of all Herrschers that had appeared so far.

If it were like a game, quantifying the Honkai energy stored and the damage dealt by Herrscher authorities into numbers, using the First Herrscher as a baseline: if Walter Yang dealt 100 damage using 1 unit of Honkai energy, then Sirin would need 3, 5, or even more units to deal the same 100 damage.

But because she was a Four-Core Herrscher with far more Honkai energy than Walter, even with massive waste, she could still kill enemies.

However, this Herrscher of Ice couldn't be treated as a simple single-core Herrscher. Though all its stats had plummeted under Sirin's relentless bombardment, Sirin's Honkai energy was also running dry.

Admittedly, in theory, the Herrscher of Void should never run out of Honkai energy. But theory never equals reality. Expecting Sirin, who had never attended a single day of school, to fully understand all the Herrscher of Void's authorities in just a few days was truly asking too much.

Just as Sirin felt her strength failing, the fleeing Herrscher of Ice suddenly turned around and shot countless ice spikes at her. She immediately activated the Herrscher of Void's authority to teleport herself. But barely tens of meters away, she fell from the sky like a bird that could no longer fly, crashing to the ground.

"Why... can't I use it!!!"

Frustration and anger didn't grant Sirin any miraculous power. The Herrscher of Ice fired an ice hairpin, piercing Sirin's heart with precision. Then, without a moment's pause, it fled into the distance again.

Simply put, though this looked like a sure win, Sirin's poor skill and tendency to get cocky had led her to throw the match.

At that moment, Bella, flying at full speed, felt a sharp pain in her chest. Since Sirin's position had stopped moving frequently, she quickly found her.

"Queen, what happened to you!" Seeing Sirin, who had stopped breathing, Bella was truly panicked.

Fortunately, though Sirin was both weak and reckless, she valued her own life dearly. After obtaining the Serenity Gem, she had stored a portion of her Honkai energy in a special form. Just before her heart was pierced, she used that energy to activate the Herrscher of Death's authority and repair her heart.

Opening her eyes, she saw Bella kneeling beside her, her expression full of pain. A wave of guilt and shame washed over Sirin. A Four-Core Herrscher losing to a single-core one and nearly getting killed in return—just thinking about it was too embarrassing.

"Bella, I'm sorry for worrying you." Sirin stood up and gently stroked Bella's cheek.

"No, it's my fault for not arriving in time. If I could have taken that fatal blow with my body, Your Majesty wouldn't have been so badly hurt."

Hearing this, Sirin stood beside Bella, reached out her right hand, and hooked her chin:

"I absolutely forbid you from doing that. If even I was seriously injured by that attack, how could you possibly withstand it! Without my order, you are never to leave my side, understand?"

"Yes..."

"I'm going to recover my Honkai energy here. Stay with me." Having been humbled again, Sirin sat down on the spot and began to recover, while Bella guarded her.

Meanwhile, Enoshia, who had been absent for a few chapters, followed the energy current to what served as the Herrscher of Ice's brain. Just a brief look at its memories, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Her two earlier hypotheses: 1: What would happen if the being that became a Herrscher wasn't human but something with other superpowers?

2: Since Old Yang could cross over to the Honkai: Star Rail world, couldn't Pathwalkers or even Emanators from that side theoretically come here too?

The Herrscher of Ice's vessel met both conditions simultaneously.

Why did it have such terrifying regenerative abilities? The answer was actually very simple: because it was a Denizen of Abundance.