The Calm Before the Storm

February 6, 2000, early morning

Sirin gradually regained consciousness. She felt that while she had been unconscious, a force had flowed into her body. She opened her eyes and saw Enoshia sitting nearby, smiling and waving at her.

"Hi. Long time no see. How are you feeling?"

She spread her hands and discovered that she could control lightning.

"What did you do to me?"

"I obtained the Herrscher Core of the Herrscher of Thunder from Schicksal HQ. The moment it touched you, you automatically absorbed it. You've gained a new power. You're both the Herrscher of Void and the Herrscher of Thunder now."

"Then why didn't you absorb it yourself?" Sirin asked, confused.

"What do you think a Herrscher Core is? Something you can absorb whenever you want? There are only a few people who can become Herrschers, and you're probably the only person in the entire world who can bear two Herrscher Cores at once." Enoshia pursed her lips. Seeing Sirin's unique constitution, she revealed an expression of heartfelt envy.

Sirin looked at Benares, who was lying on the ground. She had been grievously wounded by Old Yang's Mimic Heavenly Father, then exhausted the last of her strength to break out with Sirin. If she had not been a Judgment-class Honkai Beast, she would have been long dead.

Sirin immediately went to her side. After a large amount of Honkai Energy flowed into her, Benares awoke, and her form changed from a dragon into a human girl.

She had long gray hair and sky-blue eyes, with feather-like ornaments on her head just like Sirin's. She wore a small white garment resembling a crop top, with a purple four-pointed star ornament at the chest. Its hem hung down to her knees. She wore long black gloves with white armor over them, and her fingers were purple. Below, she wore black hot pants and white thigh-high stockings connected to purple high heels. A pair of beautiful purple wings extended from her back, ready to be folded away at any time.

"Tsk. I've been single for so long that even Beebz looks pleasing to the eye. I'm a Herrscher too. If only I could have my own Judgment-class Honkai Beast someday." Watching Benares, Enoshia could not help thinking this.

"I... I'm still alive?" Benares opened her eyes. To her surprise, not only had she transformed into a human girl, she also possessed the ability to think like a human.

"Mm... Bella, from today onward, your name is Bella." Sirin looked at the still-dazed Bella and nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes, Queen." Bella immediately knelt on one knee before Sirin. The appearance and name Sirin had given her were undoubtedly the most precious things in the world to her.

"What about Schicksal's people?" Sirin knew that she had been asleep for so long that Schicksal's troops should have found her already.

"Don't worry. I modified all of Schicksal's detection equipment. As long as you don't use Herrscher Authority in front of anyone, every device will identify you as a little girl whose resistance to Honkai Energy is higher than normal."

Hearing this, Sirin's face fell. "I didn't expect you'd still have to step in. If I hadn't let my guard down, that Herrscher of Reason would never have been a match for me."

At that, Enoshia immediately rolled her eyes at her. "You've got some nerve saying that. He's the leader of Anti-Entropy and was already opposed to Schicksal. He only negotiated with you because he didn't want you to hurt ordinary people. Who knew that after beating Theresa, you'd start thinking you were invincible again?"

"Sigh, fine. A bet's a bet, and I'll honor the agreement. Where are you taking me?"

"The Sea of Quanta. But don't get impatient. You can't just enter that place whenever you want. I need to wait for an opportunity." Enoshia smiled mysteriously.

"The most important thing now is deciding where we go next. Although I modified the detection equipment's programming, changing people is much harder than changing equipment. So many Valkyries have seen what you look like. I think we should find somewhere sparsely populated and hide for a while before making further plans."

Inside Babylon Tower, Old Yang, who excelled at sit-ups, had nearly recovered after three days of treatment. Theresa and Siegfried had a favorable impression of the Anti-Entropy members, so they had immediately shared the news from Schicksal HQ with them.

"Now that the matter of the Herrscher of Void and the Herrscher of Corruption has come to an end, we should be leaving too. Thank you for taking care of us these past few days." Old Yang shook Siegfried's hand.

"Don't mention it. We only took out a few small fry and didn't really do anything. Without you, even if the Herrscher of Corruption hadn't been here, Babylon Tower would probably have been torn apart by the Herrscher of Void. Who knows how many people would have suffered then?"

Nearby, Salome, Jokanan, and Shub, Nicholas also nodded. The strength of this First Herrscher had clearly left a deep impression on the two elites of the Snow Wolf Squad.

"Please, don't see us out. We look forward to working with you again in the future." The three members of Anti-Entropy walked farther and farther away, soon disappearing into the vast snowy wilderness.

"Siegfried, Salome, Shub, we should return to HQ as well. The rest can be left to the Valkyries of the Siberia Branch."

Theresa looked at Huò Bùfán, who had only just arrived, and the several Valkyries behind her.

"The cleanup work will be hard on you."

"Ah, it's no trouble at all. We're only checking what dangers remain inside Babylon Tower. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll be done soon. So much happened in Siberia, yet as an A-rank Valkyrie of the branch, I only took out a few grunts. You're the ones who really worked hard." Huò Bùfán scratched her head, looking embarrassed.

"Ahh~~ We've finally completed another mission." On the transport plane, Shub stretched lazily, looking utterly relaxed. Salome, however, was still lowering her head in thought.

"Salome, now that it's finally over, stop frowning and overthinking things. Once we get back to HQ and finish our report, let's go have a proper drink." Shub affectionately patted her on the shoulder.

"Nicholas, you should know that our next mission is to go to South America and search for Fu Hua, who has been missing for several days, right? We may not know her well, but we do know that she's Cheng Lixue's teacher. An enemy capable of trapping even her is someone we should prepare for in advance."

Shub, however, looked completely unconcerned.

"Relax. There's always a way through once you reach the mountain, and solutions always outnumber difficulties. We'll think of something when the time comes. You said it yourself—it's an enemy capable of trapping even her. There probably isn't much use in us sitting here thinking about it. We'll only know what's going on once we meet them. We finally have a chance to take a break from work, so why not spend it doing something fun?"

Salome smiled helplessly. It seemed that the work of preparing for trouble would once again fall entirely to her. But after spending so many years with Shub, she was already used to it.