Fourth Herrscher, a Twisted Creation

July 21, dusk.

Only ruins remain on the site where St. Peter's Cathedral once stood; its century-old history is thus sadly veiled in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The girl's supple limbs stretched out amidst the interwoven black and gray hues and church remains, like an oil painting whose paint had not yet dried.

Her fair, velvety skin shimmered in the soft light, and her beautiful curves conformed to the golden ratio in terms of structure, yet this naked posture failed to arouse any primal desire or impulse.

Deep blue veins undulate beneath the skin, like lines constantly moving on a painter's hand, their movement producing a sound like a rushing stream.

Upon closer inspection, her entire body was constantly cracking and healing, the dark, narrow cracks resembling pairs of pure-colored eyes that opened and closed endlessly, silently exuding an eerie terror.

However, the rate at which these gaps change is so fast that, at first glance, it still gives the body an elegant charm.

But her face was so distorted that it looked like the result of countless human organs being mixed together; even the gentlest words could only describe it as a postmodern, thickly painted artwork.

The "girl's" body remained peacefully in a human form, as if no matter how much it changed, her body instinctively kept these changes within certain limits, allowing her to still recognize her own identity.

"My lord... am I... closer to humanity...?"

The vocal cords seem to perfectly replicate the structure of the human body. Their soft murmurs are not as frightening as they appear. The clear, melodious voice dances alone in the wind, unanswered.

It was only natural that there was no response; the whispers of the gods only graced the moment of my birth, and for the next four months, confusion and emptiness filled my mind.

I don't know what I should do.

Will they attack human cities just like their own kind?

To slaughter more humans, in an attempt to spread the majesty of the gods across the land?

It's meaningless; this isn't what the gods expect of themselves.

His majesty no longer needs praise, and the sheer number of his kind seems to diminish the significance of his existence.

But the jumbled human memories that inexplicably appeared in her mind made the "girl" understand the meaning of her existence.

Go closer to humanity; this is a revelation from the gods.

So this became the only thing he could do.

Therefore, we must get closer to humans.

Having understood this, the nameless monster of that day, through the memory implanted by the god, gave itself a name.

Shen Duxin.

This is the name of the person who holds this memory.

In order to get closer to the girl in this memory, it began to try, little by little, to fulfill that person's past dreams.

The final image of this memory is from a turning point and a crucial period in her life.

Shen Duxin received a guaranteed admission offer from the University of Adelaide. Under the melodious twilight, she smiled and walked into her alma mater.

The subsequent images became blurry and indistinct, like an ancient painting covered in dust and decay, where the original outlines of the strokes and the specific colors could no longer be discerned.

But it also reveals that the girl is very interested in the city's historical sites and had been filled with colorful anticipation from the beginning.

So Shen Duxin that if he could tour Adelaide, perhaps he would become more human.

So it wandered around and came to the desolate Adelaide, where it saw Ashwatthama, like a demolition crew, diligently destroying buildings.

Shen Duxin believed that communicating with such stupid creatures would be very difficult, but fortunately the gods granted it a high degree of permission among its kind.

Although controlling a single Emperor-class Honkai Beast seems to be the limit, it's sufficient for this situation.

Shen Duxin divided Ashwatthama into the Child of Night and the Child of Dawn simply to reduce its size by more than half, making it easier to hide, while also allowing her to gain a deeper understanding of its control.

In the time that followed, it used the blessings bestowed by the gods to spend a great deal of time weaving mirage after mirage, restoring these places to their original state.

This magical phenomenon is essentially derived from the ability to manipulate light and shadow.

Within its body lies an irregular crystal, which allows it to connect to the realm of the gods, using this flawed power to create an illusory realm whose flaws are imperceptible to the naked eye.

But even after humans came and broke the tranquility, Shen Duxin's chest remained completely calm. It did not feel happy, nor did its emotions waver.

It felt like a routine, just like the girl I remembered when she went to work.

Numb, uninteresting, and cold, it seeks not such lifeless things.

Rather, it was as if the real Shen Duxin, as he applied paint to the canvas, felt the vibrant energy pulsating in his chest, the way he pursed his lips.

That's what humanity is all about.

That's what I need to approach.

During the months wasted in Adelaide, it clearly wove together the scene that the person in its memory longed for, yet even so, it did not get any closer to the human in its memory.

Shen Duxin once wondered if it was because these mirage-like illusions were ultimately just illusions, unable to compare to the real tactile experience.

That solemnity, where history and culture intertwine, is as illusory as a reflection in a mirror or the moon in the water; it is truly difficult to deceive oneself.

That's why it's so hard to feel moved.

This makes perfect sense.

If it weren't itself that created these illusions, perhaps it might still have the possibility of believing them to be real and experiencing joy in them.

But the magician who performs these tricks is none other than Shen Duxin; how could she possibly be deceived by herself?

It was all for naught.

Beneath the setting sun, the "girl" raised her slender arm high, partially obscuring her wandering eyes.

Ugly, grotesque, inhuman.

The place of birth determines this body that is difficult to shape perfectly, and the ability to manipulate light and shadow also has a fatal flaw: the inability to use it on oneself is the greatest curse.

Shen Duxin may be able to deceive all things in the world and create many beautiful illusions, but she cannot deceive herself.

It couldn't even manage to resemble the girl in its memory.

Is this a tragedy?

Have no idea.

It is a flawed monster.

It is not Honkai Beast, not Herrscher, and not a human.

It was like a twisted remnant mixed in with the three, and the only word that could describe it was "monster".

"... My lord... what... is... the answer...?"

It kept whispering this sentence, as if its existence had no other meaning than this.

In a daze, Shen Duxin heard footsteps in the distance, and the trivial conversations of humans reached her ears, causing her to unconsciously turn her head to look at the countless dark gun barrels.

"Right ahead, the Honkai Energy fluctuation index is abnormal."

"The remaining troops are heading to these coordinates to request support."

"Initial armed probing, then all-out attack."

It's a bit noisy.

But it couldn't understand what these people were saying. The girl's memory was too fragmented, like a scratched disc that had sunk into water and was then retrieved, only to be played back as a blurry video.

Shen Duxin felt vague and unclear about many skills and things.

Speaking of which, what did strawberry milk taste like in her memory?

Actually, there was something it wanted to know.

But it was really not good-looking. Shen Duxin understood that it did not conform to the basic aesthetic standards of humans, so it deliberately avoided areas with humans along the way.

Why not kill someone intentionally?

Have no idea.

To answer this question would be like doing a problem on a first-grade homework assignment.

What does one plus one equal?

The reason? I don't know.

Will I be killed?

Shen Duxin had no concept of it; in her meager and pitiful memories, she had never been taught what defensiveness was.

It believed that all humans should be like the little girl in its memory.

They were all like her, carefully breaking off half of their bread and sharing it with the dirty, ugly stray dogs on the roadside, gently touching their dull, dusty fur with their pale, almost translucent fingertips, and giving them a bright, faint smile.

So how could I have been killed?

Even if you're uglier than a stray dog on the street, at most you'll just never receive warmth or charity.

So it timidly didn't know what to do.

How should I greet them?

"Forget it, I might as well just run away. Nobody's going to welcome me," it thought quietly.

In that girl's memory, there were many other colorful things in the world.

Even though the gods have destroyed many, many of these things, you can always find them if you keep traveling.

Then... I'll be closer to humanity, I'll understand what that girl is thinking, I'll meet the gods' expectations of me, and... I'll make my existence meaningful.

But the monster, whose existence was forbidden, caught sight of the fireworks in an instant.

It was an overwhelming display of fireworks, like a sudden rainstorm, a violent storm, and cherry blossoms.

This is a meaningless death, like a worn-out doll, like a coin left unpicked in a ditch, like dust piled up in an attic.

The graceful, supple limbs resembled a crushed tomato, dismantled into bones and flesh twisted into a grotesque, unrecyclable mess. Vast, empty holes pierced its chest and abdomen. Its ugly face was sculpted into bizarre shapes by shrapnel, and its dark hair was soaked with large patches of blood.

Shen Duxin raised her neck, which was already mostly broken, high. Her eyeballs, torn into pieces of flesh, slowly moved. She could no longer see the world in front of her.

The monster asked in a low voice, and said softly:

"My Lord God... have I become... more like a human being?"

In its final moments before death, the irregular crystals within its body were Honkai Energy within its blurred flesh, preventing them from falling directly to the ground.

But the terrifying, dark power alerted the soldiers of the Moth to Fire to something amiss.

"The Honkai Energy index is rising wildly! And other complex and intertwined energy fields are also appearing!"

"Retreat immediately!"

"Unlike previous Honkai Beast, its death will cause an explosion."

In the final moments of the monster's life, a god, sensing that Honkai was about to erupt on its own, linked to its brain.

He learned of the monster's confusion, understood its actions, and responded with indifference:

[You are not human, not Honkai Beast, not my apostle, but merely a deformed product worthy of observation.]

[Becoming more like a human is pointless; I only need apostles with sufficient wisdom.]

Thoughts are like moldy malt, having lost their reason to grow.

In a daze, it understood how to deceive itself.

Just keep the thought in your mind.

This is something that even the power to control light and shadow cannot achieve, but it can be done simply by having hope and expectation.

They believe themselves to be products of Honkai, to be guided by the gods to become closer to humanity, and to have a final destination.

[An answer derived from adding a memory to a blank personality is not a reliable reference.]

[The origin of this crystal is the only one worth recording. Whether it was a coincidence or inevitable, we'll understand next time.]

It is nothing more than a monster that has no home in any corner, born with original sin, and not even a discarded child.

Even the name she had silently recited countless times was a stolen product.

It was a truly pointless death, she thought sadly.

Amidst the irregular crystallization and pulverization, scorching beams of light engulfed the earth.

Amidst the deafening roar of a small-scale Honkai, the Honkai Consciousness quietly departed, and St. Peter's Cathedral completely lost any trace that proved its existence.

The ugly, eerie, and disgusting corpse melted away in the instant of light and heat collapsing, turning into black ash that could be seen everywhere on the earth.

The Moth to Fire unit avoided a tragic mass casualty due to its armor and early withdrawal, but some soldiers with only barely adequate Honkai adaptability showed signs of contracting Honkai Sickness.

That concludes the discussion.

The official observation period for Adelaide has finally come to an end.

No one cared about the monster's origins or why it sat blankly in the wreckage staring at the sky, like a stray dog ignored by the roadside, lowly and pitiful.

However, today's outcome will ultimately have a significant impact on its future trajectory.

On August 7th of the same year, at 3:00 PM.

Orank, New Zealand.

This was once the largest city in this small country, with 1.46 million residents living in an area of 1,086 square kilometers.

Now, most of the area has been Honkai and painted a forbidden black, and the original population of over a million has dwindled to less than ten thousand, resulting in extremely heavy casualties.

Because the population here is very sparse, and most of them are infected with the incurable Honkai Sickness, no additional Moth to Fire branches have been built here.

This approach clearly reflects a policy of leaving the local residents to fend for themselves, and in fact, that is exactly what it is.

Unless they pass the Honkai Adaptability test and make some kind of shady deal, the survivors will continue to face the calamity that may come again at any time, completely unaware of what is to come.

Somewhere in the city are abandoned factories with concrete floors and crisscrossing steel bars.

The girl, orphaned by the disaster, takes care of her seriously ill younger sister.

She stroked the little girl's increasingly pale face, her brow furrowed, her gaze both peaceful and worried.

The next moment, the little girl opened her bright emerald eyes, but then slowly closed them again in a daze.

Her consciousness was dazed and empty, and as her body trembled, endless Honkai Energy roared and surged in from the outside, flooding her entire body.

The Fourth Herrscher was born here.

Unlike the Herrscher of the past who could stir up some storms, after the city's Honkai Energy detectors instantly detected the Herrscher's birth reaction, the authorities did not hesitate to issue the order to launch the Honkai Fission Bomb.

A semi-abandoned city with a high probability of experiencing Honkai backflow phenomenon and only a few thousand survivors.

A Fourth Herrscher whose birth could potentially lead to the annihilation of all of New Zealand, or even endanger civilization itself.

Which is less important, and which is more important?

This was a choice that required no thought; even in the situation in Canghai City at that time, the authorities insisted on deploying the Honkai Fission Bomb.

If everyone is playing a game of balance, the weight of the chips is always so clear that it is easy to determine the final winner.

As the Herrscher's physical form continued to catalyze the process, the girl dissolved into black dust at close range.

The girl was torn apart by the storm, her body floating in the silent eye of the storm, her eyes closed, her sleeping face peaceful.

Moments later, endless light and heat surged forth, just like the scene that Canghai City had once encountered. Orank, which was already in dire need of reconstruction, was easily made even more dilapidated by the Honkai Fission Bomb.

The storm formed by the Honkai Energy was melted into nothingness, and the little girl peacefully passed away in her slumber.

The core of the Fourth Herrscher was buried beneath layers of surface ruins, and it took the authorities a great deal of time to find it.

Ironically, aside from the Honkai Fission Bomb needed to kill the Herrscher, humanity has expended far more effort in searching for the core.

This time, the Herrscher relied on her previous combat experience and fell directly at the very first hurdle.

The powers within the Herrscher Core have not yet successfully Soul Link of the Herrscher's physical body, and the physical body's perfect control over Honkai Energy has not yet been fully formed. This has resulted in the Herrscher's own automatically circulating Honkai Energy shield failing to be created.

All these factors ultimately led to the fact that, following the Third Herrscher, the remains of the Fourth Herrscher could not be preserved.

From a scientific research perspective, this is a rather regrettable event.

Especially now that Mei's talent is gradually coming into the official spotlight, it would be ideal to provide excellent material for such a genius.

Humanity at that time was engulfed in a frenzied celebration, which meant that the so-called Herrscher were far less terrifying than they had imagined.

As the unknown is repeatedly defeated by the Honkai Fission Bomb, many fears stemming from the very nature of power gradually cease to seem so awe-inspiring.

But just after the search party left this dangerous place where radiation and Honkai Energy were constantly intertwined, a humanoid monster, born from the entanglement between humans and Honkai, was born under the witness of the Honkai Consciousness.