Ming Yu's purpose was very clear. Knowing that the Pseudo-Herrscher was very likely to be born here, he had no intention of checking other places first.
As for the reason, it was quite simple:
"Chiba Academy was originally where the Third Herrscher was born. The concentration of Honkai energy is definitely higher here than in other areas, so it naturally needs to be checked first."
In fact, the Honkai energy distribution map of Changkong City sent by St. Freya Academy's science department showed exactly that.
Thus, Mei and Bronya had no doubts about his arrangements.
Standing at the entrance gate, Ming Yu slowly closed his eyes.
—He was using Time Reversal to determine whether the Pseudo-Herrscher had already appeared.
Soon, he opened his eyes.
Judging from the results, the Pseudo-Herrscher would not be born within the next three hours, at the very least.
It seemed they had arrived earlier than before.
In that case, there was another way to handle the task Theresa had given them.
He turned around and said to the two girls beside him:
"Let's split up from here. If you encounter a Honkai Beast you can't handle alone, call the others for support."
Bronya nodded silently, then, under Project Bunny's protection, leisurely floated toward the eastern side of Chiba Academy.
After saying goodbye to him, Mei also headed toward the central area with her katana in hand.
After watching the two of them leave, Ming Yu rubbed his chin and quickly made his way to an unoccupied place.
There, he summoned Yae Sakura, who had been hiding within his body.
"I'll leave Bronya's side to you."
The cherry-haired girl nodded, then immediately left as well.
"Whew... Now then, let's go find Mei."
Ming Yu expertly took a small path and made a detour to look for the girl.
Ultimately, the Pseudo-Herrscher's birth was caused by excessive Honkai energy gathering on its own.
So long as they absorbed the overflowing Honkai energy in the city beforehand, wouldn't they be able to suppress the Pseudo-Herrscher's birth rather easily?
Even the frequency at which Honkai Beasts were born would be greatly reduced.
Theresa's belief that Schicksal's current technology could not completely cure a city contaminated by Honkai was not entirely wrong.
Human technology truly could not deal with it for the time being... but if they asked for help from something other than humans, it was not impossible.
Hmm... Wouldn't it work as long as a Herrscher-level being actively absorbed the Honkai energy here?
In theory, both Kiana and Mei could do the same thing now.
It was just that Kiana still could not accept the Herrscher of the Void's power. If she rashly absorbed a large amount of Honkai energy, there was almost a one-hundred-percent chance that the Herrscher consciousness within her would awaken and let Sirin take control of her body.
Besides, that idiot was probably still being watched by Theresa while undergoing special training...
So now, he could only ask the Herrscher of Thunder inside Mei to lend a hand.
Since the rooftop incident, Ming Yu had not seen her again. This time was an opportunity.
Reunion
The purple-haired girl walked through the silent school buildings.
She was incomparably familiar with this place, with this academy.
Not long ago, she had still attended school here as an ordinary person, never having come into contact with something called Honkai.
One disaster had changed her life, and it had also changed the lives of these girls lying on the ground.
She could still call many of the fallen girls by name.
Not long ago, they had all hovered around her, currying favor at every turn. Yet during the three months after her father was imprisoned, every one of them had begun avoiding her as though she were plague-ridden, keeping their distance.
Only then had she understood that she had never truly had any friends before.
But after coming to St. Freya Academy, things had changed.
Whether it was Kiana, Fu Hua, and Bronya as classmates, or Himeko and Theresa as elders, they all genuinely treated her well.
She truly loved her life there.
Of course, there was also Ming Yu...
At the thought of him, the girl's cheeks could not help turning faintly red.
He had awakened her on the rooftop, and then... that sort of thing had happened...
As a daughter who had always been well cared for by her father, she had rarely had the chance to interact with men other than him while growing up.
And after enrolling in the girls' school that was Chiba Academy, there was even less need to mention it.
Though she had little contact with the opposite sex, it was not as if she had never seen things related to it.
Well, things like the romance novels and comics popular among girls.
What young girl did not dream of romance? Every one of them had imagined herself as a princess being saved by a knight.
And Ming Yu truly had saved her.
That was why she especially cared about him.
Speak of Ming Yu, and there he was.
His figure was reflected in her eyes.
Mei asked in surprise:
"Eh... Ming Yu, why are you here?"
"Mei, I finally found you. I found a girl in a classroom over there. The Honkai energy in her body has already exceeded safe levels by quite a bit."
Ming Yu pointed ahead.
Soon, he led Mei to the corresponding classroom.
Inside, quite a few lifeless corpses lay sprawled across the room, but one of them was particularly different.
—She was a green-haired girl lying flat on the classroom floor, her expression twisted as she was clearly immersed in pain.
From the student ID that had fallen beside her, they learned that her name was Yuna.
Vines flickered in and out of sight around her, spreading from various parts of her body and struggling to grow, seemingly helping her absorb the Honkai energy in the surrounding environment.
Though the girl had not yet awakened, it was obvious that if given more time, she would likely revive completely as a Pseudo-Herrscher.
"She... she's still alive?"
Mei looked worriedly at the girl on the ground.
Ming Yu nodded and said:
"Mm, I checked just now. She still has some vital signs, but the concentration of Honkai energy in her body is constantly rising."
Presumably, when the Honkai outbreak in Changkong City had first occurred, the girl named Yuna had been attacked by Dead Soldiers and Honkai Beasts, infected by Honkai energy, and fallen unconscious.
Yet she had not completely died. Because she possessed fairly decent resistance to Honkai energy, after Mei left Changkong City, the residual Honkai energy here had spontaneously gathered toward her body, attempting to use her to give birth to a new Herrscher.
Though she had not fully awakened yet, those vines already possessed a certain self-defense mechanism.
Ming Yu demonstrated for Mei. With a curl of his finger, he used electromagnetic force to draw a steel pen from a desk and controlled it as it flew toward the girl lying on the ground.
Before the pen had even flown halfway, suddenly lashing vines struck it in midair and snapped it in two.
Moreover, obvious corrosion marks could be seen along the broken edges where it had touched the vines.
—They were highly poisonous!
"Then... should we report this to Principal Theresa now...?"
Mei suggested.
If another Herrscher truly came into being, even if it was only a Pseudo-Herrscher, handling it with just her, Ming Yu, and Bronya would likely be dangerous.
To be safe, it would be better to report it to Theresa and let her make arrangements.
"That is certainly one option... We could have stronger seniors from the academy eliminate her, but perhaps we have another choice."
Looking at the girl named Yuna on the ground, Ming Yu said:
"Even at top speed, it would take several hours to get from St. Freya Academy to Changkong City. Judging by the current rate at which Honkai energy is gathering, she will probably have completely transformed into a new Herrscher by then."
Well, a Pseudo-Herrscher was still a Herrscher. Nothing wrong with that.
By then, she would be beyond saving—after all, not everyone was like Mei, able to give birth to a new personality from their Stigmata to help endure the Honkai Will's erosion.
Therefore, if things truly dragged on until Yuna became a Pseudo-Herrscher, the only outcome would be to destroy her completely.
"Perhaps we have a way to save her. Not let her die as a Herrscher, but... a solution that benefits both sides."
If they could save someone, then naturally, it was better to save her.
"Eh... Then how do we do that?"
Mei asked curiously.
Although she had been studying hard, her knowledge of all things related to Honkai was still severely lacking.
"To do this, we'll have to rely on you, Mei."
"...Me?"
The girl asked blankly.
Then Ming Yu told Mei about his plan and his idea.
—She would awaken the other personality within her, hand control of her body over to the Herrscher of Thunder, and have her absorb the Honkai energy from Yuna's body as a Herrscher.
"I... I'll try."
Though her voice was soft, Mei spoke firmly.
She closed her eyes and sank her awareness into her mental world.
Ever since she had awakened from the rooftop that day, she had known that another personality had appeared within her body.
Perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of guilt, she had never tried to communicate with her.
Even when Ming Yu had suggested it before, she had not possessed enough courage to try.
But now, if it was to save someone...
Although Ming Yu had told her that the disaster in Changkong City could not be entirely blamed on her, seeing the victims spread throughout the academy and the city still filled her with guilt.
So, if she could do something...
Within the darkness, the girl caught sight of a figure glowing with faint purple light.
A voice identical to her own came from the figure's mouth, but its tone was completely different from hers:
"Heh, I never thought a coward like you would ever come looking for me on your own."
Exchange, Transaction
The other party's tone was extremely sharp, frightening the timid Mei into taking two small steps back. She could not help feeling the urge to retreat.
But remembering why she had come to see the other woman, she still took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and said:
"...I want to borrow your power to help someone."
"You? Borrow my power?"
The purple-haired figure was slightly surprised.
Though she had always hidden deep within Mei's heart, that did not mean she was unaware of what had happened outside.
Rather, although she had remained silent all this time, she had indeed watched everything in the outside world at every moment.
Before you continue