Honkai, I Alone Save Everything

But the Second Herrscher was different. Her authority... how should I put it? It was already quite bizarre.

It was an authority that manipulated space. All shells and missiles fired at her would have their space warped, either being reflected back or teleported thousands of miles away.

It wasn't easy to attack her true form; every shot had the potential to become an attack on our own forces.

At the same time, she could use Honkai energy to create spears, precisely destroying our tanks and fighter jets.

Therefore, the current battlefield situation was quite grim.

Just then, a soldier entered the command room and reported to him:

"Report, Commander, headquarters has dispatched a new batch of soldiers to support the operation!"

He then handed the list to the commander, continuing:

"Except for one person, everyone else is already ready at the military camp."

"I see... except for one? Where is the other one?"

The commander frowned.

Could it be a deserter? That's quite common on the battlefield.

Facing the blood and death they witnessed firsthand, some soldiers on their first deployment would be scared out of their wits and choose to retreat.

To maintain the army's good conduct, such deserters must be severely punished.

He was about to ask where the deserter was when the soldier in front of him replied:

"Report, the remaining one... has already entered the battlefield alone! Her communication equipment malfunctioned, and we can't contact her now!"

"...Huh?"

The commander was slightly stunned.

Even planes and cannons couldn't breach that Herrscher. Wouldn't a mere recruit entering the battlefield be seeking their own death?

He quickly asked:

"What about the photographic equipment at the Herrscher's activity site? Can you still find that recruit?"

"Report, sir, most of the photographic equipment has already been destroyed by the Herrscher. We've only managed to capture footage of the recruit before she entered the battlefield."

The footage was then transmitted to the commander.

It was a pink-haired girl, looking very young.

She was wearing the standard uniform of Fire Moth, with a badge on her chest marked with the number "1".

..."1"?

The commander was momentarily stunned.

Logically, such a low badge number should belong to an elder who founded Fire Moth.

If he remembered correctly, the holder of badge number one should be that scientist named Mobius.

The white-haired girl stood in the sky, withstanding the continuous barrage of artillery fire from the human forces.

Reversing the void space to redirect attacks didn't cost her much.

As long as she maintained this, the human forces would eventually show an opening.

As she was contemplating this, a pink arrow suddenly shot up from the ground.

"...?!"

The arrow was so fast and unexpected that it was completely outside the Second Herrscher's predictions.

With no time to use the imaginary space for reversal, she could only hastily manipulate Honkai energy to construct a shield in front of her.

With her abilities, the shield she constructed could withstand normal levels of military bombardment without issue; she was confident about it.

However, that pink arrow easily disintegrated her defense and pierced her right foot.

For the first time since becoming a Herrscher, she felt a piercing pain.

In pain, the Second Herrscher chose to teleport to the ground, near her attacker.

It was a pink-haired girl. Even her standard uniform couldn't hide her beautiful face and figure.

But unlike other Fire Moth soldiers, she wasn't attacking her with firearms.

In her hand was a longbow.

Such an archaic weapon... and it's what allowed humanity to hurt me for the first time?

No, the focus probably isn't on the weapon, but on that pink-haired human woman.

"Hello there, my name is Elysia... Hmm~ I don't know if you can still understand human language right now."

She waved enthusiastically.

"..."

The Second Herrscher silently raised her hand, and several void spears formed behind her, shooting out at the fastest speed she could manage.

She didn't care about the damage she had sustained, but this human before her had to be eliminated.

However, all of her attacks were easily dodged by the pink-haired girl named Elysia. Meanwhile, in between dodges, she fired more arrows, accurately hitting the Herrscher's body.

—For some reason, her spatial manipulation seemed to have lost its original effectiveness. Despite her attempts to block, she still couldn't avoid being pierced by the arrows.

The battle thus became one-sided, falling into a disadvantageous situation for her. The spatial defense that even organized armies couldn't breach was as fragile as air before this pink-haired girl.

Soon, the Second Herrscher completely lost her ability to fight and knelt powerlessly on the ground.

The pink-haired girl put away her longbow, drew a handgun from her waist, and approached her, pressing the muzzle to her forehead. She said softly:

"I'm sorry."

Dazed, Ming Yu came back to his senses.

So this was the course of events regarding the Second Herrscher of the Previous Era...

Unlike the convoluted matters related to the Second Herrscher that Otto of the current era stirred up, the Second Herrscher of the Previous Era simply attacked humans and was then defeated.

However, the one who defeated her was indeed noteworthy.

—Elysia, the vice-leader of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, the Herrscher of Origin.

If he remembered correctly, this was indeed her first battle after joining the Fire Moth, helping the humans who were in a bitter struggle to win their second battle against a Herrscher, thus beginning her career in the Fire Moth.

In any case, after reviewing the Second Herrscher's life, the projection of the Chariot of Sanctus was finally obtained.

The important objective of his trip to London had been achieved.

Then, the next step should be...

Ming Yu suddenly felt something was wrong. He shook his head and opened his eyes.

"..."

He was slightly stunned and couldn't help but be surprised by the scene before him.

—At this moment, he was not underwater in the Thames River.

There was no feeling of weightlessness from being submerged, nor did he hear the sounds of battle.

All he saw was a giant ancient tree and a gray-haired man leaning against its trunk.

Everything was so quiet and peaceful, with only the occasional falling dead leaf creating a slight sound.

Obviously, this place...

was the World Serpent, [Seed of Sumeru].

Chapter 59: The Sage's Expectation

The gray-haired man Ming Yu saw before him was naturally one of the pioneers from the Previous Era, Su, just like Fu Hua.

Because he came into contact with the Chariot of Sanctus, he was pulled into this World Serpent...

Ming Yu mused internally.

"Hello, young man. Don't worry, I mean you no harm."

The gray-haired man, sitting by the ancient tree, spoke with his eyes closed.

"...Hello."

Ming Yu replied cautiously.

Although in his memory, this Flame-Chaser named Su was a relatively easy-going person, it was still right to maintain a cautious attitude.

"I am Su... In your Schicksal terms, I am a [Pioneer] from the previous generation, carrying the mission to protect humanity's civilization in this epoch, helping you defeat the threat known as [Honkai]."

Su introduced himself briefly in a gentle tone.

Ming Yu certainly knew about this.

This Pioneer, by executing the [Sand Table Project], continuously observed for endless years within the World Serpent [Seed of Sumeru] created by the Chariot of Sanctus, and finally found the only path to defeat Honkai.

—That is, the main storyline experienced in the game.

And the person he was waiting for here was not himself, but the blonde girl, Durandal, who was currently fighting fiercely with Kevin's armed puppet outside.

If it were according to the original timeline, in the autumn of this year, Schicksal would officially obtain the main body of the Chariot of Sanctus, and Durandal would be pulled into the Seed of Sumeru during an experiment, receiving Su's inheritance.

While obtaining the Second Divine Key, with Su's help, she perfectly mastered the power of the inner World Serpent and obtained [Stellaris Anchora].

However, although Su said she was the key figure in defeating Honkai, in reality, looking at the plot of the final chapter, the greatest contribution of this strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal was lending the holy sword that could cut the Finality's shadow. She herself didn't even participate in the final battle against the Finality Kevin.

Well... actually, it's hard to call her "key." It would be more accurate to say that the key was the holy sword named [Durandal] that could cut space.

In short, although Su was not inherently an evil person, in fact, he was a great person, he still didn't want to stay here for too long.

After all, he was the first true psychic warrior Ming Yu had encountered so far—unlike Fu Hua, who could only display related psychic abilities with the help of Feather of Dust, Su's attainments in the mental aspect were second only to Aponia.

Facing such an existence, if he learned about his trump card of time rewind through mind-reading, it was hard to say what would happen. He couldn't leave his safety to others to decide.

Or... was he already reading his thoughts?

Ming Yu was startled and almost activated time rewind with his next thought.

However, he then reconsidered. If Su had truly intended to control him through mental hypnosis or other means, he wouldn't be able to maintain control of himself this far. He likely would have been controlled long ago when experiencing the Second Herrscher's past.

Trusting Su for now, he decided to wait a little longer.

Ming Yu thought for a moment and politely said:

"Hello, Senior Su. I am Ming Yu, a warrior from Schicksal."

In a sense, Schicksal's very origins stemmed from the man before him. The ancestor of the Apocalypse family was a disciple of Su. With this connection, he could at least try to get closer.

Of course, Ming Yu maintained a cautious attitude, always ready to use Time Rewind to return to the past.

As if sensing his inner worry, Su calmly said:

"You seem to be wary of me, but please rest assured, I will not do anything to you. Forcing others... goes against my principles. Whether to speak of one's troubles to others, or to seek help from others, is each person's own decision, not an act of coercion."

He paused, then continued:

"However, the fact that you interacted with and broke the seal of the Chariot of Sanctus has drawn my attention, which is why I have brought you here."

Clearly, he wanted to ask why Ming Yu had broken the seal of the Chariot of Sanctus.

"I wish to borrow the power of the Second Divine Key to search for a girl who has fallen into the Sea of Quanta,"

Ming Yu stated truthfully.

Yes, this was indeed the honest truth.

It was just that what he wanted to borrow was not the real thing, but a replica.

Facing a strong spiritual perception expert and a psychology master, it was better not to lie.

Su simply nodded calmly, showing no unusual reaction. He then said:

"Unfortunately, I cannot lend you the Second Divine Key, nor can I precisely locate her for you. Its destiny does not lie here. However, if you wish to enter that sea to do something, I might be able to offer you some useful advice."