The Battle at Aswan / Arrival in Cairo

"This is perfect! As long as we follow the prophecy, we'll be invincible!"

Nearby, Oingo and Boingo, worried about the situation, jumped out from behind a wall. Oingo hoisted Boingo onto his shoulder. "This is our invincible combination! The Oingo Boingo Brothers!"

NDoul followed behind them as well. There were too many people in Aswan, and from afar, he could not tell who was who by footsteps alone. To control his Stand precisely, NDoul had no choice but to come in person.

But now, just as the two lively brothers had said, the outcome was already decided.

He clearly heard the sound of flesh being pierced, as well as the sound of a great deal of blood splattering onto the ground.

"Raiden Mei" dodged Kiana's hand, while the sword in her hand tore through Qin Mo's body. Blood splashed across her face, yet she remained unmoved.

"The most dangerous one, Qin Mo, has been dealt with. Next, I'll..."

Just as he finished his threat, Anubis God sensed something was wrong. He had originally wanted to control Raiden Mei and raise the sword in her hand toward Kiana, but his body felt incredibly stiff. "What... what's going on... I can't move..."

"No! It's not that I can't move! This woman! She actually broke free of my control!"

"How is that possible?!"

Anubis God's image appeared on the blade, and he finally saw with his own eyes that purple arcs of electricity flickered across the hand gripping his hilt. The owner of that hand had changed her pupils from their original color to a vivid crimson.

It was not the red glow of his control. They had completely turned scarlet.

"So it was you... the thing controlling the coward's body."

Those blood-red pupils stared emotionlessly at the phantom on the blade. Purple arcs continued to increase around her body. Unlike Mei's poorly controlled electrical leakage, the lightning around the Herrscher of Thunder was fully under her control.

Anubis God looked at the Herrscher of Thunder before him. Though he had no body, he still felt a chill spread down his back.

Compared with before, Raiden Mei now seemed like an entirely different person in his eyes. A strange aura enveloped her.

If Dio's aura was deep and evil, then the woman before him reigned over all like a queen.

Unlike Dio's inhuman charisma and unfathomable air of mystery, this woman was simply strong! Incredibly strong! So strong that merely standing before her made him feel as though he was about to die!

No! Not about to die! He was already dead!!!

Anubis God discovered that, after only that one sentence, his blade had begun to disintegrate.

The Herrscher of Thunder was not skilled at finely controlling electromagnetic force. What she excelled at was overpowering others with sheer force!

Vast amounts of Honkai Energy transformed into electromagnetic force, continuously breaking down the sword in her hand.

The Herrscher of Thunder possessed power too immense to control with precision. Back in the Honkai world, an electromagnetic barrier would automatically form around her, reducing any person or object that approached her into molecules.

In the span of a single sentence, that electromagnetic barrier had already formed.

Without looking at Anubis God's body, which had begun to disintegrate, the Herrscher of Thunder looked toward Qin Mo, who lay on the ground.

The wound in his heart made blood gush out uncontrollably, forming a broad pool on the ground.

"Humans really are ugly. Did you really just die like that?"

Ignoring Kiana, who had become wary after discovering the Herrscher of Thunder, she walked toward Qin Mo.

"Stop right there, Miss! What are you trying to do?! And give Mei back to me!"

Seeing the Herrscher of Thunder's movements, Kiana immediately stepped between her and Qin Mo.

The Herrscher of Thunder gave Kiana a cold glance. Then, a white figure suddenly shot out from her body and threw a punch at Kiana.

"!!!"

Seeing the Herrscher of Thunder skillfully use Crazy Diamond, Kiana immediately summoned Killer Queen as well.

Unfortunately, Killer Queen's main strength lay in its ability to erase space itself. The Stand's own speed and power were not particularly strong. Yet against the Herrscher of Thunder, who possessed Mei's body, Kiana did not dare use that power. After trading fists with Crazy Diamond, whose strength and speed were both ranked A, Killer Queen was sent flying with a single punch.

Ignoring Kiana, who had been knocked away along with her Stand, the Herrscher of Thunder continued toward Qin Mo's "corpse."

Anubis God grew even more terrified. He completely failed to understand what was happening. The mental strength of the queen before him was beyond anything he had ever heard of.

Even Lord Dio could not compare to her. His once-infallible mind control was like an ant trying to shake a tree before this queen.

Anubis God could not move on his own. He could only use mind control to manipulate others as vessels, but if he could not control his wielder, he was nothing more than an ordinary tool.

"Someone save me! Where are the others?!"

Anubis God looked toward where the others had been hiding, only to see three figures lying on the ground.

After jumping out to show off, Oingo and Boingo had collapsed onto the ground in a pile, while NDoul lay slumped against the wall.

"How could this happen?!"

Anubis God did not know that, the moment the Herrscher of Thunder awakened, she had used electromagnetic force to knock out everyone nearby. Only Kiana, who had Honkai Energy adaptability, and Anubis God, who had no body, had survived.

By then, half of his blade had already been violently disintegrated by electromagnetic force. The Herrscher of Thunder alone was about to wipe out all the enemies in this attack.

"How ugly. Didn't you say you would always be here?"

Her tone did not waver as the Herrscher of Thunder crouched down and lifted Qin Mo's "corpse."

Yet the hand gripping the hilt ever more tightly, as well as Anubis God's accelerating disintegration, proved that her heart was not as calm as her tone.

Crazy Diamond once again punched the charging Kiana away, and Anubis God's vessel completely vanished from this world. The Herrscher of Thunder used her freed hand to gently wipe the blood from Qin Mo's face. "In that case, let this world be buried with you."

"Please don't do that..."

Suddenly, Qin Mo opened his eyes and grabbed the Herrscher of Thunder's hand resting on his face.

"Cough, cough... I may not be able to die, but that hit just now made me feel like my brain was about to melt."

Qin Mo coughed up some blood and sat up beneath the Herrscher of Thunder's stunned, delighted gaze. The Dog Talisman granted him the concept of immortality, but that immortality would neither block blades nor make him immune to lightning. It could not even remove the weakness caused by massive blood loss.

The Herrscher of Thunder's entrance had knocked out everyone around her with an area attack, including Qin Mo. Qin Mo did not have even the slightest bit of Honkai Energy adaptability!

The Battle of Aswan

"I'm surprised, human. You still haven't died?"

After a brief emotional fluctuation, the Herrscher of Thunder quickly composed herself and put on an arrogant expression.

"I won't die that easily, but it really does hurt..."

Qin Mo initially wanted to cover his wound, but when he realized he could not stop the bleeding at all, he gave up. He could not die anyway.

"It's been a long time, my queen. How did you find this trip?"

After giving up on treating his injuries, Qin Mo grimaced in pain as he greeted the Herrscher of Thunder. He knew that she retained all of Mei's memories. After becoming a Herrscher, the Herrscher personality would gain control of the body. They could possess all the memories of the original personality, or choose not to let the original personality know their own memories. They also possessed powerful mental strength.

Perhaps in the original setting, the host personality was merely nourishment for the Herrscher personality. Every Herrscher of the Previous Era had been nothing but a pure killing tool.

But in the Current Era, it had become a struggle between Herrscher consciousness and the host's will. Unlike other Herrscher consciousnesses, the Herrscher of Thunder was fully capable of suppressing Mei's consciousness, yet she had never done so. Each time she appeared, it was less that she wanted to come out and more that external stimuli had forced her to face things Mei did not want to face.

"This world is not bad. At least I can't hear those voices constantly chattering in my ears."

After using Crazy Diamond to punch Kiana away once more, the Herrscher of Thunder recalled it and placed her hand on Qin Mo's body.

The blood scattered all over the ground began to peel away from the earth under a strange force. Every speck of dust was meticulously separated from it, and the blood slowly flowed back into Qin Mo's body through the wound in his chest.

Although Crazy Diamond's ability was restoration, indiscriminate restoration and precise restoration produced entirely different results.

If she restored it carelessly, blood contaminated with dust, sand, countless bacteria, and viruses would return directly to his body, causing all sorts of adverse reactions.

Though she looked cold and aloof, she carefully handled every part of Qin Mo's injury while healing him. If not for her blood-red pupils, Qin Mo might have thought Mei had returned.

Since Crazy Diamond had been withdrawn to treat Qin Mo, Kiana finally ran over. When she saw the Herrscher of Thunder healing him, she froze. In everything she had learned, Herrschers had been embodiments of destruction, but the Herrscher of Thunder before her seemed to be...

After the Herrscher completely healed Qin Mo, Kiana became even more unsure how to react.

No matter how she looked at it, the other woman had helped them, while Kiana's attitude just now had been anything but friendly.

As though she had seen Kiana's discomfort, the Herrscher of Thunder stood up and revealed a faintly mocking smile. "I rather like this world. At least I won't lose control of my power and destroy everything around me because Honkai Energy keeps flooding in."

The Honkai world contained Imaginary Space. Honkai Energy could be said to exist everywhere, so completely driving out Honkai was fundamentally impossible.

Herrschers were connected to Imaginary Space, with an endless stream of Honkai Energy pouring into them every moment.

The Herrscher of Thunder's control over her power was still at the level of a child. With power constantly being injected into her, even the energy leaking from her body was enough to disintegrate everything around her.

But this world had neither Honkai nor Imaginary Space. The only sources of Honkai Energy were what she had stored in her body and the Honkai Energy contained within the Conqueror Gem.

If she remained in this world for too long or kept using Honkai Energy, that rootless Honkai Energy would eventually be completely exhausted.

In the Honkai world, Honkai Energy corrosion would worsen continuously and could even trigger a Great Eruption because the air itself was filled with Honkai Energy. Like a lightning rod, it constantly attracted wandering Honkai Energy to gather. But in this world without Honkai Energy, rootless Honkai Energy would only slowly be broken down by the world, turning into the most basic energy of this world until it disappeared entirely.

"Then why not stay and travel with us for a while?"

After his injuries were fully restored, Qin Mo stood up from the ground.

"Qin Mo! What are you saying?! What about Mei?!"

"Calm down, Kiana."

Qin Mo soothed Kiana, who had become agitated by his words. "Isn't Mei right here? In the end, although the Herrscher personality was born because of Honkai, she is undoubtedly Mei too."

"But..."

Kiana wanted to say more, but the Herrscher of Thunder interrupted her. "Enough. I did not come out for this, and there's also a little girl who does not welcome me."

With a wave of her hand, a massive bolt of lightning swallowed the nearby street. The three people who had been lying there vanished without a trace.

"Human, only I may take your life. Next time, don't die before I take your name."

After dealing with the three enemies, the Herrscher of Thunder leaned close to Qin Mo. Her faint voice entered his ears.

"The coward won't remember this."

As those words fell, Mei's body collapsed toward Qin Mo, and he reached out to catch her.

"Mei!" Seeing Mei fall, Kiana hurried over and looked the two of them over. "Qin Mo, did she leave?"

"Mm, she's gone. Mei won't remember what happened just now, so don't let anything slip later."

Kiana hurriedly nodded. She knew what had happened. Mei would probably have a hard time accepting that she had been controlled by an enemy and nearly killed Qin Mo...

"Mm..."

A moment later, they saw Mei's eyelids tremble slightly. After making a small sound, she opened her eyes.

"Where am I?"

Mei looked around in confusion, only to discover that she was leaning in Qin Mo's arms while Kiana watched from beside them. Her cheeks instantly flushed red, and she quickly pulled away.

"What happened to me?"

Mei tried to recall what had happened before, but her memories stopped at the group walking down the street together.

Seeing that Mei did not seem to remember being attacked, Qin Mo casually said, "You were probably exhausted from all the traveling these past few days. You nearly collapsed while we were walking just now. You must be tired, so why don't we head back and rest today?"

"Is that so?"

Mei found it strange. She did not feel particularly tired. She looked toward Kiana, who hurriedly nodded along.

Though she found it strange, Mei did not doubt Qin Mo and Kiana's explanation.

The three followed the same road back to the hotel, only to run into the other five as they returned at the same time.

"Ah! Mei, hurry and heal us."

When Polnareff saw Mei, he ran over. At the same time, Qin Mo noticed the injuries on Polnareff and Avdol. "Hey, old man, Avdol, why are you both covered in injuries too?"

"Don't mention it. We ran into the Bastet Goddess Stand user. Who would have thought she had covered the hotel outlets with her Stand's outlets? It took us a lot of effort."

"You too?! We ran into that guy who can shrink people. He actually ambushed us in the crowd. Damn it!"

Qin Mo glanced at the system. His crystals had increased by 300. It seemed they really had defeated five enemies.

Arrival in Cairo

Qin Mo had not expected to encounter five enemies at once in Aswan. However, he found an opportunity to inform the others about the three enemies his group had encountered, lest someone accidentally let something slip and wonder why three people were missing.

After consecutively defeating several enemies, the system's crystal reserve had reached 550. It was enough for one hundred pulls, but Qin Mo chose to ask Kiana to do three ten-pulls.

Since he could not equip an S-rank character card anyway, Qin Mo's mild compulsiveness made him choose to pull out the guaranteed S-rank character card.

The three cards were Caesar from this world, the assassin teacher Sojieta Kuzuki from the Type-Moon world, and an unexpected old friend—The Dark One, or rather, the Fire Demon.

Fire Demon (S)

Skills:

Fire Demon Qi: Corresponds to Li among the Eight Trigrams, granting its holder inexhaustible scorching power from birth. It allows the holder to freely manipulate flames for attacks and makes their body immune to pure fire attacks.