Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All Chapter 13

"Reporting, sir. The village here has been fully investigated. That strange man named Kalpas truly isn't a local."

"He seemed to have come from... Beyond the Heavens?"

He had come from Beyond the Heavens, willingly allowed himself to be tied up, and even had a face as mysterious as the starry sky. Then, when the new Herrscher scattered Subspace Spears everywhere—essentially issuing a challenge—he gladly accepted the invitation.

Other than the gender not matching, it seemed to line up with that ancient prophecy again.

Elysia said nothing. She remembered this place. Kalpas had been tied to a pillar, covered in wounds, yet these villagers claimed he had done so willingly.

But Kalpas really had been willing, because if he hadn't been, no one but Elysia could have tied him to that pillar.

She touched the pillar, where faint traces of blood from those years ago could still be seen.

"Commander Elysia, there's a problem with the intelligence."

Hen hurried over. A scar now ran across his face, making him look less like a boy and more like a man.

"The Herrscher didn't head toward a populated area?"

Elysia froze for a moment. It was a little different from the dreams of the past... but it didn't confuse her. Dreams were like that. If they never changed, it would only mean she'd been cursed.

Hen gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Europe concealed the truth before. Although that laboratory was located in northern Asia, it was indeed backed by Europe."

And they had guarded the route the Herrscher was supposed to take in theory, only to stand watch in the wrong direction.

Elysia fell silent.

"They actually admitted it voluntarily?"

That truly surprised Elysia. Unlike the previous plot, the Herrscher's overwhelming combat strength seemed to have changed some things.

Or perhaps the destruction of the capital of the Mu Continent had frightened many people.

"...Because the Herrscher has already arrived," Hen complained.

Elysia froze again. That was impossible!

Although dreams could indeed change, Kalpas was a superhuman guaranteed to solo the Ice Herrscher. How could he possibly fail to stop the Herrscher of the Void... right, this was the Herrscher of the Void.

If he wanted to leave, no one could keep him there.

"Can we contact Kalpas now?"

In the dream, aside from herself, Kalpas had been the strongest force in the early stages. Then came nuclear bombs.

She should win Kalpas over first. Just like in reality, he was someone with a sharp tongue and a soft heart.

Hen's expression turned subtle. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Kalpas has already fallen in battle."

The Herrscher of the Void's skill set was absurd: time stop, energy bombardment, secondary internal shockwaves. The invincible stats of the masked man had lost to sheer damage output.

Elysia instinctively raised her voice. "Impossible!"

What kind of joke was this? How could the Herrscher of the Void possibly solo Kalpas?

But it was the truth. After watching all the satellite footage, she could only accept that the Herrscher of the Void had received a massive buff.

The Herrscher of the Void clearly wasn't supposed to know tactics. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to take him down in the past without exposing even the slightest thing.

It was all An Yu's fault! A Herrscher would get smarter wearing that face too. Damn it.

"Contact Mobius first. To prevent any further surprises, we need to bring Mei and Kevin over ahead of time."

Goose-feather snow began to drift down from the sky again, while the north wind howled. She stood beside the pillar that had trapped Kalpas for years, facing the wind and snow.

It would've been better if Kalpas were still tied to that pillar.

The dream was finally beginning to change.

"It's all just a dream anyway... Why should a pretty girl have to listen to those old fossils?"

An Yu had already arranged every part of her life at home during the day. If she couldn't arrange everything herself in her dreams too, then what was the point of dreaming?

"Ridiculous! Without friendship, bonds, dreams, and a future, what gives you the right to oppose a god!"

Standing where the legendary Sword in the Stone was located, An Yu studied the Familiar function.

The Honkai IP had plenty of little-known information that nonetheless truly existed in its corners.

For example, Honkai Beasts hadn't been powerful in the barbaric age. Only as human technology advanced did they gradually evolve shells capable of resisting bullets.

As Reson Studio's writer, An Yu hoped this fan game would follow that fundamental rule.

He modified the Honkai Beasts with one hand, preventing his Familiars from being easily killed by those minor monsters.

"First, they need hard shells."

At the very least, they had to be like at the start of the story, where the only way to break that shell was with anti-tank rockets.

Second, his Twin Familiars needed to be strengthened again. At minimum, they couldn't be taken down by five thousand fully armed soldiers like ordinary Emperor-class Honkai Beasts.

Though he hadn't played a cultivation game in a long time, An Yu could still understand the thrill of raising one.

"Benares, next we'll raise our banner, cross the wastelands, and devour the world together!"

He wiped the wounds from the demonic dragon and had armor condense over its body, making it impervious to blades and bullets.

He drew the Sword in the Stone—whether it was merely decorative or had some other purpose, he had no idea—and pointed it toward the distant capital of Great Britain.

"But first, we'll destroy everything here."

"I have no intention of pursuing what happened at the laboratory before. Others won't understand a god's magnanimity. On the contrary—"

"This place will become the prelude to a god's destruction of the world."

A boom rang out in the sky, but what arrived before the sound was the latest tracking missile.

A missile traveling at twenty times the speed of sound descended from the heavens. Come to think of it, Glitter Tiga's flying speed seemed to be only a dozen times the speed of sound. Hmph, what a country bumpkin of the cosmos!

Swoosh—boom!

"I say, let there be light."

Ripples filling the sky swallowed everything. Before the power of space, all long-range attacks were declared ineffective. They even exploded above the city's iconic skyscrapers, flames soaring into the sky.

Unless someone could sever his connection to the Void Realm... but the Herrscher of Binding was still far off. An Yu wasn't worried about that, and Binding couldn't catch up to him anyway.

"This is how you play a mowing roguelike!"

An Yu laughed freely and stroked Benares's head. "Bebe Dragon, cooperate with me later and let's make this a spectacular scene."

An Yu paused the game and tried to switch to a screenshot tool, but this mowing roguelike wasn't compatible with the screenshot tool, so they couldn't run at the same time.

He tried to crack it, but couldn't...

"So it really isn't made by some small studio. No wonder they didn't leave any contact information. They made it purely out of passion."

He switched back into the game, and his figure was already high in the sky. His experience bar kept rising. Although Great Britain's population wasn't that large, a spatial ability user didn't care.

"In the creation myth, God separated the sky and the sea. Then in the apocalypse myth, shouldn't they return to chaos?"

"Benares."

He called softly. The surrounding sea suddenly dropped, then constantly replenished itself. The waves surged violently, yet couldn't even strike the land. Seawater kept vanishing, only for it to pour in from other parts of the ocean.

The seawater naturally wouldn't disappear. The ecosystems that each performed their own roles were completely thrown into chaos. Seawater fell from the heights, and sea and sky inverted.

The demonic dragon flapped its wings, and absolute zero froze the sea. Unfortunately, An Yu had overestimated Bebe Dragon. There was simply too much seawater in the sky for Bebe Dragon to freeze it all.

An Yu's face darkened. If you can't freeze it, won't all my experience points get washed away?

"Forget it. Let's follow the main quest instead. Big scenes make it too easy to lose experience points."

Volume One: Chapter 19 — Sirin?

Europe

"Commander? The United Nations is urging us again."

Hen, acting as her adjutant, reminded her softly. Thanks to his previous outstanding performance, he didn't even have to go suffer on the moon as part of the guard detail anymore.

"Make them wait."

Elysia's tone was cold.

They couldn't make it in time anyway. After shedding her sentimentality, Elysia had gained a rare measure of rationality. Attending university in reality had also made her a little wiser.

After dismissing everyone else, Elysia hooked the corner of her mouth with a finger, making herself look as though she were smiling.

Her fingertips pressed against the door. Before long, it opened, revealing a tall beauty with wine-red hair and a languid, slightly tipsy air.

"Eden, long time no see."

Elysia walked into the house as though she belonged there and casually shut the door behind her.

A trace of confusion flashed through Eden's hazy golden eyes. "Do we know each other?"

Girl, why are you acting like you're back in your own home?

Did I drink myself stupid?

"Strictly speaking, not yet."

After all, according to the dream's normal plot, Elysia would be Eden's first friend after she joined Fire Moth.

But that would only happen after the Seventh Herrscher. Elysia didn't have the patience to wait that long now.

"At present, we don't know each other."

Eden's already unconventional train of thought nearly ground to a halt. We don't know each other? Then...

Then aren't you trespassing?

Aren't you afraid I'll call the police?

Oh, you're wearing a military uniform, so you really aren't afraid... Realizing this, Eden quickly sobered up, her gaze turning wary.

"At present, we indeed don't know each other. Even though we were supposed to become the closest of friends, I really can't wait that long," Elysia said sincerely.

Even outside the dream, they were very good friends.

Eden sniffed softly, and a hint of panic crossed her still-tipsy face—Don't tell me you're some extreme stalker fan?

"I need your help, Eden!"

Elysia tightly grasped her slender fingers.

"You... please, go ahead."

Eden tried hard to pull her hand free, but the sweet-looking girl before her was absurdly strong.

"Come with me, Eden!"

Eden's face went pale. This was bad. A powerful and wealthy young lady was her extreme stalker fan.

"Let's save the world together."

There was less dreamy lilt in Elysia's voice. She had attended university, after all—in reality.

Without money, power, or force, she couldn't accomplish anything.

But Eden had money, and Elysia had force. With the Herrscher's influence and Fire Moth's shell, if the two joined forces, wouldn't they have the right time, place, and people?

"...How much ◎≯'+∥↓≯←″hＡq: money do you want?"

That singing voice known as humanity's work of art didn't tremble because of it, but Eden's bloodless face truly didn't look convinced.

"All of it."

Elysia lifted her snow-white neck.

Her greedy voice paired with that military uniform made Eden wonder whether she should die before yielding or obediently hand over the money for her life.

After all, Elysia hadn't bothered to hide her behavior. Eden felt this girl might have terrifying influence behind her. She couldn't possibly just be blindly confident and foolish, right?

"I'll have my agent transfer all my cash to you right away."

"Not just cash."

But those gluttons could never be fed enough.

The moment Eden heard Elysia's demand, she was instantly relieved, with a nearly imperceptible trace of mockery in her voice.

"Does your backing really have the means to handle so much real estate?"