Starting with the Herrschers, I Cut Down All

Elemental Shield 5: Shield capacity increased to 75% HW. Gain super armor while the shield exists.

Although upgrading the shield currently only increased its capacity, the added super armor effect was enough for An Yu to invest in it.

Besides, if the advancement meant he could remain in super armor for a few seconds after the shield shattered, it would still be worth it.

Across from him, Elysia slowly fell to her knees and tightly embraced Sakura's gradually cooling body. Her pink hair spilled down, completely obscuring her face and making her expression impossible to see.

"Oh, and one more thing."

An Yu added in a tone calm to the point of cruelty, "She could have dodged it. This girl's reaction speed really is absurdly fast, but unfortunately, after seeing you... she seemed to let her guard down too."

An Yu could not understand why simple fast reactions and speed qualified someone to be a boss card.

But this was a vast world. Perhaps she held some special status. Who knew? In any case, he could not be bothered to read the in-game books. It was not like he was writing fanfiction.

"Are you going to make a move?"

He asked the deathly silent girl before him.

There was no reply. The dome simply continued falling from the sky, crushing the already shattered surroundings into oblivion.

After several Phase Shifts, An Yu discovered that the ground within several hundred meters around the boss had been pounded down hundreds of meters by the relentless attacks. Only the "high platform" where the boss stood remained.

Even if she was not the final boss, she was definitely the second-to-last or third-to-last one.

"Why aren't you coming after me?"

He appeared in a farther, relatively safe area, his voice carrying through the roar of destruction.

"You two had a conversation. You knew each other, didn't you?"

The world completely changed color. It was no longer dazzling, stripped of the girl's prayers and dreams, leaving only the purest, most direct, utterly undisguised desire for destruction.

Tch. An Yu appeared in the distance, quietly watching the center that had become a domain of absolute destruction, a scene like the Palm of Soul-Shattering, pouring out every shred of despair and rage.

"You still won't come after me? Then I think I..."

An Yu slowly raised his head, his smile brilliant.

"Know your underlying code now."

Heavy Punishment for Troubled Times

"Heavy punishment for troubled times..."

By the time Hen and the others steadily advanced here from the perimeter, Elysia was walking numbly through the ruins, holding Sakura's corpse.

Her once-vivid dress was covered in dust and dark red bloodstains, painfully conspicuous.

"Boss?"

Hen called softly, but his gaze could not help drifting toward the distant crater and the several Honkai Zombies trapped atop the pillar reaching into the sky at its center.

Elysia slowly came back to herself, her voice hoarse.

"Did Fire Moth say anything?"

Hen hesitated for a moment. "They hope you can resolve things here as soon as possible, Commander, because a huge uproar has already broken out internationally."

"However, many factions have also sent condolences. They likewise... hope you can bring this revenge to an end quickly."

At least for now, everything concerning the Herrscher of the Void was regarded internationally as the revenge of an experimental subject.

The hair over Elysia's forehead obscured her starry eyes. The weight of the blood made her formerly fluffy bangs heavy. She looked back at the several Honkai Zombies in the distance, then held Sakura's corpse a little tighter.

"Go to the United Nations. Either everyone works together, or everyone dies together."

She was Elysia. Perhaps in the eyes of certain old-fashioned predecessors, she was a divine daughter sent by the stars and moon. But that was ultimately merely a Prophecy, not reality.

"I'm not a god," she murmured softly, as if reminding herself. "And a Herrscher has never been just one person."

The meeting was organized with astonishing speed, taking place late that very night.

Leaders from every continent who could personally attend had arrived. Those who truly could not make it participated through the highest-grade holographic projection.

Everyone easily suppressed the fear deep in their eyes. When speaking with one another, they wore nearly perfect smiles, gentle and cordial, as though this were an ordinary summit.

Elysia's outburst earlier had accelerated the transformation of several injured people into Honkai Zombies.

Satellites were not blind, and this incident had grown too large. Einstein did not have the ability to cover up something of this scale.

Everyone understood. It was time to play dumb.

"What, you can't smile anymore either?"

Mobius leaned against a corridor pillar outside the conference hall, looking at Elysia curled up on a bench in the courtyard.

The night breeze lingered, and a hundred flowers remained in bloom. Yet the girl surrounded and protected by them did not even notice such a small thing. She merely sat on the bench with her head in her arms, suppressing her emotions.

It seemed the Prophecy was real. Unfortunately, the god's daughter was not a god.

"Professor, this isn't the time for jokes."

Elysia bit her lower lip tightly. The Herrscher's provocative actions had undoubtedly declared one thing: she could protect nothing.

What she had feared most during the day had come true. Little Yu was truly stripping away, piece by piece in her dreams, everything she had once been proud of in her life.

"...Sorry."

Mobius lowered her eyes, a rare occurrence, her voice low. "It happened too suddenly. I don't know what to do either."

Perhaps if she had been firmer during the period after the First Herrscher erupted, Elysia would not be so helpless now.

But the truth was that the Herrscher of Reason had caused such enormous destruction, only for those watching from across the river to enjoy the spectacle before each resumed intensifying their arms race.

"I'm not blaming you, Professor. At least right now, you're the only one still by my side."

Elysia did not know what she could do either. She had spoken of trying a new path, but when it came to actually carrying it out, she had no idea where to begin.

Suddenly, a cool hand rested on her messy hair. Elysia looked up and saw that Mobius had somehow crouched in front of her.

"Do whatever you want to do. Because of wishful thinking and the constraints imposed by every side, we have already lost our best ability to deal with this disaster."

"Rationally speaking, I can only support you. Emotionally speaking..."

She paused and looked straight into Elysia's eyes. "I'm on your side now too."

Mobius looked at this junior. If she herself had been firmer, the Stigmata Project would not be so far out of reach, with not even the slightest hope in sight.

The corners of Elysia's lips tugged upward with extreme reluctance. "Professor, you're really bad at comforting people."

"Sorry. I've never experienced anything like this before, so I have no experience in this regard."

Mobius spoke calmly.

A person was bound to keep growing throughout life, but unfortunately, because of the direction she had chosen, she could neither learn nor encounter things like comfort and tenderness.

If this matter had not become so serious, she would not have come at all. After all, she hated everything about politics.

Elysia's lips moved as though she wanted to say something more, but the notification that the meeting was beginning had already sounded.

"Go in. This time, you're the protagonist."

Mobius used her fingertips to smooth Elysia's disheveled hair, trying to make her look a little more presentable.

There were not many people in the enormous conference room. Most of those capable of making decisions had already arrived or were watching through the meeting feed.

Altogether, there were only a little over thirty people.

"Miss Elysia, it seems you are somewhat at a loss regarding this disaster."

"Yes."

That was the first sentence of the meeting. Elysia did not pay attention to who had spoken. She merely nodded lightly, admitting her own helplessness.

"Then how do you need us to help?"

Another voice took over, sounding quite sincere.

Mobius's tall figure leaned against the doorway. Looking at Elysia's clenched fingers hidden beneath the table, she felt that humanity was probably finished.

When she returned, she would push forward her Stigmata Project unconditionally. Perhaps there was still a little hope.

"Don't be nervous, Miss Elysia."

Another voice sounded, carrying deliberate soothing.

"You may tell us whatever help you need. After all, right now, you are our... only hope."

Elysia looked around, desperately wanting to find even the slightest trace of the warmth and trust she had felt during her journey.

She took a deep breath, but her voice was very soft. "What do you mean... help me?"

She raised her head, anger appearing in her formerly dim eyes.

"Wasn't the birth of the Herrscher of the Void caused by all of you?"

The European representative, who had not spoken from the start, lowered his head completely, not daring to meet the girl's gaze.

"Everyone!"

Elysia's voice suddenly rose. Her words, which should have been full of strength, carried an uncontrollable tremor. She did not understand what these people were still calculating at a time like this.

"We should... unite by now, shouldn't we?!"

"Great Britain has more than sixty million permanent residents. Every second we delay here means tens of thousands of people are dying."

"You can shift responsibility onto Fire Moth, which deals with Honkai, or even onto me. But can shifting responsibility solve the problem?"

"With a great enemy before us, are you still dreaming of preserving yourselves alone? Or does any one of you believe that once the Herrscher finishes her revenge, she will mercifully coexist peacefully with everyone?"

"This should have been the simplest kind of joint meeting, shouldn't it?"

Human Contract Alliance

The cold reality was like a bone-piercing wind. It should have scattered the last shred of wishful thinking. No one present was a fool. Human civilization stood at the edge of a cliff. This should have been the moment to gather their remaining strength.

But what were you doing?

Were you placing all hope, all responsibility, on me alone? Or were you hoping we would destroy each other?

"Shouldn't we be gathering every bit of military force we can gather to deal with the Herrscher of the Void? Everyone!"

Elysia's voice held a barely perceptible tremor. She tried hard to fill her words with strength and stir resonance.

Before Elysia could look around with anticipation, a voice calmly refuted her.

"How do we gather it? By exposing our armaments?"

Don't be ridiculous. The arms race had lasted for more than a century. A sudden exposure could easily wipe out decades of advantage.

Elysia suddenly laughed, her shoulders trembling slightly. She did not know exactly what she was laughing at.

Only beneath the cover of the table, faint starlight swirled around her fingertips, stripped of its colorful glow.

"We may be able to concentrate some of our newest armaments in Fire Moth, but what about the armies?"

Another voice sounded, carrying official deliberation and compromise.

Elysia could not even be bothered to question how many years ago this "newest" equipment had been produced, because... what did they mean, what about the armies?

"If the armies are concentrated too, wouldn't the risk be too great? Wouldn't it be easy for us all to be wiped out in one stroke?"

"Of course, Miss Elysia, we are not doubting you. It's simply that the risk seems a little too great, doesn't it?"

The worried voice sounded exceptionally sincere. If the elites were wiped out in one stroke, and Elysia tore off her mask to reveal that she too was a Herrscher, humanity would be finished!

Then what should she do?

Elysia fell silent. Her fingertips dug into her palm, leaving crescent-shaped bloody marks, yet she felt no pain whatsoever.

Heavy punishment for troubled times. A soft heart could not save the world.

An indescribably violent impulse churned in her chest. Just as she was about to raise her hand and deal with everything the way a college student would, a cool hand suddenly seized her wrist.

Elysia turned her head. Mobius shook her head and walked to the front.

At this meeting, she could possess a very special identity, but she herself had never wanted to get involved in politics.

Mobius's voice was exceptionally clear. "It's fine. You don't have to participate."

"I hereby represent Mu Continent, and we have reached a consensus with the European Union."

Her voice carried no ripple of emotion, yet every word struck the ground. "We will establish a new alliance. Later, we will contact all like-minded partners and invite them to join."

"This alliance will be responsible only for the defense and response of our own regions."

She lifted her chin slightly, carrying a sudden arrogance and confidence. "We are not worried about being wiped out in one stroke."