Honkai, as the world's backdrop, is born alongside civilization. The more civilization develops, the stronger the will of the Honkai becomes.
To resist the continued development of these civilizations, beings with human forms yet surpassing common sense—"Herrschers"—are born during every Great Honkai Eruption.
As apostles of God, each Herrscher is the ultimate embodiment of some physical law, monsters that, if they used their brains, could independently annihilate civilizations.
And now, a certain fellow who seemed to know many things had just stated with a calm face that the Herrscher whose ability was "Erosion" was about to awaken.
There's a line in a Shenzhou poem: "With a peculiar nature, he indulged in fine phrases; if his words weren't astonishing, he wouldn't rest till death."
Miss Theresa, whose intelligence was touching, had a poor grasp of Chinese and could never understand what this sentence meant.
After Li Zihan finished speaking, she understood.
The first half, Theresa still didn't quite get. The second half, she understood.
The so-called "if his words weren't astonishing, he wouldn't rest till death" was precisely to describe this fellow who had popped out of nowhere.
"What the hell is a Herrscher of Erosion?! There hasn't been a Great Honkai Eruption here, so where would a Herrscher come from?!"
The white-haired dango, who had merely come to pick up Cecilia's niece and take her back to Saint Freya, almost jumped onto the table, her expression agitated.
She had only received intelligence from Raiden Ryoma, saying that Siegfried's daughter was in Nagazora City, and thus decided to come and see her great-niece.
And look what happened. She was just here to pick someone up, and a mysterious-looking receptionist invited her into a restaurant.
Theresa had initially thought he was hosting her on Raiden Ryoma's behalf, but this guy immediately started telling her some deeply unsettling information.
The Anti-Entropy Sovereign was lurking in Saint Freya Academy. What was he doing there? What was his purpose?
The Herrscher of Erosion was about to awaken from its slumber.
What the hell? Why would a Herrscher, an apostle of God, suddenly appear without any warning?
Are Herrschers so lacking in prestige nowadays?
This situation was like a policeman winning a thousand yuan, gleefully going to the lottery shop to claim his prize, only to encounter robbers on the way. Before he could even step forward to stop them, he discovers a squad of terrorists coming up from behind.
Kiana and Murata Himeko beside her also looked as if they were questioning their very existence.
Kiana's purpose in coming here was to meet her great aunt and, incidentally, ask about her father, Siegfried.
Murata Himeko's reason for coming was even simpler: she was bored, tagging along with Theresa to see if she could turn a corner and find love, escaping her cursed fate of dying without a man.
Yet, in less than half an hour, characters that sounded like they should only appear on the background boards of an RPG game—Anti-Entropy Sovereign, Herrscher of Erosion—popped up one after another.
Among everyone present, aside from Li Zihan, the calmest was surprisingly Raiden Mei, who until recently had been living the life of an ordinary high school student.
Having not yet deeply understood "Honkai," she had no idea what the Anti-Entropy Sovereign and Herrschers represented.
"Because that is a Herrscher left over from the Previous Era."
Like an elementary school teacher explaining basics to students, Li Zihan spoke with great patience.
"The Twelfth Apostle of the Previous Era—the Herrscher of Erosion, Ling—has achieved symbiosis with a highest-level Pseudo-Herrscher and could awaken at any time by borrowing the Pseudo-Herrscher's body."
Previous Era.
Another term that sounded like it would easily make people feel uneasy.
Theresa and Murata Himeko, who knew very well that an extremely powerful human civilization existed before the current one, both wore extremely grave expressions.
A Herrscher in symbiosis with a top-tier Pseudo-Herrscher?
If that was the case, it was probably very close to a complete Herrscher.
"As the Herrscher of Erosion, Ling's essence is a super-virus."
The young man, not belonging to this world, continued speaking, regardless of Murata Himeko and Theresa's gloomy faces that looked like water could be wrung from them.
"It possesses both biological and electronic properties. Whether human, beast, or machine, once infected, they will become its property."
"In the Previous Era, the Herrscher of Erosion named Ling relied on its own power to seize control of all nuclear weapons, destroying humanity's last three remaining cities."
Even just listening to Li Zihan's description, the faces of everyone present, including Raiden Mei, changed.
"This ability... is too much!!"
Theresa even exclaimed instinctively.
Undoubtedly, even among Herrschers, who on average possessed hax-level abilities, this was a terrifying power.
Non-contact infection of machinery and living beings—what kind of absurdly broken ability was this?!
Moreover, according to Li Zihan, this Herrscher seemed to have a prior record of launching nuclear weapons at human cities.
One had to know that the total number of nuclear weapons possessed by the world's major nuclear powers numbered over ten thousand, and the destructive power of each one far exceeded the two that flattened the Far East.
Once those superweapons that forged peace were controlled by a Herrscher...
A chill rose in the hearts of everyone present.
That would be the apocalypse. If they were all unleashed at once, the entire Earth's ecological chain would probably be rewritten.
"Where is that Herrscher?"
With almost no hesitation, the invincible S-rank Valkyrie, Judah, emerged behind Theresa "King of Fiascos" Apocalypse.
The Oath of Judah, a Divine Key created by the Previous Era anti-Honkai organization, Fire Moth, using the core of the Eleventh Herrscher, the Herrscher of Binding. It could nullify Honkai energy and weaken other forms of energy to varying degrees.
Its Zeroth Power, "Divine Grace Field," could create a field that nullified Honkai energy for one minute, with an unknown range.
It could be said that the S-rank Valkyrie, Judah, was practically the natural enemy of Herrschers. In the Second Honkai Eruption, the S-rank Valkyrie, Judah, nearly solo-killed the Six-Core Pufferfish.
"Why do you ask?"
Li Zihan, who had no intention of bringing Theresa into the battle, looked at the white-haired dango who had suddenly stood up and even summoned the S-rank Valkyrie, Judah, his expression somewhat surprised.
"Protecting people from Honkai damage is the duty of a Valkyrie."
Theresa, worried that the so-called Herrscher of Erosion would suddenly awaken and cause massive casualties, wore a solemn expression.
"Since a Herrscher is about to awaken, as a Valkyrie, I naturally should head to the front lines."
"That—"
Li Zihan looked at the King of Fiascos, who seemed to want to go find Higokumaru for a one-on-one fight right now, and hesitated.
Although he had dispatched a large number of familiars to search for the donkey-eared fox's sleeping place, due to insufficient luck, he had only found a general area.
It would still take some time to find the donkey-eared fox herself.
I haven't even found the donkey-eared fox myself, what Herrscher of Erosion am I supposed to fight?
"I'll have someone contact the Anti-Entropy Sovereign and Grandpa. Before they arrive as reinforcements, let me go and fight the Herrscher for a bit."
Theresa, feeling that the situation was urgent, patted Murata Himeko's shoulder, then asked Li Zihan, word by word.
"The Herrscher of Erosion is still sealed. Without Honkai energy to activate it, it probably won't wake up for a few decades."
Li Zihan looked at the King of Fiascos, who seemed to have no intention of waiting for Welt, sighed, and reluctantly revealed the information.
A large question mark floated above the head of Theresa, who was already prepared for battle.
She opened her mouth and made a confused sound.
"Huh?"