When the news of a Herrscher's descent reached them, everyone in the Fire Moth base reacted like they'd been struck by lightning. They jumped to their feet and sprinted toward their stations at full speed.
With the bitter lesson of the Third Honkai Eruption still fresh, Fire Moth dared not show even the slightest carelessness this ti.
At the sa ti, Helixcraft's ch legions were also mobilizing. Even though the two organizations often butted heads, when it ca to Herrscher-related matters, they never hesitated to join forces.
However, just as Elias and the others were racing toward the helipad to deploy to the Herrscher's location…
"All units, halt! Captain Elias, Vice-Captain Elysia, Kevin, Dr. Mobius… report to the operations conference room imdiately for an ergency Herrscher suppression eting!"
"Hm?"
Hearing the voice in his earpiece, Elias froze. His first thought was that Fire Moth's higher-ups were up to sothing suspicious.
But the next mont, he recognized the voice—it was i. Or rather… Dr. i now.
"Elias, what should we do?"
"Why is i suddenly calling us to a eting?"
Elysia and Kevin ca up beside him, both clearly puzzled. A eting? What was there to discuss? The Herrscher was out there—just go straight at it!
It was a Herrscher, after all! Every second of delay could an irreparable damage.
"Relax. If i says so, she has her reasons. And it's fine—Helixcraft is here. One eting won't make a difference."
"Mhm!"
"Alright."
With Elias' words, the two instantly cald down.
Standing not far away, Hua's expression was complicated. She was still just an ordinary soldier.
It wasn't that Elias didn't want to arrange a ta-Morph surgery for her—but her assigned Judgnt-level Honkai Beast, Garuda, hadn't even been born yet. There wasn't a single scrap of intel on it—no clue whether it would be a wild Honkai Beast or a Companion Honkai Beast of a Herrscher.
Even in his mories of the previous life, there were no details. And Elias wasn't about to assign her so random Honkai Beast just to make do. She was destined to be one of the Fla-Chasers—better to wait for the right one.
Hua, however, was getting impatient.
(I really want to grow stronger, so I can stand with them…)
The group quickly arrived at the conference room.
i gave Elias a small nod before standing to speak. Though she had only joined Fire Moth after the Third Honkai Eruption, with Elias' strong support and her own extraordinary genius, she had risen rapidly to the managent level and now headed a research institute.
"i, what's going on? The Fourth Herrscher is here—we need to eliminate it imdiately!" Kevin urged.
"Kevin, calm down. Let i speak." Elias pressed down on the excitable husky.
"Always the composed one, Elias. The reason I ordered the troops to stand down is simple: deploying now would be pointless. The Fourth Herrscher's codena has been confird as the Herrscher of Wind—and her behavior is completely different from the previous Herrschers."
"Hm? What has this Herrscher done?"
Elias frowned, sensing sothing off.
He had no prior intel on the Previous Era's Herrscher of Wind. And considering all the changes he'd already made to history, it was no surprise that the original plot had been thrown into disarray.
If humanity had changed its actions, it was only natural for the Honkai to change as well.
i adjusted her glasses and said with a trace of disbelief:
"The Herrscher of Wind… ran away."
"???" xN
Everyone froze. Even Elias stared, wide-eyed, wondering if he'd heard wrong.
i had expected this exact reaction. She opened a projection screen and played the footage captured by satellite.
...
Ten minutes earlier—
In a small coastal town, a massive Honkai Eruption suddenly broke out, its scale even greater than that of the Herrscher of Thunder.
Then, a girl with azure wind-wings sprouting from her back and a white scarf wrapped around her neck ascended into the sky like a goddess—this was the Fourth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Wind!
With a wave of her hand, towering waterspouts rose from the sea. The apocalyptic sight drew cold sweat from many who watched.
Kevin and the others' expressions hardened. Even knowing how terrifying Herrschers were, seeing them unleash their authority firsthand was always nerve-wracking.
Next, the Herrscher of Wind lifted an entire small island from the sea and hurled it toward the mainland.
Elias: (Why is the island flying…? If Raven saw this, she'd probably get PTSD.)
Just then, the video showed a ch squad charging at the Herrscher of Wind.
Elias realized that he had, in fact, built a hidden hangar in that area. But those were only low-grade chs ant for dealing with ordinary Honkai Beasts—against a Herrscher, they would be obliterated instantly. Still, if they could distract her for even a few seconds, they wouldn't have been built in vain.
He and Vill-V had classified chs into three tiers:
Low-grade chs: For sub-elite Honkai Beasts.
High-grade chs: For elite-class Honkai Beasts.
Godslayer chs: For Herrschers.
The third tier was still in the design phase. Even a genius like Vill-V needed ti to design Herrscher-grade chs, and constructing them would also take Elias a long while.
But back to the footage—
Instead of swatting the low-grade chs away like flies, the Herrscher of Wind turned tail and fled without looking back.
"What? The hell—?!"
"The Herrscher… ran away?!"
"Seriously? That cowardly?"
"She's already gone!"
Jaws nearly hit the floor in the conference room.
Even Elias was stunned.
This Herrscher wasn't overconfident?!
How was that even possible? A Herrscher without arrogance—was she even a Herrscher?
Elias: (Co on! Have so pride! Since when do Herrschers back down? Which of your predecessors didn't face the world head-on, never flinching? Even your future successors will stand and fight against the entire world. Even the Herrscher of Corruption has more guts than you!)
Even Elias himself, upon becoming a Herrscher, had his mont of inflated ego. But this Herrscher of Wind? Scared off by a few low-grade chs. It was like a lion fearing ants—utterly laughable.
"Her retreat caught everyone off guard," i admitted. "But more important is her speed. Even with a rough estimate… she's already hitting Mach 7."
"What?! That fast?!" xN
Shock rippled through the room again. i wore a troubled expression. Barring the special case of the Herrscher of the Void, the Herrscher of Wind's mobility was unmatched—not just so far, but possibly among all Herrschers yet to appear.
And if such a Herrscher chose not to engage in direct combat but instead to run, humanity had almost no ans to capture her.
Even trying to predict her flight path and set up an ambush would be unreliable—she could change course at any mont. And if she chose to fight instead of run? Facing the Herrscher of Wind in the sky was tantamount to suicide.
At present, few fusion warriors could even fly. Those who could wouldn't stand a chance against a master of ideal fluid manipulation.
"So what do we do now? We can't just ignore her. If she tosses out a couple of tornadoes while on the run, who knows how much damage she could cause!"
"But even our fastest fighters can't catch her, and even if we did, we couldn't stop her. What are we supposed to do?"
"Damn Herrscher—if you've got guts, face us head-on!"
The conference room was filled with frustration and helplessness. The Third Herrscher had been just as despair-inducing, and she'd even had a Companion Honkai Beast—but at least she had stayed in one place, within reach.
This Herrscher of Wind, on the other hand, refused to give anyone a chance for direct combat. She zipped around the world, and even when confronted with the weakest chs, her first reaction was to bolt.
So cautious and timid she barely seed like a Herrscher!
Just as everyone was wracking their brains—
"Ely, rember how I promised to give you this kill? Do you still want it?" Elias asked with a calm smile.
"Elias, don't joke around right now. Use that smart brain of yours to think of a plan!" The pink elf looked at the screen with a deeply troubled expression.
"If you don't want it, then I'll take it for myself."
"Yeah, fine, no problem… Wait, WHAT?!"
Everyone in the room turned toward Elias in unison. His easy tone made it sound like the Herrscher of Wind was already as good as dead.
Instantly, every eye was on him in expectation.
They couldn't help it—
This white-haired youth had already defeated two Herrschers in a row. Twice, when everyone else had been ready to give up in despair, he had reversed the tide and brought victory to humanity.
"Elias, you've got a way to handle this, don't you!"
Even the supposedly utterly rational Dr. i couldn't help feeling hopeful. If it were anyone else, she would have assud such composure was just an act.
But Elias was different.
As long as Elias hadn't given up… humanity hadn't lost to the Honkai.
That was the reputation he'd earned through victory.
"Yes. You can all start preparing for disaster relief. Focus on supporting and aiding the areas she's damaged—the Herrscher of Wind, I'll deal with her."
"Good! Good, good!"
"As expected of Elias—reliable as always!"
"Finally, hope…"
The tension in the room evaporated, replaced by a surging, indescribable excitent.
Seeing Elias so calm and confident made the crisis that had seed so daunting monts ago feel as if it had already been resolved.
Elysia's eyes sparkled. Mobius' expression took on a strange note of pride. Kevin clenched his fists in awe. Even i, never one to trust easily, entrusted her faith to Elias.
Elias turned and walked out of the conference room.
In the next mont, pure white draconic traits manifested across his body. This inhuman form radiated a sacred brilliance, like a myth given flesh and worn as armor.
BOOM!
Dragon wings unfurled, and Elias shot into the sky, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
Above, the endless white clouds split as if a massive force had torn them apart.
"Track Elias' coordinates. We may not know what thod he's planning to use against the Herrscher, but we must be ready to support him at any mont. Wait… what's this speed…?!"
Dr. i rubbed her eyes instinctively.
And she wasn't the only one—everyone still in the conference room stared at the projected display, wondering if the instrunts were malfunctioning.
"Elias' flight speed… Mach 13?!"
The pen in Dr. i's hand clattered to the floor. On the screen, the blue dot marking Elias' position was closing in on the Herrscher of Wind at nearly twice her speed!
Everyone turned to Mobius.
The ssage in their eyes was clear: You perford Elias' fusion surgery—don't you know what's going on?
Mobius: "Don't look at ! I don't know a thing!"
The snake herself shivered slightly in surprise, clearly not expecting Elias to have such a hidden trump card. Then she licked her lips in excitent—of course the man she had her eye on would keep delivering surprises.
"Ahem. Enough. The Herrscher of Wind is finished. Everyone, follow Elias' earlier instructions and prepare for post-battle relief and support." Dr. i cleared her throat and addressed the room.
...
"Hah~ this feels amazing."
Flying at over Mach 13, Elias watched the scenery blur past in an instant. Even the dynamic vision of a fusion warrior couldn't track details at this speed.
It was his first ti flying this fast, and he wasn't even going all out.
"Honkai, this ti your plan was decent. Unfortunately for you, your opponent is ." Elias spoke as if addressing the omniscient god of the Honkai itself.
If humanity couldn't win head-on through either of its two developntal paths, then simply set the fastest Herrscher to keep running. Humanity wouldn't be able to catch her, and she could destroy the world at her leisure, tossing out attacks mid-flight.
"A simple, brutal, and effective tactic. But it only works if your Herrscher of Wind is the fastest Herrscher alive. Too bad—she's not."
With a powerful snap of his pale dragon wings, the air bood, and his speed increased even further. Cities vanished behind him almost as soon as they appeared.
"Caught you, Herrscher of Wind."
A green figure entered his vision. His fists clenched, and like a white teor, he smashed into her.
"A human? How—aghhh!!"
Before she could finish, Elias was in front of her, punching her tens of kiloters away.
"Still alive? Figures…" Elias glanced at his smoking fist and casually shook it off.
He hovered above, looking down at the Herrscher of Wind who had been slamd into the sea. Any other Herrscher would be dead, but the Herrscher of Wind's ideal fluid shield—nearly absolute defense—had kept her alive.
"Human…! How could you possibly catch ?!"
Soaked and sputtering, she stared at him in disbelief. How could she lose in speed to a human?
"I'm not obliged to answer. Die."
His fingers ca together, encased in flawless white dragon scales—an artwork of ultimate violence.
"Damn you—die!"
The words left her lips, but her body betrayed her, turning to flee again at full speed.
The Honkai's orders to her were absolute: never engage, always flee, unleash destruction while running. To her, it was like an unbreakable core command.
"Still trying to run? This is over."
Faster than twice her speed, Elias caught her in an instant.
"Winds, guard !"
"Winds, obey !"
"You—you can't possibly—?!"
Her eyes went wide. She had summoned her invincible ideal fluid shield—only to see Elias wielding the sa authority.
His output crushed hers outright, shattering her shield before it even fully ford.
The next mont, Elias' fingertips pressed against her chest.
"Ki—Impact!"
His fist clenched, and explosive power burst forth. Her heart was pulverized instantly, the shockwave ripping through her body and scattering every cloud in the sky.
"Target neutralized. Herrscher head count: 1."
He shook his head at the lifeless Herrscher in his grasp.
"Challenging in speed… hopeless."
After all, Elias himself was the ultimate evolved form of the Herrscher of Wind—enhanced twice over by two Gems of Desire and ascended to a transcendent state.
Against him, the Herrscher of Wind never stood a chance.
—
—
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