Wooo—wooo—wooo—
Red lights flashed, and under them, Mikael stood stunned, speechless and motionless.
"But..."
He clenched his fists. In the brief pause of the alarm, hurried footsteps echoed from outside. He seed to rember sothing, smashing the cabinet to pieces with a punch. He rushed into the corridor, only to see Hua's retreating figure.
Though she was moving away, the words she murmured reached Mikael's ears perfectly.
"I have what I can do... I have what I can do..."
Mikael raised his hand slightly towards her back, but he couldn't stop her from leaving.
Only when her figure had completely disappeared did he start moving again, his pace quickening. He jumped directly down from the residential area, landing on the scorching asphalt, and sprinted towards the sunflower field.
"No... no... no... no!"
His entire body was drenched in hot sweat, dripping onto the asphalt, making it stickier, almost impossible to walk on.
Mikael simply jumped off the road and ran into the flower field, roughly parting the sea of flowers with his arms, muttering Hiko's na.
Gradually, he finally saw that solitary spot of fiery red in the sea of flowers. Her hair was gradually lengthened by the swirling airflow, intertwining with the flowers. Seeing this, Mikael's movents slowed. He changed his posture, approaching Hiko with more caution.
"Mikael?"
Hiko turned her head. Her prominent nose was outlined in gold by the sunset glow. Mikael looked past her, at the armor plating above. It was early morning; the simulated weather system shouldn't be displaying such colors.
But then, his peripheral vision caught the sunflower buds beside him. Those ugly buds, which shouldn't have been turning, were now slowly rotating, facing the armor plating above... There, was an unusual sunset.
Mikael instantly understood.
If the alarm system wasn't malfunctioning, and if the Seventh Herrscher's power hadn't changed compared to history, then this brightness might not be an anomaly of the simulated weather system, but rather—the armor plating heating up, almost lting, presenting a color close to that of a sunset.
When his gaze returned to Hiko's face, his expression was complex.
He had felt it earlier; Hiko didn't have a Herrscher-level reaction. She wasn't the Herrscher of Fla.
"It's good that it's not... it's good that it's not..."
But... if the Seventh Herrscher wasn't Hiko, then who was it?
This doubt had just surfaced, only to be subrged by a sea of joy.
So, before Hiko could react, Mikael tightly embraced her.
"It's good that it's not... it's good that it's not..."
He kept muttering, making Hiko sowhat confused. She gently patted his shoulder, then softly and with a hint of awkwardness, put so distance between them.
Mikael also realized his behavior was a bit excessive. Wiping away tears mixed with sweat, he forced a bitter smile and urgently shouted:
"Captain, what ti is it, and you're still watering flowers? Hurry up and co with to the shelter—uh!"
He grabbed Hiko's wrist, but couldn't pull her body.
Hiko's smile beca gentler, but her tone was also resolute.
"I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere."
Along with her words, the entire underground space shook violently.
Mikael's pupils were instantly filled with fiery red. He and Hiko looked up, seeing a series of dents being punched into the armor plating above. Then, five or six streams of flas poured down, forming brilliant cross-shaped sparks in mid-air.
Mikael bit his lip, his expression struggling for a few monts, then pleaded again:
"Captain, don't be stubborn. Staying here is a dead end..."
"Then let die here."
"Cap..."
Mikael hadn't expected Hiko to say such cold words. He froze. Hiko took advantage of the opportunity to pull back her wrist. Even with debris from the armor plating falling from above, she held the watering can and leisurely watered the flowers.
The ground beneath their feet trembled constantly. So sunflowers' roots were already exposed, but Hiko didn't care, ticulously and numbly watering each bud.
"Precisely because it's certain death, I'd rather die here, in the flower field I planted myself, than in a cramped shelter, only to have my corpse crushed by falling rocks and mixed with other people's flesh. Or, when others beco zombies, be devoured by them."
"Boom!"
"Get out!!!"
An explosion sounded from above, accompanied by a roar Mikael was all too familiar with.
In his horrified gaze, the thirty-third layer of armor plating above developed huge, snaking cracks. Then, with the "creak" of special alloy unable to bear the load, the "sky" collapsed. A scorching stream of flas pierced the distance between heaven and earth, drawing a huge cross that filled his entire vision, before crashing into the artificial lake nearby.
The lake water surged outward, but as soon as it was thrown into the air, it was vaporized by the rising heat, turning into a cloud of settling white steam.
"Captain! Are you alright!"
Mikael turned his head. As soon as the armor plating collapsed, he had shielded Hiko. Honkai energy ford a fragile barrier, barely enough to block the aftermath of the fiery stream.
However, the surrounding flower field suffered. Fire sparks with long tails constantly swept through the air. With just a slight sway of their stems and leaves, all the sunflowers, along with the dark brown soil, turned to ash.
The obsidian-like asphalt began to flow towards the fields on either side, soon revealing the roadbed beneath.
"Such terrifying destructive power..."
"Whoosh!"
The air in front of him burst into a series of invisible ripples. A small black dot shot from a further distance, smashing into the dried-up lake embanknt.
The scorched earth naturally wasn't enough to absorb the impact, so the black dot plowed a huge furrow in the ground like an iron plow, until it ca to a stop right in front of Mikael.
White mist constantly rose from the charred skin, and the flesh within a series of gaping wounds was fiery red. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, it would have looked like an unrecognizable charred corpse...
But Mikael recognized him at first glance, recognized his comrade:
"Kal... Kalpas?"
Mikael leaned down slightly, wanting to touch his body, but his hand clenched into a fist.
"Mikael."
Hiko looked at the ruined flower field. She shook her head, tossed the watering can aside, and called Mikael's na.
"Captain..."
Mikael frowned and turned to her, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the side.
"Go, Mikael."
"..."
"Always throwing tantrums won't solve anything."
"I wasn't... okay..."
Mikael lowered his head guiltily.
"But I... I just feel that, since I can't do anything, just possessing such powerful strength, I'd rather give this power to soone more suitable... Since I..."
His face turned slightly, sotis looking at the hole in the sky, sotis at the scorched earth, sotis at Kalpas at his feet.
Tears dripped onto the scorched earth, turning into wisps of white smoke with a "sizzling" sound.
"Since every struggle of mine brings more harm to those around , I'd rather not..."
"You know, Mikael."
Hiko suddenly cupped his face, gazing at him gently.
"Every ti you and Ely call Captain, I feel a little ashad. I don't think I've taught you anything, let alone have the ability to protect you... It was like this in Irkutsk, it was like this in Nagazora City, and later at the Fire Moth base... it was also like this... I can't do anything. This thought has always been in my mind."
"No, Captain, you..."
Hiko gently pressed Mikael's lips, signaling him to listen patiently.
"And even now, I still can't do anything, can I? Mikael, I lied to you. I don't really want to die here. As a person, I naturally have my own will to survive, but I'm not reconciled... I'm not reconciled to my helplessness every ti a Herrscher appears. So I can only be here, watching from afar, watering aninglessly, because this is the only thing I can do... But... child, you are different!"
Hiko used her thumb to smooth the stray hairs sticking to his forehead.
"You can change all this, you can save all this. You have this power, you have this possibility. You don't have to stay here and wait for death like , understand?"
"But, I haven't been able to do anything before."
"No, what's important is not whether you can do it or not, but—you have the possibility to do it all. Possibility, this is sothing countless people pursue but cannot obtain, but you have it. Because I don't have this possibility, I can only water here."
"Because you have this possibility, you have sothing you should do, sothing you can definitely do... Of course, I'm not forcing you. No one will force you. Just like after you closed that door, i just had soone send you dicine, and Ely didn't forcefully drag you out, right?"
Mikael raised his head in astonishnt—so Hiko, she knew everything.
"Child, you're already an adult. You should also think for yourself, decide for yourself, ask yourself what you want to do most right now. Mikael, I've always felt guilty that I have nothing to teach you. I can only tell you this—don't let yourself regret it!"
"Boom!"
In the midst of a huge explosion, the pyramid-shaped base's outer layer was directly flattened.
Mikael trembled all over. Without even turning his head, just by the pervasive sll of roasted at in the air, he could feel the oppressive feeling of death.
Hiko gently patted Mikael's face.
"What are you waiting for?"
Even though Mikael's eyes were still confused, her eyes gradually beca firm.
She took two steps back and lifted Kalpas' body.
"I'll take care of Kalpas. Mikael, go do what you think is right."
Mikael followed her words and turned around, walking stiffly and slowly across the hardened scorched earth, step by step towards the headquarters.
He could feel it—the Herrscher was also heading there.
......
"Damn it! Thirty-three layers of armor plating were pierced in one go!"
"Kalpas' energy signature has disappeared! The Herrscher is coming towards headquarters..."
"Boom!"
"The upper structure has completely disappeared! Repeat! The upper structure has completely disappeared!"
"Damn, this ti the Herrscher represents ultimate destructive power?"
The violent shaking gradually subsided. i slowly crawled out from under the table in the combat command room.
"Cough, cough!"
Her windpipe was filled with smoke and dust, making her incredibly uncomfortable, but she still asked in a hoarse voice: "Protheus, have Kevin and Elysia reached their designated positions?"
Where Protheus couldn't see, she lowered her hand below the table, her fingers rubbing aninglessly, sweat dripping down her fingers in a string.
"Quickly deploy them to the surface!"
"Dr. i, do you an to decide the outco on the surface? I have reservations about this. From an absolutely rational perspective, the multiple armor plates inside the base can better limit the Seventh Herrscher's extre destructive power. On the surface, forgive for saying so, I don't think the two of them have a chance of winning."
Although Protheus raised objections, she carried out i's decision without fail.
She trusted i's judgnt and believed that i would certainly give a reasonable explanation.
"It's very simple. The armor layers inside the base, while limiting the Herrscher's destruction, are also a constraint on Elysia and Kevin's performance."
"Is it because of the 6th Divine Key?"
i didn't answer, but Protheus thought she had caught the key point.
Indeed, if it were a purely destructive weapon like the 3rd Divine Key, it would be fine, but for the 6th Divine Key, if it really ca to the last resort, using the rated power to completely liberate the power of the Sixth Herrscher [Death]...
There was actually a second explanation. It was almost impossible for anyone to survive in the upper structure, but more of Fire Moth's personnel were concentrated in the lower base. If the Herrscher invaded here, there would be no place for people to take refuge, and the losses would be even more severe.
However, in Protheus's understanding, i shouldn't be influenced by these factors in her combat decisions.
So the first explanation was more likely.
"However, just to be safe, have Dr. Mobius, Vill-V, and... Hua prepare for battle. Also notify Sakura, although if I rember correctly, it will take her at least four hours to get back to headquarters."
"Yes, without Mikael's spatial power, the 2nd Divine Key alone cannot teleport Sakura back out of thin air."
i silently wiped the sweat on her palms on her lab coat, then folded her arms across her chest, her fingers twirling her hair like Mobius...
"You an, at a ti like this..."
"Whether Mikael can fight or not, we have to try to utilize the 1st Herrscher Core—after all, according to Dr. Mobius and Mikael, it's a 'living' core."
i didn't answer imdiately. She gently closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she had made so kind of decision—"Okay, bring the 1st Herrscher Core to the combat command room."
"Dr. i... you an... is..."
Protheus's speech was a little hesitant. It wasn't that the network connection was having problems, but that so explanations that couldn't form a logical self-consistency appeared in her emotional module, causing a slight malfunction.
But i's attitude was also resolute, "Bring it, Protheus."
"Okay, as you wish, Doctor."
Protheus didn't have a physical body yet. Of course, as an artificial intelligence, she didn't need physical limbs. The chanical arms and robots that could be called upon anywhere could beco her limbs.
And at a ti when manpower was tight, it was more efficient to use Protheus than ordinary humans.
But i waited for a long ti without any further response from Protheus. Just as she was about to ask, Protheus's chanical voice, with a hint of doubt, sounded:
"Doctor, the 1st Herrscher's Core... is gone..."
i pursed her lips, her eyes a little dazed: "Protheus, what did you just say?"
"The core, it's gone. The 1st Herrscher's Core, it's gone."
"..."
An unknown fear surged into i's heart.
......
"So this is the headquarters of Fire Moth? It's so different from the mories left by this body. But are the people who built this place idiots? Such a conspicuous and technological building, how can it not be seen as an important target?"
The Seventh Herrscher stood in front of the ruins of the upper structure of the base, sniffing slightly, clearly satisfied with his masterpiece.
He did have so deeper residual mories of this body, but because it had been dead for too long, those mories were too fragnted and lacked tiliness.
His personality was more influenced by Lezren, and he hadn't stopped talking since he arrived.
And what he said wasn't entirely true.
The reason why he was able to locate the Fire Moth base in an instant was not only because of the building's prominence, but also because of the particularity of his body, which allowed him to feel a connection that transcended space and ti in the lower levels of this building.
"Oh... is it that traitor? No, the state of the core seems a bit... Oh, so that's how it is? This guy is too careless, actually keeping this kind of thing outside his body... Tsk tsk tsk, then let 'another you' help you keep it safe..."
He gently patted his chest. Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he quickly sidestepped. A crystal arrow flew past his sleeve. If he hadn't moved, he would have been pierced through the chest.
Yes, the chest, not the heart. This showed that the attacker was very familiar with the structure of a Herrscher's body.
More deadly, the crystal arrow seed to trigger so reaction in this body, making his thoughts a little chaotic.
"Tch, is that traitor's residual consciousness so strong!"
The tail of the arrow had just brushed past him when a burning sensation ca from behind.
Showing off in front of an expert?
A torrent of flas surged behind him, quickly wrapping around the hundred-ter-long fire sword.
"Is that it?"
The corners of his mouth curled up, and a green arc of lightning flashed in his gray eyes.
"That traitor really left behind a perfect body."
The sound of thunder rang out, and green lightning surged out first, followed by a black mire, gradually spreading.
"Boom!"
Thunder and fire mixed, and a violent explosion sent up black smoke. Kevin flew out of the smoke in a sorry state, the Surtr he held tightly in his hand broken again.
"This guy, how does he have [Śeṣa]'s ability!"
He waved his hand and switched strategies. Ice spikes rained down from the sky, the smallest of which were the size of a car.
"Hmm? More useless effort?"
Kevin was disappointed. Before those ice spikes could get within ten ters of the Herrscher, they were all vaporized by the scorching heat, leaving nothing but white steam mixed with the smoke.
"You want to freeze a Herrscher's flas with the ice of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast? How ridiculous!"
Kevin landed on the ground in mid-air. Seeing this, he wasn't flustered, but instead curled his lips slightly—
"Hmph—Elysia!"
"What!"
A black shadow silently darted out of the smoke and suddenly appeared behind the Herrscher.
"Don't be too proud! Herrscher!"
She tucked the huge lance under her arm, charging just as Hiko had done countless tis before.
And at this distance, the Herrscher had no ti to react.
He had just turned around when the tip of the lance touched his chest.
He was able to see clearly the pink figure that gave him the fatal blow.
And Elysia was able to see the Herrscher's face.
"Elysia!"
"Mikael!"
The lance slipped slightly at the last mont, piercing the Herrscher's abdon half an inch below his chest.
"No, wrong! If Mikael beca a Herrscher, how could he invade from the surface? How could he use [Śeṣa]'s ability... No, wrong, [Śeṣa], that's not his previous body! So that's how it is!"
Elysia reacted almost imdiately. Even though the tip of the spear deviated from the intended target, it wasn't a big problem.
As her Honkai energy poured into the 6th Divine Key, the tip of the spear went deeper, and the cells at the Herrscher's wound rapidly died.
"Boom!"
The 6th Divine Key directly pinned the Seventh Herrscher to a broken wall.
"Heh, you dare to impersonate Mikael?"
Elysia showed a mocking smile. She was confident in the power of the 6th Divine Key.
Even if the Seventh Herrscher had [Śeṣa]'s regenerative ability, according to Mobius's past experience, this would take at least tens of minutes to more than ten hours. During this ti, Fire Moth would have enough ti to deal with the Herrscher.
In other words—the outco was decided.
But was it really?
"Hehe... hehehehe!"
Looking at Kevin, who was closing in on him, the Seventh Herrscher wasn't flustered. He even showed a strange smile:
"Ah... really, this body was already a little overwheld when facing that monster earlier, and when facing you, it can't even use half of its strength... How pitiful..."
Elysia frowned. She sowhat understood the Herrscher's aning, and a strange emotion surged in her heart—that was Mikael's subconsciousness remaining in that body, hindering the Herrscher.
And she also knew that to make the Herrscher unable to exert even half of his power, this effect was of course due to...
"Mikael... So... No, actually I've always known, in your heart..."
Even the dilapidated subconsciousness in the abandoned body could restrain ninety-five percent of the Herrscher's power...
But then ca even more doubt—what exactly did the Herrscher an? He said these words...
"That 'pitiful' you said, it wouldn't be an excuse for your failure, would it?"
Kevin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and asked sarcastically.
"Ah? So that's how you understand it?"
Black blood flowed from the corners of the Herrscher's mouth and wounds, but he wasn't anxious at all, and he didn't have the awareness of facing death.
"Actually, the half strength I was talking about refers to my own power. Well, since the two of you are so difficult to deal with, I'll have to use so other ans. Hey, this power combined with my own, that's amazing. Half strength is enough to end everything."
A golden light suddenly flashed from the Herrscher's wound, pushing out the dying cells and the 6th Divine Key.
Elysia stepped firmly on the ground, stopping her body from retreating, and said incredulously: "Spatial power, how is this possible? No, this is Mikael's..."
The hole in the Herrscher's chest flashed with blue light, and the flesh and blood returned to normal.
"Are you ready to accept this power you once relied on?"
Heat surged. Kevin suddenly stretched out his hand, and bone-chilling ice and flas collided, montarily at a stalemate, and even gradually pushing back towards the Seventh Herrscher.
But...
"I told you, I have to use so other ans."
Only when he felt a light pat on his shoulder did Kevin belatedly feel the spatial fluctuation.
Ice covered his shoulder and quickly pounced on the Herrscher, but the Herrscher just smiled.
"Parvati's ice, or the Fifth Herrscher's ice, which is stronger?"
"What!"
......
Mikael ran along the lted asphalt road. A series of explosions ca from afar, but due to the terrain, he couldn't see what was happening further away.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it... There's no ti to get the core!"
That's right, this was the only chance Mikael thought he had. Only a Herrscher could defeat a Herrscher. He had to re-acknowledge himself, regain the power of the Herrscher of Reason...
"Wait a minute!"
He suddenly stopped.
"Once you beco a Herrscher, there is no turning back. The body will establish a connection with the Tree of Imaginary Numbers. As long as you are willing, even if you lose the core, you can beco a Herrscher again."
"That's right! Why didn't I think of that before!"
Mikael tried to re-establish contact with the Herrscher core. At this critical juncture, he believed that the core should be able to feel his urgency, so...
But he was disappointed. After he handed over the core earlier, he could still feel the specific location of the core through that lingering connection. So he also knew that the core was finally handed over to i.
But when he cald down and felt again... he couldn't find the core at all...
"Has soone beco the Herrscher of Reason? No, even if that were the case, I should still have so perception... Could it be!"
Mikael didn't have ti to think about it. A sense of crisis suddenly flashed in his heart. He imdiately fell to the ground, his jaw slightly open.
The next second, the mushroom cloud caused by the violent explosion rushed straight to the armor plate above, but after finding that it couldn't penetrate, the airflow flowed back again. A translucent ice wall gradually climbed along the mushroom cloud, seeming to want to wrap it up, but it only lasted for two or three seconds before completely shattering.
A violent shock wave swept across the entire underground city. A dazzling golden light suddenly flashed between heaven and earth, followed by deep darkness.
When Mikael lifted the soil and stood up again, the whole earth was like ripples on the water, crisscrossed with circular ravines.
"That explosion just now was..."
Mikael felt a trace of familiarity from the energy fluctuations.
"No... way..."
A black dot suddenly fell rapidly from the sky, getting bigger and bigger.
"Bang!"
The broken Surtr fell from the sky and stuck in front of Mikael.
"Ke... Kevin!"
......
"Tch, so-so."
The Seventh Herrscher looked at Kevin, who was struggling in front of him but couldn't stand up, and shook his head slightly.
He glanced at the distance. Pink crystals were layered, forming a flower bud, and green vines were wrapped around the outside. Suspended in the crystal were the 6th Divine Key and Elysia.
"Even at this ti, you still want to protect the 6th Divine Key?"
The Seventh Herrscher shook his head.
"Hmph, finish you off... hmph... um... ahhhhh!"
He suddenly clutched his head and groaned. After a while, he finally cald down.
"Tch, it was like this when facing that monster earlier, and those two ordinary people, and now it's like this again. How many tis will your subconsciousness stop , traitor!"
The Seventh Herrscher glanced at Elysia and jumped into the base's vertical shaft.
"It doesn't matter. If I can't do it, I can't do it. Destroy the last hope of this world, kill all other humans. Even if there are a few that the traitor cares about, humans can be considered biologically extinct."
As for the 6th Divine Key, it was just an addition, whether it was there or not didn't matter.
It was just that he didn't expect—
"Oh, this traitor's core, as long as I don't show hostility to these people, why is the synchronization rate with so high? Does he hate himself that much?"
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