The Sixth Honkai Eruption had suddenly broken out. This time, the Herrscher descended directly upon a prosperous metropolis, and in an instant, the Eruption slaughtered everyone there.
"This Eruption covers the entire city-state. The concentration of Honkai energy is 1.5 times greater than that of the Herrscher of Ice. We are currently carrying out extermination and rescue operations simultaneously. But be cautious—this Herrscher's lethality is extremely high."
Inside the transport aircraft, Elias and the others listened grimly as Dr. Mei relayed the information through the comms.
"We have designated this Herrscher as the Herrscher of Death. At present, she appears to possess the ability to release black mist. All life within the area enveloped by the mist has been erased."
"From how the stationed Fire Moth branch was instantly wiped out, it seems even fusion warriors cannot resist this black mist. However, the mech legions are not significantly affected."
"Therefore, aside from Elias, who may act on his own judgment, all fusion warriors must strictly follow orders. The main assault force will be Helixcraft's mech legions. Until protective suits that can block the black mist are fully adjusted, no one is to act recklessly."
Everyone in the aircraft—except for Elias—swallowed nervously, then nodded firmly.
Although the Herrscher of Death did not unleash apocalyptic, world-shattering powers like previous Herrschers, her deathly black mist—like something drifting from the underworld—was just as terrifying. It made one's blood run cold.
Even fusion warriors could not withstand it. One touch, and death was certain. Most people speculated that her ability was essentially a form of poison.
"Elias, what do you think of this Herrscher's ability?" Elysia turned to ask.
"What do I think? Sitting down and watching works just fine." Elias patted the seat beneath him, joking.
"Eh, I meant…"
"I know. Don't worry. This Herrscher poses little threat to us. Just follow my orders when the time comes, and we'll clear this stage easily."
"Mm! Got it!" ×N
Hearing Elias speak so confidently, as though the Herrscher of Death was nothing to fear, the unease that had been gnawing at everyone vanished. They instantly steadied, calm as old war dogs.
Moreover, Elias hadn't concealed his voice—his words had gone through the comms into everyone's ears. Morale soared sky-high. The army's will was solid as steel!
"Laaaaah~ aaaaah~!"
At that moment, a rousing song rang out through the comms. In an instant, everyone felt their fighting spirit ignite. Whatever fear remained was completely burned away.
"Eden, is that you singing?"
Elias pressed his headset in surprise. Perfect. Now they had their BGM—victory was guaranteed.
"It's me. Forgive me, Elias. Dr. Mei wouldn't let me go to the front lines, so instead I offer this battle song to the heroes fighting to protect humanity. This is all I can do right now."
Eden's voice came through the comms.
At once, the soldiers' morale surged again. Elias had steadied their hearts, and Eden had kindled their fighting spirit. It was as if everyone had been injected with adrenaline—their strength instantly multiplied several times over.
"Thank you, Eden. That's a huge help. With your voice as our BGM, this victory is already in the bag. Just watch from the command room. This Herrscher isn't a hard problem."
Even Elias felt fired up, his blood boiling. Eden's singing was a powerful buff.
"Mm. Do your best, Elias—and be safe."
In Fire Moth's command room, Mei's face was expressionless as she monitored the incoming data. With absolute rationality, she made one correct decision after another.
Among them was calling Eden over to sing a battle hymn for the departing warriors. That had been her idea, and the results exceeded all expectations.
Even Mei herself was shaken. Just that one song had nearly set even her absolute rationality ablaze. The effect it had on the soldiers' morale was unimaginable.
As for Eden's request to sortie, Mei had decisively rejected it.
What a joke—what could a superstar with an ordinary human body possibly do on the battlefield? She'd only be sending herself to her death. If she wanted to go that badly, she should at least donate all her money first.
"Don't worry. With Elias there, it won't be a problem."
"…Mm."
Eden prayed silently for victory, all the while shaken to her core. Though she was only watching remotely through satellite observation, this was her first time witnessing the descent of a Herrscher.
Simply by being born, the Herrscher had destroyed an entire nation, sacrificing millions of lives. It was utterly terrifying.
As she looked at the deathly black mist still expanding outward, Eden dared not imagine what kind of despair it would be if it engulfed the entire planet.
Yet alongside her fear, she also felt deep astonishment.
Watching the coordinates marked with Elias' position on the screen, Eden saw with her own eyes how the previously anxious warriors instantly steadied themselves after hearing the boy's voice.
Eden: "So this is your authority, Elias—your prestige."
...
Meanwhile, Elias and the others had already reached the skies above the target city. Though the black mist blocked satellite surveillance, Honkai energy readings clearly indicated the Herrscher of Death was here.
Before anyone could speak, Elias had already stepped to the front of the cabin and spoke coldly:
"I'll go down and investigate personally. You circle around here and clear the Honkai Beasts in the sky."
"Yes, Captain Elias!" ×N
Against a Herrscher-level enemy, none could question Elias' command. His word was the sole truth, absolute and supreme—even Dr. Mei could not refute it.
Without hesitation, Elias leapt straight into the city shrouded in black mist.
"Scans show Captain Elias' life signs are stable! He's moving swiftly through the city to investigate!"
"Excellent. As expected of him!"
In the command room, Mei clenched her fist. She hadn't expected Elias to be immune even to the Herrscher's black mist. Once again, she was reminded of just how exceptional and reliable he was.
"Ah… all dead already, huh."
Landing in the fog-cloaked city, Elias gazed helplessly at the empty streets.
Not only humans—even grass, trees, any form of life had been equally claimed by the mist of death. The city had become a true city of the dead.
"I need to find the Herrscher's location quickly."
Unfurling his dragon wings, Elias soared at imperceptible speeds through the city. The black mist not only withered life but also interfered with perception and detection.
Fortunately, he was fast enough. After five minutes, in one corner of the city—
Elias finally found the only other living being besides himself. Without a doubt, she was the Herrscher of Death born from this Eruption.
"Oh my, someone's finally come~ Big brother, are you here to play with Sheele?"
In the midst of a withered field, a young girl stood casually. Black-blue shoulder-length hair, crimson eyes like blood—she wandered this world as though it belonged to her alone, delighted by Elias' arrival.
"Seele?!"
"How annoying! It's Sheele, not Seele~! To dare miscall my name—you'll pay with your life, big brother!"
"..."
Elias raised an eyebrow. Even he couldn't hide his surprise—because the Herrscher of Death looked exactly like Seele!
From one perspective, she was his toughest opponent yet.
After all, with that face, even Elias would need time to steel himself before striking. Fortunately, this time he had no intention of killing a Herrscher.
(So the Herrscher of Death of the Previous Era is an alternate-timeline counterpart of Seele, huh… interesting.)
"Why aren't you saying anything, big brother? Aren't you here to become Sheele's toy? But how did you survive in my domain? Oh well… since you're here, struggle all you like—and entertain me!"
The Herrscher of Death smiled with yandere delight. In the next instant, she lunged at Elias.
"…Her personality feels exactly like Dark Seele's."
As the Herrscher of Death lunged at him, Elias easily parried her strikes, remarking casually. The tone, strangely familiar, stirred memories in him—it had been a long time since he'd heard something like it.
On the other side, the Herrscher kept trying to decompose Elias with her Authority, only to find it utterly useless. Frustration soon twisted her face.
Her lack of patience was just like Dark Seele's.
But Elias frowned slightly, finding something odd.
Unlike the Herrschers of the Previous Era, this one's expressions were too vivid, almost human. Yet that should have been impossible.
"Why? Why doesn't my Authority work on you? That's impossible! Die already!"
After repeated failures, she was frantic.
"…If this were at the House of the Hearth, just for saying that, Dark Seele would've been spanked at least fifty times—publicly, in front of everyone."
Elias chuckled. The Herrscher's behavior was both nostalgic and strange—nostalgic because it was like Dark Seele's temper, strange because the real Dark Seele would never speak to him like this.
"Enough. I'll have plenty of time to play with you later. For now, surrender yourself, Herrscher of Death!"
"Surrender? Don't be ridiculous!"
The Herrscher's Honkai energy erupted, her black mist of decay surging out with full force.
Yet it couldn't even harm a single strand of Elias' hair.
For white flowers, symbols of Creation, had already begun blooming.
"What?! That's… Creation!"
Seeing the opposing Authority, the Herrscher—Sheele—widened her eyes in shock.
Of course she recognized it. It was the counterpart to her own—Creation, the opposite of Decay!
Pure white blossoms bloomed in the deathly fog. The same Authority, but wielded in opposite ways: one to create life, the other to erase it.
And when Authorities were equal, only Honkai energy output decided the victor. Against the output of a Herrscher bearing seven Cores… Elias only smiled.
The Herrscher gems embedded in his draconic form all lit up, endless Honkai energy surging from the white-haired boy.
Creation overwhelmed Decay in an instant. Countless white flowers spread across the city, banishing every trace of black mist.
"As I thought—too easy. For me, the Herrscher of Death is nothing more than a freebie." Elias looked on with satisfaction at the beautiful scene he had created.
"This… this is impossible! How can you wield the same Authority as me?! Just what are you?!" Sheele's voice trembled with panic.
"Me? I'm the one here to keep you company… kidding. But you're out of options now, aren't you?"
Elias smiled, plucking one of the white blossoms to inhale its fragrance.
No one in the world understood the Herrscher of Death better than he did.
Unlike other Herrschers, the Herrscher of Death was a complete domain-type Herrscher, with no real ability to fight individual opponents. Her main method of attack was her black mist of Decay, ensuring automatic death to all who approached.
What made her difficult was her ability to heal herself.
But… she had encountered the one person in existence who perfectly countered her.
Elias' Creation nullified her Decay. Unless her output surpassed his, her black mist could not exist within his sea of flowers.
That meant her Authority was sealed.
And a Herrscher unable to use Authority could even be defeated by ordinary soldiers.
"It's done. You can come down now."
With the mist completely dispersed, the barrier obstructing entry vanished as well. Elias called in the Fire Moth soldiers, instructing them to deal with the Honkai Beasts born from the Eruption.
At the same time, Elysia, Kevin, Kosma, and Sakura leapt down from the transport.
There they saw him—standing amidst a sea of white flowers, a vision so breathtakingly pure and sacred that they could only be mesmerized.
"What are you all dazing off for? Come here."
"O-okay!"
The group hurried over to Elias, gazing in awe at the captured Herrscher of Death. Never before had they seen a Herrscher appear so "harmless and powerless."
With her Authority neutralized, Sheele the Herrscher of Death was nothing at all. At this point, not only were the fusion warriors stronger—even Hua could probably defeat her.
"Elias, are these white flowers your ability?"
"Mm. Beautiful, aren't they?"
Elias answered proudly.
In the Previous Era, using Herrscher Authority was dangerous. If his Herrscher identity were discovered, all the prestige he had built up would collapse in an instant.
Thus, he always used it with the utmost caution. The Herrscher of Fire's power was the one he used most, but he disguised it as his MANTIS ability. After all, fire-based abilities weren't rare—it wouldn't raise suspicion…
It was just that his flames burned a little too fiercely.
Now, even though he had used the Herrscher of Rebirth's Authority on such a large scale, he showed no concern. After all…
"This power really is beautiful."
"Captain really is an angel."
"I want to take a flower back as a keepsake."
"This is the exact opposite of the Herrscher's power."
The Fire Moth warriors—indeed, anyone who saw Elias wield Creation—had no doubt. The pure white sea of blossoms contrasted so strongly with the black mist of Decay that not a soul would believe they shared the same origin. To them, this holy and breathtaking ability could never be related to a Herrscher of destruction.
At that moment, Kevin slyly raised his greatsword, intent on stealing the finishing blow. But the next instant, a shocking sight occurred.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me! Sheele won't dare again! I beg you, spare me…"
The Herrscher of Death dropped to her knees on the spot, tearfully looking up at them. Gone was the yandere arrogance—now she appeared frail and pitiful, stirring even protective instincts.
"W-what?!"
"A Herrscher… begging for mercy?!"
"Does she still have humanity?"
Kevin, Elysia, Sakura, and the others nearly dropped their jaws. Even in the command room, Dr. Mei was stunned.
(Hm? This timid, familiar look… isn't she acting exactly like White Seele?)
Elias gazed at the Herrscher in surprise. A Herrscher begging for mercy was beyond anyone's imagination. But he, knowing the story, understood—this was merely her ploy.
"Not killing you is fine~ But in that case, you'll have to go to prison. Don't worry, I won't give you another chance to kill anyone. As long as I'm here, your Authority is useless. Now, stretch out your hand obediently."
As he spoke, Elias produced a pair of soulium handcuffs crafted by Vill-V. Under Sheele's sour expression, he clasped one cuff onto her wrist, and the other onto his own.
"Herrscher of Death—subjugation and capture complete!"