"What did you say? The Eighth Herrscher has descended?!"
Inside the Fire Moth's conference room.
Everyone stared in shock at the white-haired boy seated at the head. When they received Elias' notice to convene, they had already guessed something significant had occurred.
But none of them had expected—it would be the descent of a new Herrscher!
As for doubting the truth of Elias' words—that was absolutely impossible.
Now, regarding anything related to the Honkai and Herrschers, Fire Moth would never question Elias' judgment in the slightest. He had already proven his absolute correctness time and again.
This savior, who had led humanity to victory over six Herrschers, was not someone ordinary people could ever doubt.
A saying was now circulating within Fire Moth:
[If your thinking conflicts with Lord Elias', then don't hesitate—the one who's wrong is definitely you.]
Still, even with their trust, doubt remained in their hearts.
"The Eighth Herrscher has descended? How can that be? We detected no Honkai Eruption reaction!"
"Yes, and how could those people who suddenly fell asleep while online be connected to a Herrscher?"
"Although Lord Elias must be correct, I really can't understand what's going on."
From the moment they discovered those patients who had fallen into sudden slumber, Elias had immediately declared a meeting. Everyone had been baffled by this, as the situation seemed entirely different in tone.
Past Herrschers had all possessed apocalyptic powers, directly wreaking destruction upon the world in catastrophic ways. Yet this time, all that had happened was people falling asleep while using the internet.
The difference in style was simply too great.
Some present couldn't help thinking: those who had been betting on the internal forum whether the next Herrscher's authority would be earthquakes, tsunamis, or something else—well, they had surely lost this round.
Dr. Mei pondered for a moment, then suddenly thought of something. The pinnacle of human intellect instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
"Elias, you mean…the Honkai has evolved again?"
"Yes, exactly as expected of you, Mei."
Elias nodded to her in praise, then his expression turned serious as he addressed the others.
"The reason there was no Honkai Eruption is simple. This time, the Herrscher is very weak. By my estimation, the Eighth Herrscher's Honkai energy may not even surpass that of the First Herrscher. But precisely because of this, she was nearly able to descend undetected by all of humanity."
"…How cunning!"
Mei inhaled sharply, unable to stop herself from cursing.
Even she had never considered this possibility. Mei chastised herself for still being too naive. After enduring so many Herrscher crises, she had thought she nearly understood the rules of the Honkai.
Yet in reality, she—or rather, all of humanity—still knew far too little of the Honkai. One could even say they knew nothing at all!
The Honkai was never an NPC in a game that acted without change. There was no rule stating that the birth of a Herrscher must cause a massive Honkai Eruption. There was no rule saying a Herrscher could not hide away and secretly grow stronger.
Had Elias not warned them in time, humanity might have suffered a terrible loss. For a Herrscher hidden in the dark, secretly using her authority to kill people…
Just imagining it sent chills down everyone's spine. They would rather face a monstrously strong calamity in human form than such a nightmare lurking unseen!
"Since this Herrscher hides away to secretly cause trouble, it's only natural that her authority is concealed. But then what exactly is her authority? Forcing people to sleep…could it be she's a Herrscher that makes people dream themselves to death?"
Kevin scratched his head, puzzled.
"Uh…"
At once, everyone's gazes turned to Misteln. The Dreamweaver quickly waved her hands to deny any involvement… though she suspected it might soon be related to her.
Elias shook his head at Kevin, indicating it was not so.
"A Herrscher would never be so mild. Forcing people online to fall asleep is likely only the manifestation of her authority. I believe its true essence is—consciousness manipulation!"
"!!!" xN
The moment those words left his mouth, many immediately stood up in shock. They didn't know how Elias had reached this conclusion, but everyone broke out in a cold sweat.
The most secure safe in this world was never made of steel, but rather the human brain. Once treasures called "knowledge," "memory," and "thought" were stored inside, no thief could ever steal them.
But if this newly born Herrscher's authority truly was the manipulation of consciousness, everyone present felt their hearts lurch. In an instant, fear and fighting spirit alike surged to their peak.
(Damn it! What a terrifying Herrscher this is!)
(She must be killed! Otherwise, won't all my chuunibyou fantasies be exposed?!)
(The thoughts in my head are even more indecent than my browser history! They must not be revealed!)
(This is far too dangerous. This Herrscher must die! Lord Elias, please don't capture her this time!)
There was no such thing as a completely proper person in this world. Who didn't have some dirty thoughts in their head? Not even Dr. Mei, Mobius, or Elysia were exceptions.
Unconsciously, the women glanced toward Elias. After all, they had their fair share of daydreams about him too. In short, at this moment everyone resolved firmly to slaughter the Herrscher of Sentience.
But some entertained more peculiar thoughts.
Vill-V blinked, and the inner conference began.
Magician: "Wow, this Herrscher sounds incredible. Won't she be really effective against us?"
Conductor: "I'm more curious how Elias determined her authority—just from those sleeping patients?"
Expert: "Doesn't matter. I don't care about that. In any case, Elias will deal with this Herrscher soon enough. What we should be thinking about now is what kind of Divine Key to make from this consciousness-manipulating Core."
Yandere: "That's not even up for debate! Obviously it should be a hypnosis app!!"
All Personas: "…Applause! Genius!"
Yandere: "Once it's done, I'll use this Divine Key to make Elias… ghehehehehe~~"
Everyone in the room looked speechlessly at Vill-V, who had suddenly revealed a rather questionable expression. They thought to themselves: what's gotten into her? Had she already been attacked by the Eighth Herrscher? Had her brain broken?
The corner of Elias' mouth twitched. Just what kind of personality had his beloved inventor cut out for herself?
Without hesitation, he picked up a pen and flicked it at her, striking Vill-V on the head and jolting her back to her senses.
"Ahem! Anyway, raise your guard. For the time being, Fire Moth will cut off external internet connections. Use only our internal network to avoid the Herrscher's authority. At the same time, notify the world to send all slumbering patients to Fire Moth hospitals."
"Lord Elias, then how exactly should we deal with this Herrscher? Without a Honkai Eruption, we can't even locate her."
Everyone showed uneasy expressions. This was humanity's first time facing a Herrscher who hid away, playing tricks in the shadows. No one knew what to do.
After all, no matter how strong their power was, it was useless if they couldn't find the enemy. And how were they supposed to counter an opponent who could manipulate consciousness?
But just as worry and fear were spreading—
"Don't worry. I'll handle her."
The white-haired boy remained as calm and steady as ever.
At once, everyone felt their spirits lift. Anxiety and fear vanished like smoke.
They couldn't help but ask themselves: what were they even afraid of? As long as this man was here, what did it matter if the Herrscher could manipulate consciousness? Humanity would surely prevail!
Elias nodded slightly at the crowd whose morale had reignited, then spoke:
"This is a new trial the Honkai has set for humanity, but we will overcome it. I will take care of the Eighth Herrscher. The rest of you—search and destroy the accompanying Honkai Beasts."
"Yes, sir!!" xN
Herrschers had many ways of obtaining Honkai energy. A massive Honkai Eruption was only one of them.
But without question, a Herrscher of Sentience who had been quietly born without causing a Honkai Eruption would be very weak. Thus, the Honkai would certainly arrange accompanying Honkai Beasts to act as the Eighth Herrscher's guardians.
Elias remembered that the Eighth Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast was an Emperor-level giant peacock, which was eventually absorbed by Su.
The Flame-Chasers on site were eager for battle.
Ely: "Oh my~ looks like this Herrscher will be Eli's prey again, but the accompanying Honkai Beast is definitely mine!"
Kevin: "Sorry, Elysia. That Honkai Beast will be taken care of by me!"
Hua: "..."
Kosma: "..."
Kalpas: "Hmph! Boring. I'll go on ahead."
...
A few hours later, inside Fire Moth's hospital.
Though only a single day had passed, already tens of thousands of people worldwide had fallen into an unending slumber. Fortunately, for now, they were only asleep and had not died.
All these sleeping people were still alive. And through the investigation of Fire Moth's extremely rare fusion warriors with mental perception abilities who could resist the Herrscher of Sentience's power…
They discovered the Herrscher's method.
"It's a memetic weapon. Truly terrifying authority. All these people who fell asleep saw keywords polluted by the Herrscher of Sentience's authority. It seems their consciousnesses have all been locked inside dreams dominated by the Herrscher."
Dr. Mei spoke solemnly.
The Herrscher of Sentience's codename was now fully established.
She could designate certain keywords and turn them into memetic weapons. For example, keywords like [manga], [calamity], [Honkai] had now been polluted by her authority.
Anyone who saw these words would have their mind manipulated, their consciousness trapped inside a dream created by the Herrscher.
And while people slept, their bodily functions would rapidly deteriorate under the influence of her power. In only a few days, they would die completely. This wasn't like some game where players could last more than three years without dying.
"Ban all the identified words immediately. No matter what, we must minimize casualties."
"It's already done. For now, the number of patients has stopped increasing. But unless we eliminate the Herrscher of Sentience entirely, she can always designate new words as memetic weapons."
Recently, Dr. Mei's artificial intelligence robot Prometheus made great contributions.
By scanning the browsing history of the sleeping patients, this AI had already identified all the keywords currently turned into pollution sources by the Herrscher of Sentience.
These words were erased across the internet, immediately halting the growth of victims. But this was only a temporary measure. The Herrscher of Sentience could always create more polluted keywords.
Though her Honkai energy was very low and her authority likely couldn't even cover a single city, through the [network] the Herrscher of Sentience had expanded her reach across the entire world!
"No matter. Has the Observation Hub been set up?"
Elias' expression remained calm. His trump card for victory was already prepared. He could hardly wait to see what the Herrscher of Sentience of the Previous Era looked like.
"Honestly, only you could think of this solution so quickly. It's ready. I'll be counting on you again, Elias."
Mei spoke seriously. She led Elias to a machine and installed the connector onto his armor.
Next, Elias and Misteln would link through the consciousnesses of the slumbering patients, entering the dream world created by the Herrscher of Sentience, then reverse-tracing her location.
As long as they could make contact with the Herrscher within the dream, the Observation Hub would be able to synchronize and pinpoint her real-world coordinates.
"Leave it to me and Misteln. We'll find the Herrscher's coordinates—and if we're lucky, we'll take her down directly in the dream."
"Please rest assured, Dr. Mei. After all, the dream world is my home field. This Herrscher chose the wrong method."
Elias and Misteln spoke with confidence.
By the way, Elysia and the others had already acted swiftly—the Herrscher of Sentience's accompanying Honkai Beast had been slain.
It was indeed a huge green peacock, said to be capable of using neurotoxin. But its strength was not great—it wasn't even on the level of a Judgment-class.
Now, having lost her trump card—the Companion Honkai Beast—and having descended quietly at the cost of giving up a large amount of Honkai energy, the Herrscher of Sentience was doomed once Fire Moth discovered her location.
...
"Time waits for no one. Let's head out immediately."
Elias and Misteln placed the consciousness-linking helmets on their heads. Just then, Mei reminded them:
"Right, don't forget to save the slumbering patients. Their consciousnesses have been hijacked into the Herrscher's dream. We can't wake them from outside."
"Got it, got it. A small matter."
Elias waved dismissively and closed his eyes.
"Misteln, Link-Start!"
"Understood~"
Misteln activated her ability, bringing Elias into the dream of one of the slumbering patients.
...
When Elias' vision cleared, he found himself in a strangely familiar place.
"Mm, yes—it feels the same. But this Herrscher of Sentience's taste still leaves much to be desired. The details are fuzzy. Poor work. My Misteln is far superior."
Elias glanced around and offered his critique.
"Hehe~ thank you for the compliment, Master."
Misteln beamed happily. After all, every night she carefully crafted lucid dreams for Elias, so he knew full well what dreaming should feel like.
Then Misteln extended her perception. At once, she understood everything.
"I see. So this is how it works."
"Oh? What did you figure out?"
"Yes, it's mostly clear now. The Herrscher of Sentience has trapped all the patients within dreams. By exploiting human desires, she crafted 'sweet dreams' as prisons. As long as the dream is destroyed—or the dreamer killed—they'll return to the real world."
Misteln pointed in a direction.
Elias looked, and there a man reclined atop a mountain of gold, laughing loudly while holding a woman in each arm. Truly, a dream of 'simple, unadorned' pleasures.
Though crude and laughable, it was more than enough to make countless people refuse to wake. After all, most of the world was made of ordinary people. Elias understood—and then…
He silently drew the Judgment of Shamash in its Might of An-Utu mode.
Misteln: "I can synchronize dream and reality. That means, Master, within the dream you can use all of your real-world powers and equipment. Please unleash them to the fullest."
Elias: "Excellent. Tremble, slumberers! Today your savior shall become your nightmare! Shamash Assault!"
In the next second, raging flames instantly incinerated the man's dream. Before he even realized what had happened, the all-consuming fire had reduced him to nothing.
At the same time, in the real world—
"Holy—what the hell?!" The man screamed, suddenly jolting awake on the brink of death. Dazed, he looked around. "Who am I? Where am I? What was I doing?"
"Oh? Elias' efficiency is astonishing."
Mei blinked in surprise, staring admiringly at the white-haired boy lying in the Observation Hub.
"Wait—logically, even though Elias is in a dream state, his consciousness isn't in his body. That means he shouldn't be affected by external interference. No matter how much noise we make, he can't wake up right now…"
Suddenly, Mei realized something.
"Doesn't that mean I could do whatever I want to him?"