"Warning! Fusion reactor overheating! Forcing shutdown in 10 seconds!"
Amid the savage thunder blast, Himeko braced her greatsword with both hands and held the line. She'd thought she might actually bring a Herrscher down—clearly, she'd been too optimistic.
Once the fusion reactor shut off, she wouldn't even be able to stand her ground.
"Shut up! Don't you dare power down—hold it together!" Himeko snarled through clenched teeth.
Unlike Himeko's grit and strain, Mei wore an easy, almost bored expression. This little exchange hadn't cost her any effort at all. Under the glow of the lightning wing, pride lifted her chin; contempt curled her lips.
"I'll give you this—you lasted longer than the other trash. But you're only slightly stronger than the rest."
"I'm bored. Disappear."
Mei was done toying with her prey. She raised her hand to finish Himeko for good.
Cold sweat tracked down Himeko's cheek. She could feel the armor's radiance dimming—the power bleeding out.
"Mm. Fun show," a lazy voice cut in. "But as Fufu said, every play ends with a curtain call."
"Miss Himeko—didn't you say you were going to find a good man? What do you think of me?"
Tatsuki stood at Himeko's side as if he'd always been there.
"You're the guy who just intruded into Hyperion," Himeko's tactical monocle locked on him in disbelief. She hadn't sensed him at all. Then she gave a crooked smile. "This really isn't the time. We're about to die."
Tatsuki didn't care. He simply plucked the greatsword from Himeko's armored grip with one hand.
"—!"
Himeko reflexively clenched empty fingers. The blade she had to wield two-handed in a Valkyrie exosuit—lifted away like nothing.
Tatsuki gave it an idle test swing—light as air in his hand—then glanced back with a smile.
"Quick intro: I'm Tatsuki, 18, lots of girlfriends, engaged-to-be, aiming for marriage. Miss Himeko, would you like to be one of my girlfriends—with marriage in mind?"
"I might be the good man you're looking for."
"…"
Did I mishear? This perv had ogled her head to toe and played with her underwear. He just admitted he has lots of girlfriends and is pre-engaged—and still called himself a good man? That's textbook scumbag!
And more importantly—why now?
"Vermin," the Herrscher within Mei snapped. "For waking me, I'll leave your corpse intact."
Tatsuki chuckled. "Intact? You're overthinking it. The line should go like this: for Kiana's friend's sake, I'll leave you a body."
His fingers spread. A strange sensation rippled outward.
For a blink, Mei and Himeko's vision wavered—then the world itself turned uncanny.
Silence. A silence deeper than any they'd ever known.
It was still Changkong City. Still Hyperion's deck. Yet Himeko felt the world had gone soundless.
Mei noticed at once, and for the first time her voice carried shock. "You… created a new world?"
"Not quite. At best, this is a parallel space—a copy layered over Earth."
Tatsuki wasn't being modest—he truly couldn't create a full world. A world wasn't just space; it was life and all its scaffolding.
"A parallel Earth…?" Himeko could parse the words—but could humans do that? "Are you a Herrscher too?!"
In her schema, only a Herrscher could achieve something like this. Even an overhyped S-rank Valkyrie couldn't.
"You carry no Honkai power," Mei said, narrowing her eyes. "You're not the god's apostle."
Not a Herrscher? Himeko's breath caught. Then… what is he?
Tatsuki's mouth curved in disdain. "Honkai? You're underestimating me."
"—!" Mei jolted. Honkai energy slipped out of her control.
With a thought, Tatsuki severed Changkong's Honkai energy from Mei's grasp. Not just Changkong—the entire world's Honkai energy bent to the vector of his will.
He spread his arms, motes of Honkai glimmering around him.
"Now… I am Honkai."
An ocean of Honkai surged behind him; wings and a crown of power unfurled, proclaiming dominion over this silent realm.
A new Herrscher had been born—no, something beyond: a being who held the planet's Honkai in hand.
"Impossible…" Mei and Himeko stared, dumbstruck.
How could a human so casually seize Honkai—more absolutely than a Herrscher?
Strength bled from Mei's limbs as the lightning wing faded. Without Honkai's lift, she dropped out of the air—Tatsuki crooked a finger. She drifted neatly into his arms.
"Vermin!"
His hand had brushed bare skin where her outfit had torn. Mei glared and spat—but couldn't struggle.
Because in this moment, Tatsuki was this planet's God of Honkai.
Not entirely, he mused. His situation was peculiar: he controlled all current Honkai energy on this planet. But Honkai would continue to be generated as calamities cycled. So he was a de facto God of Honkai—limited to now.
If he left this world, Honkai would still be Honkai.
And his present godhood wore a Herrscher shape—the Authority of Dominance.
Unexpectedly, the Dominance authority was fusing with his Ruler—undergoing some metamorphosis. Most immediate change was no more initial release vs. final release—everything bent to his whim, always-on. Other shift he couldn't yet sense was only a hint of the same ascension his Wings of Chaos had walked.
Not a bad windfall.
He looked down at the fuming girl in his arms. Time to resolve Mei's problem.
"What do you want to say… to your Master?" Starlight flickered in his golden eyes.
Master? What was he talking about? The hot-blooded Herrscher opened her mouth to curse. "Bas—"
A hitch—and the words twisted. "Master, how dare you speak to me like that? Put me down—Master!"
"?? What… am I saying?"
Mei slapped a hand over her mouth. She'd meant to say "vermin," "insect," yet what came out was Master!
....
For every 100 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.
Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon! [patreon.com/METARLN]