Siberia, Tower of Babylon.
The conference room glowed with a cold, sterile light.
The atmosphere was tense, filled with a heavy seriousness.
Whether they were from Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, everyone sat with furrowed brows, their gazes fixed on the floating holographic projection.
It displayed rows of photos and analytical reports.
"We've confirmed it—the Second Herrscher has fully awakened. And the power she wields is… space!"
Einstein pushed up her slipping glasses, the lenses catching a sharp reflection of light.
"However, up to this point, her actions have been… strange, to say the least."
"Yeah," Tesla muttered, her chin resting lazily on her hand as she leaned across the table.
"After her fight with Welt, she just disappeared. She hasn't sent Honkai beasts to attack nearby towns.
Honestly, it's unexpected. Sure, the Second Herrscher herself caused plenty of damage, but it's all been to buildings and equipment.
Civilian casualties have been… surprisingly minimal."
"Miss Cecilia, what's your opinion?"
Welt turned to the white-haired beauty beside him.
His tone was serious, but there was a subtle complexity in his gaze.
After a private discussion with Welt, Otto had already taken Theresa back to Schicksal HQ.
He wanted Judas to remain in seclusion for training and forbade her from joining any battle until she had mastered the zero-output threshold of the emitter.
For now, it was Cecilia who led Schicksal's Valkyrie forces, coordinating with Anti-Entropy on joint operations.
Cecilia's expression was solemn as she looked across at the Anti-Entropy members in silence.
'Honestly… the current Second Herrscher is my daughter-in-law.'
'There's no need for everyone to be this tense.'
'Just play along and pretend—it'll be fine.'
"…Let's wait until the Second Herrscher appears again," she finally spoke, her gentle voice carrying a faint, delicate undertone. "After another direct encounter, we'll know for sure. Perhaps… she's not as terrifying as we imagined."
When C.C first told her that the Second Herrscher was just acting, Cecilia had been startled—but she quickly accepted it.
After all, Nagami's goal was to prevent tragedy in this Honkai incident.
Whatever methods were used, they weren't unreasonable.
To Cecilia, C.C was a girl with the overwhelming power to bend space-time itself—someone who could gather a team of Herrschers to stand at the very frontlines, fighting against the Honkai to protect humanity.
That impression alone was enough.
A girl capable of such feats clearly needed no doubt cast on her intelligence or ability.
'All I have to do is follow her plan.'
Sensing Cecilia's thoughts through her feathers, C.C. allowed herself a faint, knowing smile.
'As expected of a mother-in-law… graceful, perceptive, and so very understanding.'
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[Mr. Welt, your delivery has arrived. Please find an empty space to receive it.]
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A crisp voice suddenly rang in Welt's mind, making him pause for a moment.
Looking up, he saw a violet phantom take shape in the air before him, gradually solidifying at his side.
It was a figure only visible to those bound to the feather—still wearing Sirin's familiar appearance.
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[The database and samples of Soulium—the Pre-Era's technology for sealing Honkai energy.]
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Welt's expression darkened, a rare trace of gravity crossing his face.
After a brief nod to Tesla, he quickly excused himself and left for a more secluded place.
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[So this… is what Anti-Entropy obtained during this Honkai incident in the original timeline?]
[That's right. It was the hope of defeating the Second Herrscher—bought at the cost of your life.]
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The girl's voice was languid, almost playful.
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[Which is why I'm asking you: when the battle comes, do your best to find a reason not to fight.]
[I understand. But… Tesla and Einstein… they won't be so easily deceived.]
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After all, the two had practically grown up under his watch.
There was no hiding from them.
"I think," a soft, steady voice interjected, "as long as you're resolute, they'll believe you."
When Welt reached a remote room, C.C. stepped gracefully out of a spatial gate.
Welt froze for a moment.
He had seen her image before through theirs transmissions, but seeing her in reality was still a shock.
With a casual snap of her fingers, C.C. pulled a Soulium sample from the Imaginary Space and tossed it to the floor.
The clanging of metal echoed against the steel ground.
"In the battles to come, let Schicksal's Siegfried take the field. The Kaslana bloodline carries the dormant power of the emperor-class Honkai beast, Pavanti, with its control over ice and snow. The method for unlocking it lies within the Soulium database."
"Dr. Einstein can use it to create a super-variable activator serum. The more detailed steps—I'll send to you through Fenghuang Down's feathers."
After leaving these hurried instructions, the green-haired girl vanished once more into the Imaginary gate.
By now, Nagami still in Sirin form had already returned to Earth with her three pseudo-Herrscher avatars and Bella.
The main cast and supporting actors were in place.
All that was missing were enough extras before the grandest drama in human history could begin.
And as for those extras—naturally, they would be Honkai beasts.
If a Herrscher Core could be compared to an account, then Nagami's strike with the Tai Xuan Sword God against Sirin was nothing less than forcing her to log out.
Afterward, Nagami tapped into the power of the Void to temporarily steal everything that once belonged to the Herrscher of the Void—including a portion of her command over Honkai beasts.
Although Honkai Will herself sided with humanity, she typically didn't interfere with the Honkai God's program.
In truth, there wasn't much left for her to interfere with anyway—the difficulty had already been reduced to its lowest point.
The Herrscher on the side of Honkai were all connected, at least partially, to the consciousness of the Honkai God.
That was precisely why Herrschers could command Honkai beasts of any level.
Traitorous Herrschers, naturally, didn't enjoy such privileges.
But the current situation was… unusual.
Sirin's Herrscher persona hadn't been completely corrupted by the Honkai consciousness, but neither was she entirely free of it.
She had betrayed, yet not fully betrayed.
And because of that, Nagami—like a hacker stealing someone's account—could partially control lower-class Honkai beasts.
In other words, she suddenly had access to a massive army of extras that required no cost whatsoever.
"Still," 'Sirin' muttered, her fingers brushing her chin as she drifted in the Imaginary Space, violet hexagram-shaped pupils glinting with inspiration.
"The numbers are too few. And I can't actually control the real Honkai beasts' threat levels toward humans… maybe… maybe I can try this!"
She stretched out her hands.
Streams of icy-blue particles shimmered out of the void, weaving into luminous outlines before solidifying into the form of a Honkai beast—a charging-class creature the cleanup crew jokingly called mosquitoes.
Tapping the beast's skull with her knuckles, 'Sirin' nodded in satisfaction. "The hardness isn't bad. Now I just need to figure out how to make these things move."
With examples like Raiden Mei before her, the answer seemed obvious: just create a puppet AI to control the beasts' bodies.
"First time writing one, but it should be easy enough~"
Closing her eyes,'Sirin' placed a hand on the beast's head.
With the Herrscher of Sentience's authority, she began coding the puppet program directly.
"Okay, here… then here… this should work. And here… yeah, this should function just fine…"
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Two hours later…
'Sirin' stared at the Honkai beast in front of her, deep in thought.
The program worked fine overall—it could run properly, and she'd carefully designed the underlying logic.
These Honkai beasts would target buildings and open spaces.
If humans happened to be beneath a collapsing structure, the beasts would even prioritize smashing it—classic disaster-movie style.
But if no buildings were in sight, only humans, the beasts' AI would instantly shift into expert mode, dodging and weaving with uncanny precision.
Unless someone deliberately tried to get hit, the chance of being struck was ridiculously low.
There was, however, one small bug…
Given the rushed deadline, it was only natural that minor issues would slip through.
Nothing fatal. Just… cosmetic.
This particular bug made the beasts' facial expressions… odd.
Specifically, their left eyes would roll up-left, and their right eyes down-right.
To put it bluntly—they looked like they'd been infected by the "Derpy-resa Virus."
Still, since the program ran fine otherwise, she couldn't be bothered to fix it.
Standing within the Imaginary Space, she activated the Core of the Void, summoning wave after wave of endless Honkai energy.
From that infinite well sprang an overwhelming swarm of Honkai beasts, filling the space in terrifying numbers.
A dreadful pressure radiated from the horde, though their cross-eyed, dopey expressions made them look utterly ridiculous.
Being stared down by tens of thousands of beasts with "intelligent" derpy eyes was spine-chilling in its own way.
"…Isn't this a little too terrifying?"
Her scalp tingled, her sanity points slowly draining just from looking at them.
But then she thought—if she found them this unsettling, wouldn't ordinary humans be twice as terrified?
"…Alright. Let's go with this!"