The following day, the system offered a new simulation.
It didn't say much—just a title: [Herrscher Path – Thunder Trial].
john didn't hesitate.
He knew who was waiting inside.
In this world, power is everything.
Even a small child with enough strength could silence a room of adults.
The same principle applied in the Honkai-ravaged world john now stood in.
And right now, he was facing someone who embodied that law of strength—completely and terrifyingly.
——
When john woke up, he found himself standing in a familiar yet twisted version of Changkong City.
The simulation had started.
Everything looked the same on the surface—roads, buildings, the sky—but there was a sickly hue to it all, as if this world were filtered through a dying lens.
The air was heavy. The wind carried a scent of metal and ozone.
And death.
He was alone. For now.
The silence was unnatural.
He didn't need the system to tell him—this was a high-threat simulation.
Suddenly, without warning, the ground beneath him cracked. Purple lightning burst upward like spears from the earth.
john reacted instantly, leaping sideways and rolling into a crouch.
His eyes narrowed.
A tall figure floated mid-air, long black hair swaying gently. Her golden irises glowed with unnatural light.
Raiden Mei—no, not quite.
This was the **First Herrscher**, in her full, awakened state.
The Herrscher of Thunder.
"You shouldn't be here," she said, her voice like a low chime—musical, elegant, but chilling.
john didn't respond.
He was already analyzing.
Her core radiated massive Honkai energy—way beyond A-rank Valkyrie levels. Far beyond what even Sirin had managed in his prior simulations.
This wasn't Mei.
This was her… if she had never resisted.
Never held back.
Never doubted herself.
Pure instinct.
Pure power.
——
The battle started without further warning.
She snapped her fingers—and lightning rained from the sky.
john darted forward, dodging blasts that shattered the road like glass. With each explosion, static clung to the air like fog.
He leapt up, aiming for a mid-air strike—but she vanished, reappearing behind him with crackling speed.
He twisted just in time to parry a swipe of her claws, but the force sent him flying backward into a building wall.
"Too slow," she murmured, still eerily calm.
john coughed, wiping blood from his lip. His eyes sharpened.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's get serious."
He activated one of the simulation-enhanced relics: **Phase Breaker — Tier II**.
The world slowed.
His thoughts quickened.
He moved like water now, slipping between arcs of lightning with impossible grace.
One strike landed—then two—then ten.
But none reached her core.
She was *testing* him.
No killing blows.
Not yet.
——
Suddenly, her expression shifted.
"You're different," she said.
john paused, panting.
"Not just a fighter. You're holding back."
He didn't deny it.
"I'm not here to destroy you," he said. "I'm here to understand."
The Herrscher's eyes narrowed, intrigued.
"And what do you hope to understand?"
"That part of you that still hesitates."
She flinched.
Even here, in this pure Herrscher form, those words struck something.
john stepped forward, slowly.
"You think power is the answer. But even you didn't want this world to die."
She was silent.
The wind howled around them.
Then—
Lightning surged again, wilder than before.
"You talk too much," she said, and dove.
They clashed in the center of the sky, raw energy exploding outward.
But this time, john didn't fight to win.
He fought to reach her.
With every blow exchanged, with every word unspoken, he saw it—
That sliver of Mei still buried deep inside.
Not gone.
Just buried under pain.
Fear.
And loneliness.
He didn't need to beat her.
He just needed her to remember.
——
When it finally ended, both of them were kneeling in the rubble.
Her breathing ragged.
john's vision blurred.
"You…" she whispered, "You're the only one who didn't run…"
He smiled faintly, even through the blood on his lips.
"I'm still here."
The simulation shimmered.
**[Simulation complete — Evaluation: S+]**
**[Simulation Reward: Thunderborne Core ×1 | Special Event Unlocked]**
john collapsed back against a piece of broken wall, staring at the gray sky.
He had won.
Not through force.
But through refusal to give up.
The First Herrscher vanished like a ghost in the wind.
And john… had taken his first step toward something more.
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