The Herrscher of the Void Returns

At Schicksal headquarters, Otto, who was handling official duties, suddenly stopped what he was doing, and raised his head abruptly. A look of pleasant surprise appeared in his emerald green eyes. In the next second, alarms from the monitoring department also began to sound in unison.

「An excessive Honkai energy reaction has been detected within Shenzhou. The initial Honkai response has exceeded 1000 Honkai power!」

「Global positioning is in progress. The area of the Honkai outbreak has been located. The location of this Honkai outbreak is - ARC City.」

"ARC City? Finally, the Herrscher of the Void has appeared again?"

He immediately put aside all of his other tasks, and transferred all of the work to the monitoring department. However, before he could be happy for too long, the messages that were sent by the monitoring team again made him frown.

「The energy surge is weakening. The energy levels are decreasing. The current level is now below 500 Honkai power.」

"Impossible. A Herrscher-level eruption wouldn't be at such a low level, especially not the Herrscher of the Void. Unless… someone suppressed her."

Feeling a little annoyed, Otto had spent over ten years, going to great lengths to resurrect the Herrscher of the Void, in order to gain her power. However, when he had finally succeeded a few months ago, his plans had been disrupted by those few members of St. Freya, and the Herrscher of the Void had disappeared.

He had finally received news that Kiana was in ARC City half a month ago. He had specially sent Rita there to search for her, but the dignified Schicksal S-rank Valkyrie had been defeated by a mysterious person, and had miserably fled back.

Not only had she failed to find the Herrscher of the Void, she had also failed to bring back the St. Freya traitors. Even the electronic prosthetic eye that they had obtained from World Serpent had been stolen.

His consecutive defeats in ARC City had forced Otto to temporarily shift his attention to the Gem of Desire, but before this operation had even begun for too long, a Herrscher-level Honkai outbreak had occurred in ARC City again.

It was as if someone was deliberately pulling at his attention.

Of course, he still had Durandal, his strongest trump card. As Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, there were basically no missions that she couldn't resolve. But, at this moment, she was also in the middle of a mission, unable to spare any time for the situation in ARC City.

With a helpless sigh, Otto could only call Rita again.

"It has been confirmed that the Herrscher of the Void is in ARC City. You… take your Immortal Blades squad and go investigate. No matter the cost, bring her back to me."

"…" After a moment of silence, the maid nodded, "As you command, Bishop."

The communication ended. Rita looked at the scars that had been left on her hand after the last battle. Her eyes flickered, and it was unknown what she was thinking.

…

A few minutes ago, ARC City.

The Honkai outbreak that had begun at Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical had already begun to spread outward. A large number of zombies surged out like a tide, heading towards the nearby residential areas.

The dense mass of corpses moved forward, but they all subconsciously avoided the girl who was kneeling on the ground, forming a blank area.

The zombie that had been Ren's mother soon left with the tide of zombies. Only Kiana was still sitting there, hugging Griseo, who had already lost all vital signs, in her arms. She didn't make any movements, nor did she make any sounds. She was like a corpse that had lost its consciousness, like a statue that didn't feel anything.

You foolish experimental subject, even now, you're still running away. Clearly, the hope you had been seeking for so long was right in front of you, but you personally destroyed it, and you don't even dare to admit that you personally killed her.

Your hatred, your sadness, your pain, they all stem from your own choices.

It was rare that Sirin didn't use any arrogant tones while speaking, but rather, she calmly, like a friend, explained the reality that Kiana didn't want to accept.

"…" There was no response, but Sirin could clearly feel that Kiana's consciousness space was gradually collapsing. The walls that had blocked the Herrscher of the Void's consciousness, were now being torn down bit by bit like old, yellowed newspapers.

Sirin didn't feel happy. She had already experienced that same pain once before. The Kiana at this moment was just like herself at the Tower of Babel. She had been tortured by inhumane human experiments, and was equally powerless, and she could only watch as her most important friend died in her arms.

The words that Griseo had spoken before her death hadn't only pierced Kiana, but they had also targeted the Second Herrscher, Sirin.

Don't you understand? Human evil is far more terrifying than the Herrschers. All tragedies are born from the flaws of humanity.

Have you forgotten what Otto did to you? Don't you know why those zombies were created? Don't you know why that girl had to die?

Stop lying to yourself, Kiana.

Humanity is the greatest mistake in this world.

Give your body to me, and let us take revenge on this filthy world. No one will ever be able to take away our friends again, and we will never have to watch as tragedy unfolds again.

The girl who had been sitting there silently was still unmoving, but the defenses of her heart had completely crumbled.

After watching her mother turn into a zombie with her own eyes, and after personally killing the girl who loved the stars, she no longer had the courage to face it…

"Okay." Using the darkness to envelop herself, and using despair to drown herself, Kiana gradually released her control over her body, and felt the Herrscher of the Void's power take her over.

She was like someone who was about to die. She had mustered all of her strength, and opened her eyes, wanting to look at the world one last time.

"Farewell."

Her vision gradually blurred… but in that moment before darkness fell, she saw a gray-haired boy jump over the ruins, and was struggling to walk towards her.

"Ren!" Kiana's eyes widened. The sealing off of her will meant that the Herrscher of the Void was about to awaken and start a slaughter. But she had already given up her body, and even though her soul was screaming, her body couldn't make any sounds. She could only helplessly watch the boy keep getting closer. "Run!"

Her vision turned dark, and her consciousness started to sleep. She could no longer change anything.

What could be more despairing than giving up in the last second before finally grasping hope?

…

As Kiana's consciousness was completely replaced, Sirin's Herrscher personality took control of her body. And with that, the Herrscher of the Void had once again descended upon this world.

The Honkai energy that came from the Herrscher instantly soared to over 1000 Honkai power. The surrounding Honkai beasts, zombies, and buildings were instantly reduced to dust. Even the air was completely pierced in this violent energy, forming a storm that couldn't be stopped.

Ren stood on the ruins. His short gray hair moved in the hurricane, like a madman who followed the storm, shouting in the midst of destruction.

"Kiana, I said, this time I won't be swayed by emotions anymore."