Chapter 76: Fifth Herrscher

Hurried footsteps could be heard all across the third institute. The sound of blaring alarms as well as bright orange lights filled the entire place.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The sounds of heavy footsteps turned everything silent for a moment. For some reason, everyone looked in the direction of a man. Moments later, everyone resumed their work.

Nevertheless, this scene was remembered by all of the personnel that came across Aleph—

Like a being that looked down on ants.

'It's a clutch…'

At this moment, his Sphere Boundary was working full-time. He was able to switch off his ICHOR and return to his normal looks. But, it couldn't be said for the aura he gave off.

The [Diary of a Magus] gave him Merlin's perspective—a half-human half-incubus magi—which resulted in a rather "inhuman" presence. Add to that Albion, the legendary dragon who died during his digging session to arrive at Avalon…

Aleph hurried to the 'control room'. There, dozens of researchers went into wartime mode. 

The third institute, other than researching mechs, has the responsibility to send out remotely-controlled mechs to the MOTH bases. Thus, it also doubled down as a semi-military base of sorts.

Einstein saw Aleph. She briefly fell silent before continuing her explanation.

"We're not mistaken. The first institute confirmed it." 

She paused once again.

"There are a total of four places with the same intensity as a major eruption."

"..."

Everyone fell silent.

Each major eruption has an intensity of 2,000 HW at the very least. That was enough to turn an entire city into a place filled with undead, what more of the honkai beasts that would've appeared.

The fourth major eruption was an example. It was able to affect the Far West to a large degree. The city where the herrscher came from turned into a place filled with undeads and honkai beasts. These two entities slowly spread to surrounding areas. 

Even now, the cleanup isn't finished yet.

"How is this possible..? It was logically improbable..!"

"No. We… We might have underestimated the honkai."

"It doesn't follow any known patterns. This is our wake up call."

Everyone within the room felt extremely heavy.

"What about the Herrscher?"

Aleph's voice resounded at this moment.

"No sightings were found as of now. There are currently fighter jets headed to scout these four areas."

The huge screen indicated four areas struck by a major eruption. Two of them are in the Far East while the remaining two are in the Far West. One of them was near the Mu Continent, almost touching its borders.

"Fire MOTH has decided to alarm the entire world. The manpower is currently directed to these four sites."

Einstein carried on with her explanation.

'Sundown Alley… where is it…'

Aleph's eyes danced around the map before locking in one of the sites.

'The fifth herrscher.'

For a moment, he hesitated whether this was the right choice. Four eruptions akin to a major eruption occurring all at once was unheard of. He estimated that the damages brought by it was at least the same intensity as Sirin's 4,000 HW eruption when she possessed two Gems. That one was already a global crisis.

He hadn't even interfered much with the future yet. Only one possibility stood out from his mind.

{Answer: There is more than 71% likelihood it was caused by our visit to the white space.}

'...I'm owing up the consequences now.'

Aleph had never regretted his visit to that white space. If not for it, he wouldn't have awakened Great Sage. The difference between having her and not having her was far too large. He wouldn't have attempted to do numerous things—as well as speed up development in the other projects—without her.

Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He immediately took it out and saw the caller.

"I've heard everything."

Mei's slightly raspy voice came from the other side.

{Hum. Can we talk about the four places?}

"I'll go to the City of Justice."

{Alright. I will… hum… inform others of it.}

Soon, the line was closed.

'She's pushing herself again… but we have no choice now.'

It has been three months since he last went out. Aleph's current strength has been tested repeatedly inside the training spaces. All he lacked were real-life experiences against honkai beasts and the likes.

'...We have no choice but to fight.'

*****

Honkai.

Such a foreign term dominated the entire world. Since Fire MOTH decided to publicize its existence as well as that of honkai beasts and undead, the world was turned upside-down.

Panic buying became rampant, often turning into most supermarkets going out of stock. Government offices are stormed in to register licenses for guns. However, there are consequently hundreds of thousands of unregistered guns that spread all over the world.

Even the Far East, a place where gun controls were strict, was plagued by this problem.

Nevertheless, there are some advantages of making the existence of honkai a public thing—alarms, protocols, drills, and so on.

What they couldn't have expected was it'd be put into use a few months after that announcement.

Beep-!

Beep-!

Beep-!

All the electronic devices within a city emitted a loud alarm. The most prominent ones were the speakers placed on metallic poles.

[This is an announcement. Currently, a major honkai eruption has been…]

Buzz-!

Moments later, the strong honkai energy intensity interfered with numerous signals. It was akin to a huge wave that crashed to a shore. Everything in the city fell silent at that time.

Bam-!

Beep-!

Everything continued. The drivers who lost consciousness bumped into each other. A tank trucker collided with several vehicles, causing it to explode. It was a chain reaction. The normally functioning city turned chaotic in less than five seconds.

Explosions followed next. When humanity fell unconscious at the same time, its impacts were far-fetching.

Throughout the chaotic city, only one place remained fully functional.

"DEFCON 2 was declared before the line was cut!"

"Major Anna, your orders?"

A gray-haired girl wearing the badge of a major stood in front of the command room. She was the steady major who was responsible for this branch.

Just then, one of the personnel saw a sharp increase of honkai energy. An itchy feeling spread from her gloved hand.

"Huh..? We are…"

Thud-!

It didn't take long before nearly everyone inside the command room fell unconscious. Despite Fire MOTH's soldiers having a decent honkai resistance compared to normal people, most of them stood no chance within the center of the honkai eruption.

The only one who remained standing was Anna's adjutant. She blankly scanned the room before her gaze turned into her major's back.

At this moment, her heart fell into a cold cellar. The sense of dread enveloped her very being, making known her death was not far away.

"Major..?"

Her words were met by a cold gaze, devoid of any humanity.

Thud-!

The ones who 'survived' soon followed in others' footsteps.

"To destroy… all of humanity."

She had the urge to turn her surroundings into a land of frost, though she wasn't able to do so.

Someone was still fighting against these urges…

"Human."

When the butterfly's wings flutter, the future changes thereafter.