The shiny purple eyes

As soon as she reached the ground, Himeko felt Herrscher Mei's sharp gaze.

Her cold and indifferent purple eyes were indeed representative of a Herrscher, an Apostle of Doom, but right now, she was quietly standing beside Kiana as if protecting her.

Himeko found it difficult to associate her with a Herrscher.

Himeko was a little afraid that she would anger Herrscher Mei and cause Kiana who was nearby to get hurt, so she chose to approach Kouro who was currently standing amidst the ruins of the Mecha Titan that he had destroyed.

Upon approaching Kouro, Himeko realized that his current expression was one of annoyance mixed with sadness while muttering things like, 'robots have no soul', 'can't level up', and so on.

"You..." Just as she was about to ask, Kouro suddenly turned his head towards her.

Kouro's purple eyes, which shone brightly like Herrscher Mei's, made Himeko's words get stuck in her throat.

But it returned to normal after Kouro blinked his eyes.

"Etto... Himeko-san? Is something wrong?" Kouro asked carefully.

Himeko originally wanted to ask why he who was just an ordinary high school student had such extraordinary power, but stopped because the look in Kouro's eyes just now gave off an extremely frightening aura.

The dumbfounded Himeko shook her head to get rid of the thought and looked into Kouro's purple eyes again, but when she looked again, there was no longer that terrifying aura emanating from within.

'Was it just an illusion?' She doubted herself.

Himeko then remembered her purpose, so after helping Kouro clean up the remaining Zombies together, she glanced at Herrscher Mei from a distance and asked Kouro in a low voice.

"What exactly happened to Herrscher over there? And why is Kiana unconscious next to hee?"

"Kiana fainted earlier because she got too close and was affected by Mei's aura when she turned into Herrscher. Mei is the one you refer to as the 3rd Herrscher. She is my friend." Kouro explained slowly and clearly while remaining calm.

"Friend? That's not your friend anymore, that's the 3rd Herrscher and a Herrscher is—" Himeko tried to warn him.

But Kouro cut off her words and replied, continuing her sentence, "Is the apostle of Honkai and the disaster that will destroy the world. Is that what you wanted to say?"

"Mei now has two personalities inside her. The first is her true self. "

He looked at Himeko before continuing, "The one who lived and grew up in the neighborhood where her mother died when she was a child. The one who has a father who is now in prison which makes her classmates and teachers ostracize her, but still has a kind-hearted nature that always treats others gently."

Kouro then glanced at Herrscher Mei who was currently staring at him before muttering, "And her other self is that Herrscher, but that persona inherited her memories and most of her original emotions, so please don't think of her as a world-ending disaster."

Himeko started staring at Kouro after he said those words to her with a serious expression and a frown slowly appeared on her forehead.

"You... Do you want us to ignore this Herrscher? You want to protect her?"

Kouro narrowed his eyes and looked at Himeko, his eyes gaining purple light, and replied in a deep voice, "Yes, I will protect her."

He began to warn Himeko, asking her to stay away from him while pointing his sword at her warily.

Himeko, as a Valkyrie, knew very well about the disaster that the Honkai brought to this world, let alone a Herrscher.

Although she had no personal experience in dealing with Herrscher, she had been told of the horrors that Herrscher could inflict from countless different subject matters.

Their goal is to destroy human civilization, they are Honkai's most powerful weapon. The 2nd Herrscher is the best example of this after her world-destroying rampage.

And now, Kouro really wants to protect Herrscher?

"Do you understand what you're saying?" Himeko laughed in suppressed anger.

"I do. I understand it very well. Besides, it seems I was too polite with my words earlier. I'm not having a discussion with you right now. I'm asking you, Himeko-san."

"Why?"

Himeko smiled, but the tick on her forehead said otherwise about her current emotions due to Kouro's request.

Kouro turned around and faced the road ahead.

If those Honkai Beasts and Zombies did not disappear after being killed, the street would be filled with countless corpses.

Even now, there were still many ruins of Mecha Titans around.

As for the road, the asphalt on it already looked shapeless as if it had been plowed thousands of times.

Some of the surrounding buildings have also collapsed or fallen to pieces, creating an eerie apocalypse-like atmosphere everywhere, making the city look like a ghost town.

"Himeko-san, what role do you think you're playing right now?"

"...What?"

"A character who arrived late after the large-scale Honkai Eruption occurred, and then took a stance as if you had contributed greatly, but obviously you didn't do much beforehand, right? Or do you think that a dozen Zombies you've taken out counts as a great achievement?"

"..."

An astonished expression appeared on Himeko's face, and she failed to give any response, Kouro also did not wait for her response and continued.

"If you think that's a small feat, I'd be the savior of the world who wiped out hundreds of thousands of Zombies, right? I've also eliminated dozens of Honkai Beasts and several Titans before."

"On top of that, I'm also part of the garrison unit protecting the fortress and have killed hundreds of Honkai Beasts in the border town of Nagazora City."

"What!?" Himeko expressed her shock while Kouro closed his eyes.

"The garrison unit is a group of ordinary humans who use ordinary weapons while using their own bodies as meat shields. It is impossible for ordinary humans to stop a giant Honkai Beast that is tens of meters tall."

Kouro recalled every ordinary soldier who sacrificed themselves for the sake of saving more people.

"They went there with determination, knowing full well that death awaited them just to delay the Honkai Beast from entering the city. They did not expect to survive nor did they expect support. Even though I couldn't save them all, I still gave my best to help them."

"..." Himeko was silent, no words could reply to Kouro's words.

Kouro didn't care about Himeko's silence and continued.

"I was the only one who supported them. I worked hard to keep the garrison unit standing, killed hundreds of Honkai Beasts that managed to break in and let the citizens of Nagazora City evacuate safely. "

"You should have already received a report on the number of survivors in Nagazora City, right? I don't blame you, Himeko-san. I understand that as a Valkyrie, you have been trying your best to reduce the casualties from the impact of the Honkai Eruption."

"..."

Seeing Himeko listening to him, Kouro knew that she had started to consider his words.

"I made a promise to Mei, the one you call the 3rd Herrscher and she worked hard to keep her promise. She trusted me too. From the moment she turned into Herrscher until now, she has not harmed a single soul. Before too, her targets were only Honkai Beasts, isn't that enough?"

Himeko, who had been silent all this time, looked at Kouro in front of her and then at the expressionless Herrscher Mei in the distance, before speaking.

"However, this Honkai Eruption still caused an unimaginable amount of casualties and losses."

"That's how Honkai is. You seem to want to associate it with Mei turning into Herrscher, but keep in mind that the Honkai Eruption happened after Honkai gave birth to Herrscher, not the Honkai Eruption that created Herrscher."

(E/D: In canon, Mei turned into Herrscher after Cocolia artificially created the Honkai Eruption).

There are still some things that Kouro keeps secret, such as when the previous Mei has turned into Herrscher, but the result will still be the same.

Even with this secret, Mei cannot be blamed as the perpetrator, but rather she is the victim.

Himeko wanted to refute Kouro's words, but her emotions stopped her. Even she didn't know how to deny it at all, so she could only helplessly say.

"You really left me speechless, Kouro. Too bad I'm not the one responsible. "

"Let me contact St. Freya Academy, an organization that deals with Honkai in the Far East region. The principal - Theresa, you should have met her earlier, if you want to fight for her (Mei) safety, talk to her."