Ryan floated on his back hundreds of meters beneath the sea. Śeṣa had been turned into a twisted wreckage and sank into the deep waters.
This Honkai beast, which had hoped to take advantage of the situation, was out of luck. It never expected that Ryan would abandon the Ruler of the Sky and focus all his efforts on causing trouble for it. After losing a lot of energy from the self-explosion, it had no strength left to resist Ryan. It was quickly killed and sank, unwilling, to the ocean floor.
The bubbles formed by the Honkai energy blocked the water pressure. Ryan closed his eyes and detected the world above. His electromagnetic field wasn't blocked by the water.
Śeṣa was dead, but unfortunately, Ryan wasn't a Fate Devourer, so he couldn't immediately replenish his energy. He would need time to recover. The Herrscher of Wind was right in her guess: he had wanted to kill her from the start.
Step one: lure her in. Step two: test her. Step three: approach. Step four: break away. Step five...
"It depends on your choice."
A careful plan unfolded in Ryan's mind. This battle was inherently strange. Apart from Śeṣa, the Herrscher didn't have many Honkai beasts to use as cannon fodder. Instead, she had the Fire Moths as her "followers."
As long as she dared to start a war, she would have to fight slowly with the Fire Moth. At that point, their energies would fluctuate, and it wouldn't be clear who would kill whom. As for the secrets discovered by the Fire Moth?
If I had the authority of two Herrschers and could push my Honkai energy to over 2000HW, what could you do to me?
In the magnetic field, the sea was full of exploding high-energy spheres. Hundreds of missiles and artillery shells exploded, sending shrapnel into the sea. Of course, this kind of attack couldn't hurt the Herrscher.
After waiting for about ten seconds, Ryan's expression changed, and he quickly sank deeper into the sea.
Woo woo woo...
The air vibrated as if countless hands were tapping on glass, causing the sky above to visibly distort. The Fire Moth launched another round of missiles, but as they entered the sea area, the wings of the missiles couldn't maintain balance.
It was like being slapped hard in the face, and all of them fell into the sea. After a brief silence, there was a loud explosion.
Boom boom boom—
Hundreds of water columns shot up into the sky at once. The Herrscher of Wind stared at the surface, but there was no lightning flash, confirming that the target had dived into the deep sea again and had no intention of confronting her.
He's still enduring, waiting for the Fire Moth and me to consume each other?
Another round of "starlight" shot over the horizon. Human firepower was endless, and the fleet a hundred kilometers away had also formed an air defense formation. It wouldn't be so easy to break through.
The Herrscher hesitated for a moment, then turned gently, spreading her broken wings. Several energy rings blossomed one after another.
"The Herrscher began to move, with a speed exceeding Mach 2, and still accelerating."
The bridge became tense. At that speed, she would soon be in front of them, and their fate would likely not be much better than that of the Nan Shenzhou branch.
Edwin wiped sweat from his forehead, looking up at the screen in shock, then stared, stunned.
"No... why did she go east?"
There was nothing there but a vast ocean—no cities, no Fire Moth army. The branch chief blinked, an incredible thought striking him.
"Is she running away?"
How could the Herrscher escape? Didn't they always appear suddenly, then attack the nearest human city?
And why would she want to escape? At that speed, the Fire Moth could only eat her exhaust fumes from behind.
"It seems like the Herrscher has shown a new characteristic." Himeko, fully armed and carrying an alloy sword, stepped onto the bridge, her expression unreadable. "I feel her goal isn't destruction. This Herrscher is strange—really strange. The Intelligence Department can't even guess what she's after."
No one answered. Humans had never interacted with a Herrscher before, and their judgment was based entirely on past experience.
"It seems the problem is with the battle itself, but the interference is so strong that we don't know who she's fighting."
"What matters is what the Herrscher is thinking. This doesn't seem like a monster whose mind is solely filled with destruction."
Everyone went silent. From the commander-in-chief to the lowest-ranked soldiers, no one knew what the Herrscher wanted. She had just appeared suddenly, and then the Fire Moths had to wipe her out with everything they had. This had happened three times.
"It doesn't matter what the Herrscher is thinking," Edwin sighed. "Based on the characteristics we've seen, we're in big trouble."
The Herrscher will flee, and the army will be useless. She could drop a storm on a city and wreak havoc on the continent, but only two people could stop her.
Could it be Elysia or Ryan?
Himeko glanced at the battlefield. Her intuition told her that the Fourth Herrscher was unlike the previous three. But even if she understood that, what could she do? Would killing those two people please the Herrscher?
"Gather the information and report it to the higher-ups. I recommend launching the Mantis Program immediately. Otherwise, the Herrscher of Wind will launch a guerrilla war, and humanity will be destroyed." Edwin finished his analysis, standing up heavily. "Start all detectors to monitor and predict her target city. If she suddenly disappears—"
"Then the enemy we face will be terrifying!"
...
A white line stretched tens of thousands of meters across the sky. Sakura stood at the bow, watching the spectacular contrail, her purple eyes filled with worry.
From the intercepted communications, it seemed the Herrscher of Wind had actually escaped, suddenly disappearing after traveling thousands of kilometers, as if she had gathered all her Honkai energy. This was unprecedented.
In the past, Herrschers were born with a roar, led Honkai beasts in bloody battles with the Fire Moths, and were eventually turned into corpses. But now, she could converge her energy and sneak around. Did this mean Herrschers could integrate into the human race?
That's terrifying. If she suddenly broke out in a city, the Fire Moths wouldn't even have time to collect the bodies.
Sakura didn't think too far ahead. She kept adjusting the frequency of the communicator, wanting to locate Ryan's whereabouts. As she listened, she suddenly clenched her sword.
Clatter.
A wet hand pressed against the side of the boat, followed by a black-haired man emerging. He was covered in blood, barely recognizable.
Sakura immediately grabbed her knife, rushing over. When she saw who it was, she quickly lowered it.
"Ryan, did you escape?"
"It's not exactly running away, but I can't have too much contact with the Fire Moths." Ryan leaned on the railing, gasping for breath. His weakness was evident on his face. Sakura quickly brought him a cup of hot tea.
Of course, it was useless. Ryan had drained his last bit of energy, sneaking hundreds of kilometers through the sea, only finding Sakura through the connection between Śeṣa's core and the black mud.
But the hot tea made him feel better, and his chest rose and fell with each breath.
"It was the Herrscher of Wind who escaped. She was obviously fighting the Fire Moths, so I had a chance to kill her."
"So, you're sorry?"
"No, I felt a little fear." Ryan turned his head, his gray eyes serious. "The surprise this time isn't just that a Herrscher suddenly appeared. It's her purpose. Damn, she escaped immediately after missing the attack?"
He had been targeted, and this answered a long-standing question. Back in Qianyu Academy, Ryan had always suspected there were Honkai beasts surrounding him.
Even if he managed to escape this time—and nearly got killed—the Herrscher was still alive. If she had learned how to escape, she'd eventually use more complex tactics, but the Fourth Herrscher was not the end.
If five Herrschers come down and beat me up, I'm done, right?
Ryan suddenly felt a sharp pain. Though this possibility was extremely low, based on Fire Moth's research, after each Herrscher, the Honkai energy would have to accumulate for a while before the next would be born. But if the Fourth Herrscher survived long enough for the Fifth to arrive, wouldn't her combat power double?
So, is it humans who harm me, or am I the one who harms humans?
Even Ryan couldn't figure out this paradox. He only knew that the fate of both sides was completely intertwined.
"Are you... okay?" Sakura asked uneasily. She rarely saw Ryan lose his composure.
"It's fine. Do you know what my biggest gain this time is?"
"Have you figured out that the upper-level Honkai beasts and Herrschers have intelligence?"
Ryan stood up with his sword, saying coldly, "No, it's me who started the war with Honkai."
Isn't this the same thing?
Sakura didn't quite understand and hurriedly followed him, but Ryan was clear—these were two completely different things.
The purpose of a Herrscher's birth is different. The Fourth Herrscher was born to kill him. After a few words, Ryan understood her deeply.
Simply put, personality, IQ, and strength are all accessories. The true foundation lies in why they were born. Just like when the Fourth Herrscher lost the opportunity to kill him, she would never get excited and fight with the Fire Moths.
"So even if I hide in the hibernation chamber, it's useless. She'll definitely try everything to kill me. Even future Herrschers will have this secondary goal. How bad will that be?"
It seems there's no way out.
Ryan looked in the mirror. His face was covered in burn marks, his shoulders were collapsed, and his internal organs were a mess. But not only did he run hundreds of kilometers, he also grew new skin.
Super-speed regeneration was Śeṣa's ability, but unfortunately, it failed to address the root cause and nearly drained all his Honkai energy.
He remembered Mobius could be resurrected by fusing with Śeṣa. But of course, that didn't matter. Honkai Beast's ability was weaker than Authority and not as effective as Mantis's surgery.
"Killing the Third Herrscher to gain authority is my instinct. No regrets."
Once you start down this path, there's no turning back. You may regret it at first, but as you move deeper, that option fades away.
Either make it to the end, or disappear entirely.
Ryan reached out, took the shirt Sakura handed him, slowly buttoned it up, shook his wet hair, and gazed at the contrail clouds in the sky.
The Herrscher was far away now, but as Ryan thought back, it felt like she'd always been with him. That feeling was all too familiar.
He remembered the first time he killed a Honkai beast, then awakened his destiny. The first time he killed a Herrscher was like stepping onto a staircase to a deeper place.
Coincidence or inevitability?
He had no answer and couldn't reverse time. He just pushed his wet hair back.
"Let the storm come even harder."