Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

"You're… a Herrscher?!"

It was a term that had once been unfamiliar to her, but was now very familiar.

Whether it was what the loudmouth Elvin had said in Shanghai City, or the bits and pieces of information that the others had revealed during their tumultuous journey over the past six months, all of it pointed to a harsh reality—

Herrschers were the source of the disasters that had occurred.

If gods truly existed in this world, Herrschers were their envoys. However, the envoys' mission was no longer to guide humanity, but to destroy this "disfavored" species, along with the civilization they had created.

Come to think of it, Elvin had mentioned that the Herrscher who had appeared in Irkutsk had displayed spatial powers, which matched Mikael's abilities, and…

"Ugh?"

Mikael sighed. Complex emotions like regret, helplessness, and sadness flickered across his face, before settling into an inscrutable smile:

"It's such a shame… you found out… Hua, you should know, right? When you learn certain secrets… even if you learn them unintentionally, knowing itself is a sin—and a sin punishable by death."

"But… it's also my fault. After all, I never lied to you."

His gaze gradually turned cold. Before he could make any movement, space around him cracked open, and a Void lance shot out, piercing through Hua's abdomen without any resistance.

"Thump… thump… sneeze…"

Her heart was pounding rapidly, the sound clearly audible.

Hua looked down in disbelief, staring at the half of the lance that was protruding from her abdomen. Then, she looked back up, her eyes filled with confusion and unwillingness, towards Mikael.

But what she received was just unrestrained laughter echoing off the ice walls.

"Pfft! Hahahaha! Hahahahaha!"

Hua watched as Mikael rubbed his aching stomach from laughing so hard, then wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. She looked down. The Void lance had indeed pierced her abdomen, but it didn't hurt, and there was no blood flowing out.

She struggled to twist herself, pulled her hand out from the blankets, and quickly brushed the lance tail... Her fingers passed easily through the tail. It was just a projection-like thing.

"Hahahaha! Look how scared you were!"

Mikael continued to laugh to himself. Hua bit her lip. In exasperation, she took off her hat and threw it at Mikael, hitting him squarely on the forehead.

"Don't be so mad!"

Mikael waved his hand, dispelling the Void lance that was solid, but also a projection. He tried to act relaxed, but in the end, he failed.

"Hua… about the question you just asked, I think I can still make a flimsy… no, explain it. But not now."

"Not now?"

"Mm-hmm." Mikael held the plug with his left hand, continuing to channel electricity. His right hand picked up a book and placed it on his lap, and he started to flip through it with one hand.

"It's not like I'm intentionally hiding things from you or anything. It's just that I'm pretty lazy. For some things, I want to wait until everyone is together, and then explain it all at once… that way, I only have to say it once, hehe!"

"…" Hua covered her face.

Actually, she didn't want to ask about that in the first place. What she really wanted to know was... as a Herrscher, why had he chosen the path of fighting against his "mission"?

Or was fighting against the Honkai just a disguise?

But after a moment's thought, what Mikael said wasn't wrong. "Some things" could mean a lot of things. As for what she had wanted to know the most, she already knew the answer.

If she didn't trust him from the bottom of her heart, why would she have followed him in the first place?

"Speaking of which… Hua, you actually made a great contribution just now."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Mikael raised the old book in his hand. "This thing, the village elder's book, '...Fables and Stories', weren't you the one holding it? I think I found the reason why those villagers did that from this book."

"Did that." Although Mikael didn't say it directly, and even intentionally used vague terms, it only made Hua recall the scene she witnessed last night more vividly.

"Ugh!"

As expected, she started retching violently on the ice.

Silence, pitch-black, crimson, ignorance, madness… each one of them on its own was enough to make someone feel uncomfortable. When they were combined, even though it had been a night, Hua could still vaguely smell the strong stench of blood in the air.

She didn't know if it was a hallucination, or if the smell had clung to her like a shadow, and hadn't faded away yet.

"Are you okay?"

Hua shook her head, signaling Mikael to continue.

"Based on the wear and tear, and the way the pages are folded, I found the story that was read the most. It's kind of absurd, I've even read this story too."

"It tells about a doctor who came to a remote mountain village. The villagers had passed down a strange illness through the generations. The doctor was dedicated to curing this illness, and when he finally made some progress, the ignorant villagers saw him as a savior sent by a god."

"Uh, isn't that a good thing?"

Hua's cheeks trembled slightly. She had a bad feeling about where this was going.

As expected, Mikael continued, "Yeah, so the way those villagers treated the savior was by tearing him apart and eating him. Because they believed that the savior's body was the best medicine and that they could cure any disease by eating it."

"No… What kind of fable would write a story like that?"

"Huh? Is that so? But aren't fairy tales the darkest of all?"

Hua shook her head, unable to understand.

"What happened next?"

"Then the real god learned of this, and praised the villagers for following his will. He asked them to gather together with the remains of the 'savior,' along with small wooden tokens that symbolized each of their identities."

"He was going to take them to heaven. But when all the villagers gathered, the god's envoy made them line up. For each wooden token that was thrown into the fire, he opened up the villager's stomach to take out the doctor's remains to piece him back together, and sent all the villagers into hell."

Hua shivered. She really didn't like these dark stories, especially since it was supposed to be a fable…

"The interesting thing is that the ending was torn off. The story ends right where the god promises the villagers to take them to heaven, hehe…"

"So, that man was also…"

"Oh, him? He's been tied up there for a few years. Back then, he didn't have so many wounds. And I didn't witness it myself..."

"!" Hua felt like she was in a fairytale. The story in reality was even more absurd than fiction?

"So how were the Honkai beasts attracted?"

"Of course it was the fire. Like moths to a flame, Honkai beasts will gather towards a bright light at night. Did you forget about what happened in Shanghai City?"

"Then what about us? What is our role?"

"Who knows? Maybe they wanted to share some of the spoils, so we could also go to heaven?"

Mikael couldn't figure it out either. Maybe he could have grabbed a villager and asked, but unfortunately, they were all dead, taking the secret with them.

And that's how the world was. Not all questions could be answered. Most people would keep their secrets until the last moment, but as they kept it to themselves, they forgot to say them, and then nobody would ever know.

"Okay! The water's boiled, you should wash up first."

Hua pursed her lips. The greatest feeling when going on missions with Mikael was the luxury. He could even use some kind of "four rooms and a hall technique" to create a villa, and there wasn't any sense of urgency like there was during camping.

Of course, she enjoyed this feeling.

But Mikael wasn't as calm as she thought. Although he had held back in last night's fight, the Honkai energy it had caused definitely exceeded 1000 HW, which was a standard Herrscher-level reaction. Fire Moth wouldn't have failed to notice it—unless everyone in the global Honkai energy monitoring department was asleep.

Even if everyone in the global Honkai energy monitoring department was asleep… this was a large-scale collapse with a diameter of over one hundred kilometers! A satellite photo would be able to show it clearly.

Based on Mikael's experience, the fast response team would be able to arrive in four hours at the latest, and the closest flight squadron would be able to arrive in half an hour...

But it had been almost twelve hours now, and Mikael hadn't detected any human forces approaching this area.

"What exactly is Fire Moth and the United Government up to?"

Either way, the fast response team was probably already on its way, and he had to take Kalpas away before Fire Moth arrived.

"Looks like I have to knock him out directly…"

Indeed, respecting the other party's wishes was admirable, but when it came to getting things done, it was better to jump first and ask questions later...

But his actions still didn't reflect what he was thinking. Mikael remained motionless.

"Aren't you in a hurry to find him?"

Hua, who had just finished washing up, also had the same question.

"Find him? Why should I find him?"

The accurate way to put it was-- find him? How would he find him?

He had to stay with Hua, so he couldn't leave for too long. The collapsed area was also so large that even with his spatial powers, it would be impossible to find his target with the naked eye.

But he had another power—where Hua couldn't see, electromagnetic waves spread out from Mikael as the center. He had transformed himself into an enhanced version of a "radar." That was what a smart person would do.

"Don't worry, that guy isn't that docile. There are actually quite a few Honkai beasts here. As long as he gets into a fight, I will definitely be able to find him in the first moment… or rather, he hasn't moved at all, that's what I find strange the most…"

Mikael trailed off...

Following his gaze, Hua saw that the ice walls, which were like a crystal palace, were slowly melting!

Mikael quickly closed his eyes and opened them again. "So there's another layer below. No wonder I couldn't find him."

His left hand grabbed the collar of Hua's shirt, and his right fist lightly tapped the ice beneath them.

The ice shattered like a mirror.