Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

As the crystal arrow exploded high in the sky, pink dust scattered across the heavens. The dust particles then coalesced, rapidly forming the Flawless Dome, encompassing half of the eastern city.

The Herrscher, transformed into lightning, appeared instantly before Elysia. But Elysia was prepared. A massive pink crystal pillar erupted from the ground beneath her. The Herrscher, undeterred, shattered the pillar with a casual punch, but Elysia had already retreated.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Herrscher effortlessly dodged the three crystal arrows, scoffing. The girl seemed to only possess enhanced physical abilities, nothing truly remarkable.

But even enhanced physical abilities couldn't surpass a Herrscher's, could they?

Especially that speed the girl seemed so proud of. To the 3rd Herrscher, wielding the power of lightning, it was nothing special…

As the Herrscher was about to transform into lightning and attack, a tremendous force slammed into her back, forcing her back into her human form. The crystal arrow that had struck her shattered, its dust scattering towards the dome, where it reformed into more arrows that shot towards her.

One became ten, ten became a hundred…

Elysia retreated from the dome, leaping onto the roof of a still-standing building, surveying her handiwork with satisfaction.

More and more crystal arrows filled the air, each leaving a faint afterimage. These afterimages, initially thin lines, quickly wove themselves into a dense net within the dome, crisscrossing like a spiderweb, each intersection flashing with the light of colliding arrows.

The whistling of arrows, the shattering of crystals… the cacophony filled the air.

"Enough…"

"Enough!"

The 3rd Herrscher spoke her first words since her birth.

Her furious roar drowned out all other sounds, echoing throughout Shanghai.

The next moment, countless lightning bolts rained down from the sky, shattering the beautiful, fragile dome. Without the dome's amplification, the crystal arrows lost their momentum.

The Herrscher looked slightly disheveled. Thin red lines crisscrossed her pale face, and her body was covered in scratches from the crystal arrows. Even the snake head on her shoulder was dented.

And around her, within a ten-kilometer radius, the area previously covered by the Flawless Dome, all the debris, the Honkai beasts, the zombies…

Everything was gone, reduced to fine rubble.

It was as if a giant millstone had ground everything to dust.

Elysia clenched her fists, uncharacteristically refraining from taunting the Herrscher.

"You're finished!"

A pair of luminous wings sprouted from the Herrscher's back. Countless miniature lightning serpents coiled beneath her feet, lifting her into the air.

Her body began to glow with a purple light. Elysia could see that it wasn't just light, but countless tiny lightning bolts compressed around her.

"Not good!"

Elysia rapidly fired several arrows, but they were disintegrated by high-frequency electromagnetic waves before they could reach the Herrscher.

She didn't even check if they'd hit. The moment the arrows left her bow, she turned and leaped off the building. Before she landed, a massive explosion erupted behind her.

Blinding lightning reduced the building to atoms. The shockwave sent Elysia tumbling through the rubble.

Before she could get up, she heard the crackle of lightning all around her.

Five Herrschers appeared simultaneously—front, back, left, right, and above. But they weren't clones, but afterimages created by her incredible speed.

No, not just afterimages, because each attack was real!

The 3rd Herrscher had achieved a clone-like effect through instantaneous, light-speed teleportation.

Purple blades pierced Elysia's heart from five different angles. Although only the blade from the Herrscher behind her remained, the wounds were real.

"Cough!"

Blood trickled down Elysia's lips.

The 3rd Herrscher, certain she had struck the real Elysia this time, searched for the appropriate words.

"Is that all?"

"Heh, you're so… easy to fool…"

"?"

The 3rd Herrscher then noticed the dimming light around her. The change was subtle in the darkness, and her focus had been entirely on Elysia, ignoring her surroundings.

She looked up. A giant metal foot filled her vision.

*Boom!*

Striker Eureka, now fully materialized, slammed its foot down, creating a crater in the ground. Pink dust and crystal petals swirled from beneath its foot, coalescing into a crystal cocoon around Elysia, slowly healing her wounds.

Mikael shifted his weight onto the ball of his right foot, even grinding it slightly. With such a size difference, stepping on the 3rd Herrscher felt like crushing an insect.

But he knew this wouldn't kill her.

The next moment, lightning crackled, snaking up Striker Eureka's right leg and spreading across its body. With a sound like a thousand birds chirping, the mecha shuddered violently, smoke rising from its joints.

On Mikael's control panel, sections representing various parts of Striker Eureka turned red, then black—the mecha's circuits were fried. It was no longer operational.

Then, the current, as if sentient, reached the cockpit. Before Mikael could react, his body was paralyzed by a searing numbness.

"*Hmph… so that's how it is.*"

Although he had anticipated Striker Eureka's ineffectiveness against the Herrscher's power, being disabled so quickly still frustrated him.

The next moment, he appeared beside Elysia, and Striker Eureka's form began to fade, disappearing completely.

"My, my! What can I say… out of the three Herrschers we've seen, you're still the weakest, Mikael!"

The flawless crystal shattered into fluttering petals. Elysia, standing beside him, couldn't resist teasing him.

Mikael chuckled wryly, unsure how to respond.

He suddenly regretted letting Vill-V go. If he had brought her back to Fire Moth as in the original story, would the 2nd Divine Key be complete by now?

With a combat-oriented Divine Key, his lack of offensive power wouldn't be an issue.

Mikael shook his head. The past couldn't be changed. Dwelling on it was pointless.

He could always just charge at the 3rd Herrscher with Surtr. His close-quarters combat training hadn't been for nothing. He wasn't afraid.

Besides, if it came down to it, mutual destruction was always an option…

Dawn broke as if someone had flipped a switch high above, the sky gradually changing color.

Behind them, the curtain of night still lingered.

Above them, the sky shifted from deep indigo to pale blue, then to the soft hues of dawn.

The 3rd Herrscher, carried by her wings, ascended into the sky, the heavens behind her painted gold by the rising sun.

Mikael squinted. Against the backdrop of golden clouds, the Herrscher's figure was a tiny black dot.

"What is she doing?" Elysia asked.

A sense of foreboding washed over Mikael, but it wasn't entirely directed at himself.

Suddenly, a deafening roar filled the air, and a massive shadow enveloped them.

Mikael and Elysia looked up, seeing the Fire Moth One charging towards the Herrscher.

"…She's going to take out the Fire Moth One first!"