Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

Not only did the Herrscher want to eliminate the Fire Moth One first, but the Fire Moth One also seemed confident it could defeat the Herrscher.

Missile bays on both sides of the warship opened, unleashing hundreds of Honkai-buster missiles. White smoke trails crisscrossed the sky, forming clouds that resembled plowed fields.

This spectacular sight was a first in human history.

But…

"It's useless," Mikael declared.

As predicted, the missiles, upon nearing the 3rd Herrscher, began to veer off course erratically.

Dozens of missiles collided and exploded mid-air. More crashed into the city below, the distant ocean, and even back towards the Fire Moth One.

Squad 4 on the warship was clearly unprepared. They frantically tried to maneuver the massive vessel, a futile effort. Mikael soon saw a series of explosions rock the Fire Moth One's hull. To accommodate the weapons systems for takeoff, its armor had been thinned to the point of being practically paper-thin. 

After being struck by a dozen missiles, thick smoke billowed from the main hull, and the ship began to list to one side.

The entire process, though seemingly long, took less than ten seconds. The 680mm railgun at the bow hadn't even finished charging before the warship lost control, spinning wildly in the air before crashing into the ocean.

Throughout this entire ordeal, the Herrscher hadn't moved. After dealing with the Fire Moth One, she began to descend.

It all happened so fast. Elysia didn't understand what had occurred, and Mikael hadn't had time to formulate a rescue plan before the state-of-the-art warship effectively typed "GG" on the public channel…

"Go!"

Mikael nudged the stunned Elysia, and they raced towards the Herrscher's landing point.

"The 3rd Herrscher's power isn't simply controlling lightning," Mikael explained as they ran. "She controls electromagnetic waves. She disrupted the Honkai-buster missiles and my Striker Eureka with electromagnetic pulses."

"The same goes for the Fire Moth One. The electromagnetic pulses scrambled the warship's gyroscopes, rendering its fire suppression and close-in weapons systems useless. The 3rd Herrscher's power is incredibly effective against humanity's advanced weaponry. It's as if it was specifically chosen to counter us!"

"So that means…"

"Exactly," Mikael turned, giving Elysia a gentle smile. "It's up to us now."

Elysia paused, surprised. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him smile like that.

When was it? When he joined Fire Moth six months ago? During one of their past journeys? Or back at the orphanage in Vostok-51?

It wasn't that Mikael always wore a poker face—it was the warmth in his smile that was different.

Mikael had smiled in front of Elysia many times over the years. Perhaps too many times.

But they were mostly wry smiles, bitter smiles, pitying smiles, helpless smiles, smiles that masked sadness, smiles with ambiguous meanings…

But this kind of smile, purely gentle, radiating warmth that filled her heart just by looking at it… she couldn't remember when she'd last seen it.

Ah!

She remembered. The last time she'd seen such a smile was during their last lunch at the orphanage. They had shared chicken soup and potatoes. He had poked her cheek, then smiled like that.

A sudden unease gripped Elysia's heart.

Mikael, sensing her apprehension, casually changed the subject. "Worried about Eden? Don't worry, I entrusted her to Captain Himeko before coming here."

Elysia shook her head, stopping.

The Herrscher landed before them.

The three stood facing each other, less than ten meters apart, an eerie silence hanging in the air.

The 3rd Herrscher's crimson eyes darted between Mikael and Elysia, her chest heaving slightly, betraying the exertion from the previous battle.

She fixed her gaze on Mikael. "You are not a complete Herrscher."

"?"

Mikael froze. What did she mean?

His mind went blank, a flicker of confusion in his eyes, as if her words had struck a vulnerable chord within him.

It was like a persistent voice whispering in his ear: Who are you? Where do you come from? Where are you going?

Repeating endlessly until it drove him mad.

But he quickly regained his composure, glancing at Elysia. Their eyes met, and they nodded slightly.

Elysia suddenly drew her bow and fired. The next instant, Mikael appeared behind the Herrscher, bringing Surtr, blazing with flames, down on her head.

But the 3rd Herrscher wasn't worried. Spatial manipulation offered no speed advantage against her.

But just as she was about to turn and block Mikael's attack, Elysia's arrow reached her.

Their timing was perfect. Surtr's fiery blade grazed the hair at the back of the Herrscher's head, while the crystal arrow tore through her flimsy garment.

Boom!

A thunderous clap resonated in Mikael's ears, blurring his vision. The clang of metal against metal told him his attack had missed—his blade had struck Elysia's arrow, not the Herrscher.

As expected! Mikael wasn't surprised by the 3rd Herrscher's speed. Mei had demonstrated it many times in the story. Even Kiana in her Herrscher form couldn't match her. But this speed wasn't without its weaknesses.

Despite their excellent coordination, Mikael and Elysia's combined attack still had flaws when measured against the speed of light. The question was—could the 3rd Herrscher react in time?

Compared to Mikael, she lacked emotions, fighting purely on instinct. But even the transmission of electrical signals between neurons and the subsequent muscle response took time… reaction speed—that was the 3rd Herrscher's first weakness!

And for a certain someone:

"Do you know how much I suffered to use the 2nd Herrscher's powers normally?" —A message left by a certain weak Herrscher after completing reaction speed training.

The Herrscher materialized amidst the purple lightning, scratches from the crystal arrow on her chest, the hair at the back of her head singed by the flames.

"Elysia!" Mikael shouted, turning to face the Herrscher.

At the same time, his gray eyes flashed purple.

If a third party had recorded this scene with a camera capable of capturing an infinite frame rate and played it back at a million frames per second, they would have seen the purple lightning coalesce into the 3rd Herrscher just as it was about to strike Mikael—

This was her second weakness: although she could transform into electromagnetic waves, essentially light, and move at light speed, even a Herrscher had to obey the laws of physics. In this state, she lacked mass and couldn't inflict direct physical damage.

And lightning alone couldn't kill Mikael, another Herrscher. She had to revert to her human form, to solidify, to attack.

In the next frame, the Herrscher's lightning blade pierced Mikael's clothes, but a golden outline shimmered around him.

In the next frame, a victorious smirk played on the Herrscher's lips, but there was no one before her. The real Mikael, wielding his flaming greatsword, had teleported behind her.

"Flying Thunder God, Second Stage!" [Reference to Minato's Hiraishin no Jutsu from Naruto]

With a dramatic flourish, the heavy blade sliced across the Herrscher's waist, nearly severing her in two. Blood arced through the air. Even though the 3rd Herrscher reacted at the last moment, accelerating instantly, she only barely managed to protect her spine.

She tried to escape as a bolt of lightning.

"Now!"

The sky darkened as the Flawless Dome reappeared. One arrow, two arrows… a dense web quickly formed within the dome.

Initially, the arrows were few, and the Herrscher could deflect them with her purple blade. But soon, the hulking form of Striker Eureka rose again, weathering the crystal arrows and pummeling the Herrscher with its countless fists.

She tried to disable the mecha with electromagnetic pulses, but under the barrage of arrows, she could only dodge as lightning, unable to retaliate. With her injuries, even a 0.1-second pause would result in a devastating counterattack from Striker Eureka and the crystal arrows.

The 3rd Herrscher realized her predicament. Her energy was waning. She couldn't maintain her high-speed movement much longer.

"Hmph!"

She stopped abruptly. Dozens of crystal arrows pierced her body, making her resemble a pincushion. The arrowheads exploded within her, pinning her lower body to the ground along with the surrounding debris.

Striker Eureka's fist, slightly delayed, appeared above her head.

"You are not a complete Herrscher. You cannot defeat me, nor can you change anything."

The 3rd Herrscher's lips moved, but her barely audible voice somehow reached Mikael's ears.

The voice was devoid of emotion, a cold, hard statement of fact.

For an instant, past nightmares resurfaced, memories he hadn't dared to revisit even after gaining access—the casualty records from the Vostok incident.

He faltered, his fist hesitating for a fraction of a second above the Herrscher's head, inadvertently shielding her from the incoming crystal arrows. The 3rd Herrscher had been waiting for this—

Mikael saw a flash of purple light. Thick, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and purple lightning rained down, enveloping the city in a dense net of electricity.

The Flawless Dome shattered, pink crystal fragments falling like peeling paint.

Striker Eureka was immediately engulfed by the lightning, but Mikael had already left the cockpit, appearing beside Elysia.

The 3rd Herrscher's outburst wasn't unexpected. His goal was simple—to see who would fall first.

Countless spatial rifts opened above them, pure darkness swallowing the lightning.

"Hmph…"

As the spatial rifts closed, having absorbed their fill of energy, new ones opened. The Honkai energy he'd drawn from the Imaginary Tree was being rapidly depleted—and the same was true for the 3rd Herrscher.

This exchange wasn't advantageous for Mikael. The 3rd Herrscher was using her innate power, while Mikael had to simulate the 2nd Herrscher's power with his own, at a greater cost.

This was a battle of attrition. Fortunately, despite his occasional "weakling" status, his control over his powers far surpassed that of the nascent 3rd Herrscher.

Moreover, the Herrscher was already severely injured, her strength fading.

During this time, Elysia maintained the pink crystals, keeping the Herrscher trapped.

Both Herrschers knew this was their final showdown. They pushed their powers to the limit, the clash of lightning and spatial rifts lasting for a full half hour.

Elysia faltered first, stumbling with a groan. The 3rd Herrscher, using her last reserves of strength, broke free from the crystal restraints. But before she could do anything, she swayed and collapsed into a pool of her own blood.

Almost simultaneously, Mikael exhaled, taking a step before collapsing.

"We won!" Elysia's face lit up with joy. She gently laid Mikael down, then, despite her exhaustion, slowly approached the unconscious Herrscher.

A crystal dagger formed in her hand.

"It's over!"

She was three steps away from the 3rd Herrscher.

Three steps… just three steps…

The ground suddenly trembled. She leaped back.

The rubble in front of her collapsed inwards. A massive snake, covered in black mud, emerged from the ground, swallowing the unconscious Herrscher whole. It fixed its emerald gaze on Elysia.

Elysia, startled but undeterred, drew her crystal bow, aiming directly at the snake's eyes.

Wind swirled, carrying dust. Neither Elysia nor the snake was confident they could defeat the other.

After a brief standoff, one of them moved, or perhaps they both retreated simultaneously.

Elysia picked up Mikael, and Śeṣa burrowed back into the ground.

---Roasted Chicken Divider---

The battle between Striker Eureka and Śeṣa had devastated half of the western city. Now, only a handful of buildings remained standing near the riverbank, like tombstones in a graveyard of civilization.

Himeko stood atop one of these buildings, gazing at the silent eastern city, worry etched on her face.

Mobius typed furiously on her laptop, balanced on her knees.

Her words, as always, were sharp. "What? Are you worried about those two kids? If you are, then go over there. Standing here fretting won't help them."

Himeko ignored her. She wasn't blind. Mobius had made four typing errors in the last minute and had glanced towards the eastern city twenty-three times. That spoke volumes.

She knew her limits. In a battle of that level, she might be of some use, but more likely, she would just be another person for Mikael and Elysia to protect—dead weight.

It was better to stay in the western city and gather survivors.

Besides… she had more pressing matters to attend to…

As she thought this, she saw Mobius suddenly stand up, dropping her laptop in the process.

Himeko quickly turned, looking anxiously towards the opposite bank.

Moments later, Elysia, carrying Mikael on her back, appeared in their sight.

"Phew…"

Himeko and Mobius exhaled simultaneously.

And if they were here, that meant…

"Did you win?" Himeko jumped down from the building, taking the unconscious Mikael from Elysia's back as she asked excitedly.

"No, just… a draw."