Honkai Dimension, Imperial Capital Grand Palace.
In the administrative area of Schönbrunn Palace's outer court, the light, ornate, and complex Rococo style with gilded edges was the main theme here. Exquisite statues and decorations were placed meticulously in wall niches along the architectural edges, while finely crafted paintings covered each of the tall and wide windows.
Some elegant wall lamps that shone upward bathed the large room with its high ceiling in a warm and comfortable glow.
Rustle~
Selene's split incarnation was sitting at her desk, working diligently. Her scarlet eyes were completely filled with pale blue data streams. One hand held a finely made quill pen, the other a personal seal used to approve documents.
As the ruler of an interstellar multiverse empire, even though the governing structure of the Sacred Selene Empire was relatively crude—granting considerable autonomy to various local star prefectures and colonial worlds—the sheer scale meant that the number of documents to be processed daily by the central imperial administration was astronomical.
In such circumstances, as Empress, Selene had an immense number of papers requiring review and signature.
These included major matters reported by central imperial worlds, local star prefectures, colonial governors, the Astartes Legions, the Imperial Military, the Ministry of Taxation, and countless other key departments—such as tithing results, legion war reports, security evaluations, Foundry Department production quotas, and Navy fleet budgets…
It could be said that even if a colonial world experienced an uprising of deranged rebels, such reports might not even reach Selene's desk.
Even so, this was already the optimal balance achieved—countless trivial matters filtered out—through the assistance of the Secretariat, the Adjudication Cabinet, the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Military, and countless human and material resources.
Fortunately, Selene was no ordinary person. The authority of the Herrscher of Reason granted her incredible intelligence and computational ability. Nor was there such a concept as sudden death for her. Thus, she never felt overwhelmed. Years of governance experience, combined with her ambitious temperament, made handling these affairs effortless. Her experience and ability were perfectly stable—beyond reproach.
Except, of course, for her occasional bouts of laziness—when she'd simply dump everything and vanish for a while.
For this, the Imperial bureaucracy had long since developed a mature and systematic countermeasure.
As long as Selene didn't disappear for, say, a century or two—or crash for millennia—short-term absences could be managed through the Secretariat's and Adjudication Cabinet's joint authority, supported by enhanced bureaucrats with superhuman physiques and minds, and supplemented by the empire's various auxiliary AI servants led by Mendicant Bias (a product of the Forerunner civilization's collective effort).
Under certain conditions, the efficiency of the empire's internal administration could even surpass that of modern industrial civilizations.
However, the scale of the Sacred Selene Empire was simply too vast—and its expansion showed no sign of stopping.
"Hmm? You're back. Looks like you've had quite a feast."
After approving the proposal of the Imperial Heralds Legion to continue constructing a new Perfect Religious World, Selene's split incarnation put down her quill pen. She leaned back into the leather chair to stretch her limbs, rotated her neck lightly, and smiled, placing her hand flat on the desk in a gesture of waiting for handover.
Buzz—
The spacetime within the room rippled suddenly.
Tap, tap.
The unreal rift fluctuated—solidifying sharply, then turning transparent half a second later. A silver-haired, red-eyed beauty appeared, shrugging without a word. Tossing a bottle of fine port wine—stolen from Arcturus Mengsk's private cellar—she walked to a table crowded with antique cups and bottles and neatly added the new treasure to her collection, like someone arranging her figurines.
If one observed closely, despite the motion of Selene's hand tossing the bottle, the aged, amber-brown liquid inside remained perfectly still.
"One could also say it was a feast of wine."
Admiring her collection, Selene nodded slightly, then took a steaming cup of coffee from a nearby attendant, took a sip, leaned against her desk, and absorbed her split incarnation back into herself.
The attendants in the room did not even glance up; they had long since grown accustomed to such scenes.
Savoring the aroma of the rich coffee, Selene narrowed her eyes, the light particles around her fingertips fading as she examined the smooth porcelain cup in her hand. Her slightly unfocused gaze drifted through the floor-to-ceiling windows toward the colorful garden outside, where ornamental birds fluttered gracefully among the blossoms.
After a moment, she exhaled softly. "Haa…" Everything was in order.
She drained the cup in one motion.
Then, with the satisfied air of one well-fed and refreshed, Selene plopped back into her seat, ready to personally finish processing the day's documents. Without the slightest pause, she connected to the thoughts of her split incarnation and completed the Imperial Heralds Legion's proposal, stamping and sealing it.
Next came another file. "Ministry of Internal Affairs — 'On the Improvement and Planning of Agricultural Worlds'... hmm, yes, approved."
Then another. "...'On the Improvement and Recommendations for More Efficient Execution of Extermination Orders.' Signed: Imperial Science Bureau — Dr. Stylish..." Selene's face darkened.
Good grief.
She felt personally targeted.
What a coincidence — the moment I return, the topic shifts to mass extermination.
Wait, the split incarnation is me... but still! Why?!
As soon as the main body comes back, the focus changes from agricultural reform to genocide.
"This guy... truly a genius," Selene muttered, rubbing her temples and sighing.
In the report, Dr. Stylish sharply pointed out the inefficiencies and waste in the current system of the Sacred Selene Empire's Level-Three Extermination Orders.
As everyone knew, Extermination Orders came in three levels.
A Level-One Extermination Order aimed to partially destroy a planet's ecosystem—usually via orbital bombardment, deploying virus or bacterial bombs for indiscriminate biological extermination. With proper shelters, survival was possible, and planetary geography remained intact.
A Level-Two Extermination Order sought to plow the planet's surface flat. Full orbital bombardment with sustained heavy tachyon lance fire—commonly known as "glassing"—alongside atmospheric fire torpedoes, high-yield strategic nukes, and Honkai-energy fission bombs. Survival chances: minimal. The surface would be completely obliterated.
A Level-Three Extermination Order, however, aimed for total destruction.
Including, but not limited to, bipolar cyclone torpedoes, black hole bombs, and core-penetrating warheads—all designed with one purpose: to annihilate the world entirely.
Levels Two and Three were largely deterrents. After all, everything under the Sacred Selene Empire technically belonged to Selene herself—resources should be used wisely. Even livestock held value.
The most common use remained the Level-One "pseudo-extermination."
However, virus and bacterial bombs had one major flaw: cleanup was a nightmare. Waiting for them to self-degrade took too long, and limited orbital bombardment was inefficient—a loss.
Thus, the ever-"considerate" Dr. Stylish, after studying the Spirits of the Elementals under the Luna Wolves Legion's colonial world—Disboard (No Game No Life)—developed a replacement for viral and bacterial bombs: the Black Ash Bomb.
In Disboard, the Elementals—or Spirits—were the magical life essence forming the "Spirit Corridors," a source of mana for most magic. Powerful destructive magic directly killed them.
When Elementals died, they became spirit remains—what humans called Black Ash.
For humans and most creatures without Spirit Corridor-linked neural systems, Black Ash was lethally toxic.
Bare skin contact caused burns. Eye contact caused blindness. Ingestion led to organ liquefaction. Though it shimmered with a bluish glow, it was called Black Ash—for it meant only one thing: death.
At least, for those without Spirit Corridors.
After successfully infusing Honkai Energy into Spirits, Dr. Stylish conducted comparative experiments using native rodents from the Honkai Dimension and wild species from an ungoverned frontier world.
When exposed to the Honkai-infused Black Ash, the former remained lively and unharmed, while the latter... instantly charred to cinders, carbonized, and crumbled into dust.
Such a phenomenon could only make Dr. Stylish ecstatic.
To him, this was a natural, self-discriminating, eco-friendly weapon!
Efficient, harmless, and convenient.
Even ordinary conscript soldiers, once they passed basic training and induction, possessed minor Honkai Energy reactions within their bodies—enough to grant immunity to Black Ash.
At present, related experiments had been transferred to the goblins from the 5th Trial World under the Ministry of War (Goblin Slayer). These goblins had become the Science Bureau's best biological gene experiment material.
After all, they were a race created by the fallen native gods as a cruel joke—constructed with DNA identical to that of humans.
Knock, knock—
As Selene stamped and signed the documents with mild melancholy, using her innate perfection in destruction to point out flaws in Dr. Stylish's proposal and issue improvement directives, a rhythmic knock sounded from the door.
"Enter."
Creak—
The grand doors of the palace were gently pushed open by several golden-armored guards. A tall, upright figure—broad as a pine and straight as a cypress—bowed slightly as he entered.
Dressed in a finely tailored suit, stepping with measured precision like one walking to a metronome, the imperial butler Sebas approached Selene quietly across the sunlit carpet.
Ding.
Sebas set a white enamel tray with gilded edges before her, upon which rested an exquisite bone china cup and a selection of pastries.
"Your Majesty, your afternoon tea."
At that moment, Selene was finishing the revised file on Dr. Stylish's project. She looked up briefly, noticing Sebas's motions and the folder tucked under his arm. "You've worked hard, Sebas. Tasks like this can be handled by the attendants."
Sebas merely smiled without replying, silently watching her work.
Moments later, Selene closed the file titled 'On the Improvement and Recommendations for More Efficient Execution of Extermination Orders' and handed it to the attendant standing in the shadows. She set down her quill and tapped her desk lightly.
"Let me guess—there's been no major structural change in the Inquisition recently. As for palace construction, we confirmed the design just a while ago, and completion won't be that fast. You're not the kind to seek help, Sebas..."
Her crimson eyes flicked to the folder under his arm. "So who is it? Who managed to trouble even you?"
As Selene picked up a pastry from the tray and began to eat, Sebas leaned slightly forward and replied, "Esdeath."
He stepped to Selene's side, carefully placing a stack of documents on her desk. His smile faded, replaced by a complex expression difficult to describe.
After a brief pause, he began:
"During her tenure as Sector Governor of the Central Direct-Controlled Type-Moon Composite World, General Esdeath spent less than one-fifth of her time in the Governor's Palace. The rest she spent hunting, dueling, and participating in combat tournaments."
"These are the impeachment reports filed by the Censorate against General Esdeath."
His face was heavy.
"Neglect of duty, improper conduct, lack of decorum…"
This was one of his top students.
Sebas seemed momentarily lost in self-doubt. Perhaps it was time to shut down his "Noble Lady Etiquette and Conduct" training course. His protégés always turned out... problematic.
Selene didn't even need to be mentioned. And Alyssa—his supposed masterpiece—was hardly much better.
"Uh…"
One glance at the report was enough to make anyone's jaw drop. The things Esdeath had done, the people she had met—her entire social circle filled pages upon pages of detailed records. Every encounter, every event meticulously documented.
With the exception of a few Heroic Spirits who refused to descend from their thrones, Esdeath had practically fought every named Heroic Spirit in the Type-Moon world!
If she wasn't fighting, she was on her way to fight.
And she even tailored her challenges to suit each hero's preferences—free-form duels were just the beginning. There were also tournaments, hunts, races, archery contests, wrestling, swordsmanship, javelin throwing, Greek pankration, ancient Fusang wrestling... the list went on and on. Even Selene's eyes twitched at the sheer variety.
"No exaggeration, no falsehood, no omissions—every word verified," Sebas rumbled, his deep voice carrying a strange heat beneath its calm tone, like the breath of a dragon.
"Indeed… rather inappropriate," Selene admitted after a pause.
After some thought, she decided—it would be best to let this restless berserker direct her energy elsewhere.
Fortunately, the Type-Moon world was already on track and now required capable bureaucrats to oversee internal affairs.
As for Esdeath—well, Selene glanced toward the assistant AI's notification panel at the corner of her desk.
—Captain Kiana Kaslana has arrived for duty.
…
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