Below, two figures were moving forward, while high above, Benares was still locked in combat with the Herrscher of Ice.
It was a Judgment-class Honkai Beast, born alongside the Herrscher of the Void during the Second Eruption.
Although it had not fought in many years, its latest battle against Kevin was still a hopelessly one-sided struggle.
Benares' battle instinct far surpassed ordinary imagination. Electromagnetism wrapped around its body, and whenever the cold struck, those fields activated, firmly protecting it.
"Roar!!" Reflected in its pupils was the shape of Coral Island. Benares let out a furious roar, swung its massive wings, and pressed forward.
But as it skimmed close to the ground, a surge of malice swept toward it.
Sensing danger, Benares became alert, darting and weaving rapidly, moving between icebergs to obscure the enemy's line of sight.
No one knew how long had passed before Benares finally stopped.
The dragon hung suspended in the air. Ahead lay nothingness. The towering icebergs and suffocating chill were gone.
Without hesitation, realizing something was wrong, Benares tried to retreat, wings beating, yet it was already too late.
"Hum!"
A mysterious and vast power condensed in the sky. The energy fluctuations overhead were so overwhelming that even this Judgment-class beast felt fear.
"What is that!?" Below, the two advancing figures also noticed the disturbance.
In the sky, a colossal ice crystal appeared, stretching endlessly across the horizon, radiating Honkai energy so terrifying it struck the heart with dread.
With its emergence, countless snowflakes drifted down, carrying a biting chill.
Then,
"Hum!"
With the howling of a freezing wind, the ice crystal began to rotate. Countless fragments split off, and before dragon or humans could react, the entire Coral Island was enveloped.
The shards closed in on Benares. In response, it summoned its electromagnetic web to resist.
"Crackle!"
"Ssshh!"
Yuna wanted to help, but she knew: unless the Herrscher of Ice herself was defeated head-on, no matter how she intervened, it would be meaningless.
It would only waste her strength.
So she forged ahead without hesitation. The power she had been storing, was unleashed in full.
…
"To hold out this long… this beast is not without merit. Unfortunately, it is not mine."
The Herrscher of Ice, seated upon her throne, shook her head slightly, surprised at Benares' resilience.
But in the end, a Honkai beast was still just a Honkai beast.
"It cannot withstand me, an apostle of the Honkai."
Snap!
A crisp finger snap echoed through the vast hall.
The enormous ice crystal began to glow faintly, brighter and brighter with each passing moment.
The tension thickened. Then, from the striations of the crystal, a brilliant azure beam suddenly lanced downward!
A pillar of light pierced sky and earth, its target the dragon soaring in the sky!
"Roar!!" There was no escaping it.
The colossal beam was almost the size of the whole Coral Island, and its influence spread ever outward, leaving all in its path under the rule of frost.
Benares roared, unleashing electromagnetic surges from its mouth, wings, chest, everywhere it could, directly clashing against the attack.
"Whoom!!" The collision of two Honkai forces echoed across the entire city.
On one side, the Judgment-class dragon born of the Second Eruption. On the other, the newly risen Herrscher.
They were inherently opposed, and this clash carried the weight of inevitability.
Yet even with everything Benares poured out, gathering all its power in one desperate push, it was still forced back, driven closer and closer to the ground.
Ice spread across its body at frightening speed, creeping over its wings and hindering every movement.
A Judgment-class Honkai Beast could not match a Herrscher who wielded authority.
And when its strength finally failed.
...
Meanwhile, aboard the swiftly approaching Hyperion, Kiana, who had been monitoring the Coral Island battle through satellite, suddenly felt her golden eyes flicker with light.
"Benares!" The Herrscher of the Void's voice betrayed panic.
It was the first time this Herrscher, always so arrogant, revealed such raw emotion in front of them.
Before the others could react, her urgent cry rang out: "Humans, hurry and give me control of this body! Your ship is far too slow!"
Kiana froze.
"Eh?" She looked toward Theresa in confusion.
"Herrscher of the Void, what trick are you playing now?" Theresa said irritably.
First, the Herrscher had made a secret deal with Kiana to appear, and now she wanted to seize full control of Kiana's body.
That couldn't be right.
"Hmph. I have my reasons. Quickly, otherwise your two companions will be lost." The Herrscher's tone was equally firm.
She could disregard everything. After all, she had nothing left to lose. But when Bella had appeared before her, she had to admit there was still something in this world she cared about.
"Fu Hua…" Theresa turned to the one who understood the Herrscher best.
After a brief silence, Fu Hua spoke: "Kiana, hand her control for now."
She then gestured to Mei, who had been barely restraining herself, to flank from the side.
Fu Hua did not fully trust the Herrscher. But given the overwhelming disparity in power, and sensing through Fenghuang Down the genuine worry and turmoil in the Herrscher's heart, she wasn't afraid of betrayal.
If betrayal came, Mei and she could suppress her.
"…Alright." Kiana nodded, trusting Fu Hua unconditionally.
The reason was simple: ever since she'd learned that the Herrscher inside her was the Herrscher of the Void from the Second Eruption, she had pestered Fu Hua to tell her everything about that time.
And the summary was clear enough,
Back then, Fu Hua had been so overwhelmingly strong that she had beaten the Herrscher flat.
Once she gained control of Kiana's body, several subspace lances floated behind her. Eyes closed, streams of imaginary particles shimmered into being.
Locking onto the exact position, the Herrscher of the Void opened her right hand. In the next instant, a massive channel of imaginary space tore open before the Hyperion.
Without a moment to react, the warship plunged straight into the passage.
…
Back on Coral Island, Benares was crushed downward by the Herrscher of Ice's power.
"Roar!!"
A cry of unwilling fury shook the heavens.
And yet, the next instant, that unwillingness vanished, replaced by joy.
High above, a swirling vortex spread wide, and a silver-white battleship burst forth, its hull gleaming.
She felt it, the presence of her Queen. But joy was fleeting.
The moment the Hyperion appeared, the ice crystal's energy output spiked severalfold.
In just one instant, Benares, who had barely been holding on, was struck down with no resistance, plummeting!
On the Hyperion, the Herrscher of the Void's pupils trembled violently. She wanted to ignore everything and act, but the body she possessed could not unleash her full strength in such a short time.
It would be too late.
As despair reached its peak, just as her eyes seemed ready to split apart,
"Star of Eden · Gravity!"
A steadfast figure had appeared at some unknown moment, standing tall upon the crumbling land of Benares.
Arms raised to the skies, and in the next instant, a deep crimson hue, like that of a black abyss, spread across a world already shrouded in sapphire ice and electromagnetic force.
They had forcibly claimed a territory of their own!
The tottering Benares suddenly realized the crushing pressure upon her had lessened sharply. A familiar feeling surged within her.
'It's you! The one who leapt most energetically during the Second Eruption!'
Even after being sealed in ice for decades, Benares still remembered how that human had ascended to the moon, and how he had obstructed the queen's conquest of humanity.
But this was not the time for reminiscence. With the pressure on her body reduced, Benares's figure twisted and writhed, narrowly escaping death.
Seeing Benares freed from danger, Welt, who was controlling the mimic Eden's Star to oppose the pressure, let out a breath of relief, only to be immediately pressed down again by the mounting force he now faced.
"Ridiculously strong!" For the first time, Welt felt the crushing oppression of this new Herrscher of the Ice.
Even with the might of Eden's Star, combined with his own strength that had been carefully honed over these years of recovery, he still could not fully withstand it.
And what's more… "This place amplifies the Herrscher of Ice's authority."
As he extended his perception, Welt saw it clearly: wherever ice touched, the Ice Herrscher's power manifested without pause.
It was obvious, this was a stage long prepared by the Herrscher of Ice.
To face her head-on and defeat her here would be no easier than fighting the Second Eruption itself!
And now, all that pressure fell squarely upon his shoulders.
"Retreat!" This, after all his experiences, was the ultimate truth Welt had come to understand.
To keep fighting hopelessly, did he think he was still the same as when fighting the Herrscher of the Void?
In a flash, he vanished. Unbound, the Ice Herrscher's attack smashed directly into the earth, leaving behind a vast and magnificent ice sculpture.
"Roar!!" Benares bellowed with joy toward the Hyperion.
Seeing the dragon lively once again, the Herrscher of the Void relaxed slightly, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Herrscher of Reason. Welt Yang. Leader of Anti-Entropy."
Looking down at that figure, Durandal's eyes flickered with surprise. Her gaze shifted between Welt on the ship and Welt on the screen.
"Though in my past I never took part in this battle, with the Ice Herrscher causing such a great disturbance, it makes sense that my self would take action."
Adjusting his glasses, Welt spoke with a hint of wryness.
"These details are trivial, we must hurry to assist Rita and the others. The Ice Herrscher's power far exceeds expectations. Based on my judgment, the entire Coral Island has become her battlefield, where her authority reaches its fullest strength. We must tread carefully!"
Durandal's voice was grave.
…
"Though it's earlier than expected, the sooner the better. And that vortex, the Herrscher of the Void's power, have they reached here already?" Hearing the commotion behind, Rita let out a soft laugh.
The crushing weight in her heart lightened at once.
By the theory of emotional transfer, when Rita and Yuna's moods lifted, it meant someone else's would surely sour.
"Herrschers of Reason… and of the Void!"
Seated upon her throne, the Ice Herrscher's mood instantly darkened.
The Herrscher of Reason's betrayal she had anticipated, back during the Second Eruption, he had chosen humanity's side, helping them triumph over the Herrscher of the Void.
So she had long prepared to fight against that traitor.
But the Herrscher of the Void opposing her? That she could not fathom.
Clearly, the Herrscher of the Void was humanity's greatest enemy, so why was she cooperating with them?!
Did she not know that her only true companion was herself?!
"Heh… just a pack of traitors! Shameless wretches!" Grinding her teeth, the Ice Herrscher tasted bitterness like never before.
Yet after the flare of fury, she returned to her lofty poise.
"No matter. Two relics of a bygone age, allow me to grant you your final rest."
A new monarch must be crowned, and the old must step down. If the old were willing to fade away, she would grant them dignity.
But if they refused, still stirring chaos and daring to oppose her upon her land, then let the old be destroyed!
Her skirts billowed as the crisp click of heels echoed across the cavernous hall.
Looking out over the vast expanse of the ice, the Ice Herrscher murmured softly: "As a palace, it feels a bit too empty."
At her words, countless shards of frost gathered from above, coalescing into stalwart knights clad in frozen armor, brandishing colossal ice-forged swords.
"Palace, take the form of my will!" The ground rumbled as the Ice Herrscher advanced to the fore.
Her gaze lifted, rising higher and higher, until she towered a hundred meters in the air.
Drawing back, the view revealed an enormous black tortoise of solid ice carrying the entire palace upon its back, the entire palace sprawling across its shell.
This was why she had remained upon Coral Island: To transform it into her moving dominion.
Her power would forever stride across the earth. All who defied would be frozen into silence, she alone was queen of this land!
"…Have Herrschers become this outrageous now?" Light refracted off his glasses as Welt's eyelids twitched.
He could hardly believe such a monstrosity had been conjured by a newborn Herrscher.
Pure, brute-force madness!
As the Herrscher of Reason, Welt prided himself on fine control and intricate technique.
But faced with such raw, overwhelming displays, even he was left stunned.
Have Herrschers truly grown this absurd? Why had he never managed such feats himself? Did Honkai play favorites?!
This was exactly the thought boiling in Welt's mind. Already, his brain was turning over the question: just how biased was Honkai toward female Herrschers?
"Now isn't the time for daydreaming. It's time to act."
Just then, a voice, familiar yet foreign, snapped Welt from his thoughts. He turned back.
It was a familiar face… his own, of course.
"Though Miss Herta had already told me my future self would arrive in this era, hearing it and seeing it are two very different things. Quite the peculiar feeling."
Welt and Welt locked eyes.
For a moment, silence.
The only distinctions lay in their bearing and attire.
Having traversed the cosmos, the future Welt exuded steadiness and maturity.
The present Welt brimmed more with vigor and impulse.
In plain words: one was full of energy, not weighed down by weariness.
'Ah, youth…' though it felt strange to think that, since both were himself.
Shaking his head, the future Welt grew solemn.
"The Herrscher of Ice's Honkai energy threshold has already far surpassed any other Herrscher. The danger is unlike anything before. In the battle ahead, caution above all."
The younger Welt nodded firmly. "Understood."
"…Right."
"…Right."
Spoken at the same time, their eyes met. After a pause, the future Welt gestured for his past self to speak first.
"Can you make one even bigger?" the younger Welt asked, eyes gleaming at the colossal black tortoise bearing its palace.
Not out of fondness for tortoises, but because enormous constructs always stirred a certain fascination in him. For instance…
"With today's mechs, such a thing would be impossible," the future Welt replied. Before disappointment could sink in, he added:
"But across the universe lie countless civilizations. Among them are masters of mechanical craft, even sentient machines. And as it happens, I know a certain genius..."