The direction of the collapsing building happened to be where the Third Herrscher was.
Reaching the top, Chang Yuan leaped into the air, swinging a Soul Steel blade toward the Third Herrscher.
The Third Herrscher sensed Chang Yuan's bioelectricity and immediately unleashed a barrage of purple-red lightning at him.
Anticipating this, Chang Yuan quickly reshaped the Soul Steel blade into a shield.
The impact sent Chang Yuan crashing to the ground.
The Soul Steel shield was partially disintegrated by the electromagnetic force.
"Ugh, damn it. That felt like being stomped on by an Emperor-class Honkai beast."
Getting up, Chang Yuan felt like every bone in his body had been knocked out of place.
If his physical abilities hadn't surpassed those of an ordinary person, that attack would have turned him into paste.
Noticing that Chang Yuan was still alive, the Third Herrscher fired several more lightning bolts at him.
Compared to the speed of lightning, Chang Yuan's movements were slower.
But he could react in advance, so the bolts narrowly missed him.
However, the residual energy still disintegrated his clothes.
It was then that Chang Yuan realized how naive his earlier idea of instantly killing a Herrscher had been.
Sure, it was possible, but before you could kill her, she could kill you.
Because Chang Yuan had drawn the Third Herrscher's attention, Elysia got a moment to catch her breath.
The dark green serpent had also shrunk slightly.
Elysia deduced that if the serpent was severely injured or killed, it would lose energy and shrink further.
Only when it reached a critical point could it be truly killed.
So, Elysia didn't waste the opportunity Chang Yuan had created for her.
She quickly engaged the serpent in battle.
The fight was brutal. Nearly all the surrounding buildings collapsed.
The once-thriving city was now wiped off the map.
This incident couldn't be kept secret, so Chang Yuan was prepared to reveal the truth about the Honkai and unite the world's forces against it.
After three minutes of intense combat, the dark green serpent finally fell, its body shrunk to half its original size.
Only then did the Third Herrscher realize her familiar had been killed.
She was furious.
The sky, once clear, was now covered in dark clouds.
Purple-red lightning crackled within the clouds.
In an instant, the Third Herrscher waved her hand, and the lightning in the sky came crashing down. At the same time, Elysia fired her arrow.
Without the serpent to block the attack, the arrow pierced through the Third Herrscher's brain.
In that moment, the Third Herrscher fell from the sky, but the lightning she had summoned didn't dissipate.
"Take cover under the serpent's body!"
Chang Yuan shouted to Elysia, then slid under the serpent's corpse.
Elysia, not minding the dark green liquid, followed Chang Yuan's lead and took cover under the body.
The moment Elysia ducked under, the purple-red lightning struck.
For half a minute, the lightning rained down.
When the thunder finally stopped, Chang Yuan crawled out from under the serpent's body, covered in the dark green liquid.
Fortunately, the liquid had lost some of its potency over time, or else it would have eaten through his flesh.
But when he emerged, the state of the city was almost too much to bear.
Not only were the Honkai beasts gone, but even the buildings had been completely disintegrated, leaving behind endless craters.
Elysia followed him out.
Seeing the devastation, Elysia was speechless.
Finally, she said with a heavy heart, "An entire city's population wiped out... countless families torn apart..."
"This is the Honkai. This is what a Herrscher is. We should be grateful that, at least this time, we minimized the losses."
Although Chang Yuan didn't know what price Fire Moth had paid to kill the Third Herrscher in the original story, it must have been greater than this.
After all, even with the early appearance of the Divine Key, it took the complete destruction of a city to kill the Herrscher.
Without the Divine Key, when weapons were less effective against Herrschers, the cost must have been even higher.
"Yeah... it's all thanks to you, Chang Yuan."
Hearing Elysia use his full name, Chang Yuan knew she was in a somber mood.
So, he didn't say anything more. He simply stood by her side, offering silent support.
When the logistics team arrived, they were shocked by the state of the city.
This had been a thriving city, but now, not a single trace of its former self remained. All that was left were craters.
Even the surrounding cities had been affected.
"Captain Elysia, Deputy Captain Chang Yuan, we're from the logistics team. We're here to recover the Herrscher's body and the Honkai beasts' remains. Any further instructions?"
"None. Oh, send the Herrscher's body to Dr. Vill-V. The dark green serpent can go to Dr. Mobius."
"Understood."
After saluting, the logistics team left the two captains to their thoughts.
It took nearly half an hour for Elysia to fully calm down.
"Chang Yuan, do you think the Herrschers will keep getting stronger? Will humanity even survive?"
"We will. With you, Vill-V, and the others, we definitely will."
"Mhm. When we get back, I'll suggest to Vill-V that we create a satellite to monitor Honkai energy levels in every region.
That way, I can go to any place where a Herrscher might appear. I don't want to see more people losing their homes or children losing their parents."
Hearing Elysia's proposal, Chang Yuan wanted to object.
After all, Honkai energy levels fluctuated everywhere. If Elysia went to every hotspot, even with her superhuman abilities, she would be overwhelmed.
But seeing the determination and compassion in Elysia's eyes, Chang Yuan held his tongue.
This was who Elysia was. She loved humanity deeply, but she rarely took care of herself.
Chang Yuan wished she would think more about herself, but that was unlikely. If she did, she wouldn't be Elysia anymore.