The very moment Haxxor Bunny deleted the Stigmata Project.
Countless, extremely conspicuous spatial fluctuations began to appear, dense and numerous, centered on the Earth and spreading across the Moon's orbital path.
"Considerably faster than expected."
Even though they had not yet revealed their true forms, the Monarch could feel the true nature of these entities from the fluctuations alone.
Great Fissures.
Over a hundred Great Fissures, like the Milky Way in a rural night sky, completely sealed off Earth's path to space.
Among them, there were even twelve fissures whose auras were distinctly more potent than the others—giant Honkai energy fissures.
"So, it had an impact after all, didn't it?"
"Correct."
"But it's much better than the projected situation... These can, at best, be considered a vanguard," the Monarch's voice remained steady as he replied to Xiao Zi. "However, while it won't affect the plan's progress, you should still go ahead and notify the legions to begin preparations. The Herrscher of Erosion is no more, and the MANTIS born from the two 'Stigmata' blasts I sent down are still in a state of chaos. Haxxor Bunny will coordinate the reception of them."
"Understood."
Xiao Zi clearly understood the priorities. After nodding in agreement with the Monarch's arrangements, she stepped directly through a portal of space-time and vanished.
"Now then—"
The birth of the Herrscher of Finality required a colossal amount of Honkai energy.
Following the demise of the Twelfth Herrscher, the barrier between the Imaginary Space and the "leaf" of this world would become even more fragile to satisfy the conditions for Finality's birth. If the civilization could pass the test, this phenomenon would grant it a more convenient and efficient method of acquiring Honkai energy. But before that, they had to face a Herrscher of Finality who possessed twelve Authorities and a practically infinite supply of Honkai energy.
These Great Fissures, about to breach the spatial barrier and connect directly from the Imaginary Space to the world-leaf, along with the countless newborn Honkai Beasts hidden within, were the "Tree's" final chance for this civilization, and also its final exam question.
The Monarch could not command them.
Although they were fellow Honkai Beasts, with the Herrscher of Finality in existence (even in an unknown embryonic state), Lu Xing lacked the ability to command these newborn Honkai Beasts. Defeating the Herrscher of Finality first and then recruiting the Honkai Beasts was certainly a fine idea, but... to think that way was perhaps a bit too arrogant.
The Monarch's conservative estimate:
The final number of Great Fissures created for the birth of Finality would likely approach a four-digit figure, and the number of giant fissures would be close to the current total number of Great Fissures.
As for Finality's direct combat strength—
Even without considering the disparity in Authorities, assuming a nearly identical energy level, the ratio of their reserves should be 10:1...
Finality at 10, the Monarch at 1.
And since a Herrscher was appearing, who could guarantee that Finality wouldn't bring along a symbiotic Honkai Beast?
Based on the birth patterns of ordinary Herrschers, if the Herrscher of Finality truly had a symbiotic Honkai Beast, its stats would likely be on par with or even higher than the Monarch's.
Such a powerful opponent...
It wasn't that victory was impossible.
---o---
That's right.
It would be difficult for Lu Xing's stats to increase any further in the short term. In other words, until he defeated the Herrscher of Finality, his attributes were essentially locked at 611 points.
But this did not mean his strength wouldn't grow.
His clones were studying tirelessly, day and night, and all this knowledge would become a source of his power.
At the same time, the enhancement of his other Authorities had not been neglected.
Whether it was sharing Authorities with different members of his [Retainers] or the act of "recruiting" humanity, both actions were undertaken with this consideration in mind. The former provided practical examples that directly enhanced the Monarch's "learnable skills" related to his Authorities; the latter could open up more avenues of thought, potentially even causing a fundamental change in the Authorities Lu Xing was currently learning.
In the field of research, at least, humanity's talent far surpassed that of Honkai Beasts.
"Haxxor Bunny."
"Understood."
A mere hundred Honkai energy fissures did not require the Monarch to act personally. The Herrscher of Erosion's experience with the mimicry of the Authority of the Void had been completely absorbed by Haxxor Bunny through its core. Using that Authority in reverse to hinder the formation of Honkai energy fissures was difficult for Haxxor Bunny, but not impossible.
Moreover, the Monarch didn't need to completely seal these fissures.
Even if one-third, no, even if half of the Honkai Beasts invaded the planet, it wouldn't affect the grand scheme. The very reason he had the Herrscher of Erosion create Haxxor Bunny's current body was to let the eighteen [Moonlight Thrones] fulfill their proper function: absorbing Honkai energy and converting it into other forms of energy.
Absorbing the massive amount of Honkai energy that heralded the Herrscher of Finality's arrival would undoubtedly slow down the latter's birth. This energy could then be used by the legions and humanity to rapidly expand the scale of their foundational forces. As the basic building blocks of the new civilization, they might not be of much use against the Herrscher of Finality herself, but they would receive the tempering they needed during the invasion of the Finality Honkai Beasts.
This tempering was the cornerstone of the new civilization the Monarch envisioned.
Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, countless purple streams of light streaked across the starry sky, all surging towards the power cores constructed from the [Moonlight Thrones] throughout Haxxor Bunny's body.
An even greater number of Honkai Beasts appeared alongside this tide of Honkai energy.
In a single instant, the number that appeared within Lu Xing's perception easily broke the 100,000 mark.
"What a pity."
Lu Xing genuinely felt it was a shame. If he could bring these Honkai Beasts under his command, with just a little nurturing, he could significantly strengthen the foundation of his civilization. The Honkai energy concentration in outer space was already so dense that an ordinary [Assault-class] born from it could reach the peak of the [Knight-class] in terms of energy level.
To put it simply, the "mosquitoes" swarming across the sky were, at their weakest, as strong as the Knight-Captain once was.
As for the Monarch's second point of regret... no matter how powerful they were in raw strength, these prematurely born Finality Honkai Beasts had, after all, never experienced combat. Compared to his legions, they were lacking in far too many ways.
Swoosh!
"Bai."
"Cheche."
Accompanied by a somewhat muffled, booming mental wave, Behemoth's enormous body was the first to appear in the starry expanse.
"I'll leave this place to you."
"I still need to go to the surface to answer humanity's final questions."
The Monarch paused for a moment.
"Although, logically, there shouldn't be any particularly strong individuals among these fodder Finality Honkai Beasts, if you do encounter any—any individuals with unusual intelligence or combat strength—have the White Whale or Chenling act. Coordinate with Haxxor Bunny to capture them."
"Got it."
Cheche nodded.
Then, with a single sweep of its tail, a vast swathe of Finality Honkai Beasts was instantly turned into a flurry of light particles.
The Monarch's meaning was simple.
As fellow Honkai Beasts, this was a fighting force that could be brought over with a simple two-step of brainwashing, no [Root Assimilation] required...
It would be a waste not to use them.