"The Second Herrscher… Impossible!"
Siegfried's eyes sharpened, only to widen in disbelief as he stared at the purple-haired girl who had suddenly appeared.
"She blocked Might of Utu… that easily!?"
The principle behind the Ideal Fluid was both the strongest spear and the strongest shield in physics.
Every material in existence, whether on a macro or micro scale, had gaps.
Even particles and atoms were themselves made of quarks.
And even quarks, the smallest units observed by humankind, were believed to be composed of something even smaller.
The "ideal" in Ideal Fluid referred to its absolute rejection.
The elements that composed it left no gaps at all, not even space for a quark to pass through.
That was why, before Ideal Fluid, even the hardest shield crumbled like paper.
Conversely, in front of its absolute rejection, the material world held no spear sharp enough to pierce it.
Nagami couldn't yet create a perfect Ideal Fluid—the powers of the Herrscher of Wind weren't fully under his control.
But with the Copy Eye at his disposal, it was only a matter of time before he mastered this terrifying physical force completely.
Even now, though what he formed wasn't flawless, it was close enough.
Against that near-perfect power, Siegfried's Might of Utu—
Was laughably weak.
If it had been Himeko as the Herrscher of Flamescion unleashing Judgment of Shamash, that might've been different.
"Is that really all you insects can do☆~?"
'Sirin''s delicate face curved into her signature arrogant smirk, radiating an aura like a puffed-up blowfish as she gazed down at Siegfried and the Valkyries below.
Each of their expressions hardened, a shadow of dread weighing heavily over them.
"A god, huh?" Siegfried's weathered face suddenly curved into a smile. "We've been waiting for this moment! First Herrscher, your turn! Anti-Entropy—move out!"
At his words, a blurry silhouette shimmered into view, wrapped in a sci-fi glow of blue light—Welt.
The ground trembled as countless Titan mechs, hidden until now under optical camouflage, revealed themselves and charged toward 'Sirin'.
"Behold the strength of human civilization, Second Herrscher!"
Welt's declaration rang out with righteous force.
Of course, he had already spoken with Nagami beforehand through the feather in his mind and had been told to go all out.
Raising his right hand, Welt summoned a barrage of turrets and missile launchers at his back.
An army of dark muzzles aimed squarely at 'Sirin'.
The next second—thunder roared.
Explosions rocked the battlefield.
The storm of firepower distorted the very air, flames so intense they warped the space to the naked eye.
"All these toys, no matter how many you bring…"
'Snap!'
'Sirin''s crisp fingersnap cut through the endless detonations.
Around her, countless portals of Imaginary Space bloomed, etched with crackling arcs of electromagnetic light.
Stepping off Benares's bowed head, the violet-haired girl walked across the void itself.
Each step echoed like glass shattering.
Her golden eyes looked down with scorn, like a goddess gazing upon ants.
If this were a performance, Nagami rated his own acting—100 out of 100.
'Snap!'
Another fingersnap.
The portals before her opened wide, regurgitating the very firepower they had just swallowed.
The earth thundered.
The returning storm of explosions engulfed the Titans below, swallowing them whole.
The colossal machines screamed as steel tore apart under the force, their towering bodies collapsing in showers of sparks and twisted metal.
Welt's face turned pale—not staged, but genuinely stricken.
Those Titans… were all his money.
The fruits of sleepless nights spent drawing Homu manga and producing anime.
And now, just like that, they were gone.
If they'd been destroyed fighting real Honkai, maybe he could stomach the loss.
But knowing the truth of this staged battle, watching his mechs become disposable props in Nagami's "play," Welt's heart bled.
"So strong…" Siegfried's voice carried no defeat, only grim acknowledgment. "But we will never give up!"
Gripping his blazing sword, he steadied his breath as a flood of energy surged within him. "Theresa, Welt—let's go!"
"Right!" Theresa raised her right arm high, shouting: "Judah—Domain Expansion!"
At her command, golden chains surged out from the massive cross like a tidal wave, rising toward the heavens.
The endless chains, burning with searing flame, encircled the Herrscher in the sky.
'Sirin''s expression didn't change. Still—Judah's presence was one even she couldn't ignore.
From the void behind her, ripples spread like water disturbed by falling rain.
One by one, spears of dark-gold shimmered into existence—the Subspace Spears.
With a sweep of Nagami's arm, they shot forth like bullets from a cannon.
The void lit up with sparks, each collision ringing like clashing steel.
"No good! Regular attacks won't even scratch her!"
Siegfried swung his blazing greatsword like a baseball bat, batting away the incoming spears with brute force.
For a brief moment, he hesitated.
Then his hand slipped into his coat and pulled out a vial—a gift from Einstein.
The liquid inside glowed with an eerie, icy-blue light.
Just holding it sent a chill through his bones… and brought with it the memory of Cecilia's cold, distant smile.
He shook his head.
'No. Now isn't the time for sentiment.'
"Theresa," he called, voice steady, "I'll create the opening you need to use Zero Rated Power."
Without another word, Siegfried drove the vial of Hyper-Variable Factor Activator into his own body.
He turned his burning gaze up at the serene figure of the Herrscher of the Void, lounging above them as if she were already the victor.
"...Siegfried, you—!"
Theresa's eyes widened in shock as his body twisted before her.
The whites of his eyes turned black, his pupils narrowing into beast-like slits.
Horns tore their way out from his head, and his hands warped into monstrous, clawed talons glowing with an alien blue light.
"This isn't the time for explanations!" he roared.
The transformation was already consuming him.
Every second in this state, the Honkai beast genes inside him chewed away at his humanity.
If he kept going, there would be no turning back—he'd become a walking, thinking Honkai beast.
But with that terrible price came terrifying power.
A tidal wave of Honkai energy burst from him.
The greatsword in his hands—Heaven's Fire—erupted with molten gold flames, its physical form dissolving until only raw, burning essence remained.
This was no longer Might of Utu.
This was the power of the Herrscher of Flamescion itself— Judgment of Shamash.
The air rippled and warped from the heat, space itself groaning beneath the blaze.
A crimson wind howled, like the wailing of lost souls.
With a sound like thunder tearing the sky, Siegfried's figure blurred, slipping between reality and illusion as he swung.
The blade of extinction cleaved through both space itself and 'Sirin''s imperfect Ideal Fluid, screaming with a shrill resonance.
"Impossible!"
'Sirin' forced her expression into one of shock and panic, clutching her chest in mock fear.
Of course, if she truly wanted to, she could have blocked it.
But doing so would have required drawing on power far beyond what "Sirin" was meant to wield.
For the sake of the play, this was perfect.
In an instant, waves of annihilation spread outward like a tidal surge, devouring the heavens.
Siegfried's whole body glowed with molten light, like living magma.
If not for the activator burning through his veins, he would have been incinerated by the very flames he had unleashed the moment his sword transcended into Judgment of Shamash.
"The power… that God give me!"
'Sirin' cried out dramatically, clutching her right arm as it was cleaved away in the blast.
Over the top, yes—but technically true.
After all, Nagami was indeed the "king" of the Apocalypse Virus.
"Master!"
Bella's voice rang out, panicked and desperate.
Her massive dragon body shifted, but before she could move to aid her master, C.C. silently pulled her back into the void.
The last thing they needed was Bella messing up the performance.
'Sirin' could fake getting wounded as many times as necessary.
Siegfried, however, couldn't afford to use Judgment of Shamash more than twice before his genes collapsed entirely.
A promise to "mother-in-law" was a promise.
Go too far, and there would be no going back.
Siegfried, half his body already warped into something monstrous, roared with the fury of a beast.
"THERESA!"
The white-haired nun in her black habit sprinted forward, eyes blazing.
"Judah—Zero Rated Power, activate!"
Chains of radiant gold surged forth, bursting from the massive cross she carried.
They climbed into the sky like a tidal wave of light, weaving together into a lattice.
In an instant, countless chains and colossal gears meshed in the heavens above, sealing the battlefield in a holy cage of golden light.
The Domain of God's Grace.