When a Herrscher is born, the massive eruption of Honkai energy causes ripples in the Imaginary Space.
At such times, Kevin—adrift within the Quantum Sea could sense these disturbances.
Through quantum entanglement, he could briefly anchor himself to reality and observe events unfolding in the outside world.
Back during the Second Eruption, when Siegfried awakened the hidden Kaslana gene within him, Kevin had already cast his gaze onto the battlefield in this very way.
And when the Herrscher of Domination was born, the Imaginary Space quaked like a tidal surge.
For the first time in thousands of years, even Kevin—the strongest fusion warrior, whose face was as still as stone found his brow furrowing.
The ocean of his heart, calm and unshaken for millennia, suddenly churned with unseen waves.
The power of that Herrscher was on par with those of the Previous Era.
Worse, multiple Herrscher cores were fused within a single vessel—something that, in this age, should never have existed.
At his full strength, with the power of Judgment of Shamash, perhaps he could have challenged her alone.
Perhaps, if fortune favored him, he might even have won.
But victory would have been bought with a dreadful price.
As for the other MANTIS fusion warriors—if all of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers fought together—maybe, just maybe, they could annihilate such a Herrscher.
Such was Kevin's strength.
Humanity's strongest weapon of the Previous Era.
And yet even he, faced with this reality, felt an involuntary twinge of despair.
That Herrscher's power was enough to extinguish the fragile flame of this era's civilization.
Not even Schicksal's Overseer could do a thing against her.
But despair… despair had long since lost meaning for Kevin.
From fifty thousand years ago, humanity had never truly escaped its claws.
This era, too, seemed fated to walk inevitably toward extinction.
Kevin had already begun pondering what the next civilization would look like when something unexpected happened—ripples rising in the Quantum Sea, as though a tide had begun to stir.
And then… something that left even him momentarily stunned.
Herrschers—apostles of the Honkai itself—were appearing one after another.
As common as cabbages in a marketplace!
The turbulence in the Imaginary Space sent rippling waves into the Quantum Sea.
Through those frequent entanglements, Kevin gained something precious: a spectator's view of the outside battlefield.
And what did he see?
Herrschers—yes, Herrschers—united under the lead of the Herrscher of Reason, standing on humanity's side, protecting Shenzhou, fighting together against the overwhelming Herrscher of Domination!
For the first time since becoming a fusion warrior, Kevin was left dumbfounded.
The sight was beyond belief, yet undeniable.
And within him rose a strange, complicated feeling he had never known before.
He thought of the Herrschers of the Previous Era—how faithfully they carried out the missions the Honkai had branded into their souls.
Then he looked at these Herrschers who had betrayed the Honkai…
An unavoidable question took root in Kevin's mind:
'What kind of twisted joke is the Honkai of this era playing?!'
He hadn't managed to watch the battle to the very end.
The quantum entanglement collapsed when the Herrschers unleashed their ultimate moves together.
Kevin fell silent, but his mind was anything but calm.
From his observation, he had gleaned a crucial truth: these Herrschers had not birthed Herrscher personas at all.
They wielded their powers solely with their own will.
Compared to that revelation, the fact that Nagami and C.C. shared the same Herrscher authority was almost easy to accept.
That was the only reason Kevin had not attacked the instant he recognized him.
For Kevin, the only good Herrscher was a dead one.
In any other situation, he would have charged in without hesitation, super-serum burning in his veins.
But now… because of Nagami and C.C., his resolve wavered.
"Well," Nagami spread his hands with a light smile, meeting Kevin's severe gaze. "You could say I've got a special midwife's touch.
During a Herrscher's birth, I cut off the Honkai's corruption. That way, the host keeps control—and their own will rules the power."
"Cutting off the Honkai's corruption…" Kevin's brows drew together, his icy-blue eyes flashing with something that could almost be called surprise.
Theoretically, such a thing should have been impossible.
For both civilizations and individuals, whether through science or through Honkai energy itself—if there had truly been a way to resist the will of the Honkai directly, then humanity would never have needed to endure this endless trial.
But the power Nagami used didn't come from the Imaginary Tree or the Quantum Sea—it was something beyond them.
And as luck would have it, Code and that clingy dog-like Geass were both among the most effective powers at targeting consciousness itself.
"Hua has become a Herrscher too?"
Kevin's gaze lingered on the boy and girl standing shoulder to shoulder, his tone carrying a faint heaviness.
"Well… strictly speaking, it's more accurate to say that the Herrscher became 'Fu Hua,' rather than Fu Hua becoming a Herrscher.
But the result's the same—since Fu Hua can freely wield the Herrscher of Sentience's power, you could certainly call her one."
The crisp, ethereal voice belonged to C.C., who crossed her arms while her pale hands played idly with a lock of green hair.
"But even if Fu Hua truly is a Herrscher, what of it? Unless you've been sitting in the Quantum Sea too long and gone dull, you should know that without the will of Honkai behind it, being a Herrscher just means possessing raw power."
"In this era, I've formed my own Flame-Chasers squad, and every member is a Herrscher. Even the reserve members are Herrscher vessels. Our sole purpose is to fight against Honkai. What problem could you possibly have with that?"
Nagami reached out, brushing aside the green-haired girl's bangs that had fallen across her face, tucking them neatly behind her delicate ear.
For just a moment, his eyes rippled with something unspoken.
To Kevin, the gesture was intimate—too natural to be anything less than the sign of lovers.
A faint, reluctant envy stirred in him.
For him, even the thought of touching Mei's body was a dream too fragile to grasp.
His frozen blood ensured that the slightest contact would destroy her cells in an instant.
The first half of Nagami's explanation left Kevin confused, but the latter half… well, after seeing multiple human Herrschers fight against Honkai with his own eyes, even he had to admit the logic in Nagami's words.
"Speaking of which, since Fu Hua has joined my Flame-Chasers, how about you too? Don't worry, it won't interfere with World Serpent's interests. This team exists solely to counter Herrschers on the Honkai side and respond to large-scale outbreaks."
Nagami's lips curled into a crooked smile as he looked at the white-haired youth who appeared no older than seventeen or eighteen.
His words were playful, half-joking.
And he meant it as a joke.
After all, Kevin Kaslana—
There was no way he'd ever agree to—
"I'll consider it."
The calm words, spoken with his face as still as a frozen lake, made both Nagami and C.C. snap their eyes wide open.
Kevin's mission had been to carry out Dr. MEI's Stigmata Plan.
While he was sealed within the Quantum Sea, World Serpent had continued pursuing that plan relentlessly.
The survival of this generation of humanity had never factored into his calculations; to him, they were merely test subjects, expendable material to validate MEI's theories.
And yet, the ultimate goal of the Stigmata Plan was still the same: defeating Honkai.
If another plan showed greater promise, Kevin would abandon his own without hesitation.
It had nothing to do with human civilization—only with the best chance of victory.
And to him, a Flame-Chasers squad composed entirely of Herrschers had potential that surpassed even the Stigmata Plan.
"…You're serious?"
Nagami's expression twisted strangely as he stared at Kevin.
He really had only been joking—never expecting Kevin to actually give such an answer.
Even before becoming a MANTIS fusion warrior, Kevin's Honkai adaptability had far surpassed that of most women, which was why he had been able to perfectly merge with the super-soldier serum.
If he wished, becoming a Herrscher would be laughably easy.
Kevin already carried genes granting control over ice and snow, and now he held the Gem of Serenity in his hands.
Nagami's thoughts began racing.
The God Keys were designed to use Herrscher powers against Herrschers.
That meant, ironically, they were the most perfect weapons for Herrschers themselves to wield.
Nagami had no intention of returning the Judgement of Shamash to Kevin—its true potential could only be unlocked by the Herrscher of Flames, Himeko.
Her resonance with it far surpassed anything Kevin could achieve.
Without Shamash, Kevin remained humanity's strongest soldier, but compared to other MANTIS, he was no longer untouchable.
But if Kevin became the Herrscher of Ice… he wouldn't just recover his lost strength. He would become stronger than ever.
Looking at the bigger picture, Nagami knew he would soon have to prepare for the trials of Honkai Gakuen 2.
The more high-level combat power he gathered, the better.
The current Honkai of Impact 3 might already feel like "very easy mode" to him, like any other Traveler filling in a difficulty checkbox.
But that world's Honkai wasn't a game. It was an extinction-level disaster.
Nagami's brows furrowed, his voice growing serious, the air itself heavy with his words.
"You realize that joining the Flame-Chasers means becoming a Herrscher. Are you certain you can accept that?"
In Nagami's impression, Kevin's stance toward Herrschers had always been simple: cut them down.
Even with human Herrschers, he had shown little tolerance.
For Kevin—leader of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers—to willingly become one? It was hard to believe.
"If that's what it takes to ensure humanity finally triumphs over Honkai… then so be it."
Kevin's voice was heavy, like the weight of millennia.
His ice-blue eyes remained cold and detached, carrying the indifference of one who had ceased to care for anything but victory.