"My dear friend, you truly are insane."
In the medical bay of Chaldeas, Otto's voice echoed.
The man with long golden hair, styled into the rather dangerous "housewife" cut, injected a Honkai energy inhibitor into the boy's arm and sighed with emotion.
A Herrscher is a derivative of a large-scale Honkai Eruption, an individual with a Honkai energy reading of 2000 HW or more. The Herrscher Core is the heart of their power, containing all of their inherent Honkai energy—that is, all Honkai energy not drawn directly from the Imaginary Space.
It could be said that if the full power contained within a single Herrscher Core were to be unleashed, it could instantly trigger a Great Eruption.
And Li Zihan had just implanted three of them into his body.
The Core of Reason, the Core of Consciousness, and the Core of Erosion.
Three whole Herrscher Cores. Even if the Honkai energy within them didn't erupt, the corrosive effect on the host would be terrifying. Even a Stigmata bearer would find it difficult to survive for long under the triple erosion.
But Li Zihan had done it anyway. He had casually implanted the three cores into his body and was even contemplating whether he should add the Core of Rock and dismantle the other Divine Keys stored at Schicksal as well.
Honestly, Otto felt that he was courting death on a whole new level.
"I just need to control the time of my own body." The boy, who was himself an expert in manipulating time, smiled faintly. "If my body is eroded to its limit, I just have to revert it to a state before the erosion began."
"Aren't you afraid that one day, the Honkai energy cores in your body will suddenly erupt?" Otto, the man with deep green eyes, asked, an unreadable light flickering within them as he looked at the overly confident boy.
Herrscher Cores were remarkably stable energy aggregates. But they were only remarkably stable. In an environment with a high concentration of Honkai energy, there was a certain probability that a chain reaction could be triggered, activating them.
If it were just one core activating, a few special individuals might be able to withstand it. But three whole cores... unless he instantly transformed into a Herrscher on the spot, it would be a guaranteed death sentence.
Does he possess a power that can suppress Honkai energy? Otto wondered. He had once gifted the Key of Binding, the Oath of Judah, to the boy before him. If he were to use the power of that Divine Key, he could indeed suppress a core eruption.
"Relax, a Herrscher Core rampage is something that will absolutely never happen to me." The boy, who had indeed integrated the Oath of Judah into his body as a Concept Mystic Code for a backup plan, said with a shrug. "My instinct and my eyes will warn me when death is imminent."
Because of the Composite Saint Graph within him, Li Zihan possessed Gilgamesh's Clairvoyance and the Eye of the Mind (False) from Berserker Cú Chulainn. Even though both skills had been partially degraded due to the incomplete Saint Graph, he still possessed a form of future sight to observe the near future and an instinct to evade danger.
"Combined with time reversal, I can easily avoid the possibility of a Honkai energy eruption."
Future sight and time reversal... the power to play with time itself? Otto thought. How terrifying.
It was a foregone conclusion that the technology of Chaldeas, which had once reversed the timeline, would be read by the Will of Honkai. According to the nature of the civilization's trials, a god corresponding to time should be born next.
So, who in this world was the most suitable candidate for that position?
The man named Otto looked at the boy who casually rewrote history with a technique called "magecraft," his gaze unsteady.
"Perhaps, my friend, you will not be harmed by the power of the Honkai."
Otto, having thought of a certain possibility, placed several quartz test tubes filled with Saintess's Blood in front of the boy. Saintess's Blood was a concoction that could suppress a Herrscher's personality.
"This should be of some use to your future self."
"Mm, I'll take them." The boy, who would likely try to extract the "door" from Chen Tianwu's body to complete his own Herrscher transformation even if he wasn't chosen by the Will of Honkai, accepted the precious vials.
"Speaking of which, how is Lady Kallen doing now?" the boy asked casually, vaguely remembering that Otto had rushed back to create a body for Kallen immediately after receiving her soul.
"Same as she always was," Otto said, his gaze instantly softening at the mention of her name as he smiled gently. "She detests human experimentation, detests any sacrifice other than self-sacrifice. A complete idealist."
The goddess he had worshipped for so long was finally alive again.
"Looks like I can try to be the best man in a few days." The boy, feeling that the current developments were quite good, said with a raised eyebrow.
"My friend, you may not live to see that day." The man who was deeply in love with Kallen recalled her declaration on the execution platform and said flatly, "The one she loves is that pink-haired donkey in the Far East, not me."
"Aren't you going to try confessing?" Li Zihan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I probably will," Otto said, his voice devoid of any emotion. He held basically no hope of his confession succeeding. It was less about confessing and more about getting an answer to finally let his heart die.
"Well, I wish you success." The boy shrugged and said, feeling that if Otto could just explain the reasons for his actions clearly, his chances of success were actually quite high.
In truth, Kallen didn't know Yae Sakura at all. Five hundred years ago, after Kallen had washed ashore in Yae Village, Li Zihan had contacted Schicksal that very day and had her sent away. Her "impression" of Yae Sakura was something he had written into her mind with Fenghuang Down over the course of two minutes and thirty seconds. It was just a vague outline, with no real details. Anyone with a brain would realize there was a problem with their memory after a while.
"I'll take your good wishes, then." Otto smiled and bid farewell to the boy sitting on the hospital bed.
And then—before Otto's astonished eyes, purple紋路 patterns, a sign of severe Honkai energy erosion, appeared on the neck of the boy whose cores should have been suppressed by the inhibitor.
"What is this—" Otto asked, completely baffled by this development.
"I just rewound time a bit. It's not the cores' energy erupting." The boy, whose body had instantly reverted to its most severely eroded state, calmly pulled the covers over himself and lay down. In that state, he looked exactly like a critically ill patient.
His familiar, stationed at Chaldeas, had just sent him a message.
Raiden Mei had arrived.