"Is this the young lady's power?!"
"Holy shit! Mom, come quick and meet God!"
The live stream went absolutely wild. The comment section, the bullet chats—every single one of them was screaming.
Some people thought back to their past selves and couldn't help but cover their faces in embarrassment.
*And we thought we could assassinate the Herrscher of Finality?*
We were way too full of ourselves.
If she'd unleashed one large-scale AOE skill, we'd probably all be wiped out.
We'd have died!
And gradually, bit by bit—the Authority of Heavenly Punishment faded. The sky was no longer filled with dazzling light, spiraling stars, bonds, or any other fancy decorations.
Everyone could finally see the situation more clearly.
Obviously.
The Herrscher was gone. The Honkai beasts were gone too.
Only Kiana and Elysia remained there, completely unharmed, chatting and laughing like it was nothing.
If it weren't for the overwhelming spectacle earlier, which had left many trembling with fear, they might even have thought that the Honkai—and Herrschers—were no big deal.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness!"
"The young lady is on our side."
Even though the Herrscher of Finality had openly stated that, in the very end, there would still be one final challenge—
Herself.
If she could reclaim her sense of self, then it would be cleared.
If not... well, then you'd have to face the Finality.
That did leave a lot of people feeling uneasy.
But!
Look on the bright side!
At least until that final hurdle, no matter how many Herrschers showed up, we've got our ace—the Finality herself. Isn't that a sure thing?
The Finality is the source of all Herrschers.
So, fighting Herrschers is basically like a mom disciplining her daughters.
Take this time, for example.
Kiana never thought the Third Herrscher would be much trouble.
In fact, the only issue she'd considered was what if the Third Herrscher had no consciousness, like a mere puppet? How would she and Elysia restore its sanity without hurting it?
So, you have to admit—the Authority of Binding, used well, is downright broken.
Come one, catch one.
Come in a group, catch the whole group.
Since the biggest worry was already a non-issue—
She came with her own consciousness and could communicate.
There was even less to worry about.
Besides, if Elysia had come alone, it might've been a challenge, but with Kiana tagging along, it was nothing.
Even if the Herrscher had been a mindless puppet, completely impossible to reason with, it wouldn't have mattered.
Same instant activation.
Capture her first.
Everything else could be figured out later.
The good news is, a lot of trouble was saved this time.
The bad news is, we didn't get to try restoring humanity to a Herrscher from scratch.
Elysia felt a little regretful about that.
But this was what she'd asked for.
Battles between Herrschers are like clashes between gods.
"When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer."
The sooner it ended, the less impact it had on the surroundings. Post-disaster recovery would also be easier.
Just look.
Even with that brief clash—
The entire Nagazora City was left in ruins.
Sesha's swamp had flooded the city, eroding not just the ground but also corroding the buildings.
And before that, when the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment descended, endless thunderstorms struck the earth, while Honkai beasts and zombies—especially the larger ones—roamed the streets.
All of it inflicted severe, undeniable damage on the city.
And this was already considered a relatively good outcome.
The disaster zone was almost minimal.
Aside from Nagazora, other areas didn't even experience Honkai outbreaks—it was all suppressed before anything could start, shut down completely.
There were almost no casualties.
Hundreds of millions of lives were saved because of this.
It also made Fire Moth—as well as various nations and organizations—realize the importance of high-level combat strength.
The descent of the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment was almost apocalyptic.
Ten times more terrifying than the previous two Herrschers.
Yet the damage she caused was even less than the earlier ones.
All because Elysia and Kiana were there.
When facing the Honkai, especially Herrschers... no number of soldiers would likely make a difference.
They could only handle cleanup, support, maybe smaller Honkai outbreaks elsewhere.
But in the future, as Honkai eruptions grow increasingly intense, if they don't keep up, they'll inevitably be left behind by the times.
Thinking about it that way—
The higher-ups, especially those in power, felt an even more urgent need for scientists and researchers to study, explore, and develop more equipment and technology.
Forget that whole "if you advance tech, the Honkai escalates too" argument.
As if not doing anything would stop it from escalating anyway.
Besides, if technological advancement stays within controllable limits and isn't judged as an overall leap in civilization level—
Maybe... it wouldn't be that serious.
This was something Kiana had confirmed.
Civilization levels have certain standards.
How to evaluate, how to judge—
That probably requires professionals too.
This was another area that needed attention.
"But the good news is, even if we push tech hard and ramp up the Honkai's intensity, the Finality and the Origin are on our side. If the Honkai gets stronger, they'll get stronger too."
"The situation won't get too bad."
"..."
Over the next few days—every nation, every organization, held meetings.
Especially Fire Moth. Not only were they handling the aftermath as planned—they were also conducting post-operation reviews.
The report Elysia submitted read: "This operation was very straightforward."
Not much reference value.
In contrast, Mobius and that Vill-V went in with the troops to investigate, piecing together what happened based on blurry satellite footage.
That gave more people a clearer picture of events.
Even though the Third Herrscher was instantly defeated by the Finality—
The traces she left behind were still shocking.
Following Kiana's suggestion, the Third Herrscher was officially designated the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment.
Not just a simple Herrscher of Thunder.
This was an evolution, an ascension.
Even though "Ascension" in Honkai Impact 3rd usually refers to the Herrscher of Reason evolving into a complete Herrscher of Truth, the term itself can also represent intensity.
Thankfully the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment didn't undergo any "molt" process.
Otherwise!
Kiana might've actually had to break a slight sweat.
After all—once a molt happens, it means the Honkai energy within can activate a Death Halo.
Most critically, once a Death Halo starts, it can't be stopped. The only way to end it is to kill the Herrscher.
That wasn't something Elysia or Kiana wanted.
If it were a male Herrscher, fine, whatever.
But a pretty girl? Even if she has to be imprisoned, they'd prefer that.
So now—
The Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment is locked up.
Kiana specially made a prison in imaginary space and moved her in.
Every day, Elysia drops by to bother the Herrscher of Heavenly Punishment, whether there's a reason or not.
It's driving her up the wall.
As for Sesha, it's locked up here too, right next door.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
20+ advanced chaps on my patreon.
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.