The battle of Finality had begun.
Although before the battle, the warriors participating knew that this time, the enemy would be the strongest Herrscher.
But when that colossal being exuding a terrifying oppressive aura appeared before them, everyone was still unable to stop themselves from nearly suffocating.
Even though they were still some distance from the Herrscher of Finality's main body, the terrifying intensity of Honkai Energy detected by the energy sensors alone was enough to make them despair...
—If Leo Ash hadn't been standing at the forefront of the battle line.
Even knowing that the enemy before them had a frighteningly high energy level, as long as they looked at that figure, they could feel an incredibly strong sense of confidence from him.
We can win.
As long as that man leads us forward, we can definitely win!
"Alright, dawdling won't change anything."
"Dr. Ryusuke, begin."
Inside the Moonlight Throne Unit-01, Ryusuke, upon receiving Leo Ash's command, immediately began to lead the mass-produced Moonlight Throne unit in an attack against the Herrscher of Finality.
Unfortunately, the effect of the Moonlight Throne unit was not just negligible, it was minuscule.
Three minutes into the battle, the Moonlight Throne Unit-01 piloted by Ryusuke had only caused a 2% energy loss to the Herrscher of Finality.
And the remaining mass-produced Moonlight Throne units had only inflicted a 4% energy loss in that time.
A total of six percent energy loss might not seem small.
But according to everyone's estimates, the Herrscher of Finality, having lost this much energy, would likely need 144 minutes to fully recover its energy.
If they only looked at these on-paper figures, everyone's confidence would surely soar.
But at headquarters, Dr. Bianka, who was serving as the data analyst, showed no trace of joy on her face upon seeing this data.
The three minutes of full-power energy bombardment had actually consumed 50% of the Moonlight Throne unit's energy.
This was all of humanity's resources. Even if the logistics team could replenish the energy in time, the Moonlight Throne's energy cannons also needed time to cool down and could not maintain suppressive fire for long.
Of course, if all the Moonlight Throne pilots activated the [Self-Destruct Program] and switched the Moonlight Thrones to over-limit mode, the output power could increase significantly.
Although in this mode, the Moonlight Thrones would self-destruct within a minute, during that minute, the Moonlight Throne unit, operating at 200% overload, would have its output efficiency increase to 1400%.
Of course, this huge increase didn't mean that mathematical formulas were useless.
In fact, according to Dr. Bianka's calculations, if only the standard mode of the Moonlight Throne Unit-01 was used for attack, then Unit-01's attack could only, as it was now, consume a 'just-barely-breaking-the-defense' 2% of total energy.
But if an over-limit shot was performed, then after breaking through the opponent's defense, all the damage dealt would be true damage.
Under these circumstances, a 2% energy loss would become 28%, which is 1400%.
In other words, by having the Moonlight Throne unit enter over-limit mode, they could directly trade units in this way to deplete 90% of the Herrscher of Finality's energy.
Moreover, a Moonlight Throne with its self-destruct program activated no longer needed a pilot for control and operation.
Under these conditions, the pilots of the Moonlight Throne unit could completely retreat back to the organization through the spatial teleportation ability of the Second Divine Key.
But, could things really go so smoothly?
However, the battle situation was urgent now. Neither the on-site commander Leo Ash nor the data analyst Dr. Bianka at headquarters had any intention of delaying further.
Three seconds later, all members of the Moonlight Throne unit received the command to [Activate Self-Destruct Program].
Two seconds later, dozens of terrifying beams of light shot from all directions towards the still incredibly nonchalant Herrscher of Finality.
And the Herrscher of Finality, who had been looking down on the combat forces like a god, finally had its expression change completely under this barrage of attacks.
The [God] who was just now so arrogant was now clutching its head from the attack, letting out a painful howl.
Although this howl made everyone in the combat unit feel very uncomfortable, the fact that—the enemy was in pain meant the attack was effective!
"Something's wrong!"
At headquarters, Dr. Bianka, watching the data changes, spoke to the members of the combat unit.
"The situation has changed! With the Herrscher of Finality's energy already depleted by 6%, this barrage of attacks only consumed about 50% of the opponent's energy!"
"What?"
Rita, who was preparing to use Judgment of Shamash Unleashed to execute the opponent, immediately and forcefully stopped her action of releasing the Divine Key.
"A protection mechanism... what an unsurprising development."
Looking at the Herrscher of Finality, whose gaze had clearly become much more vicious, Leo Ash took a step forward and spoke to the people behind him.
"I'll go face it alone first. If it reveals an opening—don't mind me, just cut me down along with it."
At that moment, everyone wanted to ignore his command and follow him.
But thinking about how Leo Ash had never failed in fighting Herrschers, at this moment, everyone endured the unease and impulse in their hearts and stopped their actions.
It was precisely because Leo Ash had never failed in the past that they did not dare to do anything that might disrupt his plan.
Leo Ash had taken action and given a command, which meant he was truly confident.
At a time like this, rather than rushing up impulsively and potentially holding Leo Ash back, causing the battle plan to fail, they were better off obediently staying put.
"Very good, just like that—don't move, I'll let you know when I need support."
After confirming that no one had followed him, Leo Ash activated the two Herrscher cores implanted in his body, causing the Herrscher of Reason core and the Herrscher of Origin core to start spinning wildly within him simultaneously.
The appearance of this 'defense mechanism' in the Herrscher of Finality couldn't really be called unexpected.
For the people of the Previous Era, if the Herrscher of Finality was an enemy that could be killed with ordinary Moonlight Thrones, then 'Forerunners' like Kevin would not have been so desperate.
Therefore, before taking action, Leo Ash made a hypothesis.
At the time of their decisive battle, did the researchers at headquarters speculate that the Herrscher of Finality had other mechanisms, and that's why they didn't go all out on mass-producing Moonlight Thrones from the beginning in this era?
Whether the illusion had supplemented this hypothesis based on Leo Ash's mind, or if Su's subconscious truly believed such a thing existed, Leo Ash didn't know.
But that didn't stop him from wanting to do one thing now.
The current Leo Ash, looking at the clearly enraged Herrscher of Finality before him, just wanted to fuck up this oversized piece of trash head-on.
Even though he was in an illusion, after spending several years with the people around him, how could Leo Ash completely treat them as 'illusions'?
The time spent with everyone might be false.
But the emotions he felt from them were definitely real.
Because of the birth of the Honkai, they had gathered in Fire Moth, forced to become warriors who defied death.
Perhaps they had happy memories within the organization, but—no one would thank the Honkai for it.
Suffering is suffering. Suffering does not bring success.
Because of the advent of the Honkai, humanity was forced to face calamities they should not have had to face.
Because of the operation of the Cocoon of Finality, countless humans had to live each day in fear and anxiety.
And now, the opportunity to defeat the enemy was right before their eyes. At a time like this, there was no need for any other thoughts.
"Sigh, head-on combat isn't my style, so now..."
Floating into mid-air, Leo Ash, facing the Herrscher of Finality before him, lightly snapped his fingers.
"You can just die under the pinnacle of human civilization!"
At that moment, countless imaginary gates opened behind Leo Ash.
And from within the imaginary gates, the 'Moonlight Throne Cannons,' forged by Leo Ash using the two cores, slowly extended out from the gates and aimed their muzzles at the Herrscher of Finality before them.
At the same time, Leo Ash was 'swallowed' by a Moonlight Throne.
Once inside the Moonlight Throne, Leo Ash saw a look of shock appear on the Herrscher of Finality's face, and a cruel smile appeared on his.
"Oh, you're actually scared."
"A pity, it's too late to be scared now."
"Ignite..."
"Fire!"
After uttering this word, the Moonlight Throne cannons behind Leo Ash all fired terrifying beams of light once again, just as before.
However, Dr. Bianka, analyzing the data back at the base, was not optimistic about Leo Ash's move.
After the Herrscher of Finality was 'enraged,' the strength of its energy shield had clearly increased.
If in the previous situation, the Moonlight Thrones could still inflict some energy loss, then now, the energy loss they could cause was negligible.
This should have been an unsolvable situation.
But, when the first light cannon struck the energy shield on the surface of the Herrscher of Finality's body, everyone's expression suddenly changed.
The previous Moonlight Throne unit, although it had consumed half of the Herrscher of Finality's energy through over-limit firing, the Herrscher of Finality had at most only shown an expression of pain.
Its energy shield had only lost energy and part of its defense was broken, but at least from the outside, the shield was still 'intact'.
But now, after the Moonlight Throne piloted by Leo Ash fired its first attack, the Herrscher of Finality's shield was actually pierced straight through???
No, what on earth is going on?
After seeing this miraculous strike, Dr. Bianka immediately began frantically calculating the energy intensity of this blow.
But soon, she calculated an unexpected number.
The energy intensity of this strike that broke through the Herrscher of Finality's defense was actually a bit weaker than the previous over-limit strike from Unit-01????
Without a doubt, in terms of energy intensity, this strike's firepower was inferior to Unit-01's maximum output.
Strange, this... is the Herrscher of Finality's energy intensity really declining?!
Incomprehensible—but there's no need to understand at a time like this!
"Rita, seize the opportunity."
"Headquarters has detected that the Herrscher of Finality's energy intensity is still continuously dropping."
"When the opponent's energy intensity drops to 20%, everyone attack the Herrscher of Finality at once!"
"Roger!"
Upon hearing the command from headquarters, Rita's heart could not be completely at ease.
Leo Ash, moving forward alone, had indeed achieved extraordinary results.
But great power inevitably comes with risk.
Everyone knew that Leo Ash had implanted Herrscher cores.
And even a Herrscher's body is at risk after exceeding its limits.
If she wasn't worried that her actions would cause Leo Ash to be distracted, Rita would have already been unable to restrain her impulse and would have struck with her sword.
On the other side, Leo Ash, who had successfully launched the attack, felt a sharp pain in his brain.
Even with Prometheus's auxiliary calculations, Leo Ash still felt that he had overused his brain a bit.
The energy intensity calculated by Bianka at headquarters was indeed correct.
But a weaker move, executed with a different method, could sometimes produce a stronger effect.
Before the battle, Leo Ash had looked at the overall design of the Moonlight Throne and, through Prometheus's auxiliary calculations, had calculated another way to fire.
In these few years in the illusion, Leo Ash had still diligently researched the skills he possessed.
And according to the trait of [Good Good Study], 'The holder of this skill can conduct in-depth study of various types of knowledge to get closer to the essence of the corresponding knowledge,' Leo Ash finally gained a deeper understanding of the essence of the three skills: [Special Beam Cannon], [Phantasmagoria], and [Sea Tiger Destructive Punch].
And after understanding the essence of these three skills, Leo Ash had an idea.
If the Moonlight Throne's weapon system incorporated the piercing property of [Special Beam Cannon] and the explosive property of [Sea Tiger Destructive Punch], would the attack method change?
Based on his final tests with a Moonlight Throne mimicked using the Herrscher of Reason's power, the answer was obviously yes.
But at the same time, because these two properties were added, the Moonlight Throne's weapon system was prone to misfiring due to energy overload, as the calculation formulas had to be redesigned.
It was precisely for this reason that Leo Ash did not use these technologies on those Moonlight Thrones, and only used the first batch of Moonlight Thrones as consumables to drain energy.
And at the same time, in this final period, Leo Ash had improved the Moonlight Throne that combined these two properties.
In his view, as long as he covered the cannon muzzle with Phantasmagoria at the moment of firing, the fired light cannon would be imbued with Phantasmagoria.
Although this would weaken the energy cannon's output, it would also enhance its stability, and he could use Phantasmagoria to weaken the strength of the opponent's energy shield.
The moment the first light cannon hit the shield, it completed the three effects of [Weaken], [Pierce], and [Explode].
And after the first attack applied these effects, as long as the other Moonlight Thrones followed up in succession, they could naturally use this effect to continuously weaken the energy of the completely defense-broken Herrscher of Finality.
However, all this, as wonderful as it seemed, could not escape one law.
This kind of attack, which required a large amount of energy and effort, could not be sustained for long.
But unlike the previous over-limit firing, this time, the fuel was Leo Ash's life.
Although he felt his body screaming in pain, watching the panic on the Herrscher of Finality's face, Leo Ash felt an unparalleled sense of exhilaration.
"The time has come—everyone, move!"
Upon hearing Leo Ash's command, all the warriors present poured all their Honkai Energy into their weapons and unleashed all their power towards the enemy before them.
It should have been an incredibly brutal battle, but after this one strike, the Herrscher of Finality's body actually began to show signs of collapse.
"Excellent, the Herrscher of Finality's energy is only at 5%!"
"Tch, why isn't it dead yet!"
At that moment, Rita snatched the Divine Key from a comrade next to her, forcefully shattered the Soulium on its exterior, dug out the core, and threw it into her own mouth.
"Once more! Judgment of Shamash—Unleashed!"
As this strike was launched, raging flames once again slammed into the body of humanity's enemy, making the flames on its body burn even more intensely.
At this time, the warrior holding the Divine Key Oath of Judah, rushed out without hesitation, released the Divine Grace Field, and threw the entire Judah, smashing it heavily onto the Herrscher of Finality's body.
"The Herrscher of Finality's energy has dropped to 1%... 0.5%... 0.1%... 0!"
"According to calculations, the Herrscher of Finality's energy will continue to recover, but as long as we can continue to deplete its power before it finishes recovering, we can completely suppress it!"
"Humanity... is victorious!"
Despite hearing the declaration of victory, Rita showed no hint of a smile. Instead, she instantly rushed to the vicinity of Leo Ash's Moonlight Throne and pried open the cockpit door.
But at this moment, the others, looking at the cannons that had fallen from the imaginary gates to the ground, already had a bad feeling in their hearts.
"Leo Ash, you—"
Inside the throne, Rita did not see Leo Ash's figure.
And within this empty throne, only two completely shattered cores remained.
As Rita let out an incredibly mournful wail, Su knew that this illusion, which was not under his control, had finally ended.
To sacrifice one life in exchange for the continuation of an entire civilization...
This is clearly a good ending, but...
I never thought I was such a greedy person.
After seeing such a wonderful ending, am I still greedily wishing for an even more perfect one?
However, in the next moment, Su no longer had time to think about these things.
Because...
—Leo Ash, who should have been in a deep sleep, had now shot up to him with incredible speed and swung his fist.
"Aah, I slept for so long, and I still had to work overtime in my dream."
"Mr. Su, although I know you're a good person, I'm truly sorry, but right now..."
"—I really just want to punch you! Sea Tiger—Destructive Punch!"
If Su had been given enough time to react, this punch would absolutely not have harmed him in the slightest.
Inside the Seed of Sumeru, even though Su's life was nearing its end, as long as he was on guard, he could definitely use his domain ability, the [Karma Cycle], at the first moment to return the enemy's attack to them.
But, Su had been immersed in the afterglow of this illusion's end. He never expected that the object of his sentimentality would wake up so quickly and give him such an unceremonious punch.
As the Grips of Taixu slammed into Su's body, he immediately felt a terrible pain erupt from all his limbs at once.
However, after landing this strike, Leo Ash did not follow up with another attack on Su. Instead, he walked over to the now-bleeding Su and pulled him up from the ground.
"Mm, that gets rid of my anger."
"Ha, you really are..."
Looking at the refreshed expression on Leo Ash's face, Su smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"Never mind, never mind, I indeed owed you that punch."
"But Mr. Ash, I'm very curious, when exactly did you notice that this illusion was not real?"
"Oh, that."
At this moment, Leo Ash, recalling the disgusting face he saw every time he turned on the TV, said to Su in an annoyed tone.
"From the moment I saw Otto's punchable face."
"Let's put aside the matter of you testing me for a moment. I have great respect for you, an old senior who worked so hard and even saved humanity fifteen hundred years ago."
"But you made me see Otto every time I turned on the TV—I was disgusted by you for several years!"
?
??
???
Before this, Su had thought of many reasons.
But he truly never expected that the method he used to warn Leo Ash would become the catalyst for his 'awakening'.
This, how should I put it...
This is too awkward.
Seeing the obvious resentment on Leo Ash's face, Su now truly felt that his estimations seemed to have a tiny little bit of...
Alright, it should be said that his estimations weren't just a little off, they were completely off the mark.
"So, you knew from the very beginning what Mr. Otto had done?"
"That's right—watching everything I did in the illusion, don't you have any thoughts?"
"Everything you did in the illusion..."
At this moment, Su recalled the exhilarating feeling from before and said to Leo Ash with a smile.
"Thank you for letting me have a dream that I wanted to see, but never dared to imagine myself."
"Consider this a gift of thanks for saving humanity fifteen hundred years ago—but, the choices I made in the dream were not just to create a gift, but also to express an idea."
At that moment, the expression on Leo Ash's face gradually became incredibly cold.
"The people in the dream believed in 'Leo Ash', so they followed in his footsteps and charged forward. This might be a good thing."
"But if the leader of humanity at that time was a bastard and a scoundrel, having such a person as the leader would only lead everyone into a ditch."
"And that is the meaning I wanted to express."
Su was no fool. After hearing these words from Leo Ash, he immediately and completely understood what he was trying to say.
Indeed, if the leader of humanity was not someone like Mr. Ash, then humanity blindly trusting a shameless person who had no intention of fighting for them would only accelerate their own demise.
He's... surely talking about Mr. Otto.
"So, the way you acted in the illusion was completely different from how you act in reality, and this is also related to Mr. Otto?"
"Ah, that's part of the reason, yes."
Facing Su's question, Leo Ash answered very frankly.
"I'm afraid of dying, so of course my style in the illusion and in reality won't be the same—after all, dying in the illusion doesn't mean I'm really dead, so I'd definitely be more aggressive in there."
"But in the real world, if I go all out, I will one hundred percent be viewed with suspicion by Otto."
"And me, being viewed with suspicion by Otto—take a guess, how will he target me then?"
Without needing Leo Ash to explain in detail, Su already knew what kind of fate awaited him if he was too aggressive.
Decades ago, the North American Branch, because it was too aggressive, was secretly schemed against by Otto and was nearly wiped out by a single missile.
And a dozen or so years ago, Mr. Siegfried, after obtaining the power of a MANTIS using an awakening serum, combined it with Mr. Welt's Herrscher of Reason core, and unleashed a sky-shattering sword strike of Might of An-Utu Liberation + Judgment of Shamash Unleashed.
And after that, Mr. Otto almost wiped him out with a single missile too.
As long as Mr. Ash displays a threat to the Honkai like those mentioned above, then Mr. Otto would absolutely not treat him as a controllable pawn, as he does now, but as a threat that must be eliminated.
So, Mr. Ash is a completely different person in places 'where Mr. Otto can see' and 'where Mr. Otto cannot see'...
So that's how it is.
At this moment, Su, who understood everything, finally understood one thing.
Otto Apocalypse, his threat to humanity is even greater than I imagined.
Sigh, then after Mr. Ash obtains the Key of the Void, won't he also become a target for Mr. Otto's elimination?
"Oh, after saying so much, I really just want to say one thing—don't give me the Key of the Void. You know the consequences of giving it to me better than I do."
After finishing his sentence, Leo Ash suddenly took a step back and said to Su.
"Mr. Su, I know you don't wish to interfere with humanity's process of choosing its own destiny, but I still hope that you, Mr. Su, can come out of retirement and help humanity."
"There are only a few years left until the Hour of Finality. Under these circumstances, with Otto pressing down on everyone, the probability of our demise will only increase day by day..."
"—I implore you, sir, to save me, so that we may have a chance to fight for a future."
......