The blazing fire roared, and thick smoke billowed outward. Yet it had not reached the point of obscuring their vision, so Evan and Theresa could still clearly see the mysterious forest that had occupied most of Senba Academy being mercilessly devoured by the flames. The strange vines abandoned their outer layers, while the important inner sections kept shrinking inward.
Theresa had not seen the Pseudo-Herrscher fleeing the flames on her side, and Evan had not seen it on his side either. According to the Honkai energy concentration map, the enemy had chosen to remain in place.
Theresa and Evan regrouped and walked along the road where all flammable material had been burned away, revealing charred black soil, until they reached the central area of Senba Academy. There, they saw a giant sphere, tightly wrapped in vines. Theresa sighed.
"In the end, this fire doesn't seem to have caused much trouble for that Pseudo-Herrscher."
There were some burn marks on the surface of the vine sphere, but since it had survived the blaze, the Pseudo-Herrscher protected inside was undoubtedly unharmed.
Evan, however, looked as if his goal had been achieved.
"But our trouble has been cleared away by this fire. Before, the trees and shrubs provided cover, making it hard to spot vine ambushes. Now, with everything charred black, that patch of green from the vines is obvious enough."
"True."
Theresa nodded and was about to approach when Evan stopped her again.
"Like I said, toxins are an important part of a plant's means of dealing with enemies. Besides avoiding being scratched by the vines, the air might be filled with poison, too. So, Theresa, hurry up and use your [Oath of Judah] to whip up an air current and blow that air away."
"...Aren't you being a bit too cautious?"
"I'm indeed just guessing. But there's no harm in trying, right?"
"No, there isn't."
Theresa nodded and once more activated the [Oath of Judah]. The chained spears within it flew with tremendous force, creating an air current strong enough to sweep the area.
Thinking about it carefully, today the [Oath of Judah] had first been used as a blunt weapon to smash zombies, then gone all-out just to clear some vines, and now it had been turned into an electric fan. Truly miserable treatment for such a Divine Key.
At the very moment the airflow swept across, the vines that had been intertwined into a sphere scattered instantly, then surged toward Theresa and Evan like a swarm of venomous snakes.
Unfortunately, they had the momentum but not the power. The strength of these attacks didn't even match that of the super-giant Honkai Beast that had ambushed Evan earlier, and so they couldn't cause the two of them much trouble. Very soon, the dense mass of vines was sliced into countless fragments and scattered across the ground.
Inside the vine sphere, a humanoid creature appeared. In every visible way except Honkai energy concentration, it was identical to a zombie. Just as Evan had guessed, the newly appeared Pseudo-Herrscher had been formed by Honkai energy eroding and transforming a zombie.
During the Third Honkai Eruption, Raiden Mei had birthed a Herrscher personality, while this Pseudo-Herrscher before them possessed Herrscher power. Together, they could indeed be considered a complete Herrscher.
Unfortunately, separated like this, the strength of the two was weaker than that of a normal Herrscher. Raiden Mei, who possessed the Gem of Conquest, was only somewhat weaker, but this Pseudo-Herrscher, whose core had likely not fully formed, was weaker by more than a bit.
Under the full assault of Evan and Theresa, the Pseudo-Herrscher was quickly eliminated. Like Honkai Beasts and zombies, it collapsed into tiny fragments and vanished.
"As expected, it wasn't a proper Herrscher. It wasn't much stronger than a zombie or Honkai Beast. It didn't even leave a Herrscher Core behind after being defeated. Clearly, the core never formed."
After contacting the Science Department to confirm their victory, Theresa made a proud declaration. Then she glanced at Evan and added:
"Of course, without you, this process definitely wouldn't have been so easy. Well done~"
Evan nodded. His gaze paused briefly on a certain spot in the virtual interface only he could see, and the corners of his mouth inevitably lifted slightly.
"In that case, let's head back to St. Freya Academy."
"Mm."
The destroyer rose vertically into the sky and then flew off into the distance. After Theresa and Evan left, Nagazora City fell silent once more. The only things that brought a hint of difference to this dead city were Senba Academy—still not completely burned, with small flames flickering here and there—and a presence atop a nearby building.
"That special Pseudo-Herrscher was easily wiped out."
With waist-length sakura-colored hair, cyan eyes, and wearing a shrine maiden outfit, she was undoubtedly a beautiful girl. Yet compared to her charming face, the two fox ears on top of her head drew even more attention. With such features, she clearly was not human.
Her seemingly self-directed words received a response. The one who responded was a gigantic crimson fox over ten meters tall beside her. Though enormous, it did not appear solid, its body instead faint and translucent, like a form made of energy.
"In the end, it was just a being forcibly created by what little Honkai energy remained. Its body had been nothing more than a completely ordinary zombie, so naturally it couldn't stir up much trouble. But it does have to be admitted, that human really was quite clever, perfectly avoiding that Pseudo-Herrscher's most troublesome poison."
The fox's statement was reasonable, but the girl's focus clearly differed greatly.
"That white-haired girl… she really looks like Kallen. She must have looked about the same when she was little."
"Wake up. It's already been five hundred years. Kallen is long dead. Humans can't have such a long lifespan, and as a Pseudo-Herrscher, you are destined not to be accepted by humans either. You know this very well, don't you? That's why you didn't try to approach those two humans just now. Otherwise, conflict would have been inevitable, and they would have eliminated you just like they did that Pseudo-Herrscher."
"..."
"Alright. Since the newly born Pseudo-Herrscher has been destroyed, no one should come into this Honkai-stricken city for a long time. As long as you suppress your power as you did before, humans' detection devices won't find you. You can rest here for now, and won't have to keep wandering without a home, Yae Sakura."
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