Tokyo is one of the world's top megacities; this is a globally recognized fact. Here, for a little money, one can buy a vast array of delicious foods.
The white-haired girl and the golden-eyed youth sat in a small shop, unhurriedly eating takoyaki.
"Mmm, delicious."
The girl, taking a bite of a takoyaki ball, let out a sigh of praise.
Takoyaki: a nationally renowned snack with the most distinctive Osaka flavor. Osaka-style takoyaki involves placing a small piece of actual octopus inside the flour batter, packed full of meat. When they are removed from the mold, they are drizzled with various specialty sauces and sprinkled with a thick layer of bonito flakes. These flakes dance and flutter from the heat of the takoyaki, a truly mouth-watering sight. One bite is all it takes to be filled with a sense of bliss.
Clearly, the taste of this modern, spice-infused snack was perfectly suited to her palate.
Beside her, the man who had claimed they were here to fight small fries was cutting a piece of a famous commoner's delicacy from the Kansai region—okonomiyaki.
Li Zihan, who in theory should have been clearing out monsters, used a fork to cut a piece of the freshly grilled okonomiyaki and brought it to the lips of the girl beside him.
"Aaah—"
The youth, who used to feed Luna Kindred the same way in the past, smiled and made the sound.
The girl, who had just swallowed a piece of takoyaki, looked at the man whose relationship with her had already become quite clear, her face flushing slightly.
And then—
She lifted her head slightly, accepted the okonomiyaki offered to her, and began to chew it in small bites. Okonomiyaki is made by placing a batter of cabbage, sliced pork, small shrimp, eggs, and other ingredients on a hot griddle to cook. Before eating, it is topped with a special sauce, mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and a powder of green onions and seaweed, giving it a rich and layered texture.
It tasted wonderful, too.
The girl, who had been brought along supposedly to eliminate enemies, thought to herself.
However, it wasn't long before her delicate brows furrowed.
"So, are we just going to sit here and eat snacks?"
The girl, who vaguely remembered him saying he was going to wipe out this world's monsters and the Mop-Head, looked at the man who had done nothing but take her out for snacks since leaving the villa, feeling a bit bewildered.
"The small fries have already been mostly cleared out."
The youth, who had unleashed the authority of the Herrscher of Sentience upon leaving, shrugged and said.
"Already dealt with?"
As if hearing something utterly unbelievable, the girl, who only knew that he was strong but had no idea of his actual level, widened her eyes. Her azure eyes were filled with incomprehension.
"To be precise, all that's left is the Mop-Head."
The youth stated the situation in an understated manner. "The authority of the Herrscher of Sentience—Memetic Infection—is highly efficient at clearing out cannon fodder."
A meme is a unit of cultural information transmission, the process by which an idea, behavior, or style spreads from person to person within a culture. The definition of a meme is still under debate due to the lack of a consistent, rigorous, and precise understanding of what constitutes a unit of cultural transmission.
The true nature of the Previous Era's Herrscher of Sentience's power was memetic infection. After seeing or speaking a word contaminated by it, a person's mind would be infected, and they would fall into a dreamscape controlled by the Herrscher, eventually ceasing to breathe in their sleep.
Li Zihan also possessed this authority. However, because his duty was to test all races of the Moon—including humans, Phantasmal Species, and gods—the precision of his authority was far greater than that of the Previous Era's Herrscher of Sentience. This was easy to understand; the characters Li Zihan had to audit were on a completely different level from the civilization of the Honkai world.
As everyone knows, the Nasuverse is a durian—full of gods, demons, and heroes at the pinnacle of power. The combat strength and abilities of those entities who usually serve as background props, almost as if they don't exist, can only be described as monstrous.
There was Zeus, whose basic attacks had the same effect as Vasavi Shakti; Surtr, who could destroy both land and sea in seven days; and Ea, who stabilized the primordial Earth... Compared to them, Mushroom's favorite son, Gil, was practically harmless. And those beings weren't even dead; they were just squatting in the Sea of Stars.
If Li Zihan's authority was on the same level as the Previous Era's Herrscher of Sentience, he would have been crushed into a cookie in minutes. Therefore, the scope of his authority was broader, and its effects were stronger. While retaining the abilities of the previous generation, he could also contaminate "actions."
By contaminating actions like "cannibalism" and "vampirism," the monsters Miss Military Princess had brought over were left with only two choices: starve to death or die in their sleep.
"Then, how do you plan to deal with that... Mop-Head you mentioned?"
The girl, who now had a new understanding of his combat power, forcibly suppressed the astonishment in her heart and asked another question.
In this world, there still existed the military uniform princess named Altera. That individual, who possessed an ability called Holopsicon, was a bug even among the characters Li Zihan had encountered. After all—
The power of Holopsicon, which could derive almost infinite abilities and continuously grow stronger as long as others acknowledged it, would be practically unbeatable if allowed to fully develop.
However, that was contingent on it being fully developed.
The youth, who obviously had no intention of giving a certain Mop-Head a chance to develop, smiled at Miss Stargazer, whose combat power was frankly touching.
The ultimate form of the First Beast, Goetia, could even inspire awe in the other Beasts, yet Fou, also a Beast, was still making a living in Chaldea by trading cuteness for lewd pics.
(Author's Note: Goetia, who was taken out by the Doctor's self-destruction, was truly the pride of the Beasts. In the latest chapter, it was mentioned that the scale of Goetia's Saint Graph was even more ridiculous than the Foreign God possessing ORT.)
No matter how great one's potential is, if it isn't given the chance to be displayed, it's not much different from having none at all.
The man, who had defeated Goetia through trickery, thought to himself, then couldn't help but look at the girl beside him.
"By the way, Stargazer, would you like the power of Holopsicon?"
"The power of Holopsicon?"
The girl, feeling that his words were a bit unclear but sounded awesome, was stunned.
"A composite ability that includes, but is not limited to, skills like 'Representation Exhibition,' 'Causality Reversal,' 'Existence Phase Shift,' 'Causality Transformation,' 'Factor Mimicry,' and 'Self-Reorganization'."
The youth, who felt that Miss Stargazer could become an idol to gain the acknowledgment needed to drive Holopsicon, smiled. "Want it?"
The man, who had always been very generous when dealing with his lovers, watched the girl who still hadn't called him "husband," a hint of playfulness in his smile.
Very honestly, Miss Stargazer nodded her little head.
Power is always tempting. For someone shouldering an important mission, this was even more true.
"I also feel that power would suit you well."
"In exchange, how about you promise me one thing then?"
The youth looked at the girl who had always been thirsting for power, his smile like that of a fox that had just stolen a chicken.
Before Miss Stargazer could reply, a band of light, born from the incineration of the Human Order, unfurled in mid-air.
The Time of Birth Hath Come, He Is the One who Masters All.
(Ars Almadel Salomonis)
Rank: EX
Type: Anti-Personnel (Order) Noble Phantasm
The third Noble Phantasm. The First Original Sin, the band of light that announces the end of humanity. When this Noble Phantasm, which possesses the power to incinerate a planet, is linked with the Second Beast's skill—the Sea of Life, which allows for the cost-free circulation of ether (magical energy) within a certain area—it becomes unprecedentedly terrifying.
The youth, connected to Tiamat's divinity, gazed into the distance. There, the existence known as Altera was resting.
Tokyo suburbs, in a large warehouse.
Altera, wearing a navy-blue cavalry cap, sat on a shabby sofa, contemplating her next move. At the time of Altera's birth, her creator, Setsuna Shimazaki, had chosen to commit suicide due to cyberbullying. No prince on a white horse appeared, no hero of justice descended to pull her back from the brink.
Altera, who was deeply loved by her creator and loved her in return, heard her creator's dying wish—"it would be better if everything just disappeared"—and decided to destroy the world that had caused her creator such pain.
Possessing the power of Holopsicon, she chose to guide a large number of powerful characters to descend upon this world, creating conflict and presenting the most spectacular stage play for the gods. One reason was to harvest the "Acknowledgment Power" granted by this world to enhance her own strength; the second was to let those monsters, most of whom were somewhat anti-human, destroy this world and make the gods feel pain.
How many floors to carry a bag of rice, how many floors to carry a bag of rice.jpg
In a sense, Miss Military Princess's plan was perfect. She knew the deepest wishes of all the created beings and used this knowledge to guide them to their proper places on the stage. She only needed to stand in the background, push the development of events, and then, when the world's foundation was shaken, snap her fingers to bring about the world's end.
Unfortunately, at some point, a self-proclaimed Seraph and God-Slaying Rakshasa had乱入ed this world. That monster-like man had, in a deus ex machina fashion, crushed numerous powerful characters, forcibly slowing the process of the world's collapse...
Seriously, if I don't get rid of him, the time it takes to destroy this world will be greatly extended.
The Military Princess, who could already feel the world's foundation trembling but knew it hadn't yet reached the point of collapsing at the release of her power, couldn't help but narrow her eyes.
So, who should I find to kill that monster?
The King of the End, Mithra?
Not appropriate. That guy has gone completely berserk with killing, wanting to cut down any character whose power level is above that of a normal magus. Moreover, he seems to have said that he won't allow any Rakshasa to exist within his sensory range.
So, is the best method to wait?
Or perhaps... try using the power of Holopsicon to pull that guy into the Temple of Time of the God-Slayer world.
A hint of cruelty appeared on the face of the Military Princess, who had clearly thought of a way to quickly kill Kevin.
With this in mind, she walked out of the warehouse.
Is it an illusion?
It feels like there are two suns in the sky.