Boom-crack!
The rooms were vibrating. Even the HQ base, designed to withstand tsunamis, was trembling now. Dust, usually invisible, was constantly kicked up and settled back down.
"Doctor..." Su stopped his busy hands and looked hesitantly at Spaciel. Dust had fallen onto his hair, making him look disheveled.
But Spaciel didn't even raise an eyebrow, calmly mixing drugs on the table with his single arm. "Don't stop. Continue."
"..."
"This incident has been designated as the Eighth Eruption. Only a Herrscher's authority could achieve this. In other words, the mastermind behind those controlled people is the Eighth Herrscher," Spaciel explained coldly. "The Herrscher this time hasn't exerted world-ending destructive power, but rather mental and consciousness attacks we've never encountered before."
"Unlike previous Herrscher suppressions, this time we don't even know where the Herrscher is. She could be anywhere on Earth controlling all of this. Therefore, we must develop drugs to resist mental attacks rather than blindly 'helping'."
Even the high-ranking members of Fire Moth couldn't be confirmed as uninfected, so Mei had directly had those still reachable cut off communication with the high-ranking officials, temporarily ceasing to follow orders.
"I understand." Su sighed and continued his mixing work. Yes, they couldn't do anything else right now; the greatest help was to produce the mental resistance drug.
Faster... must be faster...
The Eighth Herrscher leaned against a wall to rest. The Herrscher Core in her body had undergone high-intensity Honkai energy expenditure; she couldn't continue overdrawing it.
In front of her lay two people: Kalpas and Sakura.
She had to admit the strength of the MANTIS humans had created. Had she not been the Herrscher of Consciousness, she might have fallen to these two.
However, Sakura was a MANTIS, but what was with this man? Why could he use energy so massive it was terrifying in an instant? Adding in that woman with eyes like Lin from before, humans were becoming harder and harder for her to understand.
The Eighth Herrscher repaired the wound on her chest without changing her expression. It was a clean gash, like paper cut by a razor—Sakura full-power strike before being attacked by her consciousness. Truly dangerous. She ultimately lacked the authority of creation. After barely stopping the bleeding, she walked in one direction.
The consciousness of these two was already controlled; they were useful to her, just like the other controlled people... and they were of great use.
She walked without stopping until she reached a certain person's lab. The door wasn't closed. she walked in as if taking a stroll, bypassed the empty lab, and arrived at Mobius office door.
She had already decided which humans to kill; Mobius was definitely first in priority. Moreover, the Eighth Herrscher was certain Mobius hadn't been polluted and might have even researched a way to resist consciousness attacks.
The Eighth Herrscher pushed the door open expressionless, Honkai energy gathering in her hand, ready to blast whoever she saw.
But...
"...Succumbed?" The Eighth Herrscher dissipated the energy in her hand with a hint of confusion, looking at Mobius slumped on the desk.
She had long since identified several troublesome targets through Chiaki's memories—Kevin, Mei, Mobius. After sending Lin away, she planned to take them down one by one. But plans change; could Mobius really be this careless?
"..."
As mentioned, every controlled person was very useful to the Eighth Herrscher, especially those with special identities. After a moment's thought, the Eighth Herrscher lowered her hand and turned to walk out.
"—!"
Suddenly, she stopped. "...Already attacking?" she muttered.
"Third consciousness world observation failed!"
Vill-V pressed the stop button. Dystopia opened her eyes inside the pod, her face pale, panting heavily. Her expression was terrible. Beside her, a dozen armed dolls were busy adjusting data, while Kosma guarded the door of the Helix Workshop to prevent contaminated people or anything else from breaking in.
Vill-V organized the data solemnly. "Mental burden increased by 17%. Rest for ten minutes."
"No... no need! Continue!" Dystopia face looked as fatigued as if she were dehydrated. After only three attempts, she already felt mentally drained, but now was no time for rest. "I... I can still go!"
"It would be a net loss if your spirit is damaged." Vill-V felt nothing toward Dystopia stubbornness. She calmly recorded the previous observation data and extrapolated, searching for data more likely to enter the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness world.
With Vill-V speaking thus, Dystopia could only close her eyes and let her brain rest as much as possible.
Boom!
Suddenly, an unprecedented vibration swept through the entire Fire Moth! In her office, Mei stopped her hands and looked at Kevin. Kevin thought for a moment, then his brow suddenly cleared: "Lin."
The Eighth Herrscher stood her ground, counter-attacking another consciousness that was attacking hers. The opponent had clearly just learned to use this ability; she defeated them without much effort.
Three times already; humans were quite stubborn. She needed to find their location quickly, and then...
Snap!
A loud crack suddenly rang out. A pink arrow of light struck from behind her. It was so fast she couldn't react, only barely dodging. The shining arrow pierced her shoulder and exploded instantly like a firework!
Zhing!
Flesh and blood flew from her shoulder. The arrow of light didn't dissipate after exploding; it scattered into an airtight prism around her, and then arrows fell like a torrential rain!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Eighth Herrscher dodged as best she could, but even if she dodged, the arrows would hit the prisms and ricochet, appearing in her path. In an instant, her surroundings were filled with crystalline pink light! Light arrows pierced her abdomen, legs, and right arm!
Boom!
The light was brilliant, shattering everything! The sea breeze burst through!
"...Lin, looks like she dodged."
The Eighth Herrscher floated in the sky with a cold face. Aside from the hideous wound on her shoulder, the other injuries that should have landed had vanished. She ignored the pink-haired girl holding a bow who looked a bit distressed and stared at another figure slowly walking out of the hole below.
He turned a dial on his helmet, and the blue visor ignited like fire.