A massive conflagration roared, sending plumes of thick smoke billowing outward. Though the haze was spreading, it hadn't yet reached the point of obscuring their vision.
Hua Yi and Theresa could clearly see the mysterious forest that had occupied most of Senba Academy being mercilessly swallowed by the flames.
The outer reaches of those peculiar vines were being abandoned to the fire, while their more vital internal sections were rapidly retracting.
Neither Theresa nor Hua Yi saw the Pseudo-Herrscher attempting to flee the heat. According to the Honkai Energy concentration map, their target had chosen to remain exactly where it was.
Hua Yi and Theresa eventually regrouped, walking along a path where all combustible materials had been reduced to ash, leaving only charred black soil behind. As they reached the center of Senba Academy, they came upon a giant sphere wrapped in heavy layers of vines. Theresa let out a soft sigh.
"In the end, it looks like that fire didn't cause the Pseudo-Herrscher much trouble at all."
The surface of the vine sphere bore some scorched marks, but since it still stood, there was no doubt that the Pseudo-Herrscher protected within was perfectly unharmed.
Hua Yi, however, wore an expression of quiet satisfaction.
"But the trouble we were facing has been resolved by the fire. Previously, the terrain was full of trees and bushes that provided cover, making it difficult to spot a vine ambush. Now that everything is charred black, the green of those vines is as clear as day."
"That's true." Theresa nodded. She started to step closer, but Hua Yi reached out to stop her.
"I mentioned this before toxins are a vital part of a plant's offensive measures. Besides avoiding scratches from the vines, we have to consider that the air itself might be filled with toxic gas. Theresa, use your [Oath of Judah] to whip up a gust of wind and blow the air over there away."
"...Aren't you being a bit too cautious?"
"I'm just guessing, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?"
"I suppose not."
Theresa nodded and manifested the [Oath of Judah] once more. She commanded the spear-tipped chains within to dance with ferocious power, generating a current of air strong enough to act as a gale.
Thinking back on it, the [Oath of Judah] had been used as a blunt instrument to smash Zombies earlier, then pushed to full power just to clear some vines, and now it was being used as an oversized electric fan. It really was a tragic state of affairs for such a weapon.
The moment the wind swept over the sphere, the vines that had been tightly coiled around one another suddenly unraveled. Like a swarm of venomous snakes, they surged across the ground to launch a coordinated attack on Theresa and Hua Yi.
Unfortunately, though their momentum was grand, they lacked true power. The intensity of these attacks couldn't even compare to the ultra-giant Honkai Beast that had ambushed Hua Yi earlier. They posed little threat to the duo, and soon, the dense thicket of vines was sliced into countless small segments that lay scattered across the ground.
An entity resembling a human appeared from within the heart of the vine sphere. Aside from its high concentration of Honkai Energy, its physical characteristics were identical to those of a Zombie. It was exactly as Hua Yi had guessed: this new Pseudo-Herrscher had been transformed from a Zombie that had been eroded by Honkai Energy.
During the Third Honkai Impact, the Herrscher Persona had manifested within Raiden Mei, while this Pseudo-Herrscher possessed the actual Herrscher's power. Together, they would have formed a complete Herrscher.
When separated, however, both were significantly weaker than a normal Herrscher. Raiden Mei, who possessed the [Gem of Conquest], was only slightly diminished, but the Pseudo-Herrscher before them who had likely failed to even form a proper Herrscher Core was weaker by several magnitudes.
Once Hua Yi and Theresa committed to a full-scale assault, the Pseudo-Herrscher was quickly eliminated. Just like any other Honkai Beast or Zombie, it disintegrated into fine shards and vanished into nothingness.
"As I thought, it wasn't a normal Herrscher. It was barely stronger than a standard Zombie or Honkai Beast. It didn't even leave behind a Herrscher Core after being defeated it clearly never formed one in the first place."
After checking in with the personnel from the Science Department and confirming their victory, Theresa made a proud declaration. She then glanced at Hua Yi and added, "Of course, without you, this wouldn't have been nearly as easy. Good job."
Hua Yi nodded. His gaze lingered briefly on a specific spot on the virtual interface that only he could see, and the corners of his mouth curled into an irrepressible smile.
"In that case, let's head back to St. Freya Academy."
"Mm."
The destroyer climbed vertically into the sky before flying off into the distance. After Theresa and Hua Yi departed, Nagazora fell back into a deathly silence. The only thing that distinguished this dead city from its previous state was the still-smoldering ruins of Senba Academy and a presence watching from the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper.
"That peculiar Pseudo-Herrscher was eliminated quite easily."
The speaker was a beautiful girl with cherry-blossom hair that reached down to her waist and deep cyan eyes. She was dressed in a miko outfit, but despite her charming features, the two fox ears atop her head were far more striking. She clearly was not human.
Her soft, self-reflective words were met with a response. The one answering her was a fire-red giant fox, over ten meters tall, standing by her side. Although its size was terrifying, it did not appear to be a physical entity; it looked illusory, as if composed entirely of energy.
"In the end, it was a being forcibly birthed from the meager dregs of Honkai Energy. Its base was nothing more than an utterly ordinary Zombie, so it could never have caused a real stir. However, I must admit that the human was quite clever he perfectly avoided the most troublesome aspect of that Pseudo-Herrscher: its poison."
The fox's logic was sound, yet the girl's attention was elsewhere.
"That white-haired girl... she looks very much like Kallen. When Kallen was young, she must have looked just like that."
"Wake up. Five hundred years have already passed. Kallen is long dead. Humans cannot possibly possess such a long lifespan. And as a Pseudo-Herrscher yourself, you are destined never to be accepted by humanity.
You know this, don't you? That is why you didn't try to contact those two humans just now. Had you done so, a conflict would have been inevitable, and they would have destroyed you just as they destroyed that Pseudo-Herrscher."
"..."
"Enough. Now that the newborn Pseudo-Herrscher has been eliminated, it should be a long time before anyone else intrudes upon this city. As long as you suppress your power as you have in the past, human devices will not be able to detect you. You can rest here for a while, Yae Sakura. You no longer need to live a life without a home."
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