When Setsuna once again stepped onto the starship's bridge,
He found, beside the main console, a pedestal-like device installed.
It held twelve reserved slots, six on each side, with a larger central space.
"This is the Herrscher Core Drive Module."
"We modified the Key of Blankness technology and fused it into the Eternal Snowfall. Now it can mount Herrscher Cores."
Kayo Senju and Grey proudly introduced their work to Setsuna.
"As long as you load Herrscher Cores inside, you can use their corresponding authority and Honkai energy."
"One core means single-core, two cores means dual-core. Judging by the Commander's physical strength, twelve-core probably won't be a problem?"
The research loli scratched her head.
"…A very scientific, and very direct calculation method."
Setsuna nodded. He thought of the four-core Sirin, but he was walking the technology route.
Plug-and-play—simple and convenient.
"Who's the middle slot reserved for?"
Fu Hua asked.
"The Final Herrscher—in truth, the Cocoon of Finality."
Grey answered with arms akimbo.
"Its power equals the sum of all Herrschers, possessing every Herrscher authority."
"But I'm not sure whether it can even produce anything extractable. We just left a spot during modification."
"The Empire's research on Honkai isn't deep enough yet. For now, we can't analyze the Cocoon of Finality in detail."
Her tone carried some regret. During this time, the research department had carefully combed through all records aboard the Ark concerning Honkai and Herrschers.
According to Dr. Mei, the Cocoon of Finality was a tool created by higher-dimensional civilizations—or gods—for observing, nurturing, and screening civilizations on the Imaginary Tree.
Earth was merely one of many cocoons.
All Honkai events within the Earth-Moon system were, at their root, higher-dimensional civilizations using the cocoon to test Earth's civilization—a screening mechanism of the so-called Will of the Honkai.
During the trial, the cocoon continuously manipulated Honkai energy on Earth, gathering and releasing it to cause Honkai eruptions.
Civilizations, unable to harness Honkai energy, instead had to survive its periodic disasters.
As a civilization advanced, the trials grew harsher—eventually manifesting higher-dimensional projections, the Herrscher forms.
If a civilization failed these trials, the cocoon would activate the civilization reset mechanism—the Finality descending, annihilating surface civilization completely.
"The Cocoon of Finality will have to wait until our research into the Honkai world and the Sea of Quanta deepens."
Setsuna's gaze fell upon the drive module.
One bite at a time. If he couldn't get the Cocoon of Finality for now, he could at least start slotting in Herrscher Cores one by one.
"Come, let's try one core first."
"???"
Senti's eyes widened in shock, and she immediately tried to run.
"Hey!"
"You promised I could join you—don't tell me you're having indecent thoughts about me?!"
"What are you thinking?"
Setsuna flicked her forehead.
"If we're removing a core, it'll be from those crazed Herrschers of the Previous Era. Better to mount them on the Eternal Snowfall than let them be turned into Divine Keys."
He tapped the holographic console.
The Angeloid delivered a black box restrained by force fields.
The Scarlet Gem.
—Strictly speaking, it didn't bear that name, but Setsuna was used to calling it so.
The Herrscher of Corruption, the twelfth Herrscher of the Previous Era.
She was a sentient ultimate virus, wielding the power of corrosion—able to seize control of humans, beasts, and machines alike.
The Previous Era had paid a terrible price to seal her in the black box. Dr. Mei had once tried to forge her into a Divine Key, but her fierce resistance had thwarted it.
"Careful! She can corrode and control anything she touches!"
Fu Hua still shuddered with dread.
The Corruption Herrscher had once hijacked the base's combat systems, launching every nuclear warhead at humanity's last three cities—cutting civilization's thread.
If the Eternal Snowfall or Setsuna himself were corrupted…
She thought there was no need to wait for Finality to descend—Earth was about to be doomed right now.
"Didn't I just tell you? Whether it's mental attacks or corrosion, you'd have to break through the Eternal Snowfall's firewall first."
"Besides, I don't think cube-tech is even under her jurisdiction."
Clack—
Setsuna shoved the entire black box into Slot 12.
Bzz—Bzz—
A black mist filled with palpable malice seeped out from the console.
After the Final Battle, she had been sealed within this black box for tens of thousands of years, unable even to sense the passage of time, her hatred festering endlessly.
Left unchecked, according to the original storyline, she would corrupt Yae Sakura into a pseudo-Herrscher and wreak havoc in the Far East.
Sensing the Herrscher core's intent to corrode, Setsuna tapped into the Eternal Snowfall's energy.
"A Juggernaut-class starship—is that something you think you can control?"
He didn't even need to do much himself. The Eternal Snowfall was driven by both the Wisdom Cube and the Allspark.
Against creation-class energy, corruption was laughably feeble.
Even an unconscious counterstrike shattered the Herrscher's will into fragments.
Minutes later, the AI chimed in mechanically:
[Purification Complete]
[Slot 12 Herrscher Core Installed (Herrscher of Corruption)]
Fwoooosh—
Setsuna felt a foreign energy surge into his body.
Just like when he first merged with the Wisdom Cube and the Allspark, this was another world's power—Honkai energy.
"!"
Fu Hua and Griseo instantly sensed the familiar fluctuations pouring from Setsuna.
The Book of Fuxi's Honkai detector shrieked with alarms.
"A Herrscher!! A new Herrscher has been born!"
The little loli almost tumbled off her Taiji sphere in fright.
Beep—
Suddenly—
From the Eternal Snowfall's console, a girl's hologram projected outward.
She had pink hair and blue eyes, dressed in a white blouse and pink checkered skirt, with fox ears sprouting atop her head.
"Where is this?! …"
"Where am I? What's happening? …"
The girl looked around in bewilderment.
"So after purifying the Herrscher's will, what remains is a sliver of benevolence? The Scarlet Gem's human form?"
Setsuna found it rather curious.
Once the Herrscher core was purified and mounted on the Eternal Snowfall, she became a kind of virtual data entity.
"Stay in the database for now. I'll study you later."
Click—
He shut off the hologram, leaving the girl to sleep.
"Mm…"
Then, Setsuna clenched his fist, feeling the new power.
The Herrscher of Corruption's authority was exactly as the name implied—corrosion. She could corrupt and control lifeforms, objects, and networks.
Turning humans into zombies, hacking electronic systems, launching nuclear missiles, corrupting Yae Sakura—those were her powers.
In comparison, the Herrscher of Sentience's ability was more like hypnosis. The Herrscher of Corruption was outright viral intrusion.
"Time to test this out?"
As he looked around for a target, Senti stepped forward.
"Come on then."
"By rights, we're both Herrschers now. You corrupt willpower, I alter consciousness."
"Let's see whose authority is stronger."
She crossed her arms, challenging Setsuna with her Herrscher power.
Shwoosh—
Setsuna waved his hand.
Invisible Honkai energy lunged at the Herrscher of Sentience.
"Heh, you haven't fully mastered Herrscher authority yet. I can't match you in brute strength, but when it comes to Honkai energy… you're still too green…"
At first, Senti was confident, preparing to directly resist Setsuna's corruption.
Zzz—
But in an instant, she found her limbs refusing to obey. Black mist coiled up from the floor, wrapping around her.
Her mind went blank, as if struck hard on the head.
Her consciousness teetered on the verge of being wholly corrupted, slipping into his grasp.
"You've gotta be kidding me!!!"
"The Herrscher of Corruption can corrupt the Herrscher of Sentience's consciousness too?! You're too shameless!!!"
Even among Herrschers, there were strengths and weaknesses.
In the previous era, Fu Hua had fought many Herrschers, and the Herrscher of Corruption was undoubtedly one of the most troublesome.
She had directly caused the extinction-level event, leveling humanity's last three cities, and wrought irreparable damage to the base.
Now, she felt that with Setsuna wielding the Herrscher of Corruption's authority, he was far more terrifying than Sirin.
Whether it was the Eternal Snowfall treating Herrscher Cores like plug-and-play modules, or Setsuna's unmatched adaptability to Honkai energy—both were unfathomable to her.
"!!!"
"Stop!!! I surrender!!!"
Senti saw the black Honkai energy crawling up her body like a bone-deep parasite, about to completely consume her, and cried out desperately with her last strength.
"Heh."
With a wave, Setsuna withdrew the corrosive power from her body.
Senti collapsed weakly to the ground with a plop, clutching her nonexistent chest, gasping for breath.
She looked at Setsuna in lingering fear:
"You…!"
"How is this fair?! Even Herrschers can be corrupted by you?!"
As the Herrscher of Sentience, having her consciousness invaded by the Herrscher of Corruption's authority was utterly humiliating.
"This is the difference in power."
Setsuna crushed the corrosive energy in his hand.
"Herrschers' authority is just another application of Honkai energy. Since my power far surpasses yours, it's only natural that my authority overrides yours."
"You mean plugging Herrscher Cores into the Eternal Snowfall makes you stronger than the original Herrschers?!"
Senti's mouth twisted.
She was terrified that one day Setsuna might covet the Herrscher of Sentience's authority too, and shove her into the Eternal Snowfall.
"For now, yes. But this ability of Corruption… it's very intriguing."
Setsuna gathered Honkai energy into his palm, feeling the new power.
It was still a little clumsy to wield—Honkai energy was something new to him.
But with mastery, its potential was limitless.
Not only could he command the powers of all twelve Herrschers and Finality itself, he could even learn techniques like the Taixuan Eminence. After all, the entire Honkai world's power system revolved around Honkai energy.
"If you can corrupt Herrschers, can you control other beings too? Ordinary lifeforms? Machines?"
Grey tilted her head curiously.
"Only one way to find out."
Setsuna had the Angeloid bring some test subjects from the life sciences division.
Minutes later, a row of cages was neatly arranged before him.
Inside were tigers, lions, gorillas—large animals separated in their own cages.
Shwoosh—
Setsuna waved his hand, and corrosive energy slithered out like shadows, wrapping around the animals.
Under Honkai energy's influence, they twisted, mutated, and expanded.
Crack—
Their bodies instantly burst free of the alloy cages, growing larger at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Carapaces sprouted from torsos, horns and fangs jutted from skulls.
In just minutes—
They had become dozens-of-meters-tall monsters, lined up inside the Eternal Snowfall's control chamber.
The sight was magnificent and overwhelming.
ROAR!!!—
Their bellows echoed through the starship's bridge.
"Honkai Beasts!!!"
Fu Hua instinctively drew the Xuanyuan Sword, and little Griseo flinched in fright.
She knew all too well what these things were. During her millennia roaming Shenzhou, she had helped its people slay and hunt countless Honkai Beasts.
These monsters, spawned from animals infected by Honkai energy, were dreadful foes for ordinary humans.
In the Previous Era, Honkai Beasts under ten meters required anti-air missiles and medium-caliber autocannons to handle. Larger ones needed heavy artillery.
But the kind Setsuna had just created—these were beyond conventional means, demanding fusion warriors or Valkyries to subdue.
"Don't panic. They obey my commands."
Setsuna stretched out his hand, pointing downward.
The Honkai Beasts obediently prostrated themselves on the ground, like loyal pets before their master.
This too was Herrscher authority—the Honkai Beasts, like soldiers to a king, were utterly loyal to the Herrscher who ruled them.
"Corrupting animals creates Honkai Beasts under my control. Corrupting humans should result in zombies. Uh… let's not test that for now."
Setsuna thought for a moment.
Zombies were mindless monsters and advanced ones possessed strange abilities.
If he used the Herrscher of Corruption's authority to infect humans on a large scale, the result would be no different from a Resident Evil scenario.
"With your Allspark ability to make mini-Transformers, does this mean you could unleash both a machine crisis and a bioweapon outbreak on a planet?!"
Grey looked at him strangely.
"Commander, you've got a talent for tormenting natives, huh?"
"..."
Fu Hua took a long while to calm down. If she hadn't seen the Honkai Beasts obeying Setsuna's commands, prostrating submissively, she might have already unleashed the Taixuan Eminence to wipe them all out.
"Hmm…"
"No high-tier Honkai Beasts? What a shame."
Setsuna examined the grotesque Honkai Beasts before him.
They were far from Emperor-class. For now, it seemed unrealistic to manufacture Honkai Beasts and extract their DNA to make fusion warriors.
"You think Emperor-class or Judgment-class Honkai Beasts are that common?!"
Fu Hua's face was aghast.
Every appearance of an Emperor-class caused massive devastation. Judgment-class went beyond that.
In her memory, one had appeared only once—Chiyou—and it wrought unimaginable destruction across Shenzhou.
"..."
Setsuna stroked his chin in thought.
"The foundation is too weak."
"These are just ordinary animals. Corrupting them only makes fodder-tier Honkai Beasts."
"Have the base fetch stronger species… hmm? The Danger Beasts from the Akame ga Kill world would work nicely. Didn't we breed some when forging Teigu? …"
...
Acting on his curiosity about his new authority, Setsuna immediately contacted the shipgirls stationed in the capital.
"Have the Angeloid bring some Danger Beasts—yes, the really ferocious ones. And catch some magical beasts from the Akame world too."
"As for Teigu? Forget about those. With tech upgrades, when we return, we'll forge Valkyrie Battlesuits instead."
...
About half an hour later.
On the experimental grounds outside the space station, Fu Hua, Senti, and Kallen stood dumbfounded as the Angeloid placed down one force-field-caged monster after another.
Their bodies were many times larger than tigers or lions, nearly on par with Honkai Beasts already.
Some even spewed fireballs and lightning from their mouths.
"???"
"What are these?"
The Honkai-world natives looked at them in bewilderment.
"If the base animal is stronger, shouldn't the resulting Honkai Beasts be stronger too?"
...
Setsuna waved his hand.
Corruption energy immediately entwined the Danger Beasts and magical creatures.
The test field rang with shrill, pained howls—but against the overwhelming might of Herrscher authority and Honkai energy, resistance was futile.
They too twisted and mutated rapidly.
Bodies already dozens of meters long swelled further, clad in terrifying armor.
Some magical beasts swelled tenfold, becoming gargantuan monsters stretching hundreds of meters.
Their claws looked sharp as blades, their heads sprouting organs capable of spewing fire, lightning, or raw Honkai blasts.
"Emperor-class Honkai?! Even a Vipralopa-class?!"
Fu Hua tensed, sword in hand, a vein twitching on her forehead.
Emperor-class marked the limit of lower-tier Honkai Beasts. Beyond that baseline, they were classified as Emperor-class.
By her seasoned judgment, among these towering abominations, one or two seemed to have crossed that threshold.
Each such appearance had been a nightmare for the Previous Era.
Yet Setsuna was using the Herrscher of Corruption's authority—plus otherworldly beasts—to mass-produce them!
"This is great! More DNA for making fusion warriors in the future, and more breeds for research too."
"All those Danger Beasts we bred—finally some use for them."
Grey and Kayo Senju showed no sense of danger, instead cheering with excitement.
"..."
"Hey, let me double-check—are you really here to fight the Honkai?"
Senti jabbed Setsuna with her finger.
Because from where she stood, watching him summon an army of Honkai Beasts with a wave of his hand, things looked very wrong.
"Of course. Humanity will triumph over the Honkai."
"…That line sounds really unconvincing coming from the Herrscher who just mass-produced Honkai Beasts!!!"
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven