Pardo's astonishment mirrored what many players were thinking.
Even though they all knew the Herrscher of Sentience relied on mental strength, the impression Little Shi left was just too deep.
Whenever the Herrscher of Sentience came to mind, the first image that appeared was her "healthy" smile, wildly swinging all sorts of weapons, subduing others with brute force.
So upon seeing this serious, properly-doing-her-job Herrscher aiming to destroy humanity, they... honestly felt a little out of place.
[A dutiful Herrscher from the Previous Era? What a sharp contrast to all the traitors in the Current Era.]
[The Previous Era never had a Herrscher defect, right? Something feels off, but I can't quite tell what.]
[Where are the "Honkai scholars" to give us some wild theories?]
Of course, someone did offer a theory.
[Maybe... the real question isn't why the Previous Era's Herrschers didn't defect—it's why Herrschers can defect in the Current Era. (wags finger)]
[Now that is an interesting take.]
...
Inside the stream chat, the Honkai scholars' discussions grew increasingly esoteric.
Or rather, the conversation was gradually derailed by a few dominant voices.
Kalpas gave up trying to understand it and clicked forward.
To defeat the Eighth Herrscher, Bianca voluntarily underwent a transformation into a psychic-type MANTIS and entered a dreamscape to locate them.
Once she found the Eighth Herrscher, Dr. Otto would activate the Observation Nexus to lock in their coordinates.
Then the Flame-Chasers, already on standby, would be able to launch a precision strike.
As Bianca entered the dreamscape, Otto hoped things would resolve smoothly—but one of the Flame-Chasers had already fallen under the Herrscher's control.
Using the Herrscher of Sentience's power, that person dragged Otto into the dream.
In the dream, Otto saw the people he most wanted to see—his wife and daughter.
Players couldn't help but feel nervous for Dr. Otto.
But Otto's actions surprised them—clean and decisive.
With barely a moment's hesitation, he killed the fake wife.
Karen lying in a pool of blood, Otto staring with eyes both shaken and unnervingly calm—it was a striking scene.
After killing the fake, Otto broke free from the dream, dragged his gravely injured body back to the Observation Nexus, and coordinated with Bianca to pinpoint the Eighth Herrscher.
Then he bled to death.
The Herrscher of Sentience Disaster ended only thanks to countless sacrifices.
Even in victory, the atmosphere at Flame-Chasers' base was heavy.
Players' hearts trembled.
Otto, the tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside life mentor...
Familiar NPCs they could name in the base...
All perished during the Herrscher of Sentience Disaster.
Now, controlling Bianca as she wandered the base, players couldn't find a single familiar face.
Faced with the suddenly empty base, everyone fell into a long silence.
There was no joy in defeating the Herrscher—only a bottomless void.
"..."
Kalpas didn't keep wandering. He launched the next scene.
Outside the world, Su declared that Bianca had passed the second trial.
Then, he revealed a sealed memory to her—the Final Battle.
[In facing the Herrscher of Finality, humanity deployed its last eight warriors.]
[This was the battle upon which humanity's survival hinged... but the war ended in an instant.]
[Our attacks were mostly ineffective. Within five minutes of battle, two warriors had already died.]
Kalpas and Pardo both felt a chill run down their spines.
"Two warriors dead in the first five minutes? Who the hell was charging in like that—weren't they afraid of dying?"
Pardo muttered as she clutched her can:
"If it were me, I'd find every way to hide at the back."
That's what she thought she would do.
But when the time came, everyone always made the same choice—
A choice so bold even they couldn't believe it themselves.
[Even the Throne of the Moonlight didn't perform as expected. Even after Dr. MEI ordered it to overload, it only drained 30% of the Herrscher of Finality's Honkai energy.]
[In the end, Kevin's full-force strike temporarily halted the Herrscher of Finality...]
[But with the Throne of the Moonlight burned out, humanity lost its last trump card against Honkai.]
Even though they already knew the outcome of the Previous Era, players still couldn't hold back the sorrow.
At first, they didn't feel much about the Previous Era's demise.
But after witnessing the crushing cost of the battle against the Herrscher of Sentience—
All the characters they had just gotten to know—sacrificed.
Fighting the Herrscher, burning their faith.
The Previous Era had brilliant souls too.
They strived, they gave, they passed down their legacy...
Everyone gave everything to defeat Honkai.
But in the end, they still lost.
Their civilization was destroyed.
Everything they worked for...
Every ounce of dedication, sacrifice, and legacy...
All seemed to mean nothing the moment they lost.
No—perhaps the Previous Era hadn't lost yet.
They still had a few final plans.
Flame-Chasers' base—
Su, Kevin, Hua, and others entered cryostasis to travel 50,000 years into the future.
Project Stigma, Project Ember, Project Ark...
Each with a chance to overcome Honkai.
But as the story progressed, players quickly noticed something—
Kevin was at it again.
That whole "I know better," "You don't understand Honkai," vibe...
So then he decided to execute Project Stigma.
To be honest, Kevin had always been popular among players.
But whenever he put on that brooding "I alone understand the truth" expression, they couldn't help but wince.
Even after learning more about the Previous Era, they still couldn't understand why Kevin had become so... unhinged.
I mean, just look at Su and Hua—they still had hope for the future.
But if they didn't get it now, they'd understand soon.
In the story, Su knew the cost of Project Stigma.
Combined with MEI's warning, he resolved to stop Kevin.
And so the narrative naturally led to this:
Su, wielding three Divine Keys—Void Archives, Star of Eden, and Black Abyss White Flower—versus Kevin the Ancestor.
The players perked up instantly.
Su was no weakling, and with three Divine Keys?
And he seemed so confident.
Even if it wasn't a dead-even match, at least it would be a serious fight, right?
In reality...
Just when players were itching to take control—
It was just a cutscene.
Kevin, wielding the Might of Annihilation, forced Su into a corner in just three strikes.
Now that was what it meant to be the strongest warrior of the Previous Era!
[???]
[That's it? Come on, Brother Su, show some backbone! Weren't you gonna stop Kevin? That was basically just feeding yourself to him!]
[I thought we'd get a supreme clash tearing apart the cosmos, stars shattered, laws erased... Instead: Kevin: "One slash. GG."]
[Actually, thinking about it... Su was a scholar. If he were really that strong, he wouldn't have been chilling in the back during the Final Battle.]
Even after being knocked down in three moves, Su still had a backup plan.
He used Sumeru Mustard Seed to banish both himself and Kevin into the Sea of Quanta.
But at the last moment, Kevin slashed open space.
And rather than escaping himself, he threw Su out—
Then sank into the Sea of Quanta alone.
"That scared me to death."
Pardo let out a breath of relief. "I thought Su-bro and Big Bro Kevin were really going to fight to the death. Big Bro Kevin is still so gentle after all."
She paused, then, for the sake of streaming content, asked Kalpas:
"Kal-bro, what's your take?"
"Kevin. Su... lived 50,000 years and regressed."
Kalpas's tone was the same as ever.
"They were better off as students—at least then they could read each other's thoughts."
"Uh..."
Pardo hadn't expected that and stammered a bit.
"M-maybe they just carried too much... lost the calm they once had?"
[Kal-bro's takes never miss.]
[Kal-bro's hot take on Kevin: '50,000 years and you got worse.']
['Miss Fairy's #1 fan' gifted a Small TV]
Seeing someone drop a gift, Pardo, who had just been speechless, instantly perked up.
"Thanks, boss! You're the best!"
Elysia's stream channel really was blessed land.
Pardo counted on her fingers—today she'd raked in quite a few donations.
It almost made her feel like streaming might really be a viable career.
But... what would she even stream?
Pardo did know streaming wasn't easy.
You needed content that could hold viewers' attention.
Hmm... Kevin was super popular right now.
What about a "Behind the Kevin" segment?
Reporter Pardo~meow?