"Cheche."
"You take the others and return to the Antarctic continent first."
While staring at the sky, which was being painted a golden yellow, Lu Xing assigned Cheche a new task. Possessing the Authority of the Void, Cheche's teleportation ability had no dead spots within the planet's range. Besides the Monarch himself, Cheche was the most suitable for this job.
"Your current bodies cannot yet adapt to the authority of the Herrscher of Binding."
"Staying here, you won't even qualify as moving targets."
Lu Xing paused for a moment after saying this.
"After that..."
"Take a detour and gather the Honkai Beasts scattered across the various regions."
"I've already sent you the anchor coordinates for any clusters of medium size or larger. Just pick up any you encounter along the way. Don't rush; the time I've 'bought' for you will certainly be enough."
[Herrscher of Binding].
Because the Monarch and his Honkai Beast legion had also been included in the scope of the test, the yet-to-fully-materialize Herrscher of Binding was already far more formidable in scale than the one in Lu Xing's memory. Although its authority itself had not been strengthened (it was still the original version, not Odin's enhanced one), its sheer scale was truly too exaggerated.
The entire planet was within Lu Xing's perceptual range, and the [Divine Grace Barrier] being deployed by the Herrscher of Binding... also enveloped the entire planet.
Comparing by area, the Herrscher of Binding, whose true body was still unknown but had already begun to weave its [Divine Grace Barrier], was already approaching the scope of the Herrscher of Binding that destroyed Odin's civilization. This [Divine Grace Barrier] covered about half the area of the former.
Once this entity fully deployed it...
Although its power was not as terrifying as the [Death Marks] Lu Xing could unleash, for the Honkai Beasts and Fusion Warriors, it was still a devastating blow.
The effect of the [Divine Grace Barrier] was most potent against Honkai Energy, so the best way to counter it should be with "ordinary creations of civilization." Against energies other than Honkai, its weakening effect was only between 25% and 50%.
The problem was that human civilization's combat power had already been more or less destroyed by the successive blows from his legion, wild Honkai Beasts, and the Thousand-Person Herrscher.
If he allowed this to proceed unchecked... he probably wouldn't even need to wait for the Finality to appear; the Herrscher of Binding alone could annihilate this entire civilization.
"Understood."
Cheche nodded lightly.
"VMMM!!"
With spatial fluctuations emanating from his twin horns, all of the Retainers besides the Monarch—including the Rock Tortoise that had just swum to a spot not far from Cheche—vanished after a slight spatial distortion.
Except for...
"I have seen Odin's [Divine Grace Barrier] many times."
"With the assistance of the Authority of Reason, the [Divine Grace Barrier] won't affect me much... At a time like this, someone always needs to be by your side to bear witness, don't you think?"
Xiao Zi did not leave with Cheche.
The brilliance of her mimicked Authority of the Void deflected Cheche's teleportation, allowing her to remain on the Monarch's shoulder.
"..."
"As you wish."
A witness... that was fine too.
"WHOOSH—"
A halo of light pulsed!
Lu Xing did not try to persuade Xiao Zi to leave.
The Monarch was a guardian, not a nanny. As Honkai Beasts who possessed "individuality," he would not stop the choices his Retainers made.
"CLANG!!!"
More sacred! More dazzling! More brilliant!
The light blooming from the [Divine Halo] behind the Monarch's head instantly suppressed the ocean of light drifting over the entire planet, and it directly cleared all the golden "clouds" within his field of vision.
The strength of the Herrscher of Binding was too excessive.
As both a "test-taker" and a member of the "examiners," Lu Xing could not directly attack the Herrscher of Binding as he had with the Thousand-Person Herrscher, but he had an "obligation" to make the test question more appropriate for the test-takers' actual level.
This was what a qualified test creator should do—
"RUMBLE!!!"
With a roar like a tsunami, a Honkai Energy fissure that spanned the entire sky appeared. In terms of scale alone, this fissure was roughly equivalent to four to six giant Honkai Energy fissures combined.
Such a massive amount of Honkai Energy...
"Deprive."
"SWOOSH!!!"
A golden pillar of light shot up from the [Divine Halo], rapidly transforming into a massive barrier of light that completely enveloped the entire fissure!
"Link."
"CRACKLE!!"
Not only was the overflowing Honkai Energy completely absorbed by the [Divine Grace Barrier], but the Honkai Energy fissure itself began to shrink visibly. The Monarch activated the [Imaginary Link] with the full power of the Authority of the Void, not to supply himself with Imaginary Energy, but to reverse its function and compress the scale of the Honkai Energy fissure in the sky!
One-half, one-quarter... until the fissure was only about one-eighth of its original size!
"That should be about right."
It was larger than a large Honkai Energy fissure, but had not yet reached the "giant" level.
One had to know, the strength of a Herrscher that could be born from a giant Honkai Energy fissure was already at Lu Xing's level before he "went to sea." A Herrscher of Binding with that level of energy, combined with its special effectiveness against Honkai Energy, would likely require humanity to sacrifice up to three of their top-tier warriors just to "fill" its upper limit.
As for this one now...
Under the control of Lu Xing's [Divine Grace Barrier] and [Imaginary Link], the scale of the "domain" deployed by the Herrscher of Binding had been compressed to less than ten percent of its original level. Although it was still much larger than the original version's 100-kilometer radius domain, it was at least no longer at a level that would destroy civilization upon its appearance.
A 500-kilometer radius domain of binding.
The only remaining question was...
"Where is the Will of Honkai?"
Lu Xing did not sense the presence of "It."
Besides the authority and the massive amount of Honkai Energy, the birth of a Herrscher was inevitably accompanied by the descent of the Will of Honkai. Without this most crucial factor, it would be tantamount to giving humanity a cheat tool. Lu Xing's thinking was correct, but in reality, the Will of Honkai's help was not always needed.
When humanity's hatred and malice towards its own kind exceeded a certain threshold, "It" did not need to fan the flames—
"WHOOSH!!!"
Honkai Energy poured down like a heavenly flood, rushing madly towards the Herrscher's vessel!
And this vessel...
There was no being near the island with a high enough adaptability to Honkai Energy to become a Herrscher. But, just like the Herrscher of Domination, the "vessel" here did not have to be a single person!
The Herrscher of Binding, whose true body was unknown in Lu Xing's memory... was a humanoid figure pieced together from countless "remains"—they were the members of the Flame-Chasers who had tragically died in the aftershock of Kalpas's attack!