[Theresa was about to rest when the Herrscher of the Void resurrected perfectly before her eyes. "That was close. If not for the Herrscher of Death's ability repairing my heart at the last moment, our positions would be reversed now."
With Honkai energy flowing through her body again, Sirin hovering in the sky condensed Void Lances, looking down to judge Theresa.
Meanwhile, Siegfried was trapped in a dimensional space. No matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find an exit. Enraged, Siegfried attacked the floor, only for the attacks to rebound onto himself. "This is the Infinite Corridor created by the Herrscher of Void—
This corridor is a looping sphere. When you attack the ground, your attacks transfer to the opposite side of the sphere."
"The Herrscher of Void in this era has actually evolved such an ability..."
The man who once appeared in the Soul Steel manifested before Siegfried again, explaining the nature of this space. With no time for lengthy explanations, Kevin gave Siegfried a strong hint just before disappearing, just like last time. "Farewell, my successor."
"Until we meet again."
After hearing Kevin's solution—which essentially boiled down to brute force—Siegfried prepared to continuously strike a fixed point with the power of the Heaven's Flame greatsword. There was no time to hesitate. Siegfried injected another dose of activator into his body.]
[Hua]:"As expected, the Herrscher of Death wouldn't die so easily. Things like hearts are completely non-vital!"
[Mobius]:"So that's how this space works. While her other authority applications remain clumsy, she's at least using some brains with her original authority."
Kiana:"Dad... he's not really going to turn into a Honkai beast, is he?"
[Vill-V]:"Just activating the hypervariable factors in his body. He'll be fiiine."
[Rozaliya]:"Hehe, Rozaliya and Liliya have Honkai beasts inside us now too."
[Bronya Zaychik]:"Honkai beasts inside you? Wait, you became MANTISes!?"
[Liliya]:"Idiot Rozaliya, Mother Cocolia told us not to tell."
[March 7th]:"Uh... haven't you already said it now?"
[After the injection, Siegfried fully activated his hypervariable factors—along with the command engraved in the Kaslana bloodline:
DESTROY THE HONKAI!!!
Amidst the flames, Siegfried completely transformed. A thick tail extended from his neck, his left hand became a claw, and a horn grew from the left side of his forehead. His right hand brandished the Judgement of Shamash, relentlessly slashing at the walls. Sirin stared in shock at this bizarre creature before her—neither human nor Honkai beast. Siegfried had lost all reason. His only goal was to kill the Honkai, to slaughter the Herrscher before him. "Hmph, in the end you're just an ant—"
Before Sirin could finish her taunt, Siegfried's claw smashed into her face. "Get... away from me!"
An enraged Sirin summoned scorching flames to burn him alive, but how could Siegfried—now unharmed even by Heaven's Flame—fear such petty fire? Sirin tried to create distance by flying upward, but Siegfried leaped after her, swinging his sword at the airborne Herrscher. Missing his strike and with no footing, Siegfried dug his claws into Babylon Tower's walls and launched another assault!]
[Raven]:"This is a MANTIS's Artificial Corruption. Good thing I never accepted it—I'd rather stay human."
[Stelle]:"Why do you people keep engraving everything into your DNA?!"
[March 7th]:"Now's not the time for that tired meme!"
[Mobius]:"Current Siegfried is full of vitality and perfectly normal. Losing consciousness is trivial—at least he's not attacking allies."
[Theresa]:"Technically I have Vishnu's Honkai beast genes too. How do I achieve Artificial Corruption?"
Kosma:"You... really shouldn't think about that. Vishnu's corruption is nearly uncontrollable!"
(PS: If Kosma knew Theresa's corrupted form was just growing up, would his worldview shatter?) ["What on earth..."
Theresa stood dumbfounded, completely lost. "That's Mr. Siegfried.
It seems the Kaslana genes in him have activated."
Einstein helped Theresa up: "We can't help him by staying here.
I'll explain once we reach safety."
"Einstein, your injuries..."
"Don't worry, Ms. Theresa. The Overseer performed emergency treatment."
Theresa gasped: "Welt... he's alive?"
Einstein replied: "That depends on your definition of 'alive.' There's only one consciousness in that Core now."
"To protect this world... he must keep fighting."]
[Xueyi]:"Thou resemble me more—thy body may be replaced while thy Core remains thy true self."
[March 7th]:"Huh? Same thing?"
[Stelle]:"Uncle Yang is so resilient! Truly a man who saved the world!"
[Topaz]:"Pity Mr. Welt chose the Trailblaze path. With his will to protect, Preservation would suit him better."
[Navigator Himeko]:"Welt will always be part of our Astral Express crew."
[Back at headquarters, Otto monitored the battlefield, detecting six Judgement of Shamash activations within three minutes. "...So this is the legendary power of House Kaslana?"
Watching the frenzied Siegfried on screen, Otto remarked: "Rather than a savior protecting the world...
He's more like—
A devil seeking vengeance against the Honkai."... Sirin fled desperately, yet Siegfried pursued relentlessly as if tracking her with radar. During the chase, Judgement of Shamash's energy dwindled. Just as things seemed favorable, Sirin summoned Honkai beasts to attack. But what Sirin never expected—Siegfried began devouring the Honkai beasts as food.]
[Tesla]: *"Holy ****! Honkai beasts are edible!?"*
Kiana:"I think so? I remember eating some with Dad when I was little."
Raiden Mei:"Honkai beasts can be consumed? Perhaps I should experiment with preparation methods."
[Dr. MEI]:"For ordinary humans, Honkai energy is lethal. But for MANTISes or Herrschers, it replenishes their energy."
[Herrscher Welt]:"I can confirm—after leaving the Sea of Quanta, Kevin ate the Judgment-class Honkai beast Chiyou."
[Kevin]:"Energy depletion in the Sea of Quanta was severe. A half-dead Judgment-class beast couldn't fully replenish it."
[Herta]:"What exactly is this 'Sea of Quanta' you keep mentioning? Some local landmark?"
[Nagamitsu]:"The counterpart to the Imaginary Tree is common knowledge in our advanced physics theories. Don't interstellar civilizations know this?"
[Herta]:"What? That's impossible!"