— — — — — —
"What's the matter, Bronya~?" Veliona, Black Seele, teased with a sultry smile, making Bronya's head throb. She had no way of dealing with this version of Seele.
"Enough. This really isn't the time for that." Bronya sighed, exasperated. "Once this battle's over, I'll reward you properly."
"Then it's settled! Tonight, I'm sleeping with Bronya-nee. That okay?" Black Seele's mischievous tone left no room for doubt.
"…Fine." Bronya answered, though a strange, embarrassed heat crept up her face.
Meanwhile, Kevin stood cold and unflinching, Divine Key Judgment of Shamash in hand, staring down the kneeling Fifth Herrscher—the Herrscher of Ice.
The Ice Herrscher wielded the power to freeze all things. At full force, even time itself could be halted for a few seconds, a power that bordered on absolute.
But Kevin carried Judgment of Shamash, and that alone stripped away the Herrscher's advantage. His ability to freeze was nullified, his might reduced to almost nothing. Against Kevin, resistance was impossible.
"It's over." Kevin's voice was flat as he raised Judgment of Shamash. The massive blade cleaved down, its flames roaring to life. The inferno swallowed both of them whole, reducing even the nearby Honkai beasts to ash before they could approach.
When the firestorm finally died, Kevin emerged from the blaze, weapon in hand, silent as ever. Not even ashes remained of the Herrscher of Ice.
But the war still raged on.
Mechs clashed with Honkai beasts. Cannon fire poured from the skies like rain. Explosions thundered in every direction. Blood and flame painted the battlefield crimson.
Dozens of Emperor-class beasts were locked in combat with Schicksal Valkyries of the Immortal Blades. Anti-Entropy mechs provided heavy fire support from afar. The Emperors roared, charging again and again, only to be stopped each time.
Durandal led the Immortal Blades in their hunt. Her Divine Key, Black Abyss White Flower, bloomed with deadly beauty in her hands. Each strike birthed another flower of death on the enemy's body, wilting even Emperor-class Honkai under its terrifying might. Life withered wherever she struck.
"You've worked hard, my lady," Rita said with a gentle smile at her side.
"Hardly." Durandal's face remained calm as she drove her weapon clean through a Honkai beast, extinguishing its last spark of life. "Trash like this—even in numbers—won't change the outcome."
"Still, too many ants can be a nuisance. Care for a brief rest?" Rita asked, still smiling, as if the battlefield was nothing more than a ballroom floor.
"No need. This won't last much longer." Durandal finally paused, her gaze drifting toward two figures locked in the skies far above.
Rimuru studied the Herrscher of the End with open curiosity, while she in turn sized him up with equal interest.
"Traveler from another world," she spoke first, her voice calm and steady. "Why involve yourself in matters that have nothing to do with you?"
"So you do have awareness." Rimuru tilted his head slightly. "Guess I should call you the Honkai Will instead, huh? Tell me—why destroy humanity over and over again? What's the point?"
"I am indeed the Honkai Will. As for the purpose… it's simple: growth. Progress." Her words were devoid of emotion, yet carried an explanation that felt impossible to accept.
"Progress?" Rimuru snapped, his anger boiling over. "You've wiped out countless civilizations, torn families apart, drowned the world in tragedy—and you call that progress? How shameless can you be?"
"I don't destroy them for destruction's sake. I give them a threat. A challenge to overcome." The Herrscher's voice remained steady, unshaken. "Because of me, humanity advances. Because of my existence, they unify, they innovate, their technology leaps forward. The ones who perish? They are the unfit. Rejects to be culled. Why waste sympathy on waste?"
"You've gone too far." Rimuru's voice dropped into a cold growl, his eyes narrowing. "They aren't products on some assembly line."
"Whether they're 'products' isn't theirs to decide." She spoke as if his fury were nothing more than idle wind. "Pigs, sheep, cattle—they don't wish to be mankind's livestock either. Yet choice was never theirs. The law of nature is the same: the strong devour the weak, the fittest survive. Humanity knows this truth well enough."
"My existence is not to annihilate mankind, but to preserve them. Each era, I allow civilization to carry forward. Each era, they grow faster and stronger. Only through unending trials can the perfect humanity be forged. That is the meaning of my existence."
"Humanity doesn't need your 'meaning.'" Rimuru's patience snapped. He no longer wished to exchange words. He'd simply smash her into the ground.
"Traveler, this is our world's problem. You have no right to interfere." The Herrscher's gaze locked onto him like a blade.
"Sorry," Rimuru said flatly. "Whether I have that right or not—that's not for you to decide."
"…Then there's nothing left to discuss." She raised her weapon, a long spear, and lunged.
The Herrscher's spear bent space itself, blinking instantly before Rimuru's eyes as it shot toward his head, aiming to pierce both eyes in one thrust.
But Rimuru was no novice. He too commanded space, and with a sharp reaction, redirected the strike elsewhere.
In a flash, he drew his zanpakutō, Senka, and their battle erupted in full force.
He had pulled his zanpakutō from the gacha before.
(Senka: The stronger the master, the stronger the weapon. It can transform into any weapon, as long as the master has the ability to analyze and adapt it.)
But the Final Herrscher, bearer of all Herrscher powers, was still a nightmare opponent. Void creation. Space transfer. Rapid regeneration. Time freeze. One overwhelming ability after another, all fused into one body, each magnified by her strength.
The clash shook the skies.
.
.
.