(Omni POV)
Eleven months had passed since the Third Honkai Eruption began. Eleven months of relentless destruction, of lives lost and futures shattered.
Nagazora was still crawling with Honkai beasts, the air thick and heavy with Honkai energy, a palpable miasma that clung to everything. The city was a graveyard of broken dreams and shattered hopes.
On the northwestern edge of the ruined city stood a destroyed school, its skeletal frame a stark reminder of what had been lost. Behind it lay a massive arena—now scarred by battle, a testament to the grueling training that had taken place within its walls.
Inside, a sparring match was underway between two students and their teacher. The air crackled with energy, the ground trembling beneath the force of their blows.
The arena was filled with countless craters, slashes, and an infinite sea of training dolls. There were so many that the entire field seemed alive with motion, a grotesque puppet show orchestrated by a hidden hand.
Nava and Lan struggled to hold their ground against the endless tide, their faces grim with determination.
Nava smashed through human-sized dolls, punching and kicking with a ferocity born of desperation, each blow fueled by months of pent-up frustration. She hurled debris from the fallen dolls, using them as improvised weapons, her movements a whirlwind of controlled chaos.
Lan's sword flashed as he cut through the swarm, each strike precise and deadly, but there were simply too many for him to even draw his bow. He was a whirlwind of steel, but even steel could be worn down.
"How is Teacher spawning this many dolls?!" Nava shouted, her voice hoarse, panting as fatigue began to take over. Even after destroying hundreds, more kept appearing, an endless, relentless wave.
Lan was equally baffled, his brow furrowed in concentration. He didn't know his teacher possessed this kind of power—it was reminiscent of the Herrscher of Reason he once heard Adam mention in passing, a being capable of creating anything from nothing.
Then suddenly, the army of dolls stopped moving. The silence was deafening, broken only by the ragged breathing of the two students.
Their bodies began to merge, tearing apart and fusing into a single, gigantic construct of wood and metal, a grotesque amalgamation of their former selves. It was a Frankenstein's monster made of training dummies.
Nava and Lan could only stare, exhausted and out of breath, their bodies aching, their spirits weary. Nearly half their stamina and energy had been spent fighting the swarm, and now they were facing something larger, more powerful than any Honkai beast they had ever seen.
Outside the arena, Adam had sealed the area with a barrier—a shimmering field of energy that distorted the air around it, so that to anyone looking from beyond, nothing unusual seemed to be happening. He was hiding his work, protecting his creations.
He smiled softly, his tone gentle and calm as he addressed his students, his voice echoing through the arena:
"Defeat one of my masterpieces, and you will pass this final test."
His voice was warm—almost innocent—but his words carried the weight of an impossible challenge, a burden that threatened to crush them.
Nava gritted her teeth, summoning the last of her strength, her eyes blazing with defiance. Her gauntlet whirred to life, transforming into a sleek staff, its surface glowing with contained energy. She leapt forward, twirling it before throwing it skyward, catching it between her legs as she shouted:
"RAILGUN!"
BOOM!
A thunderous shockwave erupted, shaking the very foundations of the arena. The force of her kick turned the staff into a supersonic projectile that slammed into the doll's shoulder, shattering it and sending its massive arm crashing down with a deafening thud.
Lan, silent as ever, whispered words that echoed like a vow, his voice barely audible above the roar of the wind:
"The hunt never ends."
He loosed an arrow infused with pure Honkai energy, its tip glowing with an unearthly light. It struck the doll's head dead-center, detonating it into fragments—nothing remained but splinters and dust, a testament to his precision and power.
Yet the massive doll still moved, its remaining limbs twitching, its core still functioning. It swung its remaining arm in a wide arc, striking Nava. She managed to block with her staff, but the sheer force sent her flying back through the debris, her body slamming against the arena wall.
As one of Adam's Masterpieces, the doll's strength rivaled that of a peak A-rank Valkyrie. The clash was far from over, and the odds were stacked against them.
Coughing, Nava rose again, her body bruised and battered, her spirit unbroken. She dashed forward through the cloud of dust, channeling her Stigmata's power into her next strike—each blow heavier than the last, each movement fueled by her unwavering determination.
While Nava kept the doll's attention, Lan—who had vanished moments earlier, using his skills to blend into the shadows—reappeared behind it, his movements silent and deadly.
Drawing his bow once more, he pulled the string to its limit, his muscles straining, his focus absolute. Four pure Honkai arrows materialized, glowing like violet stars, their tips crackling with energy.
He released.
The arrows ripped through the air, obliterating the doll's remaining arm, chest, and legs in a blinding flash, leaving nothing but smoking wreckage in their wake.
When the dust settled, Lan collapsed to the ground, completely spent, his body trembling, his vision blurring. His energy and stamina were gone, his reserves completely depleted.
Nava, who had long since exhausted her own reserves, followed shortly after—both students lying unconscious amid the ruins, their bodies broken, their spirits tested to their limits.
Adam stepped forward, his expression unreadable, Rosy materializing on his shoulder with a soft chime, her presence a comforting warmth in the desolate arena.
"Rosy, what's their rank by Schicksal standards?"
Rosy's voice answered after a moment of analysis, her tone precise and analytical:
[Combining strength, stamina, and technique—Nava is low A-rank. Lan is high B-rank.]
Adam smiled faintly, a flicker of pride in his eyes, a silent acknowledgment of their progress.
He teleported the two unconscious students back to his makeshift lab, carefully placing them inside separate pods, his movements gentle and deliberate. With precision, he began implanting dormant Emperor-class Honkai beast genes into their bodies, his hands moving with practiced ease.
For Nava, he used a gene from an unnamed beast—one he personally named Lyssa, in honor of the Greek minor goddess of rage, fury, and rabies, a reflection of her fiery spirit.
Lan received a gene from another nameless Emperor-class beast, which Adam named Rudra, after the god of storm, wind, medicine, and the hunt in Hindu mythology, a tribute to his skill and dedication.
Rosy watched curiously, her holographic eyes flickering with concern.
[Host Adam, when will these dormant genes awaken?]
Adam didn't look up from his work, his focus absolute, his mind racing. His tone was calm, almost detached, as if he were discussing the weather.
"They'll awaken before Otto Apocalypse begins his five-hundred-year plan."
Half an hour passed before the procedure was complete. Both students were stable, the genes successfully integrated into their DNA.
Rosy tilted her head, her expression thoughtful.
[How did you even manage to make those genes dormant—and control when they'll awaken, Host Adam?]
Adam smirked faintly, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
"That's connected to my fourth wish from ROB."
[Oh? And what were your wishes again, Host Adam? I never got the full list. Even Creator ROB didn't tell me.]
Adam paused, as if recalling a distant memory, his gaze turning inward.
"My first wish was for a companion—you, Rosy. Someone to share this journey with.
My second was to have my own background in whatever world I entered—hence this body: Grisha Adam, son of a Chernobyl scientist who died. A tragic backstory to fit the tragic world.
My third wish was for a starter gift that would make me one of the top twenty beings in this world. Something to give me a fighting chance.
My fourth was to possess the combined knowledge of the greatest geniuses in this world—which explains why I'm as intelligent as both Mobius and Dr. Mei combined. That's how I created the dormant gene. Knowledge is power, after all.
And my fifth… my secret wish… was to forget my past life, keeping only the memories of the games and stories I once loved." A way to escape the pain, to start anew.
He looked down at his sleeping students, a rare softness in his gaze, a hint of vulnerability in his expression.
"My masterpieces," he whispered, his voice filled with a strange mix of pride and regret. "The best I could ever create."