The Sixth Herrscher could not recall when she was born.
No, it should not be called birth, but rather, arrival.
From a state of chaos, she arrived in an unfamiliar body. The memories that flooded in and the instinct for destruction, while merging with Seele's (Hun's) consciousness, instantly made her a qualified "Herrscher consciousness."
Yes, she had always thought of herself this way: she was the evolved form of Seele's (Hun's) consciousness; the fusion of Seele and the Herrscher Core resulted in who she was now.
Therefore, she ought to be Seele , and she ought to be the Herrscher.
So she should do what Seele wanted to do, and also what a Herrscher does.
She felt perfect, having embraced both the identity of a human and the identity of a Herrscher. Furthermore, Seele actually hated humanity, which perfectly aligned with the Herrscher's goal. Thus, her plan to eliminate humanity was validated by her own self-identity.
However, the person who should have been important to Seele denied her identity as "Seele" .
He did not hesitate for a moment, never once believing she was Seele from beginning to end, only the Sixth Herrscher.
Very well, she would grant him his wish. Anyway, she was both Seele and the Sixth Herrscher. Since he did not believe she was Seele , she would use the Herrscher identity to drive him to despair.
As the Herrscher most imbued with wisdom and possessing a human mode of thinking, she considered herself the strongest Herrscher. She even understood human emotions, knew what they would hesitate over, and believed that leveraging human emotions would ensure her complete success in eliminating humanity.
Yet, that person, once again, seemed to be emotionless.
He was neither swayed by her threats and seductions nor confused by her appearance, behaving instead like a precisely programmed machine, completing all the tasks that needed to be done.
He was more indifferent to human nature than she, a Herrscher, was.
By any measure, she, who could cry, laugh, and show anger, was more like a human.
But why, then, had she always been on the losing end against him?
"…"
Later, she understood.
A Herrscher could cry and laugh, could imitate human emotions, and could exploit human weaknesses drawn from emotional memories, but beneath that exterior of full emotion, she was still just a void.
As Lin said, she was nothing; neither Seele nor a Herrscher.
She looked like the excellent product of their combination, but in reality, she was a failure caught in the cracks, unable to stand firm on either side.
And the man who never smiled or cried from start to finish possessed genuine humanity beneath that facade.
Was it simply because of this that she lost?
Yes, simply because of this.
But the Herrscher still did not feel truly bewildered.
Because she had no human nature.
…
"Boom!"
The Sixth Herrscher stared blankly as the giant, sky-obscuring tree trembled. The sinister flowers withered into ash, collapsing toward the ground as if uttering a death rattle.
The colossal tree that bridged heaven and earth was being felled by a human.
No, this was all her doing.
The black mist, capable of decaying all cells, dissipated from the root of the giant tree. The destroyer of life had pulverized the base of this tenacious life form.
The giant tree was dying.
This life she had created, a life that was virtually impossible for humans to kill, was being erased by her own hands.
This scene was like a cataclysm, the ending of a myth.
In the place where the tree fell, a fireball that dispersed the night was slowly rising.
"Cough, cough, cough…" Kevin supported himself on a rotten tree root a short distance away. When he saw the dead giant tree, a hint of joy appeared in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by solemnity.
He removed the utterly defunct Phase Shift Device from his hand and tossed it aside.
This device, developed by Delta, which had accompanied Lin through four major Honkai events and served as the focal point of the struggle between the Herrscher and humanity this time, had finally reached the limits of its use. Under the Sixth Herrscher's continuous overuse and Kevin's final drive, it was completely destroyed, unable to bear the strain.
And this device, with its immense side effects and harsh usage conditions, might be prohibited from being manufactured again. It disappeared into the dust of history in the war between humanity and Honkai.
"Hahahahaha…"
The Sixth Herrscher looked at the rising sun and suddenly burst into laughter.
The laughter was hearty and clear, unlike her previous false, affected smiles.
Kevin cautiously raised his gun. His consciousness was also blurred by the side effects of the Phase Shift Device, and he didn't know if his reaction time could still keep up with the speed of the black mist, making it all the more crucial to remain fully alert.
The Sixth Herrscher tilted her face, which had a fresh blood mark, and spoke with a hint of melancholy: "You humans always give me inexplicable surprises. I've always calculated based on the most probable scenarios, imagining what you humans are most likely to do…"
"But you haven't followed my expectations at any step."
"If I had been like the previous Herrschers, not overthinking things, I might have already destroyed the Fifth Branch with my familiars instead of going to great lengths to prevent support and create this tree, crushing the Far East with absolute power."
"If I were a little more human, I might have truly guessed what you humans would do, eliminating you one by one in a more cunning and safer way."
"But I am neither more like a Herrscher nor more like a human."
"What exactly… am I… or am I… truly nothing at all?"
She smiled and lowered her hands, then said to Kevin: "Can you give me a name? Not a codename like the Herrscher of Death, but a human name like yours."
"…"
Kevin did not take in a single word she said. The kinder and gentler she appeared, the more he was wary of her sudden violent outburst.
He would not understand the Sixth Herrscher's thoughts, just as she would not understand human thoughts.
"Negotiation failed. It seems I am a Herrscher after all." The Sixth Herrscher showed no great emotional fluctuation at this. She shrugged and mobilized the power of Decay. "Then let me fulfill what a Herrscher is meant to do."
Dust flew up as three Titans landed simultaneously. Elysia and Ato jumped out of the Titans, grabbing their respective weapons, while Lin, after steadying his breathing, tightly gripped the control stick with one hand.
For a moment, there was silence, but no words were needed.
"Oh, right, there's a gift from her in your room."
The Sixth Herrscher suddenly looked up and smiled at Lin.
Lin pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The final battle erupted.
…
"Damn it…"
Su collided with a slow-moving zombie , stomped on its joint, and then continued to jog forward, listening for a child's cry.
Moving through this human purgatory, his steps became increasingly slow. He had to dodge the pursuit of the surrounding monsters while simultaneously searching for a child in this vast area.
It sounded ridiculous.
But Su remained firmly convinced that he hadn't misheard.
"Waaah—"
There it was again.
This time, the crying was close at hand. He abruptly turned his head and looked towards the source of the sound.
From beneath a ruin, came the vigorous crying of a child.