"The world burns fiercely, twisted by the Second Herrscher's will, fueled by vengeance and destruction. She has resurrected her fallen comrades from beneath the Snowfield..."
"She has forgotten the original intention behind entombing them—"
"May they slumber peacefully, undisturbed by the world's sorrows."
The Hermit stood with Kiana beside a makeshift grave marked by three withered branches. The Second Herrscher knelt before the grave, murmuring to herself. As she spoke, three gems on her skirt separated, each drawing a portion of her power and fusing with the branches.
Thus, three Pseudo-Herrschers were born—
"Once their soul dissipates, one cannot be brought back to life."
"The world allows a mind to find another matching vessel, but does not allow a vessel to gather the pieces of a mind..."
"The existing consciousness within those girls' bodies are mere imitations, born from the Second Herrscher's perception through their Cores. They will desecrate the final dignity of the deceased—leading these borrowed bodies to utter annihilation."
-
In Oulu, Finland, the Pseudo-Herrscher of Wind summoned a storm that tore through the city, ripping trees, streetlights, vehicles, and even pedestrians from the ground and hurling them into the sky before crashing them back down.
In Astana, Kazakhstan, the Pseudo-Herrscher wielding the Gem of Pestilence transformed the city into a sea of flames. Scorching jets pierced skyscrapers, triggering explosions and the screams of the terrified masses.
Meanwhile, in Novosibirsk, Russia, the Pseudo-Herrscher of Death walked the city streets, her blackish-purple miasma spreading with each step. After a brief flurry of screams, the city fell into a deathly silence.
"Just one day after the Pseudo-Herrschers had ravaged three cities, Schicksal's Valkyrie Force had fully assembled. The horn of counterattack—was about to sound."
-
The scene shifted from the three devastated cities to Schicksal's central Floating Island. Here, the era's most elite Valkyries had gathered, as the golden-haired Schicksal Overseer stood on a podium, delivering a pre-battle mobilization speech to the assembled Valkyries:
"Today, the demons have once again invaded our homeland! Slaughtering our families! Destroying our cities! They believe we will cower in fear, that they can easily crush us!"
"They are wrong! Schicksal's warriors will never yield!"
-
Hermit and Kiana stood among the Valkyries, listening to the man's impassioned speech from the podium.
"Hmph, quite the rousing speech. If I didn't know what he'd done, I might actually get fired up by his words," Kiana scoffed, glancing at the man on the podium before her attention was drawn to Cecilia standing beside him.
"Is this what Cecilia-mama looked like in battle? So cool! Wait, Hermit... what's that lance she's holding?"
"Sixth Divine Key: Black Abyss White Flower... Stop obsessing over your mother already..." Hermit's eyebrow twitched as she watched Kiana's unwavering gaze fixed on Cecilia, the girl even leaning forward as if about to approach.
"Ah... right... Where are we going next?" Kiana reluctantly tore her gaze away from the illusionary Cecilia and turned to Hermit.
"Defeating the three Pseudo-Herrschers is trivial. What we're here to witness is the true climax and conclusion of the Second Eruption... a prolonged yet fleeting Final Battle."
-
The scene shifted, and once again they found themselves in the Babylon Tower Laboratory. This time, however, Hermit and Kiana stood at the tower's summit.
Below them, three figures were confronting the Second Herrscher.
"That's Class Monitor... and Otto and Cheng Lixue? Do they really stand a chance against the Herrscher of the Void with just the three of them?" Kiana murmured, her eyes filled with doubt as she scrutinized the scene.
"Even if you say Class Monitor is incredibly strong, Hermit... still..."
Before Kiana could finish her skeptical words, Fu Hua in the Illusionary Realm launched a sudden assault against the Second Herrscher.
A storm of fists rained down on the Herrscher's Imaginary Barrier. With the first crushing blow that landed squarely on her face, the Herrscher's resolve wavered, and the barrier she had erected began to crumble along with it. More fists pummeled the Herrscher relentlessly.
A black, deathly mist surged from her body, threatening to corrode the warrior before her into nothingness. But the flames burning in Fu Hua's hand had other plans. They tore through the mist as a heavy punch sent the Herrscher plummeting from the tower to the ground.
"...Was Class Monitor always this strong?" Kiana clicked her tongue, watching Fu Hua leap down from the tower, effortlessly deflecting all of the Second Herrscher's counterattacks before driving her sword through the Herrscher's abdomen.
"Ugh... Is the Second Eruption really over just like that...? Where are Dad and Mom...?" Kiana scanned the distant battlefield from the tower, desperately searching for her parents' figures.
"No, the real battle has only just begun, Kiana. Otto came here seeking an answer... Eliminating the Second Herrscher was merely secondary..."
"And now... this man is playing with fire on a grand scale."
"He truly met a God... and It did indeed give the man an answer..."
"But it would be another ten years before he understood it."
"And now... they must face the Second Herrscher, awakened from the Illusionary Realm of the Eighth Divine Key, Fenghuang Down, and who has also communicated with the divine..."
The Hermit watched as the Herrscher, having regained consciousness, distanced herself from Fu Hua and soared into the sky.
"However... that warrior from the previous era still has one final trump card..."
"Its name... Taixuan Eminence—"
A firebird spread its wings across the heavens, blotting out the sky. An invisible, formless sword descended, cleaving the Babylon Tower completely in two...
"For the Second Herrscher, this strike is inescapable. Unleashed after unlocking Fenghuang Down's first rated power output, the Taixuan Eminence is formless and boundless, capable of piercing any physical barrier to strike directly at the depths of consciousness—the imperceptible, the unknowable."
The Hermit watched Kiana, her eyes wide with shock, and explained what she had just witnessed.
"Because it cannot be comprehended, it cannot be resisted. From within outward, it is utterly reduced to Void—a pity, though..."
"A pity?" Kiana asked, turning to Hermit.
"It's just a pity that at that moment, the Second Herrscher's consciousness was deeply linked to the God she had summoned..."
"It shielded the Second Herrscher from that sword. Of course, this severed the Second Herrscher's connection to the God..."
"At that moment, Fu Hua was simply out of luck—though not without some gains."
"Welt Yang, who had infiltrated the Herrscher of Reason's Core, found his consciousness, previously trapped and immobilized by the Honkai Will within the Core, freed after Fu Hua severed the Second Herrscher's connection to it..."
"Meanwhile, Fu Hua's disciple at the time, Cheng Lixue, Schicksal's strongest A-rank Valkyrie, chose to stand before the Second Herrscher, buying Otto and Fu Hua precious time to retreat."
The Hermit shook her head, watching Cheng Lixue gradually lose ground in her entanglement with the Second Herrscher.
"The next part of the story belongs to you... I hope you're ready to face the truth..."
"Hermit, you're spouting cryptic nonsense again..." the white-haired young Knight glared at the woman before her.
"Heh—"