Anti-Entropy.
After receiving the news from Schicksal, Anti-Entropy immediately convened an emergency meeting, with holographic projections of the Anti-Entropy Executors gathering together.
"Ada, with full computing power, are you confident you can stop her?" Welt Yang asked the pink-haired girl with heterochromia beside him.
Ada shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I wasn't activated until the Previous Civilization was completely destroyed... The Herrscher of Corruption's attack destroyed a large amount of data, causing a civilizational fault. As a result, I am not equipped with a defense system corresponding to the Herrscher of Corruption."
"Then... can you locate her?"
"I have calculated that there are a six-figure number of network interfaces with traces of the Herrscher of Corruption, but I dare not investigate further. In dataspace, no one is her match. Unless she is willing to manifest in physical form, even I have no way to deal with her.
The Previous Civilization sacrificed many Prometheus-series and one MANTIS to lure her into a trap for extermination. But this time, her objective is very clear, and the bait tactic will no longer be effective."
Halfway through her speech, warnings continuously popped up in front of Ada.
"It seems the Herrscher of Corruption has found us. I will try to delay her offensive as much as possible. Welt, destroy all the mechs in the hangar..." Ada's figure vanished from everyone's sight.
As soon as Ada left, an enraged Tesla slammed her fist on the table.
"F***, where the hell did this Herrscher of Corruption come from! Why is a guy who was eliminated by the Previous Civilization still alive!"
"Alright, Tesla, there's no point in thinking about these things. Cocolia, you know the situation now. Activate the self-destruct sequence for all the mechs!" Einstein said to the grim-faced Cocolia.
"I will, but not now..."
Cocolia's expression was currently very ugly. Welt's return had caused the power she held to tilt directly, and if she were to lose the mechs now, Cocolia would become just like Raiden Ryoma, someone who only managed money.
But Cocolia was no fool; now was not the time to be concerned with power.
"I will activate the self-destruct sequence the moment the Herrscher of Corruption invades. The price is so high, I must at least peel off a layer of her skin..."
Everyone tried to dissuade Cocolia, but she had already made up her mind. Left with no choice, Welt could only take the lead in destroying the mechs at the headquarters. As for those Cocolia had hidden, Welt could do nothing.
The Executors' meeting ended. Not long after the meeting, the Herrscher of Corruption destroyed Anti-Entropy's communications. Anti-Entropy's large-scale super Honkai computer—Ada—had fallen.
After moving all the children from the orphanage to her safe house, Cocolia stayed with all her tactical mechas alone.
Unfortunately, in the end, Cocolia was unable to use the mechs' self-destruction to peel off a layer of the Herrscher of Corruption's skin. The moment the corruption offensive began, Cocolia completely lost control of the mechs.
She watched as rows upon rows of tactical mechas with glowing red eyes walked towards her.
"A sinner gets what a sinner deserves!"
Cocolia smiled and opened her arms. She had no cards left to play.
A Titan mecha raised its giant fist high, preparing to smash Cocolia into a pulp.
Cocolia closed her eyes. "But, at the very last moment, I really do want to see my children..."
Cocolia waited for a long time, but the Titan mecha's attack never fell.
When she opened her eyes, she found that all the tactical mechas had been sliced into pieces, and standing before her was a girl who was so familiar to her...
"You... You!!!"
——————————
Back at St. Freya High School, Dr. Yiselian stopped pretending at this critical moment. Although her timid nature made her want to curl up in a corner and hug her head in the oppressive atmosphere, this was a time when she needed to step up.
Quantum communication networks, optical quantum transmission technology, countermeasures against the Herrscher of Corruption, and a series of other things were rushed into production by her. Bronya and Himeko's eyes widened, and they instantly became Yiselian's little fans.
With the official deployment of the new communication network built by Yiselian, St. Freya High School successfully took over Schicksal's communications and contacted the members of Anti-Entropy.
After that, St. Freya High School became the new communication center for Schicksal.
All high-speed aerial mobile units received a joint mission from Otto and others—to deploy the Global Connection Anchors developed by Yiselian to various parts of the world and block the Herrscher of Corruption.
Somewhere on the battlefield, Ryn descended rapidly from the sky. Facing the swarms of Honkai Beasts battling the army, he pointed a finger to the heavens and the earth, crushing all the Honkai Beasts into mincemeat and burying them underground.
Before the rescued troops could even thank Ryn, he had vanished from their sight.
Subsequently, Ryn appeared at the local signal station, replaced the conventional signal transmitter with the anchor device he was carrying, and then rushed to the next location without stopping.
At a Schicksal branch somewhere in the world, Kiana landed from her aircraft, preparing for a short rest and to replenish the energy needed for her White Knight: Moonlight battlesuit. But before she could rest for two minutes, she received a new mission notification. Kiana grabbed a few Honkai crystals and hurried to the next Honkai incident location.
Kiana's long-range annihilation-type battlesuit—White Knight: Moonlight—shone brightly in dealing with Honkai incidents all over the world.
This should have been the solo show Kiana had always looked forward to, a chance to show off her skills, but when the time truly came, Kiana couldn't bring herself to be happy.
Right now, missiles were flying randomly around the world, wars were constantly breaking out, Honkai Beasts were running rampant, and Valkyries were rushing all over the globe. The entire world was plunged into panic.
Those who knew about the Honkai were desperate, and those who didn't were even more so.
If it weren't for the fact that the Herrscher of Corruption was not a Herrscher of this era and would not bring about her own Great Eruption... but even so, the Herrscher of Corruption still triggered countless Honkai outbreaks.
The fall of Anti-Entropy made the Valkyries' rescue efforts even more difficult. Although Anti-Entropy's tactical mechas had a far lower Honkai energy utilization rate than Valkyries, their numbers and their destructive power to civilization far exceeded that of the Valkyries.
But oddly enough... the number of civilian casualties was not as high as everyone had expected. Instead, it was the buildings that were mostly destroyed.
The Herrscher of Corruption's attacks gave the people time to prepare. She would wait until most of the population had taken shelter in bomb shelters before carrying out large-scale bombing raids, and only then would she unleash Honkai Beasts to wreak havoc on the ground.
After finishing off the last Templar-class Honkai Beast with a single punch, Durandal completed the installation of the device developed by Yiselian.
After days of non-stop transport and combat by everyone, the final piece of the Global Connection's anchor was in place.
Upon receiving the news of Durandal's completion, Ryn pressed the button to activate the Global Connection system set up by Yiselian.
Global Connection activated. The world's networks were instantly unified, and all data regions were connected into a single whole.
Schicksal's Yiselian, Nagamitsu, and others, together with Anti-Entropy's Tesla, Einstein, and others, immediately began the final battle against the Herrscher of Corruption on the network.