The massive commotion from the Chibaku Tensei was enough to make Anna, several kilometers away, stop in her tracks in shock. But the moment she recalled that it was the direction Lord Ryn had left in, that Lord Ryn must have caused it, most of the shock in her heart dissipated.
"If it's Lord Ryn, then there's nothing to be shocked about! Lord Ryn can do anything!"
"Lord Ryn is already walking his path as a Valkyrie. Now it's your turn, Anna!"
Fear is an emotion capable of utterly destroying a person. Anna didn't know if she had overcome her fear, but the full-coverage Valkyrie battlesuit Ryn had given her provided a complete sense of security.
Power and courage were continuously transmitted from Ryn's battlesuit, making Anna's conviction to fulfill her Valkyrie oath unshakeable.
"As I thought, rather than hoping to suddenly become stronger in a daydream, Lord Ryn's gift gives me a greater sense of peace."
In the end, following the guidance of the bio-detector equipped on the battlesuit, Anna successfully rescued many survivors. She even charged in and out of the Honkai Beast hordes seven times, saving many Valkyrie squads and accumulating distinguished combat merits.
......
After punching the last Chariot-class Honkai Beast, Anna turned to help up the fallen Valkyries.
"Lord Ryn!" "Lord Ryn is so cool!"
The rescued Valkyries happily shouted Ryn's name at Kamen Rider Build, but although this was Ryn's Valkyrie battlesuit, the person inside was now Anna.
"No, no, I'm not Lord Ryn... I'm Anna Schariac, vice-captain of the Snow Lotus Squad." Anna canceled her transformation and hurriedly explained that she wasn't Ryn; she wouldn't dare to impersonate him.
"Anna? It's actually you in there! Where are the others from the Snow Lotus Squad? Why don't I see anyone else?"
A Valkyrie, let's call her B, joyfully hugged Anna, then continued with some self-reproach, "Sigh, our unnumbered squad is still too weak. We were already in a tough fight just encountering a Chariot-class Honkai Beast."
Faced with Valkyrie B's question and self-blame, Anna fell silent for a moment but didn't say much.
Anna: "You should evacuate with the wounded first. I still need to support and rescue others."
Valkyrie B nodded and patted Anna's shoulder.
"Sorry, we can't be of much help anymore. Anna, you have to protect yourself."
"Mhm..."
Anna nodded in response to Valkyrie B, then hurried to the next location.
After Anna had rescued a third unnumbered regular squad and over a dozen victims, the sky above changed once again. The bright, sunny sky instantly darkened; the sunlight was stolen away...
A black hole that continuously tore space apart, devouring everything around it, suddenly and fully unfurled in the sky above the city.
"What... happened..."
Anna was completely frozen on the spot. The sudden appearance of a black hole, something that subverted the laws of physics, caused her little brain to crash.
It wasn't just Anna; everyone in the city, including the Honkai Beasts, also crashed.
Honkai Beasts: Bro, we're just a small Honkai Eruption, making a little mess, fulfilling the Will of the Honkai's KDI... You didn't have to go this far!
But to everyone's surprise, the black hole didn't tear apart and devour the entire city as people would have expected. It just hung quietly high in the sky, silently distorting space and swallowing the light around it.
A second after the black hole appeared, Ryn's figure silently emerged from its side.
Having devoured the Herrscher Core from Chen Tianwu, Ryn, just out of the black hole, glanced at the city's current state. Then he raised his hand, activated his Stigmata, and drew most of the Honkai energy in Manila towards himself.
After a brief three minutes, Ryn had completely devoured most of the Honkai energy from the Manila outbreak and Chen Tianwu's Herrscher Core. He then manipulated his Stigmata to tear open space, opening a channel to the Sea of Quanta.
Ryn was different from ordinary Herrschers. He didn't have what they called a Herrscher Core; what Ryn possessed was the purest form of Authority.
The advantage was that he didn't need to use a large amount of Honkai energy like a normal Herrscher, nor would he be corroded by the Honkai energy overflowing from a Herrscher Core.
The disadvantage was that Ryn lacked a Herrscher Core to act as a relay station; all Honkai energy acted directly upon his body.
Fortunately, the Tree and the Sea had strengthened him. Otherwise, Ryn would have ended up like that disgraceful fellow from the Previous Era, who had to use a pseudo-black hole as his last resort, only to die immediately after using it—a life even shorter than that of the Divine Key, Star of Eden.
"Stigmata Kiana, come on! Grant me the Authority of the Herrscher of Death."
[Easy, easy, I know you're in a hurry, but don't be. How many chapters has it been since I last appeared? Let me first find where I tossed the Authority of Death.]
In the Stigmata Space, Stigmata Kiana stretched lazily, then rummaged through a large pile of Authorities. Finally, she picked out a ball of light that resembled a yin-yang fish, intertwined with itself.
[Let me tell you first, this is a normal Authority. How much you can get out of it depends entirely on your own development. It can't be as awesome and unrestricted as that Gravity Authority the Sea gave you.]
"Then what do you think the chances are that the Sea or the Tree would give me an Authority if I asked?"
[Erm... after this is all over, buy me another bed. That way, when it's time to sleep at night, it'll be convenient for me to leave a spot for you, so you can have a good night's sleep every day and stop daydreaming in broad daylight.]
"If there's no other choice, then don't worry about it. Let's do it! As long as it's not weaker than a normal Herrscher, it's fine," Ryn shouted, raising his left hand.
[That depends on how you define 'weak'... Anyway, an Authority's upper limit is limitless, but the lower limit depends on the person...]
Stigmata Kiana transmitted the Authority of Death to Ryn through the Stigmata, then drew upon the power of the Tree and the Sea to begin fusing and sublimating the Authority with Ryn.
Next, Ryn's left hand began to be covered in distinct Honkai markings. The markings grew wildly, eventually covering his left hand and forearm like a thin silk glove, transforming it into an arm of black energy.
Ryn's long, reddish-purple hair also began to shift towards a deep purple, the transformation only stopping when his hair had become almost black.
As Ryn fused with the Authority of Death and was continuously changing, a blurry, indistinct figure appeared in his Stigmata Space.
The silently appearing figure looked around curiously, then yawned, walked very naturally to the conspicuous bed, and sprawled out on Stigmata Kiana's bed, beginning to sleep as if it owned the place.
The figure's appearance was unclear, but its physique was clearly female, and it bore a strong resemblance to Ryn.
This was because, at this moment, Ryn, like the figure, had purplish-black hair, and his left hand was also black.
However, the figure's left hand was covered by a long, black silk glove, while Ryn's left hand had directly transformed into black energy. But both of their left hands bore a clear, conspicuous Cross of Finality Stigmata.
Returning to the Stigmata Space, Stigmata Kiana stared dumbfoundedly at the figure on her bed, her ahoge standing straight up in anger.
[Who the hell are you! How dare you sleep in my bed!]