"..."
"Ha, haha, hahahaha!"
A wild laugh erupted from Mr. Li, as if he had encountered the greatest joke in the world, or perhaps, it was a final, desperate madness before the end.
"I see now."
"So you were waiting for me here from the very beginning!"
It's not so exaggerated for a person to laugh until tears stream down their face.
"Turning my own plan against me—"
"Elysia, you are even more skilled than I imagined."
"But what surprises me the most is..."
Mr. Li—no, the Herrscher of Domination's—gaze shifted to the five virtual images that had not yet vanished.
"That even now, humanity still dares to trust the Fusion Warriors!"
"It seems..."
"My work..."
"TWANG!"
A pale pink brilliance converged into a bow in Elysia's hands, and a crystal arrow shot straight through the Herrscher of Domination's chest. The flash of light just a moment ago was the precursor to his Herrscher Core detonating.
That's right.
Knowing the situation was hopeless, a Herrscher of Domination would never be stingy with its own life. As one of the Thousand, Mr. Li not only held a high position within the Flame-Chasers but also possessed the strongest combat power among all the Herrschers of Domination.
Even if he was no match for a front-line Fusion Warrior, if he paid the price of self-destruction, blowing up the Flame-Chasers' headquarters... or at least half of it, would not be difficult.
Unfortunately—
"Don't move."
Elysia had stopped his action. The arrow piercing his chest was not fatal, but it had completely encased the Herrscher's core, along with the surging Honkai Energy within it, in solid crystal. Forget self-destruction; the current Mr. Li probably couldn't even defeat an ordinary person.
"Hmph."
He clutched the arrow wound in his chest. A violet mist of Honkai Energy flowed from the wound, its color distinctly different from blood, further confirming Mr. Li's identity as one of the Thousand-Person Herrscher.
"A narrow victory."
"But humans, don't think you have won."
"My existence is insignificant. The truly fearsome one—"
"Ugh."
Before Mr. Li could finish, his next action was utterly bizarre. If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe that a living being could forcefully snap its own neck.
"Ugh—Agh!"
"No, I..."
"CRACK."
A Herrscher certainly wouldn't die from a broken neck.
But the scene before them was completely different. With a loud snap of the cervical vertebrae, the Herrscher of Domination had killed himself in an excruciatingly painful manner!
Something even more terrifying followed. With the Herrscher's death, the Herrscher Core, previously sealed by the crystal, shattered Elysia's restraints. It burst forth from the human body and floated quietly above the breathless Mr. Li.
At the same time.
"...they... suicide..."
Reports from the special teams came in, fragmented and intermittent, but one piece of evidence was certain: before humanity could take action, all of the Herrschers of Domination occupying high-ranking positions had taken their own lives.
The next moment.
"WHOOSH!"
"BOOM!!!"
Amidst a sharp, howling wind, the super-alloy walls enveloping the central meeting room shattered, then disintegrated into dust that scattered on the breeze.
Countless streams of light, the trails left by Herrscher Cores, all converged before Elysia's eyes.
And then...
"Noisy."
A towering giant appeared at the Flame-Chasers' headquarters—no, it appeared on the land that had been the Flame-Chasers' headquarters, which was now completely leveled.
Controlling over half of the Domination cores meant possessing absolute initiative within the "Herrscher of Domination" collective.
After taking their authorities, Lu Xing had not personally controlled these members of the Thousand-Person Herrscher. He had merely observed from the sidelines, wanting to see what these Herrschers of Domination were capable of.
The facts proved it.
The operation to capture the Thousand-Person Herrscher had been the correct one. Aside from causing "a certain degree" of chaos at the very beginning, the only purpose the Herrschers of Domination served was to unite humanity and deliver equipment to their enemies.
And so—
The Monarch appeared here.
"A pleasure to meet you."
Although not exactly gentle and refined, the Monarch's voice, which now echoed across the entire island, carried no sense of oppression. While the headquarters had been razed to the ground, miraculously, not a single human was injured. They had all been blown to the edge of the "battlefield."
All members of the Flame-Chasers, including Elysia, stared blankly at the giant before them. Without a doubt, although its form and color had undergone a world-altering change, everyone could recognize its identity: the greatest enemy of the Flame-Chasers and all of humanity, the culprit behind the sinking of the continent of Mu:
The Black Emperor!
But now...
Not only did the Black Emperor not, as all the data indicated he would, immediately and unhesitatingly wipe out all resisting forces upon appearing, but he was instead very "politely" greeting them... no, greeting Elysia!?
Lu Xing's gaze was fixed unblinkingly on Elysia.
A human wouldn't pay attention to ants, and the Monarch likewise wouldn't pay attention to humans... Besides, even humans who ignore ants still differentiate between high and low. In the Monarch's eyes, aside from Fusion Warriors and Herrschers, no other humans were worthy of his attention.
"Humans call me the Black Emperor."
This was indeed the first formal meeting between Lu Xing and Elysia. A self-introduction seemed like a proper courtesy.
"Herrscher, I permit you to call me by my name—"
"Bai."
"..."
"He... Bai."
After a brief silence, the bow and arrow in Elysia's hands dissipated into flying flowers. The [Black Abyss White Flower], which she had produced from thin air, was also firmly planted into the ground. Although she didn't know what the Black Emperor's intentions were, since he showed no hostility, at least for now, she shouldn't provoke him.
Releasing the Divine Key was a gesture of "trust."
"I am Elysia."
"..."
Elysia paused for a moment, then, in a voice that was neither ostentatious nor deliberately subdued, she spoke her name:
"The Herrscher of Human, Elysia."
"..."
"To abandon the name 'Origin' and instead call yourself 'Human'."
Before he had the corresponding strength, Lu Xing had never appeared before Elysia, not even making the slightest attempt. And now, finally able to stand before her, the Monarch could at last see Elysia's name:
Name: Herrscher of Origin
Level: 81
Authority: Humanity
Other: Unknown
This was the true First Herrscher to appear in the world, the counterpart to the Finality.
The fog shrouding Elysia was completely dispelled with the revelation of her Authority of "Humanity."
And there was her level, which surpassed the limits of his perception, a level he had never even seen on Odin.
"The Herrscher of Human..."
"Elysia, do you love humans that much?"