The hospital had now been reduced to ruins, and within those ruins, the Herrscher bloomed like a flower of death—alluring, beautiful, and terrifying.
Outwardly, she appeared to be nothing more than a fragile young girl, but the sinister gleam in her crimson eyes was enough to send chills down anyone's spine.
That look of sheer delight on her face, set against the backdrop of corpses strewn among the wreckage, created an indescribable sense of dread.
But this was to be expected. This was a Herrscher—the greatest enemy of humanity.
"Oh? To think there's still someone alive here, after my awakening?"
In the silence of the ruins, Acheron's crisp footsteps echoed distinctly. Attracted by the sound, the Sixth Herrscher turned her gaze toward the approaching figure, a look of keen interest spreading across her face.
"A Herrscher…"
Acheron frowned slightly as she eyed the delicate-looking girl not far away.
She had arrived too late. Herrschers emerged without warning, and even Acheron, with her heightened senses, had only detected this one after she had already been born for some time.
The people in this hospital had been her first victims.
Besides the Herrscher herself, the ruins were also crawling with Honkai zombies and beasts—byproducts of the Herrscher's birth, created from the contamination of Honkai energy.
Yet the Herrscher of Death seemed to be in a playful mood, holding back the zombies around her from attacking Acheron.
A smirk played on her lips, like a cat that had just spotted a mouse.
As everyone knows, a cat doesn't kill its prey right away. It plays with it, tosses it around, and only when the amusement fades does it finally strike.
And indeed, that was exactly what she seemed to be doing.
After the Honkai eruption, this hospital and several surrounding streets had been affected, and a handful of scattered survivors had remained.
Now, every last one of them was dead.
And judging by the state of the bodies, it was clear that before their deaths, every one of them had endured agonizing, desperate struggles.
"Did you kill all these people?"
Acheron's hand rested on the hilt of her long sword as she scanned the area, her voice calm.
"That's right, I killed every one of them. Why even ask? I'm the only one here with a mind of my own!"
"Why kill them?"
Seeing that the Herrscher was capable of communication, Acheron decided to indulge her.
She remembered that in the Previous Era, the Sixth Herrscher was the first one who could hold a conversation. That had given Kevin a flicker of hope regarding Herrschers—a hope that ultimately led to catastrophic losses.
But Acheron would make no such mistake. If she wished, this young girl before her would be dead in an instant.
What ordinary people saw as god-like beings, to her, were nothing more than lambs for the slaughter.
"Why even ask? I'm a Herrscher. I was born to destroy this world. Do I need a reason to kill?"
As if she'd heard something hilarious, the Herrscher of Death laughed while explaining herself to Acheron.
Then, as if struck by a memory, she let out a soft 'pfft' of amusement. Despite her innocent face, her expression was twisted with malice.
"You should've seen their faces. That man over there—when he saw me, he thought I was a survivor too. He grabbed my hand, naively trying to lead me to safety. Even when he started aging rapidly, he used the last of his strength to push me away, trying to get me farther from this place. Hahaha! How ridiculous. He never realized, even till the end, that I was the one causing him to wither."
Acheron's gaze followed the Herrscher's gesture to a nearby corpse. It was clearly a man, dressed in trendy clothes, who appeared to be in his twenties—but his face and body were covered in age spots and wrinkles.
His posture was frozen in a pushing motion.
Acheron could easily imagine the scene: in the face of death, this young man refused to give up. Even as his body rapidly aged, he struggled to protect the girl in his arms, hoping to give her a chance to survive.
Yet, until his last breath, he never realized that the very person he was trying to save was the source of his demise…
For a moment, a shadow passed over Acheron's eyes.
"I'm… a little angry now."
As she spoke, she began to walk slowly toward the Herrscher of Death.
"Not running away, but approaching me instead? How bold, human."
Watching Acheron draw near, the Herrscher of Death didn't take her seriously in the slightest. In her eyes, Acheron was nothing but an ordinary human with zero adaptability to Honkai energy.
That long sword in her hand might look imposing, but it was probably just an ordinary weapon.
After all, in her perception, this woman felt like an empty void—devoid of any Honkai energy signature.
How could a being like that possibly defeat a Herrscher like her?
"If I don't come closer, how can I defeat you? Herrscher… do you ever dream? Of those who died because of you."
As she spoke, Acheron lifted her sword, though she still hadn't drawn it from its sheath.
"Dream? Of course. But of those people? I doubt it. After all, do you dream of the mosquitoes you swat during the day?"
A smirk still on her face, the Herrscher of Death stretched out her hand and activated her power against Acheron.
The Herrscher of Death's ability was simple: cellular manipulation. The deaths and rapid aging of these humans were all the result of her power.
But the next moment, her eyes widened in shock. Her ability, upon entering Acheron's body, vanished without a trace—like a clay ox drowning in the sea. There was no feedback at all.
By all reasoning, Acheron should have rapidly aged and died on the spot.
Yet she remained completely unchanged.
"Why? Why aren't you dead?"
Confusion flashed in the Herrscher of Death's eyes, but soon after, she relaxed and laughed. "No matter. Even if my powers don't work on you, the sheer Honkai energy I possess is something you can't withstand! Hraah!!"
She raised both hands, gathering Honkai energy between them, preparing to hurl a blast of destructive power.
But before she could make a move, Acheron closed the distance in an instant. With a swift motion of her sheathed sword, she struck the Herrscher hard in the abdomen.
The Herrscher doubled over in agony, her body curling up from the pain.
"How…?"
Clutching her stomach in shock and suffering, the Herrscher of Death stared up at Acheron, utterly bewildered.
The intense pain left her unable to stand. She crumpled to her knees, body still curled tight.
Acheron didn't speak. She simply stepped closer, ready to deliver one more blow and end this.
The Herrscher of Death seemed to have focused all her power on her special abilities—her physical body was far from strong. And as an Emanator of Nihility, Acheron was immune to the Herrscher's powers.
With her greatest weapon rendered useless, the Herrscher had no means left to resist.
But just as Acheron prepared to strike, the Herrscher suddenly surged upward. With a sweep of her arm, a scythe formed of condensed Honkai energy swung straight toward Acheron's chest!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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