"You idiot, I admit you've got some skill, but it's still not enough. Go die! Hahaha!"
The Herrscher of Death cackled madly. She could manipulate cells to bring death, and naturally, she could also manipulate them to heal injuries.
It's just that, for humans, this ability was pretty much useless.
It was, however, perfectly suited for use on herself.
Just now, that seemingly casual strike from Acheron, scabbard and all, had actually ruptured her internal organs and left her unable to resist.
She didn't understand. Why was this human so strong? Clearly... she didn't even have Honkai energy within her?
But it didn't matter. The Herrscher of Death wasn't planning to think that much about it. In an instant, she healed her own body and then swung her weapon towards Acheron!
--+--
"We need to hurry, Kevin. Some time has already passed since the Honkai Eruption. If we don't speed up, I'm afraid the disaster will expand. Given this city's population density, if the Honkai is allowed to spread, the consequences are unthinkable!"
Elysia and Kevin sprinted through the city. All around them, people were evacuating outside the city limits under the sound of alarms.
However, in the face of a Herrscher, such escape attempts were futile. Against the flow of the crowd, Kevin and Elysia moved in the opposite direction, rushing headlong towards the epicenter of the Honkai outbreak.
To be fair, Fire Moth's response had been remarkably swift.
The moment the Honkai erupted, they had already begun reacting, quickly organizing and directing local departments to evacuate personnel.
Now, there were no ordinary humans left in the area surrounding the outbreak zone.
However, when they finally rushed, frantic with urgency, to the site of the Honkai outbreak, they found that the situation was completely different from what they had imagined.
"I'm sorry, please don't kill me! I was wrong!"
The Herrscher of Death's limbs were twisted at unnatural angles. Lying prone on the ground, she begged for mercy from the figure standing before her.
This scene also caused Elysia and Kevin's eyes to widen in shock.
"Mei? Why are you here? No... Who are you?"
The noise from the side made Acheron halt her movement. She turned her head, surprised that Fire Moth had reacted so quickly. She had only been here for a few minutes herself.
"I am not the person you know. But, we can discuss that later."
As she spoke, Acheron raised the scabbard in her hand, preparing to end the life of the Herrscher of Death before her.
"Waaah! Save me! Wait, please don't kill me! My authority... my authority can be very useful to humans! I can cure many diseases!"
"Please, wait a moment!"
Seeing Acheron's movement, Elysia quickly called out to stop her.
Since Elysia spoke up, Acheron stopped her action and turned to look at Elysia and Kevin.
Currently, the Herrscher of Death was completely under her control, incapable of making any waves. There was no need for Acheron to be in such a hurry to eliminate it.
At this moment, Elysia and Kevin also processed the situation. They exchanged a look of mutual astonishment.
This girl who looked so much like Mei had actually defeated a Herrscher? And from the looks of it, a complete and utter victory.
Of course, what Kevin paid more attention to were the words spoken by this Herrscher.
After all, the Herrschers that Kevin and Elysia had encountered before were all beings that, while having human form, were completely impossible to communicate with.
Yet this Herrscher before them actually possessed emotions like joy and anger, and in a dangerous situation, it actually chose to surrender?
"Thank you. I'd like to confirm, was it you who defeated this Herrscher?" Kevin still found it somewhat hard to believe. As Acheron looked at him, he asked curiously.
After all, Acheron looked far too much like his girlfriend, Mei...
"It was me. It was nothing worth mentioning."
Acheron nodded, speaking modestly.
However, this modesty made Kevin's mouth twitch.
Single-handedly defeating a Herrscher, and it's 'nothing worth mentioning'?
Although both Elysia and Kevin could tell that Acheron wasn't being deliberately boastful; she genuinely seemed to consider the matter trivial.
"Sorry, it's just that all the Herrschers we've encountered before have been impossible to communicate with. So, this self-aware Herrscher is very important to us."
Elysia walked up to Acheron, clasping her hands together in an apologetic gesture as she spoke.
While saying this, she even gave Acheron a cute wink.
'Could it be that the gods heard my endless muttering and made my Mei actually appear?'
Elysia muttered internally, but on her face she wore a smile as she walked over to the Herrscher of Death.
"Don't be nervous, Miss Herrscher. What was it you were saying just now? Perhaps we could cooperate?"
Elysia wore her most affable smile, observing the Herrscher before her.
However, the more she observed, the more shocked she became.
Because... she found no traces of any battle at the scene, and all the injuries on the Herrscher's body seemed to have been caused by a single strike.
In other words, this Herrscher had been overwhelmingly defeated by the "Mei" before them.
"Human, I understand your meaning. Of course we can cooperate. But first, you must guarantee my safety."
A cute smile played on the Herrscher of Death's lovely little face.
Yet, in the very next moment, her demeanor changed completely. Honkai beasts and zombies surged out from the corners, surrounding Acheron and the others in the center.
Simultaneously, her body returned to a pristine state, and she immediately fled into the distance.
Clearly, she intended to escape.
Just moments ago, she had pretended to surrender and launched an attack against Acheron, but Acheron had dealt with it effortlessly. From that moment, the Herrscher of Death understood that Acheron was an existence she could never defeat, even by exerting her full strength.
But so what? Her mission was to destroy humanity, to inflict as much damage upon human civilization as possible. If she couldn't win, then wouldn't simply avoiding battle suffice?
However, in merely an instant, Acheron appeared right in front of her. This time, Acheron showed no mercy.
The powerful attack from her still-sheathed longsword was unleashed in a flash.
For a single instant, it even felt as if space itself was being torn apart.
Even Kevin and Elysia, watching from the side, failed to clearly see Acheron's movement.
And the Herrscher of Death, under this single strike from Acheron, completely lost all signs of life.
"If you wish to communicate with the Herrschers, I advise you to abandon that notion. Any creature would feel fear and terror when facing the threat of death, but Herrschers do not."
"They possess only a single belief: to destroy human civilization. This is a battle for humanity's very survival. The slightest negligence could lead to massive losses for humanity. If that Herrscher had escaped, this city of millions would have been transformed into a necropolis in an instant."
Acheron looked at the Herrscher's corpse and spoke calmly. Then, she revealed a faint smile. "It's our first meeting. You may call me Acheron, or... address me by my original name, Raiden Mei."
--+--
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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.