[Mu Continent]
[Fire Moth Headquarters, Council Chamber]
This was the most luxurious capital city on the Mu Continent, a landmark city that could proudly call itself the number one wonder of the world.
The building itself was known as the "Hero Memorial Tower for the Fight Against Honkai."
Only the upper echelons of Fire Moth were permitted to enter and hold meetings here.
Most of these people were former financial tycoons, imperial royalty, and other entrenched old powers from before the Honkai disasters. After Honkai descended upon the world, they invested in and took control of Fire Moth.
To be blunt, the so called "Hero Memorial Tower for the Fight Against Honkai" was not really about fighting Honkai, had little to do with heroes, and was not much of a memorial tower either.
The council chamber was vast and extravagantly decorated. Golden ornaments, crystal chandeliers. Any single piece here was worth enough to double the budget of Mobius's laboratory.
But the most eye catching object was the round table placed at the very center.
It was crafted from the highest quality Soulium, the finest raw material for top tier metallic nanorobots, with exceptional adaptability to Honkai energy and outstanding conductivity.
In short.
Enough Soulium to manufacture several hundred Otto bodies had been turned into a conference table, purely for the sake of "good fortune."
More than twenty Fire Moth executives sat around the table.
Each of them was a towering figure in this world. Before the Honkai disasters, the weapons under their control were more than capable of annihilating an entire continent and rebuilding it from scratch.
And now.
They had gathered here to review crucial intelligence, freshly delivered by a sleeper agent embedded within Fire Moth.
"The extreme cold produced by the Herrscher of Ice disables our electronic equipment, so the footage was taken from a considerable distance."
In the video.
A Fire Moth instructor used an electronic pen to circle a distant black dot and a dark silhouette below it.
"This is Fire Moth warrior Elysia. And this is the Herrscher of Ice's companion Honkai beast. Its ability is the control of ice and snow. We have designated it as Chione."
The instructor continued his explanation.
"As you can see, based on our current observations, just like during the subjugation of the Second and Third Herrschers, warrior Elysia is fully capable of dragging a Herrscher and its Honkai beast into a prolonged battle of attrition."
"Our forces only need to provide Elysia with necessary support and use various Honkai energy weapons to interfere with the Herrscher. Under those conditions, victory can be secured relatively easily."
"But…"
The instructor paused.
The footage resumed. The black dot that had been darting around suddenly froze for 0.3 seconds, then charged straight toward the dark silhouette without hesitation. Immediately after, a flash of fire erupted, and flames beyond common sense bloomed across the scene.
"The Fifth Herrscher's companion Honkai beast was eliminated by Elysia through some unknown method. Our personnel have already analyzed the surrounding gases."
"We have confirmed that the power she used was not Honkai energy, but another force that exceeds our current understanding."
"According to the on site investigation at the Rosentina Archipelago and the examination of the Herrscher of Ice's remains, there are extensive burn injuries across the body. That Herrscher also perished to the same power."
"At present, General Yue has independently issued orders to locate warrior Elysia and provide her with all possible assistance."
The video ended abruptly.
Shocked into silence by what they had seen, the executives did not utter a single word. Their furious gazes instead converged on the bloated man seated on one side of the table.
That man was the sixteenth emperor of the Limo Empire. Fire Moth's current commander, Yue, had been personally recommended by him.
Your subordinate acted on his own initiative?
Providing all possible assistance? Were the senior leaders of Fire Moth even informed about this?
The word "independently" immediately turned this move, in the eyes of these schemers, into a decision made by the emperor himself. Each of them began pondering how to make the sixteenth emperor reenact a certain Louis XVI.
Still.
These were the unified elites of the previous civilization. Even if they were already plotting how to settle accounts with the emperor in their hearts, on the surface they continued to discuss matters politely.
One after another, they expressed that if Elysia had not lost her sanity, then she represented humanity's hope. She should be invited to visit various nations as a guest. A test subject, in other words.
Seven days here, three days there, four days somewhere else.
Based on the resources each faction controlled, the executives smoothly and tacitly divided up Elysia's schedule for the next three months. Every one of them wanted a chance to study exactly what this mysterious power was.
If this had been before the Third Honkai Eruption.
Elysia's combat strength would have been indispensable.
But at the present time, Fire Moth's individual soldier programs were already highly successful, and they even had a new recruit, Kevin, who outperformed Elysia in simulated combat.
Thus, the executives reached what they considered a reasonable conclusion. Even without Elysia, Fire Moth would still be able to resist Honkai.
Just as the meeting atmosphere grew increasingly cheerful and they were practically ready to raise their glasses and pop champagne, another call came in.
The phone of a financial magnate rang. The Fire Moth instructor from earlier was his planted subordinate, and this very meeting had been convened by him.
"Hello? Young master." The instructor's voice trembled. "You need to come quickly. Elysia has gone mad."
"?"
The magnate stared at his phone, a question mark practically floating above his head.
Three minutes later, the instructor, now utterly panicked, finally managed to explain the latest situation clearly, along with satellite footage that had just been transmitted.
The situation was so urgent that he did not even have time to narrate.
From the first second to the fifth second, the image showed a blue planet they all knew very well. Below were the Mu Continent, Asia, Oceania, and the surrounding oceans.
Given the location of the Fifth Honkai Eruption, it was likely that something else had gone wrong at the disaster site.
The executives grew tense.
If Elysia had truly turned into a Herrscher, rather than wielding some strange unknown power, they would actually lose interest. After all, they already had Herrscher corpses, and had never managed to extract anything useful from them.
At the sixth second.
A point of light appeared on their planet.
At the seventh second.
That point of light expanded instantly, engulfing the entire Rosentina Archipelago where the Honkai had erupted. Unrestrained flames illuminated the entire planet several degrees brighter. Yet, defying common sense, that power did not spread to other regions.
At the eighth second.
The Herrscher of Ice's Extreme Cold Domain, which had plagued them for so long, vanished. Even the Rosentina Archipelago itself was still there, just noticeably more barren.
The executives exchanged looks.
It was like "giving Mother Planet a partial buzz cut."
"Cough, cough, cough…!"
The financial magnate suddenly began coughing violently. He stood up and clasped the sixteenth emperor's hand. "My friend, I am feeling a bit unwell all of a sudden. If that Elysia truly did not become a Herrscher, then perhaps she should come visit your place."
"Exactly, exactly!"
"That's right!"
"Your Majesty, Yue is an excellent general!"
The executives swarmed over, deliberately avoiding the topic of how they had just divided up "test subject Elysia," and instead lavished praise on the emperor and his subordinate, Commander Yue.
Give me a break.
If it were merely the kind of power that blew up streets or cities, like the Herrscher of Reason or the Herrscher of Wind, they would not have been afraid.
But this was power on the level of shaving the planet bald.
Did they not see the satellites tens of thousands of miles away shaking so violently during the explosion that they nearly lost control?
Clearly, that attack's true destructive potential went far beyond what was shown.
The fact that three continents had not been shaved clean could only be attributed to Lady Elysia's kindness.
When the disparity in strength became this overwhelming, coveting power naturally turned into reverence. The Fire Moth executives all valued their lives far too much.
The topic of discussion quietly shifted from "researching Elysia's mysterious power" to:
"Analyzing Elysia's behavioral tendencies. Whether money, fine wine, or other indulgences could be used to win her over, turning this weapon to our side first, and only later looking for opportunities to study the mysterious power."
…
Elsewhere.
The Rosentina Archipelago.
A temporary mixed squad led by Hua, after receiving the order to "use your lives to probe the Herrscher of Ice's abilities," was now given a new directive.
"Find Elysia and establish communication."
The former was a pure suicide mission.
As for the latter.
Its danger level was hardly any lower. When the Extreme Cold Domain exploded, they had been within the Rosentina Archipelago themselves, merely "by sheer coincidence" managing to avoid the blast.
In the snow.
They found Elysia lying on the ground, resting her head on a magic bubble, another square bubble beneath her, and a third square bubble covering her. She was wrapped up like a sandwich.
"?"
The squad members collectively froze.
They had imagined countless scenarios for seeing Elysia again.
She might have become a Herrscher, leading them into a battle with zero chance of survival.
She might still be the same old Elysia, smiling brightly and greeting them with, "Hi. How's it going?"
But… what was this peaceful sleeping scene supposed to be?
Are you seriously telling us that the massive disturbance just now was caused by this Elysia, who is currently snoring softly in her sleep?
"Elysia…"
The situation was too bizarre.
Yet the squad leader, Ato, still tried to wake Elysia out of concern for a comrade. But the moment he spoke, a flash of fire vanished in an instant, and a dangerous fissure appeared three meters ahead of them.
"…!"
Cold sweat broke out across Ato's back. If that attack had been aimed at him, he would have been dead beyond doubt.
Following the direction of the attack.
They saw it.
A cat.
The cat sat quietly atop a tall tree branch. Bathed in the crimson sunlight, it looked inexplicably elegant and noble.
"How is there a cat in the core area of a major Honkai disaster?!"
The entire squad stared at it in disbelief. The cat's beautiful eyes, sparkling like glass marbles, were also fixed on them.
"Meow."
The cat let out a fierce little cry.
"What do you mean it was not Elysia who ignited the Herrscher of Ice's domain, but a cat instead?"
The Fire Moth high command soon received this latest piece of frontline intelligence.
…
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Let me know if I got a name wrong. I know basically nothing about MyGO.