Humans are in chaos, despicable outsiders.

"The A-rank Valkyrie Nicholas and the surviving convoy were rescued by Cheng Lixue, the then strongest A-rank Valkyrie of Destiny and the acting commander of the Valkyrie Force."

"At this moment, Archbishop Otto Apocalypse of Schicksal has officially begun to gather all B-rank and above Valkyries across Europe in preparation for the Second Herrscher."

.......

"...He saved the Herrscher's life before, and now he's going to sacrifice the Valkyrie's life to fight the Herrscher... This Archbishop of Schicksal—he's really a [good] bishop."

Kiana said this through gritted teeth, emphasizing the last "good" to express her dissatisfaction.

“…Kind Otto left us five hundred years ago along with someone else.” The hermit shook his head, seemingly lamenting something.

"Who?"

“The Holy Maiden of Destiny, Karen Kaslana—you should know this name.”

It wasn't a question, but a statement of certainty. The hermit looked at Kiana beside him, and the girl nodded in agreement.

"I've heard of her. I even fought alongside her! Although it was only in a virtual reality environment similar to this place..."

"Then you should know the final fate of that saint in history—she rebelled against the old era's destiny and ultimately fell in love with the Herrscher, but was sent to the gallows by the Council of Destiny at that time."

"On the day of the execution, a Honkai Beast suddenly appeared at the execution ground. To save the people present... the saintess broke free from her restraints on the gallows and stood in front of the Honkai Beast..."

"The unarmed Kallen Kaslana was ultimately killed on the day of her execution when she was pierced by the claws of a Honkai Beast while protecting a child."

"I've seen this in Schicksal's archives... Hmm, but that scene seems to be interactive. I helped Miss Kallen defeat that Honkai Beast back then."

"Heh... that Honkai Beast was released by Otto, who was not yet the Bishop of Schicksal at the time, under his influence."

"Why? Why would he release a Honkai Beast?" Kiana asked, her voice filled with confusion.

"Because Kallen Kaslana was his fiancée, and Otto Apocalypse was her admirer—this wasn't the affection between lovers, but more like the bond between a god and her devotee..."

"Otto Apocalypse, under the influence of others, released the Honkai Beasts imprisoned by Schicksal to create chaos, hoping to take the opportunity to rescue her and escape Schicksal with her."

"However, he forgot what kind of person Karen was, and in his panic and confusion, he forgot what the name Kaslana represented."

"He lost the most important person in his life...and the kind and innocent Otto Apocalypse—also died in the past."

"He will bear the weight of sin, his hands stained with blood... He has walked alone through five hundred years of human history, searching for an answer..."

"The answer to bringing back the dead."

"—He wants to bring back the saintess of the past five hundred years—Karen Kaslana—from history."

At this moment, the hermit revealed the answer to the knight girl.

"You're saying... the Bishop of Destiny wants to resurrect his lover from 500 years ago?"

Kiana looked at the hermit in disbelief, her tone tinged with doubt.

"He searched for countless methods over five hundred years, traversing the world, but to no avail... Until now, he has encountered a Herrscher who can directly communicate with God... The Second Herrscher, Sirin. A theoretically omniscient and omnipotent encyclopedia of questions and answers."

“...What a...obsessive and insane guy.” Kiana paused for a long time before uttering a soft, murmured sentence.

"Besides, this bishop is already worthy of being called the greatest bishop of Destiny..."

"Under his management and operation over the past five hundred years, Destiny has flourished and its strength has continued to grow. Human civilization has gradually gained a foothold on the battlefield against the collapse."

"Isn't he a contradictory guy who's impossible to judge?"

The hermit shook his head.

"But how is he supposed to communicate with that Second Herrscher...? That Herrscher seems like the kind of person who can't listen to people properly right now..."

Kiana suddenly thought of something and asked the hermit standing to the side.

"Why don't you ask your amazing class monitor?" The hermit's words caused Kiana's thoughts to momentarily freeze.

"Wait a minute? Class monitor... Fu Hua???"

Kiana suddenly had a premonition—this dream journey would probably yield the most juicy gossip of her life.

"Well, to be precise, she is a fusion warrior from the previous era's civilization, the Crimson Iris Immortal who has protected China for thousands of years, and now the S-rank Valkyrie of Destiny... Fu Hua."

“Oh, you won’t get anything out of her if you go back and ask her. That pioneer’s memory is too worn out—she probably doesn’t even remember these things.”

"The amount of information in your sentence is a bit too much; let me think about it first..."

Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Answer Will Finally Be Revealed

"The world is ablaze at this moment, and the Second Herrscher, whose will has been twisted by revenge and destruction, awakens her deceased friend once more from beneath the snowfield..."

"She has forgotten her original intention in burying them—"

May they rest in peace, no longer disturbed by the world's sorrows.

The Hermit stood with Kiana beside a tombstone made of three withered branches. The Second Herrscher stood before the tomb, muttering to herself, as a portion of the power separated from the three gems on her skirt and merged into it.

Three pseudo-Herrschers were thus born—

"The world allows consciousness to find new containers, but it does not allow containers to collect dissipated consciousness..."

"The existing consciousness within those three girls is merely a false construct born from the Second Herrscher's perception through the core of that consciousness. They will desecrate the final dignity of the dead—carrying these bodies toward utter destruction."

--

In Oulu, Finland, a phenomenon resembling the wind summons a storm that tears the city apart, lifting trees, streetlights, vehicles, and even pedestrians from the ground into the air before slamming them down.

In Astana, Kazakhstan, a pseudo-Herrscher wielding the Plague Gem turned the city into an inferno, with jets of intense heat piercing through skyscrapers, causing explosions and screams from the crowd.

In Novosibirsk, Russia, a pseudo-Herrscher of Death walks through the city streets, dark purple smoke spreading with her steps, and the city falls into dead silence after a brief scream.

"Just one day after the pseudo-Herrscher destroyed three cities, the Valkyrie forces of Schicksal were also assembled, and the horn of counterattack was about to sound."

...

The scene shifts from three destroyed cities to the central sky island of Schicksal, where the most elite Valkyries of that era have gathered. The blonde Schicksal bishop stands on the platform, delivering a pre-battle mobilization speech to the assembled Valkyries—

"Today, the devil has once again invaded our homeland! He has killed our loved ones! He has destroyed our city! He thinks we will be afraid and that he can easily destroy us!"

"It is wrong, warriors of destiny, never yield!"

.....

The Hermit and Kiana stood below the stage with the Valkyries, listening to the man's impassioned speech.

"Hmph, what a passionate speech! If I didn't know what he did, I would have been fired up by what he said."

Kiana glanced at the man on the podium and hummed a few times, then her attention was drawn to Cecilia standing next to him.

"Is this what Cecilia looks like in battle? So cool! Wait, Hermit... what's that lance in Mom's hand?"

"The Sixth Divine Key - Black Abyss White Flower... Stop swooning over your mother..."

The hermit's brow twitched as he watched Kiana staring intently at Cecilia, even attempting to get close to her.

"Ah...oh...where are we going next?" Kiana glanced longingly at Cecilia in the illusion before turning to face the hermit.

"Dealing with the three pseudo-Herrschers is not difficult. What we need to see is the true climax and end of the Second Honkai... a long yet short final battle."

...

The scene shifts, and the two arrive at the Tower of Babylon laboratory once again. This time, however, the Hermit and Kiana stand atop the tower.

At this moment, the three of them are confronting the Second Herrscher.

"That's the class monitor...and Otto and Cheng Lixue?...Do the three of them really have a chance against the Herrscher of the Void?"

Kiana sized up the three people on the field, her eyes filled with suspicion.

"Even if you, Hermit, say the class monitor is really strong... that's still..."

Before the girl could finish her doubtful words, Fu Hua in the illusion had already launched an attack on the Second Herrscher.

A storm of fists rained down on the imaginary barrier erected by the Second Herrscher. As the first heavy punch struck her face, the Herrscher's mind wavered, and so did the barrier she had erected. More fists rained down on the Herrscher.

Black death mist emanated from her body, attempting to corrode the warrior before her. However, the flames burning in Fu Hua's hand seemed to have other ideas—they tore through the black mist, and a heavy punch slammed the Herrscher from the tower to the ground.

"...Was the class monitor this strong back then?" Kiana clicked her tongue, watching Fu Hua leap down from the tower, neutralizing all of the Second Herrscher's counterattacks one by one, and piercing through her abdomen with a single sword strike.

"Uh... So the Second Honkai Impact is over just like that...? Where are Dad and Mom...?" Kiana looked out from the tower, trying to find her parents.

"No, the final battle has only just begun, Kiana. Otto is here to seek an answer... and only then to destroy the Second Herrscher..."

"And this man is now... playing a bit too far."

"He really did see the God... and [He] did indeed give this man an answer..."

"But by the time he understands, it will be ten years from now."

"And now... they have to face the Second Herrscher, who has also communicated with the gods, and who has awakened from the illusion of the Eighth Divine Key, Feather Dust..."

The Hermit watched as the Herrscher, having regained consciousness, distanced herself from Fu Hua and flew into the sky.

"However... that warrior from the previous era still has one last trick up his sleeve..."

"His name... the Great Void Sword God—"

A firebird spread its wings across the sky, obscuring the heavens, and an invisible sword, needing no physical form, fell, cleaving the Tower of Babel in two...

"For the Second Herrscher, this sword strike is unstoppable. The Void Sword God, released after unleashing the first rated power of Feather Dust, is formless and boundless. It can penetrate any tangible barrier and strike directly into the depths of consciousness—the parts that cannot be perceived or comprehended."

The hermit, seeing Kiana's astonishment, explained to her what she had just seen.

"Because it is unknowable, it is unresistable; from the inside out, it is utterly reduced to nothingness—but alas..."

"What a pity?" Kiana looked at the hermit.

"Unfortunately, at this moment, the Second Herrscher's consciousness is linked deep within the realm of the summoned deity..."

"He shielded the Second Herrscher from this sword strike, and of course, the Second Herrscher's connection with [God] was severed in the process..."

"Fu Hua is simply having bad luck at this moment—of course, it's not like she's gained nothing."

"After Fu Hua severed the Second Herrscher's connection to the Honkai consciousness, Welt Yang, who had originally infiltrated the core of the Herrscher of Reason, had his consciousness, which had been imprisoned within the core and unable to move, released..."

"At that time, Fu Hua's disciple, Cheng Lixue, the strongest A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, chose to stand in front of the Second Herrscher, buying Otto and Fu Hua the last bit of time to retreat."

The Hermit shook his head as he watched Cheng Lixue gradually fall behind in her entanglement with the Second Herrscher.

"Now it's your story... I hope you're ready to face the truth..."

"Hermit, you're saying something completely incomprehensible again..."

The white-haired young knight glared at the woman in front of him.