Chapter 400: I Bet You Can't Beat Me
The dark green liquid crept across the floor, writhing its way closer. In moments, it had surrounded the lounge's sofa area, the circle tightening little by little.
Kiana lifted her head from Raiden Mei's lap and sat up.
"Still so persistent? Who exactly are you trying to scare?"
She spoke lazily, even yawning. But the moment her eyes sharpened, a crimson ring of flame burst outward, scorching the crawling sludge into shriveled, cracked black lumps.
At the same time, Elysia, Bronya, Fu Hua, and the Book of Fuxi remained seated as if nothing were happening. Meanwhile, Seele, Wendy, Raiden Mei, and Senti quickly rose and took their positions—front, back, left, right—each guarding a direction.
Mobius's tricks seemed to involve some kind of bizarre creature-type constructs, but so what? Death, Lightning, Fire, Knowledge, Wind—five Herrschers whose powers were all meant to annihilate lifeforms. Alien? Virus? Whatever it was, it wasn't getting close with this lineup on guard.
Sip—
Bronya took a drink of tea, crossing her legs with an expression of complete apathy, as though she were totally detached from the chaos around her.
Beside her, Elysia stirred her coffee, giving Bronya a sideways glance and a teasing smile.
"Not scared at all?"
She wasn't afraid, for several reasons. One: her own abilities. Two: Mobius, no matter how eccentric, wouldn't truly turn on Elysia, an old acquaintance. And three: Elysia was a memory construct. Mobius couldn't target her for any "real-body" schemes even if she wanted to.
In short, all the Herrschers here had enough self-defense capability. Fu Hua even more so. Which meant the most vulnerable person at the moment—by pure power level—was Bronya.
Bronya idly rubbed the teacup, her tone utterly calm.
"If they let anything touch me in a situation like this, then they all deserve to be melted down and remade. Besides, Fu Hua-sensei is here."
Whether physically or mentally, this current arrangement had almost no weaknesses. If something still managed to go wrong, it could only mean everyone else was slacking. And even in the worst-case scenario—anyone who assumed the 'little bunny' couldn't bite was welcome to test it themselves.
Bronya gave a small, dismissive hum. Mobius's once-terrifying reputation did not impress her in the slightest.
Fu Hua, hearing her name, turned and gave Bronya a gentle smile and a nod.
"You're right… but don't get careless. Dr. Mobius is a very… mm… very special person."
Her expression wavered subtly before she sighed and settled on that description.
As Mobius's former creation, even after fifty thousand years, even with their current roles reversed, Fu Hua had never fully let down her guard around her.
"Just a little lab mouse… live a bit longer, and suddenly you think you're qualified to judge me, Hua?"
The voice dripped with malice and mockery.
Mobius stepped out from the sub-space, and behind her surged an overwhelming tide of black matter, flooding toward them like a living wave.
"Fluid—Shield!"
"Wither!"
"I'm burning every last bit of that sludge!"
"Thunder, bend to my will!"
"Mobius! I've wanted to beat you up for fifty thousand years!"
Different voices, same overwhelming Herrscher power. Faced with the incoming tide, they unleashed their counterattacks.
As expected—there were almost no beings in existence who could withstand the combined assault of so many Herrschers. Only Kevin would take it head-on without a flinch, and Mobius is nowhere near his level.
But as the black tide dispersed, a massive serpent-tailed beast barreled through the breach, lunging straight toward Bronya at the center.
BOOM!!
The explosive impact shook the entire lounge realm. The last intact piece of the sofa area was blown into debris.
When the tremors settled, Mobius had been forced back—surrounded on all sides by Herrschers. Her serpent-tail beast was transparent, revealing her seated inside its abdomen as she stared coldly at Fu Hua, who now stood protectively beside Bronya.
"…Looks like living fifty thousand extra years wasn't wasted on you after all."
Fu Hua spoke calmly: "Dr. Mobius, stop this. If you communicate properly, Sigurd is very reasonable. He'll offer you terms you can accept."
"…"
Mobius, still seated within the abdomen of her half-serpent monstrosity, narrowed her eyes at Fu Hua standing firmly before her.
Head-on confrontation isn't impossible… but the cost would be high. If anything unexpected happens… Sigurd becomes a problem. And five Herrschers aren't easy to handle either. Plus Elysia is sitting right there watching—hmph. That unpredictable thing… who knows what she'll do next?
Her gaze swept briefly over the smiling Elysia before Mobius fell into thought.
I only have two choices. No do-overs. There are too many uncertain factors here. As for Sigurd… he might still be tangled with that little white mouse. Even if he's not, he'll have used up something.
And if I fight here, Sigurd could return at any time.
But if I clash with Sigurd alone, it's just me against him. These people don't have the means to cross the data-space barrier and intervene. And… my trump card is on that side.
Mobius hesitated no longer. Her decision formed instantly. She glanced around, memorizing each person's face—each valuable piece of "material"—and then—
She bailed. Without shame.
Zzzt!
Like a TV losing signal, the serpent-beast Mobius flickered and vanished completely, leaving only scorched black residue and the utterly ruined lounge to mark the battle that had just taken place.
"…"
Everyone, still brimming with power and battle intent, exchanged blank looks.
"…She just ran? Just like that? I didn't even get to hit anything!"
Senti clutched her head in frustration and yelled.
Fu Hua sighed softly and lowered her gaze to her own palm.
Her earlier strike—using inch-force—had repelled Mobius's Active Honkai Reaction form. But now, on her palm, a black dot had appeared.
Like an ink drop sinking into water, the speck spread rapidly, crawling up her hand, then her arm.
"—Shff!"
Without hesitation, Fu Hua tore off the entire infected arm and flung it to the ground.
Black matter gushed from the severed limb, devouring it from the inside out. In seconds the arm melted into yet another writhing black puddle. The slime twitched stubbornly on the metal floor, as if searching for a new host—
Until Kiana tossed a fireball and reduced it to ash.
"What terrifying corrosion… and vitality."
As the medical specialist among them, Seele crouched to examine the remains. Her lips parted slightly in astonishment—she finally understood why Sigurd-oniichan treated Dr. Mobius with such caution.
The strange, eldritch aspects aside… if this tenacious vitality could be replicated—even a small portion—ordinary people could survive most Honkai disasters with ease.
"Don't overthink it," Fu Hua said, exhaling softly. "Dr. Mobius's experiments are often even less controllable than the Honkai itself. That's why she earned her… infamous reputation in the past."
Her reminder immediately cut off Seele's dangerous train of thought.
At that moment, Senti tugged on the empty sleeve hanging at Fu Hua's side.
"…Does it hurt?"
"I'm fine. A Soulium body isn't the same as a real one. It's very easy to shut off it pain receptors."
"Next time you're using this body, punch her into paste! No—no, let me do it! I'll show her what real strength looks like!"
"Alright, either is fine. Don't worry about me. Truly."
Fu Hua smiled, soothing the fuming, puff-cheeked Senti.
. . .
Mobius's judgment model hadn't been wrong.
On one hand: fighting one versus many, with Sigurd possibly joining at any moment.
On the other: a one-on-one against Sigurd, with little chance of outside interference before things reached a conclusion.
Naturally, the latter offered far more control.
Mobius rushed back to her personal lab space.
The moment she stepped in, she halted.
The world was in ruins—gray, fractured, like a half-collapsed space caught mid-implosion.
"…Hmm?"
Mobius narrowed her eyes at the scene.
Two figures remained standing.
One was Sigurd, tearing the tattered remains of his sleeve.
The other was Sin Mal—leaning weakly against him, unconscious or close to it.
"How much energy did you burn through?" Mobius asked bluntly.
"Who knows?" Sigurd replied in riddles. "Want to test it?"
Mobius hesitated.
She trusted her own creations.
A rampaging Sin Mal was troublesome—her raw destructive power couldn't match a true Herrscher's innate might, but her endurance, vitality, savagery, and sheer refusal to die far surpassed them. And that dual-natured derivative ability—part temporal, part mental—made fighting her without risking her life even more tedious than fighting a Herrscher.
But Sigurd's strength… was something Mobius had never been able to quantify. And he had two Herrscher cores hanging from his waist.
This was a gamble.
A pure gamble.
And Mobius, she decided to bet.
<+>
Tn: If you want to see more chapter of this story, please go to my Patreon[1], just for $5 each month, you can read till the latest chapter.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 439: Do You Know?[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-152519601[3]
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-152519601
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/honkai-strijder-152519601
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/95348?view=condensed