"Mei..."
Watching Mei sheathe her blade, the color that had faded from her now returning, Elysia opened her mouth but found herself momentarily at a loss for words.
"Were you scared by my appearance?"
Acheron raised an eyebrow, unable to help asking.
"No... I meant to say, Mei, you were so cool just now! Both that slash and the form you took. The current Mei is beautiful, but the white-haired Mei is even more stunning! Even now, my heart's still going doki-doki."
Elysia looked at Acheron, her eyes sparkling like starlight, filled with a maiden's admiration.
"And... although I knew Mei was strong, I never imagined she'd be this powerful. With Mei's help, we're sure to defeat the Honkai!"
She clasped her hands together, gazing at Acheron with joyful delight.
In the midst of their brief conversation, Elysia's phone rang with a familiar tone.
"What is it, Kevin?"
Elysia looked at the screen, at Kevin's weary face.
"Sorry, it's a bit late. I just finished my battle. How are things on your end? Have you retreated for now? Don't rush, wait for Fire Moth to assemble, then we'll go deal with the Herrscher."
Though clearly exhausted, Kevin forced himself to speak steadily.
Just moments ago, Kevin had defeated an Emperor-class Honkai Beast—one far stronger than the usual Emperor-class. It had been a tough fight, but he'd managed to take it down.
Still, compared to a Herrscher, these Honkai Beasts were nothing. So right after the battle, Kevin immediately called Elysia.
"Ah, no need."
Hearing Kevin's words, Elysia shook her head with a laugh.
"...No need? What do you mean?"
For a moment, Kevin's brain couldn't quite catch up.
"Mei and I went on a total rampage. We've already taken down the 7th Herrscher."
As she spoke, Elysia winked at Acheron beside her.
Well, I handled the 'total,' and Mei handled the 'rampage.' That's called division of labor!
"?"
Listening to Elysia, a huge question mark popped up in Kevin's mind.
He'd just been in contact with Dr. Mei and knew exactly how powerful the Herrscher in Australia was. Yet, such a powerful Herrscher had been eliminated by just Elysia and Acheron?
"Gosh, it's hard to explain everything right now. Let's talk when we get back. I'll give you all the details then. Things here aren't completely settled yet, Mei and I have to get going!"
With that, Elysia hung up.
"Mei, are you okay? Maybe you should rest, and I'll handle the remaining fights?"
Elysia looked at Acheron, a trace of worry on her face.
Although the Herrscher was gone, scattered Honkai Beasts were still rampaging through the city.
These monsters wouldn't easily spare humanity.
"Don't worry, I'm fine."
Acheron gently shook her head. During the fight against the Herrscher of Flame, she had used only a tiny fraction of her power. In fact, the mental effort she spent restraining her power far exceeded what she'd used in the battle itself.
After all, squashing a bug is easy. But doing so without disturbing the dust beside it? That's the hard part.
Compared to the power of an Emanator, humans were far too fragile. So fragile that even if Acheron merely used a sliver of her strength or let a hint of her aura leak, it could affect ordinary people, potentially corrupting them into Self-Annihilators.
Now, Acheron and Elysia were heading towards the survivor settlement outside the city. However, from within the urban area, they caught some unexpected, noisy sounds.
"That's strange. Didn't I already evacuate the people from the city? Why is there still noise?"
A look of confusion crossed Elysia's face. The two exchanged a glance and headed towards the source of the sound.
There, they found a mature, elegantly dressed woman brandishing twin pistols, holding off the surrounding Honkai Zombies.
Behind her, two children were safely under her protection.
This woman was no stranger to Elysia or Acheron.
Eden, the world's most dazzling superstar, her status comparable to that of Robin in the galaxy.
It was only then Elysia remembered—hadn't Eden been in Australia recently for an event?
Her gorgeous gown was now torn roughly at the thigh, tied into a knot for easier movement. Her sleek purple silk gloves were worn through in several places from the continuous fighting.
This superstar, who should have been radiating brilliance, now stood alone, her delicate frame resisting the surrounding monsters. Her guards were nowhere to be seen.
Actually, Eden had initially evacuated with the others.
But at the settlement, a woman had become desperate to return to the city. During the escape, she'd been separated from her child and wanted to go back and search. For a vulnerable woman, going back alone would have been a death sentence.
Left with no choice, Eden decided to return to the city herself to look.
She left her guards behind to protect the others.
Fortunately, perhaps because most of the Honkai energy had been used to birth the Herrscher, the accompanying Honkai Beasts and Zombies in this city weren't particularly strong. With her two pistols, Eden had managed to survive until now.
Unfortunately, she was now surrounded by Zombies, protecting the children.
Without rescue, she'd likely become one of them within ten minutes.
Click, click, click...
The sound of empty chambers echoed from her pistols. She was out of ammo.
And the surrounding Zombies weren't about to give her time to reload.
Just as she resolved to use her own body to buy time, to let the children behind her have a chance to survive, in the next instant, the Zombies froze in place as if petrified.
"Cover the children's eyes."
An unfamiliar voice reached Eden's ears.
Without knowing who it was, Eden instinctively obeyed, shielding the children's eyes.
Then, in the next moment, streaks of white light flashed across the Zombies. In mere seconds, they were decapitated.
"Thank you for your assistance."
Though her eyes held a trace of shock at Acheron's power, Eden still gave a slight, elegant nod of thanks.
"We just happened to be passing by. How fortunate we were able to save you."
Elysia chimed in with a smile.
"Save me... fortunate?"
Eden was taken aback. Could such a situation really be described as 'fortunate'?
"Of course it's fortunate! To be able to prevent two lives from perishing before my eyes—what else could it be?"
Elysia stated matter-of-factly.
Hearing this, Eden was visibly moved.
However, this wasn't the place for a long conversation. After a brief exchange, the group set off for the survivor settlement.
Along the way, the devastation they witnessed dampened some of the joy Acheron and Elysia felt from defeating the Herrscher.
Even though they had defeated the Herrscher so quickly, the city had still suffered immense trauma. Wherever they looked, there were either Zombies or charred corpses.
Conservative estimates put the death toll from this major Honkai eruption at least in the millions.
These were losses even Acheron couldn't prevent.
However, compared to the original timeline where the entire continent of Australia was lost, the losses now were incalculably smaller.
Moreover, besides the casualties, the loss of habitable land had also been significantly reduced.
In the original worldline, humanity's greatest loss wasn't just the lives, but the fact that Australia, scorched by extreme heat, could no longer support life in the short term.
Meaning, humanity had lost a habitat.
"We're back."
After handling the remaining tasks in Australia, Elysia brought Acheron back to the Fire Moth base.
Returning with them were Hua, and Eden.
After being saved by Elysia and Acheron, Eden had shown great interest in Fire Moth.
She expressed her desire to join.
Elysia held no dislike for this songstress of the Honkai world. The fact that Eden had risked entering a city full of Zombies alone for the sake of children was proof enough of her qualification to join Fire Moth.
Furthermore, this Honkai eruption had left a mark on Eden's psyche. Joining Fire Moth could also help her cope.
"You called for me, Mei?"
The office door opened. Acheron, accompanied by Elysia, entered Dr. Mei's office.
Seeing Mei's serious expression, Acheron spoke.
"If anyone asks, tell them you underwent my MANTIS surgery. That's how you obtained such power."
Mei didn't mince words, getting straight to the point.
"What's this about?" Acheron, noting Mei's stern demeanor, couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"You know, the leadership of Fire Moth isn't just me. There are others... and they aren't as reasonable as I am..."
As she spoke, Mei felt a headache coming on. Dealing with the Honkai was one thing, but having to handle those foolish higher-ups too...
The term 'foolish' wasn't just an insult here. Compared to Mei's intellect, those higher-ups truly were fools.
"Would they try to move against Mei?"
Elysia's face was full of tension.
Acheron, however, remained as nonchalant as ever.
Her goal was to save this world. That wouldn't change, no matter what happened. Even if some among humanity didn't deserve her protection.
She knew there were scum among these higher-ups. The reason she hadn't bothered with them was that, despite being scum, they were still fulfilling their duties. If she removed them recklessly, the resulting power vacuum would inevitably cause chaos within humanity.
That was a problem no amount of raw power could solve.
But if anyone truly tried to trip Acheron up, she wouldn't mind giving them an early reason to cry.
After all, you can stay in the rear all you want, but if you become a stumbling block, don't blame me for kicking you to pieces.
"No, but the power Mei displayed is simply too immense. We must take precautions. When the time comes, Mei will say she underwent my surgery and became a MANTIS, thus gaining her power. Leave the rest to me."
Performing unsanctioned surgery to create a MANTIS would bring even Mei significant trouble, but she didn't care. She had her ways to handle it.
"MANTIS? Didn't you put that project on hold?"
Elysia looked confused.
In fact, Mei had proposed this plan long ago, but due to the abysmally low success rate and the overly aggressive nature of Honkai Beast genes, the research had been stalled.
"Recently, there's been a breakthrough. I've found a method for a 100% success rate!"
Mei said with a smile.
As she spoke, she glanced gratefully at Acheron.
If not for Acheron, her surgery might never have achieved such a success rate.
The person who wrote those notes was a true genius.
Just a few simple sentences had sparked a torrent of inspiration in Mei, allowing her to solve all the previous problems.
Although no actual surgery had been performed yet, Mei was confident. For her, it was now simple!
"Acheron, please, don't be hasty. Now isn't the time to deal with them. Leave everything to me, alright?"
As if reading Acheron's thoughts, Dr. Mei spoke in a nearly pleading tone.
For the sake of humanity's survival, Dr. Mei had poured her heart and soul into her work.
She knew Acheron was immensely powerful. Therefore, she would do her utmost to placate both Acheron and those foolish higher-ups.
"Don't worry, I won't act recklessly. Provided they don't get any foolish ideas." Acheron nodded in agreement.
"Good, that puts my mind at ease. Thank you, Mei." Dr. Mei nodded, but then she looked at Acheron, falling into deep thought.
"What is it?"
"According to my calculations, after undergoing the surgery and fusing with Honkai Beast genes, your bodies should show some physical mutations as a side effect. But the current Mei... seems far too normal."
"That's easy. I'll just say I hid them."
A faint smile played on Mei's lips as two demonic horns gradually emerged on her forehead.
But they only appeared for a fleeting moment before vanishing.
These were a side effect from when she gained her power in Izumo. However, over the years, as she walked this path, her past had mostly turned to nothingness.
Even though they no longer physically existed, she could still use her power to manifest the horns she once had.
"Wow, Mei has horns! What do they feel like? Let me touch them!"
Elysia's eyes widened, curiosity brimming as she reached out to touch them. But by then, Mei had already retracted the horns.
Determined to feel Mei's horns, Elysia pestered her all the way back, even following her into her room and clinging to Acheron.
"You're really something else."
Finally, with a sigh of resignation, Acheron let the twin horns reappear on her forehead.
--+--
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.