Having completed the appraisal, The Herta turned her head and said to Herman:
"Under an environment of extreme Honkai energy concentration, something new was indeed born—the Will of Honkai... However, this so-called Will of Honkai seems to have been frightened by my three-minute charged, planet-destroying version of the Herta Magic Cannon."
After speaking, a trace of regret appeared on The Herta's face. She regretted that such a high Honkai energy concentration had not given birth to a massive Planet-class Honkai Beast, but instead produced this inexplicable Will of Honkai.
Upon hearing her words, Herman also cast an appraisal toward the Simulated Laboratory and its interior, confirming the existence of the Will of Honkai.
It was neither a flesh-and-blood lifeform nor an Intellitron, but rather an intangible spiritual entity.
This immediately allowed Herman to confirm one thing:
What Herta had hand-crafted was most likely the Honkai energy from the Honkai Impact 3rd version, not the earlier iteration.
After all, the earlier version truly possessed Planet-class Honkai Beasts.
But what did the Will of Honkai signify?
In the main storyline of Honkai Impact 3rd, a true Will of Honkai had never appeared... More precisely, the so-called Will of Honkai that appeared in the main story had been Prometheus from the Previous Era in disguise.
As Herman reached this point in his thoughts, he heard The Herta ask, "Herman, what do you think—if I fire another magic projectile and bombard it, eliminate the Will of Honkai, then continue increasing the Honkai concentration, could it give birth to the Planet-class Honkai Beast you mentioned?"
"You can try," Herman replied.
"Very well."
The Herta and Herman exchanged a few words, then prepared to act, intending to completely annihilate the Will of Honkai.
Whirrrrr—
An enormous Herta magic projectile formed as The Herta waved her arm, descending rapidly like a black sun.
Seeing this, the Will of Honkai trembled in fear and hurriedly begged for mercy:
"Stop, stop! Don't kill me! Vipralopa-class Honkai Beasts are already the pinnacle of Honkai Beasts—there is no such thing as a Planet-class Honkai Beast!"
The Herta looked somewhat surprised. "It actually begs for mercy. That's different from the previous Honkai Beasts. And Herman... it just said Planet-class Honkai Beasts don't exist. Your intelligence was wrong."
Herman shook his head slightly. "No. Planet-class Honkai Beasts do exist. According to what I know, in a distant place there exists a Planet-class Honkai Beast named Jyahnar."
Whirrrrr—
As Herman finished speaking, the massive Herta magic projectile began descending once more.
This scene thoroughly terrified the Will of Honkai, causing it to panic.
"Nonsense! There is no Planet-class Honkai Beast named Jyahnar! I am the Will of Honkai—I am Honkai itself!"
"I can control all Honkai Beasts... I am certain there are no Planet-class Honkai Beasts in this world!"
Herman asked calmly, "Then do you know about the Cocoon of Finality?"
The Will of Honkai sounded confused. "What is that?"
Herman explained, "An artificial cosmic megastructure used to screen civilizations. As long as there is a qualified vessel, it can create Herrschers who wield authority. And if the host's compatibility is high enough, they can merge with the cosmic megastructure—the Cocoon of Finality—and become the Herrscher of Finality."
The Will of Honkai grew increasingly bewildered.
Beside them, The Herta blinked and could not help asking curiously, "Herrscher of Finality? What is that?"
Herman considered briefly before answering, "Put simply, even a Herrscher of Finality who has only partially fused with the Cocoon and not yet fully mastered its authority can already descend with the judgment of finality and casually annihilate a planet."
The Herta's interest was instantly piqued. She felt more and more that the Honkai energy she had researched this time possessed limitless potential.
Whether it was the cosmic megastructure—the Cocoon of Finality—or Planet-class Honkai Beasts, she wanted to study them all.
At that moment, the Will of Honkai let out a shrill howl:
"No! There is no Cocoon of Finality in this world! No Herrscher authorities, no Finality—it's all nonsense!"
Herman's lips curled slightly. "You are merely a will of Honkai born within the Simulated Laboratory. Your cognition is fundamentally insufficient."
Simulated... Laboratory?
Am I a simulated experimental product?!
The Will of Honkai froze. It spread out its perception and instantly realized that this world was pitifully small... More importantly, it sensed that both Herman and The Herta possessed a sense of reality it lacked.
As for itself, it felt entirely different—filled with illusion and virtuality.
So it had been simulated. Then what had its fear just now even been?
The more the Will of Honkai thought, the more it felt like a clown.
At that very moment, the enormous, planet-destroying infinite Herta magic projectile descended, sweeping through everything inside the Simulated Laboratory in an instant—erasing all Honkai energy and the Will of Honkai itself.
Whiiir—
The entire laboratory was destroyed. In the next instant, with a mere turn of The Herta's thought, the Simulated Laboratory was restored to its original state—devoid of any Honkai energy or the Will of Honkai.
The Herta then turned to Herman and asked, "Does the Cocoon of Finality or Planet-class Honkai Beasts exist in the real world?"
Herman immediately recalled that Honkai Impact 3rd had once collaborated with this universe. Perhaps they existed within the same cosmos, which was why Herta could synthesize Honkai energy so smoothly. He answered slowly:
"Even if they do, they would be in unknowable domains—or in distant regions beyond reach. Without a map, you wouldn't be able to find them."
"Even you don't know where the Cocoon of Finality or Planet-class Honkai Beasts are?"
Herman shook his head. "I'm not omniscient. There are too many things in this world I don't know."
The Herta waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it. In that case, I'll research it myself. With my ability, as long as I persist, I will inevitably manufacture the Cocoon of Finality—and even Planet-class or perhaps Star-class Honkai Beasts."
"I believe you can," Herman replied, then paused. "Moreover, Honkai energy is an extremely peculiar energy source with an exceptionally high ceiling—waiting for you to develop it."
Still in cognitive acceleration, The Herta immediately formed a new idea and continued synthesizing Honkai energy.
First, she created an experimental field with even higher Honkai concentration, attempting to produce a Planet-class Honkai Beast in this manner—but she failed. What ultimately emerged was an even stronger Will of Honkai.
This made her realize that under normal circumstances, Honkai energy could at most produce Vipralopa-class Honkai Beasts.
She then began dismantling the Will of Honkai. With research capability reaching two thousand points, she successfully disassembled it and discovered that the key to controlling Honkai Beasts lay in a special, intangible will-wave.
She recorded this waveform and inscribed it into the Herta Magic Wand, forming a Honkai control rune.
Next, she began creating more Vipralopa-class Honkai Beasts to test their varieties.
Brahma, Maheśvara, Vishnu—various Vipralopa-class Honkai Beasts were manufactured by her hand.
Then The Herta began waving her wand, attempting to control these simulated Honkai Beasts.
And clearly, her experiment succeeded.
As soon as they were born, large numbers of Honkai Beasts were directly controlled by the wand in her hand, becoming nothing more than obedient pets.
Of course, since these Honkai Beasts were created within the Simulated Laboratory, they were not truly real. If she genuinely wished to collect Honkai-version Pokémon—Honkai Beasts—she would need to select an uninhabited location in the real world, accumulate Honkai energy there, and manufacture them.
Only then could The Herta obtain genuine Honkai battle pets.
Meanwhile, Herman quietly watched her experimental process—watched her research and dismantle the Will of Honkai, watched her modify the Herta Magic Wand and inscribe runes upon it. Then he saw her wave the wand and control colossal beasts such as Chiyou, the demonic dragon Benares, Parvati, and other Honkai Beasts.
Witnessing this scene, Herman was utterly stunned.
Where exactly have I ended up?
Honkai karmic spirits are here too?!
Herta studies Honkai and directly turns into a summoner-style Honkai mage?!
More importantly, judging from how easily she inscribed the Honkai control runes onto the wand, it was clearly a repeatable process.
That meant that in the real world, The Herta truly could manufacture and control massive numbers of Honkai Beasts—and perhaps even innovate an entirely new industry dedicated to selling Honkai Beasts, earning vast amounts of Credits in the process.