Chat Group: Starting by Swapping Bodies with Elysia?

"Even a Herrscher will fall before our mighty weapons!" General Gesar, a classic British middle-aged man in a white uniform, declared, watching the mushroom cloud rising over Tonga. He seemed confident, even disdainful of the Herrscher.

—Gesar was a general, one of the leaders of the North American military. The increasing Honkai activity was eroding North America's global dominance, diminishing the Western world's influence.

They needed a decisive victory. Ending the Fourth Eruption would solidify their position, both in the media and in the face of the eventual Honkai reveal.

Even without Vill-V's persuasion, North America had been eager to intervene. They were tired of letting Fire Moth take the lead. They were the ones in charge!

Besides, New Zealand was a Western ally. They had to show some initiative.

—They'd agreed to Vill-V's proposal.

A military exercise was the perfect way to flex their muscles. But while they had their own agendas and underestimated the Herrscher, they weren't foolish enough to send in just troops. They'd taken precautions.

—Eliminate the Fourth Herrscher first!

They were ruthless, not stupid. The First Herrscher had taught them a lesson. Direct confrontation with these supernatural beings would be costly.

They weren't interested in a difficult fight. Losing ships, or worse, the entire fleet, would be a political disaster.

So, they'd nuke the Herrscher first. Then, the fleet would simply arrive for a victory lap.

Fire Moth? Hah.

—This unexpected development made MEI's face pale.

Even from New Zealand's southern coast, she could feel the tremors from the nuclear explosions and the volcanic eruption. The sky was dark with ash.

"Elysia!"

MEI, usually calm and rational, couldn't maintain her composure.

The scale of the explosions, the timing… Elysia had just fought Wendy and was low on energy. Even if it was [Elysia], surviving that seemed impossible.

"Calm down. This isn't like you, MEI."

Mobius's voice snapped her out of her panic. The green-haired scientist frowned at her, and MEI took a deep breath, regaining some of her composure.

"You're back, Dr. Mobius."

"How's the evacuation going?" Her voice was steady, but the slight tremor betrayed her anxiety.

MEI was still young. Despite her rationality, she couldn't completely suppress her emotions. She was putting on a brave face, maintaining her composure as the leader. This task should have been Mobius's, but it had fallen to her.

"Thanks to that annoying woman, the calmer weather has made things easier… Seriously, I'm a researcher, not a field agent. My experiments are at a crucial stage!" Mobius complained, but without any real heat. She looked towards Tonga. "I heard about the situation from Vill-V."

"Don't worry about her. That woman is surprisingly resilient."

"...She'll be fine." Despite her nonchalant tone, Mobius's hands clenched, her nails digging into her palms, drawing blood.

Suddenly, her eyes widened.

MEI reacted similarly.

—As a Herrscher, her senses were far more acute than Mobius's, who, while a human, had gained some Honkai sensitivity through her experiments.

"So strong…" MEI whispered, staring at the source of the Honkai energy.

It wasn't just them. Fire Moth branches around the world detected it. Alarms blared, and older devices overloaded and exploded.

Mobius chuckled. "Looks like we don't need to worry about her anymore."

"Indeed. Now, it's time to find the rats hiding in the shadows." MEI smiled, her eyes cold.

…

"G-general!" As Gesar was about to return to his cabin, a panicked voice made him stop.

"What is it?!" He yelled, annoyed.

Damn it! Ruining my good mood! He'd been looking forward to celebrating their victory.

He turned, and his face froze.

A figure stood in the sky.

Her hair, once black and green, was now pure emerald. Her saintly Herrscher attire had transformed into a white robe, flowing in the wind. A green gem, bound by gold, shimmered on her ample chest. Golden bands adorned one leg, while the other bore glowing blue markings.

She opened her eyes, revealing emerald green, divine eyes. Her green wings were gone, replaced by a radiant halo.

"Shedding wings, embracing rebirth." Her white shawl draped over her arms, covering her hands as she touched the wind, feeling the immense power within her—a power that could reshape the world.

"Is that a Herrscher?!" Gesar, having never seen the Fourth Herrscher, felt a chill run down his spine. Even their most powerful weapons hadn't harmed her.

He scrambled back, yelling at his men, "Kill her! Attack!"

Fear and desperation had made him forget that she had just survived a nuclear blast. He ran towards his cabin, hoping for safety.

A voice screamed in his mind—Don't let her catch you!

"Fire!"

The submarine was gone, leaving only the fleet. The aircraft carrier was useless against the Herrscher of Wind. Only the destroyers' cannons offered a semblance of security.

But it was all meaningless. She simply glanced at them, and the destroyers were tossed aside like toys.

With a flick of her finger, Gesar's flagship was pulled towards her, then sliced in half like butter. Blood splattered across the ocean.

It had all happened in seconds.

Gesar, spared by [Wendy]'s whim, watched in horror as his fleet was destroyed.

Before he could beg for mercy, she raised a finger to her lips.

"Don't beg. It's unsightly. It makes me want to kill you immediately."

"Let's play a game. If you win, I might let you live."

A flicker of hope appeared in Gesar's eyes. But it quickly faded. How can I possibly win against a monster like this?

"Don't be so glum. Accept, and you have a 50% chance. Refuse, and you have none. Hope is a good thing, you know."

"..."

"Oh well. I tried to be nice." She looked disappointed, like a child losing a toy.

"I'll play! I'll play!" Gesar, sensing imminent death, agreed eagerly.

"Good."

"The game is… guess whether I'll kill you. Exciting, isn't it?"

"If you guess wrong, I'll kill you immediately~"

Gesar felt his sanity slipping.

What kind of game is this?!

But fear, and that sliver of hope, kept him going. Maybe if I answer correctly, she'll let me live…

"You will."

"Oh dear, I lose."

"S—" He was about to say, Since you lost, you have to let me go, when he was disintegrated.

"I lost, but you didn't win~" [Wendy] grinned, a malicious glint in her eyes.

Then, she reached out, catching a tiny speck of dust.

"Seriously, don't toy with people's lives." She muttered.

A voice in her mind protested, "He wasn't a good person!"

It was Wendy!

—During the nuclear blast, [Wendy] had absorbed Wendy and the Herrscher of Wind core from the Fourth Divine Key, fusing them with his Origin powers.

—Ascended Wendy!

The power of three cores, amplified by a fragment of the Finality's power, had created an entity second only to the Finality itself.

And Wendy's consciousness, like Dark Seele, had merged with this ultimate being.

Having just transformed, Jiang Qiao hadn't been able to fully control the new body, allowing Wendy's personality to take over briefly.

—While her power was still manipulating Ideal Fluid, now, as a complete Herrscher of Wind, with a fraction of the Finality's power, she had absolute control.

What had taken time and effort before could now be achieved instantly, with a hundredfold increase in power.

What had taken a week for the previous era's Herrscher of Flames to burn down Australia could now be done in minutes!

But like [Bronya]'s borrowed power, this power was temporary. He could only maintain peak output for a minute. After that, the connection to the Finality would be severed.

But even without the Finality's power, Ascended Wendy still possessed 30,000 HW, surpassing even a peak six-core Sirin.

"Is this also a Herrscher core?" Wendy's voice echoed in his mind, observing the tiny, glittering crystal in his hand.

"Yes."

"Which Herrscher? Can we use it?" Wendy, having experienced the power of three cores, was eager for more.

"This is… the Herrscher of Domination's core."

"It's useless." He crushed it.

He couldn't sense any Herrscher power, barely any Honkai energy. It was just a speck of dust.

—Meaningless.

[Wendy] smirked. "Those rats…"

—Attacking Totori, forcing Wendy's transformation, then making her kill Totori… it reeked of the Herrscher of Domination's influence.

Only the mind-reading Herrscher of Domination could have orchestrated this.

It had been a three-birds-with-one-stone plan. Drive Wendy insane, have her kill [Elysia], and cripple Fire Moth.

But they hadn't anticipated his safeguards, which had allowed Wendy to escape.

So, they'd lured her to Tonga, preparing a trap for [Elysia].

But he hadn't used Elysia. He'd used Wendy.

—And that hadn't stopped them.

While unaware of the connection between [Elysia] and [Wendy], they'd still tried to eliminate him.

Their machinations had even fooled the Fire Moth trio.

"Those bastards! I'll kill them all!" Wendy raged, learning the truth.

They'd attacked her, and Totori!

If she had control, she would have unleashed her full power.

"You'll have to find them first." [Wendy] sighed.

The Herrscher of Domination wasn't powerful. Its power was among the weakest. But its ability to divide and conquer, to manipulate people from the shadows, made it incredibly dangerous.

In the original story, they had shattered trust, causing chaos and despair, even within Fire Moth. They were responsible for the tragedy that befell the Flame-Chasers.

Jiang Qiao had anticipated the possibility of multiple Herrschers, or even skipped sequences. After all, the Will of Honkai changed its tests constantly. Mu Continent had wanted to enter the Sea of Quanta, so the Ninth Herrscher had granted their wish. The Tenth had sown discord, and the Eleventh had eliminated the MANTIS soldiers…

If the Will of Honkai deemed it necessary, the sequence didn't matter.

While he'd managed to constrain the Will of Honkai's options, it could still adjust the sequence and content of its tests. His Origin powers couldn't interfere with that.

"Another fleet is approaching." He looked up, sensing something.

This one was… large.

—Gesar's destroyers had been just a scouting party.

A joint fleet, consisting of five North American aircraft carriers and a European fleet, was approaching. It was a show of force, a display of their might.

They'd received Gesar's report: Target area clear.