Of Course, It's Pin Her Down & Beat Her Up!

Electric arcs surged from Selene's hand, piercing through the central control console's casing. Azure streams of energy filled the dim, lightless underground space, illuminating it.

"Ely? Heh, Big Sister certainly knows a lot about us Flame-Chasers, doesn't she? Even secrets like this—though... you're awfully cold."

Although Mobius felt an ominous foreboding filling her heart, she worked hard to mask her emotional shifts.

She smiled harmlessly, like an ordinary little girl, her snake-like pupils fixed on Selene. Narrowing her eyes like a snake waiting to strike, Mobius spoke.

She knows about my connection with Ely, even the secret that my speech patterns mimic Elysia's style. Then... does she also know about my "serpent molting" resurrection ability?

If she knows, that would be truly disastrous.

According to Mobius's assessment, this present civilization had already failed. Overcoming the Honkai would require placing hope in the next era.

When Selene burst into her stasis shelter, Mobius instantly devised a plan for faking her death: continuously provoking and enraging the Herrscher until she killed her, after which Mobius would revive through her "serpent molting" and lie low while awaiting better opportunities.

It didn't matter if this shelter or her stasis pod was destroyed. As a scientist—and such a brilliant one at that—it was only natural that she had prepared several safehouses.

Among her precautions, Mobius had preemptively asked Vill-V to provide her with additional stasis pod setups. And now, they would come in handy.

As for defeating a fully realized Herrscher in direct combat, Mobius had little faith. Though she would give her all, not only for appearances but also because her personality dictated that she wouldn't go down without at least splashing Selene with her own blood, she harbored no illusions about the odds.

After all, she was just a scientist, lacking Kevin Kaslana's overwhelming destructive power.

During the Thousand Herrschers Incident (Herrscher of Dominance) fifty thousand years ago, Mobius—while reviving through her "serpent molting"—had unconsciously consumed her assistant Klein (PS: this Klein was not the armed doll but a human and the prototype for the armed doll) to fuel her energy needs.

Even then, she had only become the weakest of the Herrscher of Dominance. Defeating her thousandth fraction was hardly a point of pride.

Mobius's confidence rested entirely on the hope that Selene didn't possess detailed knowledge of her abilities. If Selene were to kill her and guard her corpse afterward, that would truly spell doom.

Her heart pounded rapidly—an unfamiliar sensation. This gamble, placing her life on the line with nothing but hope, filled her with both immense pressure and a peculiar thrill.

There was no other way. The Flame-Chasers were either dead or missing. Kevin, Su, Fu Hua, and the others—Mobius didn't need confirmation to know that their S.A.V.E Plans had undoubtedly failed.

Otherwise, Why was it Grey Serpent who awakened her, and not Kevin? Is the Herrscher of the End commanding this massive force of humans in her service?

The only reliable asset Mobius currently had at her disposal was "dutiful child" Grey Serpent. But like Mobius herself, he was a survivor with limited combat ability—a "civil servant" type.

Sending Grey Serpent to fight a Herrscher? Impossible. He'd be like throwing a dumpling at a dog—never to return.

Of course, if this white-haired, red-eyed woman turned out to be nothing more than a decorative flower with no substance, Mobius wouldn't hesitate to turn her into fodder for her own evolutionary ambitions.

"Heh, still pretending? Do you think I'm some clueless lab rat who stumbled into your trap?"

Zzzzzzzt—!

As Selene spoke, the hand she had thrust into the shelter's control hub began to transform. The azure streams of data, representing the Herrscher of Reason's powers, started to warp and shift, turning into viscous, violet-red erosion particles.

"The Herrscher of Sentience..."

During the previous civilization, Mobius had modified Fu Hua multiple times and conducted extensive experiments involving "Corruption." As a result, she was highly familiar with the power signature of the Herrscher Core used to create the Eighth Divine Key of Sentience—[Fenghuang Down].

The additional presence of the Herrscher of the Corruption's resonant energy left an indelible mark in Mobius's memory. That power had torn apart the Flame-Chasers, reducing humanity's last cities to ashes.

She nearly blurted out, "The Herrscher of the Corruption..."

The next moment, her suspicions became reality. An indescribable dread seized her heart.

Lifting her gaze, Mobius's eyes widened in sudden realization. "You're... Finality."

The flow of data uploaded by Grey Serpent was abruptly interrupted. Initially, upon seeing Selene wield the powers of both the Herrscher of Void and the Herrscher of Reason, Mobius had speculated she might be a pseudo-Herrscher under Finality's command, using multiple Herrscher Cores.

But with the introduction of the Herrscher of Sentience's and Herrscher of the Corruption's powers, Mobius didn't need to see Selene unleash her full arsenal to form a conclusion. Her expression turned bitter, and she forced a wry smile.

"No wonder you call yourself 'I.' The Empress of Honkai, huh? Finality... how fitting."

"Oh? Are you scared? Ready to surrender?" Selene teased, one hand on her hip, adopting an exaggeratedly smug demeanor.

Rippp—!

As she withdrew her hand from the control hub's casing, the dense violet-red Honkai particles transformed into writhing, liquid-like tendrils.

In an instant, those energy tendrils began rapidly multiplying. From the initial five, they split into countless slender extensions, spreading downward like a purple-red "fungal carpet."

Zzzzzzzt!

Within moments, the tendrils engulfed the entire control hub, infiltrating every corner of the shelter base from the previous civilization.

"Did you wonder why I didn't attack earlier? I was busy rewriting your creations. And what were you doing? Enjoying a chat?"

Selene's voice carried an air of arrogance and mockery, echoing through the air. With a poised yet dangerous elegance, she reclined midair as if seated on an invisible throne.

Her posture mirrored Mobius's signature pose when she sat on her floating stool. Mobius ground her teeth in frustration. This Herrscher... why was she just as insufferable as herself?

Seeing Mobius's expression twist into one of utter disgust—like someone forced to swallow a fly—Selene suddenly spoke up.

"Grey Serpent."

Zzzzzzzt!

The projection device, previously disrupted by Selene's interference, automatically restored itself. With a faint electrical buzz, the display reappeared.

A figure in a black hoodie, bone-white single-eyed mask, and crimson electronic eye appeared. Grey Serpent seemed unchanged.

"Your Majesty," he said, his words causing Mobius's eyes to widen in shock.

She now looked every bit like a bitter victim who'd been utterly outplayed.

"He truly is loyal to you... In his programmed thoughts, he believes that the freedom and life he possesses are a grand gift bestowed to him by you. His reason for founding the World Serpent was merely to prove his existence had value."

"Such unwaveringly faithful subordinates truly make me jealous. But unfortunately..."

Selene's tone shifted as she rested her chin on her hand, her wicked smile sharpening like a blade. "He's mine now."

The first thing Selene had done upon entering this shelter was to disable its central control system. She had timed her invasion perfectly—just as Grey Serpent's collective consciousness was converging on this base to interface with Mobius. Then came corruption!

Selene could clearly sense that Grey Serpent genuinely cared for Mobius. He had transferred a significant portion of his core consciousness to this location.

Grey Serpent's essence was a collective consciousness spread across countless identical bodies. These bodies shared one unified memory network.

And as long as Selene found a single gap, she could erode Grey Serpent's entire consciousness network.

In truth, Selene had used more than just the four powers Mobius had detected. She had secretly employed the Herrscher of Thunder's abilities as well.

Using the Herrscher of Void's power to breach defenses, the Herrscher of Thunder's control over electromagnetic forces to infiltrate electronic systems, and the Herrscher of Reason's ability to analyze and reconstruct systems, Selene had bypassed the shelter's and Grey Serpent's firewalls.

Then, the Herrscher of Corruption's power followed through, spreading rapidly along Grey Serpent's network until his entire consciousness was infiltrated by an ultimate virus of Honkai energy.

Finally, the Herrscher of Sentience's abilities sealed the deal. There was no need to destroy Grey Serpent's consciousness—that would be wasteful.

Selene only needed to tweak a few parts of his programming.

For example, one of her edits: Grey Serpent's first memory after awakening from the disposal pit was no longer of Mobius, but of Selene.

Another example of her deletions: all memory programs concerning [Setsuna] Sakura were erased.

And an addition: a new purpose for Grey Serpent founding the World Serpent—preparing humanity for Finality's arrival from within.

These five Herrscher powers combined made it exceedingly difficult—nearly impossible—for any sci-fi trope of AI rebellion or rogue artificial intelligence to occur under Selene's reign.

With ease, Selene could erode an AI or machine intelligence's entire program and backups simultaneously, rendering them obsolete.

"You wouldn't object, would you?"

Looking around, Selene continued her taunts. "And you scientists... Why do you all love such gloomy environments, living like sewer rats? Isn't it better to walk in the sunlight and act like a human?"

"Heh, a human? Are you human?"

"I am if I say so. The same question to you—are you human?"

Selene's gaze was condescending, as if she were watching a circus monkey. Mobius couldn't maintain her act any longer. Deciding to drop her hesitation, she launched her attack.

At worst, she would die. Better that than enduring further verbal beatdowns and endless jabs.

"Unleash!" Mobius shouted. "Domain of the Devourer!"

A pitch-black alien cross materialized in an instant, unfurling its neon-green light. Countless thick waves of dark green lightning surged outward, intertwined with spikes of black liquid. In the air, a massive shadow of a serpent flickered.

Boom! Boom!

Raging explosions and unrelenting thunderstorms devastated the shelter's structure. Support columns crumbled, and in mere moments, the refuge collapsed entirely.

Crash!

The deafening blast reverberated like electric arcs buzzing by one's ears. Outside, watching the massive dust cloud rise from the collapse of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Imperial soldiers tasked with maintaining order snapped to attention.

"What's going on? Is there allied activity in the area?"

"Was that a thunderstorm bomb? But... wait, what? Two different colors?"

"Doesn't matter—everyone, stay alert!"

The temple's debris—fragments of precious metals, shattered ruins, and fine dust particles—was hurled skyward, scattering through the atmosphere before falling like a blizzard.

"Weak. Pathetic. Overestimating yourself."

Dark green electric arcs were crushed by crimson lightning. Hovering mid-air, Selene gripped Mobius's slender neck tightly in her cold, armored hand. The pressure turned Mobius's skin pale, her lips an eerie shade of blue.

"Struggling in the face of death only hastens its arrival. Don't you understand this basic truth?"

Selene held the green-haired loli before her, no longer masking her aura. Her scarlet, diamond-shaped pupils locked with Mobius's fierce snake-like eyes. Their noses were nearly touching.

"You... this kind of power, it really is Finality," Mobius murmured.

She could feel the raw fear coursing through her body, down to every single cell—a crushing will far beyond anything her imagination could fathom.

This oppression exceeded even the Herrscher of the End from the lunar battle era.

Finality... is evolving, too? Truly despair-inducing.

Defeating Honkai... seems hopeless, even for the next generation.

"Kill me or torture me—it's your choice, Finality!" Mobius spat out fiercely.

"Kill you? That's far too easy. Don't even think about it. How about becoming my... bed-warmer maid?"

Lowering her voice to an almost predatory purr, Selene continued, as if reading Mobius's mind. "You provoked me only to enrage me enough to kill you, so you could fake your death through 'serpent molting,' didn't you?"

"You—" Mobius gasped. How could she know? Could it be... Elysian Realm?!

"Yes, Elysian Realm. Your little toys certainly surprised me," Selene replied coldly. Releasing her grip, she added, "Simulated: Repulsion."

Bang!

Mobius plummeted, her fall ending with a dull thud as she hit the ground hard, accompanied by the clear crack of breaking bones.

Selene descended gracefully, hovering mid-air. With a wave of her hand, she dissipated the smoke cloud and spoke softly but firmly, "I'll ask again—will you be my bed-warmer maid?"

"Never! Are you insulting me?!"

Mobius, hunched over, propped up her upper body with difficulty. Her left arm hung limply, while her right hand brushed across her forehead, coming away covered in blood.

She could feel it clearly: her body was already saturated with Finality's Honkai energy. Her self-healing ability had been significantly suppressed.

"Would you like to meet your fellow Flame-Chasers?"

"Huh?" Mobius raised her battered face, her sneer dripping with sarcasm. "You mean the unlucky one you turned into your pet after messing with their mind?"

Selene remained unfazed, her words deliberate and piercing. "Fu... Hua."

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