Chapter 5: Higokumaru, the Pet

Honkai is born alongside civilization. As human civilization advances, so too does our ability to suppress Honkai. Each Honkai outbreak inevitably brings mass extinction. In a sense, the Herrscher are gods...

Every Herrscher embodies the ultimate manifestation of a physical law, possessing tremendous Honkai energy that unleashes catastrophic destruction.

They also wield unique authority. Beyond the foundational powers inherent to all Herrscher, they possess divine powers akin to those of gods.

Space, Raiden, flame, revival and death, imprisonment and suppression, erosion...

These ultimate manifestations of physical laws differ little from the divine authority of gods. Moreover... each Herrscher is a sovereign of Honkai.

Honkai can concentrate within a Herrscher's body to form a Herrscher Core, granting them the power to create and command Honkai Beasts and zombies. At their peak, they can even produce Judgment Rank Honkai Beasts.

The relationship between a Herrscher and Honkai Beasts is akin to that of a queen bee and worker bees. A Herrscher's emergence causes the proliferation of Honkai Beasts in their region, much like a queen bee breeding more workers to protect her hive.

These Honkai Beasts exhibit unwavering loyalty to their ruling Herrscher, akin to soldiers pledging allegiance to a monarch. Consequently, even if two Herrscher exist in the same area, neither can control the other's Honkai Beasts.

Only true Herrscher possess such power, capable of directly communicating with "Honkai" itself.

In truth, Herrscher share some similarities with Heretic Gods.

However, one operates passively while the other acts proactively.

When Phoenix heard Higokumaru attempting to activate her fundamental rights to create Honkai Beasts and zombies, she immediately stopped her.

She would be seen as a Heretic God.

Though most Heretic Gods wouldn't be a match for Higokumaru.

-

The gods of this world weren't as powerful as one might imagine. They weren't true deities, but rather beings that came to life through the names humans gave them over countless years, along with the myths woven for them.

Across all eras and nations, it was fundamentally humans who bestowed names and myths upon gods.

Powerful deities who sometimes threatened humanity, yet also granted them blessings.

In the primordial age, they had no names.

Humans merely found divine forms in the vast sky and earth, fearing the storms and floods brought by the gods' wrath. They worshipped dangerous beasts as avatars of these deities.

Later, the gods acquired names and professions.

For example, Ilúvatar, the creator of the earth; Hercules, the god of battlefields; Artemis, the goddess of abundance; Ogun, the god of struggle and forging; and Tezcatlipoca, simultaneously the god of crude warriors and destruction... and so on...

There were as many gods as there were stars, all born from human hands.

Once a god received a name and mythology, they would never act beyond these constraints. When granting blessings to humans or receiving offerings, they would always act according to their prescribed duties.

This is why humans could prepare for a god's threats or blessings.

However, if a god were to act beyond the meaning represented by their name and mythology...

If a god were to return to a more primitive era with fewer mythological constraints...

Such a god would be called a "Heretic God."

In this world, gods are born from human worship and mythology. Once people forget everything about them, these deities will permanently vanish.

Therefore, the birth and death of all gods in this world... lie in human hands.

They can't be considered... truly powerful gods, nor can they be called "true gods."

-

The Herrscher was different. Even if all humans died... it wouldn't affect her at all.

As for "Honkai"?

The Herrscher's power came from the Honkai Core.

Honkai wouldn't care, nor would it reclaim the Herrscher's core. Honkai and civilization were both concepts; they had no consciousness.

As long as she didn't die, the Herrscher's power wouldn't be affected...

"Phoenix-nee, I want to eat fried tofu..."

Hearing Phoenix's refusal to use the Herrscher Authority, Higokumaru didn't use it.

The current Higokumaru had been thoroughly influenced. What controlled her body was her human consciousness, not the Herrscher consciousness. Therefore, she didn't have the Herrscher consciousness's desire to destroy the world.

Compared to destroying the world, Phoenix-nee was clearly more important!

"Fried tofu... We don't have materials right now. Maybe later!" Hearing Higokumaru's address, Phoenix was very satisfied.

At least she didn't call her "Big Sister" like Higokumaru did.

This was much more comfortable.

"Oh, but where should we go now?" Higokumaru looked around. The desert had nothing fun to do.

"Wait..."

Their main task now was to find a Heretic God, preferably a mythological God King level one.

But how many Heretic Gods were there?

If there were many, Campione wouldn't have to work so hard to find witches and miko all over the world to summon Heretic Gods, then kill them.

The appearance of Heretic Gods was accidental, and ordinary people couldn't see their bodies. They would just think it was a natural disaster.

Although these natural disasters were often unexplainable.

Of course, the most crucial issue was that Phoenix didn't know what time period this world currently existed in. If it were the beginning of the story's timeline, things would be much simpler.

Because right from the start, there existed a Heretic God - the King of Heretic Gods.

The ancient Persian Unyielding War God Verethragna, who possessed ten avatars and served as guardian to the God of Light "Mithras", had dragged another Heretic God from the realm of mythology... Mekal.

Mekal was the God King worshipped by Semitic peoples like the Canaanites and Phoenicians.

Mekal was the King of Gods, a great warrior, the strongest dragon-slaying hunter.

Though Mekal's title sounded incredibly powerful, Phoenix felt certain she could thoroughly dominate it if they ever faced each other.

"Ai-chan, could you tell me what time it is now?"

Determining the time was relatively straightforward—she just needed to check if the seventh Campione had been born and how long ago that event occurred.

However... this method only provided an approximate timeframe.

Ai-chan: Alright! Friendly reminder, boss—there's still a long way to go before the main plot begins...

"Doesn't that mean... we can't find a suitable target for now...?"