Heartbreak, Madness!

The newly built buildings had all collapsed. The once-orderly city was now nothing but rubble.

The sand and gravel on the ground were scorching hot. Some places closer to the center of the explosion had even vitrified. Lee walked blankly through the now-dead city, unable to hear a single sound.

Silence.

There were not even cries or calls for help. The entire city was filled with nothing but silence.

"It must be, my hearing was damaged just now....."

Lee staggered towards the center of the city, muttering to herself as if to comfort herself. "Everyone went to take shelter, that's why....."

But no matter how much she comforted herself, the corpses scattered throughout the city were thrust into her sight, impossible to ignore.

As humanity's last settlements, the fortresses also served as the front line against the Herrschers when necessary. Therefore, all three fortress city clusters were equipped with extremely comprehensive weapon inventories. E

ach fortress stored a large number of high-yield nuclear bombs personally designed and improved by the Fire Moth' great inventor, Vill-V.

But now, these weapons, which should have been launched at the Herrschers to fight the Honkai, had all exploded inside the city.

Even though the walls of the fortress had confined most of the power of the nuclear explosions within the city, Lee, who was several kilometers away, could still feel the surging airflow and heatwave.

If Lee, who was outside, felt it like this, the tragic scene inside was unimaginable.

The corpses far from the nuclear bomb storage sites were charred, but still barely recognizable as human. Closer to the epicenter, some were reduced to bones..... or even just shadows on the walls.

Apart from the reactions of a few MANTIS Soldiers stationed in the Fire Moth base, the entire city was silent.

Even though Lee had activated the power of the Herrscher of Sentience to its maximum, searching the city for existing consciousness over and over again, the final result only made her expression become increasingly dazed and numb.

".....Nothing."

"Nothing... nothing.... nothing!"

"Nowhere... all of them—!"

Lee's voice was hoarse and choked with sobs. She, who had already been staggering, finally gave way, and she knelt on the ground.

She tried to hold back, held back again – but in the face of such despair, even the strongest person couldn't possibly hold back, could they?

The tears brimming in her eyes still uncontrollably rolled down, leaving tear stains on her face, and then soaking her clothes.

In this ruin that had claimed countless lives, only her lament was buried by the silent wreckage.

After an unknown amount of time, Lee's crying gradually stopped.

"That's right, I should have done this from the beginning."

She raised her head and looked at the dim sky, her eyes vacant, muttering to herself.

"It's because I'm a coward, because I was afraid, that's why..... I believed in some kind of miracle."

"There are no miracles..... I shouldn't have chosen that."

"This was the only way."

Swaying, Lee slowly stood up.

"This was what I had to do."

...

Although Lee and Mei had repeatedly prohibited harming Rin, during the time Lee went to Vill-V, some soldiers who hated the Honkai extremely still broke into Rin's cell.

Herrschers should die. She's living in prison and still has the nerve to make demands – shouting like this, they pulled the trigger on the unarmed Rin, killing her with a barrage of bullets.

And until she was killed, Rin didn't fight back, because she truly didn't have the power.

But from the moment she died, the true Twelfth Herrscher fully awakened within Rin's corpse.

A bizarre virus spread out in that instant. Those who had killed Rin, standing near her corpse, were almost instantly corroded by the strange Honkai energy, screaming in pain as they died.

All the doors of the base were also locked. The Fire Moth staff had nowhere to escape, and could only die in agony or await death's arrival.

Not only that, but this virus even invaded the computer system and attempted to attack the entire human network. Although Mei reacted quickly and took measures, the Twelfth Herrscher still hacked into the Fire Moth' weapon network and directly detonated all the nuclear bombs.

Except for Fortress Three, where the network was inexplicably physically disconnected, Fortresses One and Two couldn't escape this calamity.

Only MANTIS Soldiers, with their extraordinary combat power, could survive such a disaster.

In the center of Fortress Two's base, in the giant crater that was originally the Fire Moth base, the ice wall that formed the defense slowly dissipated, revealing Kevin, standing within with a grim expression.

Things happened too suddenly. Even he only had time to protect Mei, who was standing next to him at the time.

And now, the culprit behind this disaster finally appeared before him.

A bizarre existence, seemingly composed of black mist and resembling Rin, let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

"Humans are as resilient as cockroaches. Even after all this, you're still not all dead..... But it doesn't matter. There's only one city left. I'll just go there later."

"Rin....." Mei took off her glasses, which had broken in the chaos, and frowned at the Twelfth Herrscher. "Is this the true Herrscher form now?"

"Yo, the famous Dr. Mei's words are really interesting – when I hadn't become a Herrscher before, you swore I was a Herrscher. Now that I've become a Herrscher, you're calling me by that original name." The Twelfth Herrscher sneered. "The stupidity and shamelessness of humans always exceed my imagination."

Kevin didn't speak, but his sharp eyes picked up Might of An-Utu.

"You still want to resist? You humans are already—"

"Might of An-Utu!!"

Without saying a single unnecessary word to the Twelfth Herrscher, a torrent of flames instantly roared towards the Herrscher.

And facing Kevin's attack, the Twelfth Herrscher looked very disdainful. Although Rin had heard of Kevin's strength from Sakura, he was just a human. How strong could he be?

I can easily block this little fire—What?!

The moment the constructed defense came into contact with Kevin's attack, the Twelfth Herrscher's face changed drastically, but it was already too late.

Even though she fled in a panic, without any regard for her dignity, most of the black mist that made up her body was instantly burned away by the flames!

Not bothering to mock Kevin and Mei, the Twelfth Herrscher hurriedly reverted from her humanoid form to her virus form, preventing Kevin from burning her to nothing with a single sword strike – everything nearby had died in the nuclear explosion.

Even if she wanted to transfer, there was nowhere to go.

And just then, a worried and anxious voice sounded from the periphery.

"Rin, are you alright?!"