It's Simple, I Become—

"Herrscher Core....."

Elysia breathed a sigh of relief. She had prepared herself for Lee to kill her to prevent a situation like Rin's from happening again. She had even thought of her last words. Unexpectedly, after all that, Lee still gave her a chance.

The Herrscher Core was indeed important to Elysia. Without her Herrscher Core, her combat power would probably be less than 20% of what it was, but she wouldn't die from the lack of a core.

"I understand."

Without any resistance, even though this request was equivalent to asking a Herrscher to cut off her own limbs, Elysia had absolute trust in Lee.

Holding her chest with both hands, Elysia closed her eyes slightly, and then a core as bright and as a pink gem slowly emerged from her chest.

"A core as beautiful and sparkling as I am."

Looking at the core floating in her hand, Elysia chuckled softly and slowly pushed it towards Lee in front of her. "Then I'll leave it to you, Lee."

"....."

Holding Elysia's Herrscher Core in her hand, Lee remained silent.

Although it looked gorgeous like an ornament, Lee could feel the terrifying power contained in this Herrscher Core.

As someone who had personally extracted most of the Herrscher Cores, Lee could responsibly say that the power contained in Elysia's Herrscher Core was stronger than any previous one.

Among the thirteen Herrschers that had appeared so far, Elysia was undoubtedly the strongest. Although it was unclear what aspect her authority was, as long as Elysia decided to stand against humanity, Kevin was the only one who could be her enemy.

After a long time, Lee spoke, but what she said was completely unrelated to the current core.

"There are only 100 million people left..... Elysia, do you think humanity still has a chance?"

"Of course we have a chance. We don't just have 100 million people left, we still have a full 100 million people!" After handing the Herrscher Core to Lee, Elysia looked a little more relaxed and smiled. "We absolutely have a chance. There are a total of fourteen Herrschers. Including me, we have now survived thirteen Herrschers. Only the last one remains."

"Didn't Mei use Prometheus to calculate that the final Herrscher would appear on the moon? That means our battle won't affect the Earth. Although the number is a bit small, as long as we can defeat the final Herrscher of Finality, the remaining 100 million people are completely enough to let civilization continue."

"Thirteen MANTIS Soldiers against the Herrscher of Finality, it might sound a bit bold, but it's not necessarily impossible." Elysia said happily. "Humans must fight with hope until the last moment. There is no reason to give up halfway – didn't you say these words yourself, Lee?"

".....Yes, if there's only the last Herrscher of Finality left, then defeating her will allow civilization to continue."

Holding Elysia's Herrscher Core, Lee's expression was unreadable. "But if the disaster of the Thirteenth Herrscher breaks out again, humanity will have no ability to resist, right?"

"Don't say such things, Lee..... I've already given you the core. This way, even if I really become a Herrscher, I won't be able to cause any harm." Elysia didn't like Lee's terrible assumption. "It won't be difficult to eliminate me then..... Besides me, there's no other disaster that can threaten humanity, right?"

"That's right. Honkai Beasts and Deadmans can't even enter the fortress. Anyone else who wants to cause trouble will be quickly suppressed by other warriors..... The only thing that can threaten humanity is the Herrscher."

As she said this, Lee's calm expression finally changed.

In Elysia's unbelievable gaze, Lee's azure eyes gradually turned blood red.

Holding the core, she chuckled softly. "Then all I have to do is become a Herrscher."

The next moment, Lee and the Herrscher Core in her hand instantly merged!

The moment the core merged into her body, Lee felt the power in her body surge wildly. Elysia's core not only possessed extremely strong power, but it even linked with her original Herrscher of Sentience Core, greatly enhancing her original authority over consciousness!

"Lee—what are you doing?!" Looking at Lee, who had merged her core into her body, Elysia was shocked. Not only because the other party suddenly took the Herrscher Core she had just handed over for herself, but also because of the words she had just spoken.

"What do you mean by 'you become a Herrscher'.....?"

"Exactly what it means."

Looking at the white dress that appeared on her body, as gorgeous as a formal gown, Lee looked at Elysia with a smile in her blood-red eyes. "Is this the Herrscher's uniform? Thank you, Elysia. With this power, I should be able to fight even Kevin."

"You....."

As if thinking of a terrifying possibility, Elysia's pupils suddenly contracted. "Are you Lee, or—"

".....That's not important." Lee averted her gaze and slowly moved her hands and feet. "It's a long-lost feeling of ease. I have to thank you for obediently handing over the core. Otherwise, if you had resisted, I really might not have been able to—Sneak attacks aren't a good habit, Elysia."

Lee smiled and turned her head to look at Elysia, who was frozen in place, wanting to launch an attack but unable to move. "But against an enemy, it's indeed the correct decision."

"You—"

"Shh, [Be quiet], Elysia."

Looking at Elysia, who couldn't even make a sound, Lee slowly walked to her side and stretched out her hand to gently cup Elysia's face.

".....Still not working, huh."

Elysia didn't know what was happening, but she saw Lee withdraw her hand in disappointment.

"Is it a problem with the way of existence?"

Lee thought with her head down, but Elysia couldn't do anything. If she hadn't handed over the Herrscher Core, she could have resisted Lee's mental control with her mental shielding ability.

But after handing over the Herrscher Core, her strength was greatly reduced while Lee's ability was greatly enhanced. With this ebb and flow, Elysia had no power to resist.

".....Hmm, let's do it this way."

Seemingly having decided something, Lee looked at Elysia again.

"It might be a bit cruel to you, but I'm sorry, Elysia....."

"This is an unavoidable matter."

The next moment, Elysia's body fell heavily to the ground, no longer moving.