The Worst-Case Scenario

Resentment, hatred, animosity… These were dangerous words in a world touched by Honkai. Such negative emotions, often born from Honkai itself, could trigger an even more devastating eruption.

What was Honkai? Was it Honkai energy? Uncontrolled imaginary energy? A test of civilization?

Honkai… was taking something beautiful and tearing it apart. Nothing more.

So, in a world touched by Honkai, one should not grieve, for that was Honkai. One should not hate, for that was also Honkai. It was a self-perpetuating cycle of destruction.

Only Honkai could give rise to more Honkai. Your every negative emotion was fuel for its flames.

"Well…" Lyle and Adam exchanged a look, speechless in the face of Shu's question. They suddenly felt the weight of the age gap, the realization that they weren't just sharing this with their friends.

Shu and the others were adults. Adults who, according to Little Tian, should all disappear.

"Little Tian… we don't know who his parents were," Adam said, taking a deep breath and retrieving a file from the corner. "Teacher and the legal team from Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical rescued him from an illegal underground drug lab."

Shu's eye twitched. "Was he… was he tortured?" Was he a subject of human experimentation, like Sirin?

Lyle nodded.

"After he was rescued, he lived with Teacher. At first, he wouldn't let anyone near him. Sora was the first to befriend him…" Adam explained.

"But his only friends were us, and Teacher," Lyle added. "Anyone else made him uncomfortable…"

"He used to say, 'I wish all the adults in the world would disappear, and only children would be left… and Teacher,'" they said, their voices trailing off. Shu's headache intensified.

Seriously? he thought. This kid had all the makings of a Herrscher waiting to happen.

A traumatized, world-weary child who survived the initial eruption but mysteriously disappeared afterward… Was there any worse news?

Shu rubbed his temples, trying to make sense of the strange occurrences since they arrived in ARC City: people turning to dust, unusually low Honkai energy levels, a possible lurking threat, the unnaturally aged man… and now this ominous "wish"…

Everything seemed to be pointing towards one conclusion.

"A Herrscher…" Shu muttered through gritted teeth.

"Shu, should we leave?" Bronya asked, sitting up straight, her gaze fixed on Shu's troubled face.

"Yeah, Shu. We can handle a Honkai beast, but a Herrscher…" Even Kiana sounded worried.

Retreating was the safest option. Adam, Lyle, and Sora, though confused, understood the gravity of the situation.

Shu closed his eyes, seeking solace in the darkness.

They had to leave. He didn't know what kind of Herrscher they were dealing with, whether it retained its humanity, or whether it could control its powers.

He didn't want to gamble. This wasn't a matter of could they take the risk, or would they. Every decision had to be based on the worst-case scenario.

And what was the worst case?

A Herrscher with no self-awareness, a purely rational, mobile disaster operating on pure instinct, with a single objective: to eliminate all humans.

Or, a being consumed by twisted negative emotions, like hatred, hell-bent on destroying them all.

The existence of the Nest suggested the Herrscher wasn't completely heartless, but they still had to prepare for the worst.

"Kiana," Shu said, his eyes still closed. "Give me two [Prayers]. One for large-scale teleportation, and one for combating a Herrscher… use the Herrscher of the Void as a template."

"Got it!" Kiana nodded, closing her eyes and tapping her temple. "Hmm… teleportation… combat…"

Kiana had the most vivid imagination of the three. Shu only needed to provide a few basic parameters, and she could visualize the most appropriate scenario. Bronya and Mei required a deeper understanding to conjure the [Prayers] he needed.

While Shu could adjust the [Prayers] using his own… unique abilities, it would consume additional [Prayers], and it would take him longer than Kiana.

He received the two [Prayers], then frowned.

Large-scale teleportation for a hundred people was possible, but it would drain 70% of his stored [Prayers]. Lowering the requirements, such as switching to random teleportation with no guarantee of safety or even survival, still required 40%.

That low? Shu was surprised, then mentally filed both teleportation options under "emergency measures."

As for the [Prayer] for combating the "Herrscher of the Void"… he dismissed it after a single glance. He couldn't afford it. Not even close.

His current reserves would only allow him to maintain equal footing with the Herrscher of the Void for thirteen minutes.

He sighed and opened his eyes.

"Well?" Mei asked, seeing that he had finished his contemplation.

"We need to prepare to evacuate everyone here. The sooner, the better," Shu said, looking at Sora, Adam, and Lyle. "We'll take them to the train, then move on to the next city."

"What about the weapons?" Kiana asked.

Shu paused. "Our priority is the safety of these children. Weapons are secondary…" He stopped mid-sentence, a thought striking him.

If he had to resort to teleportation, he would lose at least half of his [Prayers], significantly weakening him. In a worst-case scenario… weapons would become a much higher priority.

"Tch…" Shu clicked his tongue. "So, we can't avoid the weapons issue after all…"