Chapter 131 — On Intellectuals Becoming Herrschers

"Now that's an interesting statement—A Herrscher siding with humanity, of all things?"

Huh?

Higokumaru blinked in confusion, a big question mark practically popping up above her head.

Is this guy an idiot?

Herrschers are apostles of the Honkai—of course they stand with the Honkai!

Helping humanity? That's straight-up traitor behavior!

"A traitorous Herrscher like you—no god would ever forgive that!"

Higokumaru let out a deafening roar to the sky, her gaping jaws gathering heat until a searing fireball, like molten lava, began to take shape.

"I will burn you to ash in the name of the gods!"

"Honestly, the gods are probably hoping humans can flip a few Herrschers to their side—makes their job performance reviews look better," Nagami shrugged, unfazed.

With a thunderous step forward, his body was suddenly engulfed in a swarm of glowing blue particles.

They twisted and wove around him, forming intricate patterns of streaming light, finally solidifying into a dazzling cobalt-blue trench coat that fluttered in the wind.

Cradling Yae Sakura in his arms, Nagami gently began to float into the air.

"...Nagami-kun…"

Freed from Higokumaru's influence, Yae Sakura's dazed eyes finally refocused.

But the first thing that came to mind upon seeing Nagami's surreal transformation... wasn't awe, but the absurd XP system he always bragged about.

Only after that did she remember that this same boy had just stolen her first kiss.

Flustered and unsure of what to do with herself, her gaze drifted before settling on the blood-soaked fabric on Nagami's chest.

Her delicate hand slowly reached up and pressed lightly against his wound, her pale violet eyes filled with concern.

"I'm okay," Nagami smiled gently, shaking his head. "I promised to save you. So just leave everything to me."

The fireball Higokumaru launched came screaming toward them, dragging with it an overwhelming force that seemed to twist space itself.

Waves of scalding heat surged through the air.

"Ροή Αίας (Rho Aias)!"

Its origin lay in Greek mythology—the legendary seven-layered ox-hide shield of Ajax, used to block Hector's spear during the Trojan War.

In the Fifth Holy Grail War, it was upgraded into a conceptual weapon boasting absolute defense against thrown weapons.

Of course, what Nagami had here was... a bootleg version.

A brilliant surge of violet energy surged forward, forming a radiant, petal-like shield in front of him.

The light bloomed like a second sun.

The shield's magic design borrowed from high magic resistance spells in Shiraori's world, and its structure incorporated the defensive systems of anti-divine armor.

Its defensive strength?

Not to be underestimated.

'BOOM!'

The massive fireball exploded in a flash of fire and smoke, the shockwave howling through the air.

Ash and steam clouded everything in sight.

But of course, where there's smoke, there's no damage—Nagami wasn't some nameless Dyna standing on the wrong side of a beam struggle.

He wasn't about to break that classic rule.

"Fireballs, huh? Then I guess it's my turn."

With a smirk tugging at his lips, Nagami glanced around at the now unstable space—distorted by the clash between two Herrschers' powers.

He hesitated briefly, then looked down at the girl in his arms and spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

"Sakura... this might sting a little. Bear with it, okay?"

"W-What?!"

'Why the hell is he saying that now?!'

Her fair cheeks flushed pink as her mind went back to the memory of when he had possessed C.C.'s body.

She didn't even try to stop her thoughts from going astray.

Completely unaware of her inner turmoil, Nagami held her tightly against his chest.

His right hand stretched outward, forming a six-pointed violet star sigil in the air.

Wisps of blue Herrscher energy—symbolizing the Herrscher of Reason—gathered around the formation.

Sparks of light began to dance in his open palm.

Uranium-235.

A material of... significant meaning in Nagami's past life.

Even in this world, where Honkai energy existed as a new scientific paradigm, the fundamental physical constants remained largely unchanged.

With the power of the Herrscher of Reason—and aided by his Alpha Stigma Eyes—Nagami could now create atomic-level matter.

That alone was enough.

The hardest part was creating the first uranium atom.

After that, it was just a mindless repetition: copy and paste.

But Nagami didn't stop there.

He began replicating other atoms as well—hydrogen isotopes like deuterium and tritium, the lighter elements.

Using the replicated abilities of the Herrscher of Thunder, Nagami could manipulate electromagnetic forces to push past the Van der Waals limit.

He dove into the electron shells of the atomic nuclei.

Cathode rays flared at the edges, electrons became radiation, atoms emitted energy.

A concentrated field of volatile, complex energy formed in the palm of his hand.

Protons. Neutrons. Nuclei. Electrons. Atoms.

All bound together by intangible threads of Honkai energy.

As he danced through the blazing jets of Higokumaru's flame breath, the blue trench coat of his Herrscher gear flapped like a banner in the wind.

Sweat trickled from his brow as he conducted the microscale work—but it evaporated instantly in the high heat surrounding him.

And still, a grin tugged at the corner of Nagami's mouth.

This—this was the ultimate weapon of human civilization in his past life.

And now, with the Alpha Stigma Eyes, the Herrscher of Reason's dominion over matter, and the borrowed power of the Herrscher of Thunder's electromagnetic control…

Nagami was about to unleash humanity's ultimate art.

Thankfully, this was a Stigmata space.

He really wouldn't dare pull this off in the real world.

It wouldn't have mattered much if he died a few times—Nagami could live with that.

But nuclear radiation and the destruction it would cause to the surrounding environment?

That's not something a simple apology could fix or be forgotten.

"Go!"

His pale hand extended forward.

The unstable heavy nuclei—wrapped in invisible Honkai energy—floated upward, forming a massive spherical construct of uranium, deuterium, and tritium.

Higokumaru squinted at it in confusion.

"This... is your counterattack?"

Her expression twisted into disdain.

After all that buildup, the Honkai energy Nagami had invested didn't even seem stronger than the two fireballs she'd thrown earlier.

What she didn't realize was that most of Nagami's Honkai energy had been transmuted into physical matter—the "shell" of energy surrounding the orb was just a containment layer.

Then—wings.

Crystalline wings shimmered behind him—one blue, one violet—radiating divine brilliance.

They were the manifestation of the highest-level Vaitarna Flight technique.

With an explosive surge of energy, Nagami's figure burst into motion.

Twin photon wings blasted out streams of gamma rays, launching him and the girl in his arms high into the air.

A streak of radiant blue and violet light trailed behind them like a comet.

"Trying to run?"

Higokumaru narrowed her eyes, confused by his actions—but if he was running, that meant something was restricting him.

And that made it the perfect time to strike.

The massive fox spirit, cloaked in ghostly blue flame, stepped onto a glowing platform of condensed Honkai energy and launched herself after him.

Then—

As Higokumaru's flaming form drew closer…

The uranium-235, already at the brink of instability, underwent fission, triggered by a burst of neutrons Nagami had meticulously prepared.

It was like watching dominoes fall.

Each fission reaction released more neutrons, which in turn slammed into other unstable nuclei—splitting them and multiplying the reaction exponentially.

The resulting energy output surged dramatically.

In less than a microsecond, the chain reaction ignited the lighter atomic nuclei—deuterium, tritium—triggering nuclear fusion.

The energy released from the fission was entirely consumed to drive this next stage.

A roaring fusion reaction erupted—a perfect cascade.

The atomic structure shattered, atoms collapsed, and in an instant, a limitless wave of energy was unleashed.

The chain reaction's core temperature soared to a hundred million degrees.

In theory, anything in the blast's core would be annihilated instantly.

The heat from the explosion expanded outward in a split second, energizing the surrounding gases and launching a devastating shockwave.

Radiation. Thermal energy. Pressure. Electromagnetic storms.

All of it combined into one massive wave of destruction.

Everything in the kill zone was vaporized.

A Sun.

Had descended.

A blinding orb of light, magnificent in its brilliance, horrifying in its beauty.

In that moment, everything in the Stigmata space was ignited.

It was like a miniature sun had crashed to the ground, unleashing torrents of blazing white fire.

Higokumaru didn't even have time to scream.

She was swallowed whole by the endless light, her body erased in a blink.

The Stigmata space began to fracture.

Under the might of Nagami's "fireball," the dimension cracked like a mirror under pressure.

Shards of space peeled away, revealing a swirling chaos beyond—a void without end.

As the source of this mindspace, Yae Sakura was intrinsically tied to it.

The moment the Stigmata realm began to collapse, she felt a searing, stabbing pain—like her mind was being churned by red-hot iron rods.

"Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have added deuterium and tritium! I even reduced the uranium!"

Nagami cursed aloud.

In fairness, he'd never worked with nuclear weapons in his previous life.

This was his first time building one from scratch.

Getting the dosage right was... difficult.

Realizing things had gone out of control, Nagami stopped trying to escape.

Instead, he hurled Yae Sakura out of the collapsing Stigmata space.

And then, with the aid of his Alpha Stigma Eyes, he calmly turned to witness his own miniature sun from close range.

A soft crackling echoed in the void.

The sky shattered like glass—fractures spiderwebbed across the firmament and reached down to where Nagami floated.

And then—collapse.

With a deafening crash, the entire dimension caved in.

"Behold—the Herrscher of Reason's version of Fireball!"

His words echoed with pride.

And then—his green silhouette was swallowed by the light.

Only his voice lingered in the crumbling void.