Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers

Flooding the tunnel with seawater was indeed a good idea to stall the Yaksha – the tunnel structure was already fragile. While Michael had only detonated a small section, the chain reaction quickly brought down the entire tunnel.

Honkai beasts were silicon-based. Michael wasn't sure if they needed to breathe, but he himself certainly didn't.

So, whether the seawater would be an effective barrier, he wasn't certain.

But he trusted the Yaksha's… simplicity. After being provoked like this, it would likely chase after him mindlessly instead of heading straight for Ruruye…

Sakura, though slightly annoyed that Michael had pulled such a risky move without warning, reacted with surprising calmness: she simply stood there, doing nothing. If Michael dared to do this, he must have a way to get them out.

Only after this thought surfaced did she feel a flicker of resistance – What was my mission when I joined the Fifth Squad again?

But this resistance was quickly suppressed by her subconscious reliance on Michael.

And Michael didn't disappoint. As the seawater surged into the tunnel, it didn't rise above their feet. Instead, it curved strangely. Only after Michael pulled her out of the tunnel did Sakura see it – a spherical barrier composed of hexagonal matrices separated them from the seawater.

No, not a barrier, but something like a semipermeable membrane, blocking the water while allowing oxygen to pass through.

The only downside was the faint blue fluorescence emitted by the membrane, making them stand out like stars in the dark depths.

After a brief pause, the Yaksha relentlessly pursued the "stars." Trembling with rage, its high-frequency vibrations sent ripples through the surrounding water. These ripples struck the spherical membrane, tearing a small hole. Thankfully, Michael reacted quickly, patching it almost instantly.

The Yaksha's speed increased. It didn't use its limbs to swim, but its three pairs of wings as paddles, its tail undulating like a fish.

Michael and Sakura, relying solely on buoyancy, were much slower.

Fortunately, Michael was prepared. With a wave of his hand, four or five unmanned mecha blocked the Yaksha's path. The mecha moved sluggishly in the water, but it still took the Yaksha a few seconds to tear through their formation.

As it broke through the first line of defense, more mecha swarmed it, some pulling at its wings, some clinging to its legs, some tugging at its tail, and of course, some grabbing its ears.

But in a flash, the Yaksha pushed past the mecha, hot on Michael's heels. The abandoned mecha, meanwhile, began to disassemble at their joints, a stray finger drifting away and bumping into a passing fish. The fish seemed unharmed, but the moment the mecha finger touched it, it exploded, dissolving into the cold water without a trace of blood.

"Is it using its space-freezing ability again?" Michael thought, waving his hand. Another wave of mecha surrounded the Yaksha.

This time, they held it back longer, until the enraged Yaksha tore them all to shreds and resumed its pursuit.

"Hmm… it didn't freeze space immediately… During our first encounter, it used the ability twice in a row… Is it because after fully evolving into an Emperor-class, the ability is stronger, but also consumes more energy, requiring time to recharge…?"

Instead of jumping to conclusions, Michael continued summoning mecha to harass the Yaksha.

Meanwhile, Sakura noticed the surrounding space growing brighter, and the number of fish around them increasing.

She looked up. The ripples of the sea surface were now clearly visible.

"Elysia, what's the situation in the engine room? Why is it taking so long?" Himeko pressed.

Elysia grunted, her body soaked in sweat, and didn't immediately answer.

Countless purple ribbons danced around her, swirling tendrils of dense Honkai energy, each seemingly delicate strand containing enough power to create a lower-class Honkai beast.

Honkai reactors were different from nuclear reactors: nuclear reactors, through controlled self-sustaining chain reactions, could operate for extended periods after a single refueling.

Honkai reactors, while more efficient, were less sustainable due to technological limitations, especially the massive Moonlight Engine, which required a large influx of Honkai energy for each activation.

Normally, the crew would load Honkai energy canisters into a robotic arm. After personnel evacuated the engine room, automated systems would connect the canisters to the reactor and release the energy.

That was Michael's assumption, Himeko's assumption, and even Elysia's assumption – until she reached the engine room.

She couldn't find any Honkai energy canisters. A quick check of the logs revealed that the Moonlight Engine's consumption had far exceeded expectations. To ensure sufficient energy for the next activation, and for convenience, the crew had taken the empty canisters to the underground reactors for refilling.

And they hadn't returned…

But the sun still rose, and Fire Moth One still needed to fly.

Michael was probably fighting the Emperor-class Yaksha. What if he lured it out, only to find Fire Moth One grounded?

Elysia paced anxiously.

She suddenly thought of Himeko's Surtr. When Himeko wielded the greatsword, she first absorbed a small amount of Honkai energy from the surroundings, channeling it through her body to Surtr, which then generated heat and flames.

So, theoretically, if Elysia became the conductor, channeling the ambient Honkai energy through her body into the reactor, wouldn't that work?

If Michael were here, he would have praised her ingenuity.

Ordinary humans had a limit to their Honkai resistance and adaptability. Even Himeko, among the best of ordinary humans, could only absorb a minuscule amount of Honkai energy – not even a thousandth of Michael's full power.

Filling the Moonlight Engine's reactor was theoretically impossible for Himeko. The excess Honkai energy would turn her into a Deadman.

But Elysia wasn't one to overthink things. It was her habit, anyway. If she caused any trouble, Michael would always clean up after her!

With this inexplicable reliance, she let the Honkai energy flow through her into the reactor. She quickly reached her "limit." The flesh on her arm, connected to the reactor, began to turn to ash, revealing blackened, necrotic tissue.

"Just… a little longer… This shouldn't be my limit… My Honkai adaptability is so much higher than an ordinary person's… It shouldn't happen this quickly… It's okay… it's okay… Even if this body turns into a Deadman, Michael will find a way… He can construct bodies, can't he? He can just make me a new one… A taller one… I don't want to have to stand on my tiptoes to talk to Mobius… And a thinner one, I've been eating too many sweets lately, my clothes are getting a bit tight…"

Her consciousness fading, Elysia's thoughts drifted…

Suddenly, she felt a snap in her mind, like a fuse blowing.

Then, a miracle happened.

Her blackened arm gradually returned to its normal color, the skin regenerating, smooth and soft like a baby's.

Honkai energy poured in, a hundred, a thousand times more, but Elysia felt no discomfort.

"It's like my Honkai adaptability is infinite!"

The reactor filled almost instantly. Elysia, exhausted, left the engine room, closed the door, and activated the engine from outside.

"Captain… the engine is online…" she said weakly, leaning against the wall. Her legs gave way, and she slid down to the floor.

"Elysia! Elysia! Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine… Captain, take off… Don't make Michael wait too long…"

"This child…"

Elysia muted the comms. She had always felt a pang of frustration. While her scores in the simulation room were comparable to Michael's, in actual combat, he always protected her.

This protectiveness seemed overly doting to outsiders.

And she felt the same way.

She was strong, yet she always ended up being the one who slacked off.

It frustrated her.

Thankfully…

"Thankfully, I was finally useful this time… I'm so tired… I want to sleep…"

As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she replayed the earlier events in her mind.

The scene repeated over and over until, just as she was about to fall asleep, a thought struck her like lightning, jolting her awake:

"It's like my Honkai adaptability is infinite…"

Fire Moth's testing equipment was rudimentary, only able to classify Honkai resistance as poor, average, good, or excellent. Ato was good, Himeko was barely at the good threshold, and Michael and Elysia were both at the very top of excellent.

She had always assumed the equipment's limitations were holding Michael back. After all, a Herrscher's Honkai adaptability was infinite, how could it be the same as hers?

The equipment's limitations were a possibility, but it didn't rule out another…

Elysia shook her head violently, pushing the thought away.

"Impossible. I don't have a core, and I've never experienced another consciousness invading my mind like Michael described. How could I be a Herrscher…?"

It was an irrefutable argument, and she relaxed.

She habitually touched the crystal rose brooch Michael had given her, pinned to her chest, only to realize that since it was technically a Honkai product, she had inadvertently converted it into energy and fed it to the reactor.

"What do I do?! If Michael finds out the brooch is gone…"

Elysia was on the verge of tears.

She suddenly thought, if she really were a Herrscher, she could be with Michael. And if she had his powers, that would be even better – like, creating a crystal rose brooch herself?

As she entertained these idle fantasies, Honkai energy instinctively gathered in her palm. Elysia didn't try to control it; it was just a meaningless daydream.

But she was wrong.

A pink glow appeared in her hand, more and more Honkai energy converging. The image of a rose bloomed in her mind…

Then, a rose made of pink crystal materialized in her palm.

The ship shuddered violently.

Elysia, already familiar with the sensation, knew that Fire Moth One was taking off.

She clenched her hand, and the crystal rose shattered into countless fragments, dissipating into faint purple Honkai energy.